2012, Q1: Books & Movies

I read these four books during the first quarter of 2012. Let me comment on them:

Sing You Home: Picoult deals with issues like in vitro fertilisation, marriage and homosexuality in this interesting discourse. Max Baxter's character is really underdeveloped and flat. Apart from that, some arguments seem to tip the scales to one side.

Sanctus: Marvelous writing at the beginning, with fresh and original descriptions about scenes and people. Regrettably, when actions start to roll, the prose becomes ordinary and unmemorable. 

The Jefferson Key: I always have high expectations for Steve Berry's works, but this one is a let down for me. Berry delivers interesting facts using his usual engaging style, but he certainly writes too short in length. The shortest scenes are around four to five sentences, which bugs me really much. It's like you're still munching on your food, then the following courses are shoved rapidly before you. 

The Swan Thieves: I should have heeded the critics' warnings. Kostova did a wonderful job in her previous work, The Historian, so I thought I should give this one a go. Although the prose is superb, the storyline is too draggy: only when you reach the last 20% of the book, the pace picks up and the mystery unravels. It's like watching a Hokkien television series with hundreds of episodes: you're interested at the beginning, the middle bores you immensely, and you can't wait to reach the end. 

Some movies I watched during the first quarter of 2012 and my comments on them:

In Time: You have to watch this in order to understand how mind-boggling the movie is. It's astounding how the writer created a futuristic yet believable story based on the concept of time as a currency. 

Anonymous: This movie offers an alternative history to the origins of Shakespeare's works. I know for a fact that people still debate the true identity of the writer behind the plays, sonnets and poems that we collectively label as Shakespeare's works, but this movie is simply outrageous and crazy. Queen Elizabeth I is portrayed as promiscuous and brainless, blindly following her passions and her subordinates' suggestions. The cinematography and the casting are good enough, though.   

Absolutely Nothing

Once on a yellow piece of paper with green lines
he wrote a poem
And he called it "Chops"
because that was the name of his dog
And that's what it was all about
And his teacher gave him an A
and a gold star
And his mother hung it on the kitchen door
and read it to his aunts
That was the year Father Tracy
took all the kids to the zoo
And he let them sing on the bus
And his little sister was born
with tiny toenails and no hair
And his mother and father kissed a lot
And the girl around the corner sent him a
Valentine signed with a row of X's
and he had to ask his father what the X's meant
And his father always tucked him in bed at night
And was always there to do it

Once on a piece of white paper with blue lines
he wrote a poem
And he called it "Autumn"
because that was the name of the season
And that's what it was all about
And his teacher gave him an A
and asked him to write more clearly
And his mother never hung it on the kitchen door
because of its new paint
And the kids told him
that Father Tracy smoked cigars
And left butts on the pews
And sometimes they would burn holes
That was the year his sister got glasses
with thick lenses and black frames
And the girl around the corner laughed
when he asked her to go see Santa Claus
And the kids told him why
his mother and father kissed a lot
And his father never tucked him in bed at night
And his father got mad
when he cried for him to do it.

Once on a paper torn from his notebook
he wrote a poem
And he called it "Innocence: A Question"
because that was the question about his girl
And that's what it was all about
And his professor gave him an A
and a strange steady look
And his mother never hung it on the kitchen door
because he never showed her
That was the year that Father Tracy died
And he forgot how the end
of the Apostle's Creed went
And he caught his sister
making out on the back porch
And his mother and father never kissed
or even talked
And the girl around the corner
wore too much makeup
That made him cough when he kissed her
but he kissed her anyway
because that was the thing to do
And at three a.m. he tucked himself into bed
his father snoring soundly

That's why on the back of a brown paper bag
he tried another poem
And he called it "Absolutely Nothing"
Because that's what it was really all about
And he gave himself an A
and a slash on each damned wrist
And he hung it on the bathroom door
because this time he didn't think
he could reach the kitchen.

Absolutely Nothing,

 from The Perks of Being a Wallflower

by Stephen Chbosky

Trekathon 2012

Midway upon the journey of our life, I found myself within a forest dark, for the straightforward pathway had been lost. — Inferno, Canto I, by Dante, translation by Henry W. Longfellow.

Sunlight streamed through the deep green foliage, throwing patterns of dappled light across the muddy ground, forever littered with broken twigs, dried leaves and small creatures. It was vaguely peaceful, somewhat dreamlike, until my ragged breathing jolted me back to the reality of my situation: I was lost.

Let me backtrack a little. I participated in a 'trekathon' organised by my college, partly because I wanted to have some fun time with my friends and partly because of my own adventurousness. Yesterday morning, we took the bus to Bukit Gasing, the place where this trekathon was to be held. We had our warm-ups and briefings before we beat each other out to the top of the hill (interdepartmental rivalry, I guess).

At first it was exhilarating. We jogged down the hill, then wound back up and then down again. Some aunties and uncles whom we met on our way were very fit and they knew the paths better than we did. We students relied upon signs and guides posted at intervals along the long track.

We reached the river and that was where things turned bad. A few Indian kids pointed the way, backwards. Believing the direction they gave to be true, a few mates and I turned back instead of crossing the shallow river. The further we trekked, the more confused we became. Weren't these the same trees we encountered just a while ago? Wasn't this route we used earlier on? We were lost, and soon we realised that we'd went back the way we came.

Overtaking students from other departments or winning the trekathon suddenly seemed less alluring than finding our way out of this maze. Fortunately there were more experienced seniors who roughly knew the way as they'd joined the trekathon last year. Also, the elders that we met were most helpful in giving correct directions, unlike those brats near the river.

I couldn't be more relieved when the finishing line came within sight. I got the seventy-seventh place (Rowling would be happy with this number), and without a doubt I exceeded the time limit. My friends were already resting, their faces red from exertion. I know from experience that cooling down after running can help me avoid sores and cramps in my thighs, so I repeatedly did some cooling down exercises instead of sitting on the ground and resting.

Food and drinks were provided, but I was disappointed to find that there were no bananas. Maybe the sheer number of monkeys swinging above us from tree to tree was enough to deter the organisers from putting bananas in plain sight. I helped myself to some sandwiches, watermelon slices and orange juice. The fried chicken drumsticks were very tempting, but I steered clear of them.

The overall winner for the event is our department, the defending champion. Jump, yell and laugh we did, with our fists pumping the air!

睁大眼睛等天亮

今早我在晨运的时候
看到两个大男生
对着湖水唱《煎熬》
哇你们失恋咩……
我才受够煎熬咧

吃过早餐回到家
洗了车也冲了凉
睡意悄悄降临
我倒头就睡

前几天功课再繁忙都好
我都没熬过夜
昨晚我严重失眠了
才知道失眠有多么难熬

应该是昨晚晚餐
那些茶惹的祸吧
比平时强许多

我躺在床上精神得很
头脑转得快东西想得多
完全没有睡意

不想上网也不想看书
只求一夜好眠
可是我就好像嗑了药
怎样都睡不着

见识过茶的威力了
胆敢把我变成熊猫?!
我以后还是小心一点

Of Doors and Books

When God closes a door, He opens a window?

On Thursday I went to a not-so-well-known post office to collect a parcel. That parcel was couriered to me on Tuesday, sometime in the afternoon, but I was having my classes. I missed it, so whoever came by my house taped some sort of a form to our house gate. Despite the heavy rain, the note was still intact by the time I got home. The writing was still readable, and I was requested to claim my parcel at a nearby post office.

It took me some time to locate that post office. I was glad to have a space to park, somewhat directly in front of the post office. Through the sliding glass doors I could see a few people milling about, and oh gosh, the floor was littered with small strips of paper! I came near the doors, but they just wouldn't open for me. Like a fool I prodded the little space between the glass doors, expecting them to somehow miraculously slide apart. They still wouldn't budge.

Somebody inside signalled me to stand back further. My gaze turned upward, and I waved madly at the sensor, to no avail. I moved forwards, then backwards, and finally the doors slid apart. I laughed at my own embarrassment and offered a smile to the person who helped me.

After taking my number, I sat on the bench and obediently waited for my turn. Seeing as the staff were joking, laughing and having their own sweet time while so many others went directly up to the counter without following the queue, I stood up and walked towards the counter as well. The lady behind the counter quickly made some verification and handed me a thin parcel. I held it in my hand, weighing it, and thought, "all the trouble, for this tiny thing?"

As I made my exit, I saw some maintenance workers fixing the doors. The doors were indeed malfunctioning. I got back into my car, just in time as the rain splattered over everything. A sports car was double-parked behind my car and the one to my right, so I waited for Mr. Sporty to reverse his car. I let the guy to my right to reverse his car first, then Mr. Sporty immediately claimed the spot to my right. For someone who owned a sports car, it was amazing that he took such a long time to park it. It was very annoying to wait for so long because he kept reversing and parking it. After Mr. Sporty-Lousy-Driver-Perfectionist nicely parked his car, I carefully reversed my car in one go and off I went.

On a whim I decided to visit IPC's Popular Bookstore. I still had some unspent vouchers with me, but a pang of disappointment hit me when I browsed through the rows and rows of books there. The books were months-old, the supply scant, and the only good news was only a few volumes were recent. I tried to locate the books I've seen on newspapers' book review columns, but none were there. Utterly dejected, I left the bookstore and planned to go home.

As I was waiting for the elevator, an ad caught my interest: "POPULAR Book Fair @ Concourse". Minutes later, I visited the so-called book fair and felt another pang of disappointment. Old books on sale again. Some sort of stock clearance going on, I thought. I managed to find a work by Berry and another by Kostova. I presented the books and a voucher at the counter, as well as a discount card. Two books were bought, still I was unhappy. Perhaps next week I'll pay a visit to MPH and splurge like nobody's business!

It started to rain again when I reached home. The rain was pelting everything in sight, with wild abandon. Glad to have claimed my parcel, and maybe a little relieved at buying two fictions. Pleasure reading for me, at long last? Definitely rewarding.

"Memories"

Stumbled upon this. Okay, I cried over ... this video? Must be my fraying nerves. 

哭？

【一】
今天早上交通格外顺畅
才想起政府学校学生放假

就那么突然“碰”一声
相隔不久再“碰”多一声
我整个心跳到嗓子眼

附近正施工
车子撞到什么建筑材料吧

再怎么担忧都好
我逼自己专心驾驶

等我停好车之后
提心吊胆地到车前头检查
看到它没凹陷
忽然有种想飙泪的感觉
如释重负？喜极而泣？
我只是笑笑
没哭出来

【二】
功课做到我头都大了
所以我把它搁置
看了《翻滚吧！阿信》
反而更加有动力了

虽然那部励志电影
有很多太多暴力元素
但有几处确实是
催人落泪地感人
我也差点儿掉泪
（傻孩子，人家演戏罢了嘛！）

结论是
今天我情绪被拨动
而且几乎飙泪的原因
跟悲伤无关

不一定要伤心
才会有哭的感觉哦

音乐，我的浮生圈

Good music never dies. It endures.

最近我的生活
似乎褪了色

收起了我的幽默
只因为
现在的这一群朋友
经不起我的“致命武器”

就这样
我过的这些日子
变成淡灰色的
没有太大的喜悦
也没有伤悲激愤

有时候
我觉得自己
有某一部分麻痹了
好像"feel"不到自己

还好有音乐的陪伴
不然我已经
死去千遍万次了

我的幽默
好想念你哦
何时你再现身呢
等你喔
=D