In front of me right now is a well-spread collection of the students' advertising assignments.
The assignments.
Champagne ice cream
Jewellery ad...complete with storyboards
Beer for ladies
A healthy drink from Julius
Ice cream-stuffed doughnuts
Another new one from Apple
His and her ice cream (what's up with all this ice cream?!)
McDonalds' new treats
Shopping mall doing a stop child abuse campaign
Very creative I must say. Best of all, they did these within 7 weeks.
Abby saw the work and he was quite impressed :) He said I did a good job in motivating them to come up with masterpieces in such a short time. Well, what can I say? Film and Advertising are 2 things I like most.
I am such a pop trash. And my students are becoming pop trash.
Now that their advertising project is over, the Higher Diploma students are busy with my scriptwriting assignments. Am taking a different approach now and instead of focusing on the script solely, I have incorporated filmmaking as well. Just now, the kids were running all over the school trying to do their shoots. Will upload their damn amateur clips in the next entry probably.
It's 0345hrs on Tuesday morning. It's 27th of May already. Hira has returned from Turkey (welcome home!). 8 more days to New York.
8 more days??!!
What I have to do within the next 8 days
- type out minutes for the boss - mark 2 referral assignments - mark 34 individual Advertising papers - mark 9 Advertising assignments - mark 2 Media Research papers - mark 8 film proposals - conduct 3 more Monash classes - be up for mid year review - up for Career Day duties - 2 birthday gatherings - borrow bag from Din - pack my stuff
Think now I should go back to sleep. Yes, go back.
I reached home at about 1900hrs today. That's pretty early I must say. By 2000hrs, I was dead on my bed, fell asleep while reading JUICE. For the next 6 hours, I was unmoved. I had a dream that I was on holiday already with the sister.
We went to USA and were visiting some Indian reservations - the Apaches, Cherokees, Chocktaws, Arawaks, Navajos, Siouxs, Chippewas, etc. We were treated to cultural fares and stuff and it was all quite enlightening. It was sucky to be roused from bed at 0200hrs.
Oh well.
Maybe if I go back to sleep now, I can see a hot Red Indian man doing a hot tribal dance.
Wait for me, my hurritt akecheta (that's "handsome warrior" for you), my alagua (sweet gum tree), my kilchii (err...Red Boy).
A thousand times goodnight, pocahontas and dancing rabbit creek.
I have a few female students who are sitting in front of me and talking about their fantasies. They are sharing their thoughts about men, licking ice creams and bestiality.
Girl 1: Ed, so what's your fantasy? Ed: [feign ignorance] Huh? What? Girl 1: What's your fantasy? Ed: Huh? Define fantasy. Girl 2: Which part of a guy do you look at? Ed: Hmmm... Shoulder? Girl 1+2+3: Ooooh
Now they are talking about porn and man, their eyes are shining with enthusiasm.
Okay they have moved on to girl-on-girl, boy-on-boy, orgies and anal sex.
A heart that's filled up like a landfill A job that slowly kills you Bruises that wont heal You were so tired, unhappy Bring down the government They dont... They dont speak for us I'll take the quiet life A handshake of carbon monoxide
No alarms and no surprises No alarms and no surprises No alarms and no surprises Silent, silent
This is my final fit My final bellyache with No alarms and no surprises No alarms and no surprises No alarms and no surprises please
Such a pretty house Such a pretty garden No alarms and no surprises No alarms and no surprises No alarms and no surprises please (No Surprises, Radiohead)
I can feel it coming. It's that state of mind ... that intersection between vacation and work; that slowing down stage. It's the exodus of the everday necessities and in walks the aesthetics of ... the unknown.
I like the unknown. That's why it's quite stressful to travel with me. I dont like to plan. So Rae, Clara and Lauren (say hi to my mother-in-law for me, will you?)...thank you for doing this. If I were to do it, we would probably end up in a dingy hostel with dirty water for shower.
It's coming. I can feel it.
The sister has her on-the-job training today. SHe has a 0500hrs shift today and that means, she has to leave the house at 0400hrs. To leave the house at 0400hrs, she was to wake up at 0200hrs because she needs 2(!!) hours to get ready. And you think I take my own sweet time in the bathroom....
So yeah, she woke up at 0200hrs, when my day hadnt even ended. It took a lot for her to get up at that ungodly hour considering what a lazy ass the sister is. Oh well. Hope everything turns up well for her..for everyone.
I shall go back to my own little cove here.
P/S: From curly to straight..and now I want it short.
P/P/S: Am thinking...how about umrah when I turn 30? After next year's Europe? Think I can work that out.
When the fear sets in Where the fire burns Where I find a place Where there's nowhere to turn When the evening sings An eerie song Longing for the day You say I'm wrong
You can find your place But never fit in And only when you've left Do you know where you've been I can see the light But only when it's gone You can go on waiting But only for so long ...
I know we are right It's not always clear Because I've never felt the fear Can it stay so good Forever in time? I've always felt the rhythm What happens when There's no more rhyme?
Hmm...what happens? What happens? God knows, really.
Had to really drag myself (kicking and screaming and all) to work today. Sunday school sure sucks the marrow out of life. I stuttered and stumbled through Policy class and only managed to perk up in Film. That was after my tuna sandwich and iced coffee of course. Film was also more exciting cause I was screening Fight Club.
For the 2nd time in a week. But it's okay. Brad Pitt is delectabilis.
Fight Club is fast creeping into my favourite movie list. It sums up best my state of mind, the frustration, the anger at own self, the "victimisation", the self-torture, the (borderline) insomnia...the feeling of being awake, but not really. If I have to choose a film that is relevant to me, it has to be Fight Club. Of course it is not similar in every physical aspect. Metaphorically and representation wise, this film is spot on.
"Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need. We're the middle children of history, man. No purpose or place. We have no Great War. No Great Depression. Our Great War's a spiritual war... our Great Depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. And we're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off."
...
I am supposed to prepare mock exam papers but it's almost 0300hrs and I'm on the morning shift tomorrow. I couldnt do work earlier cause I was in school and I spent the whole evening reading papers and folding my clothes. On top of that, I had to fend off urges to scratch myself. Heat rash is really a pain in the ass.
Given more time and scratching, my skin will definitely look like this. I dont want!
Struggled to get out of bed. Wanted to bail out of NPCC but Meiling was downstairs, ready to pass me something. She got a cake for the cadets, see. So yeah, sleepily met Meiling downstairs, got the cake and headed off to sunny sticky Yishun. Meiling couldnt make it today cause she had to go to work. Ah, next week will be my turn to go to work on a Saturday.
I went over to the Sec 3 and saw JS (my cadet inspector) and the cadets doing this. No, they were not being punished. It was some sort of a dare going on. It was supposed to be one hand pumping but some of the cadets made it look like Spiderman having constipation.
I used to be able to do this one-hand pumping thingy. Used to. Was GI Jane back in secondary school haha.
"Elbows straight!" "Oi, dont gelek-gelek!" "Eh! This is not catwalk!" "Stomach in, chest out!" "Shut your mouth!"
Another of my cadet inspector, KW, brought 2 of his friends to the unit. H (former cadet) also came and he brought along a friend. These people...think the unit is an open-for-public-access, is it? In the end, all had nothing to do because we only had that many cadets in the first place.
[Mentioning cadets, I had these 2 crazy idiotic Sec 3 (15 year olds) cadets. These clowns were sharing a piece of cake without using any utensils. So they just gobbled off the plate. One accidentally took the whole cake in his mouth and the other got angry. So the latter went near to the other person's face and bit off the dangling cake out of the other person's mouth. Then...they kissed! Wahahahahahahaha!!! No, they are not homos. They are just good friends. Very good friends. Hahaha!]
I was doing my MP in GRC walks rounds (cause I'm such a tua pai, mah!) when I stopped at the sec 1s. Kangwen's friend was with them.
Friend: Ma'am, how long should the break be? Ed: Break? What break? Friend: Break for the cadets ah. Ed: You dont need break. Friend: Welfare, ma'am. Ed: Haha, no welfare. Let them stand there until they faint. Friend: In my unit, it's damn welfare, lah... Ed: You are not in your unit. Friend: ...welfare this, welfare that...eh, what? Ed: You are not in your unit. So, stop comparing. Friend: Oh okay okay.
Think I made him shit in his pants a little.
Friend: So, no welfare? No break at all? Ed: Have lah, but not often. Besides, they are not in the hot sun now. Friend: Ah okay. Actually, I prefer like this. Ed: Like what? [this guy talks too much!!] Friend: Your style. In my unit, the cadets are treated like precious babies. Ed: You are not in your unit. Friend: Yup yup got it, ma'am.
And because I was the "man", I gather all my power to make my instructor, JS, drink some kind of a weird concoction. It was his birthday and I, being the mastermind, ordered the cadets to prepare him a drink - Milo powder, rose syrup, water and Sportage (isotonic drink).
It was the birthday of a cadet, too. But we didnt sabo her. Crazy. What if she complains to her parents? To the school? To *gasp* MOE???
As he was drinking, I fronted an all-out attack; I went behind his back and threw a disgusting water bomb (water and more) at him. All hell broke lose.
For Narnia!!!!!!!
Okay..random.
That triggered a mini elephant stampede. Water, cake, what-have-yous flew everywhere. Birthday boy got hit and soaked. He got revenge by taking the hydrant and sprayed at us all. No one came and scolded us. Phew.
See, that's how I usually spend my Saturday. For 15 years!
Oh well.
That's the highlight of my Saturday. I headed to the salon to do my hair after that and during that 3.5 hours of being static, I had a hard time keeping awake cause I was that tired.
Hah.
It's 0430hrs now and I think I should go back and sleep. I have 2 classes back to back tomorrow (Policy and Film!) on a Sunday morning. It's going to be a long Sunday. Dammit.
Wait...before I go, here's something.
The stuff I've got to mark.
A thousand times goodnight, minotaurs and centaurs.
I could lose my heart tonight If you dont turn and walk away Cause the way I feel I might Lose control and let you stay Cause I could take you in my arms And never let you go I could fall in love with you I could fall in love with you
I could only wonder how Touching you would make you feel But if I take that chance right now Tomorrow will you want me still? So I should keep this to myself And never let you know I could fall in love with you I could fall in love with you
And I know its not right And I guess I should try To do what I should do But I could fall in love Fall in love, with you I could fall in love with you
.. .. ..
Okay, where do I go now?
[Alert: Yak yak yak]
I went ktv-ing with RuffEdge and Shortcake (& hubby), even though all I wanted to do was sleep. One should never pass a good opportunity to wail into the mic, right? Haha. Anyway, I got home before midnight and first thing first, I read the papers. Second, I fell asleep. Standard operation procedure.
Had a terrible dream. But I knew the cause. I've never had "unknown" dreams cause I know, we make our own dreams. So yes, I roughly know how and where all my dreams come about. Anyway, it was bad, it was dark ... it was quite traumatising.
Woke up with a jolt 1.5 hours later. I was sprawled dead in the middle of my bedroom and no one woke me up to shower, to switch off my lights, to ask me to get on my bed. I could be really dead and people would only realise it on the next day...or not at all. Hah!
Where was I?
Woke up with a jolt, feeling utterly disoriented and scared. Grey's Anatomy-ed after that and that put the mind at ease. But yes, I've come to the first part. Where do I go now?
It's not looking good. Well maybe they are and it's just that I'm not seeing it. I..urgh, it's disgusting. I'm a better person than this but right now, I'm just letting it all wash over me. Tired to fight for life right now. Tired of jostling for a whiff of oxygen.
Oh well.
Idaho and I had a meeting with the heads just now; reviewing what we had done, coursework and stuff. The work piles as always and it's never ending. I know, work doesnt end. Who am I kidding, right? But hey, at least I need to be able to see a destination, right? Why slave myself off without knowing what's there at the end? The end justifies the mean, my friend.
The heads implied that June was going to be another crazy month. Tell me what's new? It has been crazy for months already now.Maybe I was being overly-sensitived but at that time I felt like they were chastising me for taking leave in June. Something triggered and suddenly I randomly declared to the table:
"I dont feel guilty about being on leave, you know."
It was so random, I surprised myself.
Head 1: No no, you shouldnt! Head 2: Err...you can take leave. But because of that, you are facing a heavy load now and Resource Planning need to do changes..yada yada. Ed: I had informed everyone in February. It couldnt get any earlier. Head 1: It's okay. If you have to take leave, you have to take leave. Ed: Yeah, just want to let you know...I'm not sorry about it. Head 1: No no...please dont.
So you've guessed it. I am one of those "difficult" people in the company. But hey:
Yeah yeah.
It's 0500hrs already. In 2 hours' time, I should be making my way to Yishun. Hah, it's one of those activities that keep me going.
But in the meantime, I shall retreat to my very dark place.
A thousand times goodnight, Darth Vader.
P/S: Gosh. This is just much ado about...nothing, actually.
"And it's hard to love There's so much to hate Hanging on to hope When there is no hope to speak of And the wounded skies above Say it's much too late Well maybe we should all be praying for time"
It did drag to extra time... it went all majestic to penalty shoot outs and well, van der Sar did good. He was great. And we won the Champions League baby.
I had a hard time keeping awake. Extra time saw me drifting in and out of sleep. But ah, we won!!
And as for the other one...American Idol, yay!!! I'm happy there too. Cookie won the duel but well, it's kind of weird cause the judges were really pimping Archuletta and all. Archie's song choices were much better for him; more drama-mama and perfect for finales. However, many like me must have seen his single-mindedness in tackling the same kind of genre. He's safe and well...boring. Cookie on the other hand looked like he was staging his own concert - careless and free. That's showmanship.
Man U! Cookie!
And now...I am suffering. Film Class just ended and we must have seen the most boring and mind-numbing film we've ever seen in class. The Draughtsman's Contract was painful to watch. I wish I could just retreat to the back of the class and doze off. I wish.
To beat anger and stress...I went on a celluloid rampage. It's Kubrick madness as I got Lolita, 2001 Space Odyssey and The Shining. I also got English Patient and Nell.
Think it is nearing soon. I cant seem to be able to tolerate this anymore. I really, really have enough of this nonsense, this shit.
It's not good for the soul...being this angry. I have this raging feeling of wanting to punch the living daylights of someone, anyone. I want to plunge a dagger deep into someone's guts. I want to knock my head against the Great Wall. I feel ill and stressed. I cant sleep and am pissed off most of the time. Am even developing stress rashes...tak sexy, can?
Can I just drop dead now?
P/S: It's work. It's no longer satisfying. If it doesnt pay and it doesnt satisfy, just what sort of shit am I doing? Fucking shithole.
P/P/S: I'm sorry. I didnt mean to take it out on innocent parties.
Student: Are you there? Can I ask you a question? Ed: Yes I am here. Awrite. Student: Ed, how long should the movie trailer be for our scriptwriting project? Ed: 30 seconds. Student: Whaaaatttt? That's too short. Ours is more than that! Ed: Okay.
Silence.
Student: How? Can or not? Can, lah. PLEASE!!!! Ed: I guess. Wait, what kind of question is that? Is that even a question? Student: Haha yeah I asked you about the duration of the trailer. Ed: And I did tell you my answer. Student: But it's too short. Ours is quite long. So how? Can or not? Ed: If you have done it and it's long, then just pass to me. Student: But how? Can or not? Will be penalised or not? Ed: Oi, I've already told you 30 seconds. If you want to do more, then go ahead.
Silence. Then it went again.
Student: Why so fierce? Ed: No I'm not. You want my answer, I tell you. Student: But how...can lah..please please. Ed: [fed up] Eh, you dont really care about my answer right? Student: Huh? Ed: You just want me to agree with you, right? Well too bad. I am not that agreeable. Student: Okay okay. Thanks.
Work brings a slight gloom this Tuesday morning even though I am still at home. Such is the power of fucking e-mails.
A memo just came in informing everyone about their curriculum and I've given the "honour" of teaching 4(!!) Monash subjects. Like what the fuck? My first season, it was 2; currently, I have 3...and the next, 4? What the fuck?? So for next season, it will be Feature Writing, InternetJournalism, Communication Studies and (get this) Media, Culture, Power & Theories of Comms. There's no film subject and seriously, I have no idea how to carry on.
TooMuchCrap better take away all my diploma+higher diploma classes. And yes, those never-ending pile of assignments which are waiting to be marked too.
This can get ugly. It will be nasty. Grouchy grinch alert.
That's it.
P/S: Think I'll plan my own abduction when I'm in New York or something. Or maybe, I'll beg some Wall Street or 30 Rock companies to take me in. Bill Gates, is that you? Steve Jobs, is that you? Rupert Murdoch, is that you? Donald Trump, is that you?
Sunday morning was terrible as it saw me dragging my half-awake self to school. One more Sunday to go, Ed. One more Sunday. By 1300hrs, I made my way home, packed my bag and then Lauren picked me up in her Mini at about 1500hrs.
To Sentosa, ya'll.
We met Nani at the Seah Im carpark and passed her the free entrance pass. Lauren then tailgated Nani into Sentosa where we spent a good 10-15 minutes looking for Palawan beach. The place was going through some changes and roads were either re-directed or closed. We eventually got into the public carpark and made our way to the beach.
Well, it was indeed a beautiful day, ignoring the irritating teenagers and kids (HFMD!) screaming and running around aimlessly.
Imagine this...only more crowded.
Looking at the picture above, we managed to park our asses on the right side of the bridge. For the life of me, it was indeed a strange choice cause people who wanted to get on and off the bridge would have to pass us. However, it was a nice shady corner and well, we (Nani, Lauren, myself) were well-known voyeurs so we sat there (with totally no food/snacks!) on my giant blanket and bitched about the passing traffic for almost 2 hours. Bliss.
We finally got ourselves wet (with sea water) at about 1800hrs when most visitors had dispersed. It did feel good to swim into the vastness and into the horizon. It was kind of cathartic. Oh how much I needed that!
Just keep on swimming...swimming.
We left soon after and had dinner at the nearby hawker centre. We were hungry and there were many food on the table - kwey teow, mutton chop, mee kuah, satay, rojak, bandung, fresh lime and pineapple juice. Okay, "hungry" was an understatement. We were stark, raving famished. There.
Got home early around 2130hrs and well, I was wiped out. By midnight, I surrendered.
Weak.
Today (Monday) was another day. Woke up early only to waste it on Sidereel.com watching more Two & a Half Men till 1400hrs. Grabbed a quick lunch and then met Meiling at the MRT. She had a movie preview at Lido and well, free movie, baby.
I didnt expect the show that we were about to watch to be good. In fact, I was ready to give it a miss. 2.5hrs later, I was thankful that I managed to watch it. Free-of-charge some more.
The only bummer was that the lead actor reminded me of my colleague...Sanjaya.
Heh.
No...no Mr Tumnus this time. Thank God.
THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN, I dare say, is one of the most entertaining pieces I have seen so far this year. It's better than its predecessor (that lion, witch, wardrobe thingy) - visually stunning, more action and well, slightly better acting. I really didnt feel 2.5 hours whizzing by. I had moments where I covered my eyes in horror, my mouth in shock and my ears in cowardice from the screaming.
Aslan the Lion and the White Witch made quick cameos. The beavers and Mr Tumnus (James McAvoy..nyeh) didnt even make an appearance. Fortunately, this didnt disrupt the flow of the film.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Trumpkin: You may find Narnia a more savage place than you remember.
...
Prince Caspian: You're Narnians. You're supposed to be extinct. Nikabrik: Sorry to disappoint you.
...
Lucy Pevensie: It's so still. Trumpkin: They're trees. What do you expect? Lucy Pevensie: They used to dance.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Prince Caspian is darker and mature than the previous Narnia chronicles. But hah, how much darker can it be if it's still a Disney production, right? However, I do feel that there is a lack of character development in the film and that Prince Caspian is not really well-played. I mean...he has just one pathetic expression. He has the same look when he is sad, angry, happy, nervous, aroused...you get what I mean. And oh, he looks girly. How can a medieval prince look girly? Abominable.
Anyway...
The theatre was filled with kids and teenagers (HFMD alert, again!) and they got obviously noisy. It was irritating during the solemn quiet parts but however, those morons did bring the house down with their youthful nonsense. When the Prince decided not to kill the villain, someone shouted "Loser!" and it did crack everyone up. When the 2 leads kissed, the whole cinema went "Ah oooooh!". The most hilarious of all was when the villain got stabbed by one of the heroes and crowd in the cinema went "Yeah!!!" and clapped. Yes, clapped!!!
And they clapped again when the whole film was over. It was hilarious.
I felt like I was in a village cinema where the audience was much more emotional and involved. I've never watched a movie in such an interactive manner. I kind of enjoyed it actually. It was more enjoyable; better than trying to shush everyone up :)
It reminds me of the Italian show Cinema Paradiso hahahaha.
Ah good 'ol Paradiso.
I'll sleep with a smile.
A thousand times goodnight, romantics and classicalists.
P/S: Nope. I didnt do jack-shit of work-related stuff.
P/P/S: Am developing rashes. Let's just hope it's heat rash and not HFMD hahahahah!
