Hold on to my senses..

I had my hair cut to shoulder-length yesterday. I had it layered as well. I have a side parting now haha... now my forehead is less prominent :P Maybe I'll post a photo of me soon haha.

I didn't manage to watch "Insomnia" on Sunday, because by the time I finished my Chinese composition, it was already quite late haha. And then when I was about to watch "Insomnia" yesterday, I realised that there is something wrong with my mathetical calculation. On Sunday, I found out that Insomnia is 115 minutes long, and I don't know why but I thought that it's about 1 hour 35 minutes long. And then yesterday, as I was hanging my laundry, I realised that its length is close to 2 hours. Ahh.. what is wrong with my maths calculation? Since I reached home quite late yesterday, at 8.30 pm after having my hair cut, I decided to watch a shorter length movie instead. So I choose "Maria, Full of Grace". (Ok, the name Maria reminds me of J.Lo haha. See.. Maria can be funky as well haha)

The movie is reviewed below by the way.

This week has been rather relaxing haha. I shall enjoy this week.

Later dudes :)

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Movie Review
Maria Full of Grace (7.5 stars out of 10)
This movie is good. Love the plot and the characters in the movie, particularly Maria (obviously, since she's the central character). I just love how the actress really brought innocence to her. I feel the ending was rather too abrupt though. The movie started quite slowly, but once the drug mule deal started, the movie really starts kicking in. An enjoyable movie to watch :)

Starlight

Far away, the ship has taken me far away
Far away from the memories
Of the people who care if I live or die

A starlight
I will be chasing a starlight
Until the end of my life
I don't know if it's worth it anymore

Hold you in my arms
I just wanted to hold
You in my arms

My life
You electrify my life
Let's conspire to re-ignite
All the souls that would die just to feel alive

I'll never let you go
If you promise not to fade away
Never fade away

Our hopes and expectations
Black holes and revelations

-Muse "Starlight"

Hey, the weekend has been rather great. I have almost finished my homework. Then I'll do my revision for Economics test tomorrow. Hopefully I'll be able to pass the DRQ test (for the first time) haha. I'm glad that I have lost hope on Econs. Last month I thought that I'll have zero chance of passing Econs ever. Like no hope at all.

Well, JC makes you feel kinda stupid.

I watched "Empire of the Sun" yesterday with Steph. And it's super nice haha (not only because of the Christian Bale factor seriously). The movie is reviewed below. Oh, and I didn't giggle really madly haha.

If I have time today, I may be watching "Insomnia". It's a movie done by Christoper Nolan (the guy who did Batman Begins and the upcoming The Prestige). Well, hopefully I'll have time and if so won't be disappointed by the movie.

Can't wait for the holiday! It's only a week away. But.. I think this holiday will be more for studying than playing. Nevertheless, it's still a holiday haha.

Later dudes.

--------
Movie Review
Empire Of The Sun (8.0 stars out of 10)
This movie is really a rollercoaster of emotions. There are happy moments and of course tear-jerking moments. I thought that Spielberg really directed this movie well. The movie really conveys the psychological pain that one war could have on a child. This movie will look awful without the superb acting of Christian Bale (who's only 13-year-old in this film). I don't know, he could potray the innocence of a child, and also the tiredness that one child goes through in the war. *spoiler* I couldn't help but cry when he tries to recognise his mother in the end of the show *spoiler ends*. It's a very touching movie. Oh, and there's a number of memomrable one-liners as well :) I don't know, the movie doesn't feel like of 2 and 1/2 hours length for me.

I'm a happy contented woman.

Sooo.... one more test to go. And there'll be no more tests left this year! Hooray. Well, exams are heading their way here. Hmm, today I did Chemistry and Economics test. I'm confident about my Chemistry test, and surprisingly my Economics test. I think the consultations with my Econs teacher is doing me good. I do believe that I'll be able to pass my Econs test this time around. Let's hope that my wish will come true :D

Well, guess what? Today my classmate lent me Empire of the Sun DVD! Ahhh.. soo happy :D At last I am able to see the acting of Christian Bale when he was small. And so, once I reached home, I immediately play a section of it. I'm just curious how different he sounds like (without his manly, sexy voice). Ahaha.. turns out his voice wasn't that high-pitched. I thought it will be really high-pitched or something (which wouldn't sound like Bale at all). Ah, should wait ms ng to watch it together (if she wants haha)

This will serve as a good warm-up to the October Bale mayhem muahaha.

Today for GP lesson, we watched the first 10 minutes of the Day After Tomorrow. Sadly, Jake Gyllenhaal didn't appear at all! :( :( I didn't like the movie when I watched it last year, however at that point of time I still didn't like Jake. So, I don't know if I'll change my mind about the movie if I watch it again. But, I don't think I'll watch it again (that's how bad I think the show is).

At first I thought my GP teacher is gonna show "The Constant Gardener", since we're doing poverty right now for GP package haha. I thought that movie will be good for the theme of poverty (or will City of God be better? I don't know I haven't watched it yet).

Today, as I was heading home, I think of the lamest photography idea I've ever had. Hopefully I'll have the will to carry it out soon. Haha. A clue on what to expect on the picture: You're gonna see lots of plants muahaha.

Later dudes.

PS Muse and Thom Yorke's latest albums are so addictive haha.

Photography Fraud

It's amazing how sometimes human being will go to an extent for honour. This will include through ways which go against one's integrity.

I discovered an article about photography fraud on last week's Sunday Times (of Singapore), and then I saw a journal entry in DeviantArt today regarding the matter today.

Photojournalism is definitely one intricate and difficult kind of photography. You have to be at the right time and the right place. That's what makes it hard.

Photojournalism means news photography.

Well, we're not always at the right time and the right place all the time. Some photographers, as they try to make up for this, photomanipulates some pictures of theirs, combining two or several different images of theirs using Photoshop to make a 'perfect' photo. All this for the sake of the photos being bought by some giant magazine or news companies, and of course honour.

I think photography fraud is a total disrespect to photography as a form of art. Let's be honest, the honour that you gained from your fake picture will never be a long lasting one. Some way or another, someone will find out that you're a cheat.

Four types of photography fraud of Lebanon-Israel War:
1. Digitally manipulating images after the photographs have been taken.
2. Photographing scenes staged by Hezbollah and presenting the images as if they were of authentic spontaneous news events.
3. Photographers themselves staging scenes or moving objects, and presenting photos of the set-ups as if they were naturally occurring.
4. Giving false or misleading captions to otherwise real photos that were taken at a different time or place.

You will then lose others' respect as a photographer, and as a person as well.

I will never want that to happen to me.

Ever.

Some examples:

Case 1

Here's a lady wailing about her housebeing destroyed. Reuters wrote this picture is taken at 22 July 2006.

Here's a (same) lady wailing about her house being destroyed (again). Reuters wrote the picture is taken at 5 August 2006.

Here's a (picture of the same) lady wailing about her house being destroyed (for the third time!) This picture is on the cover of the July 22 edition of the London magazine The Spectator.

Ehmmm... how many houses does this lady has (or had)? O_o

Case 2

Before Photoshop

After Photoshop (more specifically, clone stamps haha)

Hmm.. the second case I think is more obvious. The person really has poor skills with Adobe Photoshop. Bad move!

Case 3 (the funniest one)

Mickey...

And his female companion...

And his tiger companion from Aladdin..

And some unknown outsider.

Hmm... so many toy shots. I won't be surprised if Panda Z turned out in one of the shot.

All pictures taken from http://zombietime.com/reuters_photo_fraud/
Do visit the site for more examples.

Cheers.

Play With Me

I took this today.. and I love it. What do you think?

Ocean Breathes Salty

Wahh.. today was fun but tiring.

Lesson 1: Fashion shooting is really tiring

Clothes must be changed often and yeah, time plays an important role as well. Hmm... it'll be a while before I have a go at fashion shoot again (there's another secret factor as well..). Ehm, but it's a great experience :D Thanks for the great time Emmalyne.

Lesson 2: Bad movies can be good.

Haha, Snakes on the Plane has finally been released in US. And oh boy, the reviews have been rather positive. I remember vividly that one of the reviews calls it "a good bad movie". Haha. Sooo, if you're planning to watch this movie, don't take it seriously. Just enjoy the laugh :D

Gah.. I think I have to buy a pair of flat sandals from Charles and Keith (Or URS) because my Hush Puppies sandals are breaking down (semi-retirement process). I also lost my rubber band today, so must get it tomorrow from Sasa.

Hmm.. this week's been rather filled with Economics. I think after consultation and after-schoo lesson with mdm Rahimah, I have better understanding of Econs. Hehe. Hopefully this will spur me to do well for end of year exam.

I better study now. Haven't really studied for the past two days.

Ciao people :)

Visually Satisfied

Hello people. I've just come back from Esplanade, for the Singapore Fireworks Festival. The fireworks chereography done by the France team is astonishingly beautiful. Me and Tomatoe thought of the idea of dragging our dinner in Ichiban Boshi, which faces Marina Bay where they shot the fireworks from, until after 9 pm. And we succeeded haha. We went into the restaurant at about 8.15 pm and came out at 9.30 haha. If we didn't catch it from Ichiban Boshi, I think we would have died of suffocation watching the fireworks outside. The Esplanade area facing the Marina Bay is extremely full. It's kinda amusing when you looked down from Ichiban Boshi, and you see majority of the people lighting up their handphones. It's like a sea of blue screens haha. And then if you looked to your right from Ichiban Boshi, you see a number of people leaning against the window in front of the Recital Studio to catch the fireworks hahaa. Such an interesting experience.

Oh, in the end I got the nodding sideway thing haha. She likes it. When I told her about the Tomato plush toy, she said she would have killed me if I got that instead for her. Haha.

You know when we're walking through City Link towards City Hall MRT, the number of crowd is appalling. Lots of them. LOTS OF THEM. I don't know what word to use to describe it. Well first of all, this is the first time I saw such a large crowd in Singapore. It's sooo much worse than the passageway between Wisma and Ngee Ann. It's nothing comparable to that. It's like 10x or 20x worse than that. I think it's as bad as the Hong Kong crowd during New Year period (though it wasn't that bad, since the weather was quite cold haha). Hmm... so in the end me and Tomatoe decided to take bus instead to Somerset. And then her mother picked us up from Phoenix Hotel.

Such a maddd world.

You know speaking of Mad World, there's this song in Donnie Darko that has the title "Mad World". And it's very very nice. Today, I decided to find the video in YouTube... and I found it! It's super super super nice! Here's the video.


The video is by Michel Gondry. Who is a great, great, great music video director. Well, he's my favourite music director haha. If one day I decided to become a music video director, then it will be because of him haha. Lots of his music videos (and commercials) in YouTube. And oh ya by the way, he's the director of Eternal Sunshine of Spotless Mind. Ahh.

The song is very nicee. I love the background (obviously because it's piano-based). The lyrics of the song is nice as well. I especially love the line "The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had".

Speaking of music video director, I found out an interesting fact today about the Fatboy Slim video for "Praise You". It was directed by Spike Jonze, who is Sofia Coppola's ex husband. I only found out today that the lead dancing guy in that video is HIM. Hahahahahaha. He has to wear fake beard and moustache and dances like a mad man hahahaha. I mean Spike Jonze doesn't look that bad, but from the "dressed-up" look that I remembered of him during MTV Video Music Awards (of some year) he looooked some completely different haha. This is really amusing. Oh and that the video is shot spontaneously, "guerilla style" hahaa. No permission taken to shoot it in the theatre haha.



Enough blabbering for today I guess. Oh the lyrics for "Mad World" is below. You should check it out ;)

Later, Olivia

------------------
All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for the daily races
Going no where, going no where
Their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head I wanna drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow

And I find I kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell youI find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very very
Mad world, mad world

Children waiting for the day they feel good
Happy birthday, happy birthday
And I feel the way that every child should
Sit and listen, sit and listen
Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me, no one new me
Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson
Look right through me, look right through me.

Salad, anyone?

Today, as I was eating Chicken Katsu with Curry Sauce in Taka, I thought of Steph getting Velvet Goldmine CD haha. Ehm... I was looking for a birthday present for my (another) best friend Tomatoe in Taka after school today. And as I was eating, I kept thinking hard of what to get her. Before telling you what I finally had decided to get for Tomatoe, let me reminisce me and Steph's Goldmine adventure hahahahaa. I remembered wrapping the DVD with lots of newspaper, so that Steph wouldn't be able to guess what the present was. I remember her asking me repeatedly what the present was. We played guessing game, and still she couldn't figure out what it was. Hahahahahaa.

Oh man, the time when we watched that show is totalllyyyy unforgettable! haha. (all the details is in an entry in January or February 2006). Jonathan Rhys Meyer swooshing his butts? Priceless.

Hmm, so after eating, I thought of buying her the relaxing nodding sideway stuff (don't worry, she doesn't know my blog). Then, as I walked around the stationary and toys level in B1, I saw this gigantic tomato plush toy! It's soooo cute. Hmm... both the tomato and the nodding sideway thing cost about the same. So which one should I get? I've asked her through SMS whether she likes plush toy, and she replied usually she gives plush toy away. Hmmm.... should I still buy the tomato then? The tomato is soooooooooooooo cute :D Hmm... I should think about it overnight.

I can't wait to have dinner with Tomatoe tomorrow in Ichiban Boshi. And then, we'll see the fireworks at Esplanade. Arghhh soo exciting hehe.

Hmm.. I got so many tests next week :(

I shall start planning my next photoshoot :D

Oh ya, on the National Day eve, I watched Lake House. It's really good (and is reviewed below). If you're wondering how my National Day holiday went, well it was filled with lots of geological studies (for geography test today haha).

Later dudes.
-------------------
Movie Review
Lake House (7.5 out of 10 stars)
Prior to watching this show, some of my friends told me that the pacing of this movie is rather slow. Hmm, after watching the show, I totally disagree with that. I like how the story really builds up to the climax slowly but steadily. I thought that the chemistry between Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves is good. Though I think Keanu Reeves acting can still be improved *thinks of the part where he tries to cry realistically* Hmm.. the cinematography is good either :)

I don't mind being a cinematographer when I grow up!

Hmm... I better stop hmm-ing...
--------------

I'm a high school lover, and you're my favorite flavor
Love is all, all my soul
You're my Playground Love

Yet my hands are shaking
I feel my body remains, themes no matter,
I'm on fire
On the playground, love.

You're the piece of gold the flushes all my soul.
Extra time, on the ground.
You're my Playground Love.

Anytime, anyway,
You're my Playground Love.

--"Playground Love" by Air.

Shall not call you Uncle.. for now.

The weather is fantastic today :D :D sooo happy! So yeah, of course I made good use of the opportunity to go for photohunting. I decided to start at Tanjong Pagar. At first I thought I'd do Tanjong Pagar and Clarke Quay. But during the photohunting, I walked so much that in the end I reached Chinatown haha. After walking around Chinatown for a while, I took MRT northeast line (for the first time!) to Clarke Quay. By the way, I only realised two days ago after reading a newspaper article that the northeast line is controlled by SBS, not SMRT. How interesting. Anyway, I wasn't really familiar with the train route. So when I saw a train heading to Puggol, I just rushed in. Then when I saw the route map on the train, I was pretty confused and thought that the train would be heading towards Outram Park and not passed Clark Quay haha. So I decided to run out of the train haha. Only after I took a good look at the platform map that that train actually passed by Clark Quay haha. Silly me.

You know when I was passing by Tanjong Pagar, it was interesting how majority of the shops closes. These include Carl's Jr, Starbucks, Coffee Beans, MPH. I never thought that such shops will close during the weekend, even though it's located in a business centre. Well I guess it's all about demand and supply haha. Oh ya, and when I was walking Robinson Street, I somewhat doesn't feel like I'm in Singapore O_o It's just a strange feeling.

So in the end I didn't go to Clark Quay. I shall save it for another day. That day I'll have to do the photoshooting early, since the MICA building looks horrible during the evening due to the sun's angle.

Hmm there are some stuff which I saw today that reminds me of some memories..
1. Goldmine Cheesecake of NYDC-- I ate this. It's sooooo niceeeeeeeee. It still reminds me of the day where Steph got VG cd.. and how I wrapped it with newspaper to make its shape less obvious haha.
2. Temasek Tower- which is just beside Tanjong Pagar MRT. That's where MTVAsia's office is located. I won a contest before (Tixs for Jennifer Paige's gig) and so I went there with my Mom to collect it. That's the only time I've been there so far.
3. A stack of Sugarcanes- remind me of my Primary teacher who passes the whole class small pieces of sugarcane to try. That is the first time I saw a real sugarcane. I just bite it and I love the sweet juices on my mouth.

Okie, off to see the pictures. Later dudes :)

I didn't know it.

Hmm.. it's interesting today when I found out that Jeff Buckley, whose album "Grace" is one of my favourite albums, had died 9 years ago. Grace is officially his only proper album, the next album was reworked by the record company based on his demos. I have always thought that he is alive and that I always envision him as someone who looks rather like Damien Rice haha (beard included). Anyway, I'm wrong.

Hmm.. if you're wondering what song he sings, well one of them is "Hallelujah", which is a cover song. However, it's one of the most well-known cover of that song. You may have heard it in O.C Season 1's season finale, when Seth was sailing away with his ship.

Cheers.

Mr. Weather...

Why must you be cruel to me?
Why a sunny day today but not yesterday?
Why a perfect day at a time which I do not need?

Mr Weather, I hope you'll be kind this weekend.

Or else I'll call you Uncle Weather.. haha.

Amusing fact No. 3

According to Yahoo! Movies Singapore, both The Prestige and Harsh Times will be released on 27 October 2006.

Two Bale movies are being released on a single day.

Magnificent.

It's just a coincidence, isn't it?

Today, one of the strangest thing in my life happens. I went to Toa Payoh for photoshooting, and to my astonishment, some areas of it really resembles the scenes in which two of my dreams take place. First of all, when I saw the bus terminal, I was really surprised, since it really looks like a scene in my dream. In that dream, there was an exhibition going on in what I think is a shopping centre. The bus terminal really looks like the ground floor of that shopping centre O_O. And then... in the HDB hub, there was another suprise. The lobby is EXACTLY the same as a scene in another dream of mine. In that dream, I visited that place to collect my 'O' level results haha. I was really really shocked when I realised that I've been to HBD hub in my dream, unknowingly haha. Then... back to my first dream, there's a passageway in the HDB hub which reminds me of a passageway of the shopping centre. While the passageway in real life leads to many shops, the passageway in my dream only leads to a shop. It's like a shop in the building's backyard haha. This is sooooooooooooooooooooo weird.

I've seen a lot of nice trailers recently. Some movies that I'd like to watch:
1. Little Miss Sunshine
2. The Quiet
3. The Fountain
4. Monster's House
5. Black Dahlia
6. The Departed (to see if it's good and compare it with Infernal Affairs)
7. Children of Men
8. Charlotte's Web
.
.
9. The Prestige (How could I forget this haha)

Well, some of the movies are indie. Which means that they will most probably take a looong time to be released in Singapore. Since there are not any good movies now, other than Lake House which I plan to watch, I shall save the money to watch movies at the end of the year and the beginning of next year hehe.

I want to watch Hard Candy, but it's M18 :(

(Trailers available in Yahoo! Movies and Apple Trailers) Btw, I prefer Apple trailers haha.. I love Quicktime! Windows Media Player, you suck.

I almost forgot about another amusing event today. When I told my friends that I planned not to come to school on 8 August (because of National Day celebration), they asked me why. Then I said, "I want to pon lah!" To my amusement, everyone's eyes went wide and they all were like saying, "Ha, since when Olivia pon?" I was like HAHAHAHA. Everybody had the same shock expression when they found out about it hahaha. Watching their expressions really make me laugh.

I'm thrilled that Nolan has been confirmed to direct the Batman sequel ^^ And... to my delight, Heath Ledger has been cast as Joker. Hmm.. interesting choice. I wonder how the movie will turn out.

Hmm.. I watched Pirates of the Carribean last Sunday. It turns out good :) (and is reviewed below)

My term exam results suck. I so need to buck up.

Cheers, Olivia.
-------
Movie Reviews
Pirates of the Carribean: The Dead Man's Chest (7.0 stars out of 10)
Hmm... this movie turns out pretty good, one of the better movies I've seen this year. There are some memorable funny scenes in the movie. The fruit scene is particularly hilarious haha. The film becomes draggy towards the end though. Anyway, Johnny Depp's acting is superb. I just love how he really acts like a drunkard all the time haha.