we could save the world

doing my bid as an informed citizen
as part of my political critque of the upcoming singapore general elections, i would like to offer my findings as to why the people's action party has been in power for so many years.

has anyone looked at their logo recently?



i'm certain (not just fairly certain), that the lightning bolt symbolises the "wrath of god" complex that makes up an authoritarian politician. whenever i look at this symbol at the polling booths, i shall be reminded of just who i should vote for. less i be smited by the powers that be.

the worker's party has also tried jumping on the bandwagon. being the most succesful opposition party ever to contest in our general elections, it is no wonder that such success should be attributed to their symbol:



a hammer.

it's proven effective to the point that citizens would rather not be smited by a lightning bolt, than a casual bludgeoning on the skull with a flat-head hammer.

now if mindef ran for parliment, you know where my vote would go. the well oiled machine will spit paper bullets in the face of masak masak pencil pushing politics! brute force never harmed anyone.



plus they have a fairly harmless looking logo.

i had a good idea but there was no one there
ohh, i just made a delicious batch of carbonara, but there was no one there to share it with. it does get you down sometimes, i'm not indestructable.

art attack
what is art these days? i find myself staring at this question now because it's such a fluid and abstract question. so many mediums to think of, so many ways to express oneself. visually, aurally, sensually.. when one looks at my blogs and sees the purple background, the letters which form words and in a certain order form sentences and through semiotics we derive meaning from language, is this a piece of art? is this an important piece of art? i think the blog is transient, and despite all the steps i've taken to personalise it, one fine day the blogging server will crash and all will be lost. an d i will not shed a tear because what was created was always made to deconstruct. or at least in our flawed world, it can't be built to last. but that's just a nihilistic side of me talking. my spirit soars because it believes in the afterlife, of the infiniteness of a heaven far beyond our imagination of good. whatever it can be, it'll be better. how could we comprehend the immenseness of never ever having a ceiling?

what to have the weight of the world on your shoulders
and how are you today? i've finally gotten my hands on the new feeder and arctic monkeys and they're both killer albums. its just inspiring me to expand my musical horizons and play with more people and be involved in more projects. i would love to be the nathan east of my local indie rock scene. and nathan east is my new bass hero just because of his professional ethic. its not just how well you play, but how in demand you are and how much you get to play, because when you perform, that's when you contribute back to your community and that's where you can effect a change as well.

things i always never asked myself
i know i've griped about sucking at chinese before, and especially when i was still studying it. but one thing i never understood was that we were only allowed the use of a chinese to chinese dictionary in our essay writing exams. if i already suck at chinese, what makes anyone think that by reading a dictionary about the language i'm going to understand any better? but i suppose the same can be said about people who don't understand english and use an english to english dictionary. but you see my point.

Dummy Load

Dummy Load


a fine snap by folkstar.

we shot off 100ft of super 16mm film in a Bolex camera. can't remember the film stock but i'll put it up if i remember.

and i don't tell you fantastic stories
for starters, i was driving to a friend's house in the morning and it was raining pretty badly. i don't know if its anything to be concerned with, but fast black cars here don't seem to switch on their headlights in the rain. i squint thru my rear view just to make sure that the black car didn't vanish alarmingly into my blind spot like an oversugared kid that found its lolipop into your ear.

month long festivities
i blog when i get up in the morning.

rejoice!
i have broadband.

for starters
again, long absence. i'm starting to get used to this, i hope you are too. its not that blogging has lost its appeal, but due to a lack of an internet connection, plus exceptionally lazy bones, its easier to not come online and type on a whim's fancy.

anyhows, my broadband is currently being processed right now so it should only be a matter of time before you start seeing me online more often.

our easter production came and went smoothly. i for one am glad to be over that stress, so much so that i've just been bumming the last three days. its not healthy to bum three days in a row, but i might be on to something here. anyhow, i suppose life doesn't neccesarily wait for you while you wait for life to slow downn. awww shucks.

River Of Words

River Of Words


a fine snap by folkstar.

i've been editing since twelve this afternoon. its funny how i don't have that stamina for writing essays, but putting images together, wow.. i could go abit more. my eyes are tired, but i like a tad how things are turning out. wish i could spend more time on it though, correcting the feel of it all, but its due for easter production tomorrow already. time to trust God with it.

i'm really psyched that i finally found the name of the song which concave scream played at last year's baybeats. it's called Horizons and its the title track on their new album. wonderfully ethereal, i almost believe everything he's singing about.

Horizons
it's been a long time
it's been a long time coming
held my breath too long
got to get back to the surface

rain rain go away
bring back the sun

pacifist bedwetters
oh hello. is it disturbing to walk around uni minding your own buisness and have this phrase creep itself into your thoughts?

anyway, i've been having this thought in my head lately. it's a rather random thought that just planted itself into me but i can feel it growing, or so i imagine. basically, i'm just slightly torn up wondering what my life would be like if i didnt have a concience like that of a christian. basically, i guess what i'm trying to say is that, i'd have been a lot more self-serving the past few years, and i could have had everything my flesh desired if i did not follow the path God had set before me.

it's a tought call, because aren't i supposed to be over this phase of my old self? or is it always the case that every once in awhile, something resurfaces so that you have to deal with? i suppose that's the case, we're saved all at once back when we first accepted Jesus, but is that when we are made perfect, or does it take as long as it takes till we meet him?

anyway, just as i typed all that out, i believe the holy spirit reminded me that even if i gained the entire world, what would it mean if i forfieted my soul? i'm thankful for the reminder, it puts things into perspective. it's a line we walk, sometimes its wide and clear, sometimes its thin and not really there. but i suppose its how closes we walk to it that determines just how well we see that line.

juice machine
i'd like to own a juice machine once in my life and drink fresh fruit juice in the morning or perhaps after dinner. i have grand visions of it being one of those cool retro-60s styled silver ones with matte black or pastel blue trimmings. i would make apple, orange and carrot juice for its delicate balance between sweets and vitamins and a source of keratin. this also allows me to not cook my fuits and vegetables, allowing a tasty treat in the blink of an eye. yes, i will get one of those juicers that are as easy to wash as they are to juice your end hand by plunging it into the juicing hole thingamebob. juice comes out!

also, my trust 80gig pocketdrive has decided to clunk out on me, meaning quite possibly i've lost my 22++ gigs worth of music. but after panicking for an hour, i'm quite at peace with the loss. i'm actually quite looking forward to putting a brand new collection together. i always knew this day would come, but it still gave me a stirring in my pants. anyhow, the flow of such things is temporal, we can't always have it forever, such is the lesson of life. and so, with each loss comes new gain.

i watched sigur ros on sunday and it was a very mind-blowing experience. they opened their set with a gigantic cloth covering the front of the stage. from behind, lights flashed in succession and from behind sillhouetes burst onto the white screen at different intervals, larger than life, in different positions. it was such an extravagant play of light coupled with their majestic music and wonderously beautiful noise, i wonder if this is what it feels like to look into the eyes of a loved one.

our easter production is really taking shape as well, and i'm really excited to see it lifted off the ground. and i also can't wait to see how God is going to show up. i'm really tired right now, physically, but i hope my soul isn't shorted out as well, just need something to sustain me thru this week.

a funny conversation
probably the funniest thing i heard all day (names removed the preserve identity):
husband : hey did you see zach?
wife : i thought he was with you?
husband : oh

so today i finally shot two pretty important scenes for our easter production. things are going smoothly, thank God for giving us great weather, great lighting! and great cast and crew, everyone just pulling their weight and doing your darndest. it inspires me. if any of you are reading this, it inspires me, something i find sorely lacking these days. but i'm glad to be proven wrong. thank the good Lord.

in about two hours time, i'm gonna see sigur ros with jo, and i just know its gonna be awesome! well, hopefully i won't fall asleep, their music tends to do that as well. hehehe.

well, i've been told my phoneline's finally getting set up on thursday, so soon i'll be on the internet in my own home! yessssssssssssssss...

OMFGBBQ n00b!!11!!

OMFGBBQ n00b!!11!!


a fine snap by folkstar.

i kinda miss the folks back home in spore. dunno why this strange sense of nostalgia.. must be all the black and white photos flashing in my head.

take me back
back to better days
because this time in between is wasting me away
take me back
we were not afraid
because this time in between is wasting me away
- story of the year, take me back

no, i'm not really emo. but the lyrics kind of jumped out from the tv when i was watching their music video.

shadows and light
ohhh... i haven't been you for awhile, but don't worry, i'm still very much alive. just in uni now to dump some footage which isn't really going so well. gahh, technology and me. in other news, there are some updates on emo rangers, so for a good laugh head on down there.

i'm really maxed out with my workload and doing video for my easter production, but yes, i am skiving by coming online and sending a message to all of you. i haven't been online much, and this feels like my one and only outlet to a world outside of perth.

i've been bad today, was feeling very nochalant driving to school because of the immense day ahead, and when i wanted to change lanes and signalled, the car on my right lane didn't wanna slow down, and he didn't seem like he was accelerating much either. anyway, against my better judgement i just heck cared him and took his lane because my turn was coming up. anyhow, that earned me a universal greeting, some profanities which i couldn't hear over my nochalant loud music and possibly 10,000 points in the "asians can't drive in australia vs. people who think asians can't drive but in reality they are the ones who drive like crap" world championships. who's keeping score?

anyhow, i really feel terrible, like an emo ranger i just wanna crrrrryyyyyyy my enemies away. bugger, just feel like a bad driver, or that someday those clowns will lynch my car or me. well, thank goodness western australia is a massive place. hopefully they're from geraldton or bunbury and here on a road trip, so i'll probably never have to see them again. with my luck, they're probably my neighbours or something.

shafts of light bleeding in thru the crevices of our minds' eyes
i wish i never saw the sun
the maybe i wouldn't mind the rain
oh this pain
- beth orton

the lyrics were especially poignant as i drove home today. it's not that i've been having emotions acting up on me, but it's one of those clearer than crystal moments just where you are in your life with regards to your relationships with people. as i drove home, maybe i finally knew where i stood with everybody, or everything. this grounding, where with our two feet on the ground, we actually know where we are. that knowledge of place, time and space, and the course that needs to be directed. can't fully describe it, but it allowed me to stop being paranoid about most things.

the thought of nationality has been on my mind of late. i really love it here, the pace and standard of living, the church, the friends. the food could be improved, but i would much rather bring a family up here and retire here than in singapore. but could i ever call myself australian? i don't know, if i married one, maybe, i don't really know what it'll take, but for now... singapore is where i draw my roots from. my identity is still as that as singaporean.

a few years ago, these things wouldn't have mattered, because i was young, and ill-informed. is a geographical location really important? is nationality important? isn't it just government propaganda. it's all that, but there's more to it now that i'm growing up.

i believe that having a nationality is akin to that bearing i was talking about earlier. it questions your place in this world, and allows you to participate in a manner that is more interactive in that, it draws something else more latent within you. it's important because it gives you a set of values, and purpose, what you strive for. if not for king and country, than for family and friends. it's not patriotic gibberish, but really something humanistic. what makes us human? when we are perhaps threatened by extra terrestrials, then we'll see our human race calling ourselves the human race.

so.. i'll probably be home in spore for awhile before doing what next for my life.

where everything is a lie
today is april fool's day. someone has yet to play a prank on me. not that many people have, but.. y'know, just for festivities sake? i should really be careful what i type for. hurmmmm.

yesterday at our church's corporate prayer meeting, as i responded to how God was dealing with me. as i extended those hands in surrender, i could just feel the spirit within my fingers uncurl the hold that they had on various unseen things in my life. perhaps striking was the holding on to my religion as well. i think, even though, that while we are all saved and rescued by the blood of the lamb, sometimes when we're not careful, we just hold on unseemingly to a lie that we can, or are also actually supposed to save our lives through good works, good behaviour, or in the christian context, doing the church.

now all this is below the concious level, for me, perhaps it was that God was teaching me the total and complete surrender of such misgivings. and with surrender comes the teaching of faith, as well as the knowledge of his ways and reasons.

we're somewhat like containers, and God can't put more of his annointing in us as vessels if we are only holding on to the old thoughts of the old flesh.