Episode 1083: Australian TV Holds Its Own

Have just watched the finale of Torchwood: Miracle Day. Won't spoil it for people in the UK, except to say that it wasn't very satisfying. Kind of like the rest of this fourth series, to be honest. Oh, emotionally speaking, it was plucking all the right strings by the end so any attempts at processing the plot logically were stymied (this is a typical Doctor Who/Torchwood tactic), but I agree with the critics who're saying that compared to Torchwood: Children Of Earth, Torchwood: Miracle Day doesn't feel focused enough, despite its arguably even more epic scale. In short, too many threads that 10 episodes couldn't wrap up sufficiently. (That's what the emotional climax was intended to distract the audience from, obviously.) Thing is, I really liked how epic everything was, and that the sociopolitical elements got so, so, so unsubtle. Oh well. We'll see if this one comes back for a fifth series, Starz co-production or not. Meanwhile, I've been discovering interesting Australian TV productions. SLiDE and Wild Boys, to be exact. The former is the Australian Skins, but much more light-hearted, and consequently, even more enjoyable. The only weird thing is that it's set in Brisbane, which hardly strikes you as the wildest place in Australia, right? The latter is about, well, bushrangers. Surprisingly entertaining, thanks to the soapy elements.

Episode 1082: At The Races

Call me crazy, but I just don't get the appeal of horse racing. Each race lasts about two minutes at most, but in between, you wait about half an hour while the course gets smoothed down. I suppose you could occupy the time by figuring out which horse(s) to bet on? Well, at least now I can say I've been inside the Singapore Turf Club. Dad got invited to view the races because of his PPS Club membership, so I tagged along just for the hell of it. I have to admit, the air-conditioned comfort of the Bukit Box up here beats jostling with all the old uncles down there. Still, there isn't much point in this sort of exclusivity. After all, don't such things only have cache if other people can see you enjoy them? Give me the feeling of walking to the most expensive seating block in a theatre any day! (Or should that be evening?) I'll say though, there's at least one of Barbarella's fellow SPGs here. Yeah, so I might be shamelessly stereotyping, but if you could hear her speak, you would totally agree with my assessment. (She's not even pretty! Facially mismatched people are a private pet peeve of mine. I know it's shallow, but I like to think we're all of us entitled to our tiny shallownesses here and there.)

Episode 1081: Visa Posted...

Blogger's got a snazzy new interface, although I'm not entirely sure if I like it. It's just part of the makeover that Google is giving to its products. On a tangential note, Google+ seems to be dying, for my anyway. I mean, I really like the interface, but I don't really have enough friends on Google+ to make it a viable competitor with Facebook for my social networking time. What little of it there is anyway, I spent way less time on places like Facebook and Twitter than I used to. I got an e-mail from Manila today, saying that my visa was being posted, so I guess I'll be able to collect it by tomorrow, Monday at the latest. Flight's sorted as well, paid a tiny amount to fly SQ rather than BA (for some reason, no QF flights were offered in the Pricebreaker quotation this time). Would have preferred to arrive on the Saturday of Freshers' Weekend, but I guess campus will be just as hectic on Sunday. I hope the people in my hall are nice. (What are postgraduate students supposed to be like anyway, right?) Wonder how many will be people like me, going straight on from a Bachelor's, and how many will be comparatively maturer students. To be fair, I'm probably going to be closer in age to those 'mature' students myself!

Episode 1080: More Singaporeans Need To Read Troy Chin's The Resident Tourist!

Have finally finished Part 5 of The Resident Tourist, and am now more convinced than ever that a lot of my friends will enjoy the series, even identify with it. Since it's autobiographical, the narrative gets quite meta at times, which I like. Here's hoping that there'll be a Part 6, since Part 5 ended on a cliffhanger of sorts. Speaking of which, Troy himself actually seems like the kind of guy I could be friends with. As for what I'm going to read next, I'm thinking of switching gears entirely and picking up that Ox-Tales series of short stories I picked up at Oxfam a while back. Still trying to get through more issues of Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, of course. Anyway, I just watched another episode of Party Down because I want to finish off the series, but I really can't comprehend why Nick Chen insisted at the Summer Party that it's better than Community. Was he being deliberately contrarian? Or is his sense of humour so diametrically different from mine? On a somewhat related note, the number of TV shows I have on hand (past and present) may have gone past what can feasibly be viewed while holding down a steady job, even if I no longer find new shows to follow in the future (which is impossible).

Episode 1079: Visa Application Done!

Went down to Robison Road to submit my application. Whole process couldn't have taken more than 15 minutes, including waiting time. Hopefully, the approval will happen just as smoothly, within five working days if not less. Don't see any reason why it shouldn't anyway! I was quite amused that the guy who collected payment for the application actually rearranged all the notes so that they were facing the right way up. Just like I would have done. Haha! MRT was pretty empty on the way home, which suited me just fine. Am finally on Part 5 of The Resident Tourist, not sure what I'll read next. I'm in the mood for something breezy, so I might finally pick up one of the urban fantasy novels I bought over the past year. If they're anything like Jim Butcher's The Dresden Files, I could go through one a day at the least. It's either going to be Mike Carey or Kate Griffin, in this case. Carey's novels are shorter, but there are more of them, and I don't want to start a series and then have to stop midway because I'm flying back to the UK and don't want to carry unnecessary books back with me.

Episode 1078: New Bookshelf!

My new Scanteak bookshelf arrived today and is now completely filled. I'm going to have to shuffle books around to accommodate the ones that are still in the UK though. Having shelved everything, I think I can say that given my current reading speed and the amount of time I have for reading, both of which are more likely than not to decrease in the coming years rather than increase, I think I'm well past the point at which I own more books than I'll ever read in my lifetime. Have also finally got around to completing my visa application! Heading down to the centre tomorrow to pay for the application and send all the paperwork off, as I realised that if I didn't get this done tomorrow, I might not get my passport back before the Wednesday after next, when I need it to exchange for a pass to get into the MND Complex for my agreement signing! I know, I should have got the visa done sooner. Oh well, apparently these days, practically all applications are successfully processed in five working days, so here's hoping mine won't be the exception...

Episode 1077: Leading Worship After One Year...

First time leading worship at COGS in more than a year and it felt great to be back! Nearly lost my voice after practice from singing the bridges of 'Awakening' repeatedly, but managed to last till the end of service. Ironically, because Communion ended so quickly today, we didn't even get around to playing 'Awakening'. It's okay though, since I'm leading again in two weeks with the same band, and it's a Communion Sunday again. Honestly wondering if it'll be a better idea to lower the key of the song from D to C, now that everyone's more familiar with how the riffs go. Don't want to kill myself trying to hit the top note in the bridges again, even though F above middle C is usually within my range. I think Chris Tomlin sings it in F on And If Our God Is For Us..., which is just madness! Maybe I'll e-mail the musicians and ask if they don't mind relearning the riffs in C for two weeks' time. On the other hand, if we're only doing it as a Communion song, it wouldn't be a complete disaster if I kept it in the higher key, right? (Update: I've just been repeatedly bitten by what looks like an Aedes mosquito. Hello, dengue fever...)

Episode 1076: 10 Years, Seriously?!

So I finally saw the summer finale of Pretty Little Liars, which blew my mind. For a show ostensibly aimed primarily at tweens (it is aired on ABC Family after all), the plotting can get surprisingly, well, adult. The key revelation of the episode was such a surprise precisely because it didn't come as much of a surprise, given the events on the show till now, so it was pretty bold of the writers to go in this direction. No idea how the reveal of A's identity is handled in the book series, but I'm sure the twist can't be as good as what's on the TV series, assuming the two have diverged sufficiently by now. Anyway, I've finally got around to doing my online visa application, only to be thwarted by the section that asks for your immigration history over the past 10 years. Seriously, a decade? There wasn't even space in the online form for entering details of half of the total number of times I've been in and out of Singapore over the past 10 years. I've managed to list down all my trips though, and it turns out you can just key in the most recent trips and write out additional ones by hand on the printout of the online application form. As for reading, I've reached Part 4 of Troy Chin's The Resident Tourist, and I can safely say that lots of my friends who've lived overseas for a few years (and even some who haven't, like Shirley) will be able to identify with it. So head over to his site and support a local talent!

Episode 1075: Good New Shoes!

Guess Vital.org really was just waiting for the actual offer letter from Warwick, as I was contacted about my signing today. Dad can't make it on the date they scheduled, so it's been postponed by a week. Probably should try and get my visa done this week then. Randomly, the new pair of shoes I bought from Aldo last week is very comfortable, among the best impulse shoe decisions I've ever made. Plus it's in a mix of dark colours, perfect for the griminess of winter slush, unlike the white pair of Diesel shoes that I would wear more often if they didn't get dirty so easily. Guess I'm still going to bring them back though, just to have another footwear option. I've been thinking about getting another pair of Havianas too, but it keeps slipping my mind when I'm out. Anyway, having seen the latest episode of Suits, I think it's safe to say it's my favourite show from the USA network. Yeah, it ranks above Covert Affairs, and definitely Royal Pains, which to be honest, has kind of hit a slump. The characters are still likeable, but the overarching storyline seems to have hit a brick wall, in terms of being interesting and getting consistently developed. Maybe the winter block of episodes will show an improvement?

Episode 1074: TV Shows Almost Completely Restored!

I read the first part of Troy Chin's The Resident Tourist on the way down to NUS to meet Bernard, to pick up the books he bought on my behalf. Didn't take long, so might try to read the remaining four parts tonight. Found myself echoing the sentiments expressed in it, which is partly why I wanted to buy the series anyway, I guess. Then I went to Boon Lay to borrow Eugene Chan's hard drive, so now I've recovered almost 100% of my shows. (Who knows when I'll have time to watch them all?) Joined the rush hour crush on the way back, but it doesn't seem as bad as I recall it from last year. I suppose things will improve as more lines open, like the remaining stretch of the Circle Line. I'm sure Singaporeans will continue complaining if they don't. With the 'new normal' being proclaimed in local politics, looks like the compact between governing and governed is being revised in favour of the latter, although I do agree with government figures who urge Singaporeans to be more reasonable in their demands. On a related note, congratulations to Dr Tony Tan on being sworn in as the new President of Singapore!