Episode 141: Avenue Q

I was just one bus short of missing my 11.21 am train to London. Should probably pay more attention to the bus schedules in future. Anyway, I finally managed to finish reading Frederick Crews's Postmodern Pooh on the way down. Brilliant satire, which anyone who's ever been frustrated by literary theory and criticism should read. Decided to buy myself an Oyster card, as well as link it my 16-25 Railcard. That didn't go so well initially, as the linking process was screwed up somehow, which meant that the bloody barrier just refused to open for me! Got that fixed, and headed down to Charing Cross from Euston, and then grabbed lunch at the nearby Subway. Texted Eugene, and he told me to stay around the area and walk to his lecture with him, which I ended up crashing. Sat through an hour that was less enlightening than you would suppose, and which also reminded me of just how 'overeducated' Singaporean students are compared to their overseas counterparts. Spotted Wilson in the centre of the room, but didn't have time to say hello because we were going over to the LSE Garrick to meet Claudia, Peter and Tsz San for a late tea. Judith popped by randomly, and so we all sat there for about two hours, engaging in conversation that at times veered into rather bizarre territory!

As we still had loads of time to kill, Eugene and I had a nice three-course dinner. Well, mine was nice. He didn't like his fish. I totally loved my lemon sorbet, even if I do agree that it smells too much like dishwashing liquid. So finally, the main event of the day: Avenue Q was wicked! I loved it. The two of us had only the vaguest ideas of what it would be like, and I like how they've taken something like Sesame Street and sexed it up. The first song would have been really distressing ('What Do You Do With A BA In English/It Sucks To Be Me') if I weren't already bonded. Couple that with the link Eugene Chan posted on my Facebook wall, and it's enough to make you want to switch majors. The actual plot isn't anything to rave about, but it will certainly strike a chord with its target demographic. It really is the kind of production that one must possess a sense of humour in order to view though, otherwise one is just liable to end up being sanctimonious about the whole thing. Am crashing for the night at Shou Jie's place again, which he so kindly offered. No more getting mugged while snoozing on a bench. Yay!

Episode 140: Milk

Went to see Milk at the Arts Centre with Daniel because I saw his Facebook status and decided on a whim to get out of my room rather than do work. Went to the Library to return the John Berryman poetry that I hadn't read (for the second time), and picked up a couple of books on Stoppard in exchange. Shall have to do some serious work on my essay over Friday to Sunday, which means I really need to finish my fiction by Thursday. No luck with ideas so far. Anyway, Milk was excellent. I'd had no idea who Harvey Milk was until I heard about the film, but between seeing it and looking him up on Wikipedia, I'm seriously impressed. The determination it took to do what he did, despite failing multiple times, is incredible. What I found patently ridiculous, on the other hand, was the 'Twinkie defense' coined to get Dan White off the hook. Sure, junk food is bad for you, but claiming it makes you murder people? That's more like something from an episode of Fringe than real life. My only quibble is that there didn't seem to be sufficient motivation for the double murder. Anger perhaps, but killing? I'm not sure. Perhaps I'm just missing something?

Episode 139: Pizazz 2009

So I woke up late and didn't make it to church this morning. No surprises there, considering that I got back to my room past 3 am. So after a shower, I spent the afternoon searching for promo remixes of The Saturdays' singles, 'If This Is Love', 'Up' and 'Issues'. They're one of the few groups whose remixes don't sound like the original songs have been put through a blender, emerging completely unrecognisable. If anything, the remixing actually enhances the songs, making them even more dancefloor-friendly than they already are. Headed over to AV1 because Yong Long said some of them might be going to Pizazz too. Only realised it was snowing when I was about to walk out the door, so everything was white and pretty while I was walking over, but it was horribly cold! Bumped into Sophie on the way to the bus stop, seeing her friends off. The bus to Leamington Spa took ages to arrive, but we still made it to the Royal Spa Centre just a few minutes after the performance had started. Pizazz itself was interesting, if somewhat confusingly eclectic because of the way they just moved from item to item without any sort of explanation. An emcee would have been helpful, I think. We trudged through the slush after that, looking for a place that did takeaways. We found Leamington Fish Bar, but I can't figure out why with a name like that it features things other than fish and chips so heavily on its menu. Not really complaining though, since the guy gave us extra chicken pieces! Chips and mozzarella wasn't that good an idea on my part though...

Episode 138: Malaysia Night 2009

I thought the production went well, although being backstage, you can't really see all that much without shoving your head through the curtains. That said, I've already seen it a couple of times during rehearsals anyway. I'm glad most of the props transitions went smoothly! Have decided being a stagehand isn't really my kind of thing though, but at least not I've tried almost every role in a stage production, except for producer and technician, the former because I have no idea what it entails, the latter because I have no talent for it. Clearing the place after the end of the production was more chaotic, so I disappeared with the Singaporean bits of cast and crew after moving some of the props, without seeing how it was all finally sorted out. We were originally going to Lava & Ignite, and we actually walked all the way there from the Belgrade Theatre, but we changed our minds in the end and caught a bus back to Jerrick's place in Lakeside. Not before ordering ourselves some Go Go Fried Chicken though! That stuff is addictive, even if the fries do kind of suck. Some of the Malaysians drove over too, and we all wound up sitting around the table in Jerrick's kitchen, eating, talking and occasionally, bitching. Altogether quite a nice way to round things off, even if it did mean walking home in the freezing cold sometime past 3 am!

Episode 137: New iTunes Candy!

Just got back from another Malaysia Night rehearsal. Am now eating a late dinner and watching The Tudors. Seminar this morning was cancelled, as I predicted to Alex last night, so I spent the morning looking for Sugababes songs, since I realised that 'About You Now', which we were singing and miming actions to last night at Varsity, is one of their songs. Never knew that! That and I've always sort of liked their music, right from when they first started out. They were just one of the groups that I never felt the need to follow with any measure of devotion. In the process of searching for their songs, I also came across an excellent pop album by The Saturdays. Chasing Lights is sheer brilliance from start to finish, the sort that melds the formulaic sounds of the previous decade with the electronic sensibilities of today, to create a perfect pop confection. Definitely going to be on my playlist for a significant period of time to come! If either of my sisters are reading this, they should totally have a listen to The Saturdays. Perhaps we'll finally have another pop group we can all agree that we like?

Episode 136: More Cancellations

The title about sums up what the entire academic week is shaping up to be. It's somewhat amazing that in a developed country, the infrastructure is so susceptible to the weather. Even if the UK isn't used to experiencing this much snowfall, you'd think they'd have planned for this sort of thing. Like I was discussing with Eugene via SMS, there really are some aspects in which Singapore is vastly superior, which we take completely for granted and only realise once we're overseas. Will spring never arrive? Have booked my tickets to London and back, by train and coach respectively, to see Avenue Q with Eugene on Tuesday. Am hoping the weather clears up by then, otherwise it's going to be a miserable journey back on Wednesday morning, provided I even make it back. Still need to find somewhere to sleep overnight. The station, perhaps? I could find a place to sit down with a drink and get some serious reading done. As for our weekly Varsity outing, you didn't think snowfall would keep us from it, did you? Most of the usual crowd was back, once again with new additions. Have discovered that I quite like VK Tropical, although it's a bad idea to follow that with Jack Daniels and Coke, as the latter winds up tasting a bit too bitter. Nonetheless, fun times to be had. Who'll be around during Reading Week to carry on our tradition, I wonder?

Episode 135: Dry Run

A notice on the university's website warns us to expect severe weather tomorrow, i.e. heavy snow. Hopefully, that doesn't screw up our weekly Varsity outing. I've just finished writing my French essay, and I can't believe I actually managed to get it done before 11 pm! Had to skip China's lecture and workshop for the Malaysia Night dry run, which was a little annoying. I'd hoped to make it for the workshop at least, but people were late and everything got delayed, so I was basically there to move a few tables and chairs, as not all the props were on hand today. Not that I mind all that much, but I really would have liked to have been around to witness my writing being dissected. Maureen Freely said nice things about the fiction piece I read out this morning, which was reassuring, as I didn't really know if it worked or not. At least now I've got a pretty good idea of what's an appropriate standard of writing to be aiming for. Might very well finish my EN124 assessed work before the EN123 essay on Stoppard's Travesties, which I seriously need to read sometime during Reading Week, now that I've decided to do the essay on it. Have already picked up a couple of books, and the essays in them sound potentially useful, so it's time to do what I apparently do best, i.e. stitch together a patchwork of critical opinion to support a carefully nuanced thesis in less than 24 hours.

Episode 134: Volver

Not as much snow today, so hopefully the weather's taking a turn for the better. Can't quite picture us shivering outside Varsity on Thursday night, can you? Bought a couple of Keith's pictures from Tiffanie, so even if I never get a copy of Yong Long's video, I still have something to remember The Culture Project by beyond my script. Saw yet another Pedro Almodóvar film this evening, Volver (Return), courtesy of KPMG. It was also my first time attending anything screened by Warwick Student Cinema, even though I've been a member all this time. There were free pizza and drinks after the screening too! I really liked Penélope Cruz in this film. She has that beautifully frayed look throughout it, hinting at the cracks even as she struggles to keep it all together. Went to see it with Annie, Dan, Kathy, Lucy and Sophie. We might have ourselves yet another tradition in the making. Films. Haha! We stood in the freezing cold for quite a while, just talking. It ended with hugs all around, altogether a rather nice way to end a night out with friends. Now though, I'm stuck in my room, trying to finish my work for tomorrow's seminar. I know vaguely what I want to write, and at this point, I'm pretty much willing to settle for second-rate, even third-rate, writing, just to have something to read out tomorrow.

Episode 133: More Drama

More housing drama, which means we've had to change our plans yet again. Sigh. I'm getting tired of this, and I'm pretty close to that point that I didn't want to reach, where I'm ready to just sign on the dotted line for anything, so long as it means I've got somewhere to stay after the summer. Once again, alternative plans have been mapped out, hopefully for the very last time. Even I need my peace of mind at some point! Will attempt to get all of this sorted before Reading Week. Otherwise, I won't be able to do any of my work in peace. I'm now typing out my piece on a numinous object for China's workshop on Wednesday. I've chosen snowflakes! Was going to go with flames and how you can change the colours, as that was one of my favourite chemistry experiments back in RI, but since it started snowing really heavily today, I decided to do snowflakes instead. It was snowing the entire time that I was pasting stickers in the Arts Centre. Was there for a couple of hours, the only STAR who turned up. Chantal came by for a while to help, and I stayed on until all the stickers were used up. Then I got a bit lost trying to get back out, so I had to go back up to the office and ask for help. Goodness. It's like an entire warren behind that door! Keeping a place like the Warwick Arts Centre running must take an enormous amount of work. I would attempt to get an internship there over the summer, if I weren't already heading back to Singapore to do one in some random school.

Episode 132: Singapore Society CNY Dinner

Went to Iceland and Tesco after service to get some microwaveable meals and chips. It started to snow today, heavily enough to be disconcerting. Snowfall is predicted for at least the next couple of days! Decided to cook a batch of pasta large enough to feed me for a few meals. Have kept it in the fridge, so I'll probably eat it on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday, together with one of the ready-made meals. Spent the rest of the time before the CNY dinner at Wing Wah just bumming. I know I should be writing my piece for Weird Fiction. Or for Maureen's seminar on Wednesday. Or even that short French essay, which I'm almost certain to end up staying awake till way past midnight just to complete. (I could just pretend I haven't printed it out, I guess.) Shirley got me to try Geo Challenge on Facebook. Admittedly, the application is addictive at first, but I can see the novelty of it wearing off, just like with My Heroes Ability (and every other application I've ever added). Didn't eat that much at Wing Wah this time, even though the buffet's full of ridiculously unhealthy stuff that I like. There was even steamboat, but that wasn't very nice, to be honest. A huge platter of food for a rather small pot of stock, which was replenished by plain water. Now that was a little strange, no? The dinner entertainment was good though, striking just the right note of hilarity. Marc has brilliant comic timing, although the amount of bad karma he must have accumulated after what he did to Wayne. Haha! Chloe, Peng Kun and I played mahjong with Samantha after dinner, but she's so slow! I think I might have to start playing mahjong online again, but that would just be another distraction from reading and writing, which I do precious little of as it is. Walking back to the bus stop in the cold was not fun at all! Can't imagine what it's going to be like tomorrow if it really does start snowing...