甲午战争

This is not about three kingdoms anymore. I think I have more or less said what I wanted to say about that era....

'When there is nothing left to say, the only thing left to say is goodbye' -H.K.T.

During the Jiawu year of Qing Dynasty, Japan attacked China. (Japan was in the heat of things with the Meiji Reformation, becoming a strong country that subsequently defeated Russia in another war)

Due to the over-reliance on foreign negotiations with America and the rest of the western countries, China lost as everybody wanted to stand by the side and watch.....

Li Hongzhang was blamed entirely for the war as he was the one that had great confidence of foreign diplomatic ties....

But I dont think that he was the only person to blame..... Empress Dowager Cixi insisted on building the Summer Palace for her own birthday, pinning the national treasury under the huge weight of the expense......China had no money to buy powerful arms

I think sometimes fate is not fair to great men..... Li Hongzhang was a great man..... but was incapacitated by situation

I learnt this theory from Liang Qichao, Kang Youwei's outstanding student..... And I agree....

My point is?

Fate is not fair to great men.... Situations are never kind to capable men.....

More History stuff soon.... Haha

I Don't Want To Sleep Alone

No.

I didnt went to watch Tsai Ming Liang's new film 'I Don't Want To Sleep Alone'

I admire his ideas about film and film making, but unfortunately, his films are about the real world and they can be quite painful to watch..... Life is in fact quite mundane and painful, so why pay and enter the cinema to watch something that you experience every other day?

Haha.

This blog post is titled like that simply because I really dont want to sleep alone. Haha

The first two papers of my exams just finished. Phew.....

The question for my film art exam was on Wong Kar Wai's 'In the mood for love' While watching the excerpt for the question, I really felt like crying.....

I seriously think 'In the mood for love' is really one of the best art films in the world..... And argubly Wong Kar Wai's best film till now..... Unless you want to argue about 'Ashes of Time' or 'Days of being wild' both of which I only managed to watch snippets

'Feelings can creep up just like that' - Li Zhen (Maggie Cheung, In the mood for love)

我怀念的，是无话不说
我怀念的，是一起作梦
我怀念的，是争吵以后还是想要爱你的冲动
我记得那年生日，也记得那一首歌.......

Someone said my blog is getting very sentimental and sappy.....Maybe it is..... I mean how long can you complain about the unfair and dumb things that you see people doing everyday.....

Teenage angst has to melt away somehow when you are an adult..... Haha

终于发现自己，已经不在乎你，
原来分手也能如此安宁.....

I think everyone should buy a copy of Yanzi's new album..... You will learn to love her.....

I love her melancholic rock sounds. (飘着）Haha

What a random blog posting. Haha

那我们在这里一起等死好吗？

副将来说：

丞相，撤军时间逼近，还是做好撤退的准备吧。

我一言不发，默默观星。明知时辰以到，可是心中只有一句"舍不得"。

副将再说：

丞相不撤，兵马必损。

我还是沉默。

副将再说：

既然丞相不肯，那我们就不撤。我们陪丞相在这里一起等死，好吗？

Tomorrow I will take to the battlefields.....

If I die on the battlefields, tell my mom I'm sorry

Tell Laura I loved her.

And I still do

Victory

Today was rushing into another round of editing madness......

There will probably never be an end to all the technical adjustments that I made to the short film.....

And we are still editing 15min before the screening start.... Haha.... ridiculous

And there is one more round of editing tomorrow before I finally let go of it.

Some of the feedback by the lecturer and and teaching assistants after the 'film festival'.

"Some clever parts and moments"

"Humourous. I enjoyed it"

"Hungry paid tribute to all the films (in our module) about alienation" (others intentionally paid tribute to only one or two films. So I was quite surprised when my lecturer said this. Actually, I didnt think much about paying tribute to any film but I modelled my film according to some directorial styles that we have studied)

'This film has the best acting'

"Other films are marred by bad acting, bad enuncitation but your actors are good"(Thanks once again to my cast)

"The lines are cleverly written"

"The anime was well used but the part can be more well tied in with the rest of the story. The hand drawn ones are no good"

"I liked the way the film ended"

'Can tell alot of effort and passion was put in. It came across"

"One of the top three films. I am going to give it a good grade"

I am very happy that it was well received. Please don't call me proud.... Okay lah actually I am quite But allow me my moments.

I really like this film very much because really alot of effort, thoughts, ideas were placed into the film......

So allow me my moments. Yah

AND for the LAST TIME, stupid tangekleng, this is not my OWN life story for goodness sake.

Its entirely based on imagination

Dancing in the Room

Yes.

In less than 12 hours my short film is going for a world premiere in NUS LT10.

So excited and proud (insert proud face here) when I saw my film's name on the list......

Hope the rest are not better than mine. Haha. Just joking..... Hope to see something quite different actually... So that I can learn something new......

Lately I keep dancing in my room..... Because Yanzi's music is really too irresistible not to dance to

Yah.... Its Gucci-Gucci. Haha

When I am not happy, Yanzi keeps me company..... When I am happy, Yanzi lifts me further.....

燕姿在我心里排第一。Haha

Last Friday met up with two very cheapskate girls Nat and Karin to teach them Genes and Society..... Don't understand why people take modules that they simply not interested in..... Easy to bid is not a reason to take the module anyway.... Haha but thanks to free advertising from stupid Tan Gekleng I got more charity work to do now.....

But after the mundane lessons there were alot of explosions (haha) and we went for a sinful supper......

Why are Nat and Karin cheapskate? because they attack Gekleng and me verbally from time to time.... Tsk Tsk.... Decent faces can hide alot of things haha.....

Then we went crazy and went sing Karaoke.... Nat was supposed to sing accompanient for me but she was so loud that she covered my voice..... Literally loudmouth like Gekleng. Haha

Okay. Back to dancing in my room. Haha

Who cares about exams anyway. Haha

Final Destination

Yes.

Finally, after three weeks of principal photography and 6 rounds of editing and re-editing, my short film is finally done......

There will be two versions of it, but I think most of you will see the first version, which is slightly better than the second

I got a third version, but that ended up on the editing floor..... And whatever is different about the third will probably be known between the two of us

My short film is called Hungry. (三国。食）About thirty minutes long......

I don't know whether you will like it or think that its good or not..... But I personally like it very much.... A lot of thoughts and ideas and details and designing have been put into the film.... Alot of times I could only think about the film and nothing else before it was finally done.....

But I would stop short of saying its good.

Many people told me the acting is fantastic.

And yes, that is the only compliment that I would pay to my own short film. The acting is really well done.....

Strong ensemble cast.

Anyway here is a list of people that I must thank.

Thanks to Desmond, Pinkie, Zhenxiang, Xunbin and Yuxuan. You all have been very co-operative, very accomodating to my requests..... You all worked hard and I must really thank all of you for your hard work......

If the film is successful, one of the major reasons is going to be because of the acting.

Thanks to Khairul, my producer and partner. You could have opted to do the essay and save all the trouble, but you went and made this film with me together.....

Nobody will really know the fustrating things that we went through just to get the film made....

Thanks to Weiliang, for helping us get the set and some of the important props done...... We have to trouble you over and over again so we quite paiseh. Thanks alot.

And heartfelt thanks to all and everyone of anybody that have made a contribution to the film, big or small. Thank you very much. Really.

:-)

Now that I finally got the film out of my system, I can finally lay it to rest and get rid of it from my brain......

It has been swirling around in my head for way too long

FUCK!

FUCK THE WORLD!

Very Very Pissed (辛丑条约)

I am quite pissed now. No! scrap that..... Really really irritated.

The same irritating thing happened during two consecutive days..... How much of a loser can I be?

But I want to clarify.... I am really angry at one person only...... NOT FAT PIG and other friends who went to watch dancing bitch.... i think it is not their fault lah

But still very very pissed. Really feel like a stupid loser....... The next two days the next person who do something stupid will really get it from me.... The anger is simmering in me for quite a few weeks now..... Even if I have mellowed doesnt mean I wont get angry

On with the happy things that I was suppose to share before tonight's ultra-fustrating episode happened...

In the 辛丑 year, the Chinese government of the Qing Dynasty lost the war against the allied forces from eight countries

At the end, they negotiated and came to terms of agreement to stop the war in a document that comes to be known as the 辛丑条约

During that time, two important ministers, Prince Qing and Li Hongzhang were in charge of negotiations.

Just when Prince Qing was about to sign the agreement, Li Hongzhang tapped his hand gently and said,

天下间最难写的就是自己的名字。名字签在条约上就是丧家辱国的卖国贼了。王爷，你还年轻，要走的路还长着。这份苦差事就交给老夫吧

With that, Li Hongzhang signed the 辛丑条约.

Such nobility and wisdom...... Moved me to tears......

Somebody made a comment that I should stop watching melancholic history documentaries and dramas.....

When you meet with alot of sad and DISAPPOINTING things you will learn to appreciate these history shows as well..... Chinese History is full of characters who share the same disappointing fate that is beyond their control.....

Sad to admit, but somethings are really not within my control..... even if I gave everything and did my best......

Just like the other day, a parent came into the room while I was tuitioning and asked why her daughter did not improve in chemistry..... I mean... what could I say? Really.

And unfortunately, thats not the only thing I cannot control in my life.....

Anyway, I will officially start work on the August performance this coming sun 15th. Laoshi called me today to get me to attend meeting.....

And I will be on board on a production in May with Drama Box called MoMo.... My first step out into professional theatre world... So I got what I wanted.... at long last.......

So this is the two happy things I wanted to share.....

But I dont feel happy anymore..... really quite quite pissed.

Yankou

Battles can be lost but not wars.

If you lose your own war, you lose alot, not just the war..... Look at 辛丑 war started by Empress Dowager Cixi against the allied forces.

When Zhuge Jin 兵败严口, Lu Xun lead his troops 分三路兵马 and retreated back to 东吴

Thats when Zhuge Liang's incredible pincer attack formation on the Northern Kingdom of Wei fell to pieces.

When it is other people's war, I stand by the side to watch.

Watching how other people fight their wars, you could learn so much

Don't get involved unnecessarily. You will lose troops that you will need for YOUR rainy day.

Don't divide your troops unnecessarily. Wait for the right moment to strike.

When it becomes my war, I decide how it will be fought and how the war will be won.....

Sometimes, losing battles may not be such a bad thing......

I think I have mellowed over the years.....

Last time, when I get angry, I slam things and raise my voice all the time. Blood vessels dilate and I find it simply too difficult to calm down. It takes quite awhile before I cool

Now, when I get angry, I just let the anger simmer inside me like a pot of porridge. No voices raised, nothing slammed.....

Kongming has a positive influence on me, I guess.

Determination wont win you a war. Tenacity will.

Why insist on battles when you can win wars. Haha

Isnt that what guys are suppose to do as they grow up? Mellow over the years.

PS: Read below for the review on TFP's 0501.

0501

Went to watch 0501, the latest show presented by The Fingers Players

Good is all I can say.

Can't really comment on it because you have to watch it to understand how good it is.....

Can't wait for their production in the Arts Festival in June, something about Wong Kar Wai and his movie thematics. Written by Chong Tze Chien. (Pan Island Expressway, Furthest North Deepest South, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, First Family)

Woo~. This semester, my film art module studied quite abit about Wong Kar Wai films and his thematics.

Can't wait to see how our very own playwright maverick reinterprets his themes.

0501 is presented by a galaxy of theatre talents, including Doreen Toh (Cat people by Theatre Practice, Trash by Drama Box) Darren Ng (Furthest North Deepest South, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, Twisted, I'm Just a Piano Teacher, First Family) Lim Woan Wen (First Family, Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea, Twisted, I'm Just a Piano Teacher) Tan Wan Sze (Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea)

三国。食

That is the name of my new short film.....

English name is called 'Hungry'

Yah, totally different names, but they point to the same meaning anyway.

After watching it, please don't accuse me of copying this and copying that......

Not my style to copy directly.

Anyway I finally finished principal photography at 2.00 am yesterday night, after a whole day of intensive shooting.....

That also marks the end of a month of seemingly never ending shoots..... Though I didn't took everyday of the month.

The final total clocked hours should be more like 90 hours.......

Anyway, tomorrow going back into editing......Its going to be a nightmare......

And don't believe whatever gekleng say. Keep calling me 大师. Later you all don't like the film then people think I overhype it.

All these labels like 大作，大师 is all gekleng help me stick one.

I never say anything at all.

But I still hope I get a good grade for this short film...... I like it even better than the last one.

More ideas and details and thoughts put into it. And you all have no idea what I and my producer went through to get it done..... I even dented his car. Shit.

Look out for Hungry then. Soon enough. Will be done by this friday.......

The acting is fantastic Woo~