Monday, October 30, 2006
Chick Flick.
Hmm.
Let's see.
Over the past few days, I've watched these movies:
-Hollow Man 2
-The Fast and The Furious
-Love Actually
-Bring It On - All Or Nothing
-Just Like Heaven
-What A Girl Wants
Courtesy of a classmate.
Notice of all these 6 movies, 4 are considered 'chick flicks'.
Now I realised, after skimming through internet reviews of each movie, that we can't judge a movie by reviews that others give. Personally, I found the reviews to be untrue, unemotional and cynical. It's like as if the reviewers were mindless robots who don't have emotions or sentiments whatsoever.
So. Moral of story is. Don't listen to reviews.
I think Just Like Heaven is my favourite of the bunch =).
So, do I lose my manhood now, for not watching Mission Impossible or Terminator kinda shows?
Yes? Ha. Societal conformist =p
Nuff' said.
jOhn thought at 8:12 AM
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Gaze...
somedaysiamtigger... otherdaysiameeyore...
Forlorn eyes pierce hazy skies, windows to a soul none comprehend...
jOhn thought at 10:26 PM
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Treason.
"I read my girl's diary every few days. I feel that it is a parental responsibility to protect our children, and prevent them from straying."
"The surveillance camera at home allows me to monitor my child. I can easily check on him to see what's going on at home."
"Going through my teenager's bag without his knowledge is perfectly okay. It is right to have a say in how they lead their lives. I once found a pack of cigarettes! Thank goodness I found out before it was too late!"
"The program I installed on my child's computer takes screenshots every 5 secs and stores it in a safe place. I can thus review my child's Internet activities and ensure that he's doing the right things."
I hate people like this.
Absolutely, completely dislike them.
Such 'well-intentioned' parents are insecure, unconfident of their parenting skills, and probably experiencing marital problems themselves, taking out their insecurities on the child.
They should have a law against such things. It should be classified as 'psychological abuse'.
But then, who am I to put them down, I'm not a parent yet, right?
SO?
No matter what, it is wrong to perform such acts of 'espionage' against a growing youth. Anyone above the age of 12 is capable of thinking for himself/herself. Although they may, and will stray, they also learn. It is better to learn from bitter experience, rather than from scolding, grounding, or harsh words. In fact, the more a parent does this, the more the child would be resentful and rebel with ever more creative ways to dodge 'parental oppression'.
(Almost) No one learns to ride a bicycle without first falling down. In the same way, no one gains worldy wisdom by staying away from the world.
There. Nice and simple. Haha.
jOhn thought at 11:07 AM
Sunday, October 15, 2006
These Are The Best Days.
School days are the best days of our lives.
Really.
I mean. Think about it.
Never again in life will you have so many people of the same age, interests and common goals beside you for nearly the whole day. Invaluable friends with whom you can laugh, chat, joke, share secrets with, play sports, and more..
Never again would you feel so carefree, when the world is so big and fun, and without rules.
They say, and I agree, that tertiary education (poly, uni) are the best times of one's life. Why? Because the stringency of secondary school is over. No more uniforms, strict teachers and rules. One is free to do practically as he pleases. No more worrying about what to say to the teacher after skipping yeaterday's lecture to hang out with friends. Adulthood dawns, as our parents slowly let us go, giving us more and mroe control and decisions over our lives. Yet, we are not burdened with the responsibilities of adulthood. No bills to pay, no family to feed, no boss to please. The years of 18-25 are really the prime of one's life, a period of self searching, explosive energy, and a maturing mind.
Because the working world's different. Everyone has a seperate ambition, age, and backgrounds. You can't just share your opinions and secrets with aNyone. Who know's what they'll do with it?
I know of few or no adults who claim that working life is more fun than school life. All say that they miss school days, and wish they could relive it again. School is very structured and fast moving. No two years are similar to each other (unless u retain la, of cos). There's always that sense of adventure into the unknown, an eagerness to tackle what lies ahead. Yet, in the working world, it all seems like an endless rat race, year in year out. Before you know, ten years would fly by and you'd be an old man/woman, attending the occasional class reunion, where everyone starts comparing grades of their kids, and tell each other about how great their latest business venture is faring, and discuss investment strategies/insurance policies/market updates that ten years ago sounded incredibly mind-numbingly boring.
The spirit of school is lost forever.
So treasure them.
Every single precious moment, the laughter, the tears, the studies, the exams, even the fights, arguments and cold wars.
These are the memories that'll stay with you for life, locked in that special little corner of your heart.
So treasure them. Treasure them all.
Cause it'll soon be over.
i miss school =(
jOhn thought at 2:15 PM
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Why Are We Afraid Of Death?
Because no mortal has lived through it to tell the living what's it all about, and hence no one understands death, and all give their own explanations and rationales about it.
Aaand those who do live to tell the tale, we think they're crazy =)
jOhn thought at 1:19 PM
The Late-Teen Crisis
Yeap.
This is the term coined for what I define as...
"A period of self-searching, contemplation and reflection about the past, present and future, experienced by every healthy, growing, schooling teenager, most probably between the ages of 17-20, and studying in a tertiary institute."
How does it play out in real life?
A JC student may question the meaning of it all, all the studies and exams, all the grades and pieces of paper that gets you ahead in this society 'driven by meritocracy'. He laments the lack of recognition for youths with a 'passionate heart', and complains about the rat race that we all are released into once we graduate. He gets no encouragement from university seniors who worsen his mood by saying that uni life is worse than JC life, and the pressures of peers, some of whom start taking up clubbing, smoking, drinking, as if it were habits expected of everyone his age.
Catchphrase: "Get all As. Great. Then what? Get a good job? then what? Retire on a private island? Then what? Die? Great life."
A poly student (and one who is studying architecture, I must add, as there is no other course I know which is more stressful), used to getting straight As and the respect and admiration of academically poorer students, suddenly starts reflecting on life. He contemplates his future, what he can do with a Diploma, which university should he work for, how his upbringing within religion teaches that "the pleasures of the world.. what use are they? Where moths and maggots destroy, but instead seek after the rewards of Heaven, which is eternal.."
Catchphrase: "What is the meaning of this all? Huh? What's the use of losing so much sleep and rest, over meaningless drawings that are not going to be of much use in the future, much less in Heaven? I'd rather leave it all behind, follow my calling and go to a poor country, and make a difference amongst the famished, disease-stricken youth, who cannot even imagine having a tiny portion of what I enjoy..."
jOhn thought at 10:35 AM
Thursday, October 05, 2006
ScrEenshott!
".. and the little lone arrow glides over black night, scarred with colourful riot day and night, sucking the energy and life out of the mortal whose will it succumbs helplessly to."
Yep. That's a SCREENSHOT of Microstation, fresh off the screen of my computer. There's my very own building design, something that I drew from scratch, something purely from the creative powers of my mind. Every colour represents an architectural element, walls (red), windows (blue), columns (green).
Looks wonderfully colourful right? Now, imagine staring at it for 10 hours every day, and let's do a follow-up check on your sanity after that =))
aNYWAY...
You know, they should provide a huge incentive to motivate us to work harder. Our projects involve real local plots of land (this one's beside Sim Lim Square), and also all the latest codes and regulations of building construction (there's an insane amount of them).
Now, wouldn't it be great if, for every graduating batch of students, the school held a competition to select the best, and that ENTIRE particular project would be BUILT on the REAL ACTUAL SITE, with the SCHOOL'S FUNDS, with FULL CREDIT given to the STUDENT. Woo~!
NO MORE BAD GRADES!!! EVERYONE WORKS LIKE MAD!!!
This building in particular is an 8-storey serviced apartment development, and Rochor is prime land...
So... maybe it'll cost about $30 million for the land and $20 million for the building? =)
jOhn thought at 8:50 PM
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Googoo Gaagaa
If I were certified legally insane, then I'd be one of the privileged few in the world who can really be themselves, and speak whatever comes to mind, all without being afraid of any negative response or persecution from others?
I won't have to be so reserved and self-check everything I do! Whoopee.
True? Hmm.
jOhn thought at 5:40 PM
Monday, October 02, 2006
Growing Up = ?
How do you know when someone is grown up?
Its when that person can be turned off/disgusted by an action, instead of just things.
In chinese, it's probably called 'dong3 shi4'.
You see, when we are just children who don't know better, we only can feel negative feelings towards objects or emotion.
Why do we hate caning? Because it is painful.
Why do we cover our noses in the toilet? Cos its smelly.
Why do we hate our greens? Cos they don't taste nice.
Why do we hate cockroaches? Cos they are big, black, and fast-moving, with poky exoskeletons.
Its simple. Innocent children learn about the world around them through their senses. But as they grow older, parents and friends start to teach them the 'ways of the world'.
Don't do this, don't do that.
Why?
Because its wrong.
Why?
Because I said so and I'm your mom.
Why?
Because my mom said so too.
Why?
Because it would hurt you.
Why? What if I'm careful?
Because God would strike you down with a lightning bolt and you'll become charcoal. Ha! That's why.
By age 7, they develop a conscience, a sense of right and wrong. And their tongues spit fire, condemning, denouncing and criticising everything that does not agree with this sense of right and wrong. The criticisms only get more intense and powerful once they become more fluent in language. KEEP SUCH PEOPLE STUPID, I SAY. A SERPENT WITHOUT A TONGUE CANNOT DAMAGE ANYONE. Haha.
The result is every one of us, based on our religion, family and friendships, grow up with unique sets of moral values. The most extreme cases live, pathetically, inside shells of inhibition, not being able to do the things they want to do, simply because 'it's wrong to do so.' Yet, in all their invisible, senseless and baseless barriers, they try to somehow find satisfaction and meaning, all while knowing that there can be none, and the cold hard fact is that they are being limited and weighed down by outdated teachings and 'traditional' values. They find out what they can do, do it, and derive pseudo-satisfaction from there, however pathetic, paltry and incomplete that amount is.
What kind of a life is that?
What happened to the childhood spirit of exploration?
Becoming worldly-wise is important. It is to know the ways of the world, how you should conduct your relationships, the workings of a human mind, etc. But, most important is to keep up with the times, and not to get left behind. Only then can you stay relevant and associated with modern society.
How can one become worldly wise if they are cooped up in a shelter that is built on the words and practices of men already long dead, men already no more than dust returned to Earth?
Do not let tradition hinder you. Have an open mind, and an open heart. Yes, guard your heart; it is the wellspring of life. But do not be so paranoid and condemning of the world around you that everything they do is wrong and damning in your eyes. Your eyes, your isolated, solitary pair of eyes.
Never condemn any action unless you understand the reasons behind that action. This 'understanding' can range from personal experience (the most effective - e.g. ex-drug offenders have the highest chance of changing the lives of current drug offenders because they share common ground, rather than some know-it-all who blabs about all he's read, dangers of drugs and all, and does not know a single thing about the actual, local reasons behind drug abuse), to even good friends with good characters who do the same deeds. The 'questionable actions' can refer to things like teenage smoking/drugs, alcohol, sexual promiscuity, homosexuality, and tons of any other weird, debatable stuff one can think up of.
Whoever this message may impact, may it sink in well.
jOhn thought at 1:30 PM