Hot Pants

seems like every day i have to learn some new thing. i am now the sound board guy. with 18 freaking wireless mikes to mix at various points. LN has taken over the light board because that side is even more of an orgasmic mess. its headache enough when the cast fiddle with the mikes and mess up the EQ... just hope that noone dislodges or breaks his mike on the day itself.

still trying to do the damn essay. i know i've hit minimum word count, but it would be nice to turn over something more than a steaming pile of shit to Prof Ong. and it looks like that might not be possible given my fatigued state and none-too-high state of mind. my holidays are melting away. looks like i wont be able to watch Initial D before the hols end, damn sad sia. Char asked me if i wanted to meet for supper or sth this week, and i told her about my busy life. oh well, thats the way things go.

Sound Of Tears - Kiroro

Tweet Tweet, Tra-la-la, La-la, La-lah!

had a pretty surreal taxi ride down to SMU today. took aforementioned taxi cos it was raining like a cow and i didnt fancy a trudge in the rain. the taxi uncle, once we had gotten as far as the buona vista junction, began to expound on his favourite hobby. he's a digital broadband radio junkie. the radio in his taxi was playing the chinese central radio station, and he was explaining about how his set could recieve signals from all over the world. conversation then turned to the workings of a long-wave vs short-wave carrier system vis-a-vis atmospheric effects, and finally trundled on to the reason why our army signal sets dont work too well in vegetation. he was so into it that i let him talk on for 2 minutes after the taxi reached my destination and stopped. but hey... pretty fun. wish i had a business card for him. needs a p/- at least...

monday is bump-in. supposed to meet my lighting boss LN at somewhere around Bugis before entering NAFA and getting the lights set up. very crash course... which is what makes life interesting. hope the cast can get their stuff right. todays practice seemed very raw. the orchestra had some songs firmed up, but the cast, even though they seem to have recovered from the flu, seem very tired.

Love Will Come Through - Travis

Dead In The Water

where has all my holiday gone? in the midst of whacking out some kind of plan for my perio essay. im seriously concerned about trying to get this essay out on time simply because next week will be crazy. the set has to be bumped in on monday. Lim Peh got promoted to the light board because 2 of my merry crew have holiday job commitments (one at NUH finance no less) and this means new things to learn. but hey, thats life.

got to admit though, this holiday, as dental hols go, hasnt been too bad. watched 4 movies so far, and had some good food. there have been some disappointments (no Sentosa!) but i think i really did have fun this time. good times with friends, some good DotA... wishi i could have more of this. every time i hear the SMU pit orchestra playing, and realise how much more kick-ass their flutes are than me i feel little twinges. but this is the path that i have chosen. sacrifices along a long road are inevitable.

watched A Lot Like Love yesterday! Ashton Kuchner and Amanda Peet both did an excellent job in this one, and the characters develop nicely. the interplay between the leads, and the little characterisation and directorial touches make this a movie to watch. preferably with person of interest sitting beside you. there are enough awwww factors in this movie, without being cheesy. heartwarming, funny, good stuff!

Hang Out - Do As Infinity

Measure Of A Man

spent the morning in Clinic 2 reprising my famous role of suction boy. PJ's patient had a perio abscess which was basically making life difficult. she nearly flipped when she found out that the perio staff on call was Dr Rashid... guess thats what happens when holidays roll round and they have a spread-out roster. but he was real nice. we achieved drainage through the pocket after scaling out a freaking great wall, and syringed out the pocket with chlorhex. pretty good sense of achievement!

this left me being disgustingly late for Batman with the guys at Plaza Sing. only time i've been grateful for long advertisements. i was 15min late and still got treated to like 3 ads before it started. the show itself was good stuff! there were minor things to pick on, like how Michael Caine had a pretty damn awfully wrong kinda british accent. since when was Alfred cockney? and Katie Holmes is not too hot... but Christian Bale did a damn good job. and good setup for a sequel in future. hope this means good stuff for the Batman franchise.

All Through The Night - Cole Porter

I Know How Pain Can Grow / When The Rock You Hold On To Is A Love Far Away

just went for the tech run of Anything Goes at SMU. its kinda cool seeing the people who i worked with in my pre-freshie break! looks like a project worth getting into. the acting and singing is still a bit raw, but with a little whacking and adrenaline, it should fall into place. esp since Prof Margaret Chan seems to be keeping a much tighter eye on this than Sing To The Dawn...

life's also gonna get busier because of the musical, and im hoping to see Initial D and Batman before school starts. see if we can get sth up an running. also got to get Lindhe from Queensway and check with the techs about whether we have Chinagraphs indented or we need to buy them. at least i finally got to buy my lighters. contemplating getting a sweet box for my crown wax now.

Twist And Shout

somehow due to my laziness this is going to be an entry of yesterday's events. the blissful laziness of the holidays are really setting in!

spent the morning at a Sinseh in Marine Parade. the Annie Tiang clinic seems to be a family practise, cos the 2 Sinsehs in the place have the same surname and all. his diagnosis agreed with the Orthopaedics guy... cept he was much less happy about the operation treatment plan the Orthopaedics guy had laid out. which is of course music to the patient. who wants to go for major surgery and not be able to walk for like a month? and so it looks like my mum will be going to him for treatment for her bum knee and back issues. after that we went down to Orchard to have an x-ray done of mum's back. pretty nice waiting room they have... funny enough on their services listing while there was the usual standard film x-rays there was no DPT.

off to see the SMU ppl today so that i can get my bloody scheduling organised! like... finally. think they just went up and forgot their ol' following spotster...

Cable Car Romances - Pug Jelly

Truth And Light

just got back from the wake. its not the best of circumstances to meet people who you havent seen in a long time. this was the most emotional, personal wake i've ever been to. more so that Pastor's mum or even my cousin Alison. how often do you see a wake so crowded that 40 ppl have to stand? one where half the mourners are quite literally crying, throwing stoicism to the wind? it wasnt just a christian funeral, it was one where his life was celebrated. his church, his school, everything. its the first wake i went to where the Anthem was sung, and i hope i wont have to sing it under such circumstances again. the Anthem has a unique quality of being able to sound triumphant or mournful according to circumstances, because the hearts, hopes and aims of the singers are truly one. and the Council Song... it was so powerful because it represents a dream that the 25th cannot see fulfilled because their council now lies incomplete.

suppose its a bit incongruous, but news goes on. saw Mr & Mrs Smith before going down to Kembangan. its pretty darn good! not as bad as the Life crew were making out, for sure. the chemistry is pretty tight, the action scenes generally well-choreographed (except for one point in a car chase in which the camera transition was a bit jumpy) and Angelina Jolie is the hottest woman alive. GF, youre just wrong. her screen presence is amazing, possessing a forcefulness that few women today can muster. this show is to be watched.

got a new shirt and tie while out shopping today! cant wait to try it out, when clinics roll around.

*RIP Yu Kangfei*

Shining Sky, Blazing Moon

sometimes the most sobering news comes at the funniest times. i was in the car on the way home from church when i got an SMS. my junior Kangfei has passed away, victim of leukaemia. be heading over to the wake tomoro with the 24th. its kinda shocking, esp since i heard he was recovering quite well. never underestimate neoplasia...

had Mao and PJ along with some church friends over for dinner. wonder why every time we have this kinda gathering we end up talking about either BGR or school. its like the oft-lamented saying that when guys meet the army will find its way into the conversation, much to the exasperation of the ladies who wouldnt know the business end of a rifle from the butt. BGR, on the other hand, is so univeral, and yet so universally misunderstood by even the best of us, that it remains a popular subject. oh well, thats life.

heres an overdue review of a restaurant. me and mum and dad went to the Banana Leaf Apolo Restaurant in little india on saturday afternoon. food was, of course, indian. freeflow rice and vegetables, and a good assortment of curries to choose from. beware the accompanying GI distress that can surely result after such a surfeit of spicy food... pricing is actually pretty good. the most expensive item, cost for volume, was our Lassi. the prawns and fish head are very competetevily priced, with good volume for money. good stuff!

Weeds - Do As Infinity

Adventures In Dentures

school is finally over! i can rot for 3 weeks and just recover from everything... my dentures and all left behind in the lab in my newly-reorganised upper cupboard. hope the hols are fun.

got my Grandma in on the chair today. a Kennedy Class 2 mod 1 over a Kennedy Class 2. come to think of it, she's be an interesting competency. but hey... i got to take the cases as they come. and she has major overbite and resorption to deal with. plus the perio... considering extracting a shaky tooth because of the lack of bone support. plus theres the amazing root-stump-with-silver-points-still-inside. just astounding...

really should get round to contacting Ber about rehearsal schedules with SMU. cant wait to do something that doesnt involve wax or signatures or anything i've done all term. it should be good for expanding my horizons too... my circle of friends is too small. sometimes that's good, sometimes thats bad.

wanna watch Mr and Mrs Smith! looks like good fun, not expecting anything too deep from it. see who i can get out to watch it this time...

Don't Worry Be Happy - Bobby McFerrin

Heretic

been a while since i blogged. a week has come and gone, things have happened, old theories disproved, movies watched, fun had, and now its time for a little reflection.

Madagascar was pretty good! it will definitely keep kids happy (c'mon, its like a visit to the zoo without smells) and enough pop-culture references to make it interesting for the older viewers. animation by Dreamworks was top-notch, voice work was impeccable, plot was pretty good too. a recommended viewing!

cref my last entry, the sickness has come and is going. its a unique experience doing Perio sessions, trying to record probings solo, and having to stop and blow ones nose. bloody irritating sia! the only upside is the blocked nose makes me unable to smell halitosis. even the 2-foot-aura-of-death halitosis was quite blunted until i tried blowing a tooth dry to check for caries.

got to thank God for all the little blessings in life. like dropping my laptop on my toe instead of on the floor. a repair bill would hurt more than my toe would (and it still does. IBM is tough stuff), plus the inconvenience of not being able to surf and play DotA.

Jue Qiang - Mayday