there but not there: May 2007

Sunday, May 27, 2007

a nice start to a good day

all i can say is...hans you are daaaaaaaamn slow
can u move a bit faster...please?

the hans of now says to the hans of 20 minutes ago.
i am now listening to "the boy who couldn't hoe corn" by Alison Krauss & Union station. Very profound.

Friday, May 25, 2007

To the Sportsmen and Their Craft

And so our six years of commitment to the ACS(I) sporting scene concludes. The fact that i could play rounders on the field today barefoot without worry of getting my foot stubbed was a highly disconcerting one. What drove home the point that our time has ended was the knowledge that I would never need to worry about it again. And yes, that was a very upsetting feeling. As a result of this new found recklessness, i now have a bruise on my butt that prevents me from sitting properly. I never realized i felt this much attachment to tennis, or to the common identity of everything a team would go through in that many years. Hassan to Sergio to Hock Chye and Hassan. Steve to Mrs Quek. The years of trying to guess RI's line up, now upgraded to RJ, internal strife of getting dropped and the woes of Montfort's talent importation policy.

The loss of 5 finals in a week is obviously disappointing. Xim tia la, when i met Blandon, Tim gay Kwan and all. But at least common xim tia, as we exchanged hand shakes and the shared look of disappointment. The latest word around has been "You're not in 'A' Div if you haven't got a silver"(Applies only to the teams of the last 1 month). Cant remember who said that, but squashers, u anomaly asses. Lol I'm kidding...we're very very proud of you. I don't think the various sports have experienced such a strong common understanding across not only each another's teams, but across the cohort. The support has been Amazing. I've never felt so much sincerity and warmth from what felt like almost every student that came down for the 4 finals, the congratulations and the thanks from so many teachers. The year 6s were really awesome, I've never seen so many of them banded together, travelling from tennis to rugby, and the next day from Badminton to Hockey. And they were SO LOUD.

Now, I will be my typical self and veer off sentimentalism, into analysis that reveals a rather worrying aspect. Due to the academic focus of the IB programme, we will always have a small intake of students per year. Its nature is academically exclusive, and because of its exclusive nature, we might lose one or two players each year to schools like ACJC or RJ. Now this probably would'nt boost ACJC too much:P because either way we will keep our bulk of ACS(I) players. (this is in response to their prideful bitter claims and bawdy swears that they would have whacked us if they played us in the semis.) But rather those one or two players could make all the difference to us, especially in sports like tennis, badminton and squash. Not only will we lose players, but once again because of our exclusive academic nature, we would'nt actively sweep up all the Cat High, SJI fellars which is what RJ strategically does. So we make do with our top Sports Boys' school winning secondary school bunch, which will probably put us to the finals like this year, but the fight after that is tough because we lack the critical mass. Oh well, that is something that the next few years will have to deal with I guess.

Now forget about the analysis, and remember the common understanding. The common understanding of hard work and dedication that all sportsmen share and that the cohort rallied together for. There was great spirit and character, and it took our year to show it. For that, we are all very proud. Thank you lavi, and josh (who are in the photo, lavi in squash as well) and all the supporters who ran to and fro to what jj calls the ulu-est of lands, and the council, for leading so strongly. Truly, we have begun an 'A' Div culture. now i hope the year 5s dont screw it up:P. hahaha. I am tremendously protective in this post, the kind of protective that i get irritated with other people about, but i suppose now i see a need for it. Let's keep this post amoral. As for the photos, I must give mention to Chris sun and Zong for those from tennis and squash. Only the hockey photos were from my use of Sun's D80.Apologies that i dont have any of badminton and bowling.

"its raining"

and hassan, on our very first training in sec 1 goes,

"lets go, 35 minutes skipping, 15 rounds around the track, 100 push ups 100 sit ups 100 back arches" somewhere in the distance, Kamil our senior laughs.

I'm sure thats no where near the worst of what many sports teams have gone through,

but i'll tell you now, that at sec 1, i cheated :P

Thursday, May 17, 2007

mmft...the trade off...opportunity cost in its true sense..

yes i do feel that gloomy. 33 points and a lack of entry is a very very...telling moment. it is a trade off and has always been. studies, council, tennis. its just bumming that u dont fulfill the package. somehow u want to fulfill the singaporean package because it guarantees you success, even if its within the singaporean system (which somehow u feel u would end up thriving in if u werent allowed to fulfill your other passions..and is hence somewhat attractive.) the worst thing is that u know ure of standard, but there is just one huge element missing. and it is by no other person's responsibility that this element is missing. yes it has always been a trade off, just never with this form of significance attached.

nvm nvm..its very bumming i guess.the next battle to fight is with laziness. mean while, its time to focus on what i like to do, painting, murals and a possible 3 day long itz for wed. ergh.

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Saint Paul's Cathedral at dusk.

i should have spent my time working on ferds essay, or ioc, or tok, or trying to get great assistance for my physics pracs. instead, i end up coming up with the above page. im not sure what its supposed to be....a page in a magazine?some blown up matt thing for an exhibit? (click click! on the photo to enlarge it..but i warn u first...the grammar on it is scary...cant be bothered to go and change it though.) i dont know what its supposed to be, but i like the idea of putting a few photos with some distinct similarities together to form a complete piece. Visual and thematic continuation in presentation has begun to interest me of late. (there is something wrong in terms of visual placement though)

anyway, i would have liked to work with a lifestyle magazine.

or be the director of an art/photo exhibition some day.

actually its very possible to do both in the school setting. but oh well.

Don't worry, i dont feel half as gloomy as these first two pictures. in fact, i feel like eating this brightly coloured fruit concoction thing.

i wish i had a lens baby. this ones taken with a 50mm 1.8. i dont know how to explain the technical capabilities of a lens baby, but its basically a lens, that allows u to..for some reason blur out various parts of the picture. i've only used it once..and it was really short over dinner...but it feels like a tube and u can twist and lift it. a bit hard to explain...but very fun to play with.

i really feel like eating this fruit thing.

and i really wish i could work in a lifestyle magazine. or have started one successfully in school..oh well...one of the many other things i could have done...if not for...

haha oh well.

Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Homogenization, Architecture and Mr. Man

Today i went for dinner at my uncle's place, and as i sat down at the table, i saw the very characteristic yellow borders of a national geographic magazine peeking out from the book pile. Carefully pulling it out and leaving the others untouched, i realized that this was the "travel edition" of national geographic. The merits of having a photographer uncle and an aunt who likes to travel and buy strange ornate byzantine looking lamps is that they leave these good short reads lying around the house. Didnt know nat geo produced more than one type of magazine. Anyway the cover read, "America's TUSCANY, villas, vineyards, fine food, and old friends. And no passport required."

sounds wondrous aye, but it wasnt the living on a vineyard estate, the bourgeoisie raisins in port, wine on the patio(which by the way probably spans acres) and wife carrying sourdough scene that caught my attention.

you can tell all that from the photo? suuure. Well neither did the other titles "Last real Africa- On safari in zambia" or "turkey's magic carpet ride" send me flipping through the pages with anticipation for what i might observe. Instead, it was an interview with a Washington based architect Travis Price- who i quote, "once built a windmill on a new york city rooftop- was an alternative-energy consultant to the Carter Administration...and who teaches Spirit of Place, a multi disciplinary program that enables architecture students to research, design and construct projects in remote locations as a team." that was rather inspiring.

now if u know me well, im quite the conventionalist, and am not a fan of an even bigger one sitting on top of a new york city rooftop. Neither am i a dedicated supporter of the go green movement that would actively seek to reduce the drain of oil and pollutants by constructing the world's largest solar office buliding in Chattanooga(wherever that is) like he has.

and so, it was the answers to the questions " you grew up in places like Georgia, Panama, Germany. Has authenticity been lost in those places?" and "what should we look for in a well designed structure?" which really got me going.

To the first question, he says "Sadly, everything has morphed into generica, it seems. (what an accurate way to describe things! I look for an ungay word that means gush but cannot find it.) I see Europeans looking more like hip-hop Americans than i see Americans looking like Europeans. This flimsy sort of homogenization has begun to put a bogus veneer over everything. That kind of subtle soft, washing away of diversity is a problem. Its dangerous for all the arts, but particularly for architecture. You go to Paris and see a Gap store. You go to Tokyo and see a Gap store. It seems to me that people dont care enough about homogenization or the lack of authenticity. When you try to take it, you put a phony neocolonial front on a resort, or you create the silliness of a Tuscan village ten miles from Las Vegas. That desperation to decorate drowns the human spirit, desensitizes you to genunie cultural differences and the power of nature."

and to the second question of "what should we look for in a well-designed structure?" he replies: First, you want to feel that a place creates the sense of being a temple. Its your home, your sanctuary. The second ingredient is a relationship with nature. Natural rythms must be a big part of a well-built space; its an indoor-outdoor experience that reminds you you're not in a fossil-fuel cocoon. The third part is that architecture should reflect the period you live in, unless of course, its a great historic place. When you're building new, you really have to embrace modern industrial technology. Otherwise, you're creating a false sense of the past. Combine those attributes, and you have contemporary authenticity. The spirit of place is evoked. "

Now how well crafted is that. The bottom line is, i love his cry for contemporary authenticity. You dont hear concepts like that these days, plus its so elegantly put. The ability to preach such depth through what was probably a verbal interview is definitely something.

http://www.travispricearchitects.com/ is Travis Price's architectural website. It has quite a dramatic entrance scene but i havent had time to look through it yet..will have soemtime soon i hope!

there but not there