Anything Considered

I'm not afraid of anything in this world
There's nothing you can throw at me that I haven't already heard
I'm just trying to find a decent melody
A song that I can sing in my own company

I think I mentioned a few posts back that I was trying to put together an eclectic playlist. Well, now I feel that the old school stuff wins it all.

You've got to get yourself together
You've got stuck in a moment and now you can't get out of it
Don't say that later will be better now you're stuck in a moment
And you can't get out of it

This song is unbearably meaningful. I love U2's music.

I had lunch at Teochew Garden Restaurant in Concourse. It's the first time in maybe 6 months since I've eaten in these big-group chinese places, and it certainly wasn't a let-down.

We had a big spread: cold crab, braised goose, steamed pomfret, sea cucumber, baby kai lan, or lua, and some teochew kway teow which I've never seen or heard of before. Finished off with a wonderful yam paste (+pumpkin and ginkgo nuts yum!) dessert.

I must admit the crab was kinda small, but it tasted alright. I'm no judge of crabs though. The highlight for me, surprisingly, was the sea cucumber dish. Served hot in a claypot with mushrooms and assorted vegetables in a delicious brown sauce, it was simply delightful. The sauce didn't come across as too sweet or too thick, and it went well with just about everything else.

The goose was so-so. The meat wasn't overly dry, which is good, but it was a tad on the tough side, and came across as slightly too bland for my tastes. I would expect more from something like this.

The pomfret was a tasty relief though not memorable. The or lua was delicious, with giant or and a not-too-oily omelette. The baby kai lan, I'm afraid, was overcooked and lost its taste.

It wasn't a perfect meal, but these chinese family lunches bear greater significance than the taste of the food. It's the eating and talking together that stands out, I suppose. Teochew Garden isn't fantastic, but I'd consider it an option when you can't think of anything else.

Off to SA gathering now! Haha. I hope it'll be fun.

"Bo's initiation and the focus on procedure are enough to hold our attention for a while, but at the hour mark, things start to get a little labored. The procedure gets laid on thick, and seems to be working so successfully that one has to wonder if we're just going to watch a routine bust, followed by a drink at the local pub and high-fives all around."

LoveHKFilm Review: Eye in the Sky

What eventually happened didn't make it any less labored. But it'd probably have been better had the movie been screened w/o dubbing and censoring of Maggie Siu's colorful language. And, of course, the high expectations set by the director's mentor's films.

In spite of this, it was still a nice night out. Thanks Sarah. (: And for the candy too. Haha.

I got a gnome in the backyard / I put him right on the X mark / He’s supposed to show me where the money is / Hey wont you show me where the money is

Thanks to a indie/jazz/audiophile loving bunkmate, I've started trying to piece together a quirky little playlist that will keep me entertained.

Right now, it's the Spinto Band's 'Oh Mandy', which is absolutely delicious in its frivolity. The lyrics allude to a great many things and I haven't figured out any of them. But it doesn't matter, the thrill of this lies in the jingling around to relax and have a good time.

The band's other songs that I have ('Brown Boxes' etc) aren't too entertaining, but maybe I'm just not used to indie yet.

I've been feeling tired and weary. Army has not been the best of worlds, and thus far every challenge put to me has been met with little or no success.

Honestly, I don't like failing. Worse still is being expected to fail more often than not. In such situations it would be apt to rise to the occasion, but right now I'm just floundering - in work, and in life.

It's so easy to find all the good labels for oneself when things are going well. I'm sure I had at some point thought myself perceptive and generally a nice guy. Yet right now the labels are falling apart. I feel like it's back to the old days in lower sec school. Just that this time, I think I'm going down without a fight.

I hate letting people down - nice people especially. I hate letting myself down. I want to fight to change things but I need more to draw from. More of everything. And of course, more peace.

Morning has broken like the first morning;
Blackbird has spoken like the first bird.
Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning!
Praise for them springing fresh from the Word!

Some of the simplest things are often also the most beautiful. Sunsets, rain, the rustling of the leaves, all these strike deep chords in me. And perhaps it is only the simplest things that penetrate the ever-increasing baggage that age brings.

Maybe simplicity is why we all want to be young.

I remember being biased for some reason against Jamie Cullum, and deciding not to purchase his music in spite of Sarah's recommendation. Something made me relent today. We all grow old - this year will be my first as a twentysomething - and I suppose I've got to start sorting out the muck and jazz my life up.

From the Rolling Stone's Ocean's 13 Review:

"Despite the tabloid scrutiny that follows Pitt and Angelina Jolie on their merry rounds of film and baby making, Pitt has become increasingly comfortable in his own skin. His newfound ease becomes him. As Rusty Ryan, chief wingman for Clooney's Danny Ocean, Pitt takes the same light-fingered approach to robbing a casino as he does to stealing a scene."

"In Ocean's Thirteen, Pitt is not out to prove himself. He's a star, baby, and in the highest praise one gambler can pay another in this class act of a caper movie, he's worthy to shake Sinatra's hand."

Mmhmm.

"Every little trifle, for some reason, does seem incalculably important today, and when you say of a thing that "nothing hangs on it" it sounds like blasphemy. There's never any knowing - how am I to put it? - which of our actions, which of our idlenesses won't have things hanging on it for ever."

[Where Angels Fear To Tread, E. M. Forster]

It's been a torrid and peckish week for me. The reprieve, Ocean's 13 with Sarah, Zhic, and Margy, was much sought after, but somehow I ended the night feeling unsettled. Sometimes I find that I look for too many signs and see all the wrong ones. Trifles can certainly have the world hinge on them, but paranoia doesn't help ease the burden.

Needless to say, it was no fault of theirs. Great company trumps all. (:

Prince Charming: You! You can't lie! Where is Shrek?
Pinocchio: Well, uh, I don't know where he's not.
Prince Charming: You don't know where Shrek is?
Pinocchio: On the contrary...
Prince Charming: So you do know where he is!
Pinocchio: I'm possibly more or less not definitely rejecting the idea that I undeniably...
Prince Charming: Stop it!
Pinocchio: ... do or do not know where he shouldn't probably be. If that indeed wasn't where he isn't!

It's the end of a good long weekend, and back to camp again. But one should be content. I had a good evening/movie/dinner out with Sarah - thanks, dear friend! Shrek 3 wasn't what I would have liked it to be, but it certainly was hilarious at points.

On the way home I was burdened by several things, primarily by how my close friend's being faced with doubt due to questions about the Christian faith. While I've gone through an extended period of doubt and athethism of my own, I've never really come across the same kind of personal challenge. Nor do I believe I have the conviction to endure it.

There certainly are many unanswered questions about what and in whom we believe, as well as innumerable perceived contradictions in the Word that our faith is founded upon. But I feel these things, while important, are peripheral. In dealing with Christianity, we aren't just dealing with a set of beliefs or a value system, etc. Rather, we're dealing with a personal God upon whom the entire religion hinges.

And so, the central question - perhaps the only truly important one - is, "Is the God in whom I believe, real?" to which the answer, however naive-sounding it may be, is to go find out for yourself. And if He indeed is real, and is who I believe he is, then all the contradictions and unanswered questions will turn pale in his glorious light.

Jack Sparrow: You know, for pirates, we sure are an unimaginative lot at naming things.
Jack Sparrow: I once sailed with a man that had lost both his arms and part of his eye.
Gibbs: What did you call him?
Jack Sparrow: [pause] Larry

Society tends to bound herself to narrow and self-serving expectations of movies, outside of which the film falls into a myriad of extremities - too crude, too complex, too dry, poor plot, shallow characters, witless, and the list goes on. It seems to me as if we seek to judge everything in comparison to the perceived perfect movie.

However highbrow we may be about our superior viewer's choice, it is precisely our call as viewer that turns this ideal on its head. For as the movie serves us, she can only whet our specific desires for the moment - whether they be macabre or slapstick. The ideal movie then changes as and when we demand, and every movie will fail the odds of a perfect fit in time.

I liked Pirates 3 despite the poor reviews. Jack Sparrow is the alter ego of our time - the alternative alternative in that he does everything and nothing at all. And it is precisely this positively cynical, all-be-damned attitude of Sparrow and the other pirates that carries the show. Certainly, Pirates 3 is more loosely hung together than its incisive predecessors, but I feel it fits just as well. Not all humour needs to bite.