No Anybody there!

today i brought my 4-year-old nephew to watch a kids' dance in the theatre and he was absolutely thrilled, making it very vocal throughout the whole show, thank god it was like a market place for kids, all asking difficult questions to their senior, who mostly, do not really know the true meaning of the dance but every senior was as busy as me making up stories as fast as we can. As far as i know, the show is about fireflies in the city, and disappearing because of the concrete jungle we are building, a show with a green theme, something like that. 

There were these dancers dressed in green fluttering around and a white dancer weaving amongst them. "What is that?! What is that?!" my little nephew asked. "Erm, those are, like plants.. and erm the white one.. she is the queen bee, she can't find her hive.." My nephew was thrilled, "Oooooo orhhhhhh...."

There were 2 girls dressed in fancy costumes prancing on stage and my little nephew asked "What is that?! What is that?!" I wasn't really sure, "They are bees trying to look for flowers, which were killed by global warming..." My nephew had a dazed look. He asked, "Haaah?" I whispered, "You know, the sun very hot, flowers all dies, so later the bees will also die." He was enlightened, "Ooooooo ORhhhhh...!"

Then came a character dressed like a plumber in white overall, who came out in between scenes.."Who is that?! Who is that?!" Nephew really pushing my imagination.. i mean, yah, who is that, man? Shit... "That's the guy who cleans up the shit that we are doing to the environment, you know..?" Nephew looked troubled.. "You mean like the dog shit from the dogs?" To give my imagination a break," Yea.. that's right, that kind of smelly shit. So you shouldn't shit on the streets." As with all kids, he is easily tickled and he found that very funny. If only he knew the deeper metaphorical dog-shit meaning ...

A dancer dressed in what looked like mongolian costume skipped and pirouetted on stage. "What is that?! What is that?!" Gosh, beats me! "That's a chick who makes the show looks good." Nephew's eyes widened, "You mean like chicken??!!" Didn't sound quite right.. "Erm, no, is she pretty?" Nephew giggled and blushed and buried his face in my skinny left arm which he has been shaking, pinching, beating, and torturing. Ok at least i know he is not gay. 

Finally the show ends, and the lights went off, nephew exclaimed, "No anybody there!!!!" All the pain of taking him out all worth it.. yes, that's my boy... poetic licence well-used at a very young age. "That's right, aint's no anybody there.. ain't no anybody there my boy.." He beamed. For the 1st time in the show, he got it right without my crappy stories.

Daiso means S$2/each

this is quite funny and everytime i relate this Daiso story it makes me laugh, and it is so causal i often forget until something silly happens like when we decided the best investment by far to our little studio is a 6-socket extension cord (is there another name to this?) followed closely by the relatively more expensive 500GB external hard disk. Less funny is having to mop and clean the office after all my staff of the same little studio leaves for the night. But i am completely enthusiastic about building up my company after a 8-year stint with a big company. it is always good to really touch and feel the ground you walk on. I've never been happier, i feel alive all over again.

anyways, back to the Daiso story - my partner, who is from HK, for strange reasons, has never really stepped into Daiso or bothered about it. So, one day, me the hoarder, who would buy a dozen of useless things from Daiso without thinking because they are so cheap, happily strolled into Daiso with enthusiasm alongside my (damn blur) partner. After a shopping "spree", i emerged with another dozen of useless things, and to my surprise - knowing that few people would leave Daiso empty-handed - my partner emerged empty-handed. So i asked why there was no loot and to this super blur person, the answer was - "i wanted to buy some stuff, but i look up and down and left and right the items, this shop is strange, they have no pricetags, so I don't dare to buy."

All i can say is, innocence can be a very lovable trait, especially when in a Daiso shop.

Neil Found Respect for Gaiman, and what's with all these other creative people who imagines themselves as "stars"?

guilty of very bad pun - years of journalism takes a toll on you and you have this immediate knee-jerk reaction to come up with bad puns for titles.. really i want to say New Found Respect for Gaiman

I went for the Neil Gaiman talk at the Victoria Theatre in conjunction with the Spore Writers' Fest today. I thought it is a talk, but it's a really Q&A session with a moderator asking a few questions and subsequently opening it up to the floor. All in all, it was about an hour. All the questions, from moderator and the floor, didn't allow the man to be very inspiring, but they sure give him space to be extremely charming. In the short time, he sure showed why he is a master-storyteller. Every question was answered with a casually engaging story, which Gaiman crafted them instantaneously to be funny - perfect for a thousand people who pulled themselves out of bed on a Sunday afternoon to listen to him. In fact, the literary superstar started by cutting in before any questions to thank all the attendees for coming out on a Sunday. 

Most of the questions were simple, but Gaiman turned them into interesting ones with his story-telling answers. The last from the audience, which was so lame that I didn't even remember - provoked a comment from my friend Fang Wei who sarcastically whispered to me "Is Ris Lim in the house?" - was equally enthusiastically answered by Gaiman who turned it into something fun enough for everyone to enjoy. It brought to mind a talk i attended quite a while ago by Karim Rashid, and when someone from the audience asked about his design process, he impatiently replied "What kind of a question is that?" Given that he did shared his concepts about his works during the talk, but still...

But what was really impressive and gained my new-found respect for Gaiman is that, after the 1-hour session, me and Fang Wei decided to go for a drink nearby and 3 hours later and 6pm, I walked past The Arts House and Gaiman was still at the same table patiently signing all the autographs from his 1000 fans with a good 20 meter-queue still in sight. I walked near his table just to checked it out and he was bantering with every star-struck fan with absolutely no sign of losing his patience. That was the moment that convinced me that he is truly a writer and not one who loses his mind with all the fame and thinks he is a "star". 

For every creative person who ever had an opportunity to share your thoughts and works with an audience who have supported you, you know how precious it is and you treasure every single moment of knowing these people who were reading or looking at your works - i mean, you will be curious who they are and what is it that they like about your works. It is such a rare opportunity. Recently, i was invited to give a talk about publishing in Hong Kong at a 7pm slot on a Friday night, and much to my surprise, i was greeted with a full house , cos i thought everyone would be hungry at that time and would be having their dinner. Of course it motivated me to give my best and try to keep them entertained amidst all the hardcore information that I was supposed to present.. and what a joy that a huge bunch of people gathered around me after the talk and asked me more questions and for my contacts and yes a few little autographs and a few media interview requests.. we stayed for another almost 2 hours and i was starving to death but I really treasured every moment. 

Just not too long ago, we had a foreign architect, or starchitect in town to give a talk, and to get an interview with him, you were given a list of "what-not-to-ask" and you have to submit your questions in advance, and during the interview/photo session, he asked to choose the pictures that would appear, requesting you to delete the rest. It was the ultimate disgust. 

As creative people, first and foremost, we are doing what we do because we didn't sign on to become Brad Pitt or Faye Wong. We neither act now sing. We have a bigger responsibility of providing a service - social or cultural, we are not entertainers. And i choose to believe, for most of us, we don't expect to be treated like one. We want to be respected for the work we do, not for how good we look, or how well we can exercise certain body parts or functions like the vocal chords. Our works should benefit the society in one way or another, and we should be grateful that in rare occasions, we get to meet the people who have benefitted from our works, whether it inspired them, or it worked for them. And if someone should hold you in high regard, you treat them with equal respects, the way that Gaiman had done with even every Ris Lim who lined up to just get his autograph or asked a stupid question.  

The first question that was asked to Gaiman by the moderator was, "You are turning 50 next year, how do you feel?" And to paraphrase his answers, he said he felt that he had pretty much done all the things that he had set out to do, and if he were to die in a plane crash tomorrow, he would not regret. 

Just looking at the way he has treated his fans, i can see that he will die a happy man with no regrets and no guilt. I would want to die the same way. And one day, if i should need to sign autographs for 3 hours or more, i promise myself i would do it in the same way that Gaiman has done. That is a true superstar. 

Julie & Julia and the meaning of life

I have a friend, who has been with this guy forever, but each time I look at them, it is just rather unconvincing to me that they should really be together forever, or that they should really be a couple, because when i look at them, I think of some strange people I heard of, who put durian on rice. Durian and rice has no chemistry at all. 

Watching Julie & Julia, after half an hour is not just like watching someone putting durian on rice, but is rather much like being forced to eat durian and rice. The disparity in the acting between the 2 couples in 2 different time zones - Julia and Paul, and Julie and what's-his-name, - is just really painful. 

Julia and Paul had such natural chemistry and the acting, needless to say, is flawless. Meryl Streep, as usual, never fail to disappoint. Her XXL-Americal-frame, with pants pulled so high to cover her tummy just below her breasts, and a distinct high-pitched voice, happy-go-lucky personality is so lovable and the poignant moment of a childless couple with no option of artificial insemination at that time was fully conveyed in a 3-minute scene when she received a letter from her newly-wed sister Dorothy announcing her pregnancy. Her excitement of receiving a mail from her sister in an internet-less age turned into a confused mixture of joy, jealousy and sadness - that transformation of emotions in 3 minutes was as real as it could get and with her masterful acting made it seemed so easy and so natural and so believable. Lucky Paul didn't really have to do much.

But whenever the scene cuts to Julie and her what's-his-name husband.. gosh.. it just made me want to take a nap. The guy was so bad it was a pain to watch him, first i kept thinking he is the boyfriend, because even as a boyfriend it wasn't convincing and it is so easy to forget that he is The Husband. His "loving acts" to Julie was completely cringe-worthy and when he tries to "act cute" it just makes me feel instantly nauseous. His bad-acting constantly reminds me he is acting. And that Julie, an underdog character who is miserable and trying to find some focus in life reminds me of Bridget Jones but Renee Zellweger was so much more pitiful and lovable, and you just naturally root for her. For Julie, you just hope she fails because she is so annoying. And when she gets a call in the end that Julia Child hates her, instantaneously you thought to yourself - serve you right, you annoying little bitch. Anyway, i read that her latest book, about her new-found passion in butchery and another man, is truly done in bad taste, in more ways than one. If the movie is any reflection of her as a person, then she truly deserves all these. Or maybe that actress* who starred as Julie is simply to blame for all these bad feelings people have for her. 

The good message that you might have missed in the movie - being constantly distracted by Julie and what's-his-name's bad acting - is when Julia and Paul lay in bed one night after news of his new posting to yet another country came, he lamented something like "sometimes i wondered what this is all for.... blah blah blah blah... at least you have a book..." It really reminds me of some of my friends who earn crazy sums of money and enjoy all the luxuries of life, but on very rare occasions such as when their weekend Ferrari breaks down, tries to find an alternative direction in life. It also reminds me of people like me, who lives with little material pursuits in life to idealistically create an alternative world which is fuelled by that daily search for something a little more intangible - a way to change certain things. Not all things, but little things within our reach. Then of course, while my directionless rich friends savour their pan-fried fois gras, i slurp grouchily my porridge with soya sauce.

My mission for Well (meaning) Design is continuing and my principle remains that if as designers we believe that design can change the world - we should never turn down any jobs - no money, little bit of money, some money, a lot of money - i want to do them all. If all good designers want to charge a bomb, then many jobs will go to bad "designers" (printers who want to be designers, contractors who want to be architects) who can do it cheap, because you are not giving options to people who can't afford it, especially non-profit organisations or people with no money.  

Today, i went for a shoot with a photographer, and we saw a caterpillar on the pavement. I literally screamed and jumped, but he very calmly caught the caterpillar in his hands and put it onto the grass patch, he didn't say anything, but i knew he was afraid someone would step on it. I was very touched by his act, and i realised i was far from being that Well (Meaning) Person which he already is. 

True Compassion in people, is what i really admire and True Compassion is what i strive to achieve. Design - done in the spirit of true compassion - can really change the world. There is a Chinese martial arts saying that says - if you truly want to learn a skill, you have to learn how to be a human being first. I still have way to go to learn how to be a truly compassionate human being. I promise myself that the next time I see a caterpillar on a pavement, i will attempt to scoop it up with a leaf and free it onto the grass patch.

* yes i know the bad actress' name is Amy Adams, i just don't feel much like saying her name and that husband who can't bloody act, his name is eric and the actor's name, if you really have to know, go google.

500 Days of Summer

500 days of Summer is very good for junkies of romantic comedies such as me. I've always been a romantic-at-heart and probably thanks to all these romantic comedies. You name it, i've probably watched every single one of them, and re-watched many - and i credit them for having fucked up my love lives. All these fairy tales about meeting the "right one", how you know it the moment you met that person, fireworks and all, is often your own one-sided fantasy world in real life - they often do not resonate with the other. People like me are just deluded and destined for heartaches like Tom. These fantasy "dream girls" often have their own dream boys, who is not you. 

Stupid love-fools like Tom and myself, who crave for consistencies in someone who has someone else in mind, and living in our own dream worlds even after the affair is over, are really silly and as Tom's little sister wisely advised, to paraphrase, that we are just remembering the nice moments, but if we were to look back and look again, there were always the signs, that their minds or hearts are somewhere else with someone else. We were just blinded by our own delusions.

Tom and me were just refusing to accept those signs and pushing ahead, thinking that at some point, love will conquere all, even subjecting ourselves to being the "invisible" companion, and against our will, accepting that some people do not like "labels". Meantime, all your friends around you would remind you how stupid you are, and that if someone truly loves you, why would they be so concerned about being seen with you, or as being with you. Tom should have seen earlier that there was someone else in Summer's life and hence she was just killing time with him until the other guy affirmed his love. 

We have all been vehicles at some points of our lives, to help someone else get to their destination. Just that sometimes, it is more painful to be driven around without a destination and in the end, realising that there was never a destination when the passenger boarded. She was eyeing the aeroplane in the car. 

Summer is always full of heat and excitement, but luckily for some of us, Autumn arrives with the leaves falling, a cooler weather, a little less colourful than Summer, but more calming and more beautiful.