I watched this on TV last night, and I was really really moved. This girl can dance even though she's deaf. Apparently she still 'hears' music, but differently from how we perceive it.
Anyway she got through the choreography round to go to Las Vegas =)
School's been terrifically dull. I guess I have to pick up my momentum soon. First 2 weeks have gone past and I haven't had much to do for all my modules. Hmmm.
Now I lay me down to study, I pray the Lord I don't go nutty, And if I fail to learn this junk, I pray the Lord I do not flunk, And if I die, don't bury me at all, Just lay my bones in the study hall, And pile my books upon my chest, And tell my profs I did my best, So now I lay me down to rest, And pray I pass tomorrow's test, And if I die before I wake, That's one less test I'll have to take.
Omnia mutantur
10:44 AM
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Four CNM level 4000 modules for my final sem (which starts today). Whew. And jobhunting to do. This blog might go back into erratic updating again.
Ody is sick =( I've no idea why yet. Hurhur maybe I can blame an overrich diet of salmon. I'll keep observing him for now.
Anyway, I seem to have somewhat solved the problem of schoolfees after sending some emails to OSA - paying half by CPF and half by giro seems okay to them.
Makes me wonder how all those people I know can manage to jetset around the world so much and aren't lifting a finger to work. It's bizarre.
Other news: I got a new grade 5 student last saturday. What completely stuns me is that he hasn't practised for one month. Which is alright, if not for the fact that he has already completely forgotten how to play his scales AND exam pieces. And he has only learnt 1.5 exam pieces so far. And managed to forget all of it. AND his mother has already taken the initiative to sign him up for ABRSM July examinations. I have 6 months to sort this out, stat!
Sending 9 students to the exams this year. It's always easy to advance, from Grade 1 to 2, and so on, year by year; but the hardest point is actually gauging when they're ready to leave Beginner level and head to Grade 1. I always feel like I'm taking a tremendous risk. A lot of the children don't really practise, so switching them from a non-stress mode to a sudden death mode takes some understanding of the family situation and the child's own motivation/intelligence.
As I've found, motivation can be surmounted by sheer intelligence. Faith is a curious case in point. She really doesn't like practising (actually she almost NEVER does), but when pressed, she can play extremely well with minimal practice. And naturally, 勤能补拙, if you're not as bright, practising saves! And if all else fails, parents must force encourage the kid to work at the piano.
Modern parents are really stupid to think that caning and corporal punishment is barbaric. It's the reason we've avoided generations of superbrats. Until now.
Maybe I should write a book after all my teaching is done.
Omnia mutantur
10:51 AM
Saturday, January 9, 2010
LMAO!!!!
Omnia mutantur
10:19 PM
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
I'm quite amused by this post on context.org about deconstructing disney characters.
And you can tell that fantasy tales haven't changed very much since then.
Gossip girl. Which is about the lives of rich, famous, charming and good looking young people whose main talents are being rich, famous, charming and good looking.
And the Twilight series. Which is a stupid enough premise in itself.
And there're dozens of such shows airing on TV. The world is doomed. Ed: How forgetful of me. A photo of my terrapins:
Ody is the darker one and Caly is the lighter coloured one. They both like eating salmon sashimi! And many people who love sashimi have been deeply offended by my usage of the delicacy.
Omnia mutantur
9:06 AM
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
My new phone... finally. I've been using my JC phone from 2004 for a few months now ever since the Nokia prism blew up from overuse. My sister had an expiring contract with M1 that had to be renewed before the month was out, so I got a new phone along with it.
I've not been up to much, economic woes are so heavy and bothersome. I still have to figure out what to do with my school fees for this coming semester. CPF education loan scheme is absolutely fucked up. I can't say anymore about the stupid system without blowing several fuses.
Baked up 48 blueberry muffins with my sister last saturday when my mother got 10 boxes of fresh blueberries that were on offer.
Can't wait to graduate and get out to work in a proper job. I hate this current lifestyle, I can't get used to it, it's terribly restricting and I can't stop worrying.
L'économique, parfois, les dévorait tout entiers. Ils ne cessaient pas d'y penser. Leur vie affective, même, dans une large mesure, en dépendait étroitement.
What a life to live.
Omnia mutantur
3:03 PM
Friday, January 1, 2010
I've been reading this over and over. This is the prequel to the entire Fables series. It's about the origins of the different characters in fairytales, retold in a modern way. All the different characters in the stories are put together more completely. For example, all the unnamed wicked witches in all the stories (Hansel & Gretel, the witches that transformed Beast and Frog Prince etc) are all unified in one character called Frau Totenkinder. Similarly, Snow White is the same one with the 7 dwarves, and with Rose Red.
The interesting one would be Prince Charming, who ends up running through his brides pretty fast (Snow White, Cinderella, Briar Rose, etc). There are too many generic male heroes in fairytales.
Anyway, the story's premise focuses on the exodus of the fables out of their original homes, the Homelands, and entering our world, the Mundane World, to escape war and unrest. There is a super villian called The Adversary going around making their lives miserable.
So they settle down in New York City. And the story begins from there.
The artwork is really beautiful too. One of my favourites:
Anyway it's really really interesting, I can't wait to get my hands on the rest of the series! Going to Kinokuniya later to get the first 3 or 4 books.
