played beach volleyball today! note to self: never take an afternoon nap before volleyball.

wah my reflexes so blardy slow today man.... my brain is probably still playing the game right now. gosh, i need training, i need miss poon to make me run around the track 5 times so that i can get my idea straight! but it was fun still... great weather today for sand court! i kept digging my feet into the sand just to prove to myself that summer was finally treating us well.... hopefully this spell of good weather will attach itself to me when i return to our SUNNY ISLAND SET IN THE SEA!

ok qn. is that line refer to the sunset context, or did it mean something like setting a diamond onto a ring? i remember being very perplexed as a child, that our sunny island would be setting/sinking slowly into the sea, sending crabs and prawns swimming past our front door. i was pretty safe then tho, cos i lived at the fourth floor!

When I'm Tired

New song! i really need to record all these soon man, before i forget everything...

When I'm Tired

Take me
To a place where night falls early
A place where moonlight blankets our minds
And steals the day away

Hold my hand
And walk me through this maze of thorns
That surrounds my heart with quiet wounds
And steal my breath away

Find me
When with my eyes I cannot see
When shadows try to reach me
Take me far away

Want me
For there's nothing else that pleases me
More than giving you my every song
My every hope
My every dream

thoughts about architecture...

what is a membrane? ok... first passes at the word conjure up images of thin, transparent sheets, flexible, elastic. the transparency varies of course. ok here's what i got from wikipedia.

A membrane is a thin, typically planar structure or material that separates two environments. Because it sits between environments or phases and has a finite volume, it can be referred to as an interphase rather than an interface. Membranes selectively control mass transport between the phases or environments.

selectively controlling mass transport. biological membranes are generally semi permeable, letting in some molecules but not others. some components of these membranes also change the properties of things passing through.

what can architectural membranes filter? light? people? but why would there be a need for separation? maybe the membrane is two sided. discovery. translucency is a mechanism for enticement. but how do we get through? if gaps were so big that individuals could fit through, would we still recognise a membrane? unless of course the scale of the environment is proportionally increased, to a point where we can imagine ourselves to be little molecules in a giant cell. what if a membrane could give way? movable screens, flaps, could membranes be immaterial? like, what if it's a mesh of light or laser rays, that form a visual boundary but not a physical one? i'll have to test that out i suppose. of course if we think of a visual barrier, it would lead us to the other senses as well. what about a barrier of sound? white noise that increases towards a particular area, which then becomes the boundary. that boundary would then give a sense of discomfort, or disorientation, or it wouldn't be a barrier would it?

ok so what if we can't pass through... maybe the surface could be flexible or pliable, but nevertheless impenetrable. some laboratories or workshops have gloves attached to screens or panels that you can use to handle object across the barrier, but which keep you from being directly exposed to the contents beyond. could have applications in museums right? i recall that when i went to the MoMA, there were guards all over, tall, dark, suited monsters that screamed at you not to touch that chair, or that kettle, etc.. what if there was a whole gallery of touchable displays that are nevertheless sealed off from tarnishing or contamination? of course, we'd still need security cameras. can glass be considered a membrane? i don't think so. i think a membrane has to yield somehow, and not only to light and sound.

damn, so much to think about, so little time.

sad thing about this world is -- there's always one more thing you can do before you start doing work...

anyway, because i hardly did any work today, there's nothing much to talk about. summer's supposed to be fun man! where's the fun!? oh oh remember liao. watched shaman king today with my summer housemates. damn fun. i realize that there's a lot of pleasure to be derived from having 4 people crowding around a tiny laptop and groaning/shouting/laughing etc at the characters on the screen.... sometimes even better than watching movie! plus no need to pay 8.75 as long as bit torrent is still alive and well. so yah this shaman king series is an anime about little kids who can summon spirits, and we've just reached the climactic last 8 episodes. really wanted to finish watching, but i'm glad i stopped cos or else i'll never finish any work!

so yah, talking about movies... heard singapore's cinema prices are creeping closer and closer to the 2 digit mark! so weird, not as if the cinema screens are getting better, or the seats are getting softer....but then again i'm in NY so i dunno.... who knows right, maybe they have waitresses going around the cinema to serve people food liao....

"excuse me sir, do you want drink?"
"ok wait first ah i see finish this part...."
"oui! sit down can or not! your tray blocking my face!"

actually it might be a good thing to have waitresses/waitors moving around... then all those pirates can't film properly liao.... but then again that might not be such a good thing, come to think of it.

i think animes are so cool....you can almost feel the creative juices of the artists and writers solidifying in front of you....it's really amazing how the cartoon medium allows for so much freedom, and those jap folks really throw in everything they've got! and japanese is such a cute language! esp if you don't know what the heck those people are talking about.... :)

currently addicted to this game called ohm busters, one of those music games where those little bars drop down from the top of the screen and you have to hit the correct key when it reaches the bottom. damn fun... parents should let their kids play this man, confirm they'll be damn good at piano after that. james is like the champion lor.... i can't even follow him when he plays the game... yizhuan just press all the keys at once, hoping that something will hit. but everyone should try... it gives you the most wonderful headache after that... along with the feeling that everything around you is moving upwards. cheap way of getting drunk, without having to get drunk :)

i just wrote another song! wow... i'm in a song writing mood lately. this is way brighter than the song about fanatics i wrote a few days ago though, so violent people don't be disappointed ok?

title is I Love Charlotte Very Much

and it goes like this:

I'm looking at you
Looking at me
Wondering what it is that you see
Wondering what exactly you found in me

Cos if I were you
I'd go find someone new
Someone with money
Or someone with shoes
If I were you I wouldn't be stuck with me

But since you're here
Well there's nothing to fear
Cos I'm just a boy
And you're not a beer
And I'm sure you'll be happy
Cos I've always been happy with me

And we'll grow old together
Like mold on a loaf
Till we're covered in spores
Or turned into toast
But I'll never let anything take you away from me

And one day you'll find
That songs stop to rhyme
And guitars are on sale for a nickel or a dime
And i hope you'll be glad for this song in your memory

It goes
Kenneth and Charlotte sitting on a tree
K-I-S-S-I-N-G
Are you M-I-S-S-I-N-G
Me?

eh? oh i'm still here! haha just finished one round of blog stalking.... read on mrbrown that nkf having this little 1 on 1 with sph. sounds cool man. next up, lky v lhl! ok nobody knows what that means right.... anyway, it's kinda sad that my knowledge of current affairs in singapore is limited to the little bits and pieces i read from other peoples' blogs. you know, if only Straits Times didn't decide to charge us kiam siap singaporeans for the Interactive, then.... actually no difference also. want me to read news must stuff in front of my face with accompanying death threat or else forget it. and if anyone from temasek holdings reads this, i'm just joking ok. no need to take everything seriously wan. i am actually very good at current affairs. i just don't like to tell people about it.

ok really back to work.

woohoo! taking a little break from architecture to do a little bit of slacking! i mean blogging....

anyway had an epiphany today: cornell architects have this little tradition of throwing toilet paper on top of the trees in arts quad, the night before Dragon Day. i've just realized how unknowingly cruel this is.... not only for the engineers who have to endure one whole day without toilet paper, but think of it. imagine you're a tree. some guy chops down the tree next to you, grinds it up into powder, then processes it into rolls of flimsy white paper that is then gleefully draped all over you.

or say imagine you're a pet mink, whose owner has just graciously bought you a cute little mink coat for the winter. warm and cosy under the skin of a (hopefully) distant relative.

or say....

ok enough morbidity for the day -- must be all the glycerin fumes i inhaled today man.

anyway lots of pre froshes in the freshie studio today. i've also realized that the older you get, the less time you spend in the studio. might not be a good thing.

i've realized that the longer scars stay on you, the less they seem like scars, and the more they become just marks on your skin, things that make all of us unique. well, of course that's only until people start pointing their fingers and giving you stares.

i've also realized that there are so many places to hide in cyberspace. man's 21st century solution to overpopulation.

If It Ain't Too Much Trouble

There is a song
Someone sang for me
Pierces through my heart
It brings me to my knees

And it calls to me
In a thousand voices
Calling me back
To a place I used to know

I want to be near you
But I'm so far away
I want to be there for you
But there's an ocean in the way
So if it ain't too much trouble
To wait till tomorrow
Wait for me

There is this face
At the back of my mind
It's black and white
It's yellowing with time

And it calls to me
In a thousand voices
Calling me back
To a place I used to know

I want to be near you
But I'm so far away
I want to be there for you
But there's an ocean in the way
So if it ain't too much trouble
To wait till tomorrow
Wait for me

There is this room
It's built for two
It's waiting for me
And it's waiting for you
And it calls to me
In a thousand voices
Calling me back
To a place I used to know

I want to be near you
But I'm so far away
I want to be there for you
But there's an ocean in the way
So if it ain't too much trouble
To wait till tomorrow
Wait for me

Ode To The Fanatics

Ode to the fanatics

Oh won't you come and take a look
At all those lives your vengeance took
Oh won't you come see for yourself
And if you're sorry please don't tell...

Does it matter if they're counting up the dead
Does it matter if they bow down in despair
Does it matter if you're winning all the fights
If you can't close your eyes in the night

Will the righteous lift the stone
And cast it gently upon your throne
And if it cracks don't say a word
In case the others haven't heard

Does it matter if they're counting up the dead
Does it matter if they bow down in despair
Does it matter if you're winning all the fights
If you can't close your eyes in the night

Do i know you
Have i seen you
Have i held your hands
Or kissed you

Do i miss you
When you're leaving
Do i wait for you
When you're drowning

Does it matter if they're counting up the dead
Does it matter if they bow down in despair
Does it matter if you're winning all the fights
If you can't fall asleep in the night

you know what gives me a headache? maths. and wondering what goes on inside the minds of terrorists, like the ones who bombed the london subway just a few days ago. i guess if you're fighting a war, it's both about self preservation and self gain, and so *mian qiang* still can get away with it. but killing innocent people for the sake of a principle? oh well... i guess rationality doesn't apply in the mind of a terrorist. or on the other hand, maybe its that warped, sinister kind of rationality that drives them to commit such horrific acts... anyhow, my heart goes out not only to the victims and their families, but to this poor society that we live in, which day by day grows increasingly numb to the violence and hatred that threatens to pervade this entire planet.

i've got this national geographic map beside me, and looking at it, i'm just amazed at how intricate it is, filled with coloured border lines, textured terrain, cities, states, capitals, wind directions, currents.... such a beautiful piece of art. and zooming into the island of Great Britain, you'd never guess that somewhere within that small pinkish region lie torn-up bodies, broken hearts, and a community reeling in shock. and a bunch of tortured minds dark as sin.

to be misunderstood is to have your intentions or words misread by someone. it's horrible when that someone is a person you love and care about with all your heart. but there's something worse than being misunderstood. it's the pain of being perfectly understood, and yet being refuted and trodden down as if your words are trash, as if they have no consequence in the scheme of things.

if you were a lieutenant leading your soldiers into the jungle, and got ambushed, at least you can die knowing that if you had fought face to face with the enemy, you might have given him something to think about. but if you were facing your enemy and he promptly felled you with nothing more than a snigger of dismissal, then there isn't even room for any regrets or what ifs. you know you're beaten without anyone having to break a sweat, just like that. trodden all over, left for the crows.

i know now why my parents get angry with me. because good intentions are like little coupons to life -- they can buy happiness, or they can be torn up and thrown into the wind, to be lost forever. and very often, good intentions come with a price.