Pain Unacquainted

Packed day today. =) Or yesterday, because of the past-midnight thing, but it's still today to me anyway.

Just heard from Kathy yesterday (or the day before yesterday, respectively) about Times books warehouse sale in Expo, so I checked it out this morning. This kind of events is usually crowded, so I kiasu-ly made a point to be there right at opening time (10 a.m.) -- then at least I could enjoy an hour of less crowd.

Turned out it wasn't necessary; the crowd was pretty small the entire time I was there. I kinda figured out why -- there weren't many that attracted me there. The titles I would've been interested to buy, I already had. There were quite a lot of novels on sale, but I didn't know most of the authors, so I had no idea if they would be good.

-- the pain she wrote

I did find two catches at the end. One is Anne Frank's The Diary of a Young Girl: The Definitive Edition at half price, which I guess is only because the cover is damaged. Famous as it is, I've never really been interested; but as I was flipping through the book, I found that I liked the writings at all the pages I stopped at. =) It's been translated from Dutch, so I suppose half the credit goes to the translator, but the content was good to start with.

The other is a computing textbook by Wayne Wolf at 7 dollars. Considering how these books can cost around 70 dollars, I'm glad I found it. =) I was indeed looking for some general reading on embedded systems for my research, and it was only after I was satisfied with the content that I flipped back to the cover and realized who the author was -- whoa, pretty famous in my field leh. Hueheu. Slow, slow. But at least it means my judgement of this book is not biased hor. =D

Whirled a while through the Metro sale next door too, but didn't get anything from there. Come to think of it, in these sales I've always seen people getting pillows. Ha. Were they really such a good buy when on sale?

In any case, people, these sales will be there until 2 Jan, so you can still catch them if you want. Times promises to add new titles everyday, so maybe there's still hope.

-- the pain i failed to see

My next event of the day was Confession of Pain (傷城). I googled some reviews on this movie some time ago, and ended up reading an unrelated quote of how revenge is a confession of pain. It's very relevant after all, then. (I wonder if this is considered a spoiler? Too late for a warning anyway, so sorry. XP)

My partiality for Tony Leung aside =P, I think it's a very good story, though I seemed to have tuned my expectations the wrong way and ruined my own enjoyment. =( I went in expecting a good mystery thriller, but it wasn't meant to be that at all. The actual fact was revealed from the start, and the thrill should've been in figuring out the motives and making the connections. And the focus of the film wasn't even this, but the emotional struggle of the characters. Ah, what a waste of all those powerful acting on me! X(

On the side, this movie sort of redeemed Takeshi Kaneshiro in my opinion, after all his lovey-dovey roles and playboy-ish looks. (I didn't watch much of him in fact, so this was my biased perception lah.) Then One Last Dance (茶舞) (next target) will most likely redeem Francis Ng from my personal, unfair, villain image of him. Hurhur. (Eh, but he's still acting as an assassin yah? Ha.)

Today was also a losing-to-the-shopping-temptation day; after those books, I got attracted to a Shiratori Emiko CD when whiling time between the movie and the next event. (If you remember, she was the one who sang the original Japanese version of Melodies of Life, the theme song for Final Fantasy IX.)

I hesitated at first because almost half the track listing of that album ("Beauty Power Super Selection") are cover versions, and I was curious about only one song in there. (By the way, the track listing in that link doesn't correspond exactly to the CD I got; probably a different release.) So I went round and round the shop looking at other stuff, cooking the decision over until the moment before I exited the shop. =P As it turns out, that one song rather disappoints, but I do find a few favourites among the original songs. So at least I can comfort myself rather justifiably. Huhuh.

-- the pain i do not know

Last appointment of the day was dinner with several friends, one of whom just lost her mother. Given the aggravating circumstances surrounding it, I've had the thought of how undeserved (for lack of a better term) that was. Now I realize how immature that thought has been. I was in awe of how positively she was taking this, pivoting strongly on her faith.

It's only then that I really saw how true it was, that life trials make us strong. My share of crises has not been quite as hard. How weak I still am compared to these friends of mine... and yet I certainly do not wish for such trials to come to me just so I can have that learning opportunity. (Though this particular trial is of course, generally, inevitable.) There's time for everything for everyone, maybe?

After the dinner Igid suggested making a stop at Gramophone (which we didn't manage to, in the end), and I mentioned that I really liked their slogan: "Without music, life would be a mistake." (Found out later that this was actually a quote from Nietzsche.) While I of course agreed, I admitted it might be over the top for other people whose interests lie elsewhere. But Igid thought it wasn't wrong really; music exists because it is meant to exist, so it would really be a mistake if it didn't. =D

Interesting point of view, eh. Though if you twist it around, if music didn't exist, then it would be just as 'correct' as it must've been meant not to, right? Ah, the wonder of what-if-s. But regardless, everything is as it is, all's right with the world -- isn't it.

The Last Name

Hooh, right after a post on ikite (living on), here's a post on desu (death).

I still don't get the point of having movie sneak previews the way they are practiced in our theatres; how is it different than if they just let it open a few days early? (Wiki seems to say this isn't the way sneak previews should be, though.) But anyhow, because of this practice, I got to see Death Note 2, which is to open on 28th, last night. (Confession of Pain is lined up for 28th too, so something's gotta give.)

(...Not that I'm so kiasu I have to see them right after they open, but the longer the delay, the higher the chance someone may spoil the plot for me. And this sounds like a denial, doesn't it.)

Wasn't as excited as I was for the first one, as I predicted the plot was going to deviate from the manga again... and it did. But I actually like it quite well. The movie in total (part one and two) covered only the first saga, which is a good thing, because the second saga was not as interesting in my opinion. They basically blended the manga ending into the ending of the first saga -- keeping true to its "The Last Name" sub-title, though with important differences in other aspects -- and in doing so, blended a few new roles into existing ones. Fewer characters, each taking up more significant roles, so things are kept simple and solid.

Some other simplifications did disappoint me -- the manga let the characters deduce the twists in certain situations, but the movie cut it short by revealing the truth from the beginning, which took out the fun. *pouts*

And again, I don't like the movie's Raito. Not intense enough. His personality changed quite a few times in the course of the plot, which was apparent in the manga (and I really found him lovable during certain periods of these) but this was lost in the movie. It might be hard to match the manga's expressiveness (especially when it's Obata Takeshi), but it was still a big letdown in that one climactic scene.

...And after watching Jinnai Takanori in Ichi Rittoru, I began to think such level of expressiveness is actually possible. =P May not be a fair comparison though, as that one was for the comical effect.

L was fine, and his role was even more entertaining this time around. They actually flashed his real name in the movie! It was never revealed in the manga, and I'd thought it best that way, as it kept him on the sacred ground that he'd been throughout the story. But now that I've missed reading it on the screen, it made me rather curious too. =D

It was also a pleasant surprise to get a closer take on Raito's family, which really touched me. Ziggy who watched this with me said that they seemed to be focusing more on emotions rather than the wits as the manga did. So all in all I'm quite satisfied with the movie being a complement to the manga, much like how it is with Fullmetal Alchemist manga and anime.

Was I unusually critical with movies only when they concerned the mangas I'm obsessed over? =D I can't seem to construct a gracious ending to this rambling, so I'll just stop it here, heh.

Ikite ne... Zutto Ikite.

You said that God is unfair, but aren't you the one trying to do unfair things? ...If you just blame it on your illness, and throw away all the things you can do, can you still say that God is the one unfair?
-- Ikeuchi Shioka, "Ichi Rittoru no Namida"


Spent the whole weekend watching Ichi Rittoru no Namida. It's every bit as good and commands as many tears as everybody's been saying. T_T For sure my tears didn't fill up to 1 litre as the title says, but every single episode (even the first) has made me cry, a feat no other drama I've watched has achieved so far. =P Maybe it's the deep context that the script and the acting built up so well, I wanted to cry at the simplest words being said. *wipes wipes*

Story details can be found at the above link and easily google-able. Based on a real-life account, though it surely contains some fictitious bits. Dreaming Illusions has the subbed episodes, and I fully recommend watching it yourself. Just quoting the moral messages here feels flat to me, as what impressed me most was the unexpected wisdom in pragmatic opinions scattered throughout the series.


It can't be helped. Because, you see, parents are always thinking in terms of their children's benefit. Isn't that okay? It doesn't matter how the other parents put it. We're just ourselves and we need to think only about Aya.
-- Ikeuchi Mizuo, "Ichi Rittoru no Namida"


I like the father a lot, he looked like he was pulled out of a comic book straight, such expressive face! Found the actor who played Deathnote's L too. =D firefly warned me not to watch the drama for his sake since he didn't appear much; and I do find almost all of the characters very lovable, each of their predicaments and clumsy attempts at solutions close to home.

The episode outro was everything I think it could best be -- snapshots of the real person's life, diary quotes, colourized pictures of daily encounters like the classroom, the stairs, flowers, sky... They are beautifully captured, and the colourization seems to imply a new way of looking at these mundane things. All these backed by the gentle ending theme with very fitting lyrics.


It got me thinking that, here I am crying my throat sore for this one person, while, aren't there many others out there, in perhaps worse conditions, whom I never care about? I always think life is better viewed stripped from any drama, but some things are apparently hard to see when not dramatized, ne...

Don't Download This Song

Once in a while
maybe you will feel the urge
to break international copyright law...

Yep, it's Weird Al Yankovic. Caught that line while in HMV yesterday and, immediately relating to the lyrics, I stood watching the whole music video for a good laugh. Here's so you can have some too:
YouTube: Don't Download This Song

Lyrics can be found here, and some help from Wiki to understand a few references he makes.

And of course, I downloaded the song. Heh. But legally, mind you. The artist himself posts his songs for download on his website. Just find the link on the main page.

While I do practice what he says about "the record store's where you belong", my time in there is usually spent browsing and sampling only. =P Zard is still 72 dollars, sigh.

On the side, Indonesians will probably relate differently to the line about remembering a certain imprisoned "Tommy". =)

Live Like You Were Dying

Was trying to find information on a car window lift controller application for my research, so I:

Google: car window lift state chart
-->
Amazon.com: Friday Night Lights [HD DVD]: "throws his State Championship ring out the car window]"
-->
IMDb: Friday Night Lights
-->
IMDb: Tim McGraw
-->
Google: Live Like You Were Dying

That's the way [my workday] goes, pop goes the weasel.

---

Live Like You Were Dying
~ Tim McGraw

He said,
"I was in my early forties, with a lot of life before me,
and a moment came that stopped me on a dime.
I spent most of the next days looking at the x-rays
and talking 'bout the options and talkin' 'bout sweet time."

I asked him, when it sank in
that this might really be the real end,
"How's it hit you when you get that kind of news?
Man, whatcha do?"

And he said,
"I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,
I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.
And I loved deeper, and I spoke sweeter,
and I gave forgiveness I'd been denying."
And he said, "Someday, I hope you get the chance
to live like you were dyin'."

He said,
"I was finally the husband that most the time I wasn't,
and I became a friend a friend would like to have.
And all of a sudden goin' fishin' wasn’t such an imposition,
and I went three times that year I lost my Dad."

"Well, I finally read the Good Book,
and I took a good long hard look
at what I'd do if I could do it all again.
And then--"

"I went sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,
I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.
And I loved deeper, and I spoke sweeter,
and I gave forgiveness I'd been denying."
And he said, "Someday, I hope you get the chance
to live like you were dyin'."

"Like tomorrow was a gift,
and you got eternity to think about what you’d do with it.
And what did you do with it?
And what can I do with it?
And what would I do with it?"

"Sky diving, I went rocky mountain climbing,
I went two point seven seconds on a bull named Fu Man Chu.
And then I loved deeper, and I spoke sweeter,
and I watched an eagle as it was flyin'."
And he said, "Someday, I hope you get the chance
to live like you were dyin'."

Seven Years Now

Haven't been feeling like blogging lately, hm. Only been posting articles for the past month. Writing did go on in some other area which is going to stay unpublished... so yeah. =D Then our Batch Five bunch had a reunion last weekend, which I felt like talking about now. =)

How the time goes by --
Suddenly, you’re wise.

We had a very fulfilling reunion this year -- attendance was record-breaking (ha) and we got more talks done as a whole group. This despite the lack of planning, in which we didn't manage to book the place we originally chose, and later found out it'd been out of business. 0_0 One closed-for-the-day makan place later, we finally got to Ayam Penyet @ Bugis -- lucky for us, unlucky for them -- because we wreaked quite a havoc there. =P

But our Big Walk (or should I say Hijrah, in the spirit of historical Indonesian soldiers) to the alternative destination actually gave us more time for interactions, so I suppose it was all good after all. =)

There’s still time for you,
time to buy and time to lose yourself within a morning star...

Photos in the collage below courtesy of vy and cheeto. The bad quality is to be blamed on me and my 10-minute Paint work. =P


Only one camera (not mine or cheeto's) had the photo with all of us in it, so I'll upload it once I get it. In the meantime, here's the Christmas decoration without us. ^^0


Afterwards we went to hang out near Singapore River, during which we brought up the subject of homosexuality, somehow. ^^ Turned out some of us had had a few culturally-shocking encounters. Naturally we then referred to religious beliefs, which our group had a good variety of. I personally was always apprehensive about this kind of situation, a mindset I wish to shed myself. =P So I was kinda glad we started on this discussion after all.

And this reminded me of a friend I used to comfortably have religious discussions before, despite our different religions. We kind of fell out of touch after graduation, so I guess I should try to catch up with him one of these days. =)

The sun is getting high,
we’re moving on...

Our anniversary this year was also marked by one sad occasion and one happy occasion. Life does go on for each of us, huh... Some of us have made the transition to the married life; some have gone back home to Indonesia. All of us have definitely changed one way or another, seven years from the time we first met; though we do enjoy pointing out the infamous traits that each other still carry through the years. Indeed, some things I really do hope we can get away with not growing up from.

There’s never a wish better than this,
when you only got a hundred years to live.

-- Five for Fighting, "100 Years"