aiya...

I gotta say:
losing one's voice is painful business, for someone like me who loves music and especially singing. i feel almost mute.

argh...

An APA New Year

a night moo danced so hard her heels came off.

it was such a fun night. also good to see everything come together after such hard work. we had such support from our upper-form classmates who came to the party- in true drama school fashion went wild when the food came out, they also went beserk clapping and screaming their heads off during our performances (yay!). the teachers in the audience even came up to the stage for a little talent show. after the night a couple of us went out to the victoria harbour for a little celebration. good stuff. the first semester has ended on a high note.

also- thank you, kill bill 1, for giving me the evening's soundtrack!

originally i burned the faster tracks on the KBST and some franz ferdinand tracks because i couldn't face having three cds with 8 minutes worth of music... there was a reason behind burning loads of tracks after our 8 minute singing medley afterall! we used "battle without honor or humanity" as our MCs' introduction music and the rest as background music during our games section.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

heigh ho

from yee ma- an old colleague:
一年容易又一件 雞去換來靈犬現祝願狗年新開始 萬事勝意又一年狗年新開始祝 心想事成 狗到功成 身體健康 事事如意 大運行到去豬年!恭喜恭喜!!

In other words.... HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!

many days... no post

stuff happens... we're in preparation for the chinese new year party that's on this friday... i'm nervous about the performance i'm in charge of- you'll find me in front of the notebook at 3am working on the background music...

a sleep deprived marge is not a happy marge.

song of the moment

is Battle without honor or humanity by this dude called Tomoyasu hotei. It's got the best beat in the whole world as well as something that's necessary in any song- a great brass arrangement. The song is track 9 on the Kill Bill 1 Soundtrack.

teamwork

A reflection from cricket today:

Teamwork: senior bowlers not bowling for the whole game and giving the others a chance . Generosity: senior bowlers running around in the wind chasing the ball and not holding a grudge, cheering the others on like mad women.

Gee it was cold today out at the Po Kong Village ground. I didn't get to bowl until the last over and by then my fingers were swollen like a sea cucumber that'd just taken in water. And yes, in a masochistic way, it was fun, and it was important to support the other girls who were bowling.

Time for a warm shower!

all because of hamlet--------- II

Thank you, Uma. Thank you, Gordon.

Marge with a most inspirational teacher.

and yes, she most definitely went red.

I just got home. So far this week, I faked death a couple of times; I rolled around, tumbled over hundreds of times for dramatic effect; I did handstands, somersaults; I feel a purple lump growing on my lower back from being way too brave in the stunts workshop; I sat through a three hour shakespearean tragedy. I've had my fourth glass of this disgusting fluid disguising itself as acne treatment in two days. Yet I am in euphoria. Surely this is what drunkedness feels like.

Let me explain.

These few weeks has been a bit of a weird time for me. Those who visit my blog regularly will know. Those who don't, read back a few entries.

This monday was the beginning of a big week. Workshops, then a whole lineup of shows and other workshops to reinitiate my appetite for learning drama @ the APA.

Today, I got it back. I felt that I belonged. I didn't want to make an excuse for not being able to do something better. I did it and didn't care how stupid I looked. I screamed the word "hiya" a lot, at the top of my lungs. At the workshop today, I threw myself around and on the ground, without reserve. It sounds kind of masochistic to say this: it hurt, but it felt damn good.

Thank you, Uma. Thank you, Lucy. Thank you, Quentin Tarantino, for giving me Kill Bill 1 & 2 at such a crucial time. HIIIIIIIYA!

For those who are uninitiated: Kill Bill trailer
For those who want to see a little of what we did this week at stunts: Right Productions

Yesterday night, I was inspired by Dawn Hope, Lady Day. What a magnificient voice. It was amazing to see how a stage experience can be this brilliant when a voice is only accompanied by a piano. And her simple storytelling was so touching. No dancers. No bright flashing lights. No spectacular set. No crap to distract the audience from the fact that the person with the title "singer" on stage can't actually sing to save his/her life. Just cabaret. Yesterday was a goal to strive towards.

Tonight was different. It was a little closer to home. it's hard to describe the feeling post show. there was this electricity. it was magical. but it was not a pipe dream. there was one moment tonight that brought me right back. it was a completely obiter dicta comment from wai wai: as i gave him a "fangirl hug" for his good acting, he uttered a "work hard!"-ish comment. i couldn't even remember what exactly it was that he said, but the moment was so dramatic, as if someone had written those exact lines for him to say at that exact moment. as if someone knew i needed inspiration to go onwards with my APA life. It was better than a glass of good red wine.

thank you.

so, a little more on Angus, the guy who played Hamlet--- using a song from the Kill Bill I soundtrack:

You shot me down, bang bang
- Nancy Sinatra

Mark my words, this guy Angus has more charisma than Queen Elizabeth II has money.

Speaking of people with charisma, a year and a bit ago- August 4, 2004- I went to see Hedda Gabler with Matt & Michelle. Seeing Cate Blanchett do what she did on stage, I was so inspired to learn the craft of acting from someone. Anyone. I lost that feeling somewhere between ASM duties and clowning around during the x-mas break. IT's back, and it sure does feel good.

Bring on the 2nd semester. What'cha'got'in'yer'bag?

all because of hamlet.

Marge is back.

berk. need i say more?

& YUCK.

kill bill & movie making

here's what the seasoned film reviewer, roger ebert, has to say on the subject acting in the context of kill bill (woohoo uma!):

"Kill Bill, Volume 1" is not the kind of movie that inspires discussion of the acting, but what Thurman, Fox and Liu accomplish here is arguably more difficult than playing the nuanced heroine of a Sundance thumb-sucker. There must be presence, physical grace, strength, personality and the ability to look serious while doing ridiculous things.

Thank you, roger.

gosh, i love kill bill. so stylised, so violent, yet so... cool... no, not the violence. if i praised the violence i'd be some sadistic freak (like bill), but his filmmaking is truly something to marvel at.

and yeah, the splits

we are having these martial arts workshops run by a fight choreographer from the Hong Kong Stuntman Association named Cheung Chi Chuen during winter term. in essence, we are learning how to hit and to be hit. and it hurts. it bloody well hurts. the how to hit part takes all your strength and energy and the to be hit part just hurts your neck. it's great fun though. the boys pretended they were bruce lee and we girls pretended to be zhang ziyi from crouching tiger. yes, complete with the "hiya" noises! today we did a whole series of kicks and punches and i tell you, i'm going to be completely sore tomorrow.

and yeah, i almost did the splits today under master Cheung's supervision! horrah!! it hurts though! he was like, sitting on our back leg to make it get straighter. the boys, who are obviously less flexible than we are, were making all sorts of noises (some of them quite suss). we have to do the splits in our final exams for acrobatics so signs are good. lots of hard work ahead for moo.

a taste of chinese medicine

dad and i visited a "chinese doctor" in a last ditch effort to get rid of my acne.

after taking my pulse and looking at my tongue, the doc asked me a few questions like: 1. how much i shat 2. what i eat 3. how long this has been going on etc...

weird!

i'm going to stick with this because a few people have told me that this method works. so what i'm left with is the medicine that tastes like liquid shit. i thought something was wrong when i saw that they were giving away free "haw flakes" (san jar bang)... they were to make the liquid shit a little sweeter. but the stuff just ends up tasting like sweet liquid shit, which is still shit... willpower will get me through this!

also, i'm not allowed to eat spicy foods, alcohol (damn!), cow, lamb and seafoods.... which basically bans me from eating my favourite foods. i'll have to stick with chicken stirfries from now on.

but hey, anything to get rid of this bout of acne. it's been going on for a year and a half and i'm none the wiser on how to stop it.

sound of music

Moo belting it out, outside at the APA ampitheatre.

it's a truth universally acknowledged that:

a moo with music is a happier moo.

yes. we had jazz band rehearsals tonight. i was very rusty, hell, even my prettily purple vicfirth brushes were literally rusting away, but the rhythmic sense was still there, and so was my deep appreciation for all things jazz. playing the drums after a year long sojourn of playing nothing but... nothing... has made me realise the high place i place music in my life. it's undeniable. not to sound big headed, but when people come and ask me for advice on their singing, what i suggest is usually right on the money--- ie. the teacher ends up suggesting it as well in the final evaluation class. loving singing lessons and looking at the clock constantly because i don't want the class to end, but looking at the clock contantly in acting class because i am too scared to go out and do the improvs.

what the hell am i doing in drama school?

i found myself saying that i wanted to act when i had an opportunity to sing professionally, so why am i convincing myself that i want to go back to singing now that i got myself into drama school?

sigh...

had a few quality d&m's with some classmates these two weeks (thanks mung, tak*2, artemis, sam, annie, and all those gals on that bloody tuesday arvo who listened to me whinge for such a long time)... figured out my problem: there's no truth in my acting. people see that there is no truth in my acting. my acting reflects my personality. a big part of my outward personailty is disguising my social reclusiveness by being hyperactive in social situations. being told that my "serious" side is more watchable. knowing that my "serious" side is more watchable.

there were moments where i felt truth and those moments are slipping away from my memory... wait, let me list them: 1. where exercise--- HKCC 2. dancing with apple 3. the last line of "qun sau"... the rest? complete and utter: shit. a whole semester's acting classes: shit.

oh shit.

sorry for being so self indulgent...
i promise, my next post will be about an earth shattering social issue.

performing arts plus +++

Just as I was worrying that I wasn't doing enough performing arty things... I got two e-mails, one inviting me to be a line producer for a student musical film production slated to be filmed in August 2006, and the second from Tim Wilson, the sax teacher from the music faculty telling me to drop in to jazz band rehearsal tomorrow night at 730pm.
woohoo!!! it's all happening: jazz music, film musicals. it's a pretty good start to the year already!

left: eye. right: me, artemis. both taking the piss out of a classmate.

piccies for the new year

31/12/2005

Causeway Bay... last hours of 2005....

so much has happened... so much to ponder over...

15/1/2006

We posed for a piccie after 真珍's show.

我們APA bb 班真的要努力地support each other!

之後took an off the cuff calvin klein perfume ad shot for 阿Don&阿'temis


Mr. Dracula and Moo?

No, it's a very 型的 APA MT/Drama grad, 一個真正的哥哥!

哥哥面紅了... don't know why, but my face always turns bright red in the prescence of 1. men 2. really successfully accomplished people 3. teachers... who knows?

coffee withdrawal

Digital mischief: Luke Atkinson
Photo: Rebecca Hallas

From the Sydney Morning Herald Website
http://www.smh.com.au/news/good-living/java-stripped/2006/01/09/1136771492914.html

An article called "Going Cold Turkey- seven days without coffee"

Holiday blog bombardment

Yes, tis the honeymoon blogging period where one posts ten times per day.

phrase of the day: 筋要日日拉，唔係就趴街。

Thank you, kit, for the delicately worded wisdom.

I've set myself a holiday fitness plan: warmup dances, then situps and pushups for acrobatics, then a few rounds of the sun salutation for stage movement... Whether I keep this up is same as my blogging habit:

(1st week: extremely keen)
(2nd week +: extremely keen... not)

tse ge mz... toe la ku...

voila, the diction exercise. if you didn't go to singing class on the last friday, then you should probably stick this on your bedroom wall and chant it regularly.

music dhit

We've begun diction exercises in our singing classes. I wonder if we’ll turn into Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor and do the “Moses supposes”? Better yet, I think Mr. Owen will probably start dancing with us. He's got this really weird sense of humour when he deals with our singing.