I'm at the Marathon!

Weirdly enough, we're part of the NAC team. One of the Literary Arts civil servants read too (not sure if I should state her name).

Alvin's reading now. First he did a bit of his autobiography, now he's doing Wena Poon.

Earlier on we had the guy who wrote "American Gangster".

I'm up in a while. Alvin's warning me he's gonna eat into my time. Pictures in a bit.

Singapore Writers Festival Reading Marathon - I'm on from 3am to 3:30am!

Insomniacs: Do you feel frustrated every time you stay awake beyond the witching hour while the rest of your friends are soundly under the covers?

Clubbers: Don’t you always feel that the night ends too early?

So, on the morning of Sunday 5 July, from 1am to 7am at the Central National Library foyer, do something different, take a break from your routine: support literary arts!


Show your support for this one-of-a-kind Singapore Writers Festival (SWF) pre-festival event. The SWF team and some of Singapore’s more well-known writers will be reading a selection of homegrown works in public. Readers include Felix Cheong (The Call from Crying House), O Thiam Chin (Free Falling Man), Aaron Lee (Five Right Angles), Ng Yi-Sheng (Last Boy), Alvin Pang (City of Rain), Heng Siok Tian (Crossing the Chopsticks) and Jeffrey Lim (The Coffin That Wouldn't Bury).

Coffee, tea and biscuits to keep us awake are welcome, but just stopping by to listen to our readings are fine too!

Organised as part of READ! Singapore 2009 by the NAC.

UPDATE: It's actually happening already! Schoolkids were reading when I went Friday afternoon.



Seeya there!

Watch these videos and go crazy.

God, I love the Internet.




Should We Be Doing More To Reduce The Graphic Violence In Our Dreams?

texts june 2009

Just finished Gilbert Koh's "Two Baby Hands" last night. Some really really great poems at the beginning, insightful resonant ones throughout, but a worrying number of pieces that end without really accomplishing anything. Still worth reading.

In other news, WHOA! Surfeit of graphic novels.

*POETRY*
+Maya Angelou’s “Poems” (reread)
+Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge’s “Nest”
=Gilbert Koh’s “Two Baby Hands”

*FICTION*
=Jane Austen and Seth Grahame-Smith’s “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies”
+Yukio Mishima’s “The Decay of the Angel”
+Eva Ibbotson’s “Which Witch?”

*NON-FICTION*
+Lauren Slater’s “Opening Skinner's Box: Great Psychological Experiments of the Twentieth Century”
+David A. Price’s “The Pixar Story”
+Maggie Koerth-Baker’s “Be Amazing”

*GRAPHIC TEXTS*
+Milo Manara and Jaradowsky’s “Borgia: Blood For the Pope” and “Borgia: Power and Incest”
+Rob Ryan’s “This Is For You”
+Kehinde Wiley’s “Black Light”
+Miss Lasko-Gross’s “A Mess of Everything”
+Alan Moore’s “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century: 1910”
=David Mack’s “Kabuki: The Alchemy”

*PERFORMANCES*
+some weird meta skits at the Upright Citizen’s Brigade
+New York Theatre Workshop’s "Things of Dry Hours"
+Joavien Ng and daniel k’s “Forward Moves”
+The Observatory’s “Invisible Room”
The Suzuki Company of Toga’s “Electra”
+Rotozaza’s “Etiquette”
Spell #7 and Bodies in Flight’s =“Dream/Work” and +“Dream/Home”
+Lin Zhao Hua Theatre Studio’s “The Cherry Orchard”
ECNAD’s “Songs for Gaia”
Arts Fission’s “Bird Call” [I was in it so I can’t really rate it can I?]
+Singapore International Piano Festival's "Young Virtuoso Recital: Yao Xiao Yun and Nicholas Loh"

*EXHIBITIONS*
Museum of the City of New York’s =“Mannhatta/Manhattan”, “Amsterdam/New Amsterdam”, +“Stoops of New York”, =“New York Interiors”, +“New York Toy Stories”, +“Protect” and +“Perform: A History of New York Theater and Broadway”
+The Met’s “Permanent Collection”, “The Model As Muse” and “Francis Bacon: A Centenary Retrospective”
+KYTV’s “Pop Station: Singapore 2009”

*FILMS*
+Henry Selick‘s “Coraline”
=Peyton Reed’s “Yes Man”
+Sam Raimi’s “Drag Me to Hell”
+Shawn Levy’s ”Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian”
Sinema@OldSchool’s “Sinema Showoff”
=Conrad Vernon and Rob Letterman’s “Monsters vs Aliens”

The latest about HERE

aka Tzu Nyen's film, which I keep on blogging about despite not actually having seen it.

After a resounding opening last weekend, HERE continues its run at the Picturehouse this week

To those who have seen the film, thank you and do help to spread the word!

For those who have not yet experienced HERE - don't miss out on Singapore's unique feature film entry to the Directors' Fortnight, Cannes Film Festival 2009, by filmmaker and visual artist Ho Tzu Nyen! Come experience this singular cinematographic adventure!

Screening times (tickets available from Wednesday evening, 1 July)

Thursday 2/7 - 9.30pm
Friday 3/7 - 7pm
Saturday 4/7 - 4.30pm
Sunday 5/7 - 4.30pm
Monday 6/7 - 7.30pm
Tuesday 7/7 - 7.30pm
Wednesday 8/7 - 9.30pm

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What reviewers around the world have to say about HERE

"HERE... relentlessly forms, destroys and reforms, a different species among local films"
***1/2
- Eista Lee, zbNOW (translation)

"one of the most memorable features to have appeared recently on the local movie scene"
***1/2
- Yong Shu Hoong, my paper

"ranks among the best and most expressive films yet to come out of Singapore"
- Mathias Ortmann, sinema.sg

" a breath of fresh air"
- Tan Heng Hau, moviexclusive.com

"HERE is unlike any Singapore film we have ever seen"
- fridae.com

"there's a method to the madness here"
- Stefan S, A Nutshell Review

"Ho's interplay of camera and sound achieves hypnotic serenity, even, eventually, dreamy melancholy."
***1/2
- Whang Yee Ling, 8Days

"a deep reflection on cinema and on human nature"
- Bruno Carmelo, Nisimazine.

"A triumph for a first-time director"
- Amanda de Guzman, The Business Times

"a beautiful aesthetic"
- l'Humanité

"a strange sensorial experience"
- DVDRAMA

"a highly sophisticated visual language and inventive montage, the story intrigues, captivates"
- les Fiches du Cinéma

"an entry point into the singular artistic universe of the filmmaker"
- www.evene.fr

"Acquiring a ticket for this film, is accepting to immerse oneself in a cinematographic adventure."
- Tadah! Blog


TICKETING DETAILS

I. Tickets available at
- The Cathay box office, 2 Handy Road, level 5
- www.cathay.com.sg (from 1 July 2009)

2. Discounts:
- 12% discount on tickets purchased at box-office only with UOB Visa card.

3. About the film
www.herethefilm.com

Washington DC pix!!!

More shots from what I'm affectionately calling our American family vacation on steroids...


Spacepod and inaudible guide, Smithsonian Air and Space Museum


Family eating, Chinatown.


Remarkably realist totem, African Art Museum


Brother bemused, Capitol


WW2 fighter plane, Air and Space Museum


Emanations, Library of Congress


Father fooling around, Capitol


Nigerian mask, Museum of African Arts


Aeroplane interior miniatures, Museum of Air and Space


Disney Dumbo ride car (decommissioned), American History Museum


White House


White House protestors


Mother at guacamole demonstration, Oyamel nouveau Mexican restaurant


"Black corn truffles", Oyamel nouveau Mexican restaurant


Astronaut fecal bag, Air and Space Museum



Indian tourists, FDR Memorial



Capitol Dome, Capitol


Brother's ex-roommate Brent, nearby suburbia


Surprising Chinese-American name, Vietnam War Memorial


Badly-lit family, Lincoln Memorial


Precolumbian Indian and African babies, Library of Congress


"Night at the Museum" props, the Castle


Star Spangled Banner re-enactment, American History Museum


Sleeping lady, Haupt Garden


Kermit the Frog muppet and imitator, American History Museum


Bucolic scene, the Castle

HERE by Ho Tzu Nyen... still in theatres

If you didn't catch HERE at the Picturehouse last week, never fear: it's still showing for a while longer. It'll be on from Thursday 2 July to Sunday 5 July, specific times to be uploaded to the Picturehouse site by Wednesday.



For more about the film, click here: www.herethefilm.com

I've reached my quota on Picasa picture storage.

So to tide you over till my next pic-heavy post, here's some Thomas the Tank Engine yaoi.

We're performing tonight!

I'm talking about ARTS Fission's A Garden Affair 013: Bird Call, of course. Tickets are sold out (well, it's free, but we've got a capacity of 40 and we've got bookings of about 65 each night. So yeah, we're sold out).



Unfortunately the dance studio is not very photogenic:


From left to right: Elysa Wendi (choreographer), Scarlett, Shirley, Mayu, Edwin, Bobbi and Lynn.


Look how they turn the simplest of tasks into an artistic act! No lah; I'm seriously impressed at how the ARTS Fission troupe willingly commits itself to practice, teaching, brainstorming, researching and sai gang. They're a really cool group of people.

I do have a few gorgeous pics, but they'd give away some of the ideas we have. So I'll post them after the show.

HERE by Ho Tzu Nyen

Posting this for a friend-cum-really cool local artist:

Singapore film selected for the Directors’ Fortnight, Cannes Film Festival 2009,
runs from 25 June - 1 July 2009 at The Picturehouse



I. Ticketing details

1. Showtimes
Dates : 25 June - 1 July 2009
Time : one show time daily from Monday to Friday, additional screenings on weekend (2nd week run to be advised

25th June 2009, Thu 19:20
26th June 2008, Fri 21:40
27th June 2009, Sat, 13:00, 15:00. 21:40
28 June 2009, Sunday, 12:50, 19:40


2. Tickets available at
- The Cathay box office, 2 Handy Road, level 5
- www.cathay.com.sg (from 18 June 2009)

3. Discounts:
- 12% discount on tickets purchased at box-office only with UOB Visa card.

4. Group bookings / Director Q&A
- Private hall screenings can be arranged. Contact Cathay cinema at 6736-7228 or cinddie_teo@cathay.com.sg with preferred dates and times.
- Halls available on a first-come-first serve basis. 2 weeks’ advance notice to the cinema preferable (for programming reasons).
- A 25-minute post-screening Q&A session with the director can be arranged, depending on his availability. Please contact media@gsmprjct.com to enquire.

5. About the film
www.herethefilm.com


II. The Picturehouse Explores: HERE - Dialogue Session with Director Ho Tzu Nyen

Date : Sat 27 June 2009
Time : 3.00pm, 5.00pm
Venue: The Picturehouse Lounge.
Level 5, The Cathay, 2 Handy Rd

Free Of Charge. Light refreshments will be served. Film screenings before and after. RSVP your attendance to thepicturehouse@cathay.com.sg

My god! Why did no-one tell me the President of Madagascar was so sexy?

That's Andry Rajoelina, the transitional President (they've been having some trouble down there recently) with his equally hot wife Mialy Majoelina. He's only 35 years old. Via Madagascar Not the Movie.

Granted, it might be the photo. He doesn't look drop-dead hump-your-sofa gorgeous in every shot:





But he still beats the pants off Barack.

Alright, back to work now...

UPDATE: Er, I suppose I'd be an evil dick-thinking bastard if I didn't also mention that he was installed without elections after a military coup, and there are loads of protests by the populace (not against Mr Hawtness specifically, but more about the lack of due process). He might just be an ambitious ethnic rabble-rouser dictator wannabe who happens to have a pretty face. So er, I'm just giving him his hotornot endorsement, not a mandate to rule. Just sayin'.

What do I do when I have a crazy week with too many deadlines due?

I blog silly videos:



...oh god, I just realised my 10 year-old niece reads this blog. Kimberlyn! The above video is... naughty. If you watch it, don't tell your parents.

I'm gonna be on the radio on Monday at 10am talking about Bird Call, btw.

Excellent short religious-fi film

Civilization by Marco Brambilla from CRUSH on Vimeo.

Want to help the Iranian twitter revolution?

Eli Sanders says (with some references to the New York Times):

In our comments, and in comments on other blogs, a number of people have been asking what they can do from here in the U.S. to help the Iranian protesters. Here's a small, easy thing that's being requested by Iranians who are using Twitter to organize:

Help hide Iranian protesters: change your Twitter location to Tehran, time to +3:30 GMT.

The idea is to confuse the Iranian authorities. If every Twitter user in the world is suddenly based in Tehran, that means a lot more accounts for Iranian security operatives to comb through as they try to figure out who to track down and threaten—or worse.

Via Slog.

Garden Affair 013: Bird Call

Next Thursday and Friday, I'm involved in a contemporary dance performance called Bird Call, produced by ARTS Fission group and choreographed by Elysa Wendi. It's centred around the theme of birds, so I might have to do some dressing up in feathers. :)




Garden Affair 013 - Bird Call
Thursday 25 & Friday 26 June 2009, 8.30 pm
Garden Studio, Cairnhill Arts Center
126 Cairnhill Road #01-07/09
Within (tedious) walking distance from Newton MRT

Someone made me fanart!

Her name's Marylyn and this is what she drew, based on my poem "kami/kaze: a correspondence".

I recently participated in KYTV's POP Station...

... thus yielding one of the most embarrassing videos of myself, ever.



The exhibition's showing at the Esplanade Jendela Studio till 29 June.

Oh, and I made a second one, too:

It is so frickin' hot in Singapore.

Just sayin'.

I'm back in Singapore!

And what a relief. I am not as free a spirit as most people assume: I am quite comfortable defined by work and community.

My last stop in North America this time was New York, which I've been revisiting every year since 2007 to follow up on loose ends - unresolved plotlines and relationships from my student life.

This time, I think the novel's over. Yes, I still have dearly loved friends and compatriots in New York, but the real passion's gone, moved on.



I was staying with George, an amazing and dangerously young Hunter College student I bumped into last year at the Pride Parade. He speaks fluent Korean, Spanish (complete with a madrileño accent), French and Greek (Ancient and modern), and now he's learning Chinese. Here he is, avoiding his summer classwork by watching his favourite multilingual Youtubes.



This one's by a Tunisian-French rapper. Means "I have a complaint". Formidable, visually as well as in text and spirit.



Both George and I are agreed that Wang is one of the finest specimens of the male form on the planet Earth, and that Rain's cuteness is overrated.



I can't remember if George said that the lead singer of this Spanish group is transsexual, or if that was someone else. The title means "More is more".

I guess one reason I'm putting these Youtubes up is to show off the fact that I supposedly speak the languages therein (not Korean, but Mandarin), but the truth is that George groks these so much more deeply and wholly and casually than I do. I mean, I can barely figure out what someone's saying in an American English song.

Language is supposed to be the basis of my career, but really, compared with someone like him, I fail.

Back to the small pond. Back to work. Build on my strengths, not on my weaknesses. Never stop making stuff. Never despair.

May texts

*POETRY*
+Elizabeth Alexander’s “The Venus Hottentot”
+Mary Oliver’s “Owls and Other Fantasies”
+Ryan Mecum’s “Zombie Haiku”

*FICTION*
+Max Frisch’s “Homo Faber”
+Gaile Parkin's “Baking Cakes in Kigali”
+Neil Gaiman's "The Graveyard Book"
+Chuck Palhniuk's "Pygmy"

*NON-FICTION*
+Jean Baudrillard’s “The Spectre of Terrorism”
+Dan Savage’s “The Commitment”

*GRAPHIC TEXTS*
+ René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo's “Asterix in Switzerland”
+Anne Taintor’s “I Can’t Be Good All the Time”

*ANTHOLOGIES*
=“New Swiss Writing”

*PERFORMANCES*
Entity Theatre Workshop's "Equus"
+A bunch of shows at Walt Disney World
+=A bunch of shows on the Freedom of the Seas, Nassau

*EXHIBITIONS*
Singapore Art Museum's "Threads" and ="An Unbroken Line: The Wu Guanzhong Donation Collection"
+"Thomas Jefferson's Monticello"
+The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum, National Museum of African Art, National Museum of the American Indian
+The Capitol

*FILMS*
=Nick Oceano's ”Pedro”
+P. J. Hogan's ”Confessions of a Shopaholic”
Iain Softley's “Inkheart”
+Yōjirō Takita's “Departures”
+Ron Howard's “Frost/Nixon”
=Chris Williams and Byron Howard's “Bolt”
+A bunch of things in Walt Disney World
=Steven Spielberg's “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull”