Life in a Non-Literary World

Let me just update you guys on how i view life in the army, at least on the literary side. Having finished A levels last year (in other words, exposed to all possible kinds of heavy readings in GP and such), and the long break of no-studies for a good 5 months, the supreme lack of any literary devices in the far secluded end of the military life is simply intoxicating for a person like me. I just recently realised the impact this has on my writing, for i can no longer write as fluently as before!

Upon the move to this new blog, i actually have difficulty expressing myself, needless to say the numerous grammatical errors i made in the wide web. Any creative juices seemed to have dried up, desperately in need of an oasis for a kindling of intellectual hope. In terms of speech too, i feel as though i'm not making sense half the time! Those who had met me in the recent months must have also noticed that i cant seem to express myself as well as before, 'talking in a funny way', pulling off a weird accent and yes, full of vulgarities as interjections.

I guess for a full Arts student like me who's A levels totally comprised of 3 hr essays (English Literature, Malay Literature, History, GP), the side of my brains that determines my intellectual persona needs a constant exposure to literary works. Being at a place where eveyone speaks in the way they are most comfortable in (not that i'm complaining), it creates this void which truly separates the self from intellectuality, and the only access we possess must be of our own initiative. I mean for crying out loud, most of the time we don't really even need to crack our brains in the army, soldiers follow orders. Such dangers they pose to future undergraduates, I must save myself from this literary void if i am to survive NTU English and Communication Studies!

So i've taken steps to ensure i'm constantly in touch with the Romanized text of Humankind. As the self-appointed Newspaper IC of my platoon, the burden falls upon my shoulders to collect the Straits Times daily (each platoon of around 50 men is provided with 1 pathetic newspaper). Given that there are 6 bunks in my platoon, i simply could not think of a way to ensure everyone gets to read it. Call me irresponsible, but i guess my bunkmates benefit in my scheme to putting that newspaper in my bunk only. The rest can go there and read. They however can take back past newpapers, after my bunk has read it. :)

And yes i subscribed to TIME magazine! Can you believe that. They have this offer for NS people and it was a rather attractive one, paying around 50 cents for each copy but with a 1 year subscription. Well obviously the picture does not depict me, but i'd imagine myself looking like that, reading TIME in Full Battle Order, with weapon ready to be fired at Iraqi insurgents. Yes..

Oh and while waiting for the first issue to be sent to me, i've made it a habit, like many others to also bring along magazines to camp, especially FIRST magazine, an ardent buyer like me. I must get in touch with the latest movie and DVD reviews! The picture shows some of the magazines. And strangely but true, i continually bring the Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers book to camp, even though i'm still stuck at the part where Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli is seraching for the Haflings. Though i do possess the entire LOTR trilogy, i had only finished reading The Fellowship of the Ring, and that was like, in sec 3?

Given that a particular someone has deprived me of my birth rights to borrow books from the library, i am unable to do so for the longest of time (since before A levels! damn) . And you expect me to have coffee with you?? Well magazines and newspapers can only do much to keep one literarily company, books will ultimately do the trick. I developed a new interest in non-ficiton, documentary-like books on real issues - gonna purchase me some Fiasco: The American Adventure in Iraq, a good book about the Iraq War, and why is was such a miscarriage. Though i still wanna get my hands on the novelisation of the Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith book and erm, the Penguin English translation of the Koran.

And yeah at home me reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows y'all! Me and my siblings shared money to buy it thus the ownership falls on all of us, thus i obviously can't bring it to camp. Not that i want to of course. A platoon-mate of mine did, and he was harrassed with spoilers everywhere he goes. Don't bother to spoil it for me, to me a book is not about what happened, but how it happened - that's why i happily read the Life! section of the Straits Times that happily more or less congested the book into an article, which happily announced Harry as "The Boy Who Lived", but still had the cheek to say, 'WARNING: Spoilers ahead'.

Transformers: Robots in Transnational Proportions

Yeah i know i'm weird, watched Harry Potter within days of its release but only got to witness the epic battle of the Autobots and Decepticons yesterday night!

Beyond Expectations:
Transformers truly goes beyond any of my prior expectations. I knew it was going to be good. Everyone says it was good. But i did not expect it to be that good. You know what i mean? And it was. And trust me sitting at the front row is not that bad at all (only in Cathay cinemas of course. ;p) since it elevates the size of the already elevated transforming machines! Damn. The producers were right to feel that way too, apparently they were so confident it was gonna be a big hit that they had already signed up the stars for 2 more sequels. Well we can hardly wait. I'm getting my hands on the DVDs.

Well yes the pic is the entrance door to my room. The movie poster fanatic like me had placed 2 separate posters side by side to make Optimus Prime and Megatron stare at each other. Yeah, Destroy and Protect.

The Non-Robotic Figures:
The movie is a visual spectacle at its finest, with great cast of budding actors too. Shia LaBeouf (how the hell do we pronounce that??) marvel at his nerdiness, though i still think he's nose abit long and pointed (hmm..a Jew?). Josh Duhamel from the Las Vegas fame seem not bad in the movie...i've always thought his acting rather suck in the Las Vegas series. And of course not forgetting Megan Fox! I was so proud of the fact that i knew who she was when the movie first came out, had noticed her from the comedy series Hope and Faith, and was wondering why a hawt girl like her has not stepped into Hollywood. True enough, her debut would pave her way through wonders. Already at Maxim frontpage. ;p

Warring Human Race:
This is not the first time the human race has been called a 'primitive' one in the movies. "I've seen the goodness in them", says Optimus. "They are a violent race", says another. The US in the movie were preparing war on North Korea and such. You know if you ask me, should the Decepticons were in no hurry, they could have just sat back and watch the entire world plunge into global chaos and warring destruction of transnational proportions caused single-handedly by mere paranoia and suspicion, justified only by "how can you explain them doubling their military activity?".

Ending on a political note, so the Americans have a military base at Qatar. One wonders how many other bases in the Middle East they have. :)

The Best Harry Potter Film so far!

It is clear, at least to me, that the latest instalment of the Harry Potter film franchise, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, is the best one so far, especially when placed side by side with the less than satisfactory quality of its predecessor, the Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire film.

Prevention from Reading is Better Than Cure:

In preparation for this film, I managed to prevent myself from making the same mistake I did for the said previous film - that is to read the book. As ironic as it sounds, I feel that being an adapted version of JK Rowling's magical masterpiece, the movie has to be separated from the book and be treated as an entity by itself. Only by this way can the film versions be truly accepted for what it is.

Separating Film and Fiction:

I came up with this conclusion because of the sheer disappointment i felt after catching the Goblet of Fire. Reading the book beforehand gives you such high expectations that perhaps no CG effects can satisfy. I was utterly appalled by the removal of cute house elf Winky and the entire Triwizard Tournament sequence. Strangely enough though, when i own the VCD later on, i was able to appreciate it better, the same way i did for the previous Harry Potter films. I guess 'fan complications' could only be resolved if you separate the book and the film.

Best Harry Potter Film So Far:

That said, i was immensely satisfied with the latest film, thus crowning it the Best Harry Potter Film So Far. There are of course several other factors that contributed to this honour, other than the fact that i was not coloured in my judgement given that i'd disciplined myself not to read the book before watching the movie. The new director gives a fresh angle to this movie, but at the same time keeping the real essence of the book, which is what a print-to-screen adaptation should be all about.

Staying in Essence and Emotions:

The major happennings like the Dementor attack and Harry's hearing was dramatised as closely to the book as possible, needless to say giving the movie the adrenaline rush at the beginning, the same way the book started. While the book gives in depth insight on Harry's internal turmoil, the film was perfect in catching this essence through the series of flashbacks which allows the audience to feel the emotive value of the characters and the story line.

Of Prophetic Headlines and Professional Settings:

What is especially matured and truly fresh is the movie's use of the Daily Prophet's headlines highlights and the 'hammering' of the new Educational Decrees to convey the changing order of things, complete with snippets of a walking Minister of Magic announcing to the press. Needless to say, cinematographic excellence is also achieved with the zooming in of the Hogwarts castle from above, in addition to the superb Ministry of Magic porous-black setting.

CG and Book Humour:

The stunning magic-fighting with the CG effects between the Order and the Death Eaters, Dumbledore and Voldemort is of course to be expected. However to top it all up, what i especially admire about this film adaptation is that the humour involved is derived from the book itself, meaning to say unlike the previous films which depends on new elements to create a humour (a terrible example would be Filch's frequent wrong timing in shooting the cannon at the start of a Triwizard Task, to Dumbledore's dismay, and mine too, in Goblet of Fire), the new film extracts the humour out of the book and put it on screen. Two of such examples was when she was asked to describe the Dementors during the hearing, Arabella Figg described Harry and Duddly instead, saying "one was very large, the other one rather skinny...". Another was during Dumbledore's flight, though instead of Phineas saying it, Kingsley was the one who said it, "You might not like him, Minister. But you must admit, he's got style".

Great Book, Great Movie:

Well all in all i'd never felt more satisfied watching a Harry Potter film than this one. Perhaps it is due to the fact that it did justice to the already great book it was adapted from, which uncoincidentally happens to be my most favourite. Its different because it was when the entire magical and Muggle world turns topsy-turvy and the political subversion of the systems with the installation of Doleres Umbridge. Even though huge portion of the book is taken out, like the role of Ron and Hermione as prefects and Ron being the goalkeeper and all, it is nonetheless the best Harry Potter adaptation to date.