More Thanh Words

All Laid Bare

2009-09-12T01:06:00.002+10:00

Firstly, how long has it been since my last post? It sure has been a while. I haven't really felt the urge to write. I guess being busy at work and also going quite consistently to the gym has meant a lack of time and energy to sit down and write. Oh well, this blog was always meant to be a way to say what I wanted to say when I wanted to say it, so here goes.

The interesting topic of privacy and how the Internet has changed people's privacies forever is currently on my mind. Unless you're living under a rock, it's hard not to have some Internet prescence whether you like it or not. I'm sure we've all Googled ourselves, and seen what comes up. The fact that one's life can be viewed by everyone can be problematic. Actions that seem like good ideas at the time (Paris Hilton and "that night vision video") can be available for anyone to see. Unlike a hard copy of something, once out in cyberspace, it's hard to ever completely remove.

The growth of social media like Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Friendster etc has meant that more and more of our private information is floating out there. And the ironic part is that most of the time, we put it up myself. I must admit that I have quite a lot of information floating out there about me. I have a Facebook account, I blog about my thoughts, I'm on forums. The problem is that although technology has advanced, society is still yet to catch up with it in terms of our behaviour. Just like the medical field which has advanced to cloning animals, the ethics and people's attitude towards it is still in chase mode. The same exists for online expression about oneself. We do it without thinking about all the possible ramifications and how the information can be used, or sometimes misused.

Only slowly are people starting to realise that an online image can affect one's real life image and life. Numerous news reports have surfaced about people getting fired from their jobs after posting Facebook messages about their work. Relationships have been broken up due to one partner seeing photos of their significant other with a third party. For some reason, our minds have not yet come round to the fact that whatever we do online is there for all to see, and the consequences may come a long time after we've acted.

This whole situation has piqued my interest because of a work mate, who I've gotten to know lately. His interest (as he calls it) in all aspects of other people's lives troubles me slightly. It just seems unnatural to be so interested in other people's lives. I call it nosy, but he disagrees. We may both be right, as I'm projecting my views on his actions according to my own feelings. But recently, he's started reading my blog, and that's brought to my attention how figuratively bare I am as I've written a lot about myself on this blog. So while he will know a lot about me, I won't know much about him. That somehow makes me feel vulnerable. I guess it comes back to our primeval instincts as the more you know about someone, the more advantage you have over them and hence can win any battles.

In modern society, battles could take the form of creating bias between friends, gaining the upper hand in office politics, bullying others online or any other number of advantages. I'm not saying that he would do that, but his increased knowledge of me does give him an upper hand should he choose to. Why this troubles me now as opposed to previously when other friends read this blog as well puzzles me. Whatever I've written isn't exactly state secrets and I was happy for people to read previously, but yet now I feel uneasy about this particular work mate reading it. I think it's because my biased view that no one can genuinely be so interested in other people's actions without some alterior motive is clouding my judgement. The fact that we've also gone from not talking to each other to "best-friends" (as we both jokingly state all the time) in a month means that I don't really know whether I can trust him yet, while at the same time we are expecting each other to answer questions truthfully on a variety of topics. Therefore, I see his increased knowledge of me as something that I should fear.

It would seem the easy solution to protect oneself is just not to divulge information online. But that too contradicts with human emotions. Naturally, most people crave attention, and like being talked about by others. The way to do that is to talk (or write) about oneself and let others know. Most status updates on Facebook are self ego stroking displays. The more cryptic the message, the more people will inquire about it as human curiosity kicks in. That is exactly the outcome that people want, so to gain attention, you have to lay a bit of yourself bare (figuratively) for others to see. This act is regularly brought up by musicians, who say that a song they write exposes themselves and it's a very scary thing. If people hate it, it's a part of you that they're hating. Hence, there is a fine balancing act between giving out enough information to gain attention, and yet witholding some that you don't feel comfortable with people knowing. Knowing where that line is is the difficult part.

Gaining Wisdom With Age

2009-05-09T09:41:00.002+10:00

I thought that the older you get, the more wise and assured you're suppose to be. But I think people forget to tell you that is a huge gap in the middle where you're more confused than ever.

When we're little kids in primary school, we are so sure of ourselves. We think that we're invincible and can one day do anything. Only as you get older do you realise all the limitations that society put on you. From a young age you are taught about what you can't do, as opposed to what you can do. Those with motivation and drive will break through those barriers and achieve greatness. If Barack Obama believed what he was taught and that a black man can never ascend to presidency, we wouldn't be where we are now.

Once again, another birthday has created more doubts in me that I care to have. It's strange as when I was in primary school, I believed that I could do anything and that I wouldn't have to work by the time I was about 35. That's still a number of years away, but now I realise that dream will most likely not come true.

My latest depressive sojourn was set off by my own good intentions. A friend of mine was really depressed as many things in his personal and professional life are going wrong right now. My intentions to cheer him up ended up not working and me getting depressed about the direction that my own life is heading.

I'm someone who tends to focus on the now and current. That, supposedly, is a good way of living as you focus on the good and tend not to mull in the what if problems of the future. However, that means I lack a general overall plan of where I want my life to go. I've started to wonder what legacy I would leave behind. The ego in me can't help but centre everything around myself, no matter how insignificant it is in the scope of the wide world. My friend John says that it doesn't matter as we will all die eventually and it won't matter what legacy we leave as we won't be here to know it. That is very true and logical, but at the same time, our human ego can't help but want our life to mean something and influence that of others.

People that have kids leave their kids behind. At least they've made an impact on one person's life in a very dramatic way. But what if you don't want kids? Can you leave behind a buildings, a company, a piece of art, what do you have?

This brings me back to now, confused still. This feeling will pass as usual, but it seems that with each year, I'm slightly more confused that wise. Is it because I'm asking more questions that I'm getting more confused? Is that wisdom? Hopefully I'll know the answer in 30 years time.

So You Think You Can Dance Season 2 Finale

2009-04-26T10:09:00.002+10:00

I had all intentions to blog about each episode of SYTYCD S2, and haven't done the first review I had all intentions to keep going. However, as with all good intentions, they don't always turn out the way you want. A work trip to Brisbane meant I missed two weeks of the show, and from that point on, I just didn't feel like writing about it anymore.

I still watched the show religiously though. My early favourites were Penny and Charlie. I kept supporting them every week. But when Penny got injured, something changed. The magic was lost and Charlie wasn't the same without Penny. The two of them were greater together than the sum of the parts.

Now, tonight is the finale already. Time has just flown by. Amid much dancing, I think the four best dancers have made it to the final. Ben and Amy have never really captured my attention. Previously I would have said Charlie was a certainty to win, but Talia has just timed her performances so well that she is vying for top spot.

What's my prediction. I would like to say Talia as I think her technique is superior to all of them, and also her emotions in portraying each story of the dance in the past few weeks have been the best all season. However, being a reality TV show watched mainly by young teenage girls, the old adage that girls don't vote for girls will probably hold true and Charlie should win. Whoever wins, it's been another great season of dance and I hope they have more in future.

So You Think You Can Dance Season 2 - Top 20

2009-02-15T22:39:00.004+11:00

It's back. After my obsession last session with the show, I've decided to continue writing about each episode and giving my opinions. Feel free to disagree and add any discussions or correct my errors.

Pania and Ben
Style: Contemporary
Song: Talk Like That by The Presets
Choreographer: Marko (from Season 1)

Pania and Ben are a couple that I've taken a liking to already. They both seem genuine (as much as I can tell from watching them on TV anyway). Their contemporary routine was performed quite well and I was surprised how well Pania adapted to the style with her Hip Hop background. I really like this Presets song so I was bopping along to the routine the whole time.

Talia and Emmanuel
Style: Cha Cha
Song: Hound Dog by Smokey Joe's Cafe
Choreographer: Jason Gilkison

Well, Jason Gilkison's routines were a highlight last season. He did some amazing stuff. This routine would have been very good if performed by two techically better Ballroom dancers. However, Emmanuel's technique was a bit lacking I thought. I did like his charm throughout the routine. Thalia had good extensions but again, I didn't really think so got the steps all correct.

Lamb and Timomatic
Style: Lyrical
Song: Rainbow by Elisa
Choreographer: Travers Ross

This routine was as the judges said quite hip hop like. I thought they both did a good job and I'm a fan of Lamb's. They both hit the steps quite sharply and I really liked this song. I thought the routine was good, but the judges didn't seem completely won over by it.

Amy and Damien
Style: Broadway
Song: Puttin' On The Ritz by Rufus Wainwright
Choreographer: Adam Williams

I thought that Amy and Damien would tear this routine up but it didn't really work. The start was bit slow with all that stuff on the stairs. I was waiting for them to get into it. When they did, I thought that some of Amy's moves were quite awkward actually and disagreed with the judges. On the ballroom type moves, Damien was good, but other parts he was a bit lacking.

Ash-Leigh and Stephen
Style: Rumba
Song: My Heart Will Go On by Celine Dion
Choreographer: Sandro Catalano

Sandro, who partnered Patty Newton on Dancing With The Stars choreographed this Rumba. I have to say that the choreography wasn't fantastic and the dancing was even more woeful. It all felt so fake. I haven't really warmed to Ash-Leigh at all as she doesn't seem to posess much personality. And I hate Stephen. He seems like a bit of a smart alec. And the song, hmmm, didn't work. Whereas Jason Gilkison used a Celine song last season in his Waltz that Jemma and Rhys did so great in, this song sucked the life out of the routine as the dancers couldn't lift up to the notes.

Penny and Charlie
Style: Hip Hop
Song: Single Ladies by Beyonce
Choreographer: Tiana Joubert

Before they even stepped onto the floor, I was already smiling. There is just something so endearing about both Penny and Charlie. They were my favourite guy and girl after the audition stage and they've been paired together. I've taken an instant liking to them, like I did with Demi and Jack last season. And its' weird, but once you pick a favourite, it's hard to get swayed away from it. So probably all my assessment of them will be very biased, but that's what opinions are about. Having said all that, I thought their routine rocked. They hit it hard and worked really well as a pair together. This was my favourite routine of the night, and the Beyonce song is just so damn catchy.

Kat and Danny
Style: Lyrical
Song: Liorindo (Crying) by Angelo Badalementi
Choreographer: Debbie Ellis

Kat reminds me a lot of Rhiannon from last season, but not as fake. She and Danny did a very good emotional routine. I really liked it and the song really soared with the dancing. This song complimented the routine rather than overpowered it.

Max and Jesse
Style: Contemporary
Song: Kids by MGMT
Choreographer: Shaun Parker

If the crowds reaction is anything to go by, these two will definitely be in the bottom three. I haven't really warmed to either of them at all. Max got heaps of coverage during the audition phases but she grates on me, I just don't like her. Their routine lacked any pizzaz and they don't really seem to like each other either.

Gianne and B.J
Style: Quickstep
Song: Sparkling Diamonds by Moulin Rouge Cast
Choreographer: Leanne Bampton

Leanne Bampton of Dancing With The Stars fame (I couldn't believe last year when Jason Coleman goes "I've never heard of Leanne", did he miss the whole Dancing With The Stars phenomenon or wasn't he allowed to say) choreographed a very fun routine again. Gianne and B.J also have a huge likeability factor. They both did a good job although B.J's footwork was a tad messy at times I thought. But the fun of it all help mask the errors.

Chanelle and Loredo
Style: Jazz
Song: Poker Face by Lady Gaga
Choreographer: Project Moda

The routine was quite a smart routine by Project Moda. It was also executed quite well, with both of them hitting it quite hard. However, I haven't really formed an opinion either way about both of them yet.

It was a great first show and most couples did really good. My favourite was definitely Penny and Charlie's routine. That was closely followed by Kat and Danny's emotional piece. Bottom Three Predictions: *Ash-Leigh and Stephen *Max and Jesse *Chanelle and Loredo

Of Christmas, New Year, Concerts, Gym, Facebook and Fires

2009-02-15T18:04:00.002+11:00

It's been over two months since my last post. That is definitely the longest period I've had not posting since I started blogging. It's not that I've lost the mojo for blogging, just that time is just such a commodity now. Many a times when I read, see, hear, realise, think of something, I say to myself "I should blog that". I even start writing the blog in my head but just never get round to writing it and then I can't be bothered anymore. I guess another reason is that although I write this blog to please myself and gather together my thoughts, I do want feedback and discussion on some topics and with such a small audience on this blog, I'm just not getting that, so have been less inclined to post. Anyway, enough of the excuses, here's a summary of some thoughts and events that have occurred in the last couple of months.

Obviously the Christmas and New Year period was extremely hectic. Lots of BBQs and dinners to enjoy, mixed in with shopping pre and post Christmas. With the country in the grip of a financial crisis, Christmas shopping did seem quieter and less hectic than previous years. I picked up a few work shirts, jeans and t-shirts.

During the Christmas period I also went to a coupld of concerts. Alicia Keys was amazing, a true musical genius and entertainer. Her concert was a non stop party basically. She was well supported by Jordin Sparks. I also went, and feel free to make fun of me here, to see Delta Goodrem. Yes yes, soppy soppy. I didn't intend to go, but a friend had a ticket to offload when someone else pulled out. We struck a deal which involved a discount and Seinfeld DVDs thrown in and thus I went. The show was better than I thought and Delta really does have a fantastic voice. She was also surprising funny and interacted well with the crowd.

I also joined the gym in the month of December. I finally just dropped into my local one day and joined up, after saying I would do so for years. I hated the first couple of weeks, as I knew I would. But as time has progressed, I've become really focused at the gym and work out really hard. The first couple of weeks, I was only doing everything half hearted and kept whinging and laughing. But now, I'm getting quite hard core, and am reading fitness magazines. The gut is still present but I am definitely aerobically fitter and anerobically stronger. Now I just need to lose the fat around the muscle.

Another thing that I finally joined was Facebook. After much nagging from many friends, I caved in and joined the masses. The first couple of days I went and added heaps of people. Although I still didn't add people I knew but disliked. I don't find Facebook that particularly addictive. The good part is that I have reconnected with some friends that I would like to see more of from now on.

Finally, I couldn't finish this post without talking about the tragic fires that have devastated Victoria. This is the worst fire in history, but people are banding together to help out. At times, humans can sicken me, but with tragedy usually brings out bravery and commraderie, which makes me think that humanity has a chance. Please donate what you can to the Red Cross to help out others in need.

Of Obama, Mumbai, Guitars, Reunion, Financial Crisis and Christmas

2008-12-07T21:52:00.003+11:00

My posting on this blog has become less and less. I'm not even sure anyone regularly reads this blog anymore. Anyway, here goes some meek wrap up of my thoughts (that I can remember off the top of my head now) for the last month.

Firstly, the election of Barack Obama as American president brings new hope to a country that is slightly losing it's gloss. I was happy when Obama was elected as I think America, and the free nations of the world need some change.

The terrorist attacks in Mumbai once again reminded the world that it's innocence was lost on September 11th 2001. Nowadays, the way to get a message across is to hurt many innocent people and make as big an impact as you can. It's such a shame that these extremists think they only way to get their message across is through terrorism. These attacks also highlighted how the coverage of them has shifted. With the rise of social networking sites and the access to Internet, these new dramas are being broadcast to the world almost instantly by netizens posting on their own blogs and networking sites. It gives us, the voyeur and observers, such a closer sense of reality.

On a lighter note, I recently bought Guitar Heroes world tour. This game is so much fun. I'm getting better at playing the guitar but still am awful with the drums. I just don't have the co-ordination to keep separte rhythms with different hands and also my feet. I am really loving all the rock songs and can't believe I haven't listened to more rock in the past.

Speaking of the past, I went to my 10 year high school reunion. I was a bit nervous about going, fearing that no one would turn up or everyone would have changed a lot. But my fears were alleviated when I turned up and a lot of others were also there. Almost everyone was still recognisable and hadn't changed much in personality. It was comforting to know that as much as things change, people are still pretty much the same as they were back then. A good time was had by all reminiscing about our past and catching up on what was currently happening. And as usual, everyone promised to keep in touch. But I know that we won't. As we all said, if we were all still friends, we would have stayed in touch. But at least with sites like Facebook now, people can keep in some form of contact.

With the reunion, there were lots of questions about what jobs we were all doing and whether the financial crisis had affected it. Fortunately, everyone was still employed, despite this impending crisis. Things have changed so much financially this year and it would be scary times for many. Jobs, mortgages, savings and investments are all under threat. With so many companies crashing, it's a more subdued time leading up to Christmas this year.

Despite the financial crisis, we should all spend for Christmas as spending is what will stop this crisis. I've gone and been ultra prepared and bought all my presents already. I'm doing my bit to help the financial crisis, I hope Santa gets me an Iphone in return. :-)

I shall try to update this blog more, that's if anyone is reading. If not, it'll be a good record for myself when I look back in the future.

Managing Expecations

2008-11-09T14:52:00.002+11:00

When I saw this article in the paper about companies cancelling Christmas, or at least Christmas parties, it made me think of how our expectations drive our perception of how good or bad something is.

Companies don't need to provide a Christmas party, but they do to reward employees and thank them for a year of work. But really, we all get a salary already and the Christmas party is a bonus that a company gives as a sign of goodwill. Goodwill is an intangible assest but can really make or break a company. A good reputation is worth a lot in life and business.

so because we all expect a Christmas party, even though it's not guaranteed, when it gets cancelled, we feel ripped off. Yet, if we were to not expect a Christmas party, and we get one, we're excited. And if we don't get one, we don't feel disappointed.

There's a saying that if you never expect anything, you will never be disappointed. But that in itself is a rather pessimistic way to live life. Life is all about expectations and what opportunities will come our way. Without expectation, human endeavour would be stifled. Without expecting more, we would not strive for more.

Sure, having expectations means you sometimes get disappointed, but when you're expectations are met or exceeded, there is an ever greater thrill. I'm was absolutely thrilled when I recently got some money back from my tax return. Sure, I could reason that it was my money to begin with, but as far as I knew, that money was gone, and now all of a sudden I'm getting some of it back. My expectations was that I wouldn't get any money back, but my expectations were exceeded and now I'm very happy.

Indoor Rock Climbing

2008-10-26T17:51:00.003+11:00

We had been hearing Phuong talk about her rock climbing for a while so finally we all got together one weekend and went to see what all the fuss was about. We went to the Nunawading branch of the Hard Rock franchise. After learning the safety procedures on how to properly clip in when climbing and belaying (the person with the hold of the rope at the bottom to catch a climber that falls), we went off to the smaller walls to practise what we had learnt. We were all a bit hesitant at first but once we got going, it was so much fun. When we had mastered the small walls, off we went to tackle the big ones, probably a good 10 metres high at least. There were varying degrees of difficulty, with some walls that really hung out so far only the advanced climbers could do them. After a few tiring but fun hours, we had managed to really test ourselves and everyone vowed to get fitter so we could do the harder walls.

Travel Abroad - Britt Lapthorne's Tragedy

2008-10-11T13:33:00.003+11:00

Travel abroad, especially alone, is many young person's dream. It's the chance to learn things by yourself and have new adventures. However, Britt's Lapthorne's tragedy is a sobering reminder that travellingn overseas is not always fun and games.

With new places obviously comes new dangers. Everything is unknown. Here you are, all alone, usually with a very bad grasp of the language and culture. You may offend someone without even knowing it, and you can never guess how other people will react. An account by Tracee Hutchinson of her own travels paints a scary picture for a lone traveller. At one stage, Tracee had guns pointed at her for wandering down the wrong street. If she was unlucky, who knows what may have happened.

It hasn't been confirmed that Britt's death is due to suspicious circumstances yet, but I think it would be unlikely that she would go travelling only to commit suicide. Her story is the classic nightmare of a young person travelling overseas who may have been the victim of some pychopath. Movies like Hostel and especially Wolf Creek play on this fear within all of us about encountering trouble abroad. Wolf Creek scared the heck out of me because it was so chillingly real. It was based on a real life story and the fact that I knew it could happen really sent chills down my spine.

I hope they find out who, if anyone, killed Britt and give them the appropriate punishment. It would be sad to think that we can't travel to foreign lands to explore and not feel safe.

Hawthorn Premiers 2008

2008-09-28T21:08:00.003+10:00

Hawthorn are Premiers of the 2008 AFL footy season. The Hawks definitely were not the best team during the season. Anyone who half followed the season would have seen that Geelong were the most dominate team, having easy wins and only losing one game. However, the youthful Hawks team stood up when it mattered most. While Geelong were making uncharacteristic mistakes and missing many goal opportunities, Hawthorn took all their chances and broke the game apart in the championship third quarter. It was a fairytale ending for the Hawks, winning their first premiership in 17 years. All the tough decisions made by the club to appoint Alastair Clarkson and to recruit young players and mould them has worked out better than they anticipated. With the current team, I think the Hawks will be strong contenders for the Premiership for the next few years.

Taken Out By A Hole In The Wall

2008-09-21T21:53:00.002+10:00

It's debatable which show on Australian TV is currently the dumbest show. But I would like to present two leading candidates. Watching these shows could seriously induce a coma. There's more life in road kill than these shows.

So the two shows I nominated are Taken Out and Hole In The Wall. Taken Out is a reality dating game where one guy stands on a platform and is judged by 30 girls. The girls get to see about 2 minutes worth of videos all up about the guy and decide whether he is the "one". Hole in the wall is even simpler. Contestants try to squeeze themselves through a foam cutout wall that is moving towards them while wearing skin tight full length silver suits. If they should happen to not fit through the hole in the wall, they get dumped into a swimming pool filled with ice. Talk about TV being the idiot box.

I have watched at least one episode of these two shows, so I feel I have earnt the right to bag them big time. Which studio exec thinks that these two shows can actually entertain audiences. Taken Out makes Perfect Match look like a love story between Romeo and Juliet, while Hole In The Wall makes It's A Knockout look like The Battle of Gettysburg.

Suffice it to say that I am no fan of these shows. I'm just trying to determine which show is dumber. What show do you think is dumber? Discuss.

From Best Man To No Man

2008-09-21T21:44:00.003+10:00

*** All names have been changed. ***

My friend Joshua was telling me a funny story about his friends wedding. Joshua was asked to be best man at his friend's Mike's wedding. He had gone to get fitted for his suit and asked to organise the Buck's party. Mike's fiancee, Renee, had talked to Joshua and told him to organise a really wild Buck's party for Mike initially. Then a few weeks later, she rings Joshua and tells him that the Buck's should be the night before the wedding.

Joshua was starting to get confused. If you have the Buck's before the wedding, you can't really do much and get drunk all night. Finally, Renee asks Joshua to organise something small and not too crazy as she doesn't want the groom to be drunk on the wedding day. So Joshua said that he considered organising a poker night at Crown and then maybe lawn bowls the next day.

One day, out of the blue, Mike rings Joshua and tells him that Renee would rather have no Best man, and that Mike would take care of the Buck's party arrangement himself. In the weeks that follow, Joshua finds out that another person was asked to be Best man, then dropped, then another asked, who refused, and finally, a ring-in during the last week was asked.

What a crazy situation that was. Joshua went from being Best man, to not being in the bridal party, to being asked "So, are you still coming to the wedding". All this and he still doesn't know what he did wrong.

There are theories aplenty. Most of them involve Renee, who seems a bit like a control freak. Upon my only meeting of Renee, I already said that she will have Mike by the balls when they get married. Little would I know how soon it would all show. Mike was apologetic to Joshua at the wedding, but Joshua didn't avoided Renee so doesn't know what she thinks.

This whole series of events was rather strange and funny. What was Renee trying to achieve by first telling Joshua to get Mike drunk and to party hard at the Buck's party, and then telling him not to get Mike drunk and to take it easy. What was Joshua's fatal mistake in all this when dealing with Renee. Was Renee clearly just indecisive, or did she not get the response she wanted when she first told Joshua to organise a crazy Buck's party. Was she using reverse psychology and wanting him to say that he would organise a small party? All is still unknown to today, except the fact that Joshua and Mike's good friendship is now pretty much ruined. And all thanks to a jealous/controlling/vindictive(???) wife?

Wicked - Australian Production

2008-09-21T21:42:00.002+10:00

I first heard about Wicked on Ugly Betty. Betty mentioned how she really loved the show over a few episodes and it was a common interest between her and the guy she couldn’t have, Henry. Finally, they got tickets to go watch the musical and end up being in it. At first, I have to say that I thought the story looked a bit strange from the few minutes that I saw on Ugly Betty. I mean, who wants to know more about the Wicked Witch of the West. She used to scare me when I first watched Wizard of Oz as a small child.

Anyway, I decided to give it a go and went and got the Broadway recording of the musical. I thought it was a bit strange at first and really didn’t like it that much. But as I listened to it more and more, it really got me hooked. I was still a bit confused to the whole story, but the songs were good.

When I heard that Wicked was coming to Australia, I thought I should go and see what it’s like. I’m glad I went as it’s a fantastic stage show with humour, romance, action and lots of singing and dancing obviously. Basically, the story centres on the relationship between Elphaba, the Wicked witch, and Glinda, the Good witch. It precedes the Wizard of Oz story. To find out more, read the Wikipedia Wicked article. It explains the story and everything related to it in much more detail than I ever could. I’m going to discuss my experience and thoughts about the show instead.

Let me start with the actors. All of them do a great job and were excellent throughout the show. Most were equal to, or possibly even better than the Broadway cast recording. Amanda Harrision, as Elphaba does a absolutely amazing job playing the role and living up to the high standards set by Idina Menzel from the original version. Menzel did win a Tony for her performance so Harrison had very big pointed shoes to fill. In a couple of numbers where Harrison really hit the high notes as in No Good Deed and especially in Defying Gravity, the crowd was rapturous and applauded with ferocity. Not to be outdone though, Lucy Durack as Galinda, and later Glinda was also outstanding. Durack’s vocals aren’t as strong, but her comedic timing and phrasing was perfect. She had about 90% of all the funny lines in the show, and the lines were very funny. The two leading ladies were definitely the stars of the show. The story centred around them and they definitely delighted. I loved the interaction between them and it is a great pairing.

An all star support cast that includes The Phantom himself, Rob Guest, and Idol contestants in Rob Mills and Anthony Callea also helped to lift the show even further. I was surprised that I wasn’t repulsed by Rob Mills as Fiyero at all. He was actually very good. His voice lacked a bit compared to the Broadway version by Norbert Leo Butz. The highs that Butz’s achieved in numbers like Dancing Through Life and As Long As You’re Mine wasn’t quite reached by Mills. Mills voiced even cracked during one high note in As Long As You’re Mine, but that was a very small problem. His acting was actually good and carried the story along.

Rob Guest was excellent as The Wizard, bringing a sense of kindness and evil. At times I didn’t know whether to sympathise with him for wanting a daughter or hate him for manipulating everyone. Anthony Callea was a funny Boq. Callea’s excellent voice meant that he was probably the only character, vocally anyway, that exceeded the Broadway recording that I had been listening to a lot.

After seeing the live show, the recording now makes complete sense. Having the songs put into context and the story weaved around it, I can now fully appreciate the story. The end is a small surprise, although I did see it coming. I guess it was the ending that everyone would have wanted. But the journey to that ending is rewarding as it is essentially about friendship and true friendship can overcome many obstacles.

I recommend that you go and see it and discover how all the characters in The Wizard of Oz came to be what they are. It gives a new, fresh, nice spin to a well known and loved story.

Motivation Gone Missing?

2008-09-21T21:35:00.002+10:00

Well, it's been a month or so since my last post. No, I haven't gone on holidays or been without Internet. I've just been busy and lazy and have not posted. It's strange because I keep saying to people in real life that I should blog about this or that but never get round to it. I'm not sure what the exact reason it.

I think one reason could be post Olympic syndrome. The Olympics was like a drug that I was hooked on (watching day and night since I recorded all the day sessions on my hard drive and watched them at night) the Olympics. I'm recovering from the lack of sleep physically, but also recovering mentally.

The Olympics is the epitome of human sporting endeavour, and with it carries so many feel good, as well as heartbreak stories. We, the viewer are taken on many emotional journeys and I think it takes it out of you a little. I was so impressed by some of the stories and so inspired at the determination of some athletes. This in term made me motivated for the two weeks that the Olympics ran for. However, once it was finished, I felt a little empty. This emotional fuel that I had been running on was gone. It made me reflect on what I am striving to achieve, and it made me feel little. I haven't sacrificed like these people. I haven't done the hard yards. I'm just lazy.

The realisation that I hadn't really pursed my dreams made me demotivated, and hence even more unwilling to do anything. Well, I'm getting over that and life has resumed. But damm those athletes. Their brilliance is addictive and makes us all feel so much inferior. I applaud them for their determination and just wish I had a quarter of what they have. Is there a miracle drug for that?

Beijing Olympics - Opening Ceremony

2008-08-09T17:28:00.002+10:00

I am a huge TV couch potato sports fan. So the Beijing Olympics 2008 is my ultimate indulgence. I will just sit in front of the TV for as many hours as possible in a day and watch every sport imaginable. I'll even watch the Equestrian dressage and Air Rifle shooting. Those aren't exactly the most high profile sports, but I only ever watch them four years.

For me, the Olympics are the epitome of sports. They may not be as pure as how they started out in Greece all those hundreds of years ago, but they still hold something magical for me. The endeavours of elite athletes working towards this ultimate goal is to be celebrated and enjoyed. There are always so many feel good stories that come out of the Olympics. Heroic stories of people's battle against the odds to pursue their dreams.

This year, 2008, the Olympics is being held in China. After so many years of shutting themselves from the rest of the world, these Olympics is likes China's debutant ball, annoucing themselves to a global audience of billions. There could be no larger debutant ball. No expenses have been spared in orgainising this massive party. China have gone all out to show their best face to the world. Planning for the stadiums finished before schedule, the city of Beijing was cleared of cars, smog, spitting, beggars etc.

The theme of grandeur of this whole Olympics was amazingly highlighted in the opening ceremony. No one watching the opening ceremony would have any doubts about the intentions of China in making this the biggest Olympics ever.

So on to the opening ceremony itself. I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it, and there were so many moments where I just had to say "Wow". I would say that it is one of the best opening ceremonies ever, if not the best. The history of China was presented through the dynasties with spectacular visual dance routines.

Everything about the whole ceremony was massive, mirroring the current political, and economical situation that China is currently in. I think the fact that George Bush, the first American president to visit an Olympics outside of their own country in 30 years, proves the might that China now holds.

The ceremony kicked off in a dramatic countdown, using thousands of drummers performing in military precision. That military precision would be evident all night, with dancers portraying scholars, rural minorities, opera actors, kings and queens. At one stage, a large ancient Chinese typewriter device was bobbing up and down to create these wonderful patterns had me thinking a massive machine was being driven by a computer. Only when the dancers underneath it emerged did I realise it was all being done by man power. Again, this parallels with China current industrial boom, where almost all the worlds consumer devices are being made by millions of hands in Chinese factories.

The theme of using a paper scroll that kept being added to throughout the dynasties was a clever idea. The scroll sat within in the largest LCD screen I have ever seen. The LCD screen covered nearly the whole length of the field, a good 100 metres long. It showed beautiful images of paintings and Chinese art through the ages.

Needless to say, the fireworks display was beyond imagination. China does produce most of the worlds fireworks, so organising fireworks was surely the least of their worries. The firework was cleverly used in the lighting of the Olympic cauldron. A man did a horizontal walk across the whole lip of the stadium, which was used as a backdrop for the torch relay images. I don't know if the images were projected onto the stadium or if it was another huge LCD screen, but whatever the case, it was stunning. The man finally lit the tip of a firecracker, which blazed in a huge flame and went on to light the cauldron. Spectacular and so fundamentally Chinese. I'm sure every Chinese child has at one stage lit a firecracker and could totally relate to it.

Overall, it was a really great opening ceremony and I'm hoping for two weeks of great sport, mixed in with emotions of joy, laughter, sadness, anger, disappointment and love. Human kind will be on show for all the world to see.

One World, One Dream.

Movie Review - The Dark Knight

2008-07-21T23:10:00.004+10:00

*** WARNING, MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS ***

There was a lot of hype surrounding The Dark Knight due to the untimely death of one of Hollywood's rising stars, Australia's own Heath Ledger. All that hype has translated into box office success, with The Dark Knight gaining the highest opening weekend box office revenue in the US. I'm glad to say though, not only is the film a financial success, it's also a critical success.

All the reviews I had read before seeing the film all praised how good a film it was. Most had claimed that this film is probably the best film of this superhero genre. I would have to agree. The story and acting made this film a delight to watch, even at a lengthy two and half hours.

This film picks off where Batman Begins had ended. Gotham city has been cleaned of many criminals, but that has meant that the mafia have all joined forces and are working together to terrorise Gotham city. Batman (Christian Bale) is still in the picture, but he is torn between what to do. This uncertainty in Batman's own action is constant throughout most of the film. Batman is struggling with what he thinks is helping the city, but also being judged unfairly by the citizens as a vigilante. He, like us mere mortals, does not liking being wrongly accused and hated.

Hence, Batman sees the new district attorney, Harvey Dent (Aaron Echkart) as the saviour for Gotham city. He is the white knight to his dark knight. Dent can show his face in public and be the saviour and moral compass that the citizens can rely on.

And this is where the story becomes interesting for me. The new villian, The Joker (Heath Ledger) is hired by the mafia to stop Batman and basically run amuck in the city. However, The Joker is not driven by greed, he is driven by his own quest to prove that humanity is flawed and that any man can be turned from good to bad and do unthinkable evils. At every stage, The Joker tests Batman and the citizens and tries to make them turn on each other. Ultimately though, he wants to turn Dent from a saviour to a killer.

The constant psychological mind games is what makes this movie great for me. We, the audience are unsure whether to feel sorry for The Joker or hate him. His past is a blur of many lies and a truth hidden somewhere in between. His efforts to turn Dent into evil is a journey that takes the audience into many dark places.

The supporting cast all do a good job. Michael Caine is the dependable Alfred again, with some of the funnier lines in the movie. Morgan Freeman reprises his role as Lucius Fox and also does a solid job. Gary Oldman's James Gordon is now a lieutenant and again plays a prominent role in trying to catch The Joker. Maggie Gyllenhaal replaces Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes. Maggie's Rachel seems to lack the fight that Katie Holmes brought to the role. Aaron Eckhart does a great job in portraying both sides to Harvey Dent. Christian Bale has again embodied Batman well, although his prescence in this film is less than in Batman Begins I feel. However, the movie definitely belongs to Heath Ledger. It's no wonder the critics are raving about a possible oscar for him. His portrayal is so astounding. There were so many moements during the film that I was totally captivated and just forgot it was Heath Ledger behind that make up. The vocalisation, body movement and facial expressions from Ledger just made The Joker so multi-dimensional, it was amazing. This may be remembered for Ledgers final and best role.

The interplay between Batman, Harvey Dent and The Joker with its dark tones makes this one of the best superhero movies. The constant pyschological warfare being wagered amongst the main protagonists is a delight to watch. The audience is left guessing as to what the final fate for each character is. The ending is not as you expect. It shows that humans are fallable and that even the best of us can be made weak.

Rating: ****/5. A dark movie with great characters.

Secrets And Lies

2008-07-15T21:49:00.003+10:00

"Happiness lies in your own hand, It took me much too long to understand, How it could be, Until you shared your secret with me" Madonna - Secret

"Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies" Fleetwood Mac - Little Lies

Two flaws of human nature is that we tend to keep secrets and tell lies. These two traits both play their roles, but can also cause a lot of problems when things get uncovered. Lets explore how each of these affect us, and how they both combine to bring out the worse outcome.

Secrets, we all have them. I defy anyone (who doesn't have a mental disability) to say that they don't have secrets. If anyone said that, I would say that they are lying. Unless you have a very bad mental disability that stops your brain from functioning "normally", you will have secrets.

Each person is an individual and we have things that we wish to keep to ourselves or only share with selected people. A secret in itself is not harmful, it's only when that secret gets exposed. And exposed it usually gets. The problem with humans keeping secrets is that we're not good at it. We want to share the secret, share the joy or share the burden. It's hard to keep a secret as it's a big weight to hold up. The burden of knowing something that affects others, or affects others judgement of you is not an easy thing to carry.

This is where lying comes into it. Usually, to cover up secrets, we tell lies. The lies could be small, or white lies as people call it, or it could be something huge such as "Brad, you're actually adopted". If you've seen Liar Liar starring Jim Carrey, telling the truth all the time also is not a good strategy. This is because humans are emotional and will take offence to things that are not favourable to us. And the truth tends to be less than favourable. So lying has it's place. But you have to pick and choose when to lie and how servere the lie is. People tend to tell the truth to others that they trust. It's a sign of respect and a way to bond closer. However, when lies are caught out, the consequences are usually not good. People can get hurt or into trouble. Relationships can break down and all parties involved may not trust each other again.

When you combine both secrets and lies in the workplace, well you have a volatile mix that can explode in everyone's faces. The fact that we spend so much time with our work mates, we may think that we can trust them. But really, you are only seeing people from one perspective. To really see what someone is like, you need to see them in their natural environment. It's like David Attenborough watching the real way lions interact in the jungle as opposed to watching caged lions in a zoo. So we're often lured into a false sense of trust and share secrets with work mates, that can then lead to lying, which can then turn around to bite us. We have to keep in mind that our work mates can also be our competitors, each striving to move up in the corporate ladder, and some willing to use secret information to their advantage.

In summary, I think we need to be wary of what secrets we share with others at work. You have to be definite that whoever you are sharing the secret with is someone you can trust. It's always easy to spill a secret than keep one. It's the human nature in us that makes us feel superior to share something unknown to someone else. I admit that I do it too, but you have to know where the line is between things that you can share and things that you can't. It's better not to tell than to risk it exploding in your face. Lying is something that should be treated with even more care. A small lie is probably ok, but trying to be someone you're not can only ever end in disaster. People can see through bullshit very quickly and you will lose the respect of others very fast.

Blogging To Happiness

2008-07-10T22:04:00.003+10:00

I had written in the past about how blogging is very therapeutic for me. I've long said that the mere act of composing the thoughts and committing them to paper just seems to lighten the burden and worry. Well, there was an article in The Age that there has been a university study that showed that blogging does make you happier.

Blogs, instead of being an anti-social tool where individuals are isolated, are actually a tool for making connections. I find that my blog is a great avenue to make connections with others both in the virtual world and the real world. I'm able to write about varied topics and occasionally someone else will also be interested and discussions will occur. As we all tend to have a limited number of friends who may not necessarily enjoy everything we do, a blog enables me to reach a much wider audience and anyone who chooses to enter the discussion without me forcing it on them.

So I plan to keep blogging so that I can discuss interesting topics with others, remove stress by writing about things that worry me, and give me opinions on various topics.

Tour de France 2008

2008-07-09T21:55:00.002+10:00

I never thought I would like watching cycling, but this year, I've found myself watching the Tour de France virtually every night. I love seeing the French countryside as I dream of going to France one day. The support from the public is also amazing, with the streets lined from start to finish with supportive people. I have to say, it's also very exciting. Stage 3, from Saint-Malo to Nantes was ultra exciting. A breakaway group of 4 had led bascially from kilometer 1 of the 208 kilometer race. And the commentators kept saying how the main group will probably catch up. But as it got closer and closer to the end, it became apparent that the four breakaway riders would win. As the commentators said, this is a dream for any rider, to be involved in a breakaway and maintain that to win.

Cycling, and especially the tour de france is an extremely strange sport. I don't mean it's strange in terms of what they have to do. In fact, cycling is probably one of the easiest and oldest sports. What I mean is the dynamics that occur in the tour de france. Even though an individual wins the overall race, no individual can win the race. Every single winner in the history of the race has had to rely on their team. And this is what I find so interesting.

In any other individual sports, all competitors enter a race wanting to win. However, in this race, the role of every single rider in a team is to support their number one rider. This means sacrificing themselves and giving protection to their main man and supporting him in any way they can. So you enter a race clearly knowing that you won't win, or have little intention of winning. This race is probably one of the hardest in the world, and to work your body to the extremes to help someone else in an "individual" race is very honourable. I'm sure they get paid well, but it's not easy to ride for a "team" when one man then gets all the glory.

This race also highlights comraderie in sport. Just due to the extreme nature of the sport and how much time the riders spend together, they do develop a mutual respect for each other. They will give their drink to another man who hasn't got one, one teams repair car team will help another teams man who has broken down, the riders won't attack when a rider has fallen etc. It's a uniting experience to undergo something so stressful on your body. I can't even imagine driving my car a few hundred kilometers each day, let alone sit on a tiny uncomfortable seat and peddling my guts out. These athletes are truly gutsy. As to how "clean" they are in terms of drugs, only they will know.

Still Alive

2008-07-01T19:56:00.002+10:00

Wow, it's been over two weeks since my last post. I don't think there are any regular readers of this blog. But if there is, I'm still alive. Just been having too much fun and therefore no time to blog.

Here's a quick note on some things.

* Indiana Jones and The Whatever is very boring. I slept through some of it.
* Get Smart was better than I expected. It was quite funny and true to the style of the original series.
* Flight of the Conchords is the funniest show on TV at the moment.
* Go Hawks, we finally have a chance to win the flag.
* I really like macarons now. They're not so hard to make after all.
* I hope I get a pay rise during this coming work performance review. I'm not sure where my career is headed. I don't know what I want to do?
* The Amazing Race is back on. I really want to go on a holiday, but don't have enough money. Paris (the city, not the person), I will see you one day soon.
* Saving money is so hard. I've tried to be frugal this month, but have already spent nearly $800 in half a month.
* Tax time is coming up. I'm not looking forward to doing my personal and business tax at all. I might need an accountant this time. I'm also going to have to pay heaps of tax, damn.
* I went on a couple of training courses at AIM on Fitzroy Street. Their lunches are really good. The training was ok too. I'm now more assertive and can speak in public better.
* The Euro Championships was quite good. I stayed up to watch quite a few games. Guus Hiddink is a genius.
* Wimbledon is on. I hope Federer wins again. He's looking a bit shaky but he's still in it. A Englishman might also win the cup in a long time in Andy Murray. There's been heaps of massive shock exits from the top players this year. It makes things interesting.
* Currently I'm listening to Jordin Sparks, the youngest American Idol winner. I also like listening to Sam Sparro, an up and coming Aussie artist. Black and Gold is the catchiest song at the moment.
* Finally, I'm getting quite fat now. I really need to exercise and eat less.

The Benefits of Failure

2008-06-11T22:52:00.002+10:00

I read a transcript of J.K Rowling's speech to this years Harvard graduates. I must admit that I haven't read any of her books or am a fan. But I have to say that her speech was very inspiring.

I've heard bits and pieces about her life and how she was divorced and raising a child alone previously. In her speech, tells of the extreme low in her life where her marriage had just failed, she was a single mother without any money or job. That low though, helped to make her stronger. I know it's a cliche, but unless we are in that situation, we'll never really know what its like. We can only empathise, as J.K describes, which is an invaluable skill that humans have.

J.K talks about how being at her lowest meant that she lost all her fear. There was nothing else more to lose. It made her see the essential things in her life. It also helped to weed out her real friends from those who were trying to gain from her. I guess this is the classic movie plot. She has lived it. She was at her lowest, and then makes it good by hard work, a bit of luck, and having determination.

For most of us, myself included, life isn't too bad. We drift from day to day, doing what is expected of us and what is easy. How many of us can really say that we strive for our goals and really do what we are passionate about. I know that I constantly say how I want to be involved in food and the food industry in one form or another. But apart from a food blog and lots of eating, what have I really done to achieve those dreams.

I think one aspect that is stopping me is fear. It's much easy to drift along as an engineer and make fairly decent money. If I really wanted to pursue a career in food, I've been told by others already doing it that it isn't easy. There isn't a lot of money to be made and breaking through is a lot of work. That hurdle has already scared me off it. That's what separates 99% of people from the ones who "make it". The definition of making it can vary for everyone, but lets assume that it involves doing what you enjoy and also being comfortable financially so that you have options, then very few people have the drive to make it. Those people, some maybe like J.K, may have experienced failure many times, making them strong each time and more determined. So maybe we should all try and take some more risks. Whether those risks work or not, you will still benefit for the next time.

Clothes Maketh The Man

2008-06-11T22:34:00.002+10:00

Clothes maketh the man is a common espression about how appearances count for a lot. We dress up differently for different occasions and situations. Unless you are a very confident person and feel ok to wear anything, most of us will dress "appropriately" for the situation. The level of appropriateness will still vary according to the individual.

Today, I had to go into the city for a meeting. I was dressed in my wool black suit and looked quite sharp I thought. It was a strange feeling, both negative and positive. On the one hand, I rarely need to wear a suit, so was slightly uncomfortable since it is something foreign. I'm an engineer so can get away with just wearing a button up shirt to work. The suits at the company are the sales and marketing guys, always dressed up to the max to impress clients.

So putting on the suit meant I was slightly uncomfortable since I rarely have to wear one. It was made a bit worse when I was on the train as I really stood out from the rest of the non-peak hour crowd. But after a short period of time, I relaxed and felt really good in my suit. Clothes really do maketh the man. What we wear can really affect our own confidence. When I am wearing something that I think makes me look smarter, more authoritative, thinner, more attractive, I definitely act differently to when I am uncomfortable with what I wear.

I tend to be very casual with my clothes and wear jeans and t-shirts most of the time. I know that when I'm in my work clothes, I feel more confident even when I drop by the supermarket afterwards. I think it's the feeling that I am dressed for success already makes me think more highly of myself. So when I was in my suit today, I walked with an air of confidence after my initial awkwardness.

It's a pity in a sense that modern society with has become so relaxed with attire. We rarely get the chance to dress up and boost our own sense of self slightly. I've started to wear a nice shirt to restaurants as it feels good to wear good clothes. I'm still not at the stage where I want to prance around in a suit unless it is necessary. And as much as people may argue about how you shouldn't be defined by how you look externally, it is still a vital part in many situations. You might not be able to change your face structure, but you can change your clothes. We all get judged on first impressions and conveying the right message through our clothes is vital.

Eurovision Song Contest 2008

2008-05-25T21:38:00.004+10:00

What do you get when you combine the following things:

Laser show, smoke machine, wind machine, fireworks, flames, terrible costumes, costume changes, fake tan, fake breasts, bottle blondes, bad facial hair, bad hair cuts, jumpsuits, angel wings, brides, pirates, synchronised dancing and finally singing.

A fantasy porn film I hear you say. Well, not quite, but close. You get this years Eurovision Song Contest. This contest has been going on for more than 50 years so it definitely has staying power. I love it. It's become a cult show in Australia. I don't know whether the Europeans, contestants and audiences, take the show seriously. Whether they do or not, it doesn't make it any less funny. The commentator, Terry Wogan, definitely takes it as a bit of fun. His commentary is so funny. He just says it how he sees it, which is to be a bit sarcastic.

This year's contest has been run and won. We've got a delayed telecast in Australia so I've avoided finding out the winners. I've just watched the singing part of the show and here are some of my thoughts and awards.

Best Use of the Wind Machine: There were a lot of acts that tried to utilise the wind machine, but no one could compare to Germany. The four girls with their flowing wings sang through their whole song without missing a beat, despite a gale force wind blowing at them.

Best Use of Fireworks: Many groups used fireworks to highlight their routines. But the clear winner was Finland who had fireworks going the whole time, and even the sound of the fireworks was incorporated into their song.

Best Use of Lasers: Strangely, only a couple of routines used lasers. Maybe lasers are new and some artists aren't up with the dramatic effect of them yet. Sweden were the only country to utilise green lasers to their fullest, with the lasers fanning across the stage for the end part of the song.

'Best' Hair Cut: There were many many shockers here. But I can't go past the Armenia dancer guy with his horrific mullet, despite Iceland putting up a strong fight with the guys looking like they were Vulcans from Star Trek with their awful long hair.

'Best' Costume: The competition for best costume was extremely fierce. Bosnia and Herzegovina did their best with the lead singer in a crazy apple encrusted skirt and the backup singers in bridal dresses. Finland tried too, with the guys in tight leather pants with the zips showing. Azerbaijan were really dramatic in their angel wings and devils costumes. But the prize has to go to Latvia for being so dedicated that everyone was in pirate costumes.

Best Falsetto: Strangely, it was all the guys that were using the falsetto. The Israeli guy tried his best, sounding like a girl, but his falsetto wasn't that strong. Finland, Russia and Denmark all tried their best. But the undeniable winner was the Azerbaijan angel guy, whose falsetto was so powerful that I'm sure he could crack glasses with it.

Best Display of Breasts: The category was hotly contested too. There were breasts, some most likely fake, on display wherever you looked. The German girls were out there. Poland was really out there. But the Spanish dancers were the outright winner, with all 6 of them displaying their best assets.

Best Costume Change Mid Song: There were a few costume changes, mainly the women singers ripping off their outer dresses to show a skimpier inner dress. But Georgia took it a step further. When a large piece of material was pulled over the whole group, they all managed to change from black costumes to white ones.

Best Transvestite Looking Singer: This category was an easy one. There were a few possible contenders, but hands down winner was Sweden. She looked really scary.

Weirdest Act: This was a tough tough choice. There was some truly awful strange acts. In the end, I had to go with France, with the guy singing this ultra strange song and at one stage inhaling helium from a balloon to get his chipmunk voice.

Best Synchronised Dancing: Virtually every act had some form or other of synchronised dancing. My favourite though was definitely Ukraine. The four male dancers worked well with the leading female singers. Their unison was spot on and was very good.

Best Act: Finally, we come to the all important best act category. And by best, I really mean best this time. Romania gets an honourable mention. Their song was enjoyable and the guy's voice was opera quality. However, the girl singing with him ruined the song. The Finnish group with their hard rock song was actually good too. It was an enjoyable song and the lead singer can really sing. Portugal was good too. The only large girl on stage the whole night was a really good singer. My three favourite acts were Denmark, Ukraine, Russia and Norway. Denmark, Russia and Norway were good pop songs sung by artists who actually emoted during the song. The Ukraine song was a very good dance song.

If I had to pick a winner purely from the performances, I would probably go with Denmark. However, the Eurovision Song Contest is one of the most politically affected voting systems of any contest. Countries that have strong ties vote for each other as regularly as your bills arrive. However, does anyone really care who wins. I for one don't. It's all just a bit of camp fun for me.

Ok, I'm going to check out who won now. Well, I just read the telegraph report and Russia won. But the most interesting part from that report is that Terry Wogan, Mr Sarcastic himself, is disappointed that the show is so clearly biased and not fair. I thought that Terry, with his own sarcastic commentary would take the show with a grain of salt and just enjoy it for the fun that it is. It's not a competition, it's a musical stage show. A competition implies fairness, and we know this show is anything but fair. Hopefully Terry won't stop commentating on this show though, his commentary is a part of the fun of the whole thing.

Core Personality

2008-05-24T21:33:00.002+10:00

We say we are changing constantly as we get older. This is true, but at the same time, we really don't change that much. We have a core personality that really doesn't change too much for most people. You can mold that personality to fit into different situations, but when it comes down to it, you will resort to what is comfortable for you.

For example, I will never ever be an ultra confident extrovert no matter what I do. But that doesn't mean have to be a shy quiet wall flower. At work, I have learnt to push myself to speak out and give my opinion. I've also learnt to stand up for myself and back my own judgement. All these things come with learning and experience. Having encouragement from people has also helped me greatly. I'm very lucky at have some great friends and work mates.

Similarly, I've also taken that work confidence and applied it out of work too. I am much more confident when I interact with people who are not my friends. I will never be able to just dominate a conversation with unknown people, but I will put in my opinion occasionally. But at the core, I am who I am, which is a fairly introverted person.

It was interesting to see that the core personality traits of some friends from high school who I hadn't seen in a while were still there. Regardless of how much their lives have changed, I could still pick out the people who I knew all those years ago. Only now do I see those traits much more clearly.

I guess it's only through experience that you can pick people's personalities more clearly. The friends that you have kept in touch with over the years, and who you will keep in touch with in the future, are clearly people with personalities that you like. When I was younger, I thought everyone was a friend. It wasn't until I got older that I started to see very clearly that some people are just rotten and have really bad personality traits. I no longer feel the need to try and be friends with those people and don't bother wasting my time. With age really does come wisdom, or at least a bit more clarity in ones judgement and ability to not be afraid to be disliked.

Old School Days

2008-05-15T22:26:00.002+10:00

I've been chatting, or more accurately emailing with an old friend from high school and uni days. It's amzing how much things change, and yet also how little things change. This person used to be one my good friends, but yet we sort of drifted apart during uni and eventually even lost touch. But as fate would have it, we've once again met up.

I'm going to meet this friend soon for dinner just to catch up. But from our email chats, it's like no time has passed in one sense, and also like a lot of time has passed in another. A lot has also change in terms of our lives, but there are still some constants, which are the shared memories that we have of our old school days. We both reminisce about the good old days (we must be getting old) and how much fun it used to be. We discussed why we sort of drifted apart and it's just due to people moving on. But now that we've met up again, I think this time we will keep in touch for sure.

Back when you're at school, you get thrown together with other kids that are your age. You will be friends with some just because you are constantly in the same environment. It's after you leave school that your friendships get tested. Once you change geographical locations and also meet other people in the big wide world, it's when you really know who you friends are. Having said that, sometimes you stay in touch with people who really aren't your friends, but that is extremely rare. I, for one, would not actively seek to communicate with people just for the sake of it. Why waste time on people you don't care about when you can use that time for people you do care about.

But sometimes, like in this instance, we just drifted apart without realising it. Only after you realise the lost do you fully understand what you let go. However, the lesson is to not let it happen again.

One funny thing that has come out of our email conversations is gossip about our old school friends. It turns out that a lot of people didn't get along. It's strange how the bleeding obvious is so hard to pick at the time. The saying about how it's so much clearer when you're not involved in something is so true. Now that we are wiser, we can look back and really see who the real friends were. The others just happened to be there due to circumstance. Apparently, there was a lot of fighting and bitching that went on that I didn't know about. It happened less with us guys than the girls, but it didn't mean we were all friends. I haven't kept in touch with all my old high school and uni friends because I've realised that a lot of them never were my friends. I actually find some of them to my disliking as I've gotten older and seen them for what they are.

I've carried my slightly tougher stance of people at work. I can't even be bothered wasting my time talking to fake people at work. I don't need them to like me. I will be civil to them and work with them, but apart from that, we just happened to be chucked together for a moment in time doing a common task for money. There are some people at work though that I do feel are real friends and who I will give my attention to. So far, I've gotten to know quite a few of them for a number of years now and I still like them, so that's a good sign that they are friends. Whether I will still keep in touch with them when I leave this job is unknown. I suspect I will keep in touch with a few of them.