Archive for January, 2011
Another Week
There goes another week and here begins another one. It’s not got off on the best note–my arms hurt like crazy from some training and I’ve had quite a few things to worry about–but it should get better as the week goes along. It’s going to be a packed week, basically, or perhaps eventful is a better word. Whatever it is, it’s family and friends closer to the weekend, so I’m keeping that in mind for now.
On a related note, tomorrow is a more straightforward day than today was, and today didn’t turn out all that bad.
I put together my new blog as I was promising over the weekend. It’s still finding its feet so I’m going to link to it a bit later. It’s also nowhere near a functioning edition, and in that respect, I actually just set it up as a sort of temporary fixture on WordPress. I’m going to have the hosting worked out when things get more comfortable. That’s the idea, of course; reality doesn’t really like behaving according to intention.
I’m reading Secret Rendezvous (密会). It is splendid. On the back cover, someone describes it as seeming like a collaboration between Hieronymus Bosch, Kafka, and Mel Brooks, and that’s kind of true. I’m about a third through it and completely engrossed in it. I’m just too tired to read now and want to do it justice, so I’m not going to try.
I know I promised to talk about my FYP. I still remember. I’m going to try to do so the next time. I actually have some pictures. I’ll put them up in that post and hope that the pictures are enough to make you happy. I doubt it.
I studied a couple of chess games over the weekend, including one less well-known Fischer game that was quite brilliant. I’m terrible at this, both chess and chess history, but I do enjoy it as a side project of some sort. A hobby, yes. I don’t know why I didn’t say that the first time.
Tomorrow, I’m having classes about Singapore theatre. I’m also going to be discussing with my team members our project for that subject. I get the feeling it’ll be interesting. We’re doing Drama Box, and to end off today’s post on a peculiar note, I’m going to link to them. [via Drama Box]
All right, see ya.
d
Quick Impressions
Well, at least as quick as I can make them.
I got my hands on The King Is Dead by the Decemberists, as well as Smith Westerns’ new LP Dye It Blonde. I was about to get Anna Calvi too, but I just couldn’t find it! One for the future, then.
Briefly, I love both albums, Dye It Blonde slightly more than The King Is Dead for now.
The King Is Dead is the Decemberists’ Americana album. It’s pleasant and bright and more than a little sunny. A far cry from the unwieldy Hazards of Love, it strikes me as a very assured and confident performance. Almost too assured and confident, in fact. The music sounds brilliant; the band simply seems to be growing into its own with each new release, at least, sonically. The album is definitely full of wonderful tracks, catchy as hell and infinitely replayable, though I did find one or two slightly plodding. That said, it does feel like it lacks a little something. It doesn’t have the strangeness of Castaways and Cutouts, the vulnerability of Picaresque, or the sheer sense of adventure of The Crane Wife, and as a result, comes across as being a little too perfect. Still, it’s a very pleasant album and I am sure I will be listening to it over and over again in the course of the year. Do give it a shot.
At the same time, I’ve been very impressed by Dye It Blonde. It’s a wondrous piece of work that is ridiculously listenable. Sure, it’s full of fun, as you would expect, but it’s also informed by a remarkable seriousness. The lads may be young and possibly new to the game of love, but they certainly don’t show it. In fact, they seem to know the rules so much better than most. Technically, it is a highly accomplished album, with the synth and guitars filling out the first-rate melodic talents of the band. It’s a young album, an energetic and indulgent affair (and I mean that in the best possible sense). But it’s also youthful in the sense that it betrays the sensibility that no one should be afraid to get heartbroken. What a way to begin the new year in music.
All right, I’ll try to locate a copy of Anna Calvi when I head out on Sunday.
d
Bad Form
Oh look, it’s only two weeks into the new year and I’m already lagging behind on updating this site by a mile. This is just one of those things where taking a break has a long-term detrimental effect.
So, let’s run through a quick list of what has been happening:
I’ve been at my FYP. Getting simple things to work has proven to be remarkably difficult. Sure, it’s entirely computational, and maybe that suggests something of a less unpredictable nature (as compared to wet-lab projects), but it’s very hard to get anything to behave. Meanwhile, I vaguely remember promising to write about it here, which I will eventually. Maybe when I have more interesting things to show you. I’m not sure if there’s some non-disclosure rule, so I’ll think about that a bit too.
I have a presentation for this on Monday. Hope it goes well.
I’ve made an application to continue studying after graduation. I hope it works out. Fingers crossed. One or two other applications to come.
I fell sick on Wednesday. Been recovering since, but it’s taking longer than I would’ve liked. Of course, it tends to take longer than you would like. (I’m presuming you don’t like getting sick.) Nothing serious, just a heavy bout of flu and a bad sore throat. For a couple of hours, I thought I would be running a temperature too, but that didn’t materialise, thankfully.
Rather confusing days, these, so my moods have been on the good ol’ up-and-down in the past week or thereabouts. Not exactly welcome, but I guess I’m dealing with it better than I usually do.
My poetry club has got going. It’s looking a little bare now. I’m trying to see where it will end up in a couple of weeks. Fingers crossed and all that. Our first poem is Rimbaud’s “Le buffet“. It is a lovely poem.
I have a couple of book/reading resolutions for this year. I’ve already started on one of them, which is to reread Rayuela/Hopscotch. I also want to reread 《灵山》 and compare it with the english translation (Soul Mountain), which I’ve never read before. I never knew how Chinese-to-English translations would look in a literary text. It just never occurred to me to find out, despite knowing both languages. I want to do more poetry this year. So the poetry club’s a good thing for me in that way too. Those are the major projects. The other small promises are stuff I’ve in my waiting list or already have ordered, like the complete Your Face Tomorrow.
Finally, I think I’m beginning to have ideas on what to work on next. Early days, early days.
d
