"You a gardener or a flower? In a relationship there's a flower and a gardener. I'm a gardener who wants to be a flower."

I'm like Keith Richards. I'm just happy to be anywhere.

Singaporeans not critical thinkers?

Singaporeans not critical thinkers? judging by reactions from Uber/Grab passengers and drivers, untrue.

competition, promo codes etc, everyone is now thinking.

so why taxi monopoly we cannot, political monopoly we can?

the idea of separating dogs fighting scares me.

老朋友

wisest thing I heard today:

人能选择好朋友 也能选择坏朋友 就是不能选择老朋友

"Allow me to explain about the theatre business. The natural condition is one of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster."

难忘前世旧残梦 四猿聚首盼回魂

The Big Lebowski 20th anniversary

20 years ago this month. I don't have to expand on the legacy of this film.

Poems don't always have to rhyme, you know. They just have to be creative.

就像一个人没有了地上的影子

Oscars 2018: who should win

Picture

1. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
2. Dunkirk
3. Phantom Thread
4. Get Out
5. Lady Bird
6. Darkest Hour
7. The Shape of Water
8. The Post
9. Call Me by Your Name

20 years down the road, it would be Dunkirk that's remembered, but right now, it's too unconventional beside 3BOEM, which is itself a sublime piece of work. just didn't enjoy TSOW as much as other people.

Directing

Christopher Nolan 

because Martin McDonagh is not nominated, GDT should win, but for me, because Martin McDonagh is not nominated, the door is open for Nolan. to conceptualise and produce something as monumental as Dunkirk is incredible. I love GDT's body of work, but they continue to have something missing for me.

Actor

Gary Oldman 

DDL, Denzel Washington and Oldman are pretty much on the same plane this year, but Oldman has to nick it for such a showy performance.

Actress

Sally Hawkins

Frances McDormand and Saoirse Ronan fully inhabited their characters, but Hawkins' Eliza jumps out at you. Meryl Streep as always is outstanding. didn't like Margot Robbie's performance.

Supporting Actor

Sam Rockwell 

simply fascinating for a villain, plus the field is not strong.

Supporting Actress

Laurie Metcalf

not a great field. Allison Janney will win, for such a forceful performance, but I wasn't particularly taken by it. Metcalf brought so much subtlety to her role. the others just didn't do enough.

Cinematography

Blade Runner 2049 

a masterpiece for the ages. so well shot you can't focus on everything else. Darkest Hour and Mudbound come a close second for me.

Original Screenplay

Get Out

that story and those clues, Jordan Peele had this wrapped up in early-2017. Lady Bird has the best writing, but is hobbled by its very strength - a rite-of-passage story. TSOW has a great premise but not exceptional writing, especially with a lead actress who doesn't speak.

We'll always bet on black,
That's a fact,
Come on Robin,
Watch my back.

i like motion pictures

Darkest Hour shows us that however incompetent and unpopular Churchill was, if your heart is in the right place, good will prevail. but above all, the film earns Churchill's place - despite the popular notion that Hitler the great orator nearly changed the world with words - as the good orator who defeated the evil orator.

lion dance or decency?

it's common knowledge the general public have a certain impression of lion dance practitioners, but I hadn't encountered overt contempt in my 15 years, until not once but twice this Chinese New Year.

I shall skip one of the incidents, but the other reminds us that sense and logic will always defeat hate and viciousness, however much material success you've amassed to prop up that hate and viciousness.

we were at Burgundy Crescent and like any Chinese New Year at any private estate, cars clogged the roads. we found virtually the only space to park our two lorries.

enter TEEN (not literally because he didn't bother to exit his gate to speak to us). "you're blocking us from leaving," he said, and by "us" he meant their BMW. I ought to state right now our vehicles were not blatantly in front of their gate, but by the opposite units.

first thought: English-speaking twang but addressing us in Mandarin. why? I politely replied in English that we'd only be there for a while and asked when they're leaving, hoping for dialogue and a resolution. in 10 or 20 minutes, he said. perfect, I thought, and asked for 20 minutes. he then became non-committal on time and asked us to move elsewhere, which was when I thought, "damn, this is going downhill."

still on my best behaviour, I pointed out the lack of any other space and kindly suggested they do a three-point turn at just the next unit. or the next. or the next (I have not mentioned here that the road had multiple pockets for them to U-turn their BMW). TEEN was not buying it. this NS-age boy must have had some upbringing to become this piece of work, I thought to myself.

at this point, a troupe mate chimed in, "we're just a few units away, how about you alert us when you want to leave?" TEEN did not take the offer. "actually you cannot park here," he finally arrived at his point, with a clear hint at the possible illegality of the situation. it's never easy when someone meets your handshake with a middle finger. I told him I wished the conversation didn't reach that territory and once again sought some understanding. TEEN disappeared into the house.

a few minutes later, MAN shouts for us. a few of my troupe mates immediately attended to him, who like TEEN did not exit his gate. he shouted in reference to the lorries-BMW situation, "it's Chinese New Year, don't make me scold people." MAN disappeared into the house. we froze, our brains unable to process shock and comedy simultaneously. what normal human utters something like that, we thought aloud.

eventually, MAN and TEEN board their car, successfully manoeuvre out, but headed for us. as previously mentioned, the roads were clogged, and every car had to navigate and give way to each other, like in any private estate. but MAN, in his deepest, lifelong, id-driven fetish to blame the "them", wound down his window and berated us for making him give way to another car. a troupe mate, one I know can be liberal with his fists, approached him. what would happen next was anybody's guess.

but when he opened his mouth, it was as if he had been touched by Midas himself. "there are so many cars parked here, why aren't you blaming them?" MAN panicked and spouted other nonsense, which I won't dignify by describing here, but he never recovered from being defeated by sense and decency, just like TEEN had earlier, after being fed venom by MAN for what I assume to be his entire young life.

while MAN swam in the gutter, other troupe mates proceeded to direct and clear the traffic, including to get their BMW out. they left as fast as they came, softened as fast as they hardened, but I wish I was audience to the postscript in the car. was there awkward silence? did TEEN see through MAN's hypocrisy? did both continue the vitriol, living and breathing hate in a feedback loop?

ha!

一个人要离开2046需要多长的时间?