Don't worry - this clip is uploaded as private, so it won't appear on public listings or searches.
One of the videos turned out to look like an MTV of sorts, wish I had taken a longer clip! Nice song in background too. This was in Da-da's guestroom, before the pajama party.
"Tracy Jie-Jie" getting harrassed by "Uncle" Da-da's niece and nephew. Never encourage kids to misbehave by singing nursery songs with them - Tracy Jie-Jie ended up offering them a potent poison (nata de coco with kiwi syrup) by the end of the night.
Booze party!! Everyone had a shot of tequila and martini bianco, while Tracy Jie-jie (looking anything but decent in the photo) sputtered and gagged on his tequila and ended up getting punished with Kamikaze instead.
Saturday's Care 2 Dance was held at YMCA's auditorium, and it was hell packed - the people wearing red T-shirts are the volunteers, and this is just 1/3 of the total number on Saturday. Somehow, I bumped into so many familiar faces - 6 ex-members from the club, 1 Primary school friend who's studying in Michigan too, and a JC friend.
Brilliant stuff again! You know, for their age (and physique), that was impressive. Some stuff:
00:27 - Charleston footwork again, although I absolutely HATE Charlestons when danced to slower music like this.
02:20 - Favourite dip!! Cannot be done on carpeted floors though, and unfortunately most performance (and practice) venues think dancers love carpeted floors. The ballroom guys in school have made it a tradition to kick up a fuss - and rightly so - because the club simply does not provide proper floors.
02:42 - The Big Apple!! Everyone stands in a circle and dance jazz steps.
Ooooh at last, a piece danced to Big Bad Voodoo Daddy's rendition of "Jump, Jive & Wail"! Absolutely one of my favourite versions, but waaay too fast-paced for social dancing.
The performers made up for the speed by using mostly the Charleston footwork in this routine. One thing about Lindy is that because of her complex roots, there is no right or wrong way to dance it, and also no one kind of footwork. Contrast this to, for example, the Salsa's 1-2-3-rest, 5-6-7-rest tempo (over 8 counts), or Rock & Roll's 1-2-3-4-5-6 (over 6 counts) tempo.
Lindy happens to have BOTH 8-count and 6-count versions. =D And what's even more confusing is that both can be danced to in a single piece. In addition, there are various different footwork. I know the basic 8-count footwork as the Jockey, which goes 1-2-triple step, 5-6-triple step, somewhat like a very fast Cha-Cha where the triple step is spread over 2 counts in a syncopated rhythm. The 6 count version of Jockey goes 1-2-triple step-triple step.
The Charleston footwork is altogether different, and is danced to 8 counts and usually for fast songs like this - how to do 1-2-triple step, 5-6-triple step so quickly without tripping over your feet?? The Charleston is somewhat a "kicking" sort of step, where each of the 4 "kicks" take up 2 counts each. Much more manageable. OK, it's not really a kick per se, more like a pumping action instead of flicking the foot out.
One last confusing area when (ballroom people especially) try to analyse our footwork is the incorporation of solo jazz steps. These are usually danced solo, and almost always start on the 8th count of the previous bar, so it goes 8-1-2-3-4-5-6-7 per step. These are very handy for filling in awkward odd bits of beats, and add a lot of groove to the dance.
Notable stuff in this beautiful routine:
Before 00:28 - look at the couples when they're kinda of going round each other in the front part (the Lindy Turn); they're doing the Jockey footwork.
00:28 - Switched to the Charleston footwork
00:46 - Solo jazz steps
00:52 - Lindy Roulette, where they switch partners in a circle.
Came out of the toilet last night to find the 2 younger ones at the computer, having a nice webcam chat with a classmate. I figured it was time for a little fun, so standing at an angle where the webcam can't get me, I snatched the microphone and gave a deep, rumbling, "MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!". The poor girl on the other side gave such a start, my sisters started giggling uncontrollably. I quickly followed that up by harrassing them further, including producing one of Brownie's luridly-green beanie bear (he's got 6 beanies of assorted colours) and wobbling it around in front of the cam.
I reckoned the fun was enough, got back into my room for 10 minutes, got bored and decided to dump my final payload. This time, I snatched the microphone again and did a ren2 yao1 rendition of the front part of "One Night in Beijing". I learnt this morning that after I left them alone, Xuan fell off the chair STILL laughing while Wei choked from laughing and started puking. Must have been good. =)
Finally, it's the weekend again! Such stark contrast to the carefree days of derm and psych - this had to be the longest week I've ever had. So many things to do, so many things to blog about, but let me start off with a link to an amusing blog entry I came across while searching for recipes: Diarrhea. Deception. Disaster. It's a piece of excellent writing! =D
Had a long-missed good time during lunch today. A small TCHS gathering of sorts - Montyelm, Smartpants, Da-da and Xiao3 Nai3 Mei4 (Ang. I only remembered this nickname we had during shit when that silly piece of paper fell out from my cupboard) all had lunch together, and boy did we raise the roof of the level 8 cafetaria with noise. Good times! And such release from all the strain for the last few weeks.
Going to Da-da's place for a BBQ-cum-potluck dinner tomorrow, it'll be quite crowded I think. Still undecided on what to bring: stuffed peppers (boring), rice (ditto), or bloomin' onion? Managed to buy the giant Spanish onions at Jelita today, woot!! Bought 2, I'm going to try on one tomorrow morning.
Celebrated dad's birthday tonight at Minoru restaurant, the bill was surprisingly reasonable for such good-quality fare - slightly more than $30 pp. Then again, the boss didn't charge us for a couple of items .. although I think he got slightly tipsy from the brandy dad was dishing out. I came slightly late - couldn't resist visiting Henry's which was 1 minute away and seeing if there are any new corals - and came in to find dad with a glass of brandy. Oh hey! There's another glass tucked away at a corner of the table! Took several sips of that before dad told me the boss drank from that just now. Uh-oh. Gave him an obscene card bought from Glasgow that read, "As you become an older man, it's nice to wake up fondling some nice, plump breasts ..... Until you realise they are yours!!" Yep, complete with cartoons of boobies. Ah, and Brownie was having the fun of his life tonight - he always does, actually, when people start clapping at birthdays.
Came back to find him waiting for me as usual, and this time I pretended not to see him, but instead walked around in circles shouting for him - he ended up trotting behind me and pouncing at me in vain (I was dodging his paws) while whining all the time, "I'm here, you prat! I'm here!!" Shall have to film that down one day, it was too hilarious! Then, he did the unimaginable - he started asking for the PANDAN birthday cake, and actually gobbled the cake down! Eeeeeks. He'd better not get ill from that.
Been finding myself in a fugue state nowadays - simply drifting around, unconsciously doing certain things, and just generally feeling lost. Like right now, for example. What time was I supposed to have a tutorial at? And just 2 days ago I went for a morning tutorial carrying my Magic Bag - stuffed with 3 books and a 2-inch thick wad of notes - before realising that I could have left it at the lounge. Even better yet: after the tutorial, we went to the lounge for an hour before heading off for yet another tutorial. I brought the Magic Bag with me AGAIN. Was diagnosed with delirium and fugue state by fellow groupmates. I might wake up at a bus stop in Sembawang tomorrow morning and drift around aimlessly, not knowing why. Scary.
Right. Off for yet another long, long day. Was about to indulge in yet another sad poem again, but no, not today. Today I (try to) live.
Heard one of the best histories for diabetic foot ever, by a fellow groupmate. Kudos to you! The tutor actually looked extremely puzzled and asked us WHY we were having a tutorial then.
Crazy day in clinics, ended around 6pm. Best part was, I LEARNT NUTS. Yield is way too low, I'm not going for clinics anymore.
Today was kinda nice, in a way. There was some sort of fair going on upstairs, and 4 of us went (excluding Someone. That's what made it so nice, I think.). We ended up buying a whole box of Mochi ice cream, and sat at the stage gorging ourselves with 4 ice creams each! The scene was hilarious. Nurses and docs milling around while 4 strung-up, distraught students plopped down in the middle of nowhere, doing some stress-relieving binge-eating.
Oh yes! Made a really odd discovery a few days ago while trying to do up a new shot. Did you know that Bailey's, when added to Cointreau, congeals to form this yucky vomit-lookalike precipitate? Need to buy some Creme de Mente soon - Grenadine syrup taste too much like cough medicine to use in shots. Managed to do a recreation of Kamikaze! Made a cocktail version, but since 50% was alcohol by volume, it was about as potente as the Kamikaze shot. Now to use up the bottle of Martini Rosso (Bianco is sooo much easier to use, in contrast!). Ideas, anyone? Haha.. alcoholic binge. Beware the pancreatitis attacks.
This is the story of my life The saga of my tears A story told a thousand times Remade over the years
If you listen up closely Maybe you might hear The beating of my heart And the saga of my tears
This is the saga of my tears A saga that never ends This a the saga of my tears That fall from cheeks til the end (Derrick T. Pike)
OK, I am soooooo bogged down by work, my head's feeling perpetually fuzzy! It's like there comes a time when I sit down, having a thousand and one things to do. I decide to do one thing, and before I can start on it, I suddenly stop short and the second thing fleets right into my head. But before I can start on that, yet more things jam up the axonal transport in my microcephalic head and I end up ... still sitting here, and not doing anything.
Time to write up a list, I think. But I'm no good at following lists either.
Another grumpy day yesterday. My tolerance threshold is at an all-time low, and I suspect everyone is facing the same too. Just like we were told before. I've been trying to convince myself that I can do it all alone - and truly all alone I am. And do it all alone I must. There'll be no one to help me through it, and I have long given up on expecting anyone to understand. Yes, except a couple of really close friends.
To understand how a spark in life can be extinguished by years of toil; to know what it's like to be broken to your very soul and yet go on; to see the scars and festering wounds that you simply cannot afford to tend to. A point where heartaches are no more, a point where tears run dry.
Gotta run off for lessons very soon (YES. UNEARTHLY HOURS).
Right, got an unexpected half-day off! And now to talk about yesterday. This entire posting is extremely traumatising (pun unintended). We had a whole series of pep talks on our first day, all harping on the Big Day. And to top it all off, I was extremely irritated by this hand person. Totally can't stand him, he's such a PITA. Full of cockiness. You know how 2 people can say the same thing, yet the words come out totally different? Well, he wasn't MEAN per se - it's just the way he spoke, and the irritatingly smug look on his face. Someone should just take a screwdriver and screw a hole right through his stupid face.
Gosh, I'm all tired out and it's only the second day!! People are being extremely hardworking, and making me feel extremely frightened. OK, I won't lie and say that everyone's in tip-top condition; hardly, but they really are pulling out stacks and stacks of books, notes, whatever. Just trying to find solace by convincing myself that knowledge is better in, than out on notes. =p Met YET another irritating prat of a tutor today. Apparently, he was quite a notorious one, but has toned down somewhat. I don't know why people just can't be nice to others - it's exactly what I wrote in my elective report, BTW. Very scathing, I know, but truer than truth. Tutors never treat students this way in Scotland - neither do docs and nurses attack each other and vice versa. What's the point of being mean?
We have a HUGE problem here, we really do. Perhaps, because our current generation of tutors never had the opportunity to see how good medical education is really done overseas? Their students sit for their final exams without being able to list down 10 differentials of neck pain - if their brand of education yields such fresh graduates (who, in the local context, will most certainly be deemed incompetent and condemned for life), why do we religiously quote snippets of the British Medical Journal then? Once again, they badly need to learn the simple truth - a bachelor degree is just that, and to expect anything more is plainly foolish and futile. In fact, it might be a culture innoculation. Just look at what those poor sec 3 Biology students are poring through right now - molecular biology, advanced genetics and such, when they totally draw a blank when you ask them if ants are arthropods, gastropods or nematodes. Wait. They don't even know if corals are plants or animals.
First of all, a link to Montyelm's post. He did an absolutely perverse thing by embedding a certain video into the blog. And for the record, dear Monty and yx were positively enjoying themselves, singing that song at Partworld last Monday night. Oh dear.
Anyway, any comments regarding this new background? My previous picture host went bonkers, so I trawled the net looking for the most psychotic background I could find. Really love this brick wall. Interpret me as you wish, but in any case, it definitely changed the flavour of GTBM v 2.0 - from a scrapbook-thingy into one of those old Edinburgh walls with "Wanted" posters plastered over them.
Gathering today was good, and I think it really helped that this gathering was strictly by invitation only. It weeded out the riff-raff, and all 5 of us had true-blue CP talk. Oh dear .. it happened AGAIN. Certain people were totally erased from memory, and little did I know that out of the 3 forum-people (1 was a meet-up kind of friend already), I actually knew 2 of them years and years ago. The seeds I planted, to put it in a way; people who got their very first plant from me, and went on to establish good collections of their own. It surfaced this way:
Me, to person A (a forum person I never did know in the past): I heard someone stole a plant from outside your flat? Person A: Yah! And it's the one that Person B gave to me! Person B (who I've met 5 years ago, apparently): Which was bought from (Me) 5 years ago!
Extremely strange huh? And slightly scary. Very, in fact.
About feeling unwell - very bad bout of block tonight, lasting 1.5 hrs. =(
Group Lindy performance with amazing spatial choreography. Somehow these folks were able to change formations and took up both width and breath .. nice! Notable stuff:
00:54 - Lindy Roulette. Everyone stands in a circle, and the followers are passed to another lead.
01:32 - that's some crazy Russian Kick! OMG. Above the head?!?
03:12 - Transfer Jump ... I can't imagine how come the leads don't fall flat on their backs when the follows land on them.
Very intense today, especially after I came back home. Never want to feel this way again.
Ended up doing a trial of Bloomin' Onions, although I used a really tiny onion instead of the usual huge ones. It didn't end up as pretty as it should be, however; I'll post up the full recipe as soon as I perfect it. Ugly as it is, the Half-Bloomin' Onion was quite well-received by mom and xuan!
Test again tomorrow, and I'm pretty sure MCQ will be a nasty piece of work. As a senior quite aptly described it in his recent SMA article, common things apparently do not happen commonly in our test system. Trust me on this - instead of setting questions on depression and schizophrenia, some question on histrionic personality disorder and somatoform pain disorder will most likely pop up instead. Which leads me into thinking, "Is there any point studying for these at all?"
Had quite a good practice this evening and an excellent committee meeting after that. The club's picking up speed right now, with an onslaught of events like performances, a welcome tea, new classes and club t-shirts coming up. Alas! Current situation dictates that I'm ineligible for most performances, but it's great to help train up the rest!
Grrr .. teaching them the Sunny-Side Up always ends up in disaster. Hah .. never a serious accident of course (touch wood!!) but either the guys end up with very sore arms, or the girls get very sore backs. This picture's actually very odd - normally we fling the girls from our right and they end up with this characteristic upside-down pose resting on our LEFT thigh instead.
Yet another post demonstrating emotional volatility today.
For some odd reason, I turned extremely savage and aggressive at about 8pm today. Hot flash of anger just burst forth, and I think I scared the shit out of those who saw me for those 5 minutes.
Tried to mellow it down by watching The Pianist - bad idea. It was pretty intense, and I didn't quite like the front half of it. The piano pieces were lovely though! I'm still wondering how come the person playing the music never stumbles over the running notes.
Gearing up somewhat for the small gathering at my place this Saturday - about 6 people are coming over, all plant people. Haha .. cult following. Anyway, I've been working over the last week making sure the plants are in good condition to show. Trimmed off dried Nepenthes leaves and pitchers, removed dead Dionaea traps, and generally just smoozed it all up a little. Just anticipating and dreading the moment when they start bugging me about certain rarities.
Extreme mood swings again today - well, not really extreme, as I wasn't anywhere near manic in the first place. "Drastic" would be a better word.
Skipped lessons again, and it's awful. It's not nice to skip because you have something else you want to do, but it's much worse when you skip because you simply DO NOT want to go. I'm still trying to get used to people, but it's proving quite futile. Just barely tolerating, I guess. Definitely not enjoying. Went into self-torture mode by eating some extremely spicy noodles spiked with 3 heaping tablespoons of chilli powder, and ended up with swollen lips. Excellent.
Think I'll while away my time by watching "A Perfect Murder" that I rented, and do some studying later to ameliorate the guilt inside. Ah. Inappropriate feelings of guilt?
My creative juices were flowing (actually, I was just bored), and I was thoroughly inspired by Montyelm & Dopey's new blogs - so, here I am, with a spanking new look! The background needs to be replaced, however. Let's see if this works out better than the old one, shall we?
