I don't care how big a real-life jerk people make Russell Crowe out to be, he is a damn good actor.
I've seen him in A Beautiful Mind and actually the storyline is quite formulaic and perhaps a bit too sentimental (but what do you expect from a director like Ron Howard?), but his acting was superb, simply because it didn't even feel like he was acting. That's how I differentiate the good performers from bad. Those that are bad are self-conscious; they act for the camera and the viewer can sense it.
And he makes the viewers sympathise with him, which is not easy when you are dealing with modern-day audience who are impervious to cheap emotional stimuli due to the high diet of sickly-sweet Hollywood blockbusters. To touch them you have to costantly strive for another high in tear-inducing stimulation. I'm the kind of audience that do not cry easily at the movies, unless it's really pathetically sad.
Is that movie meant to be sad? I think it was supposed to be a inspiring and feel-good flick, but it makes me teary. His portrayal of a man caught within the chaos and turmoil of his own delusional mind makes you want to empathise and understand.
He acts altogether too well, that Russell Crowe.
23 May 2005
15 May 2005
Food
I was just reading the leisure section of the local newspaper this Sunday morning and I came across an interview with a Starbucks manager. She was born in Hong Kong, studied in the US, and is now working in Singapore. She says despite the intervening years spent in the West, she thinks that Chinese food is "real" food.
I think so too! My palate is decidedly Asian; I think Asian food are truly hearty food, except Japanese cuisine. Food that are presented too exquisitely and elaborately dampens my appetite. Food are supposed to look delicious, gloriously messy, ready to be tucked in! Those that look like art are "cold", unsensual, structured. Japanese food is a bit like that; same for French. Besides, the Japanese like their food raw, which is something I cannot abide by. This is not to say I don't enjoy the occasional sushi and don dishes.
There are certain Western food that I like; I crave for McMuffins, breads (especially sandwiches and burgers), and cakes (generous slices of butter cake, moist and fluffy coffee swiss rolls, rich chocolate mousse cake--you name it, I like it!) often and especially for breakfast, but come dinner my preferred meal would be Asian.
It may be because my favourite flavours are savoury and spicy. Western cuisine lack these flavours. Cream, cheese, olive oli, tomato puree: These are all quite incompatible with my tastebuds. I also don't eat beef so that rules out steaks, the mainstay of Western food.
On the other hand, I really like rice and noodles, the carbo stuff. Noodles are more versatile and have more variety. Yum!
I think so too! My palate is decidedly Asian; I think Asian food are truly hearty food, except Japanese cuisine. Food that are presented too exquisitely and elaborately dampens my appetite. Food are supposed to look delicious, gloriously messy, ready to be tucked in! Those that look like art are "cold", unsensual, structured. Japanese food is a bit like that; same for French. Besides, the Japanese like their food raw, which is something I cannot abide by. This is not to say I don't enjoy the occasional sushi and don dishes.
There are certain Western food that I like; I crave for McMuffins, breads (especially sandwiches and burgers), and cakes (generous slices of butter cake, moist and fluffy coffee swiss rolls, rich chocolate mousse cake--you name it, I like it!) often and especially for breakfast, but come dinner my preferred meal would be Asian.
It may be because my favourite flavours are savoury and spicy. Western cuisine lack these flavours. Cream, cheese, olive oli, tomato puree: These are all quite incompatible with my tastebuds. I also don't eat beef so that rules out steaks, the mainstay of Western food.
On the other hand, I really like rice and noodles, the carbo stuff. Noodles are more versatile and have more variety. Yum!
9 May 2005
A girl in slippers and shorts
This is a glorious morning. I was walking to the building where I'm working and everywhere was drenched in sunshine and mist. (Okay, it's more like haze, but why go and spoil it?)
A girl (probably a student) was walking back to her hostel room after buying a copy of the newspaper from the canteen. She was wearing a plain white T-shirt and dark blue sport shorts and ambling along comfortably in a pair of rubber slippers. It was a bit disconcerting. On one hand, it's the natural attire for anyone living in a university hostel, but on the other it seems a bit too insouciant, lackadaisical to be walking around the campus wearing those things.
I wonder what she'll be doing this day. She seemed so.... at ease and carefree. Maybe she'll switch on the TV in her room to watch the morning news while drinking her kopi and savouring kaya toast and flipping through the newspapers. The exams should probably be over by now. It's vacation time for them! I can still remember my own student days. Vacations were too long for my liking then (about 10 weeks at a go), but it was a welcomed break from school. The only problem was, if you did not procure a vacation job, how are you supposed to fill those 10 empty weeks? There's only so much (window) shopping you can do, and so many movies you can watch.
Now that I'm working, I get about 20 days of leave every year. Not quite enough, but compared to some of my friends who work in the private sector and get only 10 days, I should feel quite privileged!
Ahhh, university life, there's nothing quite like it!
A girl (probably a student) was walking back to her hostel room after buying a copy of the newspaper from the canteen. She was wearing a plain white T-shirt and dark blue sport shorts and ambling along comfortably in a pair of rubber slippers. It was a bit disconcerting. On one hand, it's the natural attire for anyone living in a university hostel, but on the other it seems a bit too insouciant, lackadaisical to be walking around the campus wearing those things.
I wonder what she'll be doing this day. She seemed so.... at ease and carefree. Maybe she'll switch on the TV in her room to watch the morning news while drinking her kopi and savouring kaya toast and flipping through the newspapers. The exams should probably be over by now. It's vacation time for them! I can still remember my own student days. Vacations were too long for my liking then (about 10 weeks at a go), but it was a welcomed break from school. The only problem was, if you did not procure a vacation job, how are you supposed to fill those 10 empty weeks? There's only so much (window) shopping you can do, and so many movies you can watch.
Now that I'm working, I get about 20 days of leave every year. Not quite enough, but compared to some of my friends who work in the private sector and get only 10 days, I should feel quite privileged!
Ahhh, university life, there's nothing quite like it!
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