Ants

This is pretty cool. Yesterday I found out from my Rhetoric instructor that one of the most intriguing films I've ever seen - Richard Linklater's Waking Life - was filmed almost entirely in Austin. A year and a half ago, Angie sent me the VCD from Hong Kong and I remember I invited Weiting to come over to my place and watch it with me. I'm a big fan of Linklater's Before Sunrise, Before Sunset and School of Rock, but I was kind of baffled by Waking Life after seeing it. I think Weiting got a lot more out of it than I did. I think she went home and picked apart the entire screenplay or something.

The movie's basically a collection of vignettes, with dozens of people (including two main characters from Before Sunrise and Before Sunset) musing about philosophy and life, and exploring the question: "Are we sleep-walking through our waking state or wake-walking through our dreams?" While this would be absolutely riveting for someone like, say, Charles (are you reading this?) I kind of got lost amid all the existentialism talk. The thing I loved most was the animation. The filmmakers used a technique called rotoscoping, in which they animate over live-action film. They shoot an entire movie, then paint over it, frame by frame. Which makes for really interesting, fluid images. Here's a cute scene which I like:



So I watched a bit of it again today, and really enjoyed it, partly because I could pick out specific locations in Austin, like the State Capitol, the Subway below the Castilian, Quack's Bakery and more. There was one scene which was an actual existentialism lecture at UT by the late Professor Robert Solomon. The classroom and hallway looked really familiar. Actually the whole movie had a very Austin-y feel. There are several clips on YouTube if you're interested.

Yeah so watch the movie! It's definitely worth the 1h 40 mins. There are so many characters, and their faces and the backdrops constantly change in color and shape. You'll never get bored. Let me know what you think about it. Or at least watch Before Sunrise and Before Sunset... two of my favorites.

Halloween

Yesterday night became the Roaring Twenties, for me at least.

Went makeup shopping with Daph in the morning - I got my first bottle of liquid foundation! Got my brows waxed too (which, in my opinion, is less painful than plucking or threading). Then I headed over to Buffalo Exchange, which is only the coolest fashion thrift store in the world, and scored a pair of lovely black heels (the heels are transparent!) and the headband I'd been looking for for weeks. Pammy came over in the evening and we pooled our cosmetic resources and got down to work. It took us almost an hour!

Finished products:

Me, Daph, Pammy: The flapper, the pirate and the race car driver

Kirsten and Kim (who was our hairstylist): The flower garden (don't you love the sign?) and the gangster

Pammy and I tied for Best Overall Costume! Doesn't she look great?

A werewolf/ape?

With Kirsten

With Zach

The Merry Pirate Trio - Zach, Jan, Daph

There were many others, but my camera died halfway through :(

The get-up:

Dress: Bought it from Target in March. Was a little long, so I hemmed it up with 10 safety pins.
Fake pearl necklace: $3.99, Halloween store.
Flapper headband: $3.99, Buffalo Exchange.
Shoes: $12.50, Buffalo Exchange.
Black stockings: Sent by mail from Singapore (thanks Mom!)
Pink feather boa: $4.00, Goodwill.

Inspiration: This spread in the September issue of Vogue. I didn't get nearly as fancy as those ladies though!

Being vain at home with the webcam:
Till next time!

Bamboleo

Just got back from the first-ever Austin Pops concert at Ruta Maya Coffeehouse. They're Austin's "Premier Pop/Rock Orchestra". Check them out here to hear some music samples! My friend Alexis is the principal violinist (that's her up there with Kirsten, me and Sobeyda), so I went to support her, and had a really good time. We all agreed Ruta Maya was a great venue - cozy and yet big enough for people to move around comfortably. I loved the eclectic mix of songs they played... stuff by Santana, Aerosmith, Sarah McLachlan, Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Coldplay, Eric Clapton and more. And the best piece, in my opinion, was their version of Radiohead's "Paranoid Android" where this guy did an amazing solo on his very cool electric violin. Kinda creepy, but amazing. There was also a brass band for some songs and vocal soloists for others. Here are some videos I took:

Very amateur videos, I know... But hopefully you can make out the music. I really like this photo, somehow:


Till next time!

Snow Patrol

After looking through United Colors of Benetton's new catalog, I've concluded that this winter won't be hard to get through, as long as I wear really colorful clothes.

Haha well winter in Austin is a joke. It's still as hot as Singapore now. It'll probably get icy for a few days, and everyone will panic and school will shut down. But Vancouver - that's another story. Looking forward to a white white Christmas. But meanwhile, here's another sunny shot from the football game. I just love the color:

Cycling Trivialities

Hm. I don't have anything particularly exciting to blog about. But I just felt the need to keep this space alive.

Last Thursday I taught my first lesson at Murchison - a 30-minute thing on plagiarism. I dug up cartoons off the net, some recent plagiarism cases and somehow wove it into a lesson. Really shouldn't have drunk a cup of coffee right before class, because while I was teaching my hands were quivering slightly. Haha. Anyway, the class examined the possible case of plagiarism between "The Call of the Wild" and this other book called "The Wolf Dog." It was fun to see the students so shocked that Walt Morey very possibly plagiarized Jack London's work. It turned out to be really fun. I like teaching 8th graders (sec 2). Really thankful to my cooperating teacher for giving me the idea for the lesson. Today I went to observe and four girls gave me cards to thank me for my lesson. Was pleasantly surprised, even though I half suspect my teacher told them to write them. One girl told me she was from Indonesia... pretty cool :) I teach my next lesson next Tuesday.

Today I felt like I was sleepwalking through the entire day. I got a lot done, but I was just so dead tired. And I really don't think I'm sleep-deprived, because I get about 7 hours every night. But today was weird. It might have had something to do with the temperature dropping just a little. A bunch of people told me their allergies were acting up today. Winter is coming. Ugh. But at least I have my trusty jacket LaFawnduh.

Oh... I've decided on what I want to dress up as for Halloween! I'm excited. A bunch of us have already gotten our costumes. But I won't say now. The pictures will speak for themselves... but that's still a while away.

On Monday night, Chris, Kirsten and I (the unofficial fortnightly foodie group) went to Clay Pit Grill and Curry House for some contemporary Indian cuisine. Must say it was one of the most satisfying meals I've had since I've been back. My primary motivation for organizing the outing was to complete my Accessibility Exercise for my Individual Differences class, which involved me checking out whether the restaurant was fully accessible to a person in a wheelchair (parking, restrooms, entrance etc.) The food was good! And because Kirsten had a coupon, it was affordable too :) We had saag paneer (a pureed spinach cooked with roasted cumin and spices, with Indian cheese) and Khuroos-E-Tursh (medallions of chicken breast stuffed with seasoned spinach, mushrooms, onions & cheese, simmered in a rich cashew-almond cream sauce with a hint of sweetness, served with basmati rice). DOES THAT SOUND GOOD OR WHAT. And it was. And Clay Pit got high marks on accessibility too.

Alrighty... that's enough for now. Oh, and a very happy birthday to Beth, Mom and Xiaoen, whose b'days all fall within this week! Miss you all :)

This I Promise You

Haha I just wanted to post this so you all could see the tattoo on the guy's arm :) Everyone should get one!!

But I'm sure it'll also be a nostalgic trip down memory lane for many girls my age.

Enjoy!