Near end of the A Levels!! FINALLY.
Hopefully I'll get good, amazing results and will get into the course that I want, and into a local university, good courses.
Only left with Physics Paper 2 now.. :)

And now, for the review of the much-awaited RICHARD III!
It was simply... well, awesome. At least, the acting was. Or as much as we could see. (cos we were sitting pretty high up, so facial expressions were slightly difficult to observe.) But their voices gave away their talent. Kevin Spacey was the BEST, no fight. His performance was absolutely stunning, and you can totally feel the immense effort, the strength he puts into his words and feelings. Even without a clear shot at his expressions, just by listening to his voice, the way he inflexes and puts on various tones for the different occasions, it is clear that he is really very, very experienced, not to mention remarkable. He really brings Richard to life, and he performs his role of being a performer, an actor, a merciless schemer, to great effect. But the guy that played Buckingham was the most surprising. Surprising because in the movies and the playscript we studied, it was kind of assumed that everyone was white there. You know, same plantaganet family and all that. Not being racist. But it was definitely a brilliant decision to cast that guy as Buckingham. He brought to life a very different onstage director to the one we percieved in the books and through the movie (the movie one had kind of a bit of a slow trudging feeling about his persona) This Buckingham was actually very comical, very clever with his actions and words (though of course the words belonged to Shakespeare for the 98% part.) And he actually portrayed a certain "Richard" feeling about him, with all that acting on stage. You know, when Richard and Buckingham put on shows for the rest, or when they try to manipulate. It was so much so that there was actually anger on Buckingham's behalf to be felt when he was eventually betrayed by Richard himself. AHA, found it. He goes by the name of Chuk Iwuji. Pretty darn awesome.
Another rather notable pair of actors are the pair who played the murderers. Particularly the younger one, the hooded teenager-looking murderer. Also were the two young princes at the dream scene, where they- get this- synchronized their voices to a T. Be it a coincidence or not, when they spoke against Richard together, their voices actually melded and reinforced each other, and were so perfectly synchronized it was as if it had been done by technology. It was so alien, so.. utterly scary. Interestingly enough, the cast was made up of 2 girls, not boys (princes?) but this actually worked out pretty well, although their voices seemed a little high. I suppose the director wanted to play up the innocence factor to its maximum, and a high voice suited that need just fine.
Yet another truly remarkable thing is the staging, both the design and the lighting. The director seemed to have gone for a very simplistic effect in creating the stage: there was the usage of doors, many of them,  drawn atop with crosses that appeared to symbolize the death of a person, and a beautiful whitewashed, wooden pannelled floor, for the most part. There was also the frequent additions of little bits of furniture, such as a table, or a chair. The use of tables for the final battle seems a little strange, if anything. The use of the table for the dream scene, on the other hand, had obviously been well thought out. Also, the actors were perfect in their actions. How on earth did Clarence drown? (How did he breathe in the water to show that he was drowning?) How on earth did Richard know that that metal bowl would land right beside his walking stick when he overturned the table, so that he could golf-smack it afterwards to create a dramatic effect? The set designer and director were obviously very clever in bringing out the dramatic parts of the play and playing with what they have to the fullest extent. With just a plain floor, doors and tables, they have managed to completely portray Richard III to a more than satisfactory level. The final dream scene was very very very well done as well, although it did seem a little strange for the two leaders to be slumbering in their chairs. Holding the scene of the dream by seating the ghosts with the two leaders, as in in a council or meeting, was very smart, yet very simple. It's brilliant all the more because of it, this simplicity. And the part where Richard was hooked up and displayed for all to see, UPSIDE DOWN, was simply jaw-dropping. My mouth literally went 'O' Seriously. It had quite the effect, quite the haunting dramatics. All the deaths were mostly simple, non-violent (they had lights above them that was switched off/dimmed when they died, it's kind of like a symbol?) and rather effective, for it looked like their life were snuffed out, like the lights above them. The funny thing was they got an "executioneer" to close the victims' eyes and "kill" them whenever a death occured. OH. Another notable thing is that they portrayed Queen Margaret as a true blue prophetess, when it is only suggested. She was witchlike, haunts the scene of the various deaths which she had cursed, and was altogether portrayed as more ghostly then human. This was unsettling and did not really seem right as Queen Margaret was, after all, a queen, and a queen, no matter how supernaturally/divinely powerful, carries herself like a witch, or a gypsy of a sort. The doors with the "X"s should have been made one door for one death, instead of reusing the doors over and over. Richmond also rather turned out to be less impressive than I thought he would be. Sure, he was fit and certainly strong and kind, but he did not really possess the spirit, the charm of the king, that Richard had. Oh, but I absolutely, positively LOVED the scene where Buckingham and Richard acted out a scene to win favor in becoming king. It was hilarious, Kevin Spacey really knew his stuff, his expressions ever changing, and Buckingham was seriously hella funny here as well. Easily one of the best scenes in the play.

So yeapp, although I didn't get the program, I read it and looked at it, so no loss, and the play was definitely worth it, although it IS kind of difficult to digest a near 4hour historical Shakespearian play. I'm a bit more inclined towards the contemparory style of plays, I think. But, it was brilliant anyway! :) Liked it very well, especially the acting and staging.
Twelfth Night at Shakespeare at the Park, anyone? :)

Alright, it's twothirty in the morning and I'm super sleepy. Goodnight! Or rather.. well, sleep well.

Jiayou!!
Pinghao (:

Okay, wished :)
Bless everyone! Be happy, STAY happy!

11:11 PM on 11/11/11!

A Time for Wishes :)

Heys.
It's been a pretty long time since I've last posted here.. Well, seems like a long time, anyway.
Just suddenly felt like posting. It probably looks as though I've not posted for over 6 months to any reader out there (if there even are) haha. Cos of all the private posts. I just realised, since I'm not currently using my laptop to post, lols. The last public post was like, in Februrary! GOODNESS.

Ahem. Well erm, anyway..
Just suddenly inspired to post after reading an entry from someone else. It's touching the way the person who was writing it was.. touched. Pardon the funny writing. But yeah. So that's one thing I learnt recently- appreciate.
Another is to not simply look at the surface and dismiss possibilities. There are so many people in this world who are real gems underneath all those.. unglamour(?) Sometimes, we just have to dig a little deeper to discover them. There're so many cool people, so much awesomeness in this world, it's hard not to be amazed. But sometimes, we fail to recognise the fact the people are almost always more than they seem. SERIOUSLY. She's cool :)
&Well, I just HAVE to say this, but Tumblr is amazing. <3
And LiveJournal too, of course. Hahaha.

Okay my writing today (or rather, typing) seems to be a little strange today. My choice of words and shizz. Hmm. Maybe I'm abit out of practice :\
Oh well. In any case, a quick update:
Prelims are officially over, we'll see how we did starting tomorrow.. Hope I can at least pass everything.
A Levels are in 43 days, discounting today. That's really, really, REALLY SHORT. It's high time for me to start getting seriously serious.
Sigh. I hope I can do it.
Shout out to all A and O Levellers out there: Stay strong, fight on. I know almost nobody will read this, but the intention stays. I wish us all the best!

Maybe I should resume posting public posts.. :|
Or not? Hahaha.
Well, school resumes tomorrow for.. 2 weeks or so. So well, gotta go sleep for tomorrow! (or rather, today.)
Goodnight everyone, sweet dreams.

I feel dumb.
Sorry, mum, for being so stubborn. And not streetsmart.
I guess you think you have a dumb daughter now.
Sorry. I'll do better.

I just can't stand it that my cousin would be dishonest just because its money.
Like, for goodness sake. She's my cousin. And someone who has slept with me for the past 3 nights. On seperate mattresses. She laughed with me for 4 days, and we watched movies, played PVZ, and did so many things. And I never guarded against her at all.

Stupid streetsmartness.
But actually, the money doesn't matter. It's the thoughts and the well wishes that were given to me that matters, and it's those that will stay with me.
She owes me.


Sigh. I suddenly feel so tired now.
The last post was about New Year, now it's about Chinese New Year.
I hate betrayal. Fullstop.
But otherwise, CNY was pretty good.

But what a bummer end.
I think I'll remember this for life. Sigh.
And she was my favourite cousin.
Now I understand why sometimes, ignorance is bliss.


bye.

-ph

It's near the 2nd hour of Year 2011, and I'm going to go sleep soon (:
Happy 2011, everyone. I'll post again about this being the new year soon (:

Sweet dreams(:

Okay I'm actually supposed to be mugging and doing homework right now, but it's been a long time (at least, it feels like it) since I've posted something and after reading Melly's post I feel inspired to post too.

Haha, I like the word "inspiration". (random)

Alright, first of all I really want to thank you guys for celebrating my birthday, wishing me Happy Birthday, and all the other wonderful things you guys did. So, here it is:

THANK YOU!!!!! <3

Thank you, 4A'09, for blindfolding FW and I and giving us the birthday surprise! Thank you for the cake, the candles in initials, the mug, and for being there(: Thank you, Debbie and Jiaying, for the awesome book and markers and for calling me a carrot cake. HAHAHA. Thank you, 10S403, for singing me a birthday song and for the card! Thank you, Xinfang and PZ, for the notebook and pencil which, in the process of getting, we all acted in :P! Thank you, Amirah and Sharyl, for the beautiful white carebear(: And THANK YOU, EVERYONE, for the well wishes <3 I less than three all of you! Hahaha get it? <3!


---------

Hahaha I put dashes there cos the rest of this post seems a little off-topic compared to the one above.  (:
Okay, so an update on life..

I HAVE FOUND MY PASSION. I mean, I've found what I'm going to study, what I will do, who I will be.
So yeapp, pretty happy about it now :)
I HAVE FINISHED EOM. :D
I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO CATCH UP ON MY WORK.
I HAVE NOT BEEN READING MANGA/WATCHING ANIME FOR THE PAST 2 WEEKS. D:
erm..
I HAVE DECIDED ON SOME STUFF I INTEND TO DO AFTER PROMOS.
(of which I shall elaborate in another post haha, cos its near 12am and I have not finished my work.)
I HAVE BEEN HAVING WEIRD SLEEP CYCLES.
I HAVE BEEN NOT EATING SOME DAYS, EATING MANYMANY ON OTHERS.
I HAVE BEEN JOGGING WITH MY MUM ON WEEKENDS :)
I HAVE BEEN.. erm.. okay I'll write some more when I think of them.
I RESOLVE TO DO MY VERY BEST FOR THE UPCOMING PROMOS EXAMINATIONS. BECAUSE I WILL GET PROMOTED THIS YEAR. I HAVE TO.
HAHA okay, ciao!


Skyra AP