The First One Not-Late

Finally, I got it done on time for the first time ever! I have to admit however, that this is not quite done yet. Nevertheless, I don't foresee myself being able to work on it in the next few days so. Better submit it while I still can.

Tired seems to be the recurring theme carrying on from last week. But on another note, I've finally moved to Punggol! Will be interesting, but will definitely miss how easy it was to just go find ppl to east supper with. And Joo Chiat. And Katong. And Dunman. Cr*&^#$!!

An Extremely Shameless Plug

Dear David,

I recently found out about your graphic design blog from - guess what - another graphic design blog. I have to say I'm very impressed (and at the same time envious) at the ease with which you managed to generate traffic, design logos and brochures and the likes, debate about design and blog, design sleek websites, all at the same time. That's a lot of hat. Like, really a lot.

Anyway, this post right here is to talk about your recent contest, which I would really really like to win. I can really use professional help in almost everything, cause my knowledge as it is are limited to designing for print (maybe a wee bit of web design here and there, but not much).

Well, since I really really want to win your prizes (any one of it would be great), here's where I list your sponsors, hopefully in creative enough ways. Let's talk about the many things I can benefit, as a person, through winning your prizes.

First off, I get custom logo from you! That would be a great honor, tho if you don't mind I would really like to get involved in the design process also, me being a designer and all that. Still it would be interesting to do a collaborative work on a corporate identity design, don't you think? Usually collaborations are only done on artsy stuff like Illustration and Posters.

I also get a WordPress theme design. Which I will definitely need, seeing as to how I'm still using blogger's template. You know I actually tried my hand at doing a custom blog design template. I really did. I even hosted it up at my site and had it up and running. However, I was having trouble managing my blog easily through blogspot, and with archiving, user comments and the likes. In short, I sucked. I didn't follow through. I hate giving reasons, but I do have one. I don't have nobody to turn to for help. Google was being a bitch. Yahoo! was, well being himself - not much help.

A personal marketing/advertising plan~? Oh what~? Gee, I'm not sure about that. That sounds too good to be true. I mean, who in the world advertises their own personal site? Okay, all right. I guess you do. And a lot of other experts and the rest of the professionals in the world wide web. But you see, I'm still very much in the learning stages. Still, I'd take it with open arms *wink*

One year's worth of hosting and blog setup! Right on! I get to free myself from the shackles of blogspot! Yee ha! John, if I do win, I really have to apologize because the time you will have to kindly donate to help me set my new custom blog would probably be quite substantial, to say the least. But hmm, my portfolio site is already on Media Temple. Maybe we can join it up and the likes. *shrug*

Signed copy of Blogging Tips also sounds amazing. I'll probably read it in like, a week. I'm very proud to say that I finished Harry's latest adventures in about two days. I bought it on Sunday, took MC on Monday and finished it right away. Of course, I went right back in and enjoyed all the little things for the next two weeks or so too, but you get my drift. And once I'm done I can sell it! It's signed so that's at least an extra $1000! Much needed capital to pump into my excellent marketing/advertising plan!

Oh dear.

I thought I'm done with the prizes, but it turns out thats just the very first category!

Uhm, I'll just zip through the rest cause its really getting quite late now. But it's amazing how some of the 2nd and 3rd prize are actually things I really can do with also. SEO consultation for example, is something I would really like to know more about. Did you know that in this 'supposedly advanced' tiny island of Singapore, there are still many government and huge commercial sites that are not done properly? No SEO consultation and proper website design/layout. An example would be my mobile phone service provider. After I signed up with them I tried browsing around for new mobile phones on their site and I ended up crying instead. I lost my way and refuses to come near that site ever again.

An email interview also sounds nice. That should bring traffic, no? But then again my site's not really ready for a lot of traffic anyway, seeing as to how raw it is. Well, we all has got to start somewhere *shrug*

Free money! Who doesn't want free money? Gayla is hot and she knows it.

Blog review, WordPress themes, Expert WordPress blog help and the likes! Oh wow, even the bonus prizes sounds like a worthy contender for 1st prize. Coaching consultations sounds interesting. I've always wanted to go to these 'coaching seminars' and what not but at the rate I'm getting paid, I can't afford to go just yet. And business growth consultations! That sounds great, although I'm really not sure yet if I want to go full freelance by myself or with a team. Still, I will not refuse knowledge. Thats a cardinal sin to me.

Tammy's tele-coaching also sounds like some much needed help from above. I've always had the worst time ever negotiating over a contract and or pay. Challenging clients I deal with all the time, but a tip or two won't hurt.

Whee~! Art books! Design books! Branding books! I get to stuff my shelves silly! I approve with the largest possible grin.

Oooh, banner ad on a well-trafficked blog forum. But I'm a bit shy about advertising my blog. Maybe with all the help you folks are giving me with blog design, blog review, writing consultations and tele-coachings, I can have a properly managed blog that I can be proud of, yeah?

And even more online ads and banner advertisings! Okay! If I only win these advertising prizes, I sure hope I can keep it for future usage! I reckon it'll take me a few weeks or even months to really do up my site proper without professional help.

Amongst all the designers I'm probably one of the most thick-skinned one. I can't care much tho. I just hope I win something *evil laugh*

Thank you for reading this David. I love you!

The Dissapointing Showdown

Watching Rogue Assassin made me want to go to Film School and actually learn a thing or two about basic, proper and entertaining film direction. Unfortunately, it (the movie, Rogue Assassin) did so in a very unflattering way. It showed me all the things you should not do if you want to keep your viewers' interest to the film. Ah yes, time for the review—lots of space to grumble later on.

The premise of Rogue Assassin is to have Jason Statham squares of with Jet Li in an action-packed fight scenes too cool to be true. Sounds like a great combination–Li's beautiful martial arts brilliance and Statham's street-cool charisma. Unfortunately, someone forgot to properly inform the scriptwriter about this, and off they go writing a lame thriller-spoof that failed on all accounts of believability, thrill, deception and most importantly – cool factor.

Not to mention the horrendous dialogue. Like how in the middle of the movie, Statham's character suddenly felt a touch of family love and opened up to his wife about how scared he is. Or the dialogue he had with Jet as they faced off close-up for the first time. Ah yes, the review!

Statham plays Jack Crawford, an FBI agent whose partner and family was apparently brutally killed by a famed assassin Rogue (Jet Li). Three years later, clues to Rogue's presence resurfaced and Statham's world unraveled into a vortex of killings, killings and more killings. Mayhem erupted between the Yakuza and the Triads, with the mysterious Rogue seemingly at the epicenter of it all. It soon becomes clear that Rogue is playing both sides against each other, and it's up to Statham to find out why and stop him. Towards the end of it, the plot becomes a lot more complicated that it should and it simply did not deliver on all the promises it had.

Allow me to elaborate further as to why this simple movie disappointed me so much. Jason Statham has actually grown to be one of the largest action brand in the past few years. Combining his bare-knuckled, ultra-violent smack-downs with a unique bleed of style and street roughness, Statham has delivered in movies like The Transporter Doubles and the utterly out-of-control and ultimately extremely-entertaining Crank. Rogue Assassin unfortunately was way off the target. In this not-so action-packed movie, Statham barely flexes his muscle in a single sequence in a Japanese teahouse.

Jet Li fared no better. His martial arts brilliance, which he so often demonstrated in the likes of Heroes and Fearless, were wasted here. His only memorable sequence was sword-fighting several Yakuza assassins but even that ended far too soon. In the end, the long-awaited showdown between Li and Statham also failed to deliver, ending in a short 30 second forgettable half hearted duel.

The movie lacks visual punch and I was left wondering about the action scenes. Was it well done? Beautifully coreo-graphed? I can't claim to know cause the director decided to zoom in on them far too often, and I can barely tell who's kicking whose butts. The pace falters, instead of getting down to the action it spends a lot more time untwisting the knot it got itself into. It tried too hard to be cool, and slipped down towards cheesy instead.

What else is there to say? I was utterly disappointed. This showdown held so much promise, yet delivered so little. Jason, come Crank me up man! And Li, show me how Fearless you are! Next time yeah?

Monday Blues - The One That Was Very Late

The One With The Interview

This week I had the pleasure to chat with the very first designer ever hired at St James Power Station, Josaiah Chong. Affectionally known as Josh, this 24 year old is a story of happy accidents, luck and fate. But of course without exceptional talent and determination to one's craft luck can only bring you so far. Josh's story is a testament to what one can achieve with abundance of hard work combined with a little wink from Lady Luck.

Once upon a time in a galaxy far far away, Josh studied Engineering and Industrial Design. His passion however, clearly lies elsewhere and even during his school years he focused his efforts on his personal paintings, holding solo exhibitions here and there. In his own words, he did "a lot of fooling around *wink*, and it just made sense to work in a club when [he is] already working the club like a whore". How he got the gig however, was a sort of happy accident.

He was supposed to head to Zouk, but the management took too long to reply and with his own lease in Johor Baru running out he had to make a do-or-die decision. He took up the gig at St James even while they were still in the planning stages. As such, he's become the go-to-guy whenever St James needed anything visual and or graphical. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, as the aforementioned gig allowed him to build up his portfolio, reputation and also forced him to learn video editing, a huge skill advantage in his current freelance practice.

Ever the informative and humble man, he deflected questions about him to talk more about St James and the designer they expect to see, in essence preparing me for the tough journey ahead. I took down personal notes as Josh deftly maneuvered his way to explaining the various characteristics of St James and its 9 outlets–I definitely owe him a meal or a drink, maybe both.

"A day in St James? Uh well, I'd go in at 10.30. Do a little artwork. Many times do fucking text changes, like fucking so many you can never keep count (*nervous laugh from me here*). Like 30 revisions of 1 stupid sentence. Figure out how their 10000000000000 stupid ideas will gel in without destroying the whole look of the poster. Bitch with co-workers, change posters, more last minute changes. Rinse and repeat"

"You'll be working with Keith if you do get in," he said emphatically. "He's a nice guy, very experienced with typo and layout. But not so much an Illustration kind of guy, so if you can do that it'll be a big plus." He also went on to explain how things works in St James, giving me the insider tips on how artworks get done and bitching around about managers and the likes, "you'll be in Marketing, the Marketing girls are great (*cue in huge smile here from me*). It's very informal, a very united department excluding the managers. You'll make real friends there."

That, along with notes of comments and encouragements from his quick browse through my portfolio, definitely sets my pulse racing. Nothing beats a nod of acknowledgment from a fellow designer/artist. "You're like me, you lean more to the art side. But do try to show a range, the last thing they want is for someone to be so caught up in his own style. It's difficult to work so many venues that way," he added.

In between talking some more about the shit-load of work, the laid-down atmosphere and the complaining about how he's got "the worst deal" (10.30am to 7.30pm officially, but you know how it goes), Josh also put the job into perspective for me, "it's a tough job, fucking tough. But if you get it it'll be real good for you. It will be superb for your portfolio. Plus it'll be great for your CV, because you'll be working with a very capable guy there(Keith). It's done wonders for my business now."

Josh was noticeably reluctant to talk about his current projects, like a rock-star that's just made it but still humbly rooted to the ground and not believing all the hype around him. His freelance practice now focuses on Fashion Editorials and Animation. A current project that's keeping him busy nowadays is the Toronto International Film Festival, and that alone proves my point about his humbleness. It's a huge project to be sure, but Josh was so casual and nonchalant about it, not making a big fuss at all.

I said my thanks for his time and chatted around some more with my new found friend. More advises and comments get sent both ways, before he had to leave for a meeting and finished off with this caution–"it'll be good if you can do club flyer, to show them you mean business. But if you do get the job, be prepared to lose all other semblance of your life! *wink*"

The Week After

Monday Blues

Ah yes, its the first Monday Blues after the inaugural opening, and already I'm late and unable to deliver. Nevertheless, I did something else that bears mentioning. I interviewed Josaiah Chong, freelance designer based in Singapore and previously employed at St James Power Station. Oh yeah, Josh was very cooperative when I asked for information regarding employment there. Bearing in mind the sensitive issues in discussion *ahem*, the interview will have to be heavily edited, and I expect it will only be ready on Wednesday or Thursday.

Reasons don't mean shit, but I do have one for this lateness. During the course of my 20 minute power nap last night the Lord of Dreams cometh upon me with his stealthy assassins. What chance do I have against such adversity? Nay, I fought honorably but was slain throughout. Only in the morning after a full 10 hour sleep, did I wake up.

In all I missed a lot of freelance work deadlines, but for some reason or another I did not wake up to find a throng of messages/emails asking for the promised work. Calm seas bellies angry monsters inside? The time of judgement shall cometh, it will be a long night tonight.

Regret? Change for the Better?

The past week has seen me assume a wide range of role in life. To those whom I have not had the chance to share this, my brother failed his exams–spectacularly too I may add, 3 out of 4 modules. There are no reason to hide behind this, and even he himself has openly shared this information with his friends. Immediately after that, my parents and sister asked me to go and make sure he is doing fine, and to take a good observation at how he is living his life.

As a brother, I can see he is very much full of regret about what happened. But at the same time I am concerned about how much this regret can spur him on his quest for his education-will this be enough? As an observer, one would probably point out at his slightly extravagant living and his need to suppress this. His average spending is at $200 a week, and very recently he's bought himself a pair of shoe for $300! If you're earning your own money, that's probably nothing. But for students, thats just a luxury you can live without, in other words–extravagant.

I was thrust into the role of an advisor, as my parents (separately) confided in me about their concerns and opinions. Unsurprisingly, both my parents do not see eye to eye on this matter, and they asked for my opinion. While I definitely do not want to see my brother spend another extra year in Jakarta, I cannot deny that this may just be the price he has to pay. And I fully believe if he were to do that (spend a year in Jakarta), it will not be in vain–he will have to work for his education, and work hard at it. That's a steep price to pay, but I do believe that it will be for the better. Naturally, I pray for another solution altogether, of that in which he can come back to Singapore and be changed for the better. Ameliorated. Look it up people, thats a new word I learned last week.

Closing

I do have to admit a slight twinge of jealousy. $300 on a pair of shoes~!? Last night, I actually tried spending that much as I scour Suntec with a colleague of mine. Surprisingly, it was not as easy as it sounded. I had to make sure whatever I spend is well worth it, but in the end I spent nothing. Zilch. It was not for lack of trying either. I was about to purchase this pair of Adidas "Porsche Design", $150. The one I tried was a size 11, but even that looked good. I was disappointed to find that the only available size left. There was a nice vest at Gap, but it was too expensive–$75. And a shirt at RalphLauren–$130. I was unable to justify spending my hard-earned money on them. The closest I got to making a purchase was at the other Adidas shop, in Suntec instead of CityLink. They have a new Liverpool sneaker! Street style instead of for grass! Argh~ I'll have to go back and get it.

For some reason I find similar meanings in the past Sunday's preaching as per the one I attended 2 weeks ago. Maybe it's an omen from above, telling me to really keep this in mind? And maybe last night, as I feel asleep with little to no worry, it was actually a blessing in disguise? Well, all I can do is plan my day and follow through as best I could. The powers that be will lay my path. It's great to feel this surge of energy as I wake up today–I felt wide awake, and very very full of excitement.

And let it be known also that Sunday was the day Eunos Bak Kut Teh received The Ungodly Curse! We shall thread that water no more, for we have found greener pastures. All Hail the Joo Chiat Bak Kut Teh!

Monday Blues - The First One

Well, it's double-post day it seems. After the 1 hour quick rest turned into a 3 hour power nap, I was able to play some more with this work in progress. I was then reminded of Ringo's scheduled output of work and how it adds a certain something to his blogposts. I decided to do the same, although definitely not as often as he did.

So here's "The First One" of "Monday Blues", a weekly output targeted at coming out each Monday. Enjoy!

Bug-Bitten

Rain has been making sudden appearances recently, heralding a sort of 'winter' feel in Singapore. In another town on another continent, the first snow would have just fallen, delighting its denizens with the atmosphere of festivities and celebrations that are sure to come. In Singapore tho it's all cloud and gloom, the dark skies have enveloped this little red dot unsparingly and turned me moody at times.

Rain Bug

My thoughts wander each and every passing day the rain cometh. Is it raining too over there? Did they had a chance to try out snorkeling, scuba diving, and the likes? Met anyone new?

Questions left unanswered, because its presence was painfully non-existent today. Even after lunch. It's weird, but at the same time, nice. A sort of warm tingling feeling that you just can't help but smile. And when others start thinking you're crazy, sick in the head or just plain creepy, then you know it's time to finally go through with the plan

Reds Bug

Even the rain however, was not able to quench our fiery Red. Six goals! While I agree that the opposition we faced were not a particularly established team, it's simply unfair to put the blame towards the team. As far as I'm concerned, we gelled wonderfully.

Pennant threatened throughout the match and looked very lively and threatening. Kuyt's techniques and touches remains below par, but as usual he more than made it up with his dexterity. Babel looked nervous with his first few touches, but then kept his cool to score a great goal with clinical finishings–that ought to get his confidence up. Torres was a constant thorn throughout, but I'm sure his coaches and team mates would give him ample warning that most Premiership teams would not be giving him so much time and space on the ball. All in all, a great team performance.

It means nothing to lead the table so early in the season, but it's worth noting that we have had a lot more successes in our away form this time around. It'll be interesting to see how the season goes along, with the title really looking to open up this time with Manchester United not performing their best and Chelsea slipping at Aston.

Art Bug

This one in particular, has bitten me hard, real hard. I've been scouring the web often these past few work days and am finding myself often breathlessly in awe of the beautiful works done by many. In turn, they inspired me to keep working on my own personal works, and not take any compromise in doing something I do not feel will work and what not. They certainly hit hard on my sleeping time, but I'm smiling nonetheless.

I'm particularly inspired also, to see so many local artists at the MAAD Show. Humbled I was by the awe-inspiring works many of our very own has churned. Inspired I was by the many great individuals who were extremely friendly and encouraging. Go self-discipline and motivation!

Jealousy Bug

One last thing I've found myself entangled and deeply busy with was FutureScape. And along with it, I've found myself deeply jealous with an ex-colleague of mine. He and his team set up this site, helping people arrange their travels. It is finally up with proper content, and although I'm still not sold on the idea as a whole, I still feel a twinge of jealousy at the finished product that he has glossed over.

It's really quite well done, and as I talked to him today and browse through the site, I truly wished we are as far along with our own project. No complaints however, they started earlier, and I do feel ours looked better. Work work work work! It makes me want to really really do that much better with our own project.

p/s: Something's not right. Hmmm. Gone missing on Monday?