Warning: LOOOOOOOONG ENTRY
Efron Ecstasy
9th September 2007
I suffered from Efron Ecstasy for the past two weekends.
First, it was High School Musical 2.
Then, it was Hairspray.
With all the BIG hair, BIG names and BIG hype, I’ve expected a BIG BANG.
However, Hairspray didn’t quite meet my expectation. I really wonder about its 100% perfect rating on Rotten Tomatoes and the 4.5 star ratings on 8 Days.
In case you don’t know, Hairspray is set in 1962 Baltimore. The film follows a pleasantly-plump and cute teen named Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky). With her big hair, big heart, big ego and big size, she simultaneously pursues stardom as a dancer on a local TV show and rallies against racial segregation.
While it is true that there are many fat people who are nimble on their feet and are very good dancers, Blonsky isn’t one of them. She was merely shaking and shaking her booty and boobies in the show. It was entertaining to see her dance not because she was that good but because she was that hilarious. (Don’t say I mean hor. Even though she can’t dance, I still think she’s cute lor.)
The plump girl in High School Musical 1 who defied status quo could dance even better. That was good stuff man! But Blonsky? Nope… It was pure comedy.
The movie dealt with social, racial, political and fat issue in a somewhat unrealistic manner. I hated all the twists too. So fake.
Everything was super unrealistic.
The way Link (Efron) fell in love with Tracy (Blonsky) was so DUH… Like hello? There weren’t any circumstances which could have drawn him towards her. The both of them had no chemistry at all! The way their love blossom is just so CARTOON. Kh and I literally gagged all the way when they kissed at the end… with tongues some more. EEWW!!!!
The actors and actresses acted pretty well. However, hyperbolic characters are easy roles to get into, aren’t they? Just exaggerate all you can. That said, I have to bear in mind that it is a musical and we know that people watch musicals for the singing and dance sequence, not the plot.
Ok the movie is not all that bad. Musicals are never that bad coz there is always the song and dance sequence to look forward to. Alas, most of the songs are forgettable except for the last song -- the one that keeps playing over the radio. The dance moves fared better. They were slick like tefal frying pan.
Almost everybody in the cast is famous and it was fun to see all the big names relegated to playing minor roles. John Travolta as Tracy’s plus size mother is so endearing and cute but everyone knows his reasons for donning the fat suit *winks*. Michelle Pfeiffer never looks a day older than Grease 2. With both of them on screen, I tend to compare Hairspray with Grease and I think Grease was a lot more fun!
It was an entertaining movie but not worth the high ratings in my opinion. My 2nd sister who is very supportive of all musicals (or musicals with Efron inside, I suspect) wasn’t too pleased with my views on Hairspray. She thought I should jolly well be a disgruntled critic.
Well, the movie wasn’t as good as I’ve expected but Efron really performed beyond my expectations. The person who stole the show would be non other than Zac Efron with his electrifying blue eyes and perfectly shaped brows, oh with just that little spring of hair falling impeccably over his forehead.
I’ve always thought I like Zac’s hairstyle in High School Musical with his fringe falling all over his puppy dog eyes. When I first saw him in the poster of Hairspray, I thought that Elvis-look-alike hairstyle was awful on him. Plus, nobody can ever emulate Elvis classic looks. However, when I saw him with all his sleek moves and the Oh-I-am-so-handsome-look-at-my-blue-eyes-baby mannerism, I changed my mind. He was so unlike his usual boy-next-door and just-a-regular-guy nature that I almost thought I was looking at chiseled face Elvis. Zac really has got some smooth grooves and I totally dig guys who can dance. Oh don’t I sound like a shallow prepubescent or a cradle snatcher?
Now, back to High School Musical 2… It is another musical with lousy plot. High School Musical 1 was cheesy but my whole family enjoyed it anyway. High School Musical 2 was yawningly boring that I almost fell asleep. Oh and Zac and Vanessa’s hairstyles weren’t as gorgeous as in part one. There was really nothing to look out for. All the hype about HSM2 sizzled within the first ten minutes of the show.
Since the title of this post is Efron Ecstasy, I will stop lambasting Hairspray and High School Musical 2 and concentrate on gushing over Zac instead.
Zac is like the cutest young thing after my Robert Pattinson (the handsome but ephemeral Cedric in Harry Potter GOF)
Now Zac isn’t too photogenic but he is really quite telegenic. He looks good in almost every scene in HSM 1 & 2, especially when he dances.
Hmm… Come to think of it, maybe I don’t like Zac Efron, I just like the singer-dancer-basketballer Troy Bolten. Love his wardrobe too. Guys who dress well really impress.
His floppy fringe, puppy dog eyes and cheeky grin make the fairer sex go gaga over him.
Ok forget about dressing well in this photo. He reminds me of Bananas in pyjamas here.
I think he's really cute here...
Now if only kh looks half as good, sings, dances and dresses half as well as Zac...
But don't worry, I love you all the more for your imperfections. ;P
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Meet up with the bimbos
15th September 2007
The bimbos unite at Miss Clarity Café.
It was my first time there for the suaku me. The décor is mainly pink with bold colours that remind me of "Happy House" and "Bang on the Door". The prices are so reasonable that a black angus prime costs less than $20!
xtina and I shared the Old MacDonald Had A Farm.
Definitely for the meat lovers! This dish boast a medley of steak, lamb chop, crispy chicken, chipolata, bacon, ham & potato wedges served with clarity's special black pepper sauce topped with sunny side up.
Geral and her squid ink pasta. Looks unappetizing but the taste isn’t too bad.
We then adjoined to Blu Jaz. Suaku me again first time there. I must really start to have more social life! The sofas and cushions were so comfortable that everybody felt so sleepy. That place was really conducive for sleeping. The night was a little slow and languid. Well, it was no wonder. That was one of the rare times we met up not to cheong. How horrible! Even while cam whoring, our actions were so slow and retarded.
SlowMo BimBo
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Mini Mid Autumn Celebration
22nd September 2007
Had a mini bbq, mooncake eating, tea drinking, spirits sampling session at one of kh's lame lame friend's house. It's been a while since we hung out with lame lame people and listen to lame lame jokes and speak lame lame stuff. They are just such a funny bunch of people la... It's a great way to unwind after racking the brains everyday at work.
The only photos taken that night was of the family's dog. She is soooooo guai1!!! Big dogs are really so obedient.
Kelly's feeling sleepy...
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The Oldest Kids to Play with Lanterns at Yishun Park
25th September 2007
Yup.. That would be us. The other kids there are like those 不良少年 who keeps throwing sparklers into the sky and onto the road. They even set a campfire in the middle of the playground! It was as huge as a real campfire! Kids nowadays ah... tsk tsk tsk.
A collage of that night
[Click to enlarge]
One thing about Picasa is that it keeps cutting the edges off... Well, but it's a lot more convenient than Photoshop.
Preparing to light the lanterns
Everyone wanna blow bubbles o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
tiff blowing o0o0o
xtina blowing o0o0o
I dunno how I did it. This was supposed to be a candid shot but it captured the bubbles so beautifully.
gera also wanna blow o0o0o
me blow so many o0o0o still cannot capture the bubbles well.
Took more than 10 shots still cannot capture nicely.
Zanne also trying so hard to blow o0o0o which can't be captured on camera
POOR US... hahaha...
We were supposed to celebrate a belated birthday for jq with candles and mooncakes.
Well, nobody brought the mooncakes!
Nevermind, just blow all the candles in one breath will do.
A huff...
and a puff...
and no more breath.
Everyone with the birthday boy...
Bubbles blown by tiff lends a hand to the dreamy effect.
Group shots...
These photos are quite metaphorical... jq is always "at the back supporting us". Since pri sch, he was always this nice little boy who mo mo de lend "support". I think you all would know what I mean. ;)
Before I met up with my friends, kh fetched me from work so that I could go home to change into more comfortable clothing and meet them on time. I had wanted to wear my quirky (ugly drawing) Beatles Tee which was hanging behind my door so when he picked me, I was smirking to myself. You know why?
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Coz he was wearing a yellow Tee in the exact same shade as my quirky Tee. Talk about telepathy.
Are you thinking what I am thinking B1?
I think I am thinking what you are thinking B2!
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The Latest Craze -- Water Babies
These jelly balls, better known as water babies by my students, are the latest craze to hit all primary schools in Singapore.
The only "Water Babies" I know would be the political fairy tale by Charles Kingsley.
My cute cute tutee C was the one who introduced "water babies" to me. He even poured some into a plastic bag for me to "grow". Over at work, all my students from P1 to P4 were all talking about their water babies. Some even called these balls "我的babies".
我的babies
I feel like buying other colours to add to my collection. My sisters too... They were quite fascinated by them. Hehe... After I've grown enough, I'll start pouring them into all the money plants in my house.
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See it as DIGUSTING or See it as SCIENCE
In pri 3 Science, we learn about the life cycles of animals and insects. Insects such as mosquito, butterfly, moth, beetle, housefly etc go through 4 stages of life cycle:
Egg --> wriggler --> pupa --> adult
I used to wonder how come the worm-like wriggler stage could undergo so much transformation. I even had the misconception that the "worms" have many legs and after they emerge from their cocoons, their legs decreased to 6.
My sis has started "cultivating" mealworms. Mealworms are the wriggler stage of beetles. These mealworms are actually the food for her arowana who had "passed away" a few weeks ago.
If you picked up a mealworm, you'll notice that even though its body is long, it only has 6 tiny legs located towards the front of its body. The day I found out about the 6 legs, I was ecstatic and went to inform all my Science students about it.
My sis has these mealworms in various stages of growth.
If you hate insects or are eating while reading this, maybe you should stop scrolling.
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[Click to enlarge if you dare]
Wriggling wrigglers
Check out the 6 legs
Wriggler stage moulting and transforming to pupa stage.
Almost a pupa.
The pupa stage. It isn't moving at all and reminds me of curled up alien.
The adult beetles. The one at the corner keeps laying eggs. Check out its ass.. erm.. hole.
Did you manage to read till the end? Were you grossed out?
Initially, I was totally grossed out by them but now I'm enthralled by it all -- of the growth, of the transformation, of nature. I even put my face so close to these "disgusting" creatures to observe them more closely.
Ok la... some cute cat photos to end off this entry.
My neighbours' Siamese cat which bleats like a lamb. It goes "meh meh" instead of "meow meow".
The National Anthem was played over radio an hour ago, the sun has risen and I've got to accompany my mum to the polyclinic in a while.
I'm wide awake but I'll snitch a short nap first.
NiteZZZzzzzz.....
it was good to meet up once in a while. maybe we can do it more often.
ReplyDeletedamn the jelly babies. it hit the sec 1 and 2 on my side too. i killed every single one of them single handedly. playing around with it in my class..swirling n twirling the water..i cant stand it. quite disgusting le...
ur entry on the mealworms are not as disgusting as the jelly babies.
so hows the negotiation? u can pay me n i coach u mandarin negotiation..wee wee...
hows the halloween thingy.. coming along?
Greetings! What school are you teaching in?
ReplyDeleteDearest Jolene,
ReplyDeleteI saw your tag left by Canny and I totally agree with her about having mix feelings when typing your blog link. I'm on mc today and when I type your link, I was expecting no updates again. But such a nice surprise to see new things. It really cheer me up.
I think I will check out Clarity Cafe one day. Sounds cheap for a poor part time student like me.
Love the lantern photos gal. Very pretty colours and the photo of you and your darling is so sweet. Look really like a couple t shirt.
Oh and the beetle photos are really interesting. Nope I wasnt disgusted. The cat look like a kitten in the top photo. Is it a kitten?
I hope to see you blog more. ^_^
~Yen~
tiffy,
ReplyDeleteHey this is really late. Sorry about that. HUH? How can you say the water babies are disgusting? They’re so beautiful! I think maybe coz my kids don’t play and throw them around like yours. Mine just put them in bottles and containers of all sizes and admire them.
Negotiation not done yet. Very hard to catch a perfect timing. And also, alwiz so bz at work to stop and negotiate.
Halloween… SIGH… I was searching online for costumes but they suck. How can we make a wham bang entrance like last year???
anon,
I’m not teaching in a formal school.
Yen,
On mc? Hope you’ve recovered by now. The cat isn’t a kitten. Maybe it’s small sized. I’ll try to blog more now that I’m on 5 day wisdom tooth mc. =)