I found myself recently excited that Step Up! was showing on tv. This led me to realise that I have long enjoyed the dance movie. I’m not talking Hannah Montana or High School Whatever – but good, old fashioned dance movies.
It started out with Grease. Spending school holidays with our (then, little) cousin Marc, who enjoyed the racing scene at the end of the movie but had to put up with the entire movie first, thanks to his two female cousins. We must have watched Grease about 3 times a day (before we turned to the Rocky obsession but that’s another story. Eye of the tiger, man! Eye of the tiger!).
And then, came Dirty Dancing. Till today, I can remember every word of the dialogue. What a great movie. (Johnny!)
The next dance movie I remember enjoying and definitely watching more than once was Save The Last Dance (except all that ghetto blaster shit).
The only modern day dance movie I enjoy, Step Up. I didn’t expect to like it but god help me, I’ve watched it more than 10 times now.
The formula gets clear after a while – you have the boy from the wrong side of the tracks, the pristine, virginal girl, friends who all seem to have nifty footwork – sparks fly, the boy fucks it up, makes it up and the big dance finish. And here’s a big dance finish for your viewing pleasure.
It’s been 14 days into the new year and for the first time, I felt 2008 wash away and the positive feelings of having a new year infuse my spirit.
I took the Wednesday off for a dermatologist appointment (nothing to make you feel more pre-pubescent than a breakout). My day started off wonderfully with an 8.30 start, taking Dolce for a walk – the weather has been perfect – windy, cool with a hint of warm, morning sun. It was the kind of morning that makes you stop and inhale everything around you.
I then hit town for my dermatologist appointment – got a dose of Vitamin A pills that seems promising and then stopped in for a 1.5hr massage. (Is there anything else better to feed your soul?). I then had a grande caramel macchiato, stopped at Marks & Spencer, and finally ended at Cold Storage to pick up stuff for tonight’s bangers and mash. It’s been a long time since I wasn’t rushing around to make an appointment or walking briskly. I even had time to stop in front of Mothercare (like a childless Oliver Twist) and allowed my biological clock to kick in.
All in all, it was a perfect day and am looking forward to having dinner for my family and seeing little Caitlin.
I realised that I have a laundry list of resolutions for the new year, which of course, is setting myself up for failure but yet, the new year always brings hope.
Learn how to drive (I got the book and everything)
Exercise 3 times a week (this does not include the maniacal Friday dancing)
Lose 5kg by June (one can dream)
Get a massage once a month
All in all – not such ridiculous ambitions – they just require commitment (ha, my forte) and will. So, we’ll see.
Kevin Smith and the Apatow crew. Goodness me. I was really excited when I first heard about this movie (anything to wash away the Jersey Girl foul aftertaste from my mouth) – because the combination of Seth Rogen (a still chubby Seth Rogen, that is) and Kevin Smith is too much to bear.
So, finally managed to catch it – till then, I had only watched the trailer and watching it was like catching up with familiar, old friends. Jeff Anderson (Randal!) was fantastic and I kept waiting for him to jump on the Star Wars conversation – and of course, Jason Mewes (“Let us fuck“) really brought on the urge to watch Clerks (“I’m not even supposed to be here today!“) and Mallrats (“Fly, fat ass, fly!“).
And then you got familiar faces from the force that is Apatow. I love that chubby guys (the awkward ones) have been given the license to be cool. To recognise the loser within and to not give a shit. Makes movie going so much more realistic instead of trying to identify with the tall, blonde heroine having a bad day.
I say this all the time and will keep saying it. I love movies that have the same band of actors. Whether its the Adam Sandler crew, the Will Farrell crew or the Apatow bunch, it makes you feel so much more happy and comfortable.
I also want to make a special mention of the good soundtrack – nice mix going on there and fabulous final song, “I Love You” from the Climax Blues Band. Reminds me of the movie Loser, where the final song was “No Myth” from Michael Penn.
Yes, I know it’s a little late for me to be reviewing this movie (it’s not really a review, so to speak, more like a post of elation). Youtube trailer attached!
A couple of nights ago, I managed to catch the documentary of Guns N’ Roses on Bio Channel. I could not tear myself away and re-found one of my biggest passions of the 90’s. In spite of drifting apart and moving on past Use Your Illusion II (Spaghetti Incident was too crap to continue), I realised I still knew all the songs (even the ones never made popular on Bilboard) and all the band members names and remembered how completely in love I was with Axl Rose. (Axl Rose without dreads, that is).
After watching the documentary, I never realised how much trouble he was to the band and basically how he tried to buy them out in the end. By then, my rock love had passed on to Pearl Jam and Stone Temple Pilots (so, its quite natural for me to appreciate Velvet Revolver).
Minus the predictable hits of Guns N’ Roses (I seriously never liked Sweet Child O’ Mine), one of my all time favourite songs from them was “Estranged” off “Use Your Illusion II”. And listening to it now, more than 10 years since I last heard it, jeez, I remember the words, changes and drum fills. Great song (only over 9 minutes long). I think it lodged in my heart, a passion for progressive rock and ridiculously long songs, which later developed into a passion for Dream Theater. 20 minute song? Woo hoo!
When you’re talkin to yourself
And nobody’s home
You can fool yourself
You came in this world alone
(Alone)
So nobody ever told you baby
How it was gonna be
So what’ll happen to you baby
Guess we’ll have to wait and see
One, two
Old at heart but I’m only 28
And I’m much too young
To let love break my heart
Young at heart but it’s getting much too late
To find ourselves so far apart
I don’t know how you’re s’posed
To find me lately
An what more could you ask from me
How could you say that I never needed you
When you took everything
Said you took everything from me
Young at heart an it gets so hard to wait
When no one I know can seem to help me now
Old at heart but I musn’t hesitate
If I’m to find my own way out
Still talkin’ to myself and nobody’s home
(Alone)
So nobody ever told us baby
How it was gonna be
So what’ll happen to us baby
Guess we’ll have to wait and see
When I find out all the reasons
Maybe I’ll find another way
Find another day
With all the changing seasons of my life
Maybe I’ll get it right next time
An now that you’ve been broken down
Got your head out of the clouds
You’re back down on the ground
And you don’t talk so loud
An you don’t walk so proud
Any more, and what for
Well I jumped into the river too many times
to make it home
I’m out here on my own, an drifting all alone
If it doesn’t show give it time
To read between the lines
‘Cause I see the storm getting closer
And the waves they get so high
Seems everything We’ve ever known’s here
Why must it drift away and die
I’ll never find anyone to replace you
Guess I’ll have to make it thru, this time
Oh this time
Without you
I knew the storm was getting closer
And all my friends said I was high
But everything we’ve ever known’s here
I never wanted it to die
I have always maintained that the 4 places in this world I have no desire to visit are: Taiwan (what the hell is there to do – eat sausage?), China (who needs it, got it right here), Korea (seriously) and Japan (not kidding. People are often surprised by this but I don’t really go nuts over Japanese food and who gives a crap about cherry blossoms?). So, a design conference took me to Hong Kong, which I was quite looking forward to only because it’s technically not really China. If the conference was in Shen Zhen, I would have killed myself on the flight with the ingenious use of paper towels, bland mouthwash and those miniscule plastic cups. Of course, to make it easier, there are those disposable razors.
So, Business of Design Week wasn’t too bad – I thought it might end up being a little dry but it picked up the pace and I have a developed a passionate one-sided love affair with Michael Young (call me!). My foray into Hong Kong shopping started off weakly, I declared Hong Kong positively useless for any form of shopping (don’t worry, this turns around) until the final day where I ended up spending close to $2500 there (now, for little ol’ me, that’s quite a bit). But, I’m pleased with my purchases and it’s all good – no buyers remorse or anything.
Wonderful view from my room
I honestly would not mind working in Hong Kong for a brief period of time (maximum 2 years) – I enjoyed the fast pace, the luxury of being able to shove and push aside with no repercussions and the weather. Although, the people there severely overdress (I guess because they can). Here I was in my t-shirt and jeans and there they were – with the faux fur jackets and boots. Honestly, I see no reason for boots unless there’s snow. (Oh, fashion!)
The one thing I was not crazy about was the food. It was Carb Central up there and lord help me, I get sick of noodles awfully quick. At point, I was dying to duck into a McDonalds but feared my travel card might be revoked by my colleagues. So instead, I bravely sloshed down soupy noodles after soupy noodles and even porridge at one point. (They have set meals of porridge and noodles! Who the hell can eat all those carbs? I’m Indian! I’ve got carb-absorbing genes) Perhaps I tasted the wrong side of Hong Kong but till I get set right – I’m holding on to McDonalds and … wait a second, I don’t recall seeing a Burger King there at all (the airport doesn’t count). There were a crapload of KFCs there but I wasn’t eating no chicken. I never craved Popeye’s so badly before.
I also felt compelled to write when I was there (it’s an alternative form of insomnia – the need to purge thoughts and feelings before attempts to grab a pill strike). So, here it is – typed and scanned.
Travelling uncorks the brain. It starts at the airport check-in counter (packing never counts, you’re always nervous about forgetting something) – this feeling of jittery excitement. The breaking of normality. The hesitation and thrill of doing something different.
Taxi, take off, turbulence and landing.
A couple of firsts. First business trip, first time to Hong Kong. Strange, interesting, big, small, too much space, too many people, too little space – I feel very all over here. Uncertain and unsure – which I quite like. I’ve spent too much time being ambivalent – any end of the spectrum will do.
3 days of people constantly saying the same word over and over again. Design, design. Design. It made me feel important, yet insignificant. I am in my industry without a face. Where is my identity? What makes me special? What would make someone want to spend time with me? My work? Disbelief is as strong as belief and I am neither. Ambivalent, always ambivalent.
This city is unique and typical all at once. I find the people quite fascinating, which I did not expect. I thought I would dismiss them, instead I am drawn to their social side. Far more gracious and collectively independent than I imagined.
This has been a year of firsts. It wasn’t supposed to be this way – didn’t start out like that. It’s interesting to realise that the closing of a chapter would lead me to open up new ones (not just one but several). All I have are a few starting words of each chapter but no fruition, completion of significance. Everything is relative to the last milestone and inevitably compared and made to measure up.
I’ve had a first holiday, a first birthday, a first date, a first kiss, a first movie, a first party, a first drink, a first song – that I have not shared. Separation is surreal.
