ok, vanity fair was bad. perhaps i would have found it more appealing (less boring, more interested in the characters) if i had read the book (which i have not).
it's basically a liu shui zhang, trying to cover so many years of the girl's life and also account for the social trends of that era. a really bad show to watch at 1 am, unless you're already high on caffeine and won't fall asleep throughout the duration of the movie, which is a freaking 2+ hrs if i'm not wrong :|
*** now here's the epic adventure of private Clifford. you may skip the entire section if you do not want to be thoroughly entertained and only want to know what happened between 3pm and 5pm to me. if so, look for the asterisk below ***
at 1440h, private Clifford was dispatched from home base, sent on a mission alone to source for highly classified 'materials' in the dense jungle of BEACH island. an important mission, the military career of private Clifford was dependent on its outcome.
the nuclear-powered jet plane hovered over BEACH island, ejected private C and went on autopilot mode, traversing back to the air base. private C pulled the cord, and his parachute swooshed open. however, the winds were far too strong for private C and he landed off target, into the surrounding seas. he swam ashore, albeit slowly and exhausted; the drag of the parachute was very draining on his poorly developed muscles.
it was now 1552h. finally, he got on shore, but realised to his dismay the map was as detailed as a six-year-old's description of van gogh's "starry night" (ed: such as 'it's beautiful', 'it's blue and green and yellow and swirly', worse, 'i love it ^^')
he had no choice, being stranded on an unfamiliar island (the jet was not to reappear unless he completes the mission) and began contacting base for assistance with his thin black audio transmitter. he checked his GPS gadget and reported his coordinates to base.
"bzzzt... bzzzt... orange... above... village... near... *click* "
damn, the transmitter's circuits are soaked and spoilt, he thought to himself. he followed his guts (the only thing left that could lead him anywhere, besides a brain which he lacks sorely) and trudged to the nearest orange landmark.
there! at 1605h, he saw a muddy hill that stretched for, probably, the length of 5 maglev (magnetic trains). he climbed up the hill and searched for the 'material'. in fact, he really had no idea how the 'material' looked like, except he was supposed to recognise it the very moment he saw it.
...
private C walked around the waist of the hill at least twice, but the wretched object was still not in sight! it was already 1621h, and he was supposed to have reached the target destination by then. discouraged, he began to look for other orange coloured areas. he walked the width of the island but no more orange.
he knew he was probably going to die (he was chased by wild tigers and dwarf tribesmen who painted themselves over with the juice of the purple promovege fruit, and received a vicious stomach upset after tasting a turnip-like root) and made a last-ditched attempt to call base. after so much running under a drizzle, he thought the insides of the transmitter would not have dried.
perhaps it was fate, the help of higher-ups in the heavens, or he simply ran so hard the transmitter shook so vigorously that it was quelled of its initial dampness, that re-enabled the transmitter to work! hurrah! he cried in delight when he heard:
"from where you are, walk south until you see the orange swamp beside a village. climb the tallest tree beside the swamp and you'll find a few sacred red-coloured wopponund ferns. just take one, any one, but you're recommended to take the one measuring 13.3 centimetres. *click*"
and so private C followed the instructions closely. after only 10 minutes, he found the village, orange swamp, and the most magnificent tree he had ever seen in his short lifespan (so far)!
argh, i've been near here before, i was on the other side of the river, across the village whose dwarfer beings chased me away! he was now quite resigned to his fate of not having the smoothest of life. ok, i'll climb up and end the mission asap! i want my old chang kee spring o, the fibre within is good for bowel movement...
after an arduous climb, made easier with climbing picks, he found the red-coloured wopponund ferns! he excitedly took out his measuring tape...
but no 13.3 centimetre-fern. oh well, the 13.6 centimetre one will do just as well, he thought. and so he plucked out the 13.6 centimetre fern, but not without grazing against the tough bark of the tree. ouch, a 4.8 inch-long cut!
anyway, the job was done! he shall be promoted to the rank of sergeant! he contacted base for the return journey. soon, the jet picked him up and he was happily munched on an old chang kee spring o (the stomach feels better already!) while listening to brain stimulating music... THE END
****************************
ok, to cut the super long epic story short, i basically went to beach rd to find my army stuff, got a bit lost (walked all the way to victoria street, believe it or not, i was intrigued by the superbly-long orange building which contained shops downstairs and flats upstairs i walked its entire length and went from crawford to victoria... woohoo!)
called george, who quickly pointed out to me the correct location (above the hawker centre opposite golden mile complex/tower) and recommended shop no. 133 for not fleecing you by buying everything available. however 133 was closed and i found myself at the shop beside 133 (i can't remember the number, could be 136 or something la)
the old malay lady shopkeeper was really nice and all i had to do was to sit down and listen to her talk about how the items are used and a few army tips, and carry a basket which held the items i was to buy, selected by her as she walked about collecting them...
she's really nice and friendly, erm she worked as some item dispenser (don't know what kind of stuff la, i forgot) at a camp one, so i guess she would be fairly experienced in knowing what the guys need. all my stuff cost a whopping 48 bucks! considering she gave me some stuff free, that's quite a lot hm... dunno la! anyway it was a good shopping experience...
and yes, i had stomachache earlier in the day, but that has no relation to the spring o i ate after the shopping, i was just hungry.
i was listening to the new additions to my growing collection of CDs: mayday's "born to love" and tanya chua's "t-time" well, i'm listening now for any defects so i can change the CD asap, but at only 6 bucks per album, even if one track is slightly spoilt i wouldn't mind not returning the CD haha! thanks to bjorn who helped me buy good (and cheap) stuff :D
i like both album designs, esp t-time's yellow! how often do you see YELLOW as the theme for an asian album?! no cheesy cutesy portrait photos, no grass, no sky, no glaring sun or light rays that bleach the scenery, no black, no 'artistic' shadows... whoever does the designing of the cliche-looking CD album sleeves/covers should really spend a sabbatical month exploring the world to absorb different ideas...
(actually same goes to to the music arrangers who make similar-sounding tracks year after year, hello you've done the same song for, 15 years?! are you the contemporary vivaldi (musician's joke: all of vivaldi's hundreds of music can be summarised in about, 2 pieces of music)...
anyway, any further comments about the music (mayday and tanya chua) will come later... too tired to listen all of it, but so far they sound good la :)
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