MARVEL-LOUS AVENGERS!

Ok, for starters, I'm not a HUGE fan of comics like some of my guy friends who are walking encyclopedias of the Marvel universe and own every issue in pristine condition and multiple copies.!
Yes...there are fanboys who surpass even fangirls in terms of obsession and mania where these superheroes are concerned. (And they have the gall to ridicule us for our Twilight love...*grrrr*)

It would be pretty difficult, though, to remain oblivious to the knowledge and appeal of these characters, when the movie studios have been doing film versions ad nauseum from time immemorial, sometimes with less-than-satisfactory results.
But rest assured, the latest silver screen adaptation of Marvel's The Avengers is anything BUT.

It was action-packed but with a very well-written script which managed to convey the essence of the characters in a humorous yet meaningful manner. There was adequate screen time for every Avenger ( all six of them!) AND Loki, their deliciously cool and handsome nemesis. Haha...I think he's one of the best villains ever and contributed greatly to my enjoyment of this movie.
I was on the edge of my seat, and jaw-droppingly so at that!
The fight scenes and stunts were excellent and the special effects did not overwhelm the senses.

And need I say more about the HUNK swoonfest which was the entire ensemble??
Omg...Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner and even Mark Ruffalo....le sigh...*faints*
And Tom Hiddleston is AMAZING....all cheekbones and perfect enunciation...!!!

A quick word about the only female Avenger:
Scarlett Johannsson's Black Widow KICKS ASS...literally.
And nope, Superheroines do not scream....thank goodness! 

This is definitely the Mother of all Superhero movies!!
Kudos to Marvel Studios and I MUST once again, give LOADS of credit to Joss Whedon for his brilliant script...without which the movie would have fallen totally flat or been absolutely laughable.

I want a sequel!!!!

My piano journey

One of the best effects becoming a Jay-maniac had on me was the re-ignition of my passion for playing the piano. I had neglected my beautiful instrument for some time, only playing some pop songs occasionally. The reason is uncertain but it was probably due to some other interests taking up my time or perhaps I had just run out of new music to play.
Whatever it was, when I discovered Jay's music, I had a strong compulsion to play his songs on the piano and that set me off on a hunt all over bookshops like Kinokuniya, Music Book Room and others to find the piano scores.
And somehow, some way...I managed to get my eager hands on eight books!

Anyway, this post is not to talk about Jay but more to reflect on my own piano journey, from when I was a child starting lessons at the age of about five or six up till the present.
This could be considered a form of fandom:
I'm a huge fan of the piano; I feel happy when I play; I love listening to and watching others play; and yes, I have a veritable library of music books and scores collected over the years!

For the first three years, my teacher was Ms Albuquerque and therefter, Ms Khoo (who was my brother's girlfriend-turned-wife) taught me up to Grade 8. They were very nice and never knocked my fingers with rulers or what-have-yous. But then again, I was a good student who practised diligently and did not give them any trouble either.
I am extremely grateful to my late mother for giving me the opportunity to learn this wonderful instrument. She herself learnt a little when she was younger but her lessons were disrupted by the Japanese Occupation and after the war was over, she was caught up in family and work commitments and could not continue.
My father, who came to Singapore from China was musical (he played the violin by ear) and my brothers were put through violin lessons. None of them play now but two of them did go on to play guitar.

As far as I can remember, I never had to be forced to practise. It was just an enjoyable routine for me to hit the keys for a certain time everyday and do what my teacher had set that week for me. Scales, arpeggios, drills and of course, the whole range of piano pieces, from the simplest and finding my way along to more difficult works over time.
I sat for the requisite Theory and Practical exams by the Associated Board Of The Royal Schools of Music and haha...managed to score Distinctions for them from Grades 1 to 8...I kid you not!
I still remember my Mum accompanying me to the venues for the exams, feeling nervous but still getting through the whole process alright and my elation when the results were out!
Yes, I still have all those slips where the examiners wrote their remarks and the certificates, and I like to take them out now and then to read and recall. :)

Naturally, most of the works covered for exams and such were classical pieces and that is a good background for any pianist. It enabled me to also play the organ fairly well, and I was good enough to accompany church services for a spell, thanks to the training on the piano.

However, besides classical music, it was also natural to want to play pop music and other genres on the piano when I was in my teens and thankfully, my teacher was open-minded enough to allow one piece of non-classical work per week for me to practise.
I think that was really good to sustain my interest and got me started off on collecting pop music scores, most of which I have kept till now, and still play.
When my friends came over recently, we had a ball singing all the old hits, with accompaniment from all those scores. Was I ever grateful I had them!!

Another important aspect which kept me well on the music path was the school environment in which I spent my childhood and teen years. I was in a Convent school, with WONDERFUL music teachers, who had no end of activities to keep the girls occupied. Everyone had a chance to play something, be it the recorder, pianica, harmonica or just sing in an ensemble, whether for an informal concert in school or for the Youth Festival. I'll probably write more on those experiences in a separate post.

At home, my third brother, Chris was a keen guitarist, forever strumming chords and singing all the hit songs of that time. I would play the piano along with him and from there, I learnt a lot about chords and accompaniment. :)

I completed Grade 8 and at one stage was even thinking of becoming a piano teacher but after my A Levels, I got accepted into the Uni and with that came less time to practise. However, after I got married, I bought a digital piano but somehow just did not play much on it. I think there's nothing like a proper upright piano but at that time, we thought the digital might be more interesting with its different sounds.

To cut a long story short, I eventually (or rather, my dear hubby) got a beautiful Sauter piano, an upright which sounds like a grand and I played occasionally in spurts of enthusiasm and periods of lulls where I wouldn't touch the keyboard for months!

I'm back to playing more regularly now and have even recorded my own playing of some of Jay's songs to upload on youtube to share.
And I'm getting back in touch with some of the classical pieces from my student days, although the fingers are a little stiffer now....lol!
I think I shall have to play those scales, arpeggios and drills again to regain any degree of flexibility!

The piano is an amazing instrument as one can play both melody and accompaniment on it. Even a simple arrangement can sound good. I believe music is a tremendous age-defying agent and I will keep on tickling those ivories.

And for those of you who think it's too difficult to learn to play the piano when you're an adult...I say...it's never too late!
Go for it!

Here is a song I just recorded...one of my faves from those days of piano lessons...Send In The Clowns.  :)

And here is one of my favourite Jay songs, Maple:

I've got more on my youtube channel here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7CB352F79E7A449B&feature=plcp

One song I would love to record is Jay's Time Travel theme from Secret....but that is going to require loads of practice....oh well, back to the keyboard! ;)

Mr Chow Net-ted me

Now how is it that my two most prominent Chinese crushes both have the same surname???
But it was so nice to see Jay act in the same movie as Chow Yuen Fatt in Curse Of The Golden Flower (although that is NOT one of my favourite Jay movies...except for the brilliantly melodius theme song which Jay composed and sang...I just don't like him in a period get-up somehow).

But a thousand apologies...I'm digressing before I've even started on the subject proper for this post. *grimace*

Rewind to 1979...I was about 14 then.
Sunday night, 9pm.
All assemble in front of television, ready for another hour of dramatic twists and turns in a Cantonese serial which had taken Singapore by storm!
Starring Chow Yuen Fatt and Carol Cheng, it was tremendously popular and I think even non-Chinese viewers were caught up in it!
Man In The Net aka 网中人 ("mong chong yan" in Cantonese) ran for about 80 episodes, if my memory serves me correctly.
Chow and Cheng played a pair of star-crossed lovers (like there are ever any other type?), in an intriguing storyline. I cannot remember the exact details but he went to prison for some misdeeds which were totally not his fault or something like that.

Here's a 4-minute teaser trailer of the first episode:

There was one very groundbreaking point about this serial which sticks in my memory to this day:

It was the very first time the male and female leads KISSED!!!
In a TV serial!!!!
And not just a chaste peck on the cheek or mouth, mind you....it was a full-on liplock for the longest time ever!
Well...it was long by the standards in those days!!
I was like...*GASP*....WOW!!! "SQUEEEE!"

And the next day at school, that's all we girls could talk about during our usual Monday post-Man-In-The-Net discussion, which was de rigeur for this show.
Even the newspapers were reporting on it, with one very prominent headline which I can still see in my mind's eye till now:
Kiss Kiss! Catharsis!

Younger readers may find this somewhat amusing but there was never ever any *real* kissing in Chinese serials/movies back then.\
Even now, I think the conservatism is still there but of course, there are also movies like Lust, Caution and the like....times have changed.

Anyway, this was THE serial which catapulted Chow Yuen Fatt to fame and he would go on to star in many other shows and movies, eventually moving on to Hollywood.
Just look at him in the little clip I posted:
Wasn't he quite the tall, dark and handsome hunk then already?
Yes, the hair was not so great but that was the style then. ;)

Here's a little youtube tribute to him, circa 2009:

I followed his career with great interest but found that his roles in Hollywood just did not do him justice. Which is not hard to believe, as I think it was really not easy to find a character which suits a native Chinese actor, without some form of steretyping or parodying.
Thankfully, he has now returned to concentrating on Chinese movies and is doing well.

I will always respect Mr Chow.
He has integrity and has remained scandal-free all these years...no mean feat in the showbiz industry.
I believe he will continue acting for many years to come.
He looks as good as ever, albeit a little greyer so he qualifies as a Hunk-le now, I guess. :)

Just for fun, here's a little clip from Jay's concert in 2007, where Mr Chow (and Jacky Cheung) made a cameo appearance, to the delight of the fans!!
NB: they come on from about 1:51.
Enjoy!!!

"AH AH AH......"

Today's post was inspired by an exchange of comments on Facebook with my young 20-something friend, who was very happy that she was able to speak her native Cantonese well, despite being an American Born Chinese.
I found that really interesting because I, as a Singaporean Chinese and with a father who came from China, cannot speak Cantonese that fluently...just enough to get by a simple conversation and in a somewhat weird accent. I guess that's due to the fact that my father was not one to talk much and he could not speak English well. Whereas I was English-educated and although I could understand Cantonese, I did not really use it much in my daily life. And when the education system decided to phase out dialects and focus on Mandarin more, that made it even less likely for my Cantonese to improve.

 In my very first blog post, I talked about Cantonese drama serials in the 70s, all of which were from Hongkong. There was no Speak Mandarin Campaign in Singapore back then (yet) and dialects were commonly spoken and heard on television and radio.
Period dramas like Sorrows Of The Forbidden City, Book and the Sword, Luk Siu Fung and The Romantic Swordsman were extremely popular, in spite of cheesy stunts, convoluted plotlines and incredulous fight scenes where the Imperial soldiers were totally hapless and always defeated by even just one hero...lol!

Here is a newspaper article from circa 1976:

I'm writing this off-the-cuff so some details remain hazy, especially about storylines and character names but some stick in my memory and refuse to be dislodged.

Sorrows of the Forbidden City starred Liza Wang as a concubine caught in between the Emperor and the Empress Dowager ("wong ah mah"). The Dowager was a most formidable woman who looked and sounded evil. To this day, I remember how much I disliked (or was in awe of!) her. The theme song was beautiful (actually, almost all the theme songs from the Cantonese serials were amazingly and hauntingly memorable). I'm trying to find more on youtube to collect and will post here when I have gathered a decent number. :)

The Book and The Sword, starring Adam Cheng was another serial which kept us hooked and singing the theme song's famous intro of "AH AH AH....AHHHH....AH AH AH AH AH AH AH AH" in Adam's inimitable way. (Incidentally, he was one of the most-heard voices on those TV themes, together with the late Roman Tam.) The story of the Red Flower Society's rebellion and the fifteen (I think) Brothers just kept going on and on but there was no way I could stop watching halfway. :)

Here's a youtube clip of Adam and Roman performing some of the best tunes on an awards show in 1992:
NB: Listen out for Adam's "AH AH AH....", which is the last song. :))

Luk Siu Fung, starring Lau Sung Yan was distinctive for his fighting technique of catching the sword blade between his index and middle fingers...come to think of it, he probably should have had some digits amputated somewhere along the way but this was TV....of course nothing like that happened. His nemesis was Sai Moon Chue Suet and of course, the villains and enemies always make up an important part of the story. This one is more hazy in my memory but I definitely followed it closely then.

The non-period dramas were no less enticing and one of the most popular serials was Man In The Net, which was where a young Chow Yuen Fatt made his mark (and made me swoon)....I'll talk about this in a separate post to follow. :)

Anyway, I told my dear ABC friend she is 'moh tuck teng'(the best) and I hope she keeps the language going. My sons know a few phrases as my mother-in-law and hubby speak Cantonese now and then but that's about it. As many Hongkong actors and singers have also 'converted' to Mandarin as a result of the handing-back of HK to China, and to tap the lucrative China market, is Cantonese in danger of dying out eventually? I really hope not.

On the road again....

Tonight's post is about my fandom of a different sort...but one which I approached with the same degree of fanaticism, no less.

First off, I have to qualify by saying that one event which I absolutely abhorred in school was the annual cross-country run at MacRitchie Reservoir.
I have no idea how long that distance was but it was always a gasp-and-pant affair for me and the only reason I could find to endure it was that it was fun to suffer along with my similarly-inclined friends. We'd end up walking most of the last stretch along Lornie Road back, chit-chatting (and jogging occasionally), till we reached the Finish line, usually somewhere at the back of the pack. :)

Suffice to say, "I hate running" became a refrain which kept with me after that until one fateful day in 2008.
That was when my dear cousin (who was and still is, an avid runner) persuaded me to take part in a 5K Run for a church event. I must have been somewhat inspired by her running the Standard Chartered Marathon in 2007 because, for all my so-called aversion to running,  I agreed!
I also roped in my family and with a little practice before that, we managed to huff and puff our way to the Finish line....and...

The feeling was good!
Endorphins ran high!
It was exhilarating!!
And therafter, I began reading up on running from books, magazines and websites.
And diligently tried out all the advice in them!
I also discovered that many others were also getting hooked on this sport at that time and it was with immense pleasure that I reconnected with a primary school friend to train more regularly.

One very useful book was Chi Running by Danny Dreyer, which emphasised forefoot running and had many other tips for reducing pain and injury.
The Newton shoes (pictured above) are designed for such a technique and the 21K I ran was quite pain-free throughout and after. :)

I signed up for many organised runs, with distances from 5K to 10K, 12K and culminating in a 21K, of which I'm still very chuffed that I managed to complete, albeit very slooowwwly. It was a very enjoyable experience, as I had decided beforehand that I was going to take it slow but steady, and also take photos along the way of the different parts of the route.Besides documenting the scenery, I also had great fun with the supporters and had several pics taken with them. 

However, after that, I must have rested on my laurels or some other obsession took over 'cos my running momentum declined somewhat to zero for many months.
But this year, I have decided that this spell of laziness and unfitness had to end and when the annual Shape Run was announced, I quickly signed up for it to re-motivate myself!

Another factor which stimulated me back into running was my son.
He is, shall we say...big-sized but had never been able to keep up with any exercise, but something clicked in him this year and he began running around the neighbourhood regularly, to keep fit and lose weight.
His enthusiasm rubbed back off on me and before long, I was back in the groove but am still a far cry from the level I had achieved previously,
Nonetheless, the love for running has returned a little and I trust I'll keep it up....but as to whether I'll do another 21K is another story.
For now, 10K is good enough to work towards...again. :)

Bitten!

My eldest son's having friends over for a bbq tonight, before his imminent military enlistment in May. It seems like not so long ago that he was just a baby...my firstborn...my guinea pig for learning the ropes of parenting!
Point of note:
He is also the reason I became a Twi-Mum...lol!

It all began back in 2008 when I saw him reading Twilight which intrigued me much as I had seen the book in the stores but never picked it up, thinking it was 'just another YA novel'. Besides, I thought it was more of chick lit...so why would a boy be reading it??
Being the inquisitive Mum, I could not resist having a flip through and tralala...the first chapter got me hooked!
There was something about Stephenie Meyer's writing which engaged my emotions, through her first person account in Bella's voice. After reading a few chapters, I had already decided to get my own copy of the book(s), as the one my son was reading belonged to his friend.
To Borders I went the very next day and my Twilight mania was born!

I finished reading the first three and was halfway through the fourth when Twilight was released. It was during the course of the movie that Twi-mania truly became a passion which has lasted till today.

More on Twi-mania in another post:

Update:

http://fandomizfun.blogspot.sg/2012/07/call-me-twi-mum.html
 

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.....

And with those immortal words on the big screen, a new era in cinema was born!
George Lucas' epic space adventure would set a new standard for sci-fi movies and capture the imaginations of millions of youngsters and oldsters alike.
True, his script-writing left much to be desired ("I have a bad feeling about this.") but in a strange way, that line and many others from A New Hope are entrenched in Star Wars lexicon and quoted left, right and centre by fans and non-fans. :)

I was about twelve at that time and this movie blew me away!
What was not to love??

Brilliant space battles which kept me on the edge of my seat, a simple story about rescuing a Princess (with the most fascinating earphone-buns hair!), cute robots, the Force and omg...I was petrified by Darth Vader!
He who breathed so menacingly and looked so malevolent in his black mask, cape and boots.
And he 'killed' Ben Kenobi...*nooooooo* but the lightsabres were (and still are!) waaay cool weapons, aren't they? ;)

John Williams' awesome score was another integral part of the movie and to this day, the main theme and Imperial March (amongst numerous other themes) are immediately recognisable and hummed all over the world, I dare say.

The picture on top is the novelisation of the movie. I found it in a bookshop in London in 1978 when I had the good fortune to be there on holiday and added it to my burgeoning collection of movie books. Note how the yellow tab across the cover confidently proclaims this as 'The Greatest Film Of The Century'....lol!

Indeed, A New Hope did mark a milestone in movies, thanks to George Lucas' vision and determination to produce amazing special effects to enhance the story.
The sequel, The Empire Strikes Back was even better in terms of storyline development and that was the movie where (as mentioned in my first post) my love affair with Harrison Ford began....that will be a story for another post. :))

Sadly, I did not enjoy Return of the Jedi as much as these two movies, mainly because Han Solo was so idiotic in it, no thanks to bad lines. After his heroics in Empire, it was extremely disappointing to see his character become such a joke. :(
It must be said, however, that Harrison Ford was feeling quite disillusioned with the franchise by that time and as such, was not putting his heart and soul into his acting....and it showed. :(
It is, however, notable that he was the only actor amongst the three main leads (Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher) to find further (wild) success in his career which would last until the present....no mean feat indeed!

As for Episodes 1, 2 and 3 which George finally decided to make much later, I just could not recapture the same magical feeling which Episodes 4 and 5 gave me. Mostly due to the poor scripts, confusing plotlines and by then, waay too many special effects!
I only liked Revenge of the Sith a little more, and that was mainly due to a much-improved looking Ewan McGregor as Obiwan Kenobi.
NB: Ewan is another of my favourite guys and will be mentioned in another post another time.

My sons, however, enjoyed those three episodes much more than I did. The CGI fascinated them and it was with much pleasure that my hubby and I then introduced Episodes 4, 5 and 6 to them.

Star Wars will live on...my sons know the movies as well as me and my hubby and for that, I'm really glad it has transcended time and generations for the whole family to enjoy together.

May The Force Be With You!