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darkness & light : el cielo : patt's place : what i shouldn't have : where am i 2004 : jan : feb : mar : apr : may : jun : jul : aug : sep : oct : nov : dec 2005 : jan : feb : mar : apr : may : jun : jul : aug : sep : oct : nov + quebec visit : highschool grad : university life : victoria now and then mar 31 '04 : 0215 : killer klowns from outer space chu! - chu! - ch.. oh.. i died? so i just spent the last three hours playing 'space channel 5' on the dreamcast. i believe i've mentioned about this game before but i might as well do it again. basically it is set in the future, where we no longer relies on electricity, or sources of which we know, for power. everything is now powered by music and rhythm. and just like every other game, a villain comes along and tries to disrupt peace and cause chaos. now you the player, controls ulala, the reporter from space channel 5 [the most prominent channel i'm assuming; i don't understand japanese] and dances and sings your way through gigantic dancing robots and the evil purge; to rescue president peace and restore, well, peace. so i've spent the last three hours playing that. i've actually finished the game, but i failed to chu! purge once and for all. i think all of humanity died. so attempting to correct my mistake, i tried again, and again, and again, and again, and again.. until it got too late and i decided i'll kill purge some other time. excellent game, it suits my asian taste. i mean, a sexy space reporter with pink hair, dressed in suits of every color possible, destroying robotic maniacs with her jpop dance grooves, just what more can you ask for? if this game doesn't get me a japanese girl, i don't know what will. so ladies, wanna chu? anyhow. hooray with no more tests in my classes! just one more architecture essay for next thursday then it's time to gear up for exams. i've actually sort of finished it but i think it needs some major revising. the thought of me in being back home in a month is very exciting to say the least. no more canada room food! and i can taste again my mom's canto-style soups; one word: orgasmic! my mom cooks the best food, of course only canto-style, as well as pastry, although she hasn't made one piece of cake for several years. regardless, i'm sure to gain about twenty pounds in the summer. what else? oh, major ddr'ing; my asian power will destory all who attempts to challenge me. maybe try to exercise and do a daily jog of some sort. maybe get a job. maybe volunteer. maybe just hang out and relax; there's the sun and amazing temperature, the people, the place itself.. ah, summer, you're so wonderful! mar 26 '04 : 1455 : drive : happy birthday ryan! happy birthday to.. who? thursday night, what to do tonight? let's go for a ride! so i did. i went uptown to scarborough to drive around with a friend. actually we decided to visit some of the haunted places that we found on the net. apparently at this bridge near old finch, a girl was murdered by her boyfriend on her birthday, and if you go there and sing "happy birthday" you would hear the screaming and or crying of a girl. so we went there, at around eleven o'clock. it was pitch black outside, and we were just driving alone in silence. i was tempted to sing happy birthday on a few occasions, but my friend kept saying he felt chills running down his spine so i decided not to scare him any further. it would be wicked though, if there is someone suddenly sitting at the backseat or we see a misty white figure on the road.. actually i think i would probably freak out. and now that i think about it, if it's actually true about the bridge incident, it would be a torment to the girl who so unfortunately died. i don't want no ghost haunting me now do i? this reminded me the time when i went to quebec city for the french class trip, a friend and i went ghost hunting at chateau frontenac [a famous hotel at the heart of the city, if i recall correctly] well that time was unsuccessful also, but i remember almost pushing her into a couple, then later realized we should've stole their ids so we can go drinking. kids these days eh? anyway, after another unsuccessful ghost hunt, my friend an i finally decided to go home at around two. well he drove me back downtown then he went home. do people know any other haunted places around the area? or just anywhere for that matter? mar 24 '04 : 0436 : the night and the moment tuesday movie night today had been a fairly good day. i got my italian morthology test back; forty two out of fifty, quite bravissimo! i'm just annoyed at the little mistakes i made, for instance, for one of the questions [number two actually] it asked for the third person singular present indicative of "dare" [to give] well i did as i was told, except i wrote down the present indicative of "andare" [to go] "vai" instead of the correct answer "dai". how did i manage to change a "d" to a "v" i don't know. it takes talent to be stupid that's for sure. i've got to stop making careless mistakes in my tests. speaking of which, i have two coming up next week, then i have to hand in my final architecture assignment in the last week. after that the only things left are exams. and i now officially announce a trip to paramount wonderland on the second of may, the day it reopens after the cold winter. i will definitely be going, even if i have to go alone. but anyone is welcome to join, it'll promise to be a day full of nausea and vomiting, and fun, of course. anyway, after italian tonight, which may i add that there was a fairly decent presentation [she brought food for the class! well it was just fried cheese, nonetheless it was rather delightful] i went to cumberland cinema to see "eternal sunshine of a spotless mind" with a few friends. it was a toss between that or "dawn of the dead", which i would like to see. simply because i prefer going to the theatre for movies that have less to do with reality or the world with which i'm familiar; and i like zombies. regardless, "eternal sunshine" is a fairly decent movie, it has its moments. i esspecially enjoyed the soundtrack. it has a oblivous, faraway sort of ambience to it, which essentially heightened my enjoyment for the movie. anyway, it's an interesting movie. i just don't think i would ever want to erase my memories, whether good ones or bad ones. i don't know, happy memories would just become normal memories if i no longer have the ones i loath. say, hypothetically speaking, if i had erased my memory of my second italian test score, i wouldn't have be as excited and jovial tonight when i got my morthology test back. i think bad memories just make us enjoy the good times that much more. meh. mar 22 '04 : 0009 : extreme weather it's a small world, afterall so around nine on this cold night [negative five; this doesn't feel like spring] i was at mcdonald's with a friend. he didn't have dinner, despite having an apartment with stove and all; and i was there as company, as well i got myself a hot fudge sundae. so we were talking, the usual, then suddenly from the door in came my old roommate. i was not at all expected to see him, especially at such a random venue. it felt a little awkard, we just sort of laughed and joked why he couldn't see me ever on msn. he was pretty much the same, except he lost much weight, compared to the last time i saw him. october maybe? i suppose he didn't cook often, or perhaps he was just smoking too much. so what was he up to walking by a mcdonald's on yonge and wellesley, when his apartment is all the way down on college? well, he was going up north to some guy's place to get some weed. but! apparently, he finally quit smoking last week! now, if i am counting correctly, this would probably be the sixth time he said he quit smoking in the past year and a half since i first met him. but instead of ridiculing him, i just smiled and nodded. he seemed so excitedly about quitting i didn't want to burst his bubble. maybe this time is true. memories of my roommate, some i enjoyed, some i loathed, and some i tried to forget. i had a fairly good first year living with him, though i definitely like my single room better this year. he's a good guy, witty and intelligent; but he can also be such a pain. sometimes i wonder how i had survived those days. *shrug* three weeks of classes left, and i figure my future all depends on how discipline i will be in the next little while. i'll be going to the library more often, and i'll have to stick to the schedule that i've made for myself. i must not succumb to temptation and laziness. i'll enjoy playtime in the summer, i've got four long months for that! come on tony, do it for yourself, do your best. go team! mar 20 '04 : 0249 : the shaolin drunk monkey kung fu film friday : the movie was actually decent so it was friday. usually it's a night that would be spent staying in and doing whatever happens to be there to be done. i was going to watch dawn of the dead [zombies are great, who doesn't like zombies?] but then i figure i will watch it on tuesday when it's cheaper; i have to spend my money wisely. so that left me with kung fu film friday. it's a biweekly event that runs at the royal theatre near little italy, where the theatre plays chinese kung fu movies that were made in the eighties. and they also have a little raffle before the movie begins, and a friend won an akira [famous anime] action figure tonight. anyway, the movie they play are usually quite whacky, ie. really bad plot or dialogues, and an ending that leaves the audience bewildered and confused. last time they played a movie that claims to have bruce lee in it, but only to have footages cut from his previous films and added them into another movie. weird huh? well tonight i went along with my friends; it was a friday night, and i didn't feel like staying in. plus in general we go to a bar afterwards, and i haven't had a drink for a while. so why not? we arrived at royal theatre early, so we did a quick walk around little italy. frankly i thought there is not enough italian signs in that area; and i saw more of other ethnic restaurants than italians [there are three japanese restaurants] the area smells nice though; there is a pleasant aroma of food that lingers in the air. i will have to try authentic italian cuisine one of these days. eventually we got back to the theatre and waited in line for a bit before we got inside. the movie playing tonight was "licence to steal", it's essentially a thief's conflicts with her friend who betrayed her during one of their missions. i was surprised how good the movie was, it actually made sense! and the fight scenes were awesome, they were diluted hollywood sequences. watching the movie brought back fond memories of old kung fu films i've seen long ago. those were the days, before computer graphics and impossible stunts were primary focuses. anyway, good movie. and of course it was time to hit a bar afterwards. we went to a bar close to royal theatre, southside louis(e), if i remember correctly. the atmosphere was quite nice, and we got ourselves few comfy couches next to the fireplace. i had my guinness, and we ordered a bunch of finger food and chatted until it was time to head home. and now my throat feels worst than ever, probably because of all the fries i had. but to hell with my throat, alcohol and bar food were more important, especially for a friday night. and today is the first day of spring. horray! mar 18 '04 : 1536 : cold fever in sickness having been a healthy human being for the past 8 years or so, i finally got a cold yesterday or the day before. and from the sickness i've had my nose clogged and my throat flamed. i thought resting would help, and i did so, i went to bed around one o'clock yesterday night. well i definitely feel better today, but i also happened to over-sleep and missed my class. rather unfortunate [note to self: remember to wear a jacket next time you go out] and we were supposed to get the mid-terms back too. i guess i'll have to wait for next week. come to think of it, there are only four weeks of classes left, then exams start the week after. time has gone quicker than i thought. somehow i am not anxious for everything to end; i've had a great time this year. hopefully everything will turn out as i'd wish and i can come back here next year to continue my university education. yesterday my mom hinted that i'll be able to continue my studies here in toronto regardless of whether i get into architecture or not. on one hand i'm happy that she and my dad had come to that decision; ecstatic, actually. but on another, if i don't get into architecture, i feel undeserved and unworthy to stay here. first, it's rather costly to study in the university of toronto. essentially one year of me studying here equals five years of tuition for university of victoria. second, suppose i don't get into architecture, i'll only be continuing my art history degree. and do i really need to be here to receive such a degree? then again, i don't want to have to start all over again in victoria. just a very complex problem. let's just hope i will get into architecture. say, the worst part of eating meals is not that the food is particularly bad; it is the people with whom you are sitting. sitting alone during meals actually is tolerable, and sometimes enjoyable on days when you don't have a craving for conversations. however, sitting with a big group of people but it feels as if you are sitting alone is the worst experience. and it doesn't help, when the person sitting next to you has his albow to an angle which basically formed a wall between you and everyone else. i have learned something new today. mar 17 '04 : 0151 : let it show the last snowfall before spring's arrival, i presume so my italian quiz went fairly well. the mock quiz that the professoressa sent us was much harder than the real thing; i think i got maybe two wrong out of the fifty. not too shabby. afterwards i helped a friend putting up posters around the area; he's running for the college's council. for those who care and are available for voting, it'll take place next wednesday and thursday at brennan hall, sidney smith hall and another place i don't remember [somehow alumni hall springs to mind. bah] it started snowing today in the afternoon. although i'd much prefer seeing some sunshine as it had been cloudy the past couple of days, i actually quite enjoyed the scenery. it was a little colder than usual [but that's often because i don't dress appropriately] but i liked it. perhaps i felt this could be the last time before long i will see snow again. i had to savour it. tonight, it'd have been a beautiful night for a walk with a love one. together holding hands, the gentleness of her body pressed against his, they walk on the fresh snow paths. they weren't talking much, but the nearness of the other person was enough. their thoughts were the same, their direction was the same, and their love was the same. and together they will continue to walk side-by-side, guiding and helping each other along the way. love. if only that was true. mar 16 '04 : 0137 : the town is quiet and it continues to be so i am feeling reluctant of writing entries lately. i don't feel there is anything in particular i should write about. well, there is my italian morphology quiz tomorrow night; the language itself is not particular difficult, but having to remember the many different verb tenses with their endings can be painful. not to mention those exceptions and irregular verbs with the special stems; may god smile on me tomorrow. there is also the ending of a relationship with his girlfriend of one of my friends. break-up is not easy [movies and televisions showed me, i've never had the actual experience] but i'm sure he will cope; everything will turn out for the best. look at it this way: if there is no end, how can there be a new beginning? well, actually that wouldn't work; that would be saying true love does not exist, and all relationships will always end up being torn apart and we are constantly on the search for someone different. that is simply not true. i believe in everlasting love, i really do; my parents are the perfect example. after twenty five years of marriage, their love is good as new. although sometimes it does get a little sickening to see them always hugging cuddling, saying how much they love each other, i am grateful to have such parents. i believe they have a positive impact on me in my search for love. but then again, i can also falsely assume my relationship will also be as good as their's and expect too much out of my own, which would be a terrible thing. i just don't know what to make of the whole dating thing yet, it's unknown territory. sometimes i feel the need to explore that territory, to experience the unfamiliar; but at the end of the day i'm too afraid and worry to do anything. i have too many flaws as a person; the thought of having someone to see the ugliest sides of me is terrifying. i dislike being judged, but i don't feel i should have to change any part of me to gain the attention and love from someone else. but if i don't, i'm worried i'll be saying the same thing for the next fifty years and finally die as a lonely old man. relationship.. it's all greek to me. mar 13 '04 : 0158 : friday night passing time just when everyone thought spring is here early this year, random occasions of puffy snow sprinkled toronto the past few days. however, that did not drown anyone's good spirit. yesterday in my architecture class, i was just sitting in my seat far back and flipping through some notes before the professor began the lecture. suddenly to everyone's surprise, from within a large box that had apparently been placed at the front of the room jumped out an asian male. nobody knew what happened, and while everyone was still in awe regarding the scheme, the man casually picked up the box and walked out the room. spring, it's getting to everyone. question of the day : how do you wash dishes? the way i do it: [1] rinse the dishes of most of their food remains and set them on the counter next to the sink [2] apply soap to all of the dishes [3] rinse [4] dry. seems logical right? well yesterday night, after dinner at a cheap vietnamese restaurant on bloor street with two friends [i didn't have money, so i made one of them pay for me. what are friends for?] we went back to the apartment of one of them. we played some playstation two until we got tired of it. everything got a little boring after that, and finally we decided to wash the insane amount of dishes that were piled up on the counters. it's ridiculous; only two people are living there, but there are enough cups, plates, bowls and so on to serve thirty people [their number of cutleries is unbelieveable] at first everything was fine, until i realized the friend who lives in the apartment has a very different approach to washing dishes than the me and the other friend. in short his approach is quick but very unsanitary. so i decided to use my method; unfortunately they forced me to use full hot water to rinse the dishes, which caused seriously burning on my hands [ow, burned] after that was done we watched the emperor's new groove, and i was offered donuts and chips as compensation for my work. should've just raided the fridge. today proved to be rather dull compared to yesterday night's dish-washing party. watched some futurama [i'm starting to quite enjoy the show] with a few friends after a horrible fish friday dinner at the canada room. and we played a fun dreamcast game called 'space channel 5'. essentially there are aliens invading a planet and capturing humans, and your job as the player is to control this pink hair reporter girl person to dance to defeat the aliens. i loved it [up! up! chu chu! down! hey!] must try to beat the game sooner or later. after some fun up! chu!s i went back to my room, then another friend came in and he wanted to watch smallville. so we did; we watched four episodes. i've never seen the show before, and in my opinion it is very clichéd, and i don't quite comprehend the hype about it. anyway. it's a friday night, and everything is quiet and still. i know somewhere someplace in this city people are having a great time and enjoying life. just why was i not invited? bah. mar 11 '04 : 0105 : drifting clouds hockey : bah! normally i don't look at or read the newspaper unless i'm eating my meals in the canada room or if a copy just happens to be available [i really should keep myself up to date with current events though] today i casually took a glimpse of the cover of the toronto star, and to find out a colorado avalanche hockey player had been serious injured by a member of the opposing team, the vancouver canucks, during a game yesterday evening [before i continue i must clean up the fruit punch i just spilled on myself and my keyboard; apparently the cap was loosely put on] the player was blind-side punched, and essentially he was driven onto the ice after being rendered unconscious. absolutely horrendous. hockey is just a very violent sport - they actually allow players to fight, if the desire is mutual. what the hell? and the audience goes into trance mode if when two players engage in a confrontation. i don't understand it at all: the hype and the excitement of seeing people punching each other. same as american football, it really isn't much of a sport. it reminds me of a friend from high school, who had the following to say about american football, on a day just like every other day: "is it when they open the gate and the players run out and bash each other?" well, i think she pretty much had it all summed up. mar 10 '04 : 0050 : dark star totally and completely fascismized i can finally breathe again! the last few days had been spent on preparing my italian presentation, and now i am totally fascimized. not really. but the word fascismo just keeps crawling back to me now that i'm trying to forget it. overall i thought i did a good write up, but i was extremely very unbelievably nervous when i was presenting. i think the fact that i found out my test score before going up sort of put an imaginary weight on my shoulders. i thought i did well on my second test, well, apparently i didn't. that was a big disappointment. at least i improved a lot and received an excellent mark for my third and last in class composition [my suspicions were true, my t.a. from first semester hated me] as for the presentazione, i don't believe my professoressa particularly hated it, but she was obviously not interested either: at one point in time during my speech she did a loud sigh. i froze for two seconds, feeling awkard, then quickly rushed through the rest. i just buried my face into my papers, trying to hide my shame and embarrassment. i did feel better when she cracked a smile and said bravissimo after i was done. oh well, it's passato prissimo, should look into the futuro. right now there really isn't much to worry, except for the morphology quiz for italian next week [remembering the different endings for all fifty kazillion tenses is not exactly the easiest thing to do] for a two hundred series course, the workload is mountainous; it just keeps coming and coming. now my eyes hurt from starring too much into the computer screen, and my mind is weary from the lack of sleep. i feel tired, but somehow i don't want to go to sleep. i just want to sit here and think; understand the world around me. i had an interesting conversation with a friend recently, and we discussed the issues that we ourselves approve and disapprove of in life. here are some of my conclusions: suicide : i absolutely flat out despise those who end their lives in this manner. life is a struggle, yes, there are ups and downs, and sometimes everything may seem unbearable and out of our control. but i believe better days are out there, and that there is always a solution to every problem. if you really seek out for help, you will find it. suicide to me is just the coward's way out; it's like you don't even have to try. sexuality : straight, gay, bi, trans, whatever. we should worry more about bush's increasing bombing in the middle east everyday, or global warming and the constant degradation of the environment, than fuss over an issue that really only matters behind closed doors. we have our world, they have theirs; leave them alone already for pete's sake. the bible : in general the bible is a good guide to a moral lifestyle, until it gets interpreted word for word. the bible simply cannot be taken literally; it should only serve as a guideline when we form our own ideas. christianity is not, i repeat - not, the only way. it's merely one of the many possibilities out there; and no, i'm not going to hell thank you. anyhow, those were my little musings from few days ago. i think i'm just an overly open-minded person, i find most things acceptable and there really isn't an issue that i am strongly against. well, except of course suicide [don't do it!] my friend said i should think over some of the issues. he proposed that i accept too much, and should redefine and put stricter boundaries on life. perhaps he's right; but for now, i feel this is where i stand, and i am quite comfortable. i don't believe i will change my opinions anytime soon. mar 06 '04 : 0119 : full moon it's good to have a single's room, anyway, today's topic : the passion just finished watching the passion of the christ; it's a very graphical and gory movie. not in the unrealistic and exaggerated sense like kill bill, where we can simply laugh and cheer at the ridiculousness of the bride's slicing and dicing of oren's henchmen in the house of blue leaves. whereas if you watch the passion, you wouldn't laugh when jesus is being tortured, ridiculated, crucified, regardless if you're a christian or not. unless you're really coldblooded and heartless. anyway. many claimed that this was an anti-sematic film, and it would bring hatred towards the jewish community. well, according to the bible, it is a well known fact that some jewish were responsible for the death of christ. ok, they killed jesus... so what? it happened long time ago, give it a rest already. i mean, i'm a chinese, should i hate the japanese because they came and raided my country back in the early twentieth century, and denied and refused to apologize for their wrong doings? well some chinese still do, but me, i love all things japanese! [some would probably brand me as a traitor or something] i don't believe people should constantly dwell in the past and remember the pain and anger. yes, i didn't experience it and i probably will never understand how tramutizing and painful a memory it was; it was horrible and nightmarish, and i truly sympathize those who were so unfortunately involved. my point is, something happened in the past, but notice the key word: past. jesus died, and he was partially killed by the jewish. events that have happened and words that were said can never be changed, so why don't we just accept them as they were and move on? i mean, hating, grieving, being depressed, these emotions just take too much time and effort, we should invest more time on the brighter parts of life. essentially, jesus already forgave everyone, so let's just be one big happy family again. do not forget the past however, just so it serves as a reference for us not to repeat, or do onto others the same mistake. anyway, i found out that my aunt-in-law, my dad's eldest brother's wife, has passed away today. i never really knew much about her, as i was not very close to my dad's family. although i'm sure she was an obedient respectful daughter to her parents, a dutiful and responsible wife to her husband, and a loving caring mother to her children. goodbye aunt, you will be missed. mar 03 '04 : 2118 : one fine day rate this girl! i hate waiting for people. if you can't even arrive on time, what good are you? it's the least respect you can have for someone. today i was supposed to meet up with a friend at twelve for lunch. having gone to bed around four in the morning, i had doubt if i would be able to get up and get ready before my friend arrives. but i made the effort, i woke up early and waited my friend to come. yet he screwed me over; he came online at eleven thirty and told me he just woke up. great. so i waited for another hour and half before he finally showed up. bastard. and supposedly he was to work at nine in the morning; he should be fired. lunch was no better; i have never been more confused by anyone else in my life. i seriously tried to understand my friend, and i tried to be supportive of his decisions. it seems to me, however, that he doesn't have the slightest idea on what he's doing. so whatever, i give up. he will find his way. now i know why my money leaves my hands so fast. when i have money i just have the urge to eat out more often. canada room stinks. i know the caferteria could've been much worst, but i'm spoiled, i suppose. if i can afford to eat out, i would do so without thinking twice. although i should have more self-control. anyway. japanese for lunch, and vietnamese with two other friends for dinner. i was very much satisfied with both restaurants, the services were great. and mango tango is a good cocktail. afterwards we went to mcdonald's for sundaes and mcflurry. yesterday, one of the friends, with whom i went to dinner today, he and i came to the same mcdonald's for food, and we started the 'rate this girl on a scale of one to ten' game. today when we first got there, there was no girl to rate. however, just as we were about to leave, an asian girl, dressed in navy blue jacket and blue jeans, carrying a skyblue bag with the word 'bagu' on her right shoulder came in. my friend didn't notice until i told him. first he gave her a five point five, but he just kept increasing his rating. and at one point he bluntly blurted seven point five in front of the girl, after desposing his waste, while she was standing two feet away from him. she probably heard. i gave her an eight point five; she definitely had the cuteness factor going. anyway. we came back to my room to watch mystic river, the movie for which sean penn won an oscar, after having been nominated for three times or something. it's a relatively good movie, until it gets to the ending. bill murray so should've won best actor, sean penn didn't do much in mystic river. bah! mar 02 '04 : 2124 : a mighty wind give me new clothes my sleeping pattern is showing improvement: i was able to sleep for nine hours yesterday night. although i did wake up around seven thirty for no apparent reason; still, it is a sign of improvement. and as i'm writing right now i'm feeling very exhausted. anyway. i woke up at around ten this morning, sat around a bit and listened to some music, and finally realized i should prepare for the italian in-class composition i was to have in the evening. i didn't get to it though. i sat around some more, browsing through some italian notes and the textbook, suddenly i felt like getting a haircut. i have been wanting to get one since about two weeks ago but never had time, or money for that matter [i think i ate all my money] well it's march, and my money has arrived. time to do it. so i went to topcuts, which is just two blocks away from sorbara. and despite not really able to understand what the barber-tress was saying to me, the end result was quite decent. my hair is short, and i am looking not so much like a fob anymore [or so i've been told] now i just need some new clothes and a new style. anyone know any cool and hip stores that sell decent and not so expensive clothing? drop me a line if you do. after lunching at mcdonald's, it's time to get started on my italian composition, and the topic of my choosing was "ti piacerebbe vivere di pi?in citt?o in campagna? perch? [would it please you to live in the city or countryside more? why?] it was expected that we write about five hundred words. i staggered, i struggled, i fought hard. finally i wrote four hundred and fifty words of italian with blood and sweat, and decided that it should be enough. i wrote down some vocabs and phrases on my little cue card that we were allowed to use; then a friend came knocked on the door around five thirty asking if i would go for a walk with him. sure, why not? so we did, the usual happened: he would get on my nerves, i would get on his. this vicious cycle never ends. five past six, time for italian. first hour was composition. i must say i have a fairly decent memory; i regurgitated my pre-written essay word for word. i'm rather talented. second hour was lesson and homework check; i forgot to do them. oops. finally was the much dreaded student presentations. in general, the presentations are fairly boring and unenthusiastic. partly because most people's oral skills range from passable to horrible, and or nobody really cares about the topics of the students' choosing [who gives about gucci? or the italian football league?] tonight was no exception. first was yet another soccer presentation, followed by a big movie star of italy back in the sixties. the first two weren't so bad, at least my two fellow students tried. but the next one really killed my mood. not that her subject was particularly boring, but the fact that she basically prepared the presentation the night before [yes you can tell] and she didn't seem to care that was so painful to listen to her speak. her accent and pronounciation are so horrible, i don't think anyone understood a word she said. my professor kept shaking her head during the whole time, and finally she could bare no longer and cut my fellow student off for good. i sort of felt sorry for her, but oh well, i imagine she deserved it. next week will be my presentation, i'm probably going to do it on fascism [so kindly suggested by my fellow fascist on the first floor] i think it'd prove to be an interesting topic. now i'll just keep my finger crossed that nobody asks me any questions afterwards... mar 01 '04 : 0123 : spring awakening return of the king, yah right!? return of the king is a good movie, yes, but i don't think it deserved all eleven awards that it received tonight at the oscars. make up and visual effects should've gone to pirates of the caribbean, and original song, "into the west"? "may it be" was twice as good but it didn't receive an oscar back when the fellowship was nominated. fools of the academy. perhaps if the trilogy was regarded as one movie, one entity, then it definitely deserved all those oscars. they were using the same graphics engines for all three movies weren't they? and the sound editors, costume designers, so on and so on? having been nominated for many of the catagories for three years in a row, if they didn't get them previously, why now? it's sort of like proclaiming return of the king as the best of the three movies, but it really isn't. anyway, that's my two cents on return of the king's raiding of the seventy-sixth academy awards. and bill murray should've won best actor. and nicole kidman was truly stunning, as well as angelina jolie. |