Of The Idiot's Guide to Musicals (Chapter 1)

Those who know me well enough know that I am a huge of fan of musicals or musical theatre. Actually, fan is an understatement. I am totally hooked onto musicals. All the VCDs I have of at home, I watch over and over and over again. And if you catch me singing, more often than not, I will be singing something straight of a musical (out of tune, of course). Plus one of the reasons I want to go to City University is because it is close to West End, home of all things musical!

So, it is only natural for me to start a blow-by-blow account and review of the musicals I've seen (by TV or on stage). And hopefully, I will encourage you all to enjoy the wonderful art that is musicals.

Grease - the musical which I believe teenagers (or at least, people my age) will most probably enjoy out of all the others. The reason - simply because it features teenage issues, namely getting laid, fast cars, cigarettes and John Travolta shaking his pelvic region. Furthermore, with catchy songs the likes of Summer Nights (tell me more, tell me more) , Hopelessly Devoted to You and the theme song by the Bee Gees, whats there not to like? And this is one of the few musicals where it doesn't actually feature a person dying or already dead (believe me, there are only a few)

It is a good movie to start with if you are the kind who couldn't be bothered by musicals or anything resembling it. If not, just watch it for the sake of watching a young Olivia Newton-John belting out her vocals before she grew old and performed for the Sydney Olympics. Grease - the stuff in the main actors hair (they didn't have Brylcream then) also features a flying car. 'nuff said.

I have yet to see this performed on stage, but I believe it would be nothing short of spectacular. Grease, is after all, "the word, the place and the motion".

Of Dolls, Sharks and Girls with Long Black Hair

I get spooked easily, I'll readily admit that.

When I was about 7 and I first saw Jaws, lets just say that was the last time I ever took a bath. I still do showers, if you are wondering. And now, I still don't do baths, not because I am afraid of shark-infested waters but because I do not like washing away my filth with my filth.

I dislike walking in dark corners - alone. You know, sometimes you get that feeling that someone is watching you and staring at the back of your head. The ones that give you goosebumps and make your hair stand. Yeah, I get that feeling often, and I usually end up scurrying fast straight ahead, my legs ready to sprint if something touches my back.

After watching the Exorcist, I didn't want to stare at the foot of my bed when I turn off the ligts to go to sleep for fear that Linda Blair would turn her gruesome face around and face me.

And just yesterday, after finishing four hundred pages of The Taking by Dean Koontz, when I was supposed to be studying for Law, I didn't want to put my feet to the ground for fear that a small hand would grab it from under the bed. Spoiler alert: Somewhere in the book, there is this part about self-mutilating doll who starts screaming "Diapers, diapers, di.. di... di..." minus the last syllable. A sort of Chucky. The book is creepy, but maybe I just have an overly vivid imagination.

I admit that all these fears are irrational and illogical, something right out of the likes of Stephen King. And besides we are fed with daily doses of aliens, witches, demons and critters from our tube. So I have built quite an impressive immune system towards demoic manifestations. Its just that sometimes, just sometimes, you get creeped out by the littlest things. (shudders)

Quote: "Red rum... red rum" (Jack Nicholson in The Shining)

Of Having the Force with Me

Yesterday was a good day. Went back to my old college and had a blast mingling with coordinators and juniors.

They built this new cafe just outside Inti College Subang Jaya, aptly called Asia Cafe. And boy, went I went there - food galore. It is just like your typical hawker centre with the addition of Japanese and Korean food and even Vietnamese food. And the food ain't that all expensive, especially when compared with the oh-so-expensive food of good ole KDU. Thus the unfairness of the modern economy- when there are three colleges in one particular area, you get Ramen and Vietnamese mee and the ever-so-close Macdonalds, and when you are in a money-eating college like yours truly, you get Yu Yi.

The AUP (American University Program) Society, which I am in and still am - as alumni, came out with a play to celebrate AUP Week. There the mingling happened and I got involved with the play when my ex- vice coordinator volunteered me to help out. The name of the play was, get this - AUP Wars IV: A New Joke, which, if you have been living in a box for your entire life, is a spoof of Star Wars. So I was 'hired' to handle the props, and while limping around carrying tables and chairs, I basically had a great time. Especially since I was in the group photo shoot as well as the encore. Especially since my former Calculus teacher spotted me and she remembered my familiar face. Especially since I get to know one British lass from London (who was, by the way, playing Princess Leia). =) Who I promptly asked whether she knew City University. Her response: "Huh? Where's that?"

If I get the photos, will try to put it online. The costumes were awesome! Especially Chewbacca's.