Christmassy conversations with Hwei

Book thursday night. You have a seat in the hall. Consider it a christmas treat! ;-)

EEEEEEEEEKS! REALLY???? but where did the seat come from?i thought they're all sold out?o_0

It came upon a midnight clear, while shepherds watched their sheep at night. Joy to the world!

YAAAAAAY!you didn't sacrifice a seat or something right?o_o

Every gift is a sacrifice. this season we remember the sacrifice of sacrifices; He who was born to die, whose light was extinguished that ours may burn evermore.

SO christmasily poetic.o_o thank you so so so so so much!i so wanted to go! T_T


* * *


hwei. woozy. says (11:23 PM):
eh guess what
roomie just handed me something that came in the mail addressed to me

Seladang says (11:24 PM):
wah

hwei. woozy. says (11:24 PM):
greeting cards from the mouth & foot painting artists
they said i'm under no obligation to buy, but my purchase would make a difference
and and and and and
guess how much the set is?

Seladang says (11:26 PM):
ah, how much?

hwei. woozy. says (11:26 PM):
RM35!
the same as the preview ticket
ahaha

Seladang says (11:28 PM):
wah
it is a sig
*sign
as you have received, so freely give

hwei. woozy. says (11:29 PM):
yalor
so signful
i shall, i shall

Seladang says (11:32 PM):
hahaha
you see
you put 'G' for God into 'sinful'
and you get 'siGnful'
ah, this is the incarnation

hwei. woozy. says (11:33 PM):
wah
it's a day of inspiration
haha!

Seladang says (11:33 PM):
indeed!

White Wine in the Sun

Tim Minchin's 'White Wine in the Sun'.

An 'agnostic' Christmas song, and probably one of the best songs I've heard in a while.


* * *


Lyrics (from here):


I, I really like Christmas
It’s sentimental I know, but I just really like it
I’m, I’m hardly religious
I’d rather break bread with Dawkins than Desmond Tutu to be honest
And yes I have all of the usual objections to consumerism
The commercialisation of an ancient religion
And the western-isation of a dead Palestinian
Press-ganged into selling PlayStations and beer
But I still really like it.

I’m looking forward to Christmas
Though I’m not expecting a visit from Jesus
I’ll be seeing my dad
My brother and sisters, my gran and my mum
They’ll be drinking white wine in the sun
I’ll be seeing my dad
My sisters and brother, my gran and my mum
We’ll be drinking white wine in the sun.

I don’t go for ancient wisdom
I don’t believe just ’cause ideas are tenacious it means that they’re worthy
I get freaked out by churches
Some of the hymns that they sing have nice chords but the lyrics are dodgy
And yes I have all of the usual objections
To the mis-education of children forced into a cult institution
And taught to externalise blame
And to feel ashamed
And to judge things as plain right and wrong
But I quite like the songs.

I’m not expecting big presents
The old combination of socks, jocks and chocolate is just fine by me.
‘Cause I’ll be seeing my dad
My brother and sisters, my gran and my mum
They’ll be drinking white wine in the sun
I’ll be seeing my dad
My sisters and brother, my gran and my mum
They’ll be drinking white wine in the sun.

And you my baby girl
My jetlagged infant daughter
You’ll be handed round the room
Like a puppy at a primary school
And you’re too young to know
But you will learn yourself one day
That wherever you are and whatever you face
These are the people who’ll make you feel safe in this world
My sweet blue-eyed girl

And if my baby girl
When you’re twenty-one or thirty-one
And Christmas comes around
And you find yourself nine thousand miles from home
You’ll know whatever comes
Your brother and sister, and me and your mum
Will be waiting for you in the sun
Girl, when Christmas comes
Your brothers and sisters, your aunts and your uncles
Your grandparents, cousins, and me and your mum
Will be drinking white wine in the sun
We’ll be waiting for you in the sun
Baby, whenever you come
We’ll be drinking white wine in the sun
Waiting.

I, I really like Christmas
It’s sentimental I know.

Tables and Chairs

Sivin, Rev Wolfgang and Judith. 'The Baptism-Driven Life', 27 May 2005.

I remember when BLC was but a few tables and chairs
When Uncle Long was able and there were
Only thirty of us on a Sunday morning;
When prayer in the church’s wings was a carpeted affair
Amongst guitars and keyboard, bass and drums—
The hum of cars pulling up into the compound
The sound of shoes and sandals untied at the threshold
Of holy ground.

Though small in number, we grew steadily in members,
The fastest-growing church in the city;
That is, the fastest-growing church—biologically!
I must’ve been the only teen (a sprightly lad of seventeen)
In a pool of uncles and aunties,
Little boys and girls, and some barely babies,
And of course, the ‘young at heart’.

Today the crosses stare from left and right
But they were always there, albeit out of sight;
One had to navigate the sofas on one side
And the library on the other—
(There were some good books, if one would bother to take a look.)
And then the kitchen, and the table laden
With nothing short of a scrumptious feast
And I would be reminded of the Table which welcomes
Without prejudice, the greatest and the least.

All this was not quite so long ago, back when
The only sign to lead a visitor in
Was a rickety board which read, “The Father’s House”
That led some to speculate if this was some new cult or sect.

I would do it again, would set down the world and its tempting voice
For another evening caught in the storm, mapping out life;
The darker those days, the brighter the candles shone
And the Father would walk with us till we could walk on our own
(Which, would, in all honesty, be not quite yet).
Still, we’re set, and at least a little resolute
To jump with neither landing pad nor parachute;
With only a little faith flung high up in the air,
That we may resume the work that was begun
(The work which may take us anywhere)
The work of the Son whom we have met
Even in a carpeted room with no more than a few tables and chairs.


* * *


With thanks to SooT for the biological observation.

First published in the Mustard Seed, Christmas 2010 edition. The last line, 'Even in a carpeted room...' should only appear at the very end, and not at the end of the fourth stanza.

Of Ben, Tim and Yen in 2008

In looking through old photos to search for something for a friend, I practically walked through many moments of my life in campus since my first year in 2007. There isn't enough time now to relive each of those memories, but I found a particular sequence of photos somewhat arresting.

Here are two photos from that sequence:

We happened to be around at the Arts Fac at the same time, and Yen was there too. She put us through some poses to demonstrate something she was working on for one of her classes. (This was back when she was Yen Yen the second-year undergraduate, and not Miss Leong as she is addressed today.)

They were taken on Tim's D40 (before he'd acquired his permanent Tamron 17-50mm lens), I think, by Yen.

This was nearly one year before Tim and I would be walking along corridors of a higher power, and quite some time before Dataran Sastera became what it is today. This was also Tim's pre-Crocs era, and back when I was wearing my Timberland shoes, which I now eschew in favour of the simplicity of Hush Puppies and 'kampung adidas'.

But some things haven't changed. Tim is still frequently seen in that same pair of shorts, and I still wear those jeans, albeit faded after all the wear-and-tear.

How much changes in over two-and-a-half years? So much, and yet also, very little!

A Cocktail a Day

Aunty Daphne and Jonathan spent most of last week here with the family.

On Thursday evening, the day before they returned home, she made her special Parmesan Chicken for us.

Every night of the week she was here, I made a cocktail. In some ways, this sustained the momentum built during the LAB Tour (more on that to come!) of the previous weekend.

* * *

Tuesday: Bacardi Buck

A tall drink made by building.

2 measures Bacardi white
1/2 measure triple sec
Juice of 1/2 lemon
4 measures ginger ale
Spent shell of 1/2 lemon to garnish

Add lemon juice to highball with ice. Drop in spent shell and add the rest of the ingredients.

Wednesday: Lemon Margarita

The traditional Margarita was named after the actress Marjorie King, who was a guest at Danny Herrera's Rancho La Gloria in Tijuana in 1948, where he discovered that she was allergic to every spirit except tequila.

I made a variation on the usual lime version by using lemon instead.

2 measures tequila
1 1/4 measures triple sec
3/4 measures lemon juice
lemon wedge

Rim the glass with salt. Shake the lime juice, triple sec and tequila, and strain. Garnish with a wedge of lemon.

Thursday: Gin Rickey

First made circa 1893 in Shoemakers Restaurant in Washington, D.C., for Joe 'Colonel Jim' Rickey, a Congressional lobbyist from Kentucky.

A Rickey can be made using any spirit as its base.

2 measures gin
Juice of 1 lime
4 measures soda water

Squeeze the juice of the lime into a highball and drop the spent lime shell in. Add gin and stir, then top up with soda water.

Friday: Madras

A drink that evokes the bright textiles of Madras.

Because I inadvertently fell asleep early on Thursday night, I made this as a breakfast cocktail shortly before Aunty Daphne's departure on Friday.

1 measure vodka
2 measures cranberry juice
2 measures orange juice

Pour orange juice, cranberry juice and vodka into highball, and stir.

* * *

All cocktail recipes and descriptions from Maria Costantino's The Cocktail Handbook, with minor variations to suit taste. Photographs original.

Walking Bukit Bintang

It was a pleasant 3 November evening with Leanne, Steph and Aloysius in the heart of KL. The weather was surprisingly fair and clear, and the roads (well, just one actually!) very walkable.

Leanne and I spent some time hanging out in Lot 10 while waiting for Steph and Aloysius. We visited the Apple and NG stores, and dropped by Guardian. YTL's presence was strongly felt, with their new 'YES' 3G/wireless service complementing the mall's Christmas décor.

We also visited Fahrenheit 88; it was my first time at the new place, which was once KL Plaza. Remember when it was called Mun Loong, anyone?

Next on National Geographic.

Fahrenheit 88.

Cabbie taking a shot of Fahrenheit 88.

The simple but elegant lobby at Hotel Piccolo.

Leanne and the Christmas tree, Piccolo lobby.

I'm not sure if every egg dreams of being cracked over a griddle, fried and flung into gastric juices, but it is extremely difficult to fault the McDonald's advertising campaigns!

Jalan Bukit Bintang.

Steph and Aloysius outside Tarbush, where we had dinner.

Breakdancers.

Breakdancers again.

The fire-swirling Mat Salleh.

The fire-swirling Mat Salleh in action.

1Malaysia and the photographer.

Steph and Leanne on the plaza outside the Pavilion.

* * *

It has occurred to me, over the first two weeks of December, that photography is a deviation from reality.

While photography encompasses 'realistic' styles like those employed for nature and journalism, as well as 'fantastic' styles like those used in lomography, pop art and some types of portraiture, the very elements used to achieve impact in photography deviate from how the eye perceives things.

I am talking about things like long exposures, shallow depth-of-field, creative flash and motion blur. These are some of many techniques used by photographers to convey emotions, and even truths, about the world around them.

But that's photography, isn't it? The usage of unrealistic methods to describe something realistically. I can't overquote John Sexton when he says, "It's so bizarre to me that I can show you a picture that's black-and-white and you somehow think it represents reality. When's the last time you opened a window and it was black and white outdoors?"

(The full interview here.)

Wordled

So Tse Hwei 'wordled' my blog. Read about it here.

As she describes it:

"It's this thing that analyzes a text, then generates a word cloud, with the words appearing more frequently generated larger than the rest."

If I may add, I think it also prioritises recent posts over older ones.


Here's my blog, wordled by Hwei:

For fun, I did one on Yen's blog:

Ai Wei's:

And Jia Hui's:

(Strangely enough, I somehow remember hearing about this quite some time ago. Strange sense of déjà vu.)

Tanjong Pagar

For Tien Li


Nightlights, waterfront, speedboat
Lights dim, recede from the rim of water and land
Whether on promontory or out in an island.

In a culture of organised statements and thoughts
Where civilisation becomes civil.

A sense of adventure
An element of the unknown
Where am I to be in obedience to Christ?
The thinking involved, the independence
Not just on Sunday morning, but a decision we must make continuously.
To be a good doctor, a good dancer
This still is the focal point
Whereupon, turning around with head spinning
You focus on a spot.

What is this imagery--
Here comes a dreamer
(But I will show him how much he must suffer)
What is this imaginary--
The Master sends, but he has already gone ahead.
To bear these tests, to be the best even when the situation is not the best.
Where danger and opportunity meet
In crisis, the door open to complete
What was begun, ere day is done.

Keep the robe not for a special occasion
But wear it every day
Use these gifts without exception
Or watch them die away.
The heart with nothing to love becomes unloving
The one, not used to forgiving, becomes unforgiving
As cold water turns to ice, frozen and never moving.

Shall you reign because you enclose yourself in cedar?

Take on me, take me on
Look out for the "a-ha" moment
But it doesn’t come; you are dry on inspiration.

Pen and pencil,
Stencil to trace the shape of the road ahead.
A boy dams a river, a sliver of hope
That water won’t just rush through,
Flowing into stillness, in the absence of motion
Still flowing—the water a bed for life.


(November 2010)

Ektar 100 Preview

Film is dying, and yet film giants Fujifilm and Kodak have in recent years, well into the digital age, launched new and reintroduced film stocks.

Fujifilm re-engineered their classic Velvia (1990-2005) using an up-to-date film base, and re-released it in 2007 as Velvia 50 due to popular demand. Digital could not, and still cannot, come close to approximating Velvia.

Kodak's latest product (besides Portra 400, which is more of a revision and update than a new film stock proper) is Ektar 100, launched in September 2008. The original Ektar was introduced in 1989 with ISO ratings of 25, 125 (later 100) and 1000, and then discontinued in 1994. The new emulsion, while bearing the name of its predecessor, was not designed to be a perfect copy as Velvia 50 was.

Ektar 100 is touted to be, among other things, exceptional for scanning and digitising. It is also claimed to have the highest saturation of any Kodak print film available today, as well as the smoothest and finest grain, making it suitable for enlarging. (More from Kodak here.)

I got my first five rolls from B&H, collecting them from the UPS facility in Honolulu the day before leaving for the Big Island. It was the first film I shot on the Big Island, and to date I have finished some seven or eight rolls.

* * *

Of course, all the promotional fluff is meaningless if the film does not perform well as a film to begin with; there is no point hanging a wonderful enlargement of a lousy photograph. And as far as films are concerned, the main areas of concern are colour reproduction, performance under various lighting conditions and dynamic range.

It was the 69th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor bombing two days ago, and what better way to commemorate the occasion than to show how Ektar performed on the U.S.S. Missouri in Pearl Harbor itself!

Stars and Stripes.

The Captain's Cabin.

View of the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial, Pearl Harbor and Honolulu from atop the U.S.S. Missouri.

Piao, Ben, Nasha, Tawin and Renzo. Photo by the U.S.S. Missouri crew guy.

Site of a kamikaze attack on deck.

The ship's library.

In the shots above, Ektar performs relatively well in daylight; but so do most print films. Instead, I was impressed by the pictures of the Captain's Cabin and the Library. The warm light inside the Captain's Cabin was well-balanced with the cooler early afternoon light on the outside, maintaining white balance in spite of different colour temperatures.

In the Library picture, the red chair cushions, yellow signboard and brown index card cabinet were reproduced with good saturation and colour fidelity in spite of the fluorescent lighting.

* * *

Let's see how Ektar 100 performs under a variety of lighting conditions.

What follows are pairs of photos taken in fluorescent, overcast, shade and sulfur lamp light, respectively.

Maria Ivanova, Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington, D.C.

Lunch, Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington, D.C.

As can be seen, Ektar 100 handles fluorescent, especially warm fluorescent, light very well. Colours are vivid and true-to-life, and the textures are pleasant. In fact, the room looks more pleasant and welcoming than I actually remember it!

Lalang, Pologround at Taman Sultan Azlan Shah, Ipoh.

Joy, Pologround at Taman Sultan Azlan Shah, Ipoh.

Under overcast conditions, the overall image is less flattering, but colours remain punchy and saturated. The lalang, for instance, was practically drab and colourless when I shot it.

Suit Lin, Physics Lab at the abandoned school, Ipoh.

Greens, Pahala Plantations manager's house, Ka'u, Big Island of Hawai'i.

Ektar 100 seems to perform best in shade on warm days, where the light is warm enough to allow the saturated colours to come through without looking unnatural. Suit Lin's turquoise tank top contrasts with the orange doors, and the salad looks tempting!

Family on Hari Raya Eve, Taiping Railway Station.

Adrian, Ruth, Emily Chow and George, Ferry to Penang.

I once thought these atrocities were weaknesses owned only by slide films. Apparently not! Sulphur lamps seem to produce light which is too cool and 'green' for Ektar 100 to manage. Of course, this can be remedied using photo-editing software, but the process is laborious.

* * *

Let's see how Ektar 100 stacks up against Portra 160VC (which I recently blogged, and raved, about) and digital capture.

Ektar 100.

Portra 160VC.

Digital, Nikon D50.

Of the three, Ektar's colours are the least lifelike, while digital is the warmest. However, I like the textures of Portra best. Ektar has once again been trumped by the green sulphur lamps high up on the roof of the station, while digital has taken on a somewhat yellowish tint.

On the other hand, Portra most closely resembles what I saw on the platform, albeit a little less warm.

* * *

Roger and Frances describe Ektar 100 here as follows:

It's incredibly rewarding if you use it properly, and quite close to a disaster if you don't. Think of it as a negative film with the latitude of slide film, and it's rewarding: depending on exposure, you can choose anything from soft, pastel colours (minimum exposure) to rich, saturated colours.

That Ektar 100 behaves as a print film with slide-like qualities does not come as a surprise, as slide films Velvia and Provia are also abysmal performers under sulphur lamps.

It seems the one thing consistent about colour films, especially colour slide films, is that they require careful lighting. They are not as flexible as digital. But when you get the light right, they perform very well. Take Velvia; it has a very narrow dynamic range, extremely high saturation, and won't perform well in any but the finest light.

You see, it's difficult to get conditions right for films like Velvia, but when those conditions are right, no other film, and certainly no digital processor, comes close to matching it.


I've barely shot enough to arrive at the final word on Ektar 100; it seems to be the sort of film that can be suited to a variety of applications if the photographer knows what he/she is doing. And so I shall experiment a little more with it and see if I can get it to surprise me even further.

Langkawi, here we come!

A little colour in a bland day

It's been one of those days.

The disappointment after driving through the morning jam. (Nonetheless, it was still the Eucharist.)

The (uncalled for) anger and short-temperedness.

Walking out at lunch.

Deciding to forego something I had looked forward to over the last few days.

(I did enjoy the morning, though. Playing 'Jerusalem' on the piano, sorting out those old books and remembering where it all began.)


* * *


I called it the 'max-confusion' point. It's not really a breaking point, but it's a point where everything is just swirling around too fast and too wildly for any of it to make any sense.


Yet in the midst of all this...

A very kind and thoughtful gesture. It was given as a lunch gift; I am about to have it for dinner.

And then when I got home, I saw this:

Shipped much faster and much more efficiently than it did to Hawai'i back in late May.


Film really never fails.

It never fails photographically, and it never fails to brighten up a gloomy day.