POTHOLES AND GIANTS

I had a rather strange dream just two nights ago where in it I was on board some sort of cruise ship. I say cruise as there were rooms in there, but the colours and material seemed a lot more... austere and institutional. I had a room and kept going across the double-loaded carpetted corridor to the room opposite of mine, which was more like an office, with a pothole window opening, and a large desk in front of it. A lady psychologist sits there.

It seems I was going to her for counselling, the issues are now vague. Possibly nothing real or transient, more out of this world and ethereal.

So there was a lot of moving to and from this room.

The last crossover to her room I made, she wasn't there. I approached the pothole and peered out of it, and there it was! A crazy awesome view of the ocean (it felt really low/close to the surface of the water... perhaps 10metres or 2 storeys above sealevel), and a colony of floating giant statues.

There was an egyptian feel to the sight (despite the abundance of water), the colony started as giant persian cat-like statues (giant as in ggggggggiiiiiiiiiggggggggantic-a-normous. 2 times statue of liberty. in grey granite), as we travel on, we passed the cat-contingent and moved onto some kind of large and magnificent giant-bird-contingent.

The next moment my view became that of a flying camera, which moved real quick looking back into the room, zoomed out of the room  into the corridor and into some foyer, picked up speed and zoomed through a large steel panelled exit door hinged from the top. Daylight! I saw! The 'camera view' then panned backwards facing where I just exited, and I saw an extensive part of the ship, only then could I see where I was held.

Strange, so strange.

Beach House - Walk in the Park

Beach House makes really beautiful music to transport you someplace dreamy, always.

Little Joy - Unattainable

Soundtrack to Tuesday Morning Rain

Not sure if anyone else was caught in the heavy rain this morning to work, well I certainly was. I suppose what made it enjoyable for me, albeit stepping in flood puddles and getting my feet wet, was the music I had going. On random shuffle, here's a snippet of what my trusty portable music machine played me this morning:

Sondre Lerche - Say It All
Travis - Turn
REM - I've Been High
The Wallflowers - One Head Light
James Iha - My Advice

It really made the inconveniences brought by the rain seem orchestrated and pretty! 

Memory as a Design Concept (?)

People often phrase it "take a piece of memory from..." when referring to the concept of remembrance - memory. It is a highly visual construct, of removing an essence (memory) from a scene and taking it away with one.

Definition (as according to  Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 6th Edition 2003. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003):

memory

1.  the ability of the mind to store and recall past sensations, thoughts, knowledge, etc.

What makes a memory? Can a design presuppose this? In the noblest of sense, one can design an experience, a journey, but can you really design for a memory?

Memory can be conceived as taking away from scene.
Now, consider Memory as adding to the scene.
If I were to carve out a piece of my heart and leave it at the scene, my void constitutes my memory.
My addition to the scene leaves it my memory.

MORNING JAZZ

It's a lovely cool breezy Saturday morning, light drizzle outside, bossa nova jazz inside with breakfast and coffee. Makes me smile.

DREAM FRIENDS

By "dream friends" I don't mean ideal friends, but rather, people who are .. friends in my dreams.

I've always had extremely vivid dreams since I can remember. Every now and then, I'd have a dream about perhaps an acquaintance, a classmate, a colleague, or the girl who fixes my flat white at the coffee stop. At times, in these dreams, these characters feel like such good friends and kindred spirits that I wake up feeling as if I have a bond with them! I should be clearly aware that these are just dreams, figments of my sub-conscious occasionally linking aspects of my memory in a random (sometimes haphazard) manner, or so one would think. 

You might be surprised to hear that I have at least once in the past woken up and thought (believed) that this girl in my class (she's not a close friend, just someone I used to see in class quite often, we hardly even spoke) was someone close! If I recall correctly, I actually started speaking to her more, and felt comfortable doing so... simply because in my dream, she was a close and connected friend!

When I try to rationalise these events, I get concerned that I'm too connected to my dreams!

CONVERSATIONS OF INTERESTS

I had a conversation today, about film, books, and music.

Haha yes, that came out more as a statement, and I saw the beauty of that and gave it a moment (hence this new paragraph). It is remarkable how certain seemingly "obvious" sort of activities really deserves, a moment (!).

Also, someone actually name-dropped "Marcuse", and I got estatic! Was so ready to discuss One-Dimensional Man, then he burst my bubble and admitted that he owns the book but never read it. Okay. Good start.

REFLECTIONS

Hello everyone, Happy Holidays to one and all!

It's the last day of 2009... I guess it deserves some form of reflection. I'm glad to say my life has been enriched in new (and mature) ways the past two years. Often it feels like I've aged about 5years in that span, whether in grown-up life experience, or job-scope and responsibilities.

2009:

1.) T.O.P./completed 6 building projects I've been slogging over since 2007

2.) Two other projects went on site at the start of the year, more contractors to manage, "yay"!

3.) Family: Baby Kaeris joined the family in March!

4.) New Home!

5.) Formalised my life partner!

6.) Holiday: Turkey!

7.) Holiday: Bali!

8.) Electronics Changed: Notebook + Mobile phone (these have become such personal items)

9.) Juggling growth & challenges of new home + life + love + furnishing + flowers + choressss

10.) (not so great) Health pits this year - suffered an excruciating slipped disc, home bound for a month.

Overall, it's been very fulfilling - 2009. I am most thankful for my supportive and loving family - dad, mom, sister & hubby, nephew and niece... and the new addition to my closest circle, my shiv. At times when things aren't going dandy & pretty,  it feels like all will be well as long as I have their love and support.

I have never really been in the habit of making new year resolutions (personally, I have objectives and I work to achieve those, but they don't monumentally begin at the dawn of a new calendar number). I do however, have a few big changes coming up shortly after the new year starts. Certainly hope those work out in a pretty and meaningful way!!

Here's to Happiness & Health!!

*CHEERS* !!!

BAND AID - DO THEY KNOW ITS CHRISTMAS

BAND AID 1984 - DO THEY KNOW ITS CHRISTMAS

original version as written by midge ure & bob geldof to raise money for relief of 1984~85 famine in Ethiopia. Also starring original (we talkin about 25 years ago here, people! back when Sting looked like Beckham! ooohhh... ) Wham!, Boy George, Duran Duran, Bono and Adam Clayton, Sting etc...

BAND AID 2004 - DO THEY KNOW ITS CHRISTMAS

contemporary cover version, most people are more familiar with. this time, produced by bob geldof and nigel godrich (radiohead, travis), with contributions on instruments by radiohead, travis, the darkness, supergrass, and sir paul mccartney.

i love the bit [around 3:40] where francis healy (travis) does his thing :)

So which do you prefer?

JOHN LENNON - WATCHING THE WHEELS

Song of the day:

Liam Gallagher Starts Band With Other Members of Oasis Who Aren't Noel

Liam Gallagher Starts Band With Other Members of Oasis Who Aren't Noel

friday, november 13 Pitchfork

In the middle of an Italian radio interview aimed at promoting his Pretty Green clothing line, former Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher revealed that he's currently working on music with all of his old Oasis band mates not named Noel. (Via Billboard.) Their new band, however, won't be called Oasis. "Oasis is done," he reiterated, expressing a long-overdue and now factual sentiment.

In the interview, he also mentioned that his new band should start gigging "in a couple of months" and that the end of Oasis climaxed with a guitar smashing session between him and his brother. (Via NME.) Would you expect anything less?

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