While the Wongs are away in BKK, I'm dogsitting Mimi, the canine Wong. Mimi's not the type that likes to be left alone, in fact, she's a bit of a Screamin' Mimi when everyone leaves the house without her. So because I was thinking of entertaining myself this evening outdoors, I took her and Q-tip to the Botanic Gardens for a long afternoon walk to tire them out. The idea was that while they were asleep at home, I could sneak out and look for a good dinner at some dog-unfriendly establishment.

Phase One of the plan worked. The dogs and I kept exploring path after path in the Gardens, Q-tip huffing and puffing like a steam engine almost immediately we began walking. I rewarded them with a plastic cup of iced-water close to the end of our walk. They drank like I've never seen them drink before. Dogs dog-tired -- check!

Phase Two, unfortunately was an abject failure. We came home and the dogs fell asleep where they stood. But guess who else also fell unconscious alongside them and didn't wake up until past dinner time? Cup noodles for dinner again. :P

Drama Club got a first look at Steph, the new instructor. On Mel's invite, I dropped in to see how things would be getting along between Steph and the kids. I must say, they warmed up to each other pretty well. Steph got them to play with lots of simple improvisations to see what kind of a script they'd like to devise for Drama Night 08.

Drama this year has the most forward, ready-to-go, dare-to-bare kids I've ever encountered in its history. They devise scenarios quickly among themselves, play, rehearse and perform at the drop of a hat. No cajoling, no threats, no freezing on stage like a deer in headlights, they just do whatever their imaginations lead. I thought they'd be best suited for all-out comedy, but given the right combination of cast, I think serious drama won't be beyond them either.

They have the desire to perform, performance discipline, and they can make the rules work for them. And I think Steph is the right person who can get them working. One of the exercises the kids did was to speak a line that someone had hurt them before with. If what the kids delivered was real, there's a lot of pain they carry inside them. I'd sure hate to be the recipient of some of those things they said. Then they had to speak a line that someone made them feel happy with. Oddly enough, it was these lines that made me feel more like crying. Guess I'm a sucker for happy endings.

Looks like Drama Night 08 is going to be very interesting...

"Beowulf", who gave me nightmares in 1st year uni because of its convoluted narration in ye Olde Englyshhe, is now finally a CGI animated action movie, a medium I can understand. Isn't it just typical that one of the oldest stories in the English language would be a hack 'n slash, swords 'n socery epic?

Zemekis' movie was all just a main-points synopsis of the major action in the 3000+ line standard literary text. Scriptwriters Gaiman and Avery bundle the unweildly tale into a neat package -- Gaiman has a knack for writing in smooth scene transitions -- and it all makes sense now!

At the heart of it, there isn't much of a story, despite the liberties the movie takes in the relationships of the main players. Our hero kills a monster, takes on said monster's mom, then goes dragon-slaying in his old age. Maybe it's time to pick up the text again and have another read, if only to experience the richness of the telling from the first time around.

Invigilation duty is officially over. It's a good thing they give us a little extra moolah for this service. I'll need it to pay for that traffic violation of last week. Yup, this criminal genius got slapped with a $120 fine plus 3 demerits for that little misadventure. Guess it could'a been worse.

Nope. Not a good week at all...