Ok, a delicate issue, so language will be a bit more circumspect than usual:
Head Office has identified certain unfair practices in the conduct of project appraisals. Some branch offices have been practicing unauthorized procedures to advantage themselves in the award of 'A' grade work, but in so doing have contravened the spirit of independent enterprise. Head Office has been clear in censuring such practices and hopes to level the playing field for all candidates once again.
I, for one, am appreciative of the stern action taken by Head Office. It proves to me that the higher ups really do have their heads screwed on straight. It's about time we put the emphasis back on quality rather than quantity.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
The dragon's signature
... not that I'd necessarily find a use for every single tchotchke in the box, but it's the satisfaction of Having a bunch of additional toys to play with for free that thrills. Who knows? One or two may yet prove to be actually useful in aiding my hero's 'rise to power'. And even if I let them languish untouched in my inventory, that's my prerogative. So there.
But for now, said game lies pristine in its box. Currently too tired and too busy to start a new campaign in dragon-slaying. The pix is just for drooling over. Soon, soon...
Saturday, March 05, 2011
Broadcasting 'live'
Sports Carny, and I'm stuck in the announcers' tent 'cos J2 NYeDC volunteered to be the announcers for the day. The job may sound like a cushy assignment compared to all the sweating, huffing and puffing of physical competition going on all around us, but in reality it's a frenzy of activity inside the tent too.
Apart from the many, varied and random announcements requested through the crackly walkie-talkie set; the odd staff in-charge or any other staff with some instruction or other; the students who have either found some item or lost one; and the 100 Plus vendor with the occasional reminder to keep hydrated and drink his *FREE* isotonic beverage; there had to be entertaining banter and interviews with random participants who happened to be passing within microphone range; and the lucky draw to run. Sometimes all at the same time. :p
Thankfully, the J2s this year are a strong bunch, ever hyper and willing to give their all. They took every demand in their stride, stayed cool and soldiered on through the day with unflagging spirits. Great job!
Apart from the many, varied and random announcements requested through the crackly walkie-talkie set; the odd staff in-charge or any other staff with some instruction or other; the students who have either found some item or lost one; and the 100 Plus vendor with the occasional reminder to keep hydrated and drink his *FREE* isotonic beverage; there had to be entertaining banter and interviews with random participants who happened to be passing within microphone range; and the lucky draw to run. Sometimes all at the same time. :p
Thankfully, the J2s this year are a strong bunch, ever hyper and willing to give their all. They took every demand in their stride, stayed cool and soldiered on through the day with unflagging spirits. Great job!
Friday, March 04, 2011
Results driven
What exactly constitutes a good result? At today's release of 2010 'A' results, I had students bawling their eyes out. Gracie had achieved grades many others would have killed for, yet she felt she hadn't done well enough. Chiam exploded in tears 'cos (I found out later from an objective source) she did better than she'd expected.
What's 'good', I suppose, boils down to our results meeting and exceeding our own expectations in relation to what society sets up as standards of achievement. The latter being constant, the higher our expectations of ourselves the harder it becomes to be satisfied with our performance.
Was I happy, then, with my results? Because I felt my methods seriously needed vindication after last year's debacle, my expectations may have been higher than realistic... Ok, it is anomalous that I can be so concerned about results. After all, I keep espousing that the process is more important than the product, don't I? But this time I strongly believe in the process I'm developing, and so I expect to see the results.
Impartially speaking, what I got was a clear improvement from last year. But I don't exactly feel wildly ecstatic about that. I'd rate 2010 as a meh.
Teacher's remarks: Can still do better.
Thursday, March 03, 2011
No happy ending
These days, I can be so tired that when I take a supine position on the floor for a shut-eye, I may not even stir for a couple of hours. Not even if Maui's taken it upon himself to give me a massage with the additional claw-extension-and-grip technique. That's a feline specialty. I know what he's been doing 'cos when I wake up, there are tiny, little holes on the skin of my stomach. Fortunately, I heal quickly.
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
Nepalese dining
And just like that, Jen K is flying off again in the morning. Bade her farewell with a Nepalese dinner at Shish Mahal (Albert Court). It was quite an economical meal comprising naan, tandoori chix, mutton kurma, vegetable pakoras and a spinach dish. Conclusion: Nepalese food isn't much different from regular Indian fare.
Must commend the with-a-smile service. Very warm and obliging, prompt too.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Long-overdue reunion
These past few weekends, we've been taking Q-tip to the Botanic Gardens for fresh air and exercise. Good that every time we go, she's able to walk a little further without getting tired.
Today, this water monitor decided to go for a little stroll too.
The reunion at this table was literally between old friends who haven't seen each other in years! With Jen K flying in for a rare visit, it was the one opportunity for us all to drop everything and catch up.
Quite possibly the last lo hei of the year for us. It's no longer CNY, after all.
Signage at the kopitiam: No Food, No Drinks, No Cross-Species Hanky-Panky. Wait, what...?
Saturday, February 26, 2011
The write stuff
I'm linking Martin Jaques' TED Talk on the rise of China not so much because of the content of his presentation, but rather to observe that the audience isn't busy scribbling notes trying to take it all down. At TED, we can listen to so many great minds speak about our times but we don't bother writing down what we're hearing?
What does that say about us and our egos when we insist that our kids write down everything we say in our piddly little lectures and tutorials, like as if we were spinning pure gold from our mouths?
Oh, if you want to listen to Jaques, go ahead. Interesting guy. Don't mind my ranting.
Friday, February 25, 2011
Noise to signal
The kids have completed something of an in-house survey regarding how they view themselves, and their personal goals and traits. Interestingly, the majority of them claim that they study best alone, isolated from external distractions. This I believe. When we set our minds to study, we don't like any unnecessary noise that would disrupt the signal we're trying so hard to focus on.
But the kids are now on the threshold of having to distill more knowledge from more information that they have ever encountered before. Alone, they're going to have a terrible time coping with such a deluge of material. That's why we put them in classes -- so they can work together, and help each other in the distillation process.
From this level onwards, study becomes an increasingly social process. We're looking at big concepts that have to do with life, human behaviour, and power relationships, for example, and are considering the many facets making up the big questions that we as a species have currently no answer to. What can a class of 16 year-olds do to make any headway in a task this huge? Same thing as the rest of humanity is doing: share our observations with one another and hope the pooling, sifting and combining of our collective thoughts and ideas will eventually help us make sense of it all.
So the class is like an old-time distillery, with lots of processes to break down the raw materials and lots of hands to make the machinery work. The finished product is a fine cognac to look forward to. This is the knowledge that the kids will take away from their cooperative labours. The best thing about a good liquor is that it can be further shared and enjoyed in a social environment, or taken into a private study to be savoured at one's leisure. That's when studying alone really comes into its own.
But the kids are now on the threshold of having to distill more knowledge from more information that they have ever encountered before. Alone, they're going to have a terrible time coping with such a deluge of material. That's why we put them in classes -- so they can work together, and help each other in the distillation process.
From this level onwards, study becomes an increasingly social process. We're looking at big concepts that have to do with life, human behaviour, and power relationships, for example, and are considering the many facets making up the big questions that we as a species have currently no answer to. What can a class of 16 year-olds do to make any headway in a task this huge? Same thing as the rest of humanity is doing: share our observations with one another and hope the pooling, sifting and combining of our collective thoughts and ideas will eventually help us make sense of it all.
So the class is like an old-time distillery, with lots of processes to break down the raw materials and lots of hands to make the machinery work. The finished product is a fine cognac to look forward to. This is the knowledge that the kids will take away from their cooperative labours. The best thing about a good liquor is that it can be further shared and enjoyed in a social environment, or taken into a private study to be savoured at one's leisure. That's when studying alone really comes into its own.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Three little words make all the difference
Which are the three most important words in any human language? 'I don't know'.
Which are the next three most important words in any human language? 'Let's* find out'.
At this point of human intellectual development, we've encapsulated the total cognitive objectives of primary and secondary school. If the kiddies can prove that they can recall all the facts they've been told about the world, they get a pat on the head and can move on to JC.
At JC, they learn the next three most important words in any human language: 'I don't believe'.
The shock for the kiddies when they arrive at our doorstep is that everything they'd learnt before may be a lie. Or at least, as far as GP is concerned, that they should treat everything that purports to be non-fiction (including their own textbooks) with a dose of healthy skepticism.
This step is key to significant intellectual development for JC kids because it unlocks new brain capacities, helping them to approach their studies as inquirers and testers of knowledge seeking understanding, rather than as mindless information sponges nearing saturation.
To understand leads us to the next three most important words, 'I got it!' After which the next level would then be, 'Let's work together'. If they can get to this stage of mental preparation, they're ready to benefit from uni education.
Sadly, many of our undergrads enter uni still thinking like secondary school students, their two years spent in GP notwithstanding. I wonder why?
*I'll accept concatenations as a single word
Which are the next three most important words in any human language? 'Let's* find out'.
At this point of human intellectual development, we've encapsulated the total cognitive objectives of primary and secondary school. If the kiddies can prove that they can recall all the facts they've been told about the world, they get a pat on the head and can move on to JC.
At JC, they learn the next three most important words in any human language: 'I don't believe'.
The shock for the kiddies when they arrive at our doorstep is that everything they'd learnt before may be a lie. Or at least, as far as GP is concerned, that they should treat everything that purports to be non-fiction (including their own textbooks) with a dose of healthy skepticism.
This step is key to significant intellectual development for JC kids because it unlocks new brain capacities, helping them to approach their studies as inquirers and testers of knowledge seeking understanding, rather than as mindless information sponges nearing saturation.
To understand leads us to the next three most important words, 'I got it!' After which the next level would then be, 'Let's work together'. If they can get to this stage of mental preparation, they're ready to benefit from uni education.
Sadly, many of our undergrads enter uni still thinking like secondary school students, their two years spent in GP notwithstanding. I wonder why?
*I'll accept concatenations as a single word
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
A little taste of dragon
Dragon Age II is nearing release. But before the main course arrives, Bioware has deigned to present us with a little appetizer of a demo in which we play through the opening sequences of the actual game, and have a taste of a key mission scenario. It's just an introduction, really, to the new game mechanics and to some of the NPCs that will be tagging along in our hero's party.
No spoilers: it's exactly the same scenario that the developers used in an earlier webcast though this time we, the players, finally get hands on and play it our way, our style. Although gameplay is familiar, the tweaks still need some getting used to. Enemy characters now attack in multiple waves which means a lot more hacking-and-slashing than before. While that's great for scoring level-up points, it requires a bit of stamina to grind through every fight before moving on to the next checkpoint -- which could be yet another fight or plot-advancing cut-scene. Loser gamers like me who have short attention-spans may occasionally have difficulty keeping track of the battle and end up dead. Oops. Retry...
I found the opening to be quite a hand-holding experience, like I was being guided on rails from one plot element to the next. Hopefully when I get my hands on the real thing, the game world will feel a lot more open-ended with more places to explore and more NPCs to chat with.
The graphics have had a major upgrade. The character movements are more fluid, varied and energetic, with special attacks landing with visible power. Bodies fly when hit, occasionally disintegrating in fountains of gore when they succumb to particularly nasty hits. Every visual element stands out in sharp relief against the background, nice, but this kind of effect also looks cartoony, lacking a focal depth of field that would give a better illusion of reality.
Since the party in this demo offer a limited mix of ranged, melee and magic abilities there's also a chance to test out party tactics in battle. As usual, this will take a few more plays through to figure out -- yes, I'm slow -- but I believe I'll get it by DA2 release day, March 8. Bring it on!
No spoilers: it's exactly the same scenario that the developers used in an earlier webcast though this time we, the players, finally get hands on and play it our way, our style. Although gameplay is familiar, the tweaks still need some getting used to. Enemy characters now attack in multiple waves which means a lot more hacking-and-slashing than before. While that's great for scoring level-up points, it requires a bit of stamina to grind through every fight before moving on to the next checkpoint -- which could be yet another fight or plot-advancing cut-scene. Loser gamers like me who have short attention-spans may occasionally have difficulty keeping track of the battle and end up dead. Oops. Retry...
I found the opening to be quite a hand-holding experience, like I was being guided on rails from one plot element to the next. Hopefully when I get my hands on the real thing, the game world will feel a lot more open-ended with more places to explore and more NPCs to chat with.
The graphics have had a major upgrade. The character movements are more fluid, varied and energetic, with special attacks landing with visible power. Bodies fly when hit, occasionally disintegrating in fountains of gore when they succumb to particularly nasty hits. Every visual element stands out in sharp relief against the background, nice, but this kind of effect also looks cartoony, lacking a focal depth of field that would give a better illusion of reality.
Since the party in this demo offer a limited mix of ranged, melee and magic abilities there's also a chance to test out party tactics in battle. As usual, this will take a few more plays through to figure out -- yes, I'm slow -- but I believe I'll get it by DA2 release day, March 8. Bring it on!
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Fighting obsolescence
Edit 01:
Oops, perhaps there's a little misunderstanding. This post is not about me quitting blogging. I'm just commenting about the changing nature of the blogging audience. There are many different online apps to target specific audiences with specific material. For example, if I need to address the student population, I use the campus online forum. To contact my immediate group of students I'm experimenting with other apps such as FB, which is a different account from the one I use to keep in touch with my social circle. This blog will be less targeted, more random in content, but it's still functioning. Thanks for reading! :)
---------
I think NYT says it all in its article about blogs losing their appeal. Doesn't mean I'm giving up on blogging, but considering the frequency and quality (or rather, lack thereof) of my recent activity here, it's obvious that I'm no longer as anxious as I once might have been in getting my daily spiel out into the ether.
I think blogging still has its uses, and I'll keep returning to make self-indulgent posts because I'm odd like that. This space will continue to be a dumping ground of random thoughts and ideas, perhaps as a focal point or aggregator of the various bits of information I encounter that cause a synaptic spark to ignite somewhere in the ol' grey matter, though like everyone else I'll be keeping in touch with my audience -- that has recently become very fragmented -- through alternative online apps as appropriate to their disparate needs and interests.
Oops, perhaps there's a little misunderstanding. This post is not about me quitting blogging. I'm just commenting about the changing nature of the blogging audience. There are many different online apps to target specific audiences with specific material. For example, if I need to address the student population, I use the campus online forum. To contact my immediate group of students I'm experimenting with other apps such as FB, which is a different account from the one I use to keep in touch with my social circle. This blog will be less targeted, more random in content, but it's still functioning. Thanks for reading! :)
---------
I think NYT says it all in its article about blogs losing their appeal. Doesn't mean I'm giving up on blogging, but considering the frequency and quality (or rather, lack thereof) of my recent activity here, it's obvious that I'm no longer as anxious as I once might have been in getting my daily spiel out into the ether.
I think blogging still has its uses, and I'll keep returning to make self-indulgent posts because I'm odd like that. This space will continue to be a dumping ground of random thoughts and ideas, perhaps as a focal point or aggregator of the various bits of information I encounter that cause a synaptic spark to ignite somewhere in the ol' grey matter, though like everyone else I'll be keeping in touch with my audience -- that has recently become very fragmented -- through alternative online apps as appropriate to their disparate needs and interests.
Monday, February 21, 2011
You have five minutes... start talking!
With the new J1 oral defence assessment component, I'm using the Pecha-Kucha movement to inspire the kids. The general PK rule is 20x20, that is, 20 PowerPoint slides set to auto-advance at every 20 second interval which amounts to a presentation slightly less than 7 minutes long. Each slide contains minimal text to avoid distracting the audience from the speaker, while the speaker learns to make a sharply focussed presentation with no time for kerfuffle.
I think it's a fun and creative means of getting the kids to develop their communication skills, and it should certainly help them prepare for their oral component during their end-of-year Project Work assessment as well. Might as well start them off early, I say.
But for the purposes of our J1 newbies, their first oral exercise will only last three minutes. If you're doing the math, that's 9x20. That's fine by me. Who knows? We just might be reviving the movement here in S'pore with our little experiment -- it seems to have died out a couple of years ago. Wouldn't that be a hoot?
I think it's a fun and creative means of getting the kids to develop their communication skills, and it should certainly help them prepare for their oral component during their end-of-year Project Work assessment as well. Might as well start them off early, I say.
But for the purposes of our J1 newbies, their first oral exercise will only last three minutes. If you're doing the math, that's 9x20. That's fine by me. Who knows? We just might be reviving the movement here in S'pore with our little experiment -- it seems to have died out a couple of years ago. Wouldn't that be a hoot?
Saturday, February 19, 2011
The King's microphone
I suppose the human interest part of 'The King's Speech' was the contrast in the relationships of the two royals and the foreign-born commoners they have come to depend upon. Edward VIII, Prince of Wales and heir to the British throne, abdicates for the love of American divorcee, Mrs Simpson; while George VI, Duke of York and second in line reluctantly takes up the crown in duty to his country, coached by Australian speech therapist (unqualified), Lionel Logue.
But what interested me more was how the introduction of wireless broadcast media changed Everything. The media brought down and magnified the most human frailties of both royals, Edward and George. In going public, Edward's improprieties rendered him unworthy as a king, whereas George's stutter made him unable to speak with confidence in public, and if not for Logue's unconventional methods would have made England lose confidence in itself.
While the media were making traditional royalty most frightfully human, on the other side of the Channel they were deifying the most common of commoners, Adolph Hitler, who knew exactly how to use them to amass the nearly blind loyalty and adoration of a nation. The Brits were still struggling to deal with radio, but Hitler had already mastered both the audio and visual imagery of film to awe his audience and intimidate his opposition.
The rise of the mass media heralded the end of the power of royalty over the people. Edward and George both recognized this sweeping new change, and perhaps for the first time in history the crown princes of an empire were so loath to follow in their father's footsteps. Edward practically disqualifies himself from the crown, leaving George to make the best of it. Thanks to Logue, George does well enough to galvanize a shaken Britain to prevail over the German war machine.
And now I'm mulling over historical events not covered in the movie (although I expected them to be). Perhaps what won the war for the Brits was the calm resolve that resonated from the voice on the radio. It sought not to whip the masses up into a frothing, mindless rabble but rather reminded them to stay human despite the hardship they were facing in the dark days to come. What lost the war for Herr Hitler was possibly what started the war in the first place: his need to fill airtime with an ever-escalating choreography of excitement, culminating in the orgy of violence that was WWII with himself taking full credit as producer, director and star in order to keep the people mesmerized and pliant under his leadership. Hitler lost it because he ran out of ideas on how to keep the A Hitler Show on prime time TV without eventually grossing out his audience and making them tune him out.
Too bad they don't give Best Actor Oscars to inanimate objects. The nominee representing 'The King's Speech' should have been the shiny BBC microphone and its supporting infrastructure. They were what the movie was about in the first place.
But what interested me more was how the introduction of wireless broadcast media changed Everything. The media brought down and magnified the most human frailties of both royals, Edward and George. In going public, Edward's improprieties rendered him unworthy as a king, whereas George's stutter made him unable to speak with confidence in public, and if not for Logue's unconventional methods would have made England lose confidence in itself.
While the media were making traditional royalty most frightfully human, on the other side of the Channel they were deifying the most common of commoners, Adolph Hitler, who knew exactly how to use them to amass the nearly blind loyalty and adoration of a nation. The Brits were still struggling to deal with radio, but Hitler had already mastered both the audio and visual imagery of film to awe his audience and intimidate his opposition.
The rise of the mass media heralded the end of the power of royalty over the people. Edward and George both recognized this sweeping new change, and perhaps for the first time in history the crown princes of an empire were so loath to follow in their father's footsteps. Edward practically disqualifies himself from the crown, leaving George to make the best of it. Thanks to Logue, George does well enough to galvanize a shaken Britain to prevail over the German war machine.
And now I'm mulling over historical events not covered in the movie (although I expected them to be). Perhaps what won the war for the Brits was the calm resolve that resonated from the voice on the radio. It sought not to whip the masses up into a frothing, mindless rabble but rather reminded them to stay human despite the hardship they were facing in the dark days to come. What lost the war for Herr Hitler was possibly what started the war in the first place: his need to fill airtime with an ever-escalating choreography of excitement, culminating in the orgy of violence that was WWII with himself taking full credit as producer, director and star in order to keep the people mesmerized and pliant under his leadership. Hitler lost it because he ran out of ideas on how to keep the A Hitler Show on prime time TV without eventually grossing out his audience and making them tune him out.
Too bad they don't give Best Actor Oscars to inanimate objects. The nominee representing 'The King's Speech' should have been the shiny BBC microphone and its supporting infrastructure. They were what the movie was about in the first place.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Congrats to the piano ppl
Hi Shaun
Please convey my congratulations to the Piano Ensemble for a magical, memorable evening at "PS I Love You".
From the opening scene, you had the audience hooked and rooting for your Romeo and Juliet. For me, the magic was in how much you all grew over the course of our journey together. How far you have come as stage performers, ready to shine in all aspects of the performance whether it was behind a musical instrument or putting it all on the line with the risky business of "acting".
I hope you all believe now that the audience appreciates the actor's clarity of intention far more than intensity of emotion. You have proven that there is no such thing as a "natural" talent for acting, but that acting is merely a trained skill honed by practice and perseverance. often beyond one's comfort zone.
The Piano Ensemble owned the stage tonight with a smooth, inspired interweaving of a varied selection of music with a simple but utterly engaging storyline, brought to life by the energy of a cast that truly believed in the value of what it was doing. In other words, I thoroughly enjoyed tonight's show!
To the Piano Ensemble, thank you for allowing me the experience of working with you. Your dedication, your work ethic, your willingness to learn and your eagerness to experiment (the stuff many of you threw in that we didn't rehearse took me by surprise and delight) have showed NYJC that you guys don't just rock at piano, you guys DO THEATRE!
And thank you for the unexpected plaque that is now decorating my desk in the staff room. It'll make a great souvenir of all the work we went through together for the sake of an evening we can be proud of... and I'm sure the SPCA greatly appreciates.
May you all continue to seek success in your future endeavours!
Regards
Xmac
Please convey my congratulations to the Piano Ensemble for a magical, memorable evening at "PS I Love You".
From the opening scene, you had the audience hooked and rooting for your Romeo and Juliet. For me, the magic was in how much you all grew over the course of our journey together. How far you have come as stage performers, ready to shine in all aspects of the performance whether it was behind a musical instrument or putting it all on the line with the risky business of "acting".
I hope you all believe now that the audience appreciates the actor's clarity of intention far more than intensity of emotion. You have proven that there is no such thing as a "natural" talent for acting, but that acting is merely a trained skill honed by practice and perseverance. often beyond one's comfort zone.
The Piano Ensemble owned the stage tonight with a smooth, inspired interweaving of a varied selection of music with a simple but utterly engaging storyline, brought to life by the energy of a cast that truly believed in the value of what it was doing. In other words, I thoroughly enjoyed tonight's show!
To the Piano Ensemble, thank you for allowing me the experience of working with you. Your dedication, your work ethic, your willingness to learn and your eagerness to experiment (the stuff many of you threw in that we didn't rehearse took me by surprise and delight) have showed NYJC that you guys don't just rock at piano, you guys DO THEATRE!
And thank you for the unexpected plaque that is now decorating my desk in the staff room. It'll make a great souvenir of all the work we went through together for the sake of an evening we can be proud of... and I'm sure the SPCA greatly appreciates.
May you all continue to seek success in your future endeavours!
Regards
Xmac
Thursday, February 17, 2011
All the world's a stage
The year's barely begun and already I sense it will be unlike any other. As it is, it's been one nearly non-stop slog albeit with a CNY break in between. But most days are long and draggy, many evenings filled with one rehearsal or another, and I'm tired.
It's a self-inflicted pain, however. The NYeDC kids are running full tilt, volunteering at any opportunity they hear about, and when they volunteer, we staff volunteer right along with them. And they're not done yet. I'm looking at the list of upcoming events culminating in Drama Night with dread anticipation. So many things they have planned, so much energy and ambition, so organized and presenting better thought-out proposals than I've ever seen before, and for once my first instinct isn't 'no, we can't do that...'. Rather, it's the opposite: 'Yes! Go! Do!' even though their plans will take me through activities that require more work than this lazybone slacker is used to.
With all this going on, my attention today was on the piano kids and their Full Dress Rehearsal of this Friday's piano concert. This is me volunteering as drama coach for the simple reason that they could really use one. It's also this group that's been filling up my evenings so far. This group has been terrific to work with. They know they can't act their way out of a paper bag, being convinced their talent is only in music, but they've put in so much time and effort into preparing for this concert they were desperate enough to accept my direction without question.
It was an interesting experience to take these kids out of their comfort zone and watch them develop the show to the level I was watching today. There were lots of compromises between what they were comfortable doing and what I could get them to do. Given time I believe I could have pushed them further, but they've done well, nevertheless, to present 'P.S. I love you', a piano concert packaged within an adaptation of Romeo & Juliet.
The important thing is that they now agree with me that acting isn't so much a natural-born talent but a trained skill. They surprised me today with some voiceover improvisations during the rehearsal, so yes, I do believe the piano kids are becoming quite comfortable as actors too. It's a step forward for them as a performing group. For me, it was an opportunity to provide another bunch of kids with a form of theatrical experience to broaden market interest and the talent pool in campus aesthetics. In other words, just doin' my job, ma'am.
As the next few weeks progress, that job scope is looking to increase significantly as other deadlines approach. Yes, it's going to be an interesting year.
It's a self-inflicted pain, however. The NYeDC kids are running full tilt, volunteering at any opportunity they hear about, and when they volunteer, we staff volunteer right along with them. And they're not done yet. I'm looking at the list of upcoming events culminating in Drama Night with dread anticipation. So many things they have planned, so much energy and ambition, so organized and presenting better thought-out proposals than I've ever seen before, and for once my first instinct isn't 'no, we can't do that...'. Rather, it's the opposite: 'Yes! Go! Do!' even though their plans will take me through activities that require more work than this lazybone slacker is used to.
With all this going on, my attention today was on the piano kids and their Full Dress Rehearsal of this Friday's piano concert. This is me volunteering as drama coach for the simple reason that they could really use one. It's also this group that's been filling up my evenings so far. This group has been terrific to work with. They know they can't act their way out of a paper bag, being convinced their talent is only in music, but they've put in so much time and effort into preparing for this concert they were desperate enough to accept my direction without question.
It was an interesting experience to take these kids out of their comfort zone and watch them develop the show to the level I was watching today. There were lots of compromises between what they were comfortable doing and what I could get them to do. Given time I believe I could have pushed them further, but they've done well, nevertheless, to present 'P.S. I love you', a piano concert packaged within an adaptation of Romeo & Juliet.
The important thing is that they now agree with me that acting isn't so much a natural-born talent but a trained skill. They surprised me today with some voiceover improvisations during the rehearsal, so yes, I do believe the piano kids are becoming quite comfortable as actors too. It's a step forward for them as a performing group. For me, it was an opportunity to provide another bunch of kids with a form of theatrical experience to broaden market interest and the talent pool in campus aesthetics. In other words, just doin' my job, ma'am.
As the next few weeks progress, that job scope is looking to increase significantly as other deadlines approach. Yes, it's going to be an interesting year.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Swansong
I like ballet. In short snippets at a time anyway. 'The Black Swan' presented enough to show how beautiful ballet is as a form of movement art. But it's also an art that demands pain as a sacrifice. Broken cuticles and ligament damage are par for the course. So is keeping weight off by avoiding food. For Nina Sayer (Natalie Portman), she also has to rely on constant social-life-killing practice to get her moves right, while struggling to grow up from an obsessive and overbearing parent, and maintaining her top billing for opening night.
Not surprisingly, the stress does eventually catch up with her, particularly over her understudy, Lily (Mila Kunis) who is more free-spirited and everything else she is not, traits she observes are more valued by the show's director than just her unwavering dedication to her craft.
Nina's paranoid delusions become increasingly disturbing. And because the camera tends to follow her around from a third-person over-the-shoulder perspective, the audience appears to be a silent, helpless observer dragged through her waking nightmares. We can only watch as her perfectly controlled life and the achievement of her much desired success actually becomes the point where it all spirals downward, and Nina, pretty ballerina, crashes and burns.
It's good to be single-minded, and strive to achieve our goals in life. But 'The Black Swan' is a warning that there is a fine line between dedication and obsession. By sacrificing the development of every other aspect of one's humanity for the sake of perfecting one desired aspect, we lose more than we stand to gain. Or, in other words, work too hard, go crazy. Nothing new there.
Not surprisingly, the stress does eventually catch up with her, particularly over her understudy, Lily (Mila Kunis) who is more free-spirited and everything else she is not, traits she observes are more valued by the show's director than just her unwavering dedication to her craft.
Nina's paranoid delusions become increasingly disturbing. And because the camera tends to follow her around from a third-person over-the-shoulder perspective, the audience appears to be a silent, helpless observer dragged through her waking nightmares. We can only watch as her perfectly controlled life and the achievement of her much desired success actually becomes the point where it all spirals downward, and Nina, pretty ballerina, crashes and burns.
It's good to be single-minded, and strive to achieve our goals in life. But 'The Black Swan' is a warning that there is a fine line between dedication and obsession. By sacrificing the development of every other aspect of one's humanity for the sake of perfecting one desired aspect, we lose more than we stand to gain. Or, in other words, work too hard, go crazy. Nothing new there.
Friday, February 11, 2011
Decentralized gathering
The long-planned and anticipated evening of feasting and gaming took an unexpected detour when our gracious hostess succumbed to the flu bug that's been going around. Not wishing to interrupt her convalescence with our usual brand of social mayhem, and since the cake had already been bought, and since we'd already invited our old friends to meet and eat, the party split into two main groups for dinner in separate locations.
The newbies, being newbies, went to paint the town red... that is, red with the blood of "roast scallops, swordfish, fatty salmon, flounder, conch, octopus, binchou tuna, striped jack, sea bass, and zaru shell.... As well as roast egg with curry lobster, piping hot green tea, eye-watering horseradish" (qtd from Liz).
The more sedentary folks had a more sedate supper in the heartlands of AMK Hub where we also dined on some version of Japanese cuisine. Old friends we were glad to encounter once again were Mel (she in whose honour the cake was sacrificed), and NBS looking rather harried from her day at Head Office but none the worse for wear.
And, surprise, surprise, as I was on my way back to the parking lot, I bumped into Vays and family. The vibe through the Force must have been strong indeed to bring dNYel and our prodigals together today.
The newbies, being newbies, went to paint the town red... that is, red with the blood of "roast scallops, swordfish, fatty salmon, flounder, conch, octopus, binchou tuna, striped jack, sea bass, and zaru shell.... As well as roast egg with curry lobster, piping hot green tea, eye-watering horseradish" (qtd from Liz).
The more sedentary folks had a more sedate supper in the heartlands of AMK Hub where we also dined on some version of Japanese cuisine. Old friends we were glad to encounter once again were Mel (she in whose honour the cake was sacrificed), and NBS looking rather harried from her day at Head Office but none the worse for wear.
And, surprise, surprise, as I was on my way back to the parking lot, I bumped into Vays and family. The vibe through the Force must have been strong indeed to bring dNYel and our prodigals together today.
Thursday, February 10, 2011
No free lunches
Officially been tasked as a Project Work supervisor for my civics group. Six project teams in all.
The Idea Factory dropped in to give us some ideas for in-class activities to stimulate collaborative and innovative thinking among the group members. A key point of this afternoon's workshop was that although we allow the initial creative process to flourish without the prejudice of both internal and external censor, all that creativity has to be eventually focused upon addressing a particular stakeholder's needs, wants or inconveniences. The better innovations deal with problems the client couldn't articulate or even didn't even know it had.
It was good for me to confirm an angle I was going for with my groups this year. The kids tend to think of their projects as philanthropic exercises. They usually want to help the disabled or the disadvantaged and hence would never consider charging for their eventual product or service. Noble, but ultimately pointless. Instead, I'd like them to think about providing a product or service they would pay hard cash for. The money factor is a practical reality check. It also reminds them that if no one would pay for their project, then no one would accept it for free either.
The Idea Factory dropped in to give us some ideas for in-class activities to stimulate collaborative and innovative thinking among the group members. A key point of this afternoon's workshop was that although we allow the initial creative process to flourish without the prejudice of both internal and external censor, all that creativity has to be eventually focused upon addressing a particular stakeholder's needs, wants or inconveniences. The better innovations deal with problems the client couldn't articulate or even didn't even know it had.
It was good for me to confirm an angle I was going for with my groups this year. The kids tend to think of their projects as philanthropic exercises. They usually want to help the disabled or the disadvantaged and hence would never consider charging for their eventual product or service. Noble, but ultimately pointless. Instead, I'd like them to think about providing a product or service they would pay hard cash for. The money factor is a practical reality check. It also reminds them that if no one would pay for their project, then no one would accept it for free either.
Wednesday, February 09, 2011
First foot forward
NYeDC was off to a shaky start to the year as far as our budget went. We suffered big cuts and a temporary withholding of funds pending approval from some (much) higher authority. Nevertheless, the show has to go on.
As of today, we have decided on a script. It looks ambitious -- we haven't done a feature-length presentation in years -- and we only have 12 weeks to put it together. We have no full-time professional coach as yet, but Tina has at least agreed to help us with whatever time she can spare commensurate with whatever we can reasonably afford to pay her.
But what gives me hope for this year's production is the gung-ho spirit of the J2 exco coupled with a willingness to get things done. It's a group with ideas and is quite happy to run on its own. It's good when the staff (us) only need to provide moral support and encouragement rather than have to dictate and micromanage every step.
Other CCA groups are also keen to pitch in and help despite their own SYF commitments, so it's up to us to coordinate our schedules well and find the most efficient way to incorporate so many offers into a coherent production.
The journey to Drama Night 2011 begins with the first step. We have just placed our left foot forward, 'splat!'
Oh, and check out our official webbie (http://nyedc.tumblr.com) for updates from the kids' pov.
As of today, we have decided on a script. It looks ambitious -- we haven't done a feature-length presentation in years -- and we only have 12 weeks to put it together. We have no full-time professional coach as yet, but Tina has at least agreed to help us with whatever time she can spare commensurate with whatever we can reasonably afford to pay her.
But what gives me hope for this year's production is the gung-ho spirit of the J2 exco coupled with a willingness to get things done. It's a group with ideas and is quite happy to run on its own. It's good when the staff (us) only need to provide moral support and encouragement rather than have to dictate and micromanage every step.
Other CCA groups are also keen to pitch in and help despite their own SYF commitments, so it's up to us to coordinate our schedules well and find the most efficient way to incorporate so many offers into a coherent production.
The journey to Drama Night 2011 begins with the first step. We have just placed our left foot forward, 'splat!'
Oh, and check out our official webbie (http://nyedc.tumblr.com) for updates from the kids' pov.
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