tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461999Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:19:39 +0000http://theillusionist.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (su)Blogger741125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461999.post-5463377741060613465Sat, 21 Nov 2009 00:35:00 +00002009-11-21T01:07:02.438ZUKtravelPublic Service Announcementwould anyone like to join me on a trip around the UK sometime around the summer?i'll be travelling around by bus and train (unless I learn to drive or you can drive) around the country visiting historic towns/cities and heritage buildings (mainly the national trust properties)very rolling hills, countryside happytimes. expect to get hopelessly lost, frustrated, annoyed, angry but inspired.I'm http://theillusionist.blogspot.com/2009/11/calling-for-fellow-house-hunters.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (su)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461999.post-5527612048092695431Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:57:00 +00002009-11-17T20:10:05.718ZrediscusspeopleshoutsBeen thinking about women today and the feminist movement lately, as part of my law and social theory class, as well as recent preoccupations with particular women in the limelight, namely Sarah Palin and Stephanie Meyer, both of whom incidentally appeared on Oprah (yet another woman) not too long ago.The two women in particular really annoy me for different reasons. Stephanie Meyer is the authorhttp://theillusionist.blogspot.com/2009/11/uterus-rants.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (su)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461999.post-1192179235430557595Sun, 15 Nov 2009 03:41:00 +00002009-11-15T04:01:03.086ZlomophotographymusicLondonIt's been a while since I talked about the Lomography store. Still getting to know my colleagues, I've been listening to their music, checking out the trainers they've bought online, hearing about the gigs they've been to, and mentally charting their childrens' developmental progress (she's got teeth, can stand. young son devastated over sale of family car).One of the bands that are really http://theillusionist.blogspot.com/2009/11/where-wild-things-are.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (su)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461999.post-1443002517928203924Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:17:00 +00002009-11-10T02:30:13.325ZSingaporeLondonfoodAt some point in the night, my brain gets saturated with all the homework I can do for the evening and my eyes, previously fixed upon my (lovely) textbooks and notes, move on to more exciting things while my mind wanders. There's only one place my mind wanders to at this time of night, between 2 to 3 am: The Singapura Daily Makan Photo food blog. This is when the best of Singapore's obsession of http://theillusionist.blogspot.com/2009/11/salivation-army.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (su)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461999.post-2997960771180083034Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:33:00 +00002009-11-09T02:49:20.541ZrediscussgoalsfoodA comment Mark, my colleague at the shop made me think about the things I tell people and the things I choose not to share lately. More specifically, he thinks I complain a lot, and upon reflection, I'm afraid I have to agree with him. It's largely been a mechanism for mutual identification, and quite a useful one at that, but it will have to stop now. I mean, it's easy to see what's wrong with http://theillusionist.blogspot.com/2009/11/will-stop-whingeing-for-five-minutes.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (su)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461999.post-8851908741075521452Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:43:00 +00002009-11-03T02:59:42.610ZprojectsgoalsmusingsReading week finally, and I feel like I can breathe again. Although I know this is but an illusion because it's not called reading week for no reason. Day 1: figuring out Hegel and his obscure meanings. Not too bad a start, actually, just need to sit down and concentrate. There are just so much readings on this nebulous thinker. And the course structure is such that it probably wouldn't hurt to http://theillusionist.blogspot.com/2009/11/pretty-pair-maryjanes-please.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (su)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461999.post-2046336845915236807Sat, 31 Oct 2009 04:34:00 +00002009-10-31T04:41:28.938ZrandommusingsLondonA late morning on Charing Cross Road, on my way back from the British Museum. I am walking towards the iconic shop selling musical instruments, walking past the iconic not-subtly-named porn shop Lovejoys, walking past in-road to Soho, Old Compton Road. I witness a flock of flying pigeons passing overhead and I stop to watch. The pigeons, after landing on the other side of Charing Cross road, http://theillusionist.blogspot.com/2009/10/extraordinary-sight.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (su)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461999.post-7056471458452442614Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:20:00 +00002009-10-31T00:26:40.224ZgladragsGreatsLooks from the Oscar de la Renta Spring/Summer 2010 show. I don't think it's difficult to see why since Valentino retired, he's my favourite designer for stunning dresses.Brilliant.http://theillusionist.blogspot.com/2009/10/not-news-but-oh-so-beautiful.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (su)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461999.post-1637057063842446762Tue, 27 Oct 2009 19:03:00 +00002009-10-27T19:46:25.919ZlomophotographymusicLondonMentioned a while back about the gig I attended at this new venue The Book Club, where Tokyo band Asakusa Jinta played. They are a six-piece Japanese rock-meets-traditional band doing their tour in the UK and they stopped by the shop to perform one afternoon. Coworker Mark and I were free the following evening after our shift so we went to see them play at a real gig.He had an awesome and bizarrehttp://theillusionist.blogspot.com/2009/10/photos-from-book-club.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (su)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461999.post-2514039716023353203Wed, 21 Oct 2009 00:25:00 +00002009-10-21T01:29:23.494+01:00rediscussmusingstheatreThen the sudden realisation dawned: Nothing planned on Thursday evening!True -- there was a property tutorial to take care of, and it would be good to show up some people in her class... especially that one particular annoying guy who obviously thinks he's smarter than anyone else.But then The Inspector Calls! And so conveniently located and timed at Aldwych. And tickets so inexpensive, at 12 http://theillusionist.blogspot.com/2009/10/inspector-is-calling.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (su)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461999.post-6356570787938068891Tue, 20 Oct 2009 19:17:00 +00002009-10-20T20:36:10.298+01:00lomopeoplemusiceventsLondonNot a good week for focussing on schoolwork at all, but that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. The temperature has taken a plunge, it's difficult to get out of bed and out of the shower, it's even more difficult to get out of the house. No surprise then that all I really want to do is sit on my couch under a blanket, with a warm cup of milo.It doesn't help that I've discovered a new online game http://theillusionist.blogspot.com/2009/10/not-good-week-for-focussing-on.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (su)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461999.post-8825856114306345390Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:20:00 +00002009-10-13T21:44:51.065+01:00peopleGreatsEmerging from the dark recesses of the Strand Building (I kid you not: we were in a classroom carved out of a small walkway: no windows, just one door - the first people to die in an emergency) after Law and Social Theory class, I exit the revolving doors into the courtyard between the King's building and the much more beautiful Somerset House.A few meters from me, a man in an olive suit and a http://theillusionist.blogspot.com/2009/10/man-with-pipe.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (su)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461999.post-2605655862117946589Tue, 13 Oct 2009 01:15:00 +00002009-10-13T02:18:39.975+01:00literatureMental note to self1. Jorge Louis Borges2. Homer | The Iliad, Odyssey3. Virginia Woolf | Mrs Dalloway, To The Lighthouse4. Gertrude Stein | Tender Buttonshttp://theillusionist.blogspot.com/2009/10/booksauthors-to-read.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (su)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461999.post-4299392005588003203Tue, 13 Oct 2009 00:46:00 +00002009-10-13T02:21:55.624+01:002009photographymusingsgrowingSecond year is proving to be more of an uphill climb than first year. There is no time now to slip up with the tutorials even though tutors and lecturers tell you not to worry if you don't understand anything (yet). The work is bearable, but regrettably quite neverending and I am considering giving up the late mornings just to squeeze out more time to do whatever. Next Thursday for instance I http://theillusionist.blogspot.com/2009/10/blowing-in-wind.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (su)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461999.post-8924197402461337489Tue, 06 Oct 2009 19:47:00 +00002009-10-06T21:21:39.243+01:00gladragspeopleIt's really amusing sometimes when I work at the Lomo store and I see people sneering at designer clothes, bags etc and almost fetishizing cheap-ass clothes salvaged from flea markets and thrift stores. I'm sometimes tempted to dismiss them as being presumptuous because obviously they haven't seen the work of some wonderful designers. Like Anna Sui. She's my new heroine. These are the gladrags http://theillusionist.blogspot.com/2009/10/its-really-amusing-sometimes-when-i.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (su)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461999.post-2259846535975698057Wed, 30 Sep 2009 23:43:00 +00002009-10-01T01:19:20.838+01:00goalsmusingsLondonIt's the end of September and things to do are starting to pile up because of the beginning of the school term. I sometimes wonder if I have bitten off more than I can chew, what with the deep thinkings of Immanuel Kant in the second lecture and more big-brained thinkers to come. Law and Social Theory class promises to be very very occupying. Potentially fun, but more likely frustrating. (To http://theillusionist.blogspot.com/2009/10/if-i-wear-this-will-i-freeze.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (su)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461999.post-7324265042445533607Wed, 30 Sep 2009 21:31:00 +00002009-09-30T23:15:40.860+01:002009photographytravelDiana F+SwitzerlandI'm still trying to find a way to put in words the wonderful experience of being in Switzerland over the birthday week. The weather was glorious when London was crummy, the company was lovely just when I was resigning to the fact of a life of solitude, and there again, this immense sense of freedom, possibly from the profound sense of space from being at the countryside. These photos were taken http://theillusionist.blogspot.com/2009/09/switzerland-09.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (su)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461999.post-8811681192313852496Sat, 26 Sep 2009 23:45:00 +00002009-09-27T00:57:59.786+01:00randommusicCompletely by accident, I heard a song by Elsiane, a drummer-singer duo from Peru and Canada (based in Canada I think) and now I'm completely hooked:Gollum, much? But there's something very mesmerizing about this chillout music I think. Otherwise normally I wouldn't consider myself a big fan of electronic music, bearing in mind the last "gig" I went to was Michael Nyman at the BBC Proms. (Yeah I http://theillusionist.blogspot.com/2009/09/plug-into-elsiane.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (su)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461999.post-5410242939691959333Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:48:00 +00002009-09-25T00:18:08.253+01:00New York2009photographytravelpeopleDiana F+SavannahBostonLondonFinally I begin class again. On Monday, three lectures back to back, including a race to the Strand Campus like never before. I think about my newly pumped bike tyres and I smile with a secret satisfaction and feel prepared even though I know I'll still be late for Law and Social Theory class.Think I am ready for class to begin. I've been looking forward to class since post-Boston, when I got allhttp://theillusionist.blogspot.com/2009/09/where-has-summer-gone.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (su)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461999.post-1626977184560750149Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:24:00 +00002009-09-24T12:29:40.294+01:00randomhttp://theillusionist.blogspot.com/2009/09/blog-post.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (su)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461999.post-837730288958479370Tue, 22 Sep 2009 01:01:00 +00002009-09-22T02:03:03.594+01:00filmspeoplemusicIn a blinding flash of the obvious, Zooey Deschanel married Ben Gibbard of Death Cab.I just hope that falsetto is not his allthetime voice. Otherwise I wouldn't blame her for murdering him out of annoyance.http://theillusionist.blogspot.com/2009/09/in-blinding-flash-of-obvious-zooey.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (su)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461999.post-2228182053643643075Sat, 19 Sep 2009 23:29:00 +00002009-09-20T00:36:16.167+01:00book reviewGreatsmusingsliteratureThere are writers that make you feel like you are not alone, and Milan Kundera is one of them, and reading such a writer is such a special gift. It is a gift so special that after you've finished a book you can't help but pause and marvel at it, taking your time, revisiting beautiful passages and swimming in its world for as long as you can. In your hurry to forever etch these subtle feelings http://theillusionist.blogspot.com/2009/09/re-milan-kundera.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (su)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461999.post-3740512548254856315Thu, 17 Sep 2009 20:37:00 +00002009-09-18T02:59:20.626+01:00gladragsphotographypeoplemusictaken from thesartorialist.Yup, his book stands alone in a window at Charing Cross Foyles. And i'm beginning to think he's a little bit of an egomaniac. But still his photos are lovely, and the PS1 is awesome and hence I still read his blog. There are a lot of things I hate that I love, but in which still indulge anyway. But just to spleen him in my own little way I'm going to categorise this http://theillusionist.blogspot.com/2009/09/ps1-in-action.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (su)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461999.post-2635919672963194608Thu, 17 Sep 2009 19:41:00 +00002009-09-17T21:45:27.989+01:00lomopeopleSo today I met a fellow Singaporean in the Lomoshop. First Singaporean I've seen since Ven and her mom popped by. They might actually be our first Singaporean customers, actually. But this guy was well-dressed and he said he bought his LC-A+ in Hong Kong, so I was guessing he was from there at first. Then he spoke, and immediately I was convinced.He left the shop once before I could ask him but http://theillusionist.blogspot.com/2009/09/inglorious-bite-out-of-whole-world.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (su)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5461999.post-2339706640247273362Wed, 16 Sep 2009 02:05:00 +00002009-09-16T03:29:44.679+01:00musingsloveI didn't mark the date on my schedule this year, but the birthday- his birthday- is inevitably etched in my mind, at least for this year. Funny, the things we remember and the things that slip our minds.I no longer feel as if I am waiting for something to happen, and that life is full of endless possibilities that sparkle like a sequin shower on a cold day. That magical feeling has now been http://theillusionist.blogspot.com/2009/09/on-my-mark.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (su)0