Written by lainie at 01:56 AM on April 2, 2006 in Daily Life, Arty stuff.

I'm blogging this while lying back and kicking my feet up on the desk. I rather like this, I think I shall keep this up, till the laptop burns my thighs off.

Lack of updates recently due to four reasons:

1) Vagina Monologues.
2) M! The Opera.
3) “in : sights : out“ exhibition by Bernice Chauly, at Reka.
4) The Homecoming.

And if I were a more eager blogger, I would have shown the tickets for the opera / plays, but fuck that crap, no one needs to know what a ticket look like (though it can quite effectively, and easily, be argued that no one needs to know what I've been up to the past few days either, so really, so much for logic).

So Kat and I went to watch Vagina Monologues in LUCT. It started late. I don't like when things start late, damn what people say about Malaysian timing, fuckers! Start. On. TIME! The "Hall of Fame" was freeeezing when we got in.

Anyways, Vagina Monologues - student production, and like all the usual student productions, there were some who were really good (two, actually), one was not bad, most who could have been so much better, and some who have no stage presence at all.

[ I don't know any of their names ]

I didn't like much that they read their monologues off sheets of paper, cmon, Vagina Monologues is not that easy to fuck up, simply because it is filled with pretty, reaction-generating words, quotes, and opportunities to blow minds away.

One of the readers did the monologue bout comfort women, which I liked a lot. But like I said, I didn't get any names.

[ Also, if there's one thing LUCT has, it's eye candy. That helps. Did I ever claim to make insightful reviews? No. ]

Basically, an okay student production, that could have been much better. There were a few there with stage presence, and I could picture them doing well onstage in KLPac.

Then intermission came about, introduced Kat and Jingwei to each other. I asked him if he knew where all the gigs were, and he said that he got gig information from my blog, so that's not good, because everyone I ask about gigs say they get information here. Okay, here is not a good place to get information because I don't know about that many gigs, only the acoustic ones.

Kat and I left at the intermission, a lil bit because I already knew what to expect from the rest of the play, and mostly because Tei had called us to say that she had tickets for....yes, M The Opera.

=====

So. At the risk of sounding a tad die-hard: Last night was the third time I watched M! The Opera.................But Tei managed to get tickets, so heck, Kat and I joined her -I remembered wondering if Iszie would be there, and thinking it would be freakily coincidental if she was, since I watched the last two with her.

That woman's idea of an answer was "You'll have to see " or something. Anyhow, turns out she wasn't.

On the way to KL, Kat and I got lost in Putrajaya (and obviously I proved no help even after staying in the neighbouring Cyberjaya for almost a year), so by the time we picked Tei up from her office and got to Istana Budaya, and found parking, we were running a lil bit late. We missed a lil of the first song.

Yes we are evil and came in late and disrupted what would have been your vastly much more enjoyable evening. But yknow, I'd have hated it if they didn't start on time, so it's good that they did.

The third time. I'm glad I went. Because they've gotten their act together by now, and the show was much much better than the previous two. Cues were much timelier, which helped the chorus loads. Dancing was excellent, as usual.

There's this song that keeps getting stuck in our heads, and I think anyone who's watched it can recognise the scene where they sing "There is no time...There is no time".

Seriously though, we love that song, but agree on one thing: That scene is too chaotic. Just because what's going on in the scene is MEANT to be CHAOTIC, doesn't mean it have to LOOK that chaotic. There can still be patterns, and beauty in the scene. But it was just discordant all three nights the way it was done, and I can imagine the mess confusing the audience.

And yknow what? Khir's character, M, had costume changes this time round. The first night I watched it, he wore the same goddamn outfit throughout, except at the end right before he dies, where he dons a robe. On the second night, he didn't even wear that robe, just the same outfit.

Understand that this is a fashion opera, image fuckin counts, and everyone's look is constantly changing throughout, fitting in with the mood and concept of every scene. M just looks the same throughout, from the flashback scenes all the way till later when he's supposed to be the hottest fashion designer star around. He looks dated because everyone else is peacock feathered up to god knows where, with a colour scheme and all that....and he's still in the same outfit from the past, looking bloody dated.

So this time he had his costume changes and everything was much better. Mahai, why was this not done from the first night on? Why? WHY? WHY? WHY? I'm sorry, but the new snazzy clothes helped lend him some needed stage presence. Oh, never mind. So third time's the charm, they say.

Then again, Kerabat is played by George Chan, and again his stage presence totally overwhelmed Khir's. To the point where, I don't care if M is supposed to be a milder character, M NEEDS MORE CHARACTER. He's like cream coloured wallpaper everytime Kerabat comes in, all 40 inch plasma tv and surround sound system.

I do have one gripe. There was this totally cool dance scene the first night, when Kerabat seduces Sepi, and they're dancing at the back of the stage. They cut it out the second night. I came back a third, hoping to see it, but mahai, still cut.

It's like no winning for me. One way, I whine about how long the opera takes (I have very short attention span, and easily numbed buttcheeks from sitting down too long, alright?). The other way, I don't get one of my favourite dance scenes. Sigh.

Turns out Tei and I both have the same favourite scene, when M and Sepi get married, and the solo traditional dance happens. Very nice - elegant. I mean, you'd think the two of us would pick a scene where all the women are dressed in sexy gowns parading about stage at the same time, but nope.

Solomon (Peter Ong) and Juno Sharp (Mia Palencia) are good at what they do huh? Tei and I also like the scene where she sings about the alphabets of fashion.

There were some pretty horrific sound system fuck ups, and we thought that'd be fixed after the intermission, when the appropriate yelling (or whatever) had been done. But there were still some pretty eeeeyooch moments with sound. I asked Kat later about that, and she said sound is the bitchiest part of a play to get right.

Still, if I was in charge of whatever was responsible for making the burst of noise in the middle of the opera, or Sepi's lines getting cut off at the end, I'd have run off the moment the opera ended. Eeek, avoid responsibility.

But yes, apart from some sound problems, third night was definitely a good watch. They have it much more together by now.

=====

We waited for Zedeck after the opera. I think he was a bit.......startled.......to see me there.....again. Then he asked if I was weirded out by the whole him-and-my-boobs thing, to which I told him as much that any other guy did the same, would have ended up with some violent dismemberment......But with Zedeck it's hard to even work up an inclination to begin to feel pissy because he looks so non-threateningly.....female. :/

Not to say he looks like a girl. But. Not to say he's even lelaki lembut*

[ *Lainie no translation power skills. But I guess effeminate? Except, he's not really. Oh, god, I don't know, bloody boy refuses to fit into a nice lil label ]

That being said, it's amazing how many self-identified lesbians I know are willing to do Zedeck. And they're aware he's male. It makes me laugh cause then they get really confused. So he joined us for dinner with his stage make-up wearing off and turned into smokey eyeshadow.

[ There there, Zedeck, objectification is....uhm. Hmm. I don't have an excuse, how bout that. ]

On the way to supper, I was looking at Zedeck and realised something that made me grin.

Lainie: So. You're going for supper with three girls. And you'll be the one wearing makeup
ZedecK *semi exasperated look* These are modern times you know (or somethin like that)
Lainie: ....But what are gender markers for if we can't eventually use them to...yknow......make fun of you?

We went for Bakuteh*, and Zedeck got a dose of how Kat handles the combined indecisiveness of Tei and Lainie. Kat orders for everyone. It's actually really useful, and Kat tends to decide where to go for food too. Much appreciated. We get served Cola in cold, old school glass bottles.

[ *Pork in herbal soup would be the simplest explanation ]

Cheap giggles was watching Tei stick a straw into the bottle, then sticking her finger into the neck trying to get it out, then after a while, watching the straw slooooowly float up by itself. I did say it was gonna be cheap laughs.

As Tei scrabbles for the straw:

Lainie: *waggles eyebrow* Eh..Heh...Heh...Yes, Tei.
Tei: *resentful look* Shut up, Lains.

Tei couldn't look at Zedeck halfway because he was looking too pretty and starting to fluster / confuse / unnerve her. I thought it was the funniest thing ever. Like haha, the gayest girl I know is checking Zedeckkkk ouuuuuuut!

Tei is involved in something I did not have much interest in, for work. Then she told us she had to have a part in this video as a result. And she feels so embarrassed by the whole thing. Totally unrelated, of course, is my sudden interest in her work.

Ahahaha. I need to bribe people to get me a copy of that video. No use hiding, Tei, too many people will see it anyway........

After supper we dropped Zedeck off. On the ride home, we were talking about Zedeck, and we were kidding around:

Tei: Zedeck very lawa* ah?
Lainie: Yeah...Lawa boy.
Tei: Oh god. I haven't talked about a man like this in ages. And when I do....

[ *Lawa = pretty? ]
[ Pause ]

Tei: I'm talking about how pretty he is! Oh my god, what is wrong with the world?? Ahhhhh!!!!!
Lainie: Hahahahahha! Isn't it amazing how lesbians react to him? But he's still very much a guy lah.
Tei: I know!

[ And then we watched him standing by the road, talking on the phone as we drove off ]

Lainie: Tall. Wide shoulders too.
Tei: Yes.

[ We turn the corner and don't see him any longer ]

Kat: Do you want me to turn the car around and make sure...he...is safe?
Lainie & Tei: It's okay.....

[ Pause ]

Lainie: So. Like, if Iszie is hot, and Zedeck is pretty, those two are the most readily boinkable threesome option for lesbians that I know of.
All: Hmmm.

Haha. I'm not sure whether to say Zedeck is a gender bender, or whether he's making girls I know into gender benders.

[ You know what's weird? I call girls eyeing-considering a guy, that speshful way, a gender bender thing. The irony's not lost on me. I mean...................... ]

=====

Dropped Tei home, stayed over with Kat, she loaned me a book, which I read a lil bit of. Mostly spent time doodling into this purple sketchpad I took from her office - it has blank paper, and I'm a cheap whore for notebooks with blank paper.

[ I should be sleeping, but I made this really simple doodle I want to make a CG version of. Dammit. ]

Woke up, we got ready, and went over to Tei's place. For once I checked out her book collection next to her bed. Damn. We read a lot of the same books. Well, except she was reading this book written in Malay about the history of Malay film. I read about ten pages, and the language made my head spin.

But I do want to know what info is in the book, because film buffs I know complain that the old Malay movies were so much better than the ones now - and I have reason to believe this is not some sort of snobbery from people who only dig "retro / old school" stuff. Just curiosity, I suppose, as to how this regression came about.

We went for Bernice's exhibition at Reka.

When we got there, the door was locked. We rang the bell. Some guy was inside painting and watching us standing on the outside - he said something to a guy standing at the back of the gallery, out of sight. I thought it'd be like the boutiques back in my hometown, Ipoh, ring the bell, someone inside presses a button, and voila, door unlocks.

Like a persistent, forgetful goldfish that could not see it's fishbowl, I kept trying to open the door.

Continuosly. Semi bumping into it, pushing against first the left door, then the right, then "Is it open yet" left, and "Maybe it's open now" right, then "Okay now it has to be open" left, and "For real, now?" left, then "Now?" left, and "How about now?" right, and "Isn't anyone pushing the button yet?" left.

So. Bit of advice to those going to Reka: There is no button. Just wait for someone to come and unlock the door. Manually. You will feel less foolish. I am like, Lainie, One Woman Embarrassment Show.

I must have looked so dumbass to whoever that dude was painting inside the gallery. Fuck. -_-".

Anyhow: The exhibition runs till the 15th, so that's another two weeks. Suggest you check it out. Bernice was right about one thing: It's a very personal show. Read the words, look at the photos. There were some I liked heaps, and on a whole, I enjoyed the exhibition.

Tei, Kat and I split up and walked by ourselves - for some reason it's too weird to all look at the same display at the same time. Better to be alone with your thoughts when viewing, and adapt the time you stand in front of each piece to yourself.

======

After exhibition, dropped Tei off for her futsal practice, while Kat and I headed to Borders.

I love bookshops. Today, the moment I got to the manga section, I stayed there for ages reading comics because there were some Yu Yu Hakusho there, translated into English! Oh, happiness.

Kat and I went for The Homecoming in KLPac after that, because people kept telling us to check it out. Which proves, word of mouth is effective, because both of us had no frickin idea what it was about (I rather question whether I do now, after watching it). Enjoyable enough.

The intimate atmosphere after being distanced from the stage for some time (MtheOpera), made the space seemed more effective.

It's a very jaunty play, yknow? I must admit, I was thrown off by the mix of accents in the play. It seems like such a simple thing but.........it did throw me off.

Dysfunctional family. Balls punching scene was frickin hilarious.

I like Lenny's character (no time to reference actor's names and all that, cause I need to sleep soon). Lenny's like the kind of passive intellectual asshole who knows just enough to start arguments, and has a temper control problem that would make me veeeery uncomfortable to win any....discourse....with him.

That being said, that's precisely what Ruth does to him. Challenges, provokes, seduces, and wins. Mmmhmmm. The whole play is filled with two opposing views on women, from the same people. Ah. Like, archetypes, - Madonna "Like, a virgin" the mother of Jesus, and Madonna, "Like a virgin" the pop star, I suppose. But yes.
You get to see Ruth in these lil dual-roles, and twisting the men round her lil fingers. They call her a whore, and ask her to be an actual whore, but at the same time, she totally lords over them (seriously, the crazily demanding stuff she asks for at the end of the play, makes you wonder if she's some stereotypical Chinese business-lawyer woman, who..uh. Whores).

I'd have liked to see more.....dramatic differences....in Ruth though. Am operating under the assumption that in the beginning, she is supposed to come off prim (though slightly unsettled and not entirely comfy with her husband), as opposed to later on when it's slow burning gazes and whoooosh, does your necktie feel too tight, lad?. It didn't come off as strong though.

Then again, Teddy, her husband, basically says at the end of the play that she's not well. Hmmmm. So maybe they're all just majorly twisted. I was watching them all share a woman and thinking. Hmmm. "I am disturbed that I know I should be disturbed but really, I'm not disturbed at all". It's like I'm quite desensitised.

Then again, I don't....well. It's not easy to get to me that way. But I do wonder if I'm just so used to all sorta stuff happening around me, I've lost touch with what other people are used to, and that I may not be "the average person" to go to to gauge reactions on what crowds might feel. And it almost annoys that as I type this, I can feel some anonymous person doing some eye-rolling, "well, duh, Lainie" thing.

It felt like...I don't know. Feels like I'm missing something, I am still rather unsure about quite a few things in the play, and I'm too sleepy to think them out. Either I didn't connect the dots, or there were no dots in the first place and I'm reading into hints that were never made.

Like, everytime the father (Thor's character, forgot the name, oooopsies) makes some sort of grand hyperbolic admittance and takes credit for what he did not do...it creates a pattern. Then he kept emphasising his three sons, which makes it feel all the more like it's not his three sons. Or. Whatever.

Oh, but never mind. I think tomorrow's the last day of the play. But I'm not sure. If you have the time, consider giving this a shot.

=====

Oh screw it.

Now I'm off to sleep, because I'm waking up tomorrow for Tei's 3R futsal thing in Times Square.

Is it still futsal if the rules aren't futsal rules anymore? I still remember how pissed off all the team captains looked when it was announced that the rules for the finals would be changed. Ah well.

We shall see. Will catch up on comments / blogs / long list of emails laaater.

And now, to bed! Because if my mental-rah-rahs aren't awake tomorrow, who will fangirl for Tei when she's trying to score a goal?

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