inauguration.

the inauguration in lego-land. :)

inaugurations have been significant times in US history. both on tv and real life.

JFK famously said, "ask not what the country can do for you, but what you can do for your country" in his inauguration speech.

in season 4 of the west wing, president bartlet used his inauguration speech to announce a new doctrine - freedom from tyranny everywhere. because "today you can make a bomb in your country and bring it into my country, so what goes on in your country IS my business."

in season 7 of the west wing, less than 3 years ago, the obama-inspired character matt santos was sworn in as the first latino president of the US in the west wing universe. he's young, of a minority race, has 2 young children, a lovely wife, and is a man of utmost integrity, intellect, poise and soaring oratory. sounds familiar? even his chief of staff josh lyman was inspired by obama's chief of staff rahm emmanuel. the same send-a-dead-fish-to-a-senator story made it into the west wing universe.

there has been so much anticipation and expectation for obama's first 100 days in office. personally i'm waiting for him to step onto the shores of singapore for APEC. and watching for his decisions on combating climate change, the economy, the middle east crisis and the touchy relations with china. and seeing how the new secretary of state hillary clinton manages her demanding job.

watch one of the most significant and amazing milestones being written during our time - a young black man as president of the US.

happy inauguration. :)

the end of madness!

the ground of the WWII memorial
berlin, germany

my semester is over! well short of one final comm skills lesson tmr, and 3 assignments to complete over the holidays, but still! i'm in the midst of the OC season 2 dvd marathon. boy, do i miss it. and i just finished studio 60 on the sunset strip on dvds. and the subtitles help with the rapid-fire dialogue, so i'm quite glad to bask in aaron sorkin's genius writing since the west wing ended.

well this holidays i'm looking forward to the sister being back from all her travels and finnish work and tell me all her stories. plus christmas! i love the songs for this year's concert, as always. and learning choreo for big dance numbers are always tiring but i shall press on and find my youthful energy again! there's also a batam trip, a japan trip, and a pending bangkok and hongkong trip. yay. with trips-planning comes thinking about past trips.

germany photos are akan datang!

renaissance.

i'm becoming a huffingtonpost addict. my routine has become: open firefox, check gmail, check facebook, check huffingtonpost, check google news, check what day it is (for new TV episodes).

i remember starting to read huffpost back in 2006, when then-creator and exec-producer of brothers & sisters jon robin baitz used to blog there. then i discovered many actors and directors who also write there and how good they are! then i discovered huffpost's other sections which are such interesting reads. from fashion and style to entertainment to watchamacallit. then i discovered (after my west wing marathons) huffpost's left-leaning, bush-bashing tendencies.

then i discovered their amazing coverage (though lefty) of the elections. well that just about tops it all and made me go back and check everyday. also 'cos everyday sarah palin does something or says something so ridiculous that i have to go there for the videos.

anyways, now is all about senate races, prop 8, the congo civil unrest, the economy, the president-elect filling his administration, the GOP in tatters, palin talking about a 2012 run (you must be joking RIGHT?)

***

i'm supposed to be doing my final assignment for the semester. my cramps are getting the better of me, giving me an excuse to do rubbish things like surf huffpost and play traveler's IQ on facebook. and write rubbish here.

***

in the wake of the elections, i've been reading articles on michelle obama. i'm mesmerised by her not because she's pretty, but by her grace and poise. her intelligence (princeton and harvard), her love for her kids, for her husband. and most of all, her sense of style. :)

she has worn many pretty dresses that flatter her pear shape and are affordable. none of the $150,000 spree at saks 5th ave. i love that she mixes and matches separates, and even when the cameras are on her 24/7, she mixes them up and has no qualms wearing the same jacket with different bottoms and a different brooch. i love her Gap and H&M dresses (the first lady shops at H&M? like ME!), and the midrange Narciso Rodriguez and Maria Pinto.

her turquoise DNC dress by maria pinto, the view black&white dress by some label, her election night red and black shift dress by narciso rodriguez, her meeting-at-white-house red dress by maria pinto are just some of the amazing dresses she wears. avoiding the stuffy pantsuits of hillary clinton, the power suits of palin and laura bush or the dismal cheong sams of our PM Lee's wife, or the strange things that our first lady wears.

oh yes! and i love how she matches her daughter's clothes to hers and barack obama's tie colour. at the DNC, it was a mix of turquoise and purplish tones. on election night, it was black and red! it's so cute. and their daughters are cute.

anyway the net was abuzz with a debate over her red shift dress on election night. a red and black sleeveless narciso rodriguez shift dress with a black satin band criss-crossed at the waist, red spots splashed all over, black cardigan (it's fall!), kitten heels, and the prettiest loree rodkin earrings.

photo: Ron Sachs/Rex Features

some hate it. some love it. i love it.

for one it's super flattering. it shows her curves, her height, her toned legs and hides the midriff by illusion of black. the red and black are perfect colours for her skin tone, and the pattern is interesting! instead of settling for a boring number, she chose this amazing dress and played it up somemore with diamondy loree rodkin earrings. and she's comfortable. which shows a lot about what kind of person, mother, wife and first lady she is.

i love her! :) and to get to know her better i watched some of her videos online and her major DNC speech, which was amazing. it's true when barack obama says she is a better speaker than he is. she's a gifted public speaker and she speaks with emotion and heart. with the same passion and love that her husband has.

and another reason why i love huffpost. they have these slideshows of people/events and one series under obama slideshows is the obama PDA moments. and it's incredibly sweet and "aawwww". you can tell a lot from body language and it shows. their love for each other and their children is genuine and i suspect it is this love that keeps the president-elect grounded.

what great role models the world has now. :)

instyle's converage on michelle obama's style

huffpost's why all women should love michelle obama

huffpost's obama slideshows collection

oh before you think how the title of this post relates to, well, this post - renaissance is michelle obama's secret service codename. apt, ain't it?

red, white and blue!

the American flag at the New York Stock Exchange
june 2007, New York City

it's election day in the US! and i celebrated by going to class. :) well also i've been carrying my "obama gets my vote!" pseudo-american idol badge, a obama'08 car decal on my car.

and as i decided what to wear this morning, i decided on a blue smocked dress, white shrug and a red necklace. mostly blue, mostly democrat. ok that was beside the point.

in less than 24 hours, we'll know who's leading the US and the world for the next 4 years. i chose this photo of the flag in front of the NYSE building on wall st., 'cos it's kinda fitting that the major issue in the race is our failing economy. OUR meaning the whole world.

it's super sad to see obama tearing while speaking at a rally after his grandmother passed away. at the back of my head, that west wing-US presidential race 08 connection lights up again. on the day of the elections, matt santos (who eventually won the race) lost his VP running mate, leo mcgarry to a massive heart attack. leo has been sick since the start of season 6, but recovered to continue his work for the president, then evetually joining the democratic ticket. ok not as uncanny as the rest, but you get my drift.

nope. not tempting fate.

but meanwhile, i shall pay tribute to my favorite president of all time, jed bartlet.

Bartlet: I like your show. I like how you call homosexuality an abomination.

Dr. Jenna Jacobs: I don't say homosexuality is an abomination, Mr. President. The Bible does.

President Josiah Bartlet: Yes it does. Leviticus.

Dr. Jenna Jacobs: 18:22.

President Josiah Bartlet: Chapter and verse. I wanted to ask you a couple of questions while I have you here.

I'm interested in selling my youngest daughter into slavery as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. She's a Georgetown sophomore, speaks fluent Italian, always cleared the table when it was her turn. What would a good price for her be?

While thinking about that, can I ask another? My Chief of Staff Leo McGarry insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly says he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself or is it okay to call the police?

Here's one that's really important because we've got a lot of sports fans in this town: touching the skin of a dead pig makes one unclean. Leviticus 11:7. If they promise to wear gloves, can the Washington Redskins still play football? Can Notre Dame? Can West Point?

Does the whole town really have to be together to stone my brother John for planting different crops side by side?

Can I burn my mother in a small family gathering for wearing garments made from two different threads? Think about those questions, would you?

One last thing: while you may be mistaking this for your monthly meeting of the Ignorant Tight-Ass Club, in this building, when the President stands, nobody sits.

- The West Wing, "The Midterms"

This quote has been giving me a headache since i first watched it. well maybe i'll ask pastor about it one day. besides the headache, he's probably the only president who has a nobel prize in economics before becoming president, can speak latin and has an IQ through the roof. well since he's fiction, barack obama probably is the best we can do. smart, intelligent and charismatic.

a little thing called tempting fate.

[The office staff watches the Senate start to vote on Mendoza's confirmation to the Supreme Court and begin celebrating. Bonnie starts handing around a bottle of champagne]

Toby: Put it down! Put it down!"

Bonnie: Toby!

Toby: No champagne.

Bonnie: We're just getting--

Toby: Put it down. Everyone in this room, let me have your attention! Please. The law of our land mandates that Presidential appointees be confirmed by a majority of the Senate, a majority being a total of half plus one for a total of what, Ginger?

Ginger: Fifty-one.

Toby: Fifty-one 'yea' votes is what we see on these screens BEFORE a drop of wine is swallowed! Because there's a little thing called what, Bonnie?

Bonnie: 'Tempting fate'?

Toby: 'Tempting fate' is what it's called. In the three months that this man has been on my radar screen, I have aged forty-eight years. This is MY day of jubilee, I will not have it screwed up by what, Bonnie?

Bonnie: By tempting fate.

Toby: By tempting fate! These things take patience. These things take skill. These things take luck. In the fifteen months we've been in office, what kind of luck have we had? Ginger?

Ginger: Bad luck.

Toby: [clears his throat and raises his eyebrows] What kind of luck?

Ginger: Very bad luck.

Toby: We've had very bad luck.

- The West Wing Season 1 "Six Meetings Before Lunch"

***

Here's hoping democrats do not get complacent, make voting errors and tempt fate before the election is called. and VOTE! whether you have to brave the snow, winds, rain, or sun.

I've been meaning to write something about the uncanny resemblance of the west wing's seasons 6-7 plots to the US presidential race 08 now reaching its climax and inevitable end. but the new york times beat me to it. and so did the sunday times, which published the NYT article on 2nd nov. well i'm glad people have noticed!!

in a manner of not tempting fate deliberately, in the west wing, the hispanic, democrat nominee won by just a few thousand votes in nevada, at 4am the day after election day. in the above scene, hispanic judge mendoza (also admiral adama in battlestar galactica) got his senate majority and was put on the supreme court. well, maybe, just maybe, fact will follow fiction.

no i'm not tempting fate.

the demise of morals.

"i don't understand why they (young people) don't just ask their parents for money."
- some NTU girl, straits times 27th oct.

i was super appalled when i read the article. it was a piece about how the young people are not bothered by the current economic downturn. this young 20-year-old undergrad carries a $4000 LV bag among other branded goods. and sighs her way through the interview. when asked about how she felt with regards to her friends who have to work part-time jobs to earn extra cash, she sighed and told the reporter that line.

wow. every few years the young people of singapore will stir up some elitist comment like this and make me wonder if we are all forgoing our morals and integrity for material things. the last one i remember was the daughter of the MP who snubbed a jobless singaporean and asked him to get out her "elitist, uncaring" face. or something like that.

i got to thinking about my own set of values. and how it came about. i have done my fair share of sins when i was young. but ever since coming to know the Lord, i have set my values and morals on the Word of God. well it's a learning curve and a work in progress. but i'm thankful for this set of values that i have and try to abide by, for i know you should never look down on those who are "lesser" that you are. even if you do not have to work to get a nice LV bag because daddy pays for it, you should never tell your friends to ask their parents for money. money their parents may not even have for themselves.

humility is a hard thing to practise. and it's an even harder thing to learn. as educators, we are responsible for our students and to impart in them the knowledge that they need to go out into the world. to run the race with them and help them through every breathlessness, fall, sprain, stitch, pain and victory. but when it comes to the affective domain, how do we teach humility? empathy? creativity? loving kindness? care? honesty? integrity? how do we ensure that our students don't grow up to be soul-less, mindless thieves who don't give a crap about how other people might feel?

i know some are inclined to push this huge and heavy responsibility to the parents. and i do agree that parents play a very important in shaping their children's character from young. but does this let us teachers off the hook? don't think so. out of 24 hours, a child spends a third of it in school, under the care of teachers. so better share this responsibility. i don't quite like teachers who like to push the blame around, blaming everyone but themselves.

well this is such an incoherent post. well all i wanted to say actually was about that girl. and how i'm so sad with the demise of the moral values of our young people.

***

alright, the US elections provides me with endless entertainment and some of it is super hilarious, and some, really sweet. (: i'm almost halfway through obama's 2nd book and he's a great writer (much better than i am, as evident from this post).

and more than that, he's a great speaker and debater. i watched the final debate, and the final question on education. and he summarized his education plan in 5 points, elaborated on each point, then summarized all the points before his time was up. mccain tumbled through his incoherent points. during rebuttal, obama took mccain's incoherent ramblings, extracted out his main ideas, and did a similarities and differences comparison between his own education plan and mccain's ramblings. within minutes. and i was like WOW. he's super smart and a good talker. sounds like president josiah bartlet of the west wing huh.

conspiracy.

towards the second half of the 3rd season of the west wing, the Bartlet administration and US security agencies uncovered a terror plot instigated by the defense minister of the fictional middle-east nation of qumar, named abdul shareef. the plan was to blow up the golden gate bridge. qumar, on the surface, was an ally of the US and abdul shareef was scheduled to visit the white house and call on the president and reaffirm their friendship.

president bartlet, his chief of staff leo and "the group of 8", which included the house and senate majority and minority leaders, speaker of the house, chairman of the joint chiefs, NSA advisor, secretaries of state and defense, came to a unanimous decision to assassinate the guy. after much deliberation on bartlet's part, going against his moral standards ("there are moral absolutes") and weighing that against the threat to national security and the security of america and the world. season 3 closed with just 2 words, "take him". against the closing act of "the war of the roses".

so there the alias people, black ops people that i know like sydney bristow and michael vaughn. they landed shareef's plane in the middle of bermuda, killed him. probably scattered his ashes all over and dismantled the plane into 20 different parts and threw them into the ocean. even his pilot had a qumari name and passport, but he's actually an american. that's how thorough those black ops people are.

so the cover story was that shareef's plane went down in the bermuda triangle and was never heard from again.

until a cosmic confluence of events and coincidences and a very savvy reporter called danny concanon figured it out. tracked down the pilot as an american and ran the story at the beginning of season 5. took him 1 year to do it. that story ran against the backdrop of the kidnapping of bartlet's youngest daughter by qumari terrorists/sleeper agents residing in the US. and as news of shareef's assassination juxtaposed against the kidnapping, of course the press asked, is the kidnapping a response and a retaliation towards the assassination.

well, my sister and i know the west wing too well. we've watched it so many times over. and as conspiracy theories surrounding m*as selam*at's escape surface, we can't help but draw parallels to the story arc i just wrote above.

well i skimmed through the reports in today's ST, and we were just talking about the huge number of loopholes in the report. like how in the world did everything work against them on that fateful day. the window's screwed, the CCTV's not working etc.

okay if it was really true, that somehow the fugitive in question is dead, no matter how he died, that this cover-up designed by our government is in the interest of national security, fear of retaliation, fear of more terror plots (maybe our government uncovered a plot to blow up esplanade for example). i'm all for it. and if the US can do it, so can we. (:

to quote president bush, it's the "war against ter-rr", right?

these days.

the weeks seem to pass me by.
mid-feb is here.
chinese new year is almost over.
valentine's day is here again.

no i'm not here to moan about what happened 3 years ago, 2 years ago or a year ago.
it's just a regular day, right?
except for the over-commercialization and over-emphasis of this day by couples and merchants.
well i did enjoy my valentine's day last year.
i remember it being very cold. and i watched my first movie in the US with my girlfriends, 'because i said so' and i loved it.

***

well anyway, switchfoot concert was GREAT. i know i'm like 2 weeks behind with this recap. but it was a good concert. they sound very good live and jon foreman is quite charming too. i think band lead singers HAVE to be charming. it's mandatory. that's how you win the hearts of girls. the fire fight, one of the opening bands, did us proud. (:

i remember one moment during the concert where i just stood still and really was quite stunned. twenty-four was the song. and during jon foreman's acoustic guitar solo, just his voice and his guitar was kind of amazing. it reminded me of a similar experience i had at damien rice's concert. this was especially amazing because of the lyrics. now this song is on repeat on my itunes and N95.

and thank you zeh zeh and justina for being great concert-mates, rocking out at the concert. (:

***

chinese new year was the usual affair that i remember. a lot of food, a lot of people, a lot of catching-up with relatives. it's strange that i haven't seen some of them in 2 years and it didn't felt like 2 years. there was also the usual get-together at bethany, this year was complete with a hilarious sketch and weiquan misquoting a Bible verse in front of everyone during the sketch. there was also a family picnic at the marina south pier with roasted chicken sandwiches, chips, curry (:, cny goodies, fruits, jelly and red wine. then we still went to eat zi char.

a lot of eating.

***

was quite sad that ah meng died, for some reason. i kinda remember vaguely taking a picture with him when i was young. but when i saw that beautiful potrait of that beloved orang-utan on the front page of the papers on saturday, i got upset. then i saw the memorial service and eulogy on the news and i can relate to the zookeeper's tears. 'cos those same tears fell when my dog, oscar died 8 years ago.

***

am very very glad that the writer's strike is O-V-E-R. also very glad that the writers got what they deserved and the big mogul companies giving way. but those billions of dollars lost because of the strike can never be replaced. the cost of pride can be so tangible, and intangible at the same time.

***

am also very very glad that obama has won 8 straight primaries and caucases. and i'm glad my state of washington voted for him. i have some obama for america campaign goodies with my friend alvin, so alvin come back soon!! i hope he wins ohio/texas or both, for the high number of delegates there could really push him to win the nomination.

***

simple joys come in the form of

the kids in church, whose bright eyes, cheeky wit, pure innocence and abundant energy really makes me smile.

the dogs i see, from day to day, and my own dog, who is so laid-back and carefree with life. who lies on his back and enjoy the cool evening wind and is friendly with every friend of the family, but barks insanely at people he doesn't like.

coming home at the end of a day at work of injecting things into fish embryos and probing them with stuff, to home-cooked dinner and tv shows. after finishing my 2nd west wing season 1-7 marathon, i'm now rediscovering lost right from the beginning and fishing out clues to the mystery. oh yes and those precious episodes of brothers and sisters, house, and lost coming up online every week. (:

reading and learning and discovering God's word and seeking to walk closely with Him everyday and under every circumstance. learning what it means to receive His precious provisions and blessings and not take them for granted. (:

confessions of a movie/tv junkie in LA.

i'm thinking back on 2007 more often than i should be. which is something i wish i did less. to look back. but being a sentimental girl, it's hard to not think about good times in the past.

anyway this is day 3 in sunny los angeles. i love the LA weather when i was there. mid-june. it was sunny and breezy and the nights were nice and cool.

day 3 was our private warner brothers studio tour which we paid for. i can still remember i bought the tickets online at the las vegas airport because LAS had free wireless access. and i also checked my spring quarter results and i thought i did SO badly for my human resource management module that i panicked like crazy. my prof emailed me to tell me she forgot to key in my exam marks.

anyway we booked a super early slot. 8.45am. it's good also 'cos we can spend the rest of the day doing something else. which we already planned. it was a sleepy morning and we had breakfast at the motel before heading up the bus to bring us to burbank, calif. we registered and got personalized nametags. so cool right. and hung around the lobby to wait for 8.45am to come.

then we were ushered into a small auditorium to watch a video of those famous movies and tv shows that are shot by warner brothers. and a history of the company. i recognized many of my favorite movies so that got me really excited. then we got introduced to our guide who is this movie-&-tv buff, obviously. we got into a small tram-like vehicle similar to those on golf courses and off we go onto the warner brothers lot.

production offices that double up as buildings for shoot. bicycles belong to production staff who cycle around the huge compound. and it was pretty funny when we met this production assistant working on a new tv show "the chronicles of sarah connor" now showing in the US. and he was complaining about his boss to us, a group of strange-looking visitors. well i understand. since PAs are sai-gang warriors in the film industry.

and we go past many houses on the lot used for shoots. and those sprawling mountains of burbank are usually digitally-removed in post-production.

seems ordinary right. but it's a frequently used set that i recognized on the west wing! it shows itself in several seasons, as a california mexican cafe place where bartlet and his daughter were eating lunch, as a place where a group of activists were rallying against the government during the big block of cheese day, as a hospital where the chief justice was admitted and matthew perry went to visit him. (:

this is sookie's house on gilmore girls! but it's empty inside. a typical facade.

this house, on the outside, is lane's house (also gilmore girls). and i learnt that some facades have working interiors like this one. except the 2nd floor is partically non-existent 'cos they have to hang lights and mikes. this is for shots where the director wants a long, continuous shot from outside to inside the house. so they gotta put up decor in this house and it changes from show to show.

this is the famous town gazebo of stars hollow in gilmore girls. the entire stars hollow town is left as it is, and it was actually a set of a very old film, reused in gilmore girls. and now even as the series has stopped completely, the set still remains. so you can tell i was SO excited when i was there. like i was really in stars hollow. where lorelai and rory were.

this is luke's diner (gilmore girls). with the decor taken off of course.

this looks like chicago at first glance, the very distinct subway tracks. but we're still on the set. this is used, obviously, for stuff that needs to look like it is in chicago.

and because chicago is known for its winds and rain, these lines high above the ground are known as rain-makers. or a water-sprinkler system, if you like. and tey would just drape a huge piece of black cloth above the rainmaker and use lights to create a rainy day.


this is the doors that open to the emergency room of cook county hospital in ER. the show that reigned way before grey's anatomy even was created in shonda rhimes's head. and yes george clooney looks young and cute.

this is the carriage that brad pitt rode in the movie Troy. then he proceeded to kill eric bana and drag his body behind this carriage. it was a super cry-worthy moment.

the flying car from harry potter and the chamber of secrets. (:

and after harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban, the whomping willow left its mark.

this is the couch that 6 famous people have sat on. the couch at central perk in Friends. left in its original state even after Friends wrapped production. in a special corner designed to pay tribute to the only show in history that raked in profits for warner brothers in its first season.

so just an iconic place what must you do. take picture! (: yes i was also very excited to be here.

inside central perk.

outside. filming in progress. the streets have no street lamps if you noticed. that's 'cos it enables the movie people to shoot whatever period of history they want. just pop in the correct type of street lamps and decor correctly and make sure the cars and the clothes people are wearing are of the correct era and voila. you can get anywhere between the 1800s and today.

we saw many many others things in the studio tour and many places where movies were shot. and i was sad that the tour came to an end and i didn't spot any stars. all on vacation i suppose. but i'm glad i went for the tour.

after that we were supposed to wait for the car rental company people to pick us up from warner brothers. so we hung around, take picture, buy souvenirs etc. we rented a car for 3 days over the weekend 'cos enterprise, the company, had this special discount for weekend rentals and it was only US$14 a day! so we did.

on the way to the rental place. we saw NBC studios. where many people are picketing and striking right now. when is it gonna end?!?! burbank is home to many production companies and their backlots. oh yes. rental companies in US pick you up from any nearby place and bring you to the company. so good right. great service.

so after we collected the car, we managed to get ourselves on the freeway and drive back to downtown LA. i was quite freaked at first because the last time i drove, i had my sisters with me and i was much more familiar with seattle roads. now it's all foreign and we don't have a map! but we managed without getting lost. but LA traffic is horrible. even at off-peak hours.

so we got to downtown LA and we searched for a grocery store to buy maps and finally spotted a safeway. yayyy. linda went to buy a map while i scrutinized the car. then we decided to drive around LA and explore the city. which's a really good idea 'cos we would never be able to do it on foot 'cos LA's too big. so here, the pic above, we started at downtown LA.

we parked along the road. learnt how to feed the parking meter. then walked around. (: these were sights around the walt disney concert hall.



this is for the very discreet rainbow peering out from the water. (: so pretty.

this is walt disney concert hall. very very nice design. quite avant-garde and nicer than esplanade. we took a short walk inside and in the shop. very very nice. too bad no time or money to catch a performance there.

p.s. this outdoor place of the concert hall, with the fountains, was where robert mccallister proposed to kitty walker in brothers & sisters. (:

the sky scrapers of downtown LA. oh this is where kevin walker of brothers & sisters works.



the concert hall from across the street.

after exploring downtown LA (and just walking past a nice museum), we drove out of downtown LA and headed for beverley hills and rodeo drive.

this is rodeo drive. and it looks more quaint and prettier than i expected. the building in front is bvlgari. and this intersection is really weird.

anyway rodeo drive is really the most upmarket, 5th ave of manhattan type of shopping. but it has that typical LA vibe to it. rows of short buildings. palm trees. the sun. tons of sports cars and cute cars. and cute guys.

this street, i can still remember, leads to a pretty 3-storey shophouse housing tiffany & co.

this is a car-less rodeo drive, or hollywood drive, the parallel street.



after some shopping. yeah right. i only bought a skirt from anthropologie, on sale. we drove towards the coast to santa monica. and i love this town!

first up, we drove right to the beach. at this time it was approaching dusk and it was starting to get cold. either that or it was the cold pacific ocean wind. we spotted this huskies van at the beach carpark, and judging by its washington state licence plate, it is indeed a university of washington van. haha must be some of my ex-collegemates who had taken a drive all the way from seattle to LA.

the beach!

the fine fine sand and the beautiful ocean. i haven't seen it in awhile. no oceans in NYC or las vegas.

the famous santa monica beach theme park. it's very distinctly santa monica. and this ferris wheel and theme park is always in the sweeping aerial shot in private practice. and santa monica is where addison and sam lives.

this is the 3rd st promenade. where it's a lovely lovely shopping street filled with big brands and big but affordable brands and small cute shops. people are busking and there are many little cafes and restaurants with al fresco dining, to soak in the nice weather and bustling crowd and talented buskers. i even took a video of this acoustic duo who sang beautifully. that's why i love santa monica. (:


well that was the end of day 3. we did more shopping at various shops, esp. forever21. had a late dinner at california pizza kitchen (how apt right) and began my long drive back to west hollywood.

no escaping from it.

happy belated new year.

it's 2008 and it promises more exciting movies, the opening of our own ferris wheel, a new american president and streaming towards bu*sh's end of term, the end of the hollywood writer's strike (they can't possibly drag the strike on till 2009 right, right?), convocation and finally it's my term to wear that gown and get that certificate and a trip to finland and neighboring countries and SO much more.

i've been semi-following the US presidential elections'08 for quite some time now. most of which from yahoo news, google news, the wires and ST. and just early this morning, i rejoiced with the obam*a campaign at their win at the Iowa caucus. i've been quite undecided about oba*ma and hilla*ry. like many americans, i presume. but now i'm beginning to lean towards ob*ama for a number of reasons. which i would think if strange 'cos wouldn't i, as a woman, support the first woman-president of the US's election bid? and i'm wondering about the countless women of Iowa who voted for all the other men, whether democrats or republicans.

well oba*ma now wins my vote because he's tough on foreign policy, albeit inexperienced (unlike hill*ary, or so she claims), he's also very much against the iraq war right from the start, he's african-american, he's from a humble background who worked his as* off to get to where he is today, he is young, fresh and so passionate about the work and i believe can inject a fresh new start to change america and shape it to be a better world, taking over the ruins that b*ush left him. he loves his family, he's a man of God, he is that "bridging gap between the college campus and the retirement homes", as said by kitty walker in brothers and sisters.

and i had the opportunity to hear oba*ma speak at a rally in early june (i think) in seattle, but i wasn't sure if they'll let me in, me being a non-american, not registered to vote and i have no washington state driver's license. so i didn't in the end. it's a pity. the rally was FULL by the way, packed to the brim in the huge 15,000 or so stadium.

anyway, my ideal president is personified by jed bartlet, the president in the west wing, written by aaron sorkin and protrayed by martin sheen. (: in real life, obama is probably him, with the exception of age and experience.

anyway i was going to say, there's really no escaping from politics. it's everywhere. there's national politics, relationships politics, office politics etc. i never really understood or bothered to care about politics when i was younger. but as i grew older, i began to comprehend just how important politics are and how intricately it's related to change. and bitchiness of course.

claudia jean from the west wing once said in a 'rock the vote' opening speech,
"Think government isn't about you? How many of you have student loans to pay? How many have credit card debt? How many want clean air and clean water and civil liberties? How many want jobs? How many want kids? How many want their kids to go to good schools and walk on safe streets? Decisions are made by those who show up. You gotta rock the vote!"

you know we live in singapore where everything is handed to us in a silver platter. there's schools to go to, financial aid if you need it, loans and CPF, medisave, clean air, clean water, more jobs are created, there's financial reward for having kids, our streets are safe, free from guns explosives and nuclear weapons. so there isn't much for political debate on a national level, and as i did in my younger days, why bother?

but things are changing now. and i find it hard to not bother sometimes. oil prices are up to US$100 a barrel. ir*an, north ko*rea may have nuclear weapons, the middle east is too unstable, so is south east asia, our closest neighbors. terrorism, global warming, the economy, rising food prices, electricity prices, genocides, famine, H5N1 influenza, AIDS and the list goes on.

so just how is a normal human being supposed to react to all these? by showing up i guess. in singapore we can rest a little easier 'cos we've got a good government to tackle big issues. it's just the smaller domestic issues that we find fault with.

***

speaking of politics, the creator of brothers and sisters the tv show, jon robin baitz, has left the show after getting into a disagreement with network execs and some colleagues. and i'm dismayed that it turned out this way. i can never understand hollywood backstage politics. but as a fan of the show, i'm afraid the show will go downhill from here.

like what happened with the west wing when aaron sorkin, the creator, left the show after season 4. seasons 5-7 were just dismal. especially that dreadful season 5. the show had no longer a sense of direction and was just merely floating from week to week, settling for any storyline that was interesting and could captivate the audience for 1 hour each week and that's all. it was disappointing.

and there's uncanny coincidences with regards to the 2 show creators. they are actually good friends in real life, aaron got robbie baitz to write an episode of the west wing, they both started out as playwrights, with very successful plays on broadway, and there's rob lowe to tie the 2 shows together.

i was reading robbie baitz's very emotional and lengthy essay on his departure from the show and LA, and how he describe the direction of each character on brothers and sisters he would have taken if he didn't leave the show. and i mourn the fact that i would probably not see those story arcs happening on the show. part of his departure was due to the disagreements of story arcs that robbie baitz and the network execs wanted to take. the former was more stage-play-like, more emotional, more smart, more intricate and complicated while the latter wants to appeal to the mass market. hence more silly, funny, drama rama type stories, less serious and political commentator-ish.

sigh. so sad. the west wing is now gone. they canceled studio 60 on the sunset strip (also politics. and ratings.). robbie baitz left brothers and sisters. smart, witty, fast-paced dialogue with great acting and a great script that delves into issues like aging, sexuality, social behavior, politics, war, religion etc.

there's no escaping from politics.