Pariiiii

So yesterday, I saw a pretty cool photo of Paris.

It wasn't a particularly awesome photo, but it was pretty nice.

The photo is here.

For some reason, my heart melted, and I felt it necessary to utter an "Oh my God".

I was by myself at the time. Which makes it even more strange.

I think the exterior beauty of the French capital has captured my heart. Not just its exterior beauty, but it's character, its history.

Hopefully I'll have the chance to visit her in June.

Word of the Day: Paris

Brahmy

Some people drown their sorrows in alcohol. Other people...well, I don't know what else you can drown your sorrows in really. Apart from variations of alcohol.

I, on the other hand, play clarinet. This is my latest challenge:



Beautiful Brahms.

Highly recommended listening.

Not that I'm drowning my sorrows or anything. I don't exactly know why I'm doing it. I guess, having not picked up the clarinet in anger for about two years, I felt like reliving good times past when I'd create semi-pretty music.

I'm also a lot better at it than I am at guitar. I actually vibe with it. The guitar doesn't fully feel comfortable in my hands. Probably owing to the fact that I've played it for a shorter period of time, coupled with lack of teacher. I'm just not as good at it as I am clarinet.

It's also a good relaxation method. There's something soothing about the mellow tones of a clarinet, more so when they're emanating from me. Probably means I'm an egomaniac or something. Analyse me, psych students.

And, because my life is so exciting, pretty much nothing else has happened since I last blogged. Yep.

Word of the Day: Sorrows

Who's minding the gap now?!

And so another weekend of football passes, and Arsenal find themselves now three points ahead of Spurs in third place. And to think, a few weeks ago, at the halfway mark in the match against Spurs, they were 13 points ahead.

I don't remember us winning a game this easily since Wigan last year. Or maybe it was West Brom. Someone starting with W, and not wearing orange. Good times.

Weather's starting to get a bit cold now. You know, just in case you hadn't noticed or something. So much so that I almost contracted a cold yesterday.

Apart from that, not much going on in my own life except for this thesis stuff sort of maybe starting to take shape. I shall continue to live vicariously through Arsenal for the time being.

Word of the Day: Ahead

Speechless

Finally, finally finished my speech today.

More accurately called a roleplay. But here at The Huangout Place, we never let technicalities get in the way of good puns.

Whatever you want to call it, it's finally done. Was totally over it by 11 o'clock this morning.

In hindsight, I should've actually done the work instead of my group member doing about half of it. I mean, she tried. She was a great group member in that respect. It's just some of the questions didn't really like to the answers, and vice versa, and some of the stuff seemed a bit random.

Anyway, it is done. And I think it was done well. Got some positive feedback, and all that. Now I can fully focus my attention on what I do best (based on past history etc): writing.

I'd like to conclude by paying tribute to Lionel Messi. This morning, at the tender age of 24, he comprehensively destroyed the all-time goalscoring record at Barcelona by scoring his eighth hat-trick for the season. I just realised that he's only two years older than I am. And that he's probably going to get even better. And he's going to have the best midfielder in the world, Fabregas, feeding him assists for at least the next half a decade.

Also, he's pretty much the only player on the whole team who didn't engage in Fabregas fetish when they were trying to sign him from Arsenal. All round good guy, and a pretty good player too.

Here are the goals that did it for him this morning:



Should've signed him, Arsene, should've signed him.  

Word of the Day: Messi

Violins can be pretty cool sometimes

Feeling a bit melancholy on a fairly cold Saturday night. What better time to bust out this song?!



Beautiful. And an awesome TV show to boot.

Anyway. Why am I melancholy, you may ask?

Partially because of this song.

"Surely you jest," I hear you say. "Andrew 'Heart of Ice' Huang surely could not be moved to such extreme emotions by mere music?!"

And you'd be a little bit right, dear hypothetical speaker. Problem is, I don't really know what's got me a little bit melancholy.

As I say, partly this song. I think it's more magnifying existing emotions really, rather than affecting them directly as such.

Probably a little bit to do with the fact that I'm at home on a Saturday night, trying to get study done. I know it's something that I should be doing, and that it's right and whatnot, but that doesn't mean I don't want to go out and do nothing for hours on end. Summer stylez.

Oh my. Three weeks into uni, and I'm starting to miss the holidays.

Word of the Day: Melancholy

That's how much I love you.

And I hate that I love you so.

Word of the Day: So

Kony 2012

I don't profess to know a great deal about what's going on in Uganda, or, depending on who you're listening to, what's not going on in Uganda. So I'll give actually talking about Kony a fairly wide berth. 

What I would like to remark upon, purely as an observation, is how astounding this whole thing is. This 30-minute video has people deeply divided, with some jumping straight in and castigating Kony like he's personally wronged them and their entire family and ancestors, and some taking a wholier-than-thou 'educate yourself before you jump to conclusions' stance.

As I say, I don't know a great deal about this - in fact, I know next to nothing about most things in Africa - but I do find it annoying how some people actually think they can save the world from evil by sharing a video. I get that some people actually care, and there's nothing wrong with this video making you caring. I mean, we all have to learn about things from somewhere. But seriously, copying + pasting a letter and sending it to your local MP, sharing a video, or sharing a link, won't do very much if that's all you're going to do. 

It's especially annoying when the same people who think that Africa is a country are the people that start harping on about Kony and Uganda and whatnot. I don't know why, something about that just rankles with me. I guess it's that if you care about something, then care about it. Don't go running impromptu lectures about something that you've only just learned about through a YouTube video. 

I'm not really the saviour of the world either. I give to a few select charities a few times a year, because I believe in the work that they do, but I'm not really the volunteering type. So you could just dismiss all this as hypocritical old me ranting at people that actually care and stuff. 

Also equally annoying are the people that are all like 'fact, fact, fact', contradicting the Kony people. They, too, most likely just learned that Uganda is part of the African continent, and not another planet, and yet, they're teaching people all about the history of the Ugandan conflict. 

It's all just rather annoying. I wish they'd hurry up and sort Kony out. Because he is probably a morally bankrupt person, and also because many people have probably suffered at his hands, but also because then this whole thing will end sooner.

Word of the Day: Kony 

The Not-So-Phantom Menace

So today I finally, finally saw The Phantom Menace.

The not-so-phantom I refer to is, of course, 3D movies.

The only reason I went to see TPM was because I wanted to see it in cinemas again, and not because I wanted to see it in '3D'. But I thought it'd be interesting nonetheless.

However, in a not-entirely-unexpected bout of zeitgeist, there was very minimal 3D rendering, and a lot more money spent on tickets.

I'm pretty over '3D' films and their overt cash-grabbing. In fact, I was pretty over it as soon as they started making their comeback after Avatar. I was more than happy with a well put-together 2D film as opposed to rubbishy '3D' films. It's unnecessary, because my brain sees things onscreen as 3D anyway. Besides, there are many more things besides 3D-ness that a good film should have anyway to be a good film.

Yeah, anyway. Star Wars. Never realised how much the soundtrack enhanced the film/covered up the intensely awkward dialogue and acting.

Also, I actually like Episode 1. Yeah, maverick.

Word of the Day: Zeitgeist

She opened up the door and didn't want to come near me

One of the greatest music videos ever.

Such drama. Drama on drama.

And Usher taking off his clothes unnecessarily. Not that that's something that really adds anything to the video for me, but you know, it's there.

Word of the Day: Drama

What a win/loss

What a game today, and what a win.

Well, a loss really, in the grand scheme of things, but I'll take it as a win anyway, seeing as I'm such a positive person and all.

I had a funny feeling about this game yesterday. Funny, in that I had a feeling that Arsenal could actually have a crack at overturning the 4-0 deficit from the first leg.

We almost got there. 3-0 up, and

If it wasn't for this save:

who knows, we might even have made it into the next stage. No blame attached to Captain van Persie though. After all he's done this season, he couldn't be expected to never stuff up. But still, it was a little heartbreaking. 

The word that I saw bouncing around the most in the Twittersphere today when people were describing Arsenal was: 'Proud'. 

And proud is what the team should be, and proud is what I am. The team should be commended for having a real go at a very decent Milan team.

Onwards and upwards Gunners!

Word of the Day: Proud

Blah

Blah.

Everything is a bit blah.

I have nothing constructive to say apart from that. Come to think of it, that wasn't even constructive. In the slightest.

Word of the Day: Blah

We actually won!

And this time, the football failed to disappoint.

It's not very often that we get completely outplayed and still manage a win. Unlike Man United, we oftentimes seem to lack that particular capability.

But this was one of those magnificent times. Up against the ropes for the entire first half, and most of the second, two magical, sublime van Persie goals once again won the game.

And my, how important this win could be.

Chelsea managed to lose to West Brom, which means they're now three points behind in fifth. Spurs are only four points ahead of us now with a game in hand, and play Man United tonight.

Things are looking a little bit better now.

Hopefully Arteta's injury isn't too serious. Looked bad, with the oxygen mask and all.

Let's hope that this win heralds a good week coming up.

Word of the Day: Oftentimes

Escape from Monkey Island

"I like to imagine that the world is one big machine. You know, machines never have any extra parts. They have the exact number and type of parts they need. So I figure if the entire world is a big machine, I have to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too." - Hugo Cabret

It's a little bit sad, but sometimes I look forward to football a bit too much, because it takes my mind off things that irk me.

It's a form of escapism, I guess. For 90 minutes, you can worry about whether your team is going to win or not instead of worrying about things that you can actually do something about, but won't.

As I say, a little bit sad.

Speaking of escapism, saw Hugo last night. Excellent film. Very photographic. I very much like films that look as though they're filmed by a photographer. Beautiful composition and scenery. Oh, and it was also very well acted, and very neatly cut out parts of the book that I didn't like much anyway.

For some bizarre reason, before I went in, I thought the film was an animated feature. No idea why. Maybe just the 3D, because in my mind, the only films that should be in 3D are cartoons.

In case you're wondering, it's not an animated feature.

So off to do a bit more reading (what else do I do these days), and to watch the football in a few hours. Come on you Gunners!

Word of the Day: Escapism

Goodbye Summer. Hello Autumn.

And so time Marches on (hahaha) inexorably, unstoppably. Summer turns to Autumn, and gusty breezes and falling leaves replace the cloudless blue skies and searing heat. 

Welcome to Autumn.

I like Autumn. It usually has nice, mild weather. I mean, it hasn't gotten off to a great start this year (gale-force winds, flooding, etc), but usually it's quite comfortable. It also allows me to dress in a sensible way. You know, jeans and a shirt. Not thongs and shorts, or massive jacket and scarf.

So I brought out my home hoodie today to fight the sub-zero temperatures off, and, to my half-delight half-dismay, it is now very loose-fitting. 

This could be a problem. This weight-loss caper really makes you aware of how much it costs to accumulate and build a semi-respectable wardrobe. All my clothes up until now have literally been accumulated for years, from various sales and garbage bins. Now I have to go and find some new ones, and find them quick, for prices that don't make me scream in pain. 

Anyway, it's a happy problem to have, I guess, insofar as any problem can be viewed in a positive light. 

Oh yeah, had my first 'class' yesterday. There are three guys in my class. I am one of them. The other two look like indie rockers. 

Yeah, cool story bro. 

I'll leave you with this cool song that I stumbled across the other day. Beautifully evocative track. 

Word of the Day: Caper