Gossip Girl; my take: introduction

I have decided to foray away from my usual blogging topics and venture into something else that I have never, ever written. In fact, once upon a time, I would never have dreamed on writing about this series. But trying out new things can be fun, albeit a bit awkward. So, I’m going to put on my [most pleasant] thinking cap on all things metropolitan, and get straight to the point.

So why Gossip Girl? I once said that the series annoy me to no end-and it still does. For one, drama amongst highly bred young adults really don’t interest me. But yes, I do watch it. And the more I follow this series (thank you, Cindi haha) there is a minute, almost invisible connection. And, watching shows with an open mind enables me to slowly break down and analyze. At least you get to use your brain. Why do I still watch this show? As an amateur in this whole GG universe, I admit that I have only read the prequel novel, and am only following the 2nd season as it runs on the local channel now. So this upcoming entries I’m going to blog is plainly through my perspective of the series. If I get some facts wrong, feel free to correct me. (:

GG has a drop-dead gorgeous cast, I will give them that. But that’s not the reason why. Lets admit it, GG has a stunning array of people, and of course a library-worthy stock of personalities. The people make you cringe and stare in awe. As the story suggests, they are gorgeous, beautiful people. And yes they are. They have us in their impeccably groomed fingers. GG ensnares us with characters that might or do bear a significance in our lives. Maybe it’s true. We fall in love with them, and of course, we relate to these characters. Hollywood has made it evident that beautiful people have huge, out-of-the-world problems.

Gossip Girl has the most cliche of story lines, but with an old fashioned plot that holds the audience and never gets old. We have the elite girls in the elite school, the handsome boys that double for more than just eye candy, and also, the few ‘rejects’ that usually come out in their own way and pulls the story together neatly. And sometimes, it would be them that steals the spotlight, eventually, at least. We have: (the main stars, at least.)

• the winsome, model-esque Serena, the epitome of the all-perfect girl.
• the coiffed and devious Blair, one who always sought control.
• Jenny, a girl who is only starting out.
• the amateur author, Dan.
• either a very confused or simply one who bottles up many emotions-Chuck
• and the troubled Nate who steps up a notch by sleeping with a ‘cougar’. 

One unique twist to this series is that in GG, there is a narrator. The many endeavors of the main cast are told through a mysterious blogger with the alias of Gossip Girl. She unravels a seedy affair or two with a lilting voice that sometimes bears an advice, or a sardonic mocking edge. In the novelization, Gossip Girl spills all on her blog, where readers flock and leave comments. Nothing is too scandalous for GG; wherever there are canards, she will always be there. 

I’m sure it’s not too assuming of me to say that the Gossip Girl books are quite the bestseller. GG would be so thrilled. But I’m not surprised at its success, on paper and on screen. Acts of misconduct has never been so gripping. 

The next post on this would be on the characters-I hope to give each of them a page each if possible. Wish me luck. (:

Minimal

I have been Tweeting too much for my own good. Anyway, I’ve been way busy since this short semester. It’s supposed to be shorter but that doesn’t mean it will be easier. Not so for us Illustration students. So I have to work harder. But then again, I do work harder every sem. And with my iPhone I’ve resorted to Tweeting instead-plain laziness.

Hope everyone’s been having a great year so far!

To Cindi:

Wait! There’s something else behind the cut. (:

Untitled II

Another poem I wrote before going to bed. I have been writing loads of late. 

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The flowing river tinged with dirt,
Tears like severed pearls,
A broken heart, laced with hurt,
Hidden in a pool of forgotten swirls.

The palest of kisses, a wisp of goodbyes,
Written in words of tomorrow,
A mirror of beauty, hope and lies,
In a room where no light will follow.

The candle burns past Midnight’s hour,
A flicker of memories in Death’s eye,
All of temptation, a withered flower,
A sighing departure with a lonely cry.

Drowning in tears forevermore, 
Always here, never there,
Alone beyond the perennially closed door,
An apple of sorrow laid bare.

An Honest Mistake

A mistake it is, but certainly not a mistake when it comes to writing! (: Thanks once again to Emily, my muse since high school, I’ve successfully written another poem, and I’m glad to say that I’m pleased with this one. I wrote it and finished it in Zhi Lin’s car on the way back from college.

You can view it here on DeviantArt.

The meaning is entirely up to you to interpret.

Edit: Why not you guys tell me what this poem means to you? Would be fun to read your comments. Thank you for reading!

Whisper, linger, the raven’s call,
A crimson siren amidst the dark,
Cascading to black, feathers fall,
A smile, a kiss, that ignites a spark.

Broken, fragile, my humble facade,
A decision made, inked in blood,
My body, spirit, for you to guard,
My soul spilling forth like winter’s flood.

Aching for completion, my heart’s desire,
Taking the plunge without a thought,
Into nothingness, suspended by a wire,
Fate will decide when will I be caught.

Irreversible, the clocks of time,
My heart in slumber, never to awake,
Your paper crane drenched in wine,
Silent lips mouth this honest mistake.

If only

What gives.

The internet connection here is just horrible, and it’s not making me feel any better.

What shall we die for?

Met up with Ethan and Wan Li today for the movie Valkyrie. Ethan has done up his hair, which made him appear very… different than before. You never really styled your hair in high school, didn’t you? 

I thought Valkyrie was an alright movie. In fact, it was pretty interesting for a movie detailing such events. Tom Cruise may have the same expression throughout the entire show (okay maybe at certain times he did had a change of emotions) but then what sort of expression do you really expect from a show like this? Soldiers in war don’t lose their head, they retain their decorum. Actually most of the soldiers look alike that I can’t really tell who’s who. Apart from the main characters, I rely totally on their names. 

It was the kind of movie that you already know the outcome (through history). So it pretty much takes you through what really happened. Quite impressive, really. To execute a plot like that takes a lot of guts, seeing that you may just lose yours in the end. Hats off, people.

I was trying to pinpoint Bill Nighy in the movie, and rejoiced when I saw his name in the credits. He is awesome. Period. Hang on, wasn’t Kenneth Branagh that guy who did all the Shakespeare plays into movies? And who played the role of Gilderoy Lockhart in Chamber of Secrets? I didn’t know it was him. In fact, I didn’t know who was he acting as. Definitely not Hitler, right?

Thanks for the movie, Ethan. And also for that awesome sneak-peek into the Gold Class area-which I have never entered before! I even caught a glimpse of Changeling, which we almost watched, while I was inside. Have a safe flight back, and yeah, I will miss you. ): Three more years…

Wan Li has gotten even more livelier. Is it his girlfriend, or is it simply college that opened him up? 

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On a much more serious note, I want to address the issue known as Twilight. Everyone has their say on the subject and I figured that I should do so.

One sentence: I do not understand the hype about it.

It could have been a bestseller like Harry Potter, popular but minus the overrated fangirls. Suddenly, almost overnight, the entire world is talking about Edward Cullen, vampire extraordinaire who captures the heart of a human girl named Bella. And the other suitor (aka arch enemy) is Jacob Black, a young werewolf. 

Talk about it? Sure. Discuss about it? Sure. But fight about issues that doesn’t exist? What exactly is going on with the people today? According to this link, girls actually die arguing over who is better, Edward or Jacob. Is it worth fighting for? It’s completely, totally fiction. Unless Edward does exist and sparkles in the sun, then go ahead and rave about him. It’s like a political situation gone wrong and usually ends up in a tussle. It’s almost… childish. 

Flame me all you want, but Twilight isn’t the best romance novel out there. Romance or not, it clearly isn’t worth your lives. Get a life, people. At least, open up your eyes and see that the world doesn’t revolve around Twilight. Everyone has a free rein to voice their opinions-with a limit. Don’t snap and fire them simply because they are just voicing what they really feel about the book. You may think it is awesome, but evidently, some don’t. One man’s meat is another man’s poison, right?

It’s a BOOK, not a sensitive issue like religion or politics, and it doesn’t deserve to be raised up to this level as it is now.

Wake up, everybody.

Musings

Oh, hi. I’m finally back from my long-term absence. (: I wasn’t being absent, really, I was simply updating my other journal at DeviantArt. Sometimes it gets pretty tedious to have two journals, I mean you often get torn between which one to constantly update. Hence, the sudden absence.

Anyway, I have been away in Taiping for the Chinese New Year celebrations. Along with Jason and Amanda, we have to put on a brave front and persevere through whatever that is thrown our way. Actually, the pet peeves of CNY will be elaborated further on in another post. Just to be organized.

But apart from other none too jolly things, Taiping will always be a treasure trove of stuff to explore for city people like us. Who pops by once a year. So things come and go, and we even see new (drastic) changes, such as an awesome Tesco (haha) and next to it, Taiping Sentral-with a cinema to boot! That could be the first cinema in Taiping-ever since the ancient ones got demolished many years ago. I don’t know how people there can be deprived of movies for so long. Drive to Ipoh for entertainment?

We watched InkHeart there, so no complaints.

Jason and I also got around to recording this audio story of ours. It’s completely original. And it’s spontaneous. So while listening to it again, we caught moments of awkwardness like the occasional ‘eerrrs’ and ‘ahhs’ while we try to think of a continuation. It’s still in development.

But I’m still thrilled to be back in KL-mainly because of the homework that I had not completed. And also, because Victoria is coming! (: Do tell us when you are here.

The far side of the world

The Golden Globes just passed on Sunday night (Monday morning for us) and of course, it was glamorous, glitzy and all things vogue. I only caught the red carpet event, along with the scene where Ryan tries to get Brangelina on live, but failed. Hmm. Things happen.

Thing is, while America celebrates the fest, Palestine is being ravaged and bombed. I only understand the gist of it. I guess there’s something to be said about a naive girl who doesn’t really take heed of-global issues? :/

But it’s really odd, for one part of the world to be experiencing happiness (I think) while the other side is going through tough times. I don’t know how can others live their life on like that as if nothing happened. If you read the news you will be touched by it.

I really need to clean my laptop.