Sometimes we forget.

Lazy Saturday night and was browsing random sites, came across an interesting article on my sis' blog.

On a winter January morning in 2007, Washington Post decided to conduct an observational social experiment. The setting: A busy train station in Washington D.C. during on Friday morning at 8am. An unassumingly dressed young man takes his violin out of its case starts playing a classical tune unfamiliar to most people. And he does so for the next 45 minutes, just as any busker would. A scene so familiar to your urban city dweller who commutes almost every day in their adult life.

In the 45 minutes, only seven people stopped to "hang around" to listen to the violinist, but of course, one could only spare a minute, right? After all, we have reports to file, meetings to attend, emails to reply to, coffee to gulp down. But sometimes we forget. We forget that every day is different.

And the difference that day was that the young man Joshua Bell, a child prodigy who grew up to become a Grammy Award-winning violinist gracing the music halls where the lowest priced ticket was about US$100. The instrument was a violin crafted by Antonio Stradivari in 1713, with a price tag reported to be about US$3.5 million.

It's a sad story. But one that's needed to remind us that sometimes we forget. We forget to stop. We forget to listen. We forget about enjoying the simple beauty that life brings. We forget, but we never seem to forget to complain about life's monotony.

Read the complete story at WashingtonPost.com: Pearls Before Breakfast, 8 April 2007

Almost Audrey: Musings that turned into a review of Burton's Alice in Wonderland

Watched Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland yesterday - not in 3D and by choice. Every person that I've told has given me that incredulous stare, "Why?!" Why would I opt to watch a movie in non-3D when there's a 3D version available? The simplest way to explain this would probably be this - I have not been impressed with a single 3D movie except for Avatar, and maybe it could be bacause I saw it at Bangkok's IMAX theater, maybe not as I still felt the screen was tiny compared to Sydney's. One thing that I know for sure, if I have to spend 2 hours wearing dorky ass glasses that are hella uncomfortable, your 3D better be seamless. Last thing I need is to notice things jumping out at me on screen. Hate seeing my world framed, probably why I spent days of my adolescent life lobbying my mum to let me switch to contacts.

I'm a Burton fan and have always been since Edward Scissorhands (the boyf pointed out that I've been mis-pronouncing the title for as long as he can remember. I called it "Scissors-hand.") so it's no surprise that Alice in Wonderland was lovely! My one complain was that the colors on screen were not as bright and bold as I expected, but I blame it on the cinema screens for the washed-out feel (yes you, Golden Village at Great World City!). Costumes were wonderful - not just on the Wonderland characters but also what the people in the London(?) scenes wore. I loved Burton's subtle suggestions of how Wonderland could have been Alice's dream, with her subconcious mind taking things in "real life" and using them as elements of Wonderland - the annoying twin girls with Matt Lucas channelling Little Britain as the "fat boys," her sister's cheating husband as the Knave of Spades, the crazy red & orange hair, the over-dressed guests of the party with the fakeys of the Red Queen's court, and of course, Lord Ascott as Absolum the Blue Caterpillar (if you think the Blue Caterpillar looks familar, it's because it's Alan Rickman, who also plays Harry Potter's Severus Snape - same haughty air). There was honestly no need for the scene at the end where Alice returns and she exclaims how the twin girls remind of Tweedledee and Tweedledum, etc but then again, it's a Disney movie, I bet you Burton was forced to add those lines in!


I loved that Burton kept the things that I remembered and adored from the original Disney classic - the talking flowers, Blue Caterpillar's "who are you?" the drink me/eat me scene in the rabbit hole, the kooky Cheshire cat, the mad tea party with the crazy cups, and of course the 10/8 ticket on Mad Hatter's hat! But of course, Burton had to put his magic dust all over the movie too - I adored the animals in Red Queen's court (especially the pigs & chandelier held up by ravens - see the scene where Hatter the prisoner is summoned by the Red Queen), tiny things like how the Knave of Spades heart-shaped eyepatch changes from black to red when he's indoors, the crazy Futterwacking dance by the Mad Hatter (very Beetlejuice!), Umm from Umbridge, and the dead fingers in the potion that White Queen nonchalantly whips up. Things I didn't like - what's the point of the March Hare and the Dormouse and why's the White Queen so fake? I honestly don't think Anne Hathaway was the right person to play the White Queen -- too mainstream, too Princess Diaries.

Was it just me or did anyone else get the sense that the Jabberwocky slaying scene at the end reminded them of Maleficent as the dragon getting slayed by Prince Charming in Disney's Sleeping Beauty, except that it's Alice instead of Prince Charming? An easter egg nod for Burton's next project Maleficent perhaps? And yes, if you're wondering, I was one of those kids who grew up on Disney cartoons - the ones that were actually drawn and painted by hand - Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Alice in Wonderland, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin. And I know that Johnny Depp's character is supposed to the mad, but man, he was truly stark, raving, mad down to point of being scary but Depp's the only person who can pull off madness but still have you rooting for him when he quietly pleas for Alice's love ("you were always too small or too large," "you can always stay in Wonderland." Maybe he's mad because he truly believed in everything - the White Queen, Alice's return, the slaying of the Jabberwocky - that passion crosses the line to insanity.


On a more personal note though, two of my favorite scenes in the movie are: Where the Blue Caterpillar is encased in his cocoon (he's knitting the cocoon, look closer for the knitting needles in his hands - hehe!) and Blue Caterpillar explains to Alice why she was "Hardly Alice" and now she's "Almost Alice;" and when Mad Hatter tells Alice that she used to be "much-ier." It could be because it was Johnny Depp playing the Hatter, but the movie reminded me of Finding Neverland and the theme of how one loses your childlike sense of awe or the times when we as adults, lose ourselves and become "Hardly Alice." A year ago, I felt I was Hardly Audrey and that's why I took the much-needed break and this is actually the reason why I started writing this post (which took on a life of its own and turned into a review - sigh, I'm easily distracted, hehe), because I was pondering if I have now returned to Almost Audrey? I don't know for certain just yet, but I know I'm getting warmer.

So what does the raven and the writing desk have in common? I like the Edgar Poe answer best.

Boyzone's latest single a tribute to Stephen Gately

via youtube.com

Watching this at work and I'm tearing up. If I had one regret, it would be that I've never been to a Boyzone concert before and it'll never be the same again. Sigh. Their new album "Brother" will be out in 8 March 2010!

If you're wondering where all the black and white intercut scenes are from, check out "Back Again...No Matter What: Live 2008" - it's a two-disc DVD with scenes from their 2008 concert (I can't stand the word "comeback" because to me, they never left) on one disc and a documentary on the other disc following the boys' first meeting after almost 8 years of not seeing each other and them getting back in shape for their first tour as the reunited Boyzone. It's a bittersweet piece, especially with Stephen's passing. Stephen's rendition of Bright Eyes is a complete tearjerker - hello, try holding back tears with Stephen singing, "Bright eyes, burning like fire, how can the light that burned so brightly suddenly burn so pale?"

Posted via web from I am Audrey.

Lost Generation

via youtube.com

More creative work. At the end of the day, it's true - it's really about looking at things from a different perspective.

Posted via web from I am Audrey.

Goodnight Stephen, you made things better.

It was four hours ago when I first found out about the news, and my first thought was - this can't be true, it must be another cruel hoax, especially considering that most sites that carried the news have been quoting News of the World. As I maniacally did a search for more credible sources - the band's official web site, BBC, etc - I kept muttering to myself, "this can't be true, no, can't be, he's so young." I just had to let the news sink in: Stephen Gately, at 33, had died in his sleep while vacationing in Majorca, Spain. And then it hit me: I've never had the chance to see Boyzone in concert. Ever. I'm still reeling from the shock and I know that to many people, Stephen Gately was just another boyband member, and one who came out about his sexuality.
But Boyzone has always had a special place in my heart, even after all these years. And just like how people argued over whether John or Paul was better, the same can be said for Ronan and Stephen, but Boyzone being Boyzone, it was never really about who was better. It was about making good music - songs that were about more than just falling in love with girls or heartbreak. In all their songs, there was always a sense of humility and maturity. Just take a look at the video for "Better" (above) -- how many mainstream boybands would openly embrace same-sex relationships? Sure, I'm not ashamed to say that I had my girly teenage crush moments screaming at the screen when Stephen appeared in the "Key To My Life" video but at the same time, "Arms of Mary," "I'm Learning" and "Where Did You Go" probably unknowingly shaped my concept of what love means. And until today, "She Moved Through The Fair" still gives me shivers.

For the record, I actually bought Stephen's "New Beginning" album. Don't know what I'm talking about? See videos here: New Beginning, I Believe, Stay. For a cheeky side of see Stephen performing Beyonce's "Single Ladies" live in Wembley in 2009.

Stephen just oozed an easy charm that came so naturally, and the fact that he always seemed to shy away from interviews when he was in Boyzone just made him more adorable. You always knew when it was Stephen singing, sweet, beautiful and innocent. There will always be a place in my heart for Stephen Gately, and when I grow old & grey, my memories of Stephen Gately will keep me smiling. I know this love's forever and that's all that matters, no matter what.

It's all in the details.

Check out these photos from Amy Atlas Events - now that's what I call a dessert table! You know you've done a absolutely gorgeous job when people spend more time staring and going ga-ga over the decor and setup than actually eating the food. So much detail!

Grabbed a few photos from Amy's web site but head over there for close-up shots of each setup. I'm usually not a fan of matchy matchy colors but New York-based Amy pulls it off to a tee! Classy yet whimsical at the same time. Can you believe that the favor candy bags in the pink birthday dessert table are tacked to the board with pink & white pushpins?

Amy Atlas Events: http://www.amyatlas.com/
Amy Atlas' Blog: http://www.amyatlas.blogspot.com/
And of course, she's on Twitter and Facebook too!

I Lift My Lamp Beside the Golden Door

I love this. That's the only way I know how to describe it.

I Lift My Lamp Beside the Golden Door By Maira Kalman in New York Times: http://kalman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/i-lift-my-lamp-beside-the-golden-door/

Chuck kisses Ellis! And Ellis is a guy!

Gasp. Gasp. By now, we all know that the new season of Gossip Girl starts Sept 14 but hold on to your seats, ladies...and boys! Spoilers ahead!

Good ol' Perez Hilton found a call sheet on the set of Gossip Girl which basically tells us that Chuck will kiss a new character, Josh Ellis, NYU’s head of freshman affairs. So the deal-eo is that Queen B wants something from Josh and she pimps her man out to Josh, who happens to be gay. Josh is played by Neal Bledsoe, a 28-year-old Canadian who's played minor roles in CSI: NY and Lipstick Jungle. Not my type, but at least there's Chuck - yums!

Side-tracking, speaking of yums, I love the way Hayden Panatierre says "yums" in I Love You, Beth Cooper. :)

And in other Gossip Girl news - new photos from episode 1 of season 3: Reversal of Fortunes! Yay!

Main photo above - Chuck looking dee-lish in a powder blue pin-stripe suit, perfectly complemented with Blair's romantic mint green dress, perfectly topped off with a raspberry ribbon. Did I say, YUMS!

Serena lip-locks Carter Baizen! Dum dum dum.

Nate spotted with Bree Buckley, played by Joanna Garcia - I'm with you, who?). Do we care? Nope, last time I checked - not interested in Nate.

For more photos, head over to Gossip Girl Insider.

My Multiple Personalities

I doubt anyone's noticed, but I had a bout of obsessive compulsive behavior yesterday and decided to re-organize all the post on my blog. I really like how Pat categorizes her posts on Blankanvas, and like they say, imitation is the highest form of compliment - so I've plonked all my posts since 2005 into 7 categories (for now!).

Each of categories represent a side of me - at one point, I was tempted to add category #8: The Opinionated Loudmouth / The Bitch - but that might include most of my posts, so #8's on hold for now. Here's a run-down of what each Mutiple Personality / category means, so all related posts can be found in its lil' box. The common denominator is of course, moi - whatever amuses, interests or pisses me off will appear on this blog.

• The Film Snob: Everything related to the latest movies, actors, TV series, general celeb gossip, as long as it's a movie/person that I'm digging. I can only wish that this was my life - everyday!


• The Accidental Geek: This includes posts on the latest gadgets that I'm oooh-ing over or interesting new social media tools that are useful or just plain fun. Why "accidental geek?" Well - I never started out wanting to be geeky or technical, but somehow fell into it when I wrote (yes, wrote in HTML) my first web site when I was 15, worked on Yahoo! and VMware for the past few years and tech comes quite easily to me. And I like my toys!


• The Malaysian: Ahh, I think one of the reasons why I'm this random, this confused and this contradictory is because I'm Malaysia. This category answers the big question, "What does it mean to be Malaysia?" At least, most of the time, but always from my perspective.


• The PR Girl: This is a strange label but I guess when your work consumes 12 hours of your day, your work becomes a large part of your life. So, interestingly enough, tech & social media items would fall under this category as well, along with other marketing related items that inspire and made me go, "what didn't I think of that?" I hope to one day The PR Girl will meet The Film Snob and then, I'll live happily ever after.


• The Quirky Fashionista: I love beautiful things, especially clothing & accessories that are lovingly handcrafted. Again, items that I'm ooh-ing over will appear here. While it's unlikely that I'll be checking out the runways of Milan anytime soon, I appreciate people who have their own sense of style as long as they're fierce!


• The Queen of Random: There are days when the weirdest thing will catch my attention - whether I'm complaining about microwaved frozen PB&J sandwiches or an escaped ostrich - this is my blender of random things that cross my mind.


• The Girl: This is where my inner girl lives - she cries, she vents, she swoons, she loves (oops, loved) her boybands. I guess this is my sprinkle of fairy dust section.

PS: I meant to take shots of me for each category but erm, maybe next time!

Coffee Clicks!

• Finally, the trailer to The Lovely Bones. Peter Jackson's new movie based on a book by Alice Sebold, about the restless soul of an 14-year-old girl who watch as her family deals with her murder. Beautiful book, and the movie looks promising. Is it just me, or why is Mark Wahlberg taking on more fatherly roles these days? [Apple Trailers]


• Guillermo del Toro's The Orphanage remake gets a director. Why?! The 2007 original El Orfanato (The Orphanage) was creepy as hell, even though it was del Toro was only in a producing role, director Juan Antonio Bayona did a good job. Come on people, are you really that lazy to read subtitles! [THR]


• Seriously? Robert Rodriguez's fake trailer turned movie Machete will star
  Danny Trejo (the REALLY rough looking guy in the trailer), Robert De Niro, Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez, Steven Seagal, Lindsay Lohan, Cheech Marin, Don Johnson and Jeff Fahey. [ComingSoon.net]


• New York Times' A.O. Scott and The Chicago Tribune's Michael Phillips to replace Ben Lyons and Ben Mankewicz as film critics and hosts of At The Movies, the ABC-produced syndicated movie review show made famous by Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel. While I do sometimes enjoy Scott's movie reviews in NY Times, I'm with /Film - do people still tune in to watch a 30-minute movie review on TV? Then again, if Scott and Phillips are doing an analysis of the movies rather than just thumbs up, I'm all for it. [/Film]


• American Idol runner-up Katherine McPhee rocking an edgier look with bleached blonde hair. Someone needs to tell McPhee that she's no Gwen and people voted for her coz of her girl next door look. Oh well, we'll see. At this point, people are going, "wait, so who won that season?" Snore, oops soul patrol Taylor Hicks - bleurgh. [PerezHilton]


• Zombieland red-band movie trailer [JoBlo]


• Aww, more reasons to love Brad Pitt. “I have love in my life, a soul mate–absolutely. When someone asked me why Angie and I don’t get married, I replied, ‘Maybe we’ll get married when it’s legal for everyone else.'" Brad Pitt, on when he’ll marry Angelina Jolie. [Parade]

Coffee Clicks! is a compilation of random items on the web that catches my attention as I have my morning cuppa.

Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt channel Bonnie & Clyde

Adorable! Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt are officially my favorite cute couple...on screen! For us poor folks outside of the US who will have to wait for (500) Days of Summer (the movie opens nationwide in the US this Friday), Zooey and Joseph have made a music video about a bank heist -- yes, it's completely unrelated to (500) Days of Summer which is about their summer love.

But since Zooey didn't get to dance in (500) Days (yes, Joseph dances!), the movie's director Marc Webb and two leads decided that it'll be fun to make a music video as a extra for everyone! Watch the video over at USA Today - silly embed link is not working!

Think 1960s style Bonnie and Clyde-esque, but with rainbows and unicorns (ok, there are no unicorns in the video) but there are back flips, splits and table top dancing!

You heard it here first -- Joseph Gordon-Levitt is the new Heath Ledger! Wooohoo, knew he was hot back in his 3rd Rock from the Sun days! Gosh, watch the video and you'll notice that they even have the same dimples. Scary, but oh-so-cute! He's the only reason why I'm heading to the cinemas this weekend to watch G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra!

Read the full story at USA Today. More Zooey & Joseph goodies.

If you're going, "What's (500) Days of Summer?" Where have you been? Kidding, check out the trailer below. It's opening in Singapore on 24 September 2009!

A Photo A Day, Everyday

This is too good to not share. It's the story of a photographer/filmmaker Jamie Livingston, who took a a photo every day for eighteen years, until the day he died, using a Polaroid SX-70 camera.

From Mental Floss:
He called the project “Photo of the Day” and presumably planned to collect them at some point — had he lived. He died on October 25, 1997 — his 41st birthday.

After Livingston’s death, his friends Hugh Crawford and Betsy Reid put together a public exhibit and website using the photos and called it PHOTO OF THE DAY: 1979-1997, 6,697 Polaroids, dated in sequence. The physical exhibit opened in 2007 at the Bertelsmann Campus Center at Bard College (where Livingston started the series, as a student, way back when). The exhibit included rephotographs of every Polaroid and took up a 7 x 120 foot space.


For me, photos have always been a hauntingly beautiful way to tell a life story, and an even better reminder of the things and people that matter to us while we're living and the memories that we leave behind when we're long gone.

Read the full story at Mental Floss.

Check out Jamie Livingston's Photo of the Day web site.

Does your style reflect your life's choices?

I love this photo from The Sartorialist, one of my favorite sites ever! Whenever I'm in need of a good pick me up and coffee doesn't work, The Sartorialist does wonders! Even though half the time I leave the web site thinking, damn it - why am I stuck in Singapore when there's a world out there to see?

Anyway, the reason why this is my pic of the moment is because I adore the way this girl looks! Love her hair, her cute lil' hat, the white dress and how cute are those shoes! Love how everything seems randomly put together, yet it's a perfectly put-together look!

Which got me thinking - hmm, I wonder if people who think the same of me if someone snapped a photo of me and posted it on their web site? Yes, yes, if you know me, you'll notice that I go through bouts of narcissism every now and then. But it's true! When I shop, I buy random pieces of clothing and/or accessories because I love the way it looks, not because it's a designer label or it's this season's must-have. I go with whatever I like, and I never ever mentally visualize how the new item will fit in with the rest of my wardrobe, coz afterall, if the common denominator is me, that should be sufficient, no?

And that's the way I dress, with reckless abandon! I throw pieces of random things together, and I've done ethnic, classy black, vintage and I think I'm now in my "let's go crazy over prints" stage. I'm kicking myself for not buying more of the gorgeous dresses made out of Marimekko fabric that I bought at Sydney's Paddington Market - three was so not enough!

What's scary is that I have a niggling voice inside that's telling me that I approach life the same way I approach my sense of style - picking up random pieces of experiences and tossing them together, and hoping, with fingers tightly crossed that it'll all turn out into a quirky final product that's truly me? It's hard to say. Random thought, but is there a tinge of truth in this?

Completely Gratuitous: Johnny Depp at Comic-Con, Kupono leaves SYTYCD

Woohoo, good ol' Johnny Depp (who plays the Mad Hatter) makes a surprise appearance at Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland 3D panel. After continuous prodding by panel host Patton Oswalt on whether Burton brought anything special to show the audience besides the much-awaited Alice in Wonderland teaser trailer, Burton asked the crowd if they would like to meet the "imaginary friend" that follows him around. And to roars of cheering, out steps Johnny Depp (swoon, swoon), dapper as ever! Psst - men, if you need tips on how to dress to impress, Depp's the way to go.

And in true Depp fashion, according to E!, Depp walks on stage, whispers into the mic, "Hey. Happy to be here," and then leaves. Haha. Seriously. Depp's the man.

In other news of strange-albeit-interesting-looking men, this comes a week late (yes, yes one of the downsides of living outside of the US!) but no fair, Kupono from So You Think You Can Dance Season 5 was eliminated! Granted, he wasn't great with other dance styles beyond his own but I can't help it, I like my men strange! Err, to name a few - choreographer Wade Robson, Mark Kanemura from SYTYCD season 4. I still think Kupono's solo was awesome though - see video below!

The Grand Master: Wong Kar-Wai reunites with Tony Leung!

Yay! Tony Leung reunites with Wong Kar-Wai in new biopic about kungfu master Ip Man. Yi Dai Zong Shi or translated as The Grand Master is scheduled for release in 2010, and recently started shooting. However, Tony Leung, who plays the lead actor Ip Man, recently injured his arm while sparring with the martial arts instructors.

The Grand Master tells the biopic of Ip Man, the first martial arts master or "sifu" in Cantonese to teach the Chinese martial art of Wing Chun openly, according to Wikipedia. Ip Man's most famous student was Bruce Lee.

If Ip Man sounds familiar, it's because in 2008, there was a movie with the same name, on the same topic, with action star Donnie Yen playing the kungfu master. I've yet to see Ip Man, as I'm not a fan of kungfu flicks (the only reason why I watched Bruce Lee films growing up was coz my dad's a huge fan of Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris - typical male fare) but I would watch anything that Wong Kar-Wai does, even if it's just an ad! Ip Man 2 has been announced for 2010 with Donnie Yen reprising his role.

Wong Kar-Wai is one of my all time favorite directors of all time. Take a still from any of his films and they're like gorgeous artwork generously painted with emotions, even his sightly underwhelming English language venture My Blueberry Nights. To me, Leung is the definitive leading man, which by the way, is really difficult to find in Asia -- Leung is old school good looking, debonair, pensive yet exudes a sense of silent strength. Dare I say that Leung is Cary Grant-esque? Heck yeah!

Wong Kar-Wai and Tony Leung always equals magic. Leung has collaborated with Wong Kar-Wai on six previous movies: Days of Being Wild, Chungking Express, Ashes of Time, Happy Together, In the Mood for Love and 2046. According to IMDB, the cast list for The Grand Master also includes Chen Chang (Three Times, Red Cliff), with Gong Li and Brigitte Lin rumored to join The Grand Master. If this list is indeed correct, this is cast with some beautiful, talented people.

What will be interesting though, is to see how Wong Kar-Wai approaches The Grand Master, knowing that there will be action and fight scenes involved; whereas Wong Kar-Wai has always been known for his arthouse, meditative pieces that delve deep into basic human emotion like love, longing and loss. My first thought was that The Grand Master might turn out looking like Zhang Yimou's House of Flying Daggers or Hero but it's impossible since both directors have such different styles, although both take a very stylized approach to film. Oh well, we'll have to wait and see.

Here's a fun trivia - have you ever seen Wong Kar-Wai without his signature black shades? Never!

Coffee Clicks!

• UK poster for 500 Days of Summer. Joseph Gordon-Levitt looks de-lish! Look at those dimples! Swoon. [Empire]


• How many ways can you say "big penis?" Hung, a new comedy series by HBO which premiered in June centers on a disillusioned gym teacher and father of two, who decides to use his well-endowed tool to make a living as a male prostitute in order to make things meet. Can't decide if I'll like it - check out clips from Hung over at HBO.


• Blue's Duncan James comes out of the closet, sorta. Apparently he's bi-sexual. Snore. [News of the World]


• Too funny to not post - Jon & Kate from Jon & Kate Plus 8's Match.com videos. JonMinus9, too funny! [Funny or Die]


• Leighton Meester aka Gossip Girl's Blair Waldorf sings! Check out her first single (apparently leaked), Body Control. I like Leighton, but it sounds sorta digitized. Then again, so does Britney.

Coffee Clicks!

• Sci-Fi Hotties of 2009. Can't believe I'm saying this, but Zachary Quinto's kinda hot. It's totally the eyebrows. [EW.com]


• Season 6 of Project Runway starts on August 20! Big changes this season though, with the series moving over to Lifetime (I know, what the hell, right? Lifetime's worse than Hallmark) from Bravo and the contestants will be designing out of Los Angeles instead of New York for the first time. [Access Hollywood]


• First Transformers, then Smurfs & Monopoly. What next? The Furby Movie? [LA Times]


• Thinking of Oreos? You might after this! 10 Awesome Guerrilla Marketing Videos

Swoon: The Evolution of Johnny Depp

What's better than Johnny Depp? 17 versions of Johnny Depp through his films! Woohoo, Total Film rocks for compiling this.

What's the best part about this list? Well, if you call yourself a Depp fan, you better know this list and seen all the movies at least twice (except Public Enemies, coz us folks in Singapore don't have it yet, sigh)! From Pirates of the Caribbean to Benny & Joon, this list is an excellent list to kick off your very own Johnny Depp-themed movie night.

My faves are Johnny as Wade Walker in Cry Baby and as JM Barrie in Finding Neverland. Hard fight, but I also loved Johnny in Ed Wood and What's Eating Gilbert Grape. Yes, as you can tell, my ideal man is one who has a heart of gold but is slightly off his rocker :)

See the complete Evolution of Johnny Depp at Total Film.

Ed Westwick in GQ: Drool!

This is completely gratuitous but I'm hooked on Gossip Girl. It's the closest thing to a replacement since Sex and the City ended its run. Besides the fabulous fashion on Gossip Girl, another drool-worthy reason to watch Gossip Girl is Ed Westwick who plays Chuck Bass, playboy millionaire.

We all have our favorite TV "bad boy" - from Johnny Depp in 21 Jump Street, Luke Perry in Beverly Hills 90210, Joshua Jackson in Dawson's Creek and now, CHUCK BASS! Woohoo. Ed Westwick is smokin' sizzling hot. To top it off, he sings (he's the frontman for indie rock band The Filthy Youth) and he has a British accent! Swoon.

Ed was recently featured in GQ Magazine, July issue - besides the two top shots here, go buy your very own copy of GQ (it's worth it!) or head over to JustJared for a small selection. Snaps to my ever efficient Alex who emailed me scanned copies of heaven, ahem, Ed's fall fashion spread in GQ.

Ed is officially replacing Jude Law on my very short to-do list. Hahaha. Bye Jude, cheating, a receding hairline and a mustache in Sherlock Holmes will get you nowhere.

Confessions of a Slightly De-Cluttered Mind

I'm almost certain "de-clutter" is not a word, but heck.

It's been ages since I've blogged, and for a while, I honestly felt that it wasn't for me anymore. Only to realize that I really miss having a space to vent, but my "lifestyle" for the past two years was definitely not blogger-friendly. For the uninitiated, I have quit my job at Hill & Knowlton. After 2 years, 1 month and 26 days, I've finally took the leap and did what I've always told people to do -- if you don't like your job, just quit. It's a scary thought, but I'm glad I did it.

I'm at a strange place right now. I'm content and in the present. It's weird to say this, but I've never been here before. It's like discovering a whole new part of my emotions that I never really gave time or thought to. All my life, it's been go, go, go! From high school to university to work, I've always looked ahead and raring to move on. I know that there are important people in my life that may not understand my decision to quit, especially in this market and with no job waiting, but I need a break. I need to be honest with myself and I'm hoping to try something different. Whatever it is that I move on to, I want it to be closer to something that I'm honestly interested in, rather than pursuing a job simply because I know that I have the skills for it and forsaking my interests. I'm tired of looking forward to weekends, to the end of the work day, and simply loathe going to bed on Sunday night because waking up would mean having to start the work week all over again.

So what next? I have a general direction of where I'm headed and I guess there's no better place to start than here. I'm going to try to blog again. My attempt this time will have more focus -- looking into movieland. But of course, every now and then you'll have posts about completely random things, but hey, it'll always be me.

PS: If you're in the movie studio / film industry and looking for someone who's willing to give everything up to do film publicity/marketing/promotion - you know where to find me!