Holidays

How do i relax and spend a little time regaining my sanity after a long and crazy semester? by travellin for 5 days to Cairns..and doing a little scuba diving, snorkelling and other fun stuff here..like exploring Australian ecotourism...so tranquil and relaxing and refreshin...

at least i get to reconnect wif God, nature and a part of myself i've not seen in a while...getting back on Wed...and hav Wintercon stuff to prepare after dat..gonna be a long haul again...well at least i dun feel like such a loser and all alone in the world and unloved and depressed...at least i noe that there are places where i can hav some peace in the world and pple won't bug mi...and i feel good...and u noe...i regain some self-confidence..dun hav to always feel left out and an outsider when i'm by myself in a peaceful, serene place..at least i dun feel like the whole world hates mi and dislikes mi when i'm on holiday..in Cairns..

Still No. 1

Still no.1 in terms of humour and sheer stupid lyrics plus a darn catchy tune that juz won't go away...give it up for Dragostea Din Tei Numa Numa *applause*

Recommended Reading for the Week

Was gonna recommend John Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion but decided against freaking out my Charismatic and Pentecostal peers who might fear i've gone over to the "dark side" ...dun fear...i've seen the light and have come back to haunt all of you..hahahaha...ask wat changed and i'll tell ya...Romans dragged me kicking, screaming and crying out of a complacent belief in free will into the light of the Sovereignty of God...and now, i know what i believe in..be prepared...its gonna be a cool ride..

Some Music Videos

Sometimes its just too late to apologize...friendships breakdown and human beings hurt each other..sometimes the damage is irreparable...forgiveness is a process but damage thats done remains done...this is for a friend and Christian bro whose galfren cheated on him and broke up with him when he found out..but God is still sovereign my bro..and John Calvin and scripture would back mi up on dat..Real Christians are marked by suffering...

Acerbic is how i like it

This is for the list of idiots who think i know nuts about music..maybe i dun...but i dun really care wat u think either...haha..how bout some Acid Jazz? Edgy..

Art Theory

since i am an architecture student who's concerned about art and such stuff, i think i should spend some time talking about art and art theory here on my blog..i should talk about wat influences mi as an architect and artist...

the works of Richard Serra including his large sculptural works that are one half art and one half building move me to think about challenging the system and also to appreciate mass and its interractions with space. I begin to conceive of planes of materiality that intersect each other and blur the boundary between wat is inside and outside a building/art form...

and also, some paintings like that of Jacques Louis David and his Oath of the Horatii (1784) cause me to ponder the moral implications of art and art discourse..the idea of loyalty to higher ideals than regional or family ties is simply stirring..when i look at Oath of the Horatii i think of my higher loyalties to God and His kingdom which transcends my own petty human concerns and human failings...it says, i may be a failed and flawed human being, but some things i make my stand on...some things cause mi to draw a line and say, watever else i maybe, in this i will be defined...

the story of Oath of the Horatii is a long and complicated one and the story of its creation even more so...i'll spend some time dwelling on both..

The story is told by Livy that in the annals of the founding myths of Rome there were 2 rival cities on opposing hills..one was Alba Longa, descended from the loins of lonely Aeneas, who survived the fall of Troy and established the city of Alba Longa on the Alban hills..the other was Rome herself, a young, rising city-state that had been founded a few hundred years before by the twins Remus and Romulus on the Roman hills..now these 2 cities were originally peaceful towards each other..until the growth of Rome threatened Alba Longa..not wanting a long, violent and bloodthirsty war, both cities made an unusual decision..to settle scores by a combat to the death of 3 warriors each..3 for the Romans and 3 for the Albans..now in the city of Rome, no 1 could beat the prowess and strength of the Horatii triplets... and on the Alban side, by some quirk of the 'gods'..no one could overmatch the Curatii triplets..so both sets of triplets were chosen to represent their respective cities..

however, things were complicated by the fact that one of the sisters of the Horatii was engaged to one of the Curatii triplets...and one of the Curatii sisters was married to one of the Horatii triplets and had a son by him...so strong ties of family kinship bound both families on opposing sides...the painting is of the scene where the father of the Horatii holds up the swords of the triplets and they swear allegiance to Rome over their familial ties..they will not rest until either they kill the Curatii and secure Rome's future or the Curatii kill them and destroy Rome..for which there would be no cause to go on living anyway...in the background, one sees the Curatii wife and her fellow sisters-in-law weeping and trying to cover the face of their half Horatii, half Curatii son, who refuses to shy away from the awful destiny that is before him..that his father will kill his uncles..this piece is painted in the neo-classical style and presents the minimal background compared to the prominent foreground in order to show display the importance of the unfolding scene..the chiarascuro (light and shadow) effects are superbly executed, the perspective is shallow but perfectly rendered and there is no hint of brushwork, signifying the lesser importance of the artist in comparison with the image..

in its time, Louis XVI loved it..it gave legitimacy to the French state that was on the eve of the French Revolution (painted in 1784) and recalled imperial glories and harked back to the legacy of Rome..it was commissioned expressly to fulfill a didactic moral role which was to teach the French people to place loyalty to France above their own personal disagreements with the monarchy and their regional loyalties..apparently, the Jacobin revolutionaries loved it as well..since it reinforced the notion of Republican France, even though it was commissioned originally to serve the interests of a monarchical France..the idea of the transcending value of art and its ideals is brought up...context changes, but good art should always ring true with a timeless message..

Dis-Pair

What is man?

Semester Rant

ok this has been a pretty dead space since February when i came over...n God knows its been a long and trying semester where once again my architectural ability is called into question severely.

sometimes i wish that i had more talent and skill in architecture and with draughting.. i hav that burning passion to draw well and design well and on bad days (and God alone knows how many there've been recently) its only the promise i made that i'd someday use these skills for good in God's service designing and building churches and schools that keeps me going and copping watever flak from my lecturers and tutors on the chin..

as i look back dis semester i can't thank God enough for His Grace and mercy...in everything from getting time extensions to assignments to handling certain romantic issues which have proved to be a quagmire that God kept me from blundering into..

Dad was talking to me yesterday night about the direction Charis Full Gospel Church should go in the next couple of years..its been great knowing that John Stott's book , The Living Church has been having such impact amongst the ministers of my home church.. As an independent pentecostal church we truly do have the opportunity to be different and to ReallY preach the Full Gospel according to the Bible..imagine a Bible based church that teaches God's Word fully and fearfully and that equips members with great tools in reading the Bible and doing ministry... Calvinist Reformed and also fully charismatic and tongue speaking. Truly counter-cultural and truly marked by suffering for Christ. The rebellion that started when we pulled out of AG Singapore will be complete. That fundamental questioning of our foundations which began all those years ago will have been answered by God. We will take God and His Word over the shallow theology of a generation of prosperity gospel preaching. Amputation of the diseased limbs has produced a healthier whole.

on another note, it gets damn lonely here man..wish i could spend time with ahemm..Kian and Richard noe who i'm referring to..not a day goes by without mi thinkin about her and praying over her..Y do i as a Christian noe nothing but sufferings and never the joy of having some1 who cares and understands mi? someone once told mi that we all pay a price for that which we desire most..is the price of desiring God a lifetime of pain and loneliness? is the price of becoming an architect (even a Christian one) the cost of sacrificing the best years of my youth and energy? like Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice,"a pound of flesh for your soul"? a price to pay there is, the dark thoughts drone and descend once more..