Fruitful 2009!

I briefly read through my entries of 2009. Its great to know that i've smoothly sail through 2009, the year whereby i'm gonna serve one whole year of National Service. it's quite an accomplishment already :)

but 2009 have more significant things than that.

My one and only 21st Birthday celebration held in the camp. I really expect nothing, but it turn out to be one fine mini party. thanks to my army frens. and of cos, those who wished me birthday! i believe i have failed to give most of u guys birthday wishes, the super forgetful me is super sorry! Happy belated Birthday everyone! ( too late lah, brother...)

My training trips to Germany and Australia were both fantastic in their own way!

i oso got my marksman this year. (good shooting skill). SHIOK!

but i injured my right knee from long distance running. SUCKS!

aniwae, i'm very proud to say that i'm pretty disciplined this year. I've cut down on playing, and put focus on reading books, drawing and writing stories. the result was more than satisfactory!
i've improved quite abit in my art. mainly on the control of my medium. things look nicer only, not fantastic yet. I foresee next year, i'll up my skill and knowledge more, and i'll definitely see even bigger improvement. (subjects to improve on: anatomy, perspectives and colour theory...same old basics.)

best day of 2009? 19 July 09.
the day i've come up with a main story that is suitable for 蝶语! (my beloved personal project)
almost everything that popped out in this world are by chance, i don't anticipate or design them out. the ideas/stories just 'auto-play' in my mind. totally natural..but happens very slowly. With this general story ready, i'm more confident and sure of how i should design my characters and the world accordingly to further realise this concept. bravo bravo!

another important date: 21 may 09.
The day my original character was created. Ray Ray! sadly, i can't commit myself to draw a series for him. He'll most likely appear in my illustration works ba :)
Will still find opportunities to make a Ray Ray Children book though.

And in 2009, I've lost my secondary school friend who died upon a bike accident. Life is this fragile. This is the worst reminder anyone would want. I couldn't attend his wake because I have weekend outfield training. Definitely my biggest loss this year.
Paul, i'll remember you as a great friend and a great basketball teammate!

My biggest self-discovery, I-Ching. I also came out with my own way to analyse people, something related to Yin and Yang through numbers. Not super accurate but proofed to be useful for me, haha!

my biggest battle? myself. I've been fighting against myself throughout this year. Sometimes I can't win myself. It's one of the worst feelings ever. I've endured it, and i think i'm going to reach the balance point in my life soon. (becos i'm going to ORD soon? haha!)

biggest lesson? to realise that i'm still not mature enough. Not yet a man. Far from a man. lol!

things not done? have yet to take Oath to announce myself as a true Singapore Citizen. aiya, i've encountered some prob when denouncing my British (foreign) Citizenship. Time is running out! argh shit!! $%#$#@%^(*&^#$%#$% I fucking hate to do all this!

Next step? applied for Hong Kong City University's Creative Media course. Hope I can get in!

Yeap, thats my 2009. As I expect the least from this year, I actually got many great things out of this year. it's a fruitful year for me :)

did i gain weight? oh forget abt it.





I believe this is my last art piece for the year 2009!
Ray Ray welcoming 2010, the year of Tiger!!

May everyone have a Happy 2010! :D

this is funny

As i was painting an Avatar that can only be driven by me...a very awkward feeling struck me. this blue...the ears....isn't it Stitch?

Holy crap, the Na'Vi's close cousins are the Stitch family! wat a weird surprise, lol.

btw, i've emailed to Hollywood that they will use my Avatar as one of the character in Avatar 2.
they 've approved the idea.

hahahaha, jus kidding la! if thats the case, Avatar 2 will be like Storm Warriors :x






yup Stitch and Na'vi... are related. LOL!

WOW

today is 21-12-2009. Exactly 3 years left till 21-12-2012.

do i hav something to say? certainly haha.

10 more days to a new year. and i'm pretty sure that the year 2010 is an important year to my Role-Playing-Game, known as WOW. wait a minute, i'm not referring to World of Warcraft. i'm toking about the Role Playing Game that everyone alive is involved in. This game is World of Wonders....WOW.

to make it less confusing, we can call it, wow-wow or even oh-wow. lol

while many people are playing computer games such as World of Warcraft...i'm more interested in World of Wonders. while they are busy improving their character's skills and abilities, i'm busy improving my own skills and abilities. we have one common goal...to own other ppl in WOW. just that they wana own ppl in world of warcraft, i wana own ppl in world of wonders. NICE.

yes, i have a lot of bullshit to share.

nvm. i'm trying to send one message across actually. Guys who feels that there are no more challenging games left for you to play..well.... maybe you're right. cos u can complete all sorts of games...from level difficulty 'EASY' to level difficulty 'COME VISIT YA GRAVEYARD' or 'HELL'.
yes, u are good. but...but...why not try...World of Wonders? try level difficulty 'NORMAL'.

World of Wonders has approximately 6 billion plus active players, the game is functioning 24/7. u won't worry about not having enough side-quests or main quests in this world. the best part is, you've already signed up an account under your name since the day you are born....FOR FREEEEE! you are given literally nothing at first....and look what you've got now? you have a place to use internet!u've completed elementary school of earth, wind, water, fire...oops...should be elementary school of English, Maths, Science and Mother Tongue...bla bla. U have your own group of frens...see facebook to reassure yourself. and in World of Wonders... when you are bored... u can play World of Warcraft to be an orc or something. u can catch the recent epic show, Avatar.

World of Wonders has everything.

there are so many role to choose. so many guilds to join. so many levels to train. this world is totally real and interactive! theres no such thing as LAG. the game is running in real-time mode! (erm maybe thats why ppl don't like playing world of wonders, haha.)

ok ok. straight to the point. i hope ppl can treat this world as a Role Playing Game.

wana be a true winner? then try win the game of World of Wonders. Current leaders are......(too many many_...ok, i name a few...they are James Cameron, Obama, Hayao Miyazaki, Bill Gates, Jackie Chan, Jackie Wu, Jack Neo....the list goes on. Yea, try to match them. Their influence, power, intelligence, wealth and experience points are way above us. so u think you're good now? pls do a World of Wonders check. i mean reality check.

Invest more time in World of Wonders now! the best game since the beginning of time...

haha, this entry is abit anti-hardcore gamers. but why not? haha!

okay, a new year is coming!

i gotta write something b4 i get too busy.

i wana thank everyone. you guys have made my time in World of Wonders pretty wonderful haha! thank you thank you!

i wana say sorry to everyone esp my friends. cos i think i didn't give enough care and concern to you all. i don't deserve you all.

and yet, we are still friends...thanks a million. we are family yo!

and i wana specially thank my dad and mum and sis. i love you all and will love you all more and more. and yes, i will express my love through great care and concern. not by giving money. u guys will love me more, haha.

i wana thank myself for being so strong. keep it up :) but there's still a universe for improvement, you this ignorant stupid piece of crap!

and if i've hurt anyone (unknowingly or in purpose).... Please forgive me. i'm far from a good guy.

well, i have been working hard to learn more about this game. early this year, i have advance to World of Wonders: The Adulthood Life. (stage 2) ...but currently still stuck in some military training place to upgrade my fighting capabilities...and soon, later next year....i gonna leave this place :(

basically stage 2 is about further improving my specialty, getting a job and forming my own family. i have to farm lots of money and experience points!!! and i aim to earn this particular prestigious artifact---The Golden Horse Award. HAHAHAHA!

my time here in Singapore is truly a fruitful and memorable one. if i'm living else where, i may not be who i am now. and i don't wish that to happen, cos i'm happy to be who i am now. but the again, i have to say goodbye soon.... it's not easy.... trust me.

i hope my understanding about World of Wonders is good enough, jus so that i have not made too many mistakes or wrong choices. This decision is a huge one. I hope it's the right move.

time to pack up my thoughts and feelings. omg.

i'm like going to experience rebirth. kind of cool and kind of sucky.

btw i'm the legendary Warrior Wizard, Xelex, the Wonderman (the man who wonders), class RARE GEM. hahaha!

needa stop typing.

Xelex logged off.
(retreated to his own world of Peace and Chaos)

成也风云， 败也风云。

first of all, i need to apologise. i dun wish to do this, but i really need to (let it out).....slam this piece of storm shit. pardon my language(including grammar, haha) and my rudeness.

an angry movie review for Storm Warriors/ FengYun2.

the first movie really moved me. it's an epic tale that has done incredibly well for almost all categories (Direction, story, actions, visuals, acting etc.). I feel for all the characters! the first one is usually more interesting to tell...and definitely very tough to do as well (to adapt HK comic into movie and keeping the style)... u'll hav lots of things to juggle with, but that at least keep the movie filled with characters intro, establishment of a believable world, lots of actions and story telling...the audience has a lot to absorb and enjoy. unlike the second one...it contains air.

the big challenge for the first film is whether the audience who do not know anything abt the comic story will eventually understand this world and love it....as well as, pleasing/not offending the comic fans who know the story inside out...

1998, Andrew Lau directed , 风云之雄霸天下. He and the production team has done an impressive job. the edited story for the silver screen is pretty perfect...He made all the right moves...taking out unimportant characters, tightening the pace and maintaining the flow by chopping and stringing the events together... the adapted story is genius (sorry, i actually didn't read through the original comic yet...but i know there's alot of alterations made and since no one complained abt it, i assume tat the film adaption is good haha!)...but of cos, credits to 马荣成 Ma Wing Shing for his original comic story where everything start off from.

The casting of the actors! and this is where fate/destiny comes into the picture. Aaron as Cloud and Ekin as Wind! OMG, perfect match! LOL! but never forget abt 雄霸 (Conqueror) ! starring 千叶真一! he is another perfect choice!
if u get any other actors to act..i think the movie's impressiveness would dropped by alot!
and yea, 孔慈, 楚楚 and 文丑丑 all hav the somewhat right cast to act :)

next is the theme song! it has captured the soul of the comic! perfect theme song for me!!!
the song has stayed in my mind for 11 years till now. i love it. and there's another love song in the movie which is very nice too.

天要这部电影成功啊！

The story is somewhat deep (in a good way) when comes to the Mud Buddha's prediction, totally hilarious when comes to the jester, totally awesome when comes to all the fight scenes, super cool when the actors are posing like the comic characters and look exactly like them! really entertaining.

on a personal note, i had a france born chinese friend named Philip who actually lived with me for 3 weeks to learn abit abt Chinese painting from my mum. Philip's chinese Dad learns chinese painting from my dad. ya, tats abt that. so, on 1998 Philip got this golden opportunity to watch Storm Riders with my family in Singapore. He knows nothing about HK comic or anything abt martial art. in the end, he understood that world and loves it. i remember he likes them flying ard jus that. haha!

This is Hong Kong Cinema's future. this movie will pave a path for a series of Wuxia movies that only asians can do and excel. I can't imagine how much more wonderful things will happen 10 years from 1998...the visual effects r gonna be more realistic and fantastic, the stage will only be bigger and better...nothing is impossible.

11 years later, i encountered storm shit.

...and that shit storm is storm warriors.... the sequel of the storm riders!?
I mus have done something wrong, why is this happening? Few days after watching the show and still unable to get over it, i decided to go a little deeper to understand this storm shit...i went to youtube to search their making of...interview of the directors. and eventually going online to find the original comic to find out why/how such shit storm is created. i know almost nothing abt the story after the Conqueror is defeated and i need to understand the original for this one, becos the sequel has offered almost zero story telling to pull me back into the world of Wind and Cloud. what a shame.

i'm about the burst.

ok. the pang brothers (directors of Storm Warriors). screw u. i heard that one pays more attention to the story while the other pays more attention to the visual effects and art direction. screw both of u again. both of you have failed to deliver in both story and visuals..... fail. ...epic shit ...this is it man.... both of you have brought so much joy to everyone who watched the first show, and then both of you screw it up 11 years later. screw both of u again.

somehow, this tragedy tallies with saying of 成也风云， 败也风云。am i supposed to laugh or cry now?

lets talk abt the story. what the fuck is wrong here? the story is an empty shell. it goes right into the actions...where i dun know a bunch of characters. it started off with a lot of words that quickly sums up what happened after the first movie and what's going to happen in this movie. basically, i'm shocked that they decided to throw in so many words b4 anything happened and thus i can't absorb a single shit that the narrator has to say. (i exaggerated abit i noe) nvm, i'm gonna slowly pick up later..... sorry...let the fight begins! and then prepare for another fight. then fight to fight and fight again. there is NO character development for most of the characters! Wind and Cloud became so one-dimensional here. Predictable, boring and emo. this is really really frustrating. don't u assume that we know who they are and then u jus let them to fight fight fight so casually. you have to design and put in time to show us what they are concern with...and not just about leveling up and fight fight fight. what the fight u want? the dialogues have one million 风大哥 and 云大哥 being addressed. pretty annoying. i feel that they are trying to say out how intimate they are with each other rather then showing (the better way, but takes time). and yes, the 2 female actresses has almost zero chemistry with their 风大哥 and 云大哥.

luckily, master nameless and Godless's casting is almost spot on. that probably is the only nice thing i can get from the show. phew~

the actions? going to be the asian 300? well, if u focus on delivering a good Storm Warriors in its own way. it will be 300 times better than 300. fuck your slow motion sequence. very untimely most of the time. i heard ppl laughed and then cut off their laughs immediately becos they know its meant to be serious here. but they can't help it as the facial expressions are so ugly fugly to see in slow mo.... and then the pang bros purposely slow mo it...as if they want to magnified that flaw. the audience cut off their laughs becos they still want to respect the film. do u know how freaking sad that is? i guess neither of u pang brothers expect this. but this is the feedback.

blue screen. superb technology? well, all your fight scenes ended up having one facing another...nicely aligned...for the blue screen. so that ppl later on can have a easier time to add in the special effects. that means less wild camera movements...oh ya...i know u guys can do more if there's more money. but hey, the result is that i see nameless and Godless fought face to face without moving positions (1st scene). then i see Cloud fights nameless face to face without moving positions (on the incredibly narrow bridge which became a training grd as well wtf). then i see Wind and Cloud fighting face to face TWICE without much movement in positions. (on the wooden log and on the cliff) there is no.."all over the place, and fly to wherever u like" attitude that i find a standard wuxia show should have in this movie. they should fight all over the place like a real swordsman and not like digimons!!!! (horizontal screen and spam combos across..) instead they are stuck to some fixed locations so that ppl can insert digital backgrounds. nice. and the real backgrounds are also mainly man-made..which look freaking fake...remember the caves? oh yeah, there are many caves, rocky mountains and sand btw.
WHY? why so BORING? becos they are BOUNDED by the superb technology that they want to abuse on. thats why.

result? STORM SHIT. i'm fucking mad.

then, the theme song. shut your ears please thank you.

u know what i'm feeling now?
悲痛莫名。

and ya..talk abt memorable slow mo that can match up with 300. in the first movie, the sword saint's arrival to Conqueror's hall, freezing everyone and slowly stepped on them to reach to Conqueror and stab straight into his chest....that slow motion sequence is a classic! no many can top that. sometimes we really don't know how good we are until someone tells us. in this case, the pang brothers self pwned themselves to the max. move on brothers, reach for new height.

the sequel should only be made when there's a solid story plot that will spur the heroes back into action. from this failure, i see that it is crucial to continue to put in effort in portraying all the characters diligently. and provide a proper set up for the problem. how Godless defy the Emperor of Japan and came to conquer the Mainland. what's the importance of dragon bones. need some flashbacks to tell the story? then do so! continue to pay attention to Wind and Cloud's love life and their future/goals. Its not the fight that concerns us the most. i can accept 90% set up with 10% epic fight that will make me feel for it. Its hard to accept 90% nonsense fight with 10% story telling. i believe that the Pang brothers thought that they've smartly cut off the setting up of the story just enuff for us to understand the surface of it and went for actions. so smart...really efficient there. but for this upset, i think Storm Warriors should INCLUDE the rise of Godless, the reunion of Wind and Cloud, the terror Godless has cast upon the ppl on Mainland (the real threat) and then go to somewhere near to the actual movie. then short cut the stupid time used for levelling up...bla bla bla...epic battle against Godless, then final showdown between Wind and Cloud. that would make abit more sense and abit more story and character development.

maybe its the budget. how much more time is left for Aaron and Ekin to stay youthful? this movie is indeed a fatal mistake that i must never link to the first movie.

sigh, i'm really sad. something i really cherished has become so unacceptable.

maybe its fate.

nvm, lets enjoy whats really good. the originals!!!!!! i have found some links...enjoy the art and the story.
http://www.89890.com/comic/7040/

the interesting thing is there's a comic version based on this movie which is quite well done. thanks to Ma Wing Shing's magical touch again.
http://www.89890.com/comic/8984/1/

the art books. i'm giving the link to their first book. back track abit to link to all. any prob can ask me.
http://www.89890.com/comic/4531/1/?1

Ma Wing Shing's legendary works.
http://www.89890.com/author/126.html

the website is pretty awesome. has great research materials for me.

1998, France won World Cup and Philip is a crazy soccer fan. 1998, Blizzard Entertainment released Starcraft and Philip installed it into my computer. we completed this rather complex game without cheats!
and now I pray that 11 plus years later, Starcraft 2 is another great RTS game. please dun spoil this one..

back from aussome training!

hello!! i'm super proud of myself. able to take part and finished ATEC. the consecutive days of outfield missions are not easy...but not impossible to do. it's tough, and it's jus tough enough to not 'kill' me yet. its jus tough enough to make me a stronger and better person. its jus tough enough to make me feel homesick and wana cherish my freedom more. this exercise is the highlight of my tankee career and i think i've done well :)

i needa mention abt the night sky during my outfield...FULL OF STARS. i've made a wish upon a shooting star. then after staring at the sky for another few more minutes... i saw another one. then i realise the shooting stars there are "free". hence i jus lay my back on the tank's turret and enjoy the very cooling weather at night. afternoon time can be crazy hot. but u won't perspire much. i have lots to share..but lazy to type them down here haha

the R&R programmes are kinda plain as rockhampton is a pretty normal suburban town.
still i've really enjoyed myself throughout this trip. i watched Mary and Max and Overheard on the SIA plane...great shows. and i watched 2012 at rockhampton...i wish to slap the director's face..nuff said.

can't wait for Avatar. pray that it will be one of my fav sci-fi show.

kk, some photos. those mission photos are much more epic but can't share here :(




before we set off to aussie!



the tankee warriors.



my crew consists of houyeung (loader), calvin(gunner) and bryan (driver). the ultimate vehicle commander for the crew is not in the picture though. we are the champion!



i'm slightly cuter.


never forget to draw a little.



spread across a few days to finish this piece.
if possible, i wish to hav this couple sculpted out. and then there would be another right hand holding a samurai sword to be sculpted out for buyers to change. how i wish~



one-shot marker pen work.


december already. ORD in May. BRAVO!!!