Love song for a ...

** UPDATE: According to the ever insightful Pitchforkmedia website (and thanks to Jude's music guru-ness), there's controversy a-brewing with the SNL short. Apparently they lifted the backing track from a certain Richard D. James, a.k.a Aphex Twin. Check out the original below and compare it with what Adam Samberg did with the track.

--------------

This was the highlight of our Saturday night- watching Andy Samberg and Adam Levine of Maroon 5 croon a love song to Iranian President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad... Yes, you heard right- the guy who rapped fiercely about Magnolia cupcakes, the Chronicles of Narnia and Justin Timberlake's D*** in a Box has done it again!

Saw the mp3 on srah's blog and remembered that I should share this before NBC rips it off YouTube. This is making me so happy on this rainy Monday afternoon :)


[In the eventuality that the video is removed, you can watch it here.]

Across the Universe

It is a story about a boy and a girl, falling in love. Throw in bowling, psychedelia, Bono, Ohioan cheerleaders, the draft, Selma Hayek(s), strawberries, the Beatles, and a whole lot of heart.

And it was quite simply, beautiful...

Some of our favorite scenes [don't click if you don't want to be spoiled!]
1) An incandescent scene at the bowling alley when Jude first falls in love with Lucy. (feat. "I Just Saw a Face")
2) A brilliantly choreographed scene at the enlistment office. (feat. "I Want You")
3) A soulful rendition of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" in the wake of Martin Luther King's assassination.
4) For everyone who feels that "Hey Jude" is one of the most overwrought Beatles song (I'm living with one such person...), watching this in the context of the film will change your mind.

Love, Love, Love.
Love, Love, Love.
Love, Love, Love.

There's nothing you can do that can't be done.
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game.
It's easy.

Nothing you can make that can't be made.
No one you can save that can't be saved.
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time.
It's easy.

All you need is love.
All you need is love.
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need.

All you need is love.
All you need is love.
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need.

Nothing you can know that isn't known.
Nothing you can see that isn't shown.
Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be.
It's easy.

All you need is love.
All you need is love.
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need.

All you need is love (All together, now!)
All you need is love. (Everybody!)
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need (love is all you need).

Yee-hai!
Oh yeah!
She loves you, yeah yeah yeah.
She loves you, yeah yeah yeah.

- "All You Need is Love", The Beatles, from one of the most uplifting final scenes you'll see in a while.

Soup kitchen

Roasted sweet potato soup
Originally uploaded by jyew.

So it was officially Fall on Sunday. And you can tell- the leaves are slowly turning color (yay!), and the weather's becoming cooler too. Which makes it a perfect time to make some hearty, soulful soup. Actually, more importantly, Jude's in the middle of a root canal procedure, so rather than just subsist on jello and yogurt, I thought a more substantial soup would be good for him (menu for the following week: mac n' cheese, leftover soup, mashed potato, more soup, rice porridge, noodle soup, did I mention soup?...)

Considering how simple this soup was to make, the end result is really quite satisfying. I cubed up sweet potato, some carrots and onions and roasted them for about 30 minutes with 2 cloves of garlic, salt, pepper, cumin and olive oil. Throw that into 3 cups of simmering chicken stock and puree. I used a hand immersion blender but a regular blender or food processor works. We don't have either one and a hand immersion blender's just easier coz you do everything in the same pot. Simmer for a little while longer. Garnish with spring onions/ chives/ cilantro and serve.

I like the consistency of any kind of pureed soup to begin with- full-textured, rich and hearty. This one was nice coz the sweetness of the vegetables was rounded with just a hint of spicy cumin dancing on your palate without overwhelming it. The best thing is that the starch in the root veggies turns into this creamy goodness when you puree so you don't need any cream to make the soup smooth and velvety. Which means it's uber-healthy too! You probably can use a mix of other "roastable" veggies as the base- squash, pumpkin, potato, parsnip. But I love the golden saffron colour of the sweet potato and carrot- it was like putting sunshine in my mouth :)

It was truly comfort food on a chilly evening, and Jude went back for seconds, so I think my roasted sweet potato soup did good :)

Promises kept

It took me a few days to write about it since it's one of those movies that startles you as you're watching it- assaults you almost- then it sits in your mind for a while, lingers on for a few days after, and then begins to take new forms...

We saw Eastern Promises over the weekend. And it was good. Elegantly and unnervingly good. There were parts of it that I found really hard to watch, and I haven't had such an intense experience at the cinema in a while. There were scenes you weren't just watching, but actually experiencing on a very physical and visceral level, and that made me uncomfortable. But not in a bad way. There are movies that annoy you because they push all your wrong buttons, but gratuitously; and then there are movies like Eastern Promises that move you by precisely pushing the wrong buttons, and subverting your expectations, but in a way that makes you question why you harbored those expectations to begin with... Does that make sense?

And Viggo Mortensen is a fascinating actor to watch. He scares you almost with all that tight, taut control, and then suddenly offers a glimmer of compassion that's at once a surprise, but also so natural in retrospect. The contrast between him and Vincent Cassel's impulsive, explosive personality is exquisitely conceived; their complex relationship is almost- but only almost- more riveting to watch than what simmers just beneath him and Naomi Watts.

Jude and I had initially thought the ending was a little abrupt, but as I mulled over it- I told you this movie lingers- it could have ended no other way. So many layers left for you to contemplate on your own, motivations to question, and intentions left unknown. But it all makes sense in the grand scheme of the film. It's uncomfortable alright, but you're watching a David Cronenberg film- I suppose one does not expect a warm blanket and a kiss goodnight...

Adieu Marcel...

I am sad I never got to see you perform live...

Others have whitened their faces, blacked their lips and eyes, and leaned into a nonexistent wind. Others have plucked petals from invisible flowers, struggled to win a ropeless tug-of-war, and chased after butterflies only they can see.

But no one has ever done this sort of clowning with more absolute belief than Marcel Marceau. His lithe and expressive body and his gestures — so liquid, his hands sometimes appeared to have no bones at all — are only part of it.

The mechanics of his craft — the boiling down of gesture to its essence — can be learned. But not his ability to "mine" mime for the veins of emotion and pathos he found in it. Wistfulness, yes. Street mimes can manage that. But anguish, hope, innocence. These are harder...
-Bob Mondello, All Things Considered

To hear/ read the rest of this remembrance, click here.

Otters holding hands...

You've got to have a heart of stone to not go awwww.... over and over :) And watch it all the way till the end!


[seen in Nicole's del.icio.us]

Really achieving your childhood dreams - Randy Pausch

I was alerted to this webcast by Rick and Emilee and I have to say that this is the second time that I have watched a webcast and wished I was present in the audience (the first being Noam Chomsky's presentation in UM). This lecture and the Chomsky one were well worth the hour and a half I spent watching them.

This is a capture of the webcast lecture given by Prof. Randy Pausch of the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon University. This was advertised to be Prof. Pausch's last lecture. What makes this lecture even more poignant is the back story of Prof. Pausch's battle with cancer and how he realizes the fact that he doesn't have much time left.

Prof. Pausch's lecture was at once inspiring, a little sad and renewed my faith in the field Human-Computer Interaction. Those of you working in the field of HCI know that you can easily lose the forest for the trees. Prof. Pausch's lecture tells you to stop for a while and savour the forest that you are in. And more importantly to work to grow that forest to inspire others. I have already recommended this lecture to several friends and thought that I would share it on this blog as well. You don't have to be in the field of HCI to appreciate Prof. Pausch's message.

(As a footnote, I managed to get this webcast as a torrent. I have shared it on the blog because I thought that it was a very inspiring lecture. I do not own the rights to the video and would happily take it down if asked to.)

Hello Aiden!

It wasn't so long ago that I introduced our adorable niece, Amelia on the blog, and now it's time to welcome her little brother, Aiden! The little one arrived over the weekend, and we're so happy for Jude's brother and sister-in-law :) Congrats, Joe & Carol!

RIP "Shakey" Jake Woods September 16, 2007

A nice article about Shakey Jake from the Ann Arbor News can be found here.

Audio file from WFMU's 365 days project (2003) accompanied by a nice little write up.

Transitions

So the weather's been doing that freaky thing when it's Summer one day and Fall the next. We've been having 60 (sometimes 50) degree days (10- 15C) the past week or so and I'm not sure how I feel about it. I'm excited about Fall coming, but the weather transition's been so sudden that I don't think I'm quite prepared. The trees aren't even turning color yet! We've been so tempted to turn on the heat the last few nights but told ourselves no- we've never had to turn the heat on before end-October and we're not going to cave in so easily. It's the freaking middle of September!

So I was stuck at home doing a whole bunch of transcribing yesterday and decided to "warm" myself up by going for a run. The sun was shining really brightly and I figured it was probably warmer outside than in our chilly bedroom. Bad mistake. It was frigid outside (by September standards) and although I did warm up after the first 10 minutes or so, I think I caught a chill. My work-out wardrobe clearly needs some work. I'm not have a fever or anything, and I don't have a cold, so I don't think I'm sick. It's just that lethargic feeling you get when you know you're on the cusp of coming down with something... So I've been pumping myself with juice and hot tea all day (I know, strange combination, but it seems to be working). And I'm sitting here in my flannel PJs simultaneously trying to transcribe some more and resisting the urge to just crawl under the covers and sleep the day away...

Yes I can...

Whenever I'm struck by those moments we all encounter when I am momentarily paralyzed by the fear that I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing with my life, I remember one of my favorite scenes from You've Got Mail (yes, everything in Serene Koh's life can- and has been- explained by that one movie. Shut up.) Anyways... who needs Anthony Robbins and his motivational system when all you have to do is to order a cup of coffee at Starbucks? It's like walking into Chipotle and having them ask you what burrito you want; suddenly, you're in control, all becomes clear, your life has purpose, and you know exactly what you want!: "Carnitas, black beans, less rice, and salsa verde. No sour cream, no cheese. And guac. Please!"

Clash of the not-so Titans...

[Picture from the Associated Press]

**Update: We won!!!

I'm not a football fan- I don't even understand the game still- but believe it or not, I'm actually looking forward to tomorrow's game against Notre Dame. Jude and I are not going but we'll definitely be keeping tabs on the score. Testimony to how fascinating I'm finding all of this- not so much the game itself- but how Michigan's struggling to keep up its image as the "sacred caretaker of college football", I actually followed the score online for the Oregon game last week (and watched the crushing 39- 7 loss in slow motion so to speak), and for the first time ever, read the sports section of the NYT to see how our fall from glory was being received by the wider press. Sadly, words like "massacre", "a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle falling apart" and "humiliation" were used liberally. This scathing report by the Detroit Free Press seems to suggest that there are more than a few people out there who see this all as "delicious payback" for years of proud- and some say, exploitative- dominance by the two teams.

A winless Michigan facing a winless Notre Dame for the first time provides irrefutable evidence that God has a sense of humor.
- Drew Sharp, The Detroit Free Press

A perfect roast chicken

It all started when Libby recommended us to get chickens from Ernst Farm, a local farmer that sells all-natural meats at the Farmers' Market. They rear chickens to order so we put in our order for two chickens in July and only picked them up last week. Libby says that they are the best chickens we will ever taste (because they get fed well, plenty of sunshine and fresh air, and basically get to chill out with their other buddies for two months...), and she's right. With this recipe I got from the Barefoot Contessa, this roast chicken was the best thing I have ever made. Ever. And I've NEVER said this before...

I know, you're going: 1) why roast your own chicken when you can get a fairly good tasting one from the store for $6? and 2) how good can roast chicken taste? First of all, there is something deeply satisfying and comforting about roasting your own chicken. Of course you can just run to the store to get that perfectly rotisserie-cooked chicken, and Jude & I do that all the time; but at the end of the day, nothing beats the smell of lemons, garlic and herbs slowly wafting through the house on a chilly, cloudy evening. Which brings me to No. 2: no roast chicken you buy from the store is going to taste like what I just made for dinner. And this has nothing to do with my cooking- it's all in the ingredients. For some strange, mystical reasons, something wondrous happens when you roast a chicken on top of carrots, onions and a head of fennel. For the first 40 minutes or so, the house smelled bright and citrusy from the lemon and herbs; but at some point after that, as the vegetables started caramelizing, the aroma evolved and deepened; it became almost spicy, rich and gloriously tantalizing. And all this without even opening the oven door!

And that's the one drawback of this recipe- how excruciating the wait is before your dinner is ready. An hour and a half to roast a chicken sounds pretty typical, but not when your whole house is smelling like an Italian trattoria. But it is soooooooo worth it. The chicken comes out crisp and golden on the outside, and moist and succulent on the inside (Jude observed that the chicken was not fatty at all and yet very tender; all thanks to the wonders of an all-natural upbringing, no doubt); it was the veggies that really surprised me though. The licorice flavor of the fennel developed into a delicious sweetness that was most unexpected and wonderful. I've never cooked with fennel before and now I'm wondering why not. The carrots and onions roasted into a divine golden brown, and guess what? This carrot-hater finished all her carrots :) And she loved them!

Really, dear readers of this blog, I beseech you; if you want to have the best roast chicken you will taste in a long while, you will go down to your nearest farmer's market and get yourself a free-range chicken and try this recipe out at home. Follow it to a T and I guarantee you a dinner to remember. Either that or you can invite yourself to our place- we have one more Ernst Farm chicken in our freezer, sitting there just full of promise and possibility... :)

Once more, with feeling! Again!

Jude and I came to a conclusion last night: he will always have his Big Lebowski, and I will always have Buffy. We're never going to understand each other's devotion to the respective cult phenomenon- in his words, "I can't imagine how much time you spent on this..."- but we'll respect it :) I appreciate the fact that he sat through 2 hours of manic fan singing, dancing, shouting, trivia-answering, a.k.a an all round Buffy love-fest, and so if Big Lebowski comes on TV again, I will sit on the couch with my dear husband as he watches it for the 113th time...

As for the Buffy Sing-a-long, it was most wonderful! :) It took me a while to come to terms with the fact that I was in the same room with 1400 other fans, all of whom knew exactly when to scream, groan, shriek and cheer at the same priceless Buffy moments, especially during the 3-minute recap of the eight seasons of Buffy. Everyone sang resoundingly along to the episode (I doubt having the lyrics on screen really made a difference- these people had dialogue committed to memory, lest of all lyrics...) and gamely partook of all the activities sprinkled throughout the hour, like yelling at Dawn and waving our cell-phones in the air during Giles', Styx-esque power ballad, "Standing In Your Way". Both a little amused and flabbergasted, Jude just sat back and captured it on video:



Last night brought back many great memories, and while I wasn't exactly young when I first became a Buffy fan, I still associate those years with something quite distinct from where I am now. And for that 2 hours last night, it was wonderful to revist those memories again... :)

Spike: You listen to me. I've been alive a bit longer than you and dead a lot longer than that. I've seen things you couldn't imagine and done things I'd prefer you didn't. I don't exactly have a reputation for being a thinker. I follow my blood which doesn't exactly rush in the direction of my brain so I make a lot of mistakes. A lot of wrong bloody calls. A hundred plus years and there's only one thing I've ever been sure of. You. Hey, look at me. I'm not asking you for anything. When I say I love you, it's not because I want you, or because I can't have you. It has nothing to do with me. I love what you are, what you do, how you try. I've seen your kindness and your strength. I've seen the best and the worst of you and I understand with perfect clarity exactly what you are. You are a hell of a woman. You're the one, Buffy.

Buffy: [teary] I don't want to be the one.

Spike: I don't want to be this good-looking and athletic. We all have crosses to bear...

Once more, with feeling!

It's time to sing about dry cleaning, parking tickets and evil bunnies- the Buffy musical episode, "Once More, With Feeling" will be shown on the big-screen at the Michigan Theatre tonight! Always a fan favorite and voted the 13th greatest musical of all time by British television, this episode translates exceptionally well onto the movie screen, what with all the dancing, singing, twirling, and of course, combusting...

The Buffy Musical Big Screen Interactive Extravaganza begins at midnight in the rollicking tradition of interactive favorites like The Rocky Horror Show. Jude and I have no idea what to expect, but it looks set to be awesome fun! I'm looking forward to the pre-show of fan videos, Buffy trivia, and a Buffy-oke contest, where fans show off their own acting skills- you try out-brooding Angel and out-whining Dawn :)

There will always be a special place in my heart for the Buffy series, and in that special place is a small little shrine erected just for this episode.** It helps of course that it comes complete with a Broadway diva of a demon and lovelorn Spike :) Oh Spike...

Spike: You should go back inside. Finish the big group sing. Get your kumbaya-yas out.
Buffy: I don't want to.
Spike: The day you do suss out what you want, there'll probably be a parade. Seventy-six bloody trombones...

** [And this episode where conversely, very few words are spoken at all. Sigh... I miss Buffy...]

Tamale party!

tamale n. Mexican/Spanish. Traditional Native/ Latin American food consisting of steam-cooked corn meal dough with or without a filling. Tamales can be filled with meats, cheese (post-colonial), and sliced chiles or any preparation according to taste. The tamal is generally wrapped in a corn husk or plantain leaves before cooking, depending on the region they come from. (Source: Wikipedia)

tamale party n. A Labor Day gathering of 17 people producing piles of said food over several days of boiling, drying, simmering, boiling, wrapping, steaming, waiting, and eating.


1. Sondra drying out the corn husks, 2. ingredients for a tamale party ..., 3. then you put the filling on top of the masa ., 4. then you fold the husk like so ..., 5. Jude is a tamale making machine, 6. Valerie shows us how again, 7. Pot o' tamales, 8. Mountains of tamales!!!, 9. Tasteful placement ...

Good morning, Baltimore!

Every summer, there's always that one movie that just makes me smile. Throughout the movie. And then some after. Last year, It was Little Miss Sunshine, this year, it was Ratatouille; until Friday when another summer sweetie brought a smile to my face and a song to my heart, literally.

Hairspray was gloriously fun. Just fun :) Considering the social commentary it was trying to make, at the end of it all, its message is one of hope, innocence and a throwback to a time when anything was possible. There were few moments when my feet weren't tapping or my head wasn't bopping to the joyousness of it all. This version doesn't have the same subversive camp of the John Waters original (see here for a musical montage of some of the original scenes), but it's hard to fault it when you're so completely and utterly swept up by its ebullience and good cheer.

And the funny thing is, like Ratatouille, in the end, my heart didn't so much go out to the protagonist than to someone in a more supporting role. In Ratatouille, it was the deliciously dour Anton Ego, and in Hairspray, it's Tracy's shy mother, Edna Turnbald. You're like, ok, John Trvolta. In drag... Nah... But honestly, he does a wonderful job. About 30 minutes into the movie, and you almost forget it's a man playing a woman's role, and she becomes one of the more fully-realized character in what is essentially a musical of stock characters- heart-throb, beauty queen, underdog, etc... Edna's timidity and shame about her size comes across so sweetly and sadly sometimes that her own little triumph at the end of the movie, almost rivals her daughter's.


Which is also why I found the relationship between her and her gallant, devoted husband, Wilbur the real emotional core of the movie. Christopher Walken is fantastic as always, and in one of the high-points of the film, when they sing, "You're Timeless to Me", you forget momentarily that it's two men in a love duet. Mr. Walken looks like he was truly enjoying himself (and reprising some of his nifty footwork from the out-of-this-world Spike Jonze/Fatboy Slim video); either that or he was barely containing his laughter at John Travolta flirting with him as his wife, and there was just a honesty and genuineness to the scene that was most delightful.

Go watch Hairspray, you too will believe that a can of Ultra-Clutch Hairspray can make the world a better place :)

Akan datang**

[** Coming soon in Malay]

There are so many reasons why I love Fall, and one of them is all the interesting movies that always come our way during this season. Yes, there are of course the inevitable ponderous, poseur "this-will-win-me-the-Oscar" ones, but there are also those gems that really make the Fall movie season so wonderfully exciting. So yes, it's time for ghetto of our mind's annual "What We'll be Watching in Fall" preview. Like I said in last year's post, don't read on or click on any of the links if you don't want to be spoiled- Emilee knows what I'm talking about... :)

In no particular order:

1) Lust, Caution
Ang Lee's follow-up to Brokeback Mountain and set in Japanese-occupied Shanghai, this love story/ political thriller maintains similar themes of love and loss. Did I say Tony Leung's in it? Enough said.

2) Across the Universe
Those of you who have been dying to watch Cirque du Soleil's Love but don't have a mini trust fund to afford the ticket, maybe this quirky, surrealistic "musical" will satisfy. Set to the Beatles music, there is only 30 minutes of dialogue in the movie. And just for the heck of it, Bono makes a cameo too...

3) Control
Jude can barely wait for this biopic of Joy Division's Ian Curtis. And directed by Anton Corbijn (best known for his Depeche Mode videos) no less. The trailer is awesome. (See here for an interview with Corbijn about the movie.)

4) Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium
With a magnificent title like this, how is a girl to resist? :)

5) Elizabeth: The Golden Age
I know, the first one wasn't historically accurate (because who plays Mozart at an English coronation?), but I love Cate Blanchett, and I loved her in the role of Elizabeth. Who cares what stuffy historians say?...

6) Persepolis
I can't believe they've turned one of my favorite graphic novels into a movie! And by the writer, Marjane Satrapi herself! I don't understand French, but if there's anything I remember from book, just looking at this French teaser is making me ecstatically excited!

7) Sleuth
Two words, Harold Pinter.

8) Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (official website coming soon)
I've watched every collaboration between Johnny Deep and Tim Burton. And loved something, if not everything about each one. Their latest- a homicidal barber and his human-pie-making partner. And it's a musical. Oh goody... :)

9) I'm Not There
More for Jude, the Bob Dylan fan in the household, this indie project by Todd Haynes has Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger and Richard Gere all playing Bob Dylan at various stages of his life. Here's a brilliant clip of Cate Blanchett as a twitchy, scratchy Dylan during his Blonde on Blonde period...

10) Heima
Sigur Rós's documentary homage to Iceland, and what home means to them. It's not enough that we love their music, if the gorgeous trailer is anything to go by, we will love them as film makers as well... As reported on Boing Boing, "You ain't human if SR don't make you weep."

11) The Darjeeling Limited
A Wes Anderson movie. Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman and Adrien Brody as brothers. On a road-trip. Through India. Do you really need to know more?

Fruit pulp

Thanks to my best friend for making my morning!

A few years ago, I had posted something about the then new ad for the Sony Bravia flat panel TV.



Other ad companies had apparently then started imitating and spoofing the commercial to great effect!



What makes it funny however, is not just the spoof itself, but the reaction it then garnered from the residents of Swansea, where the ad was filmed. See here. Thank goodness Sony didn't use fruit- I doubt they could afford to the incur ire of the entire city of San Francisco.

Enjoy!

**Update: Ok, it would now seem that this entire thing- from the ad to the Swansea residents' website was part of a larger viral campaign by Tango, the juice-maker! The campaign also included a spoof news website and ebay listings of things allegedly "broken" during the filming of the ad. See here.

Clever... :)

Back in the kitchen

You know it's Fall in Ann Arbor when a bus ride that typically takes 20 minutes takes you 35 instead :( Yup, it's Move-In day at the dorms, which means huge big-ass SUVs on every corner and brand-new, shiny "here's your present for getting into college" BMWs and VWs... Note to self: stay at home on Move-In days from now on.

So we've been back for a couple of days and still reeling from the jetlag somewhat. I thought I was doing well yesterday until I rested my head on the pillow at 10pm (why? why? she asks herself...), and the next thing I knew, it was 5am. I decided to wake up, did some work, and then promptly went back to sleep until 8.30am. I'm sure that doesn't bode well for my general functioning today...

Something that did help me stave off the jetlag blues yesterday afternoon was cooking actually. I know, that sounds odd, but there's something in the rhythmic chopping, slicing and prepping that necessitated a kind of easy focus and attention from my mind that would have otherwise succumbed to the drowsiness. And so I spent the afternoon making a batch of stuffed zucchinis. It was a little labor-intensive, but like I said, I needed it, and it was somewhat therapeutic too. I miss cooking in our own kitchen- actually, I miss cooking. The thing about being home is never having to cook on our own- there's no shortage of local food to eat and lucky us, home-cooked food is always just a phonecall away... :) But I've also missed pottering around our kitchen, thinking up of new things to try, and bringing back old favorites that always satisfy.

Speaking of which, if you do have a couple of hours to spare, try this recipe for Stuffed Zucchinis. I adapted it from Simply Recipes that calls for turkey sausages. We didn't have any so I used ground chicken and seasoned it with fennel, paprika, red chili flakes and a generous dash of salt and pepper. And I used 5 regular sized zucchinis rather than the really large ones. Everything else was pretty much the same. I highly recommend the recipe- the zucchinis come out all succulent and flavorful, and because it's all veggie and lean white meat, it's healthy too! Just what we need after 5 weeks of abadoned indulgence!

Field Recording 2: Singapore street auction

It's the seventh (ghost) month on the Lunar calendar and temporary stages have been erected all over Singapore. These stages typically host performances (if the clan or business association can afford it) or more commonly benevolent auctions to benefit charities. These auctions tend to be noisy affairs and street performances in their own right. The auctioneer is typically a professional trained in the art of handling a rowdy and drunken bunch. Also, conducting an auction by the side of a busy is no mean feat. This auction was recorded on August 23rd at about 10.30pm and was located outside the coffeeshop on the corner of Sin Min and Thomson Roads.

* update: thought I would add some photos for good measure to provide some context to the field recordings.

A friday night out with the boys

Tempeh contribution

Sometime in April when we had the Cooks over for dinner, we made Tempeh Tauhu Goreng and then posted the photo onto Flickr.


Subsequently, we were approached by someone in the U.K. who manufactures tempeh who asked if he could use the photo on his company's website as well as have the recipe. The website's now up and so is the photo and the recipe. Here's the site's front page:


I gave them a modified recipe from the one I had used since they told me that most of their customers are vegetarians. Here's the vegetarian version of the dish.

There was no money exchanged in the process of course, but we got credit for the photo and the recipe, and it's just nice to know that our food pornography's appreciated ... :)

881 Soundtrack: A review

After watching the movie, it was time to spend some time mulling over the music of course, and I have to say that both Jude and I have become rather taken with the soundtrack actually. While the film was a little long-drawn at parts, with the soundtrack, I was left wanting more. The renditions of ge-tai standards aside, all the songs written specifically for the film are truly exquisite.

There was a time in my junior college days when mornings were defined by my friend, Yvonne and I walking to school while humming popular xinyao songs (see Wikipedia entry here for this genre of songs originating right here in Singapore.) Listening to the 881 soundtrack has reminded me once again why I- thoroughly non-Mandarin speaking- had found this brand of Chinese songs so beguiling, and why I'm now beginning to rediscover that side of me that loved this music so much. I think there is something about the lyricism of the language that lends itself easily- with few words- to evoking rich images and hence complex moods and emotions. And it is this spareness and simplicity of the lyrics that make the layers of meaning even more profound.

Take for exmple "Black May" (身外物), my favorite track on the album. For those of you who read Mandarin, here are, in my opinion, the most moving lines:

身体和财富, 都是身外物.
都是暂时借来完成短促的演出.
人类是租户, 爱却是礼物.
哪怕物归原主, 爱也不会结束.

I don't admit to having a command of the Chinese language enough to translate this accurately, and even if I did, something is bound to be lost in the process anyway. But to give you a rough idea of the melancholy captured in just those few lines, a very rudimentary, very unpolished translation might read: Our bodies and wealth are merely borrowed for this short performance otherwise known as Life; we are but renters of these mortal possessions. But Love is a gift, and even if it is to be returned one day, it will endure.

Here's the video of the song, performed by Ngak, a popular pub singer/songwriter who performs in various local venues:



Another exceptionally written song, and also the unofficial title track of the album is "One-Half" (一人一半). There are several versions of it on the soundtrack and the album version is performed in a combination of Hokkien and Mandarin.



The lightly upbeat melody of this tune belies the heartbreak and sadness so palpable in the lyrics. Together with "Black May", "One Half" and most of the original songs on the soundtrack sustain a theme of waiting, sacrifice, and a tortured love muted and thwarted by circumstances. In other words, this is painful stuff, folks...

Royston Tan's 881: A review

Royston Tan's 881 opened last week on the 9th of August. The choice of the opening date was really strategic to the movie I must say - 9th of August was National Day and it is also right before the Lunar 7th month or Ghost Month begins.

In a previous post, we've exclaimed our enthusiasm for this movie. Apparently this enthusiasm was also shared by Serene's family and it was a big day out for everyone as I reserved an entire row of seats at the cinema.

The movie has been greatly hyped in the mainstream media and I was both surprised and glad to hear that Royston managed to get actual getai performers to act in this movie. Also, the dialogue of was filmed in a mixture of Hokkien dialect and Mandarin. This was of great interest especially to older Singaporeans (many of whom I spotted in the audience) as the vernacular dialects have been banned on most media channels since the early 1980s.

The opening of the movie was also not without controversy though. According to the Royston Tan blog, the director and cast member (Mindee Ong) were injured by assailants on motorcycles who pelted them with eggs. Read more about it (as well as the official press conference) here.

But did the movie live up to the hype? I would have to say that for the most part it did. The performances put in by the two main protagonists were stellar. Additionally, the visuals in movie were stunning and there was interesting use of CG especially towards the end of the movie. Everyone (this is referring to myself and Serene's family) enjoyed the songs and musical numbers so much that we were still humming a couple of the tunes after dinner. However, there were moments in the movie which would have benefited from tighter editing. There were points which I felt that Royston belabored and could have made more succinct.

We just managed to get hold of the soundtrack and are looking forward to listening to when we return to Ann Arbor and when home just seems a little too far away... :)

New personal avatars - advice sought

We have been meaning to improve on our avatars for a while now. The existing avatars were created using a web application and did their jobs well until now. As the both of us are back in Singapore at the same time, we thought that we would ask our very talented friend Dominic Chang, who's a brilliant animator to help us with creating improved versions of our online identities and image. The result of his work can be seen in the image above. And below shows you how much work Dominic put into this through his process sketches.



What we were going to do with the final icons are to digitize them and then load them onto either Photoshop or Illustrator and fill in the colors. I'd appreciate anyone's advice on how I should go about doing this as this is the first time we are actually doing something like this. Hope to hear from someone soon.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Everyone smile!
Originally uploaded by jyew.

After 4 years of not being around for my parents' birthdays, Jude and I are finally home in August and able to celebrate their birthdays with them this year. My dad's birthday today was a nice little affair, complete with a flower arrangement, a tower of cupcakes, a homemade meal of course, and the wonderful company of my uncle, aunt, and my cousins, Jill and Terri (who just discovered that yes, she can bowl, thanks to the Wii...)

I remember how special it was when my family were with us in Ann Arbor at my birthday two years back, so I'm really glad we're home this year for my parents'.

Happy Birthday Dad! And many many many many happy returns!! :)

Field Recordings: Singapore miscellany

For those of you who have been following our flickr site, you would know that I've sunk some money in an Edirol R09 digital audio/field recorder. I've just started using this device over the past couple of days and must say that I've been very impressed with the results. While it's not exactly difficult to use, getting the recorder going while you are on the move or in a tight spot can be a little involved. Also, I've not invested in external mics yet and have so far relied on the onboard mics on the device. I am still playing around with the settings to suit various use situations and I've included a sampling of how I've used the device below. It's also hoped that my audio captures can provide more context/depth to the photos that I am taking:

Sri Krishna Hindu Temple, Waterloo Street, Singapore





This snippet highlights the fact that I am still getting used to the recorder and also haven't really plucked up the courage to approach performers. I was standing outside the temple recording this. The audio would have been better if I tweaked the settings and actually went inside the temple.

Sembawang Beach, Singapore (08/01/07)







Sembawang is on the Northeast coast of the island. The beach that you see above used to be a British military wharf that has now been converted into a park. It's a nice quiet little beach that still hasn't lost it's rural and laid back air. However, there are still remants of the old wharves that are evident. I sat on one of these old steps and placed the recorder down to capture that waves lapping at the old foundations of the wharves.

Mercury Rev @ Esplanade, Singapore (08/02/07)





This was a rather strange night for me. The esplanade is now the preeminent venue for arts performances in Singapore. However, the venue has been also trying to reach out to a younger crowd by hosting a series of 'indie' and local acts in a month long event called "Baybeats". However, some of the acts in the event has a strong cultural clash with the identity of the Esplanade. It's sort of like hosting the Sex Pistols in the Lincoln Center. And this incongruity was starkly evident in the fact that the venue's ushers busied themselves throughout the performance by asking audiences members to remain in their seats and also to keep ensuring that there was no photography throughout the performance. It was a futile effort.

The audio captured here was in a live performance setting where I was seated 4 rows away from the stage and smack in the middle. The acoustics of the room were excellent , however, the recorder was in my shirt pocket and it may have captured some side conversations that I was having with folks that I attended the concert with. Beware though, I manage to capture quite a big chunk of the concert. As such, the file is rather large (136mb to be exact). Enjoy :)

The Patriot

9th August is Singapore's National Day. And prime opportunity for what is now one of my all time favorite pictures of my dear husband :)

There are so many layers of humour and irony to this photo that I can't even begin to unpack... :)

10 days later...

No, we haven't fallen off the edge of the world... unless you count sleeping at 10.00 every night and waking up at 5.00 in the morning as falling off the edge of the world. I don't think I'll ever be able to suitably deal with jetlag... If anyone has a good formula for handling this beast, do let me know. The upside is though, I've been sleeping like a baby :) I was clocking many a late night over the past week finishing my paper, so I've appreciated the deep, satisfyingly dreamless sleep since we've been back.

So yes, what little action has transpired from my last post 10 days ago: we only just managed to endure the 18 hours flight over 3 continents and the Pacific Ocean; I finally submitted my second prelim exam yesterday after spending 10 hours just on citations and references (!!!); we've managed to already stuff our faces with a good variety of local food; and best of all, snuck in some good quality time with family :) The weather's humid as usual; I'm completely exhausted by 6pm; but we're home, and that's what's really matters :)

We caved in and bought a Wii ...

We caved in ...
Originally uploaded by jyew.

There are those of you in Ann Arbor who know that I've been lusting after the Wii for a while. In fact, a number of you have reproached me for actually picking up and then putting down a Wii that I found in Best Buy. So with Serene's help in tracking down Wii shipments, we finally caved in and got one ... but not for ourselves. Rather we got the Wii for my parents.

The rationalization process goes as follows:

- We have been playing with Rick and Emilee's Wii over the past couple of months, and have been really impressed with the games, the lack of "gamer specific" skills, and family friendly level of interaction afforded by the Wii.

- Besides, we've begun hearing about how the Wii is currently being used in hospitals to help patients with low impact physicality and also to burn a few calories. Also, there has been talk about the Wiis as a way to rehabilitate the stroke patient's brain activity. Trust me when I say this, the Wii sports games do help me break out into a healthy sweat.

- My dad is in his 70s and has never really taken to the computer yet. I am thinking of the Wii as a way to ease him into technology and the Internet. I think the he watches way too much TV now and the Wii might help him stay active (he used to bowl a lot, and the Wii Bowling interface is awesome). Also, he might like to be introduced to the Internet via the Wii www browser. For those of you who haven't tried surfing the web via the Wii, you should definitely try it. The Wiimote is a nice input device and the fact that you can get the Internet on the large TV screen are big pluses.

- My mom is in her late 60s and she's taken to the Internet like a duck to water. And she loves puzzle games, especially the online word games. But her eyes have been giving her trouble and the laptop screen might not be ideal for her.

- Lastly, if my parents don't use the device, I can always find a use for it myself ;)

What do people think about the benefits of using the Wii? Have I made a good case for it? Or have I overjustified the purchase to myself ;)

Pitchfork 2007 video captures :)

I know that Serene said I would be waxing lyrical on this blog about the various performances we caught at Pitchfork last week. However, my travel schedule has been really crazy. And also, I thought that I would let the performances speak for themselves. Below you'll find clips of my favorite performances at Pitchfork 2007 with a little blurb from me about them. Our Panasonic Lumix LX2 camera actually took very high quality wide-aspect ratio video captures of these performances. But in order to get them on youTube, I had to reduce the quality of the videos and trim some of them down.

"Teen Age Riot" - Sonic Youth



This was the opening to their ATP/Don't Look Back performance of the Daydream Nation album in its entirety. It was a real kickass opener I must say and got the capacity crowd on its feet as you can see. While I really liked the idea of watching a band performing its (seminal) entire album live, I have to admit to losing concentration about an hour into the show. Not because the performance was bad, but not all the tracks on Daydream Nation lend themselves to an outdoor live festival performance well. The band admitted as much towards the entire of their Daydream Nation set by saying "Ok, we're finally on Side 4 now. Home stretch..." Their encore set comprised of songs from their latest album, Rather Ripped and this was very well received by the crowd (the bulk of whom I am sure were only toddlers when Daydream Nation was released).

"Atlas" - Battles



I was not able to secure a good position in the audience for this show, as you can tell from the video above. And rightly so, because this was essentially the most anticipated act for a lot of people. The band was tight and extremely skilled at what they were doing. However, the performance was plagued by technical issues- wires were plugged into wrong sockets it seemed. And this somehow sapped the energy of the performance and the second half of the set was a little lackluster. However, I was really impressed with John Stanier's drumming - he looked like he was about to have a heart attack given his very physical style.

??? - Grizzly Bear



This band easily gets my vote for the best performance on Saturday. I wasn't expecting much from this Brooklyn band's performance because I thought their sound would be hard to translate to a live outdoor festival venue. However, they really blew me away with their set. I'm not sure what the title of this song is as it isn't on their album, Yellow House- the only album of theirs that I own. If anyone can help me with the title, it would be much appreciated. Also, I have two more video clips of their performance that I captured. You can get them here and here.

Until next time...

Taking a break from what is going to be some of the most harrowing days of my life as yet, a.k.a. trying to finish my second pre-candidacy paper. Technically, it's not due till the middle of August, but I'm hoping to finish it before we leave for Singapore so I'll have one less thing to think about. I don't think it's undo-able, but it'll just mean a lot of discipline and focus, of which I'm not sure I have enough. That and unplugging the TV and resisting the urge to go online for no rhyme or reason...

And so, I suspect this blogpost will be a placeholder of sorts for the next week or so. Unless something profoundly incredible happens that we absolutely have to blog about, I think we're going to give ghetto of our mind a modest reprieve. Nothing extended, don't worry (and who knows? my self-restraint might cave in and I'll blog about something completely inane tomorrow), but I really need to finish this paper, and Jude's busy at his conference in New Jersey. We'll probably check in again after we've settled down a little at home.

And the prospect of that is sweet sweet comfort to me right now... :)

Pitchfork 2007 (non-music) recap

Our loot from the weekend
Originally uploaded by jyew.

Cities smell and sound different. And I'm not just talking about the pollution; on a hot summer day, you can virtually smell the heat emanating from the concrete, the asphalt of the roads, the palpable scent of the energy of people jostling about, the rings and grinds of public transportation, and just all the sounds of a city doing what it does best- bustle. It's the same in Singapore too- not better or worse than a little town like Ann Arbor, just different. And it's always quite exhilarating...

Jude's going to tap into his music-journalist mojo and blog about the festival itself, while I just do the usual what-we-saw-ate-bought-ate-shopped-bought-and-ate-some-more recap ;)

Some highlights:
1) Virtually delaying one Pink Line "El" train from moving on when the driver kept talking to us about the concert line-up as we were exiting the station. His utter derision at the prospect of Yoko Ono performing was particularly hysterical... :)
2) Thanks to Ms. Libby Hemphill, discovering the BEST EVER! burrito and tacos we have ever consumed. People, don't mess around with beans, rice and sour cream in your burritos- La Pasadita dresses their carne asada burritos and tacos simply with just cilantro and queso, and you get the most amazing $5 you will ever put in your mouth. We weren't even halfway through our first order before Jude just had to put in an order for two more tacos. Yes, they are THAT goooooood...
3) Being reminded once again about how enlightened the whole notion of public transportation is. Just being able to hop on and off without worries about parking and payment was actually very liberating.
4) Managing to get a swanky hotel room at the Hilton on S. Michigan Ave. for a steal on Priceline (I swear my husband's an Internet deal genius...). Although it was a little disconcerting to think that we were (in)directly fueling the partying foibles of the Hilton sisters...
5) Feeling profoundly old at Pitchfork as we stood among teens and tweens who all seem to either shop at the same thrift/ vintage/ retro/ second-hand store, or hand-make each others clothes from their grandmother's 1950's dress patterns.
6) Scoring a deal for a year's subscription of ReadyMade for only $5!
7) Having hush puppies for the first time at Harold's Chicken Shack #62. I don't know what I was expecting, but these ones didn't really blow me away. Now the fried chicken on the other hand, is another story altogether...
8) Hearing Ace of Base's "I Saw the Sign" on the radio as we were driving through Indiana. Nothing like a '90s flashback and the defining song of my first year in junior college to perk me up while driving at 12.30 in the morning...

Our two-day trip in all its 76-photos glory here.

Pitchfork 2007

So we're off tomorrow on our annual pilgrimage to Union Park, Chicago for the Pitchfork Music Festival. We actually have tickets to the entire weekend, but with Jude's crazy travel schedule, we're only going to stay till Saturday. Which means we're sadly going to miss the New Pornographers, the Sea and Cake, and Of Montreal, BUT we will see Iron and Wine, Voxtrot, Yoko Ono, and one of the main reasons we bought tickets in the first place, Sonic Youth playing Daydream Nation in its full glory. Jude can't wait to revisit the guys who he so unceremoniously thrust a karaoke mike under those many years ago (and for those of you who faithfully follow our blog, you'd know that his anticipation has been growing for the past four months).

Me, I'm looking forward to the entire heady atmosphere of an outdoor, weekend-long music festival, and to DEPART-ment, the on-site bazaar for all things handcrafted, from jewelery to clothes to book covers. Then there's the Flatstock 13 Poster Convention where Jude & I are hoping to find just one more silkscreen poster to fill that gap on our wall. We got a couple of great finds last year- let's hope we'll be just as lucky this year :)

Watch this space- I predict (no, guarantee!) a euphoric Sonic Youth-induced Jude post coming up in a couple of days!...

Oh how they have grown...

We have tickets to the absolute first showing of the Order of the Phoenix tonight (although Libby will argue that the 12.05 IMAX 3-D showing is technically the first show while the 12.10 non-fancy one is a mere close second...). We're definitely going to be bringing our camera- if there were people in Spiderman pajamas on the movie's opening night, you can be sure we'll be seeing wizards and witches tonight... :)

And check out this awesome class photo if there ever were one- you should definitely see it large. There's something about the composition and lighting that's most befitting of the narrative.

[click for large size]

Down below

I'm typing this as I sit in our basement on a makeshift work-table, previously incarnated as the patio table, picnic table and all-round multi-use furniture. The house is just too hot to be working anywhere else. Our bedroom was just about bearable till lunchtime, when all the leftover cool air from the air-con dissipated. Don't even get me started on the rest of the house...

Yup, that's Ann Arbor for you- blistering frost in January/February, oppressive heat in July/August. We've taken to making sure all the blinds are drawn in the day to keep the sun out; that and eating copious amounts of ice-cream. But a dark house and consuming decadent calories only help somewhat, and in the latter case, while easing my sweat glands now, will only hurt my arteries in the long run... I told myself to work in school or anywhere outside whenever I can so I don't feel tempted to switch on our air-conditioning but I had to be home today so it's the basement for me till tonight. We're trying not to use the air-con except when we're sleeping- our little bit to save the frog :) Besides, the basement really is nice and cool, plus the wireless works here so it's no problem at all.

And on that topic, here's a nice article about Al Gore's Live Earth event on Saturday. It was gooood!

Damn good party idea - Powerpoint Karaoke!!!

I came across this simple and fun idea from heathervescent's blog. Apparently it was something they did at BarcampLA. The idea behind it is simply ingenious - to have someone present for 5 minutes with powerpoint slides that they have never seen before. Check out the little excerpt from BarCampLA below:



heathervescent details, step-by-step, how to put together your own powerpoint karaoke event in this blogpost. However, in her event they had someone program a powerpoint randomizer. An interesting side-project that miht require too much programming overhead. A nice workaround may be to use Slideshare and select from one of their existing categories - "Latest", "Most viewed", "most zinged" (???) etc.

A fun night may be had for all with Powerpoint karaoke ;)

Cross atlantic introductions

While meeting up with Ed Vielmetti at the Communities and Technologies 2007 conference, I was reminded by Ed about the confluences that he has with some of the folks back home in Singapore. This has been a post that has been waiting in the wings for far too long. And I thought that it might be appropriate to use this blog to introduce the various individuals to each other. What I will do is write a brief bio for each person and some contact details. You are all free to use the comment section on this post to communicate with each other or better yet see if more direct connections can be made.

Ed Vielmetti:

I have known Ed since 2005 when I contacted him to work on a project for Peter Morville's Information Architecture class. Back then Ed was working with Social Text and I had wanted to think about Information Architecture for social software like wikis. I have kept in touch with Ed since and have come to realize what a tremendous asset Ed is to the Ann Arbor community. Ed currently works with Pure Visibility - an Internet marketing company that specializes in Google analytics and Ad Words. Like some of the "Media socialists", Ed occupies a position within a ad/marketing/PR but is experimenting with social media and web 2.0 technologies.

However, Ed also has many other facets that may be of interest to the folks in Singapore. He's very famous for his work on his blog Superpatron where he likes to experiment and mash-up the services provided by the Ann Arbor District Library. One of his latest ideas - put the local library catalogue on facebook :) I am sure there are a couple of Singaporeans (a.k.a Rambling Librarian) who would be interested to get in touch with Ed.

Lastly, Ed also maintains a personal blog called "Vacuum" where he farms links from his delicious account and also aggregates his other 'spaces' on the Internet.

Ben Koe:

I have only recently made contact with Ben through Kevin Lim. Most of what I know about Ben comes from his blog and this is how he describes himself:
"I work at Hill & Knowlton in Singapore as a PR consultant in the technology practice as well as the company's new media specialist where I experiment marrying PR and the social media. I also co-founded and built Scoopasia.com, a free web resource for the PR and marketing industry in Asia."

Ivan Chew a.k.a Rambling Librarian:

Ivan is a librarian in the Singapore National Library board system. I am not exactly sure what his exact designation/position is, but I do know that he is one of the first librarians to maintiain a blog that explicitly details the joys and travails of his profession. I've met Ivan once, but our online paths cross each other regularly. Ivan is an avocate for expanding the traditional role of the library and enabling individuals with disabilities to access library services. There's a nice interview with Ivan that can be found on the LitMinds blog.

Kevin Lim

Kevin is a doctoral student at SUNY, Buffalo but he's more than just academics. Kevin's a real dynamo at experimenting with new technologies, evangelising about them and networking with people to spread the gospel (so to speak ;) ). Check out Kevin's blog, Theory is the reason, for the latest in his exploits with technologies, events, venues or individuals.

Apologies if I have left anyone out. But feel free to ping me if you would like to know more about the folks that I have mentioned in this post or if you would like to get in touch with anyone here.

Introducing ... Gustafer Yellowgold!!!

We bought the Gustafer Yellowgold's Wide Wild World DVD/CD on a whim and we've been since totally bowled over by the imagination and songwriting sensibilities of Morgan Taylor. The NYT review described it as "Dr. Seuss meets Yellow Submarine". I, however, liken it to the sensibilities of Shel Silverstein who also wrote both music and whimsical stories for children. It has a whole hippie aesthetic to it that makes Serene feel like she needs to be wearing flowers in her hair while singing along... I suspect that Morgan Taylor's music is going to be on heavy rotation on our home stereo :)

While watching the DVD, I remarked how a live performance of the songs with the animation projected LARGE would be awesome. And guess what?... Morgan's doing just that. At the New York Public Libraries... and the performances are FREE!!! I'm going to be in New Jersey for a conference and will see if I can sneak out for a day and catch a performance :)

The video above is for the song "Mint Green Bee", one of our favorites already. YouTube has excerpts of a few other tracks as well. Another delightful one in particular is "New Blue Star".

Link to Gustafer Yellowgold Official Site.

La La La La... Linoleum

The highlight of my otherwise excruciatingly stressful day...



As always, it takes a children's show to remind you of the beauty of words and smile :)

The Saturn

I really, really like this photo. It captures a mood and aesthetic that I only wished I could replicate in my photos. Additionally, the photo's artfully staged, impeccably timed, interestingly lighted and beautifully shot. It sort of reminds me of an Edward Hopper painting somehow ... except that this is Hopper in celluloid film (I am assuming here, you never know everything's digitally shot now.)

What are 640 photos worth to you?

So as some of you may know, Yahoo! Photos will be shutting down for good come September. Before we finally decided to go Flickr Pro a couple of years back, we had been using Yahoo! for all our photos and little did we know, that amounted to almost 640 pics over the course of 2 years. Thankfully, Yahoo! has just completed moving all those photos over to our Flickr account, and everything's finally in one place! :)

Although all the sets, titles and descriptions were retained in the move, I went through a bunch of them just to make sure. And we never tagged them in Yahoo! so I did a whole lot of tagging too. Going through the photos was a little surreal though... These were all taken in 2004 and 2005, so most of them captured us during our Masters program. Those were fun times :) Not that the last two years haven't been fun, but it was just a different kind, with a different group of friends who are now scattered all over the country- well, mostly in the West Coast (actually mostly in a very specific part of the West Coast...) I thought I already had very distinct memories of things that happened in those two years, but these photos just made them even more vivid.

First, there was the time when everyone (literally, I think everyone we invited turned up...) came to celebrate us moving into our apartment (where a grand total of 45 people squeezed and jostled in our little nook), then the many, many, many, many, many, many birthdays that were celebrated over the course of those 24 months; there was Spring Break in New York, rock climbing in Kentucky; and who can forget the utterly indulgent and debauched weekend, otherwise known as Jude's MSI graduation where we had no less than four parties over a span of three days (see here, here and here)? :)

Just thinking about how many memories are captured in photos, and how tenuous online archiving of photos can be, I'm now seriously thinking of 1) getting them all backed-up on discs; and 2) printing some of our favorite ones out and then putting them in albums, like it used to be done in the old days... ;) Ultimately, scrolling through web-pages of photos will never be the same as flipping through a photo album. Ten or twenty years down the road, I want to be able to pull out a dusty old album from the shelf and say to my kid, "Look, at one time, your dad and I survived on only $1500 a month, and we were happy." :)