A lonely long legged fly was originally loosely based on a day flying moth which is a type of tiger moth, I think. I saw the fly/moth land on my windscreen and had spent some hours searching for the actual name, enlisting also the help of a friend, who sent me the link. In my memory, the body of the moth was black.
In the end, I decided that it would be more apt to use a fly instead. I kind of decided too that a moth would not feel that inferior to a grey butterfly.
But it cannot be just an ordinary fly, I thought, as he also feels somewhat good enough to want to be like a butter but not the grey not so beautiful one. The ordinary fly doesn't look like the type who will be so complicated. And the ordinary fly has friends. In my research for the identity of the fly/moth, a long-legged fly is more unique than a normal fly. And more comical. Apparently, W.B. Yeats wrote a poem called "a long-legged fly". Though quite different, his long-legged fly can be interpreted as a symbolising thought processes. Which is somewhat...relevant, as this piece is about a thinking fly.
Wind, of course, represents the wind of change. But the fly...doesn't want to see how all are subjected from the same forces and sticks to his perspective and but he cannot as his thoughts are changing and blah blah...
I dunno why the setting is at a coast, other than that I wrote the story near a coast. I am thinking of changing the setting for it to be by the stream, or by the coast where the mouth of a river meets the sea.
References:
1. On punctuating dialogue (and thought)
2. On the definition of comic
3. On differences between butterflies and moths
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Of life and death - Of Supreme Importance
Of Supreme Importance... is mostly about life and death.
Regardless of how we spend our lives, we all just die in the end?
But because we all die in the end, how we spend our lives is important?
So, what is of supreme importance?
==
Some References:
1. On the usage of "neither...nor..."
2. On Dian Fossey's life
3. On Dian Fossey's death
Regardless of how we spend our lives, we all just die in the end?
But because we all die in the end, how we spend our lives is important?
So, what is of supreme importance?
==
Some References:
1. On the usage of "neither...nor..."
2. On Dian Fossey's life
3. On Dian Fossey's death
Saturday, July 26, 2008
A confession - The bear with the biscuit face
The bear with the biscuit face is written with automatism and I didn't know what the story was going to be like until it was written.
I wanted to write a story about a bear with the biscuit face, an image that occured to me. SO I put down the working title of "the bear with the biscuit face". The biscuit part linked me to the hansel and gretel story of the biscuit house, so I researched a bit on the witch who tried to eat them, thus Frau Totenkinder was referenced to. I decided to start with Frau.
To confess, I dunno where the rest of the story came from... (perhaps from the back stories of hansel and gretel...?) and I think this is the scariest story that I've ever written. And it scares myself.
My bear was a big black bear with a huge ritz kinda biscuit instead of a face. What was the bear like in your imagination?
---
13 Aug 08 update.
Wen wrote a continuation to this piece. Check it out here.
I wanted to write a story about a bear with the biscuit face, an image that occured to me. SO I put down the working title of "the bear with the biscuit face". The biscuit part linked me to the hansel and gretel story of the biscuit house, so I researched a bit on the witch who tried to eat them, thus Frau Totenkinder was referenced to. I decided to start with Frau.
To confess, I dunno where the rest of the story came from... (perhaps from the back stories of hansel and gretel...?) and I think this is the scariest story that I've ever written. And it scares myself.
My bear was a big black bear with a huge ritz kinda biscuit instead of a face. What was the bear like in your imagination?
---
13 Aug 08 update.
Wen wrote a continuation to this piece. Check it out here.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Nostalgia - At Class
At Class was written on my lecture notes during tutorial because I was distracted by the trees that looked so happy swinging in the wind outside the window behind the teacher and the aircon was too cold and I dunno why he was rocking left and right like a palindrome which was a word I used but I've forgotten what it meant until now when I searched for a link to link up.
So, I went back and read it and think that palindrome is not as apt as a mechanical escapement. Escapement suggests the clock and time passing and escaping in wanting to get out of class i bet the teacher was also sian, so I changed the words. I often change things that were previously posted but this is the first time i'm announcing it.
So, I went back and read it and think that palindrome is not as apt as a mechanical escapement. Escapement suggests the clock and time passing and escaping in wanting to get out of class i bet the teacher was also sian, so I changed the words. I often change things that were previously posted but this is the first time i'm announcing it.
Ali Baba dream - Untitled (11 Nov 07)
Untitled...
1) One night, when I was nearly asleep, I dreamt/thought that I heard a man whisper something to me. I like the images I see before I fall fully asleep. Too bad I usually forget them by the time I could write them. But this time, I remembered when I woke up and decided that he was ali baba.
2) mona lisa part was based on a discussion I had with some friends that i said it just to be controversial. Apparently, wiki says that mona lisa is a girl and speculates that leonardo da vinci, the painter, is a boy-lover. In case you're curious about what's controversial, check out these mundane speculations on why mona lisa may be a boy.
3) seemingly unrelated except to some, here's some scoop on bert and ernie from sesame street. If you want more, then here's a list of scoop.
4) If you're curious, as I was, then here's the scoop on scoop!
25 Jul 08 addition
Thumbing through something, I found the original which reads:
"In my sleep, Ali Baba came to me and whispered a secret I wish I remembered.
His voice was distinctively sexy.
It kept me up all night."
1) One night, when I was nearly asleep, I dreamt/thought that I heard a man whisper something to me. I like the images I see before I fall fully asleep. Too bad I usually forget them by the time I could write them. But this time, I remembered when I woke up and decided that he was ali baba.
2) mona lisa part was based on a discussion I had with some friends that i said it just to be controversial. Apparently, wiki says that mona lisa is a girl and speculates that leonardo da vinci, the painter, is a boy-lover. In case you're curious about what's controversial, check out these mundane speculations on why mona lisa may be a boy.
3) seemingly unrelated except to some, here's some scoop on bert and ernie from sesame street. If you want more, then here's a list of scoop.
4) If you're curious, as I was, then here's the scoop on scoop!
25 Jul 08 addition
Thumbing through something, I found the original which reads:
"In my sleep, Ali Baba came to me and whispered a secret I wish I remembered.
His voice was distinctively sexy.
It kept me up all night."
Nothing compares to you - All the flowers that you planted...
All the flowers that you've planted... The title of this entry is from a song that put me in the mood for writing it, "Nothing compares 2 you", originally performed by Sinead O'Connor. Apparently, it was written by Prince. I was listening to a cover.
"All the flowers that you planted, mama
In the back yard
All died when you went away."
Seeing people listen to their MP3 players on the bus. I wonder what they are thinking.
Trivial: "3 cm pinnate leaves"
"All the flowers that you planted, mama
In the back yard
All died when you went away."
Seeing people listen to their MP3 players on the bus. I wonder what they are thinking.
Trivial: "3 cm pinnate leaves"
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
False choice - the cupboard said to me
The cupboard said to me is about how closure is often overrated. That the beauty of things can be in the mystery that is in the unknown. The intention was to illustrate the following...
If you chose not to read on, you would have the space to imagine what the cupboard said to me, and completed the story for yourself. It which should be unlikely, but let me know if you did, it's so interesting if anyone did not read on.
If you read on, then perhaps there is the initial anticlimax and someone had told me before that it made feel like it was a waste of his time. Indeed. I am sorry to waste his time reading my story but it illustrates my point well and I am satisfied that it can instigate that feeling of disappointment.
"The face of a lover is an unknown, precisely because it is invested with so much of oneself. It is a mystery, containing, like all mysteries, the possibility of torment. "
- James Arthur Baldwin (writer).
想你 11 touches on the same theme.
If I remember correctly, the usage of the talking cupboard comes slightly from the "skeleton in the cupboard" thing and how kids are fearful of the monsters in their closet. The bart simpson is symbolic of things that are naughty and mischievous. Which alludes to the riddle that this piece plays on the reader.
If you chose not to read on, you would have the space to imagine what the cupboard said to me, and completed the story for yourself. It which should be unlikely, but let me know if you did, it's so interesting if anyone did not read on.
If you read on, then perhaps there is the initial anticlimax and someone had told me before that it made feel like it was a waste of his time. Indeed. I am sorry to waste his time reading my story but it illustrates my point well and I am satisfied that it can instigate that feeling of disappointment.
"The face of a lover is an unknown, precisely because it is invested with so much of oneself. It is a mystery, containing, like all mysteries, the possibility of torment. "
- James Arthur Baldwin (writer).
想你 11 touches on the same theme.
If I remember correctly, the usage of the talking cupboard comes slightly from the "skeleton in the cupboard" thing and how kids are fearful of the monsters in their closet. The bart simpson is symbolic of things that are naughty and mischievous. Which alludes to the riddle that this piece plays on the reader.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Epidendrum - Global Warming
Global warming was posted in late april, approaching may. According to me, May is the hottest month, weather wise.
The featured is the epidendrum, a.k.a the crucifix orchid, thus named because of the cross shaped lip of the flower. See the cross shape clearer in the following picture, taken on a different occasion. (There are raindrops in this one. Doesn't look so hot.)
The featured is the epidendrum, a.k.a the crucifix orchid, thus named because of the cross shaped lip of the flower. See the cross shape clearer in the following picture, taken on a different occasion. (There are raindrops in this one. Doesn't look so hot.)
Friday, July 18, 2008
姜太公 - Mr Jiang
Mr Jiang is written by automatism regarding a man from old China, jiang tai gong. He fished with a straight hook and with the hook 3 inches away from the water surface.
The idea behind this is complex.
In a nutshell, it is somewhat like "if the fish wanted to be caught then he shall be caught and I will not, need not, go out of my way to go and catch it." So, to be able to catch fish (some accounts said he caught a lot of fish) he must be some genius or a man with extraordinary calibre. In this way, he caught the attention of some king who hired him to be some strategist.
I recall reading about Jiang tai gong's fishing's and why the fish is caught... I try to transpose some of the learning here to the best of my ability, maybe it's not so accurate... (here's the original passage in chinese.)
1) The fish is no ordinary fish who would want to be caught because they would want to get near the extraordinary person, it's good for the fish to be close to the vitality or energy of extraO persons (implicates karma and such).
2) If he can catch the fish in such an incredible way, he must be an extraordinary person. An extraO person must do something incredible to show that he is extraO. Thus, he would fish with a straight hook.
3) He wants to catch the fish and the fish wants to be caught, so, it is a win-win situation.
The original is better. I tried to summarise. Anyway, hope it's fun for you to know.
The idea behind this is complex.
In a nutshell, it is somewhat like "if the fish wanted to be caught then he shall be caught and I will not, need not, go out of my way to go and catch it." So, to be able to catch fish (some accounts said he caught a lot of fish) he must be some genius or a man with extraordinary calibre. In this way, he caught the attention of some king who hired him to be some strategist.
I recall reading about Jiang tai gong's fishing's and why the fish is caught... I try to transpose some of the learning here to the best of my ability, maybe it's not so accurate... (here's the original passage in chinese.)
1) The fish is no ordinary fish who would want to be caught because they would want to get near the extraordinary person, it's good for the fish to be close to the vitality or energy of extraO persons (implicates karma and such).
2) If he can catch the fish in such an incredible way, he must be an extraordinary person. An extraO person must do something incredible to show that he is extraO. Thus, he would fish with a straight hook.
3) He wants to catch the fish and the fish wants to be caught, so, it is a win-win situation.
The original is better. I tried to summarise. Anyway, hope it's fun for you to know.
Bird of prey - Steller's Sea Eagle
This picture was taken at Jurong bird park. The words are quoted from the descriptions on the panel in front of the aviary that is smaller than those for parakeets. The world's largest eagle, caged. It to eats arctic foxes for breakfast, man.
Frankly, it makes me feel much better about my life.
Go figure.
Frankly, it makes me feel much better about my life.
Go figure.
Existential angst - R.A.P. 4 - Television is a trash bag is a black hole
R.A.P. 4 is inspired by existential angst, or in the simplest of ways of putting it, a feeling of pek4 chek4 (irritation of sorts) arising from the state of things in life.
Sure, I was making a controversial and absolutely reckless generalisation. But I recognised, and was deliberately capitalising on, its potential.
Lately, I have been feeling existential frustration and realised that this piece sorta tests this new theory that I am apparently developing: If one is feeling existential angst or frustration and picks a senseless existential fight or argument with an imaginary opponent (preferably with an empirical approach) and win it regardless of what beliefs are required to be suspended, the angst will likely be divisible by itself and reduced mere to anxiety.
In other words, if you're feeling pek chek, pick a nonsense fight and win and you're likely to feel better.
So, this time I picked on a random nose with the world by blaming the television for its stupidity. It sorta worked for me.
Had written other R.A.P.s before (1: I need a new alarm clock, 2: The song for dead millipedes, 2.2: dead millipedes, 3: The cure for self pity) before and I remember they sorta worked too. Let me know if it has worked for you. If there enough of us, someone could be moved to do some empirical study and it could SAVE THE WORLD we love so much.
I can be so emotional.
On a fairly irrelevant note, I read somewhere recently that facts are supposedly everlasting, but non-fiction gets revised every five years. Non-fiction usually become obsolete but good fiction may remain very relevant.
Relevant links: Wiki on black holes, existential despair (like angst).
Sure, I was making a controversial and absolutely reckless generalisation. But I recognised, and was deliberately capitalising on, its potential.
Lately, I have been feeling existential frustration and realised that this piece sorta tests this new theory that I am apparently developing: If one is feeling existential angst or frustration and picks a senseless existential fight or argument with an imaginary opponent (preferably with an empirical approach) and win it regardless of what beliefs are required to be suspended, the angst will likely be divisible by itself and reduced mere to anxiety.
In other words, if you're feeling pek chek, pick a nonsense fight and win and you're likely to feel better.
So, this time I picked on a random nose with the world by blaming the television for its stupidity. It sorta worked for me.
Had written other R.A.P.s before (1: I need a new alarm clock, 2: The song for dead millipedes, 2.2: dead millipedes, 3: The cure for self pity) before and I remember they sorta worked too. Let me know if it has worked for you. If there enough of us, someone could be moved to do some empirical study and it could SAVE THE WORLD we love so much.
I can be so emotional.
On a fairly irrelevant note, I read somewhere recently that facts are supposedly everlasting, but non-fiction gets revised every five years. Non-fiction usually become obsolete but good fiction may remain very relevant.
Relevant links: Wiki on black holes, existential despair (like angst).
Friday, July 11, 2008
The dog star - Untitled (July 01, 08)
This snippet is based on the dog star, Sirius. It is the brightest star in the sky and it was discovered that it has a faint white dwarf companion i.e. a small star that follows closely to it (see wiki for more information and picture).
The photo was taken from my room's window with very extended exposure. The star in the sky is the dog star (as recognised from the rest of the canis major constellation). The moon is not the moon, but a reflection in the window glass.
The photo was taken from my room's window with very extended exposure. The star in the sky is the dog star (as recognised from the rest of the canis major constellation). The moon is not the moon, but a reflection in the window glass.
A rat who climbed a tree - A rodent's tale
"A rodent's tale" is based a rat that would scurry out of a drain that ran behind the bus stop whereby I used to wait for my bus. The rat would then try to climb this particular tree. And then it would fall. There is a newly developed condominium estate behind the busstop and there are some security guards who would check the work permit (I presume) of the foreign workers who arrive in the morning to do some construction. The security guards would point and gawk at the rat and its attempt.
That helped affirmed that I wasn't hallucinating.
Of course I could have hallucinated the security guards' reactions altogether. 7-ish am is pretty early in the morning to be waiting at a busstop you know.
Frankly, I only seen the rat for a few times over a span of a few weeks and I haven't seen the rat for a long time.
That helped affirmed that I wasn't hallucinating.
Of course I could have hallucinated the security guards' reactions altogether. 7-ish am is pretty early in the morning to be waiting at a busstop you know.
Frankly, I only seen the rat for a few times over a span of a few weeks and I haven't seen the rat for a long time.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
The first post on Sneak Speak – An introduction and disclaimer
There are so many things that I would want introduce or disclaim that I don't know how to start. I have been procrastinating, or shelfing the idea, for about 2 years now, of ever being explicit about the stories behind my stories on the chattering matterings of the original meekfreak (henceforth until further notice, “ChaMOTOM” for short). Sneak Speak is the end of that chapter.
What is known cannot be unknown
I procrastinate and hestitate because what is known cannot be unknown. It can be forgotten, but it cannot be unknown. So I did not want to be explicit about any reasons behind what I write and why, preferring to leave them to evoke the rawest and barest of reactions. There is beauty and magnificence in gross and thorny responses. I like to imagine it.
Besides, I had preferred truth and sincerity of the undiscerning audience, over a second guessing, over-psychoanalytic audience. So, I remained implicit.
However, I've been reading on art and some subject guidebooks and appreciated the direction and interpretation that they offered. What the guidebooks transferred to me was not the opinion of, for example, Botero, but how I can better interpret Botero's works in whatever way I want. The only differences with this time are that, it's with more confidence and intrigue. I recognise that there is also beauty in understanding the riddles behind some of the paintings. eg. why did he paint fat people. So, I suppose, sometimes riddles are fun too, when there are answers. Answers to which one can choose to agree or disagree with.
This is why I am starting sneak speak, for some of my friends who asked about my stories. There is no right way to read them. What you think they mean to you, is what they actually mean. It may be different from what it means for others or myself, but that is only interesting.
To get the best of both worlds, don't sneak before you react to the stories.
I will attempt to add dimension by explaining parts of the stories or what they were inspired by. I don't know how it will turn out. I don't know how often I will update this. I only hope for the best. I think the sneak speak will allow comments, so you can give feedback on what you think or feel, or what you ate for dinner. Otherwise you can email me. I like to hear feedback. If I think sneak speak sucks, then I'll kill it in 2 or 3 months.
See: The Creative Act by Marcel Duchamp.
The Great Surreality
Sometime last year, I came across the philosophy of the Surrealists that helped articulate a large part of why and what I write. By articulating, it was clarifying, which in turn, facilitated my elaboration and development.
I think Andre Breton wrote about how there's a quality of things or life that can be brought stark by surrealist situations. Take a soluble fish – a fish that dissolves in water. There may be no such thing in reality. It is surreal. Can you imagine a fish that dissolves in water?? Yes, you can. Or at least make a attempt to. A soluble fish is imaginable. Imagining a soluble fish brings out a truth about “soluble” and “fish”, and how brain and thoughts can work. I find that interesting, so I write about things I don't need to understand.
“If the dream is a translation of waking life, waking life is also a translation of the dream.” - Magritte
See: Manifesto of Surrealism (Andre Breton, 1924) and anything on Rene Magritte's idea of mystery.
The Magic of Mystery
“My painting is visible images which conceal nothing; they evoke mystery and, indeed, whne one sees on of my pictures, one asks oneself this simple question 'What does that mean'? It does not mean anything, because mystery means nothing either, it is unknowable.” - Magritte.
I write about a lot of things. The stories that I most enjoy writing and most proud of writing are imagined and, preferably, by automatism or free association, or at least in part developed from an arc that is born of free association. For the uninitiated, automatism or free association is quite like writing whatever comes to mind. A lot of my favourite stories are written in a stupour. I like the element of surprise at how the sentences connect into stories or how the symbols loops or how the irony coils and recoils itself. I don't know what I'm going to write about until I've written it.
The Palatable (acceptable to the taste) Soluble Fish
I also learnt that the Surrealists were employers of the free association technique, abeit to a rather unpalatable extreme. The palatability factor implicates another principle that I've adopted after comparing Johnnie To and Wong Kar Wai movies. That is, if I were to write, I will try to be palatable. Because I like to read palatable stories. So I try to write the stories that I like to read. Even if one doesn't see the ironies in the stories, or the theme or the whatever detailed riddles woven, at least there is entertainment at the surface level.
This is like Johnnie To's movies. The plot is easy to understand, I watch, I like, I understand. Maybe it has some moralistic message but if I like or dislike, so be it. Wong Kar Wai's works win a lot of fancy awards and seems more intellectual when we discuss it at table of sober people, and it sometimes makes me feel quite insecure if I cannot appreciate it.
I'm trying to lean this motorbike more towards the Johnnie To's side. Although, I honestly think I'm somewhere in the middle. Anyway, sneak speak is an attempt to lean towards Johnnie.
See: Johnnie To and Wong Kar Wai.
The Insider Philosophies
So, besides the westerners and their absurd interpretations of the world, I also feel a strong affinity to eastern thoughts. I like the Taoist philosophies for its interest in details and happiness of being. I share the idealisation for the idyllic life and the general perspective. I also like the buddhist philosophies of hardship, of impermanence, and emptiness. I like the Japanese formalised philosophies and appreciation of beauty, e.g. mono no aware.
They share similarities with the above. For example, in eastern art, be it chinese paintings, or japanese wood block paintings, there is emphasis on the space that are left blank, so as to let the viewers complete the images for themselves. This is like Magritte's concept of mystery.
What I like more in the eastern interpretations is how it is more encapsulating, or wholistic. It is more simple, subtle, and genteel, but at the same time, more complicated, detailed and forgiving. I don't know what I'm writing about really, but it sounds sensible.
It is hard to explain partially or concisely what the influence of these philosophies have on my stories. Frankly, I feel that they are not important for my further explanation here. Simply, these philosophies influence my take on life and the world, and inevitably, it affects how my stories are written.
A search on the internet on the above topics will lead to many interesting and illuminating articles.
What is known cannot be unknown
I procrastinate and hestitate because what is known cannot be unknown. It can be forgotten, but it cannot be unknown. So I did not want to be explicit about any reasons behind what I write and why, preferring to leave them to evoke the rawest and barest of reactions. There is beauty and magnificence in gross and thorny responses. I like to imagine it.
Besides, I had preferred truth and sincerity of the undiscerning audience, over a second guessing, over-psychoanalytic audience. So, I remained implicit.
However, I've been reading on art and some subject guidebooks and appreciated the direction and interpretation that they offered. What the guidebooks transferred to me was not the opinion of, for example, Botero, but how I can better interpret Botero's works in whatever way I want. The only differences with this time are that, it's with more confidence and intrigue. I recognise that there is also beauty in understanding the riddles behind some of the paintings. eg. why did he paint fat people. So, I suppose, sometimes riddles are fun too, when there are answers. Answers to which one can choose to agree or disagree with.
This is why I am starting sneak speak, for some of my friends who asked about my stories. There is no right way to read them. What you think they mean to you, is what they actually mean. It may be different from what it means for others or myself, but that is only interesting.
To get the best of both worlds, don't sneak before you react to the stories.
I will attempt to add dimension by explaining parts of the stories or what they were inspired by. I don't know how it will turn out. I don't know how often I will update this. I only hope for the best. I think the sneak speak will allow comments, so you can give feedback on what you think or feel, or what you ate for dinner. Otherwise you can email me. I like to hear feedback. If I think sneak speak sucks, then I'll kill it in 2 or 3 months.
See: The Creative Act by Marcel Duchamp.
The Great Surreality
Sometime last year, I came across the philosophy of the Surrealists that helped articulate a large part of why and what I write. By articulating, it was clarifying, which in turn, facilitated my elaboration and development.
I think Andre Breton wrote about how there's a quality of things or life that can be brought stark by surrealist situations. Take a soluble fish – a fish that dissolves in water. There may be no such thing in reality. It is surreal. Can you imagine a fish that dissolves in water?? Yes, you can. Or at least make a attempt to. A soluble fish is imaginable. Imagining a soluble fish brings out a truth about “soluble” and “fish”, and how brain and thoughts can work. I find that interesting, so I write about things I don't need to understand.
“If the dream is a translation of waking life, waking life is also a translation of the dream.” - Magritte
See: Manifesto of Surrealism (Andre Breton, 1924) and anything on Rene Magritte's idea of mystery.
The Magic of Mystery
“My painting is visible images which conceal nothing; they evoke mystery and, indeed, whne one sees on of my pictures, one asks oneself this simple question 'What does that mean'? It does not mean anything, because mystery means nothing either, it is unknowable.” - Magritte.
I write about a lot of things. The stories that I most enjoy writing and most proud of writing are imagined and, preferably, by automatism or free association, or at least in part developed from an arc that is born of free association. For the uninitiated, automatism or free association is quite like writing whatever comes to mind. A lot of my favourite stories are written in a stupour. I like the element of surprise at how the sentences connect into stories or how the symbols loops or how the irony coils and recoils itself. I don't know what I'm going to write about until I've written it.
The Palatable (acceptable to the taste) Soluble Fish
I also learnt that the Surrealists were employers of the free association technique, abeit to a rather unpalatable extreme. The palatability factor implicates another principle that I've adopted after comparing Johnnie To and Wong Kar Wai movies. That is, if I were to write, I will try to be palatable. Because I like to read palatable stories. So I try to write the stories that I like to read. Even if one doesn't see the ironies in the stories, or the theme or the whatever detailed riddles woven, at least there is entertainment at the surface level.
This is like Johnnie To's movies. The plot is easy to understand, I watch, I like, I understand. Maybe it has some moralistic message but if I like or dislike, so be it. Wong Kar Wai's works win a lot of fancy awards and seems more intellectual when we discuss it at table of sober people, and it sometimes makes me feel quite insecure if I cannot appreciate it.
I'm trying to lean this motorbike more towards the Johnnie To's side. Although, I honestly think I'm somewhere in the middle. Anyway, sneak speak is an attempt to lean towards Johnnie.
See: Johnnie To and Wong Kar Wai.
The Insider Philosophies
So, besides the westerners and their absurd interpretations of the world, I also feel a strong affinity to eastern thoughts. I like the Taoist philosophies for its interest in details and happiness of being. I share the idealisation for the idyllic life and the general perspective. I also like the buddhist philosophies of hardship, of impermanence, and emptiness. I like the Japanese formalised philosophies and appreciation of beauty, e.g. mono no aware.
They share similarities with the above. For example, in eastern art, be it chinese paintings, or japanese wood block paintings, there is emphasis on the space that are left blank, so as to let the viewers complete the images for themselves. This is like Magritte's concept of mystery.
What I like more in the eastern interpretations is how it is more encapsulating, or wholistic. It is more simple, subtle, and genteel, but at the same time, more complicated, detailed and forgiving. I don't know what I'm writing about really, but it sounds sensible.
It is hard to explain partially or concisely what the influence of these philosophies have on my stories. Frankly, I feel that they are not important for my further explanation here. Simply, these philosophies influence my take on life and the world, and inevitably, it affects how my stories are written.
A search on the internet on the above topics will lead to many interesting and illuminating articles.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)