Cousin got an offer from LSE :D
Happy for her but still quite jealous, hahaha. Oh well, she has always been better than me in more ways than one and she deserves it. I actually heard that her dad doesn't want her to go to LSE (lol?) because it doesn't have a proper campus. Well, my parents will definitely NOT do that if I was the one who got the offer.
Well, that reminds me. When I told my mum the news, she started going on about how my cousin is so good. Then I started to get bitter because all this while, my mum has always been using my cousin to pressure me to work harder and stuff, blah blah blah. Then, as I thought more about it, I actually realised that the idea of me getting into LSE wasn't actually mine, but my mum's. I didn't realise it, but I was actually working towards my mum's dreams for me and not mine. I was just attracted to the idea of living in London and not the university. No wonder I didn't feel much when I received news of the rejection. Guess it's time for me to stop living my parents dreams huh?
I'm currently trying to decide on which university to put as my firm choice on UCAS. Bath or Warwick? Honestly, I'm leaning more towards Bath but my dad clearly wants me to go to Warwick. But the thing is that the requirements for both universities are so similar that I'm scared if I choose both as my and insurance choice, I might end up not qualifying for both. Well, hopefully that will not happen but who knows?
2 papers down the road in trials and I didn't think that I did as well as I would've liked in both papers. Just means that I have more work to do. I'm looking forward to the 3 month break after A Levels. But I don't want to let go of college life so fast either. Time just flies way too fast. Sigh.
back to the books,
yijiun
Friday, 22 March 2013
Tuesday, 5 March 2013
Failure again? *smile*
Heyyo!!! Just realised that I haven't updated my blog in a long time. And also, my application just got rejected by the famous LSE.
To be honest, I wasn't that affected by the result because I expected it. I mean, it would be awesome to be accepted into LSE but LSE is the best and I have never been lucky with the best stuff. And another I realised, I always fall short whenever I really want something. So depressing isn't it?
The news just got me thinking back on why I had wanted to get into LSE in the first place. The reason is basically that I wanted my backup plan to be the best ever. The second reason is basically because I wanted to live in London. I've been to London and I thought it was a great place. It's easy to get around, Broadway, etc. But, well, it wasn't meant to be but I still have the second best choice. :)
Well, I still cannot see a future with me being an accountant. That is why I have never definitely told my parents or anybody else that I will become one. Hopefully in the UK I'll get the chance to chase my dreams and maybe even make it come true. Hopefully.
Anyway, now I'm focusing alot on my studies. I'm studying harder than I have ever studied in the past. I think it's because there's so little preparation time. Trials are in a few weeks time and finals are in May. I need to do my best to make sure my place in Warwick doesn't fly away like my chance to study at LSE.
I've been focusing so much on my studies that I haven't done the video that I wanted to do. I did say in the description of my previous video that I will put up a video. But I just couldn't find the time to do it. Studies have taken over so much of life that I don't even have time for music. I haven't written a full song in the past few months, it's been months since I touched my guitar and even longer since I played the piano.
I guess I just gotta soldier on until A2 is over. Then I'll get a well deserved break. Till next time. Bye.
Signing off,
YiJiun
To be honest, I wasn't that affected by the result because I expected it. I mean, it would be awesome to be accepted into LSE but LSE is the best and I have never been lucky with the best stuff. And another I realised, I always fall short whenever I really want something. So depressing isn't it?
The news just got me thinking back on why I had wanted to get into LSE in the first place. The reason is basically that I wanted my backup plan to be the best ever. The second reason is basically because I wanted to live in London. I've been to London and I thought it was a great place. It's easy to get around, Broadway, etc. But, well, it wasn't meant to be but I still have the second best choice. :)
Well, I still cannot see a future with me being an accountant. That is why I have never definitely told my parents or anybody else that I will become one. Hopefully in the UK I'll get the chance to chase my dreams and maybe even make it come true. Hopefully.
Anyway, now I'm focusing alot on my studies. I'm studying harder than I have ever studied in the past. I think it's because there's so little preparation time. Trials are in a few weeks time and finals are in May. I need to do my best to make sure my place in Warwick doesn't fly away like my chance to study at LSE.
I've been focusing so much on my studies that I haven't done the video that I wanted to do. I did say in the description of my previous video that I will put up a video. But I just couldn't find the time to do it. Studies have taken over so much of life that I don't even have time for music. I haven't written a full song in the past few months, it's been months since I touched my guitar and even longer since I played the piano.
I guess I just gotta soldier on until A2 is over. Then I'll get a well deserved break. Till next time. Bye.
Signing off,
YiJiun
Monday, 7 January 2013
Les Mis
Managed to catch Les Miserables last Saturday. I have to say, it is nice to finally watch a musical that I have heard so much about and is so famous. The storyline is simple enough to understand (go wiki it). The songs are good. The acting is good. The singing, um, is average?
Personally, besides Anne Hathaway who did an amazing job playing Fantine and also singing the most iconic song from the musical, the other actors gave great ACTING performances but singing, not so great. Let's start with Hugh Jackman. Playing the main character, he has the most screen time and the most parts to sing (most solos too). My issue with him is, while he can sing, his voice falters when it gets to the higher notes. Note that I said "higher". Higher as in, higher than usual. His voice lacks the power I would like to hear in some parts but then in other parts his voice does quite well actually (these are few though).
Next up, Russell Crowe. He suits his part unbelievably well, even his voice sounds the part. His voice is deep and throaty and then comes his solo on the roof. He does remarkably well in the first 20 seconds but as the song goes on, I can't help but feel that his voice should have a tad bit of dynamic. He manages to sing in the same way for every single song. I did not feel any ups or downs and it was a bit of a flat roller coaster ride. In addition, I felt that the backing music overwhelms his voice at times. In his solo on top of the roof, the song is supposed to be grand (I think) but as he reaches the final note, which I pretty much expected to go considerably higher to end the song with a bang, it doesn't. It pretty much leaves me hanging and wondering whether the producers should have gotten a proper singer to do the job.
Anne Hathaway, was very much in a league of her own in this movie. She manages to portray Fantine with the right emotions and when it comes to her solo of "I Dreamed a Dream", she just shines. Through the song, she channels the pain and suffering like no other rendition of the song that I have heard. Pure perfection. No other words need to be said.
Enough of the singing, let's talk about the movie itself. The most heartbreaking moment in the movie was, in fact, not Fantine's death but actually Gavroche's. When he was shot down, I was so angry at the soldiers. In my head, I was going, "How could you??????" Hate and love that scene so much. Hate because Gavroche dies and love because that scene could evoke such emotion in me.
There's one issue that I have with the camera in this movie. When the actors have a solo singing part, I realised that the camera is always giving the audience a close up of the actor's face. This probably happens like 90% of the time. Isn't there any other way to film it?
Despite the film's shortcomings (all my opinions, don't shoot me), it is still a decent movie although I wouldn't recommend watching it unless you're interested in this sort of thing. My brother came home complaining about how boring it is while I didn't think that it was boring at all.
Anyway, a new semester in college will start tomorrow and the rush to finish the A2 syllabus will start again. Hope that it will be a new beginning of sorts this year because honestly, the year hasn't started for me yet. Till we meet again.
Signing off,
YiJiun
Personally, besides Anne Hathaway who did an amazing job playing Fantine and also singing the most iconic song from the musical, the other actors gave great ACTING performances but singing, not so great. Let's start with Hugh Jackman. Playing the main character, he has the most screen time and the most parts to sing (most solos too). My issue with him is, while he can sing, his voice falters when it gets to the higher notes. Note that I said "higher". Higher as in, higher than usual. His voice lacks the power I would like to hear in some parts but then in other parts his voice does quite well actually (these are few though).
Next up, Russell Crowe. He suits his part unbelievably well, even his voice sounds the part. His voice is deep and throaty and then comes his solo on the roof. He does remarkably well in the first 20 seconds but as the song goes on, I can't help but feel that his voice should have a tad bit of dynamic. He manages to sing in the same way for every single song. I did not feel any ups or downs and it was a bit of a flat roller coaster ride. In addition, I felt that the backing music overwhelms his voice at times. In his solo on top of the roof, the song is supposed to be grand (I think) but as he reaches the final note, which I pretty much expected to go considerably higher to end the song with a bang, it doesn't. It pretty much leaves me hanging and wondering whether the producers should have gotten a proper singer to do the job.
Anne Hathaway, was very much in a league of her own in this movie. She manages to portray Fantine with the right emotions and when it comes to her solo of "I Dreamed a Dream", she just shines. Through the song, she channels the pain and suffering like no other rendition of the song that I have heard. Pure perfection. No other words need to be said.
Enough of the singing, let's talk about the movie itself. The most heartbreaking moment in the movie was, in fact, not Fantine's death but actually Gavroche's. When he was shot down, I was so angry at the soldiers. In my head, I was going, "How could you??????" Hate and love that scene so much. Hate because Gavroche dies and love because that scene could evoke such emotion in me.
There's one issue that I have with the camera in this movie. When the actors have a solo singing part, I realised that the camera is always giving the audience a close up of the actor's face. This probably happens like 90% of the time. Isn't there any other way to film it?
Despite the film's shortcomings (all my opinions, don't shoot me), it is still a decent movie although I wouldn't recommend watching it unless you're interested in this sort of thing. My brother came home complaining about how boring it is while I didn't think that it was boring at all.
Anyway, a new semester in college will start tomorrow and the rush to finish the A2 syllabus will start again. Hope that it will be a new beginning of sorts this year because honestly, the year hasn't started for me yet. Till we meet again.
Signing off,
YiJiun
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