it's been a roller coaster two weeks. managed to rush off the questionnaire last monday so that my group could begin the survey proper on tuesday. the surveyors have been working real hard, pounding on doors and sweet-talking the ah peks in clementi to let us measure their height, weight, blood pressure and bellies. the weather hasn't been very co-operative - in the first few days it poured, and later the sun came out in full force. no wonder several of them fell sick.

i've been sampling a bit of everything in this project, starting with the literature review during the hols and starting work on the paper at the same time as the survey. i joined the surveyors for two nights and marvelled at how disinterested and kind singaporeans can be. quite a few slammed doors in our faces, but there were also a handful of families who welcomed us and gave us ribena and packet drinks. singaporean kiddies can be quite charming too. one little girl gave us her whole life story (all six years of it), offered her father's mobile number without our asking, and entertained us with songs from high school musical. another kid gave me a few pokes in my belly through the gate before running back into his room in peals of laughter. heh.

participated in my first proper debate last week, and the motion was: AMDs raise more ethical difficulties than help resolve them. the third year team was the opposition and it was one heck of an experience preparing for it. i had forgotten the thrill of being in a debate of any sort, the last of which was an informal one during english class in secondary school. i thought our team did well (duh) but in the end we lost to the fourth years. the best speaker came from our team, and i think there was no doubt that she deserved it. she simply blew the house away with her eloquence and conviction.

and now, reviews. first off, my fair lady. having watched the movie after psle, i had high expectations of the musical, but it seems that the stage version doesn't quite match up to the celluloid one. for starters it was pretty long - the first act was nearly over an hour and a half, and there was too much dialogue in between the songs. a large part of the dialogue was carried out in the cockney accent, which made things worse. i'm not sure if it's the actors or the staging, but there was little hint of romance between professor higgins and eliza except when they sang the theme i could have danced all night. but individually, the actors were great and carried off their roles with flaire. still, i'd choose to watch the dvd anytime.

on wednesday i finally managed to watch the most iconic movie of 2006 - borat. to cut a long story short (blogger has refused to post my full length review of it) this movie is glorified slapstick. there -are- funny bits, like when he goes to the humour coach in new york, streaks through a convention in dallas and puzzles over how women are attracted to men by their cars at the car dealership. but there are the truly offensive and nonsensical parts where i don't see any satire or humour at all. take for instance the part where he goes to a church and feigns all that praying in tongues and falling. before that he is hosted to a dinner party by some alabama gentry and ends up bringing his poop to the table (because borat doesn't know that he's supposed to flush it down the toilet bowl) and inviting a hooker to the party. if there was any satire i didn't see it all, and i think there must be a less vulgar and more subtle way of doing it. but i agree that sacha baron cohen is a genius in creating this character many of us want nothing to do with, but whom we all want to watch in action because he does things we will never dream of doing.

was at the bishan library yesterday afternoon intending to go through my cofm notes (don't ask me why) when i stumbled upon augusten burrough's running with scissors, so i sat down with it and finished it in three hours, in between reading my notes of course. the book is an autobiographical account of burrough's childhood, where his alcoholic professor father and mentally unstable mother divorce, and he is left to be brought up by his mother's psychiatrist and his bizzare family. it is disturbing yet engaging, and i still find it hard to believe that anyone could have that kind of childhood. nearly everyone in his adopted family suffers from a mental condition of some sort, and there are absolutely no rules in the household. the psychiatrist, dr finch, eventually becomes augusten's legal guardian but does nothing to fulfill that role, even allowing him to have a physical relationship with one of his male patients and helping him quit school in the most unethical way. meanwhile his mother goes on to have lesbian relationships with a minister's wife and a girl half her age. the movie, starring annette benning, joseph fiennes and gwyneth paltrow, will be released in singapore soon and has been banned in malaysia for its strong themes.

what will the next fortnight bring? i initially thought that finding out i had done poorly on my pharmacology test was the worst thing that could happen this week, but that was before i heard that an acquaintance has just lost a family member to cancer. it's things like these which force us to hit the 'reset' button for our priorities, and it's sad that we need drastic events to make us do it.