Chinawoman

Interesting article about the mysterious Chinawoman. Check it out by clicking the link below.

V.

Stil in Berlin: Interview: Chinawoman

A Mid-Summer Night's Virus

There's nothing like being stuck-in sick, on a hot August day. Apparently a series of viruses have been taunting the isles and it seems as though it's my turn to get hit. On a plus side, last night my fever permitted me to sleep under the comfort of a thick, heavy quilt, despite the heat of 40 degree weather.

Speaking of quilts and cold, I feel it adequate to mention that I shall be moving to Belgium for the rest of the summer. I find myself rather excited about this as, despite it only being for a short amount of time, the experience will still offer some sort of independence from my day-to-day routine, as well as a break from all the unbearable heat on this god-forsaken island- And it will certainly cough up some new encounters.

Back to the main reason of this fairly useless post. The following sum up the activities, or lack there-of, carried out on a day like this.

BREAKFAST;

After spending the first half of the morning trying to make up for all the sleep i failed to get last night, I finally rolled out bed and reviewed some interesting articles found on the latest issue of British Vogue, alongside a hot espresso. Sick or not, coffee remains a bare necessity.

LOL - VOGUE 0812 - P 164

LUNCH;

Viruses are known for their ability to suppress the appetite, so the only thing I consumed for lunch was an interesting film directed by David Cronenberg, called A Dangerous Method. While I found Keira Knightley's acting stirring, to say the least, her accent failed to impress. None of the accents did, actually. A good watch, nonetheless, which touches lightly upon various psychological and socio-analytical aspects.

Knightley and Fassbender - Doctor and Patient

TEA;

Resorted back to my sleeping quarters after making a spot of tea so as to continue planning my upcoming travels.

Finally pecked at a small piece of chocolate cake.

List of clothes and shoes on a brown paper bag, ticket sitting next to it.

DINNER;

The remaining part of the eve is to be spent sketching and finishing off this post which, thanks to some astounding procrastination skills, I have now been typing out for the past hour and a half- if not longer.

Self-explanatory.

Well, that pretty much sums everything up. The time having come for my next dose of analgesics, I'll wind down to the next film on today's list; Patagonia (Evans - 2010).

I leave you with a picture of the sun as it sets behind my window,

V.

Dim-Light Melatonin Onset

You lay unconscious in your bed, eyes shut.

You await that moment when sleep consumes you;
That endearing instant when melatonin is released into your bloodstream,
Lulling you submissively into the subconscious.
As time fails to pass, but sits at a standstill in front of you, painting a portrait of your disdainful demeanor,
You come to the slow realisation of the fragility of the human mind.

Putrid thoughts infiltrate your shrinking mind,
Like soldiers folding out onto an empty battlefield.
Paranoia sets in as you are made aware of your solitude.


The darkness around you seems ever growing, ubiquitous even;
It whispers coldly into your ear, lustfully drawing you in;
Pushing you down with its overpowering hands.
As the mass of negativity traps you entirely, swinging forcefully over your head,
You pull your knees towards your chest-
Embracing yourself for the worst, in fetal position.


At this point it is as though your cranium has dissolved,
leaving your cerebral cortex bare, naked.
Images, questions and nulled theories are shot at you, like arrows from a bow;
They pierce through your stream of consciousness,
Liberating all that you had hidden away under layers of masking and paint.


By now your pupils have dilated fully,
As tunnels open to traffic, misdemeanor.
And your senses are exposed to the reality that the emptiness is ever present;
In your world,
In your environ,
In that core hollow, you seem to call 'soul'.

#431829M

Matter under mind
Mind over matter.

Matter, mutter, mother.

Mother always muttered
about the birds and the bees.

Knees.

The bees' knees-
Have they any?

Back to the subject of discussion.
The matter.

''What's the matter?''

A voice of familiar sound rang through her ears,
Quickly she glanced up at her mother
And muttered a few sullen words.

Tips on worsening your insomnia #4: Make a film.

After yet another long, dry silence from my end, here's another useless post about how to up your bouts of Chinese eyes, nail biting and cephalgic dauntings.

I would start this off with the generic 'What, you ask, could possibly make my lack of sleep any worse?!' however the answer lays right before your eyes in plain helvetica- right up there, in the title bar; Make a film. Not one out of personal choice, though. No, not one simply compiled by love and free time. I mean one that your summer relies upon. One that will be the determining factor between whether or not you get referrals, whether or not you get promoted to the next year of your course, whether or not another polar bear shall die. Excuse the embarrassing bursts of melodrama, it is, however, 3 am and I am nowhere near done.

Items in tonight's checklist:

-Write a covering letter, career plan and curriculum vitae for a beloved local tele presenter. Sarcasm? Never.

-Complete a production folder which, despite having a week's long extension, I still have not even bothered looking at.

-Edit a few scenes, fix the script mark-ups, log sheets and story boards. Thankfully, Premiere Pro CS6 works in a considerably smoother way than its predecessors, else I might have had to resort to smashing my brand new laptop. A plan which, if I may speak frankly - and I know I can do just that, I am not profoundly keen on.

Did I mention that I got a kitten?

Kitten comes complete with a good read and some interesting tunes.  Batteries not included. Terms and Conditions apply. Kindly ask bill payer's permission before indulging in strawberry fields and glass onions.

I leave you with this, and with this I leave you.

V.

Time takes but also passes.

CHKDSK

Everything comes to a silenced halt
As words of reconciliation are heard.
'Heard', a word similar to 'hurt' with certain pronunciation,
The reason one would come to reconcile.
'Forgive and forget'-
They used to say this in church on Sunday mornings
Along with 'Repent; Turn unto the light'.

Many people never see much light,
They walk with their heads held high,
Sunglasses covering their faces, and move on what they hear.

Hearsay,
Rumour,
Gossip.

One and the same -  A mistake from whichever angle you look at it.
Mistakes as they sprawl across papers in exams,
Or form in the uterus out boredom, enibriety.
Sober to drunk;
Cause and effect;
A basic scientific equation.
Nucleosynthesis,
The Big Bang.
Bang, bang.
'Hitting, shooting, war, hunting, all the arts of hurting'
But is the pain real?
What is emotion but a mere feeling?
Abstract.
Surreality.

La Haine.

Wrote this on the 12th April,
V.

More old poetry.

It's 11pm and, 9th espresso streaming through my veins, I still fail to concentrate on the storyboards which lay before me or, rather, lack thereof. Tonight's center of procrastination, my old blog. I decided to skim through and post another old poem from it so as to waste time. Wrote the underlying back in 2010. This is it:

I walked along this morning,
Behind the tanker of despair,
Where eventually it led me,
Down to its hideous layer.

One by one it will take us,
To this dark and gloomy place;
It will rob us of our feelings,
And scare us with its face.
It will leave us feeling empty,
Alone and without hope.

No one will ever find us,
Or throw us down a rope.


Not too fond of this one as it feels incomplete, but alas it is what it is.


Later,
V.

Lady Madonna

Below is a poem I had written during A' Levels. Had posted it on an older blog but thought I'd share it on this one too.


Upon entering there's a seat.
A smile waiting next to it.
A few words;
-I'm tired. It's too early-
Finally the main entrance.
Everyone stares. Everyone listens.
Pens in Hands. Papers on desks.
Then the alienation.
The silence.
A small nudge of elbows. Right on left.
And vice versa.
The slapping of books on tables.
The turning of pages.
Flick. Flick. Flick.
Thirteen.
Highlighters screech over words.
But underneath it all; the awkwardness.
A silence from both ends.
Its over.
The chair is pushed towards the desk.
And then a cold shoulder.
An empty right.
A hollowness inside.
A sinking.
Then some false pretense.
Some thinking. In solitude.
A flight of stairs leading up but walked down.
And then some more.
Blue walls. Minimal decor.
The shelves.
Philosophy. Religion. Science.
Language- Art.
Sheets laying dead on eachother.
Black on white. The facts.
A seat by itself. Surrounded by many.
The whispering.
The cold, piercing silence.

An after-effect.
Action - Reaction.
Or a lack from both ends.
Maybe it's just the morning.
The cold outside.
The wind stabbing cores of inanimates.
And animates too.
To animate.
Animation.
Animated.
Mate.
Mating.
That's what the book was about.
Added some oppression.
Freedom to and freedom from.
Hollowness.
Emptiness.
Feelinglessness.
In turn that too is a feeling.
The feeling of not feeling.
A shared glimpse upon passing.
Dead sentiments which lay buried in the mud.
Nolite te bastardes carborundorum.
But it still happened.
Carpe diem.
But the day died too.
Dulce et decorum est.
But only if it's real.
And then another glimpse.
Another set of eyes.
The butterflies.
But, alas, it is winter.
The cold. The rain. The shoulder.
Dulce et decorum est.
But is it real?
The legs march on.
A stuttering of shoes.
The stuttering rifle's rapide rattle.
But is weaponary truly necessary?
Parallell lines on a paper. Short. 3mm.
Followed by a closing parenthesis.

And then a clock.
Tick Tock.
But the tock stops.
And then an end.
A concluding line.
A termination of flow.
-It's late. I must go-


Kudos if you read it all. References going out to M. Atwood and W. Owen, whose writings were the main inspiration for this.


Torii out,
V.

Day 13- Back to the End, Onward to the Beginning.

After two months of abstaining from adding anything to this blog, by negligence not choice, I believe it's time I do. As always this blog serves me as a procrastinatory catharsis, in that I should be finishing off a script due Friday and instead I'm on here- searching for ways to let my time go to the dogs.

Speaking about dogs, I want a kitten. Here's my final attempt at convincing my mum to let me get one:

Isn't that the cutest thing you've ever seen? 

 Probably not if you're not a fan of cats. My dog was much cuter than this when I first found him, but anyhow. I want a kitten. Cat in miniature, what ever.

Well, back to the main point of this. Today all MCAST ADI students get back to school and, being one myself, so do I. First lesson of the second half of the second semester - 2.2.1 - is advertising. Not really that interesting at all, and considering the thought of a 1 hour ride to and from Mosta for the sake of a 2 hour lecture, I would say that stoked is the least thing I am. At least, tomorrow we've got our editing class which, au contraire to the aforementioned, I await with great 'Antici --Pation'. If you didn't get that last reference, I suggest you turn your laptop on and watch The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

I leave you with a picture of what, back in the 70s, was a highly controversial film. 

Au revoire,
V.

Tips on how to worsen your insomnia #3

I haven't written anything on here in so long that I've almost forgotten how to formulate a blog post. At least 15 minutes have passed since I opened the 'new post' tab and still my mind insists on remaining shut, my fingers disabled from typing anything half decent to read. Introductions were never my strong point, you see. Neither in literature nor in the realm of the living. My procrastinatory skills, however, are far from lacking as one may or may not have noticed, and I oft find myself repeating the words -Focus, Vic. Stick to your topic.- So, here's to another post about things which fail to be kind on the insomniac soul.

It's cold out and the rain hasn't even considered taking a break. Queue long speech about childhood and times spent reminiscing about England. I had a post about that somewhere, possibly on the music-love-peace blog, but alas I can't seem to find it. Right, back to today's topic of discussion. It's cold, it's rainy, it's Malta. 'Why did she mention Malta?' you ask. Here is the answer-

I spent the weekend in Gozo. Enjoying the sunshine, greenery and overall Mediterranean weather. I come back to Malta late Sunday night and awake Monday morning to find dull clouds and humid pavements. Conflict of weather causes conflicts of Internal Body Temperature which in turn causes sickness. Here it is, people, the climax of this post. The next tip for aggravation of sleeping problems: I got sick.

After much time spent rolling about in bed, too restless to sleep yet too exhausted to get up, it was concluded by Madre Superiora that I was coming down with the Flu. Not the common cold caused by Rhino-viruses, but 'Influenza' an RNA Virus that travels through the Peripheral Nervous System making you feel like utter shit. Symptoms include a mental fever, pain all over the body, coughing and headaches among others.

I feel I have ranted on long enough, so to sum it all up- It's cold, it's rainy, it's Flu season. Do yourself a favour and try not to get sick, else fear the rath of many a sleepless night.

The above is a left-over of The Flu Pandemic of 1918

With this I leave you,

V.

Liquefying Cephalgia.

Somehow the most enjoyable of nights always seem to wake one up with cephalgia of sorts. Why so? What is it with the human psyche and a constant need to alter things? Be it our hairstyle, the colour of our nails, the positioning of a line on a piece of paper or even our state of mind.

While there are a handful of people who panic at the thought of change and see it as a bad seed planted in a field for the sole purpose of wreaking havoc, others live off it. The mere thought of discovering something new injects a form thrill into the spinal cord. It seeps down into the soul where it finds a place to rest and get to work. It gets a person going, provides a sense of anticipation - What will happen next? Where do we go from here? - A form of apprehension slowly musters up at the back of one's mind, enthralling, enticing to the point of enamour. However with it an inquisitional sense of expectation bulbs and blossoms, piercing it's way through all other thoughts like the roots of a thick, overpowering tree- Will this time be as good? What if it isn't? What if I remain the same? What if I don't feel? 


The thing about individuals who crave change is that they generally lack the overall feeling of fulfilment which the vast majority appears to appertain to. This, in turn, causes an avidity to divulge in extemporaneous expeditions. Decisions made ad hoc, thoughts blurted without remorse, ideas expressed in the search of something abounding. A superimposing sense of superficiality pushed to the back of a train and buried beneath a piping pile of steaming coal. 


The lust for conviviality- What shall we do about it?

I leave you with this. A post somewhat reminiscent of what one may have found on my previous blog. I shall update it, take down a few things and perhaps link back to it once again as I wish not to  leave certain hypotheses on this one.

V.

Tips on how to worsen your insomnia #2

Assignments have long existed, be it a Troglodytical woman looking out for her Neanderthal young or a stressed out student trying score a distinction. Many of these so called assignments, have even been carried out in groups. Which brings me to the first part of this 'article', call it what you may.

Group work. As I write this I imagine a gathering of youths humming the phrase in a distasteful manner, lighting somewhat dim and Burtonesque. That's right, dear reader. Group work may be seen as your lack of sleep's worst nightmare. Or one of. Should it actually have any, but let us not turn this into a discussion of metaphorical sorts. You see, what I fail to understand is how a simple 500 word essay is, firstly, expected to be so heavy a burden that it must be shared between 5 people, and finally, taking the aforementioned into consideration, I also appear to be blind towards what makes such a task so difficult. It's not like the assignment involved a hunting trip. In this case one could understand the intricacy of pre-planned roles. A designated pack leader, someone who is vocally talented and capable of producing a convincing mating call, the actual hunter- preferably with a bloodstained leopard skin hanging off his shoulder- and of course of the formerly mentioned hunter's slave or 'bitch'.

Allow me to shed some light on my disdain. Group work is generally granted to those chores which can not be carried out single handed. Chores so difficult that they may lead to psychological distress on the perceiver's end. Chores so difficult and distressing that one might snap at the weight of even trying to understand them. Chores so difficultly distressing and encumbering that--You get my point. So my question to you, kind sir or madam is a simple, basic 'WHY?'. Why must I write something of O' Level standard as part of a peer job? Beauracracy seems quite fitting an answer. I somehow doubt that cave-men had to deal with the stuff.

If we were in a film studio, the director would appear angrily in front of me silently swabbing his fingers over his fat, hairy wrist in a circular motion. He would be seen gritting his teeth, red eyes bulging out of their sockets, cheeks sunken in. This would be his way of saying that it's time for me to stop procrastinating.

                                                          Director would probably look similar.

So, I shall do just as the imaginary man in my head wishes- It is after all 12.30am, but I guess that just goes to show how assignments could add to your uncanny sleeping patterns.

Fare thee well, darling, neglected.

V.

Tips on how to worsen your insomnia- #1

Drink a coffee so strong it tastes like cigarettes.


It's 11pm and I still haven't finished tomorrow's assignment. Barely even started it, to be precise. Solution- CAFFEINE. Secret caffeine, though. Mum would kill me if she found out about it. 
Being the insomniac that I am there is nothing worse than a 4:4 tablespoon ratio of coffee-to-sugar in the middle of the night, or nothing better. It's all a matter of personal opinion, really, and being one of those people who find the simple things in life amusing, this mixture generally gives me the late-night-giggles forcing me to quote incongruous phrases of 'Cheech and Chong' while sitting in the silence of my sleeping house.


So, if you're one of the select few who find the early hours best for studying I do suggest you give it a go.*


On a side note- I am hating the new blogger lay out. It's hideous and uninspirational. Also, I shall eventually post some pieces about my course while attempting to substantiate my lack of blogging with 'reasonable' explanations.


Cheerio xx




*If you are not actually used to staying up all night, do not- I repeat DO. NOT. try this. It will drive you crazy and you'll go to college/uni/where ever feeling like shit the next morning. Not fun.

Day 12- Festas and Fireworks

I wrote this at the beginning of summer when the 'Festas and Fireworks' had just started to kick off, and thought I'd share it on here.

Let them die. Watch as their blood lights up the night sky in vibrant spurts of red. You can always say it was an offering to the saints. You can always say it was beyond your control. You can always let it pass and forget all about it. Cover it up with feasts and lights. You can always choose to be passive. That is, after all, what you have been doing all along.

               This image goes with specifically with the event. I am not quite sure who took the photo so my apologies for not giving  credit.

Torii O' Phrenic

Day 11- Remember me.

While I find it hard to admit, I feel I must share- I've actually watched all of Robert Pattinson's films. Well, not all. I refuse to watch Twilight. And talking about Twilight, can you believe that they're splitting the final one up into two parts?! What were the producers thinking?! Twilight is not like Harry Potter. You can't just divide it into two segments. It lacks that believable magic, that 'awesomeness' if you will, that the latter so clearly brings forward.

OH! I finally also watched Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows- Part II. Beautifully worked I must say. And despite most of the film lacking 'happy thoughts' of any sort, the ending did bring back memories of The Philosopher's Stone which is why I am attaching Hedwig's Theme to this post. What's special about this version of it is that it's played in a smorgasbord of ways and the pianist's fingers move as though they're being controlled by 5 brains and a half simultaneously.

Amazing, I tell you!

Anywho, I'm finally going home to sleep! Hazzahhh!! I hope you enjoy the video and all.

Torii O' Phrenic x

Day 10- Happy birthday!

It's 2 am and I can't sleep - No surprise there, I know- So I've decided to bake my dad a birthday cake. Today is his birthday, and since everyone, including himself, is far off frolicking through the purple and orange trees of la la land I guess this is the perfect time to do so.

Reminiscent of the film that inspired me to start blogging about stupid things on a daily basis, I have decided to post a few 'food blogs' if you will. This shall be the first of many. 

As regards the designated birthday sweet, I have decided to bake a yellow and blue marble cake decorated with  a surface design similar to that of 'Starry Night' by none other than Vincent Van Gogh. This is just an idea and I still have to start baking and prepping but I think that my dad deserves something like that.

Anyway- I'm going to hop to it and hopefully post some pictures and details tomorrow morning, provided that the cake was successful.

Buenas Noches, Torii O'.

Day 08- For You Blue.

Well aware of the fact that I haven't posted in almost a month, I shall insist on the fact that I was busy. You might ask what it is that I am currently doing with my life, and I shall say 'nothing'. That's right- N O T H I N G. Alas, summer has but begun meaning that I have ample time to do 'stuff'.

I previously added a poem to this post and have, however, had to take it down due it's, shall we say, controversial meaning. Further making this post all the more boring is the fact that I'm at work.. Ergo nothing interesting happening, nothing interesting to do.

[I shall leave the original closing phrase and picture below]


And that's about it. I shall now resort to watching The Aristocats, before indulging in my disgusting sleeping meds.

Au revoir mes petites fleurs :)

FW: Testing - one, two.

Blogger set up this mobile blogging thing and I;ve decided to try it out. So, no. This is not an official blogpost, it's just a test run to see how well it works. 

Here's to hoping I got the web address right :)

Colours 1

Colours 2

Colours 3

It seems alright on hotmail..

Torii O'phrenic x

Side note- This is test 2 as the post I sent was, indeed, to wrong address. I hope it doesn't end up on some one else's blog; I-FAILURE D:

Day 07- Pink Boots and an Undercut.

''As my gorgeous wife Kelly pointed out, I need to blog more and today being Monday and all, I feel it appropriate to make use of today.'' Yes, yes I am well aware that today is not the first of the week in terms of Gregorian calendars, however I wrote this and shall post it nonetheless. I feel a tradition coming on - A tradition which involves posting something every time I sleep at Fran's house. I should go all stalker and put a picture of her front door at some point but that would prove unethical ;]


Moving on.. The other day I read a quote somewhere which said something like 'Your future starts today not tomorrow'. It's by Pope John Paul II in case you wish to look it up. Anyway, I feel that this is a saying which should be carried around more often. It's not got anything to do with religion; it's merely a drop of truth in a glass of murky water. Yes, dear readers, I know I'm not making any sense but that's life ;]


Anyways being the tired goon that I am I shall leave you with a dot of information - I got an undercut! It's actually old news but that's not important :)

Anyways, I found this shirt pretty funny. Oh the things you can do to mock Mc Donald's.

Buenas noche 
Torii O' Phrenic x