Factory Girl

I recorded Factory Girl on Foxtel IQ and finally watched it.

The synopsis:
"FACTORY GIRL imaginatively unfolds the comet-like rise and fall of 60s “It Girl” Edie Sedgwick, the blazing superstar who came to define both the glamour and the tragedy of our celebrity-obsessed culture. Sedgwick appeared to be the quintessential American princess, with her blue blood, her trust fund and her Harvard education, not to mention her ethereal beauty and vivacious charisma. But she was also a lost and fragile little girl; and when she met up with counter-culture anti-hero Andy Warhol, everything changed. Suddenly, Edie found herself at the center of a Pop Art universe bursting with sex, drugs, style and rock ‘n’ roll -- and a mad rush for fame and fabulousness that was destined to spin out of control."

"Arriving into the chaos of mid-60s New York, Edie (Sienna Miller) is taken under the wing of the famously deadpan artist Andy Warhol (Guy Pearce) who sees in her untamed vulnerability the makings of an irresistible muse. Warhol invites Edie into the wild world of The Factory, a former downtown hat factory he has transformed into a bohemian paradise. Here, a rag-tag mix of musicians, poets, artists, actors and misfits gather to create avant-garde movies during the day and throw glam parties all night long. Edie quickly ascends to become the star of Warhol’s movies, an idol at The Factory and a media darling. She is on top of the world when she falls in love with a larger-than-life rock star (Hayden Christensen). But when Edie becomes caught between Warhol’s world of sexy surfaces and her new love, she winds up rejected by both – and once again, set adrift in the modern world."


It's the ultimate story about a fag hag gone wrong.

You can't have Dora

I read a good article in the Sydney Morning Herald's Good Weekend while having my Saturday morning tea. Mia Freedman asks the question what we mothers teach our young daughters when we buy tea sets, fairy outfits, mini kitchens, baby dolls complete with nappies, strollers etc. OR WORSE, Barbie dolls!!! (emphasis mine) How do we teach them to be strong, independent women? Any parent who has a daughter, like myself, finds themselves in this predicament at some point.

The article ends with thank god for Dora the Explorer- "she's short, squat" with "a no-nonsense haircut". Yep, Dora is currently a hero to millions of young girls, mainly pre schoolers. She dresses in a plain t-shirt and shorts, carries a utilitarian backpack with a map in it as she explores with her sidekick monkey friend.

A new Dora The Explorer doll was unveiled a few days ago. Apparently this new doll is supposed to appeal to the "tween" market (often the domain of those slutty Bratz dolls).

If my daughter was a tween, she would of course prefer an age-appropriate doll- and I would rather she had a tween Dora than a Bratz doll any day.
Check out these Bratz dolls!

A US federal judge had the good sense to ban toymaker MGA from making any more of the pouty-lipped, provocatively dressed dolls.
One point for womankind, zero to the marketing fatcats at toy companies.

The Oscars 2009

My best friend may be someone's partner now, but I'm still his hag, and I have my duties to him- such as watching the Live Telecast of the Academy Awards Red Carpet with him and his man. The gay equivalent of the Superbowl.

Thanks to the magic of Foxtel IQ, I recorded it and we watched it together after work hours last night. We three and a half people ordered in and had dinner in front of the TV because....
A. I have a baby at home.
B. My husband is away overseas again.
C. I live near the city (where work is).
D. They'd use any excuse to swing by this area.

They left to have a drink at The Wharf. And I'll try and get the riveting highlights down.

His pick for best dressed: Marisa Tomei in Versace

He thinks that it's "pure drama-rama, baby". Gorgeous pleated details, so well constructed. She had the right hair and accessories, too.
I think that it's a great dress on a great body. It would be perfect if it was in a more daring colour. Like Red. She can wear any colour, really. This is playing it too safe.

His pick for worst dressed: Jessica Biel in Prada.

He thinks the dress had no shape and she was wearing black closed toed shoes with this white dress! "OMG, MAJOR CRIME!" Her hair was kinda "blah- like what she would wear to the mall." "What a waste of a Prada!" He went on and on....
I think that the dress is very architectural- a great dress BUT she could've played up her voluptuous figure in a better dress. Think Versace.

My pick for best dressed: Alicia Keys in Armani Prive.

I think it's a classy overall look. The dress is very flattering because it skims her curves where it needs to be skimmed and the dress is very structured where it needs to hold her in. It's a great colour on her. She usually picks Armani Prive and it always works.
He thinks that the best thing about the dress is the hair. There's too much unnecessary ruching going on in the bodice, adding too much bulk on the torso, but not enough bulk on the bust.

My pick for worst dressed: Nicole Kidman in L'Wren Scott

I think it's awful. Are those feathers or fibre optic wire fountains on her dress? It does nothing for the dress at all, especially the ones on her cleavage. Everytime she chooses white, she manages to look all washed out. Like a tall glass of milk. And what's with that hair? Is it a bob or not?
He thinks: Ditto. "Boring, boring, boring! NEXT!"

Honourable mentions:
Penelope Cruz in vintage Pierre Balmain

This is what you're supposed to look like when you're a 16 year old at the debutante ball. Check out the prom queen hair. Oh God, get a stylist. She rocks the sexy vixen look. The demure, innocent look just doesn't work on her.

Tilda Swinton in Lanvin

Age-appropriate and very flattering. I love, love, love the draping. In fact, I'm going to buy that black skirt!

Heidi Klum in Roland Mouret

She's a gorgeous woman who can wear anything in the world and still look good. It looks like something the designers at Project Runway cooked up for a challenge.

Angelina Jolie in Elie Saab

This is one designer who knows how to flatter a woman's curves. Great choice. And the green earrings and ring looks SO striking against a black dress like this one. She's just a beautiful woman- with her, it's not about the dress, it's all about her.

Fry day

Some bits and pieces throughout the week:

I was headhunted by an american firm. They are trying to rope me in as a project manager. Totally unrelated to architecture. I'll go for the interview next week and see how it goes.
OoooooooOOOoooo.

Remember "H"? I blogged about this particular friend here and here.
Well, she finally spoke to me. It was cordial. I guess the frienship will never be the same again.
I don't like being around people who give out negative vibes for too long. Does that sound too hippie-ish? Well, kiss my flowerpower ass.

Revenge of The Sith rocked my world.
OK, yes I was there with my best friend, "Will", amidst the people who wore their Darth Vader masks throughout the movie.
I don't look anything like your average Science Fiction fan. Not even close.
But a sci-fi fan I am. (Yoda-speak)
I have ALL of Frank Herbert's Dune books and their offshoots.

My wanker banker husband is currently in the Hong Kong office of the first tier BigAssGlobalMerchantBank (definitely no names) he works in. We spoke on the phone earlier this week. He hates being there in that city, but since he was promoted, he feels the pressure to live up to those new expectations. We are SO alike when it comes to ambition.

Back in Sydney again

Last week was all about work, work, work and network, network, network.
It was dry and uninteresting. A bit like airline food, actually.
I didn't get to see my parents during this trip because they were out of the country.
Not really worth blogging about. I finished a book in 8 hours.

Yes. I read this. And found it absolutely riveting.
So call me a freak.

I did find the time to have the dinner I blogged about with my group of friends from the 50490 'hood. We talked about what I blogged about.
Some of us got emotional. And some of them/us share Orked's taste.

*Get yer sugar here, ladies*

And YES, it was exactly as I predicted. Takut bini- WaWa and Mr. UnitedNations left early. They obviously don't read blogs. Bwahahaha.

The Hurdler was having a soiree at her parents' home in Pantai Hills (damn that brings back memories. Back then, her "soirees" came complete with a DJ and strobe lights. Heh.) and the people there were what I would call Malaysian Eurotrash. Heavy emphasis on the "trash".



Now- what do I want to say about these people? They're OK actually. I judge people by their looks more often than I like to admit. I don't think I made any lifelong friends, but they were nice people.

At last- finally

My bubbly big-haired mother took time out from her busy travel & social calendar to visit me over the holiday long weekend. We get friday and monday off for Easter holidays over here.
(I don't give a rats' ass the holidays are for, I'm just glad to have a holiday.)

My mum kindly brought a particular DVD over for me. Finally!
Sepet reminds me of every relationship I ever had with someone of another race.
Most of all, it reminds me of the days we spent in KL just before we left to further our studies overseas.

My friends in KL back then were/ are just like me, offspring of VIPs, they went to CBN, TKC, VI, SJI, MCKK, RMC, ISKL etc. (Having fun going nuts on the abbreviations here. It's one of those cheap thrills I live for.) They lived in the 50490 vicinity or in the neighbouring suburbs. Amongst the people in that group was/is a good friend of my ex, that friend is a fellow SJIer who was in a boy band in the late 80's and is now married to a successful local jazz songstress. Another person in that group is a socialite grand daughter of a previous agong, whose brother was........ OKlah, so it's a tangled web we weave.

Now that I've actually seen the movie, I can't say any of them are anything like the characters in Sepet.

Some of us ended the relationship with the person from a different race. Three of my friends claimed that the person was the one big love of their life with whom they had the most amazing sex. They lost their best friend and ended up marrying/ settling for someone of their own race.
And some stories do have a happy ending.
Some of us married that person from a different race.

I resolve to organise a get-together with my old friends (no spouses allowed) when I get time off on my upcoming trip next month and I want to ask the friends in question why they did that. My husband's friends in Malaysia are very different from mine. None of them have ever been with anyone outside their race.

My friends love a good long meaningful discussion session that lasts late into the night. Some guys in the group will usually leave early. (They know who they are.)
Methinks it's a toss up between takut intimacy and takut bini. Heh.

Cityscapes part 1

"A city is a congregation of animals whose biological history is enclosed within its boundaries; and yet every conscious and rational act on the part of these creatures helps to shape the city’s eventual character." Claude Lévi-Strauss in Tristes Tropiques.
I like to think that I shape cities in my masterplans. They get built and become reality.
That's just the megalomaniac I am. Armistad Maupin wrote Tales of The City as if San Francisco could be embodied in the personalities of his whacked out characters.

There are pockets of urban spaces I call home within my city.


An apocalyptic sky over Darling Harbour.
Taken on the Western Distributor flyover heading towards the Harbour Bridge.


Clovelly Beach on a Sunday morning. People here are a mix of bohemians and the bourgeoisie. Everyone leaves their things on the concrete and forgets about it for an hour or so while they have a swim'n'bake. When they come back, it's always there. There's a good sense of community here.

Neil Gaiman spun a wonderful urban tale in his one of his Sandman graphic novels, World's End.


In it, a generic unamed city dweller finds himself lost in an unamed generic city.
He bumps into a generic old man on a generic street who says this:
"Each city is a collection of lives and buildings and it has its own personality.
So, if a city has a personality, maybe it also has a soul. Maybe it dreams."

End of intellectual wankery.
Back to the intellectual MBA books sans wankery. (i.e: not very much fun at all)

Malaysian movies, the Oscars & Top 10 lists

Sepet. Word is that this movie hyped up some issues in Malaysia that need hyping up. I read this Malaysian blogger, TV Smith's review of the movie.

Then I went to its director's blog.


And now I HAVE to find a way to see it. This is the first gem amongst the common local fare (mostly lightweight fluff that those singer/actress/model types love to star in) but the narrative behind it all is interesting. Its social commentary, its subject matter. It's skillful storytelling that's so powerful it doesn't need to be propped up with a huge budget. I think this is the kind of movie which will remind us of many intangible familiarities in the Malaysian experience.

BUT: I don't think Orked, the lead character in Sepet is the only malay girl around who lusts after Takeshi Kaneshiro, OK? That's just IMHO.


The only foreign asian movie in Sydney's cinemas right now is House of Flying Daggers. I love well designed epics, masterful framing and landscape eye candy but I fully blame that on my profession. And Takeshi is in this movie as well, ladies!














The Oscars is on TV tonight!
I don't know whether it's live or a delayed telecast by a few hours.
I love looking at the dresses. The best friend and I will be giving a running commentary (to each other) on what people are wearing.

We know who gives good frock and who doesn't!
Grace's pick:
Kate Beckinsale.





























Will's pick:
Nicole Kidman.

We both wish we were Joan Rivers.





























Have you ever felt like you wanted to be tansported away from where you are right now?

My little way of escaping, well, besides writing in this little corner of cyberspace, is inventing a list for the things I want. They eventually turn out to be mixture of things that I already own/travelled/experienced. Then I realise that my life isn't so bad after all. It's a way you remind yourself that the glass is half full.

I LOVE lists.

Top 10 holiday destinations (travelled and yet to travel) David Letterman, eat your heart out.

1. TASHKENT, UZBEK- I'm fascinated- what can I say? Doing that soon.
2. MIAMI, USA- I love this kitsch sun drenched city in shades of pastels. Been there. Done that.
3. BALI, INDO- It's an Aussie thing.
4. QUEENSTOWN, NZ- Of course. The skiing is to die for. Been there. Done that.
5. NEW YORK, USA- I want to do 2 sides of NYC- I want to be in Manhattan and go to the Hamptons. Then I want to be in New Jersey and go to Rockaway Beach. Doing that soon.
6. TOKYO, JAP- Need I say more? The pseudo-Jap in me leaps out of my skin. I love how the aesthetics of every single thing is geared towards harmony. Been there. Done that.
7. ISTANBUL, TUR- This is one city maze I want to spend hours exploring. Doing that soon.
8. LONDON, UK- I love how I feel like I've lived there all my life when I'm there. Been there. Done that.
9. PETRA, JORDAN- The sight of the ruins take my breath away whenever I see it. Doing that soon.
10. DUBLIN, IRELAND- Drink some guinness (bleeehhh) and listen to bands playing in pubs over there. Find out why so many amazing musicians come from this country. Doing that soon.

Too many things. Too little time in this lifetime.

Will & Grace

I'm "Grace". Only shorter, asian and just as boney-assed.
My best friend is "Will". Only blonde and 100x bitchier.

I'm serious.

But tonight is Will & Grace night, my wanker banker husband is out at a company function with other wanker bankers. So I'm here at home in my Bonds couture and an extra large strawberry dream smoothie from my neighbourhood Pulp juice bar.

I don't feel very MBA-ish tonight so I'll put the books aside until after Will & Grace.
Everyone has a sitcom that they relate to.
If I know anyone that says they relate to Friends, come here darling and please let me pull your fingernails out one by one.

ME day

Went to Mecca Cosmetica, the one in Galleries Victoria during lunch hour today.
I think salesgirls can spot people with bruised egos from a mile away.
I ended up spending a couple of hundred dollars on Prescriptives products.

I didn't feel like spending my lunch hour in a consultants meeting.
I left it up to the 2nd architect in charge, the eager-beaver new graduate that he is, jumped at the opportunity of going to a meeting.

The wanna-be american TV stations here in Australia screened the Sex And The City final episode recently.

I love the episode where Carrie needs to raise money to buy her apartment. She gets depressed. She and Miranda go shoe shopping.
Carrie is tempted to buy a 400 dollar shoe.
In she same breath, she asks Miranda "I've made money over the years. Where that money has gone?"
Miranda, who owns her own apartment in Manhattan and is a partner in a law firm, asks her "How many of these shoes do you own?"
Carrie answers.
Miranda does the maths and says, "There's your down payment right there."

I asked myself: am I a Carrie, Samantha, Miranda or Charlotte?
I think I'm a combination of Miranda and Charlotte.

I own an inner city Sydney apartment that overlooks water. It's in my name. But my father's money bought it for me. Just like Charlotte's Park Avenue place.
AND I'm an aggressive career bitch just like Miranda.

Many girls (and some men) out there fancy themselves as Carefree Couture Carrie.
Yes, I've been visiting Malaysian blogs again.
Tell ya what: I feel sorry for the Carries who still live with their parents, yet spending up big on their restaraunt bills, Prada shoes and Hermes bags. (OK, maybe not an Hermes bag, by the looks and sounds of it. Maybe about as much as an LV bag.)

Meeeeeeeoooooowwwwwrrrrrr. Ssssssssssstttt.
I can get bitchy in my down time.

DVDs and in-flight movie suggestions.

It's grey and dreary outside in Sydney, a cold front has hit the city and has even dumped snow in the Hills district.
It's DVD marathon time.
I've seen Jack Black's School of Rock when I was on a plane enroute to an asian airport- one good thing about travelling constantly because of work is that you get to see a lot of movies during those hours you have to kill.

The firm I am in has quite a few high profile projects in Asia, some completed and some underway. So we travel to our branch offices in asian cities. I will be leaving for Singapore and Shanghai in the next week. Many big Australian firms are concentrating their efforts in China. This is where the majority of our current design projects are.

I have seen a blog post by a certain young Malaysian based aspiring architect literally gushing about our design projects in China. I thought he was a pathetic little yuppie wanna be- If he could only begin to know what we do to grab those projects and the “quality” of design we give them. But I digress, I am veering off on a tangent.


Back to movies. Lost In Translation, I saw earlier in the year.
It seems to be more about alienation and especially about the city of Tokyo.
It's a brilliant piece.


Going back a few years, another movie I loved is Four Rooms
A joint effort between four amazing independent film directors Allison Anders and Quentin Tarantino. Enough said.
Just because I like borderline indie films doesn't mean I'm not motherf**king yuppie scum.
I am yuppie scum. Right from my black turtleneck to my square black architect spectacles.




My apologies. I am veering off on yet another tangent, as one is expected to do, on days like this.