On Film Musicals

Having just watched Mamma Mia , set me on thinking why some musical works for me and others not.

The classics would be oldies like My Fair Lady,The Sound Of Music and Oliver but my favourite is Hello Dolly for it has a nice balance of singing and dancing. In fact , I used to think that dancing waiters and ladies with parasols defines a musical.

More contemporary musicals would be Moulin Rouge, Perhaps Love and The Phantom Of The Opera , which works for me simply because I love the songs. These films use the 'play within a play' concept, where make-believe and reality is somewhat blurred, so seeing characters burst into songs anytime works too.

And the latest craze is The High School Musicals which I really enjoyed. I think it is brilliant to incorporate ideas from both the classics and the contemporaries, as it has great singing and dancing set in a high school theatre, and is given a fresh feel by adding in some MTV-style hip hop flavour to it.

Sad to say, although I really like ABBA's catchy tunes, I did not really enjoy Mamma Mia. Having established stars like Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan and Colin Firth sing and dance is just a little painful on the ears and eyes. And I can't help thinking that I am watching a Bollywood, Greek style musical here. The only part I like is the fresh faced Sophie and her nice singing. A great bore, Mamma Mia should have been just left on stage !

One last thought, with globalisation in the entertainment world, it is only be a matter of time before Bollywood invades into Hollywood. Not that I'm against this , in fact, I think it would be great if the combined talents can produce good entertainment.

Much Ado About Something

Far from being a trivial pursuit, job hunting is one of the most STRESSFUL experience for me so far. Let's see, this pursuit has bugged me for 5 months ....

Step 1 - Preparing a perfect resume
You can't say you are looking for a job until you have done this essential step. Being quite a perfectionist, it took me 2 weeks the craft the resume to my satisfaction.

Step 2 - Looking for the perfect job
Haha, there is no such thing as the perfect job, and good jobs don't come falling from the sky. It took me like 2 months before I found a satisfactory one in a satisfactory company. Other than combing jobstreet and newspaper, networking aka asking frens helps too. I know I am being quite picky, but I can't imagine being stuck in a new job that is worse than my old one. You know, the fear of jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

Step 3 - The dreadful interviews
Time to brush up on those long forgotten technical stuffs and basically, practice and practice on how to sell yourself during interviews. Having 3 interviews within the span of 1 month is truly stressful. After each interview, there will be a suspenseful wait for THE phone call, only to be told, congrats, you passed this one and there will be a next one coming, and so the whole crazy cycle repeats.

Step 4 - The haggling
I expected to be over the clouds at being offered the job, only to be send down by yet another 'not so nice' experience - negotiation over salary. I honestly do not care too much on $$ but I do have my pride and do not like being short changed in any way.

Step 5 - The resigning
The final step - handing over my resignation is also a very hard thing for me to do. As much as I look forward to a new job, I do hate leaving behind my frens and colleagues. Is there something wrong with the human minds, that we tend to remember only the joy and the laughter , and forget the pain and the tears ?

I do so envy those that sails through many jobs effortlessly. For me, this is one experience I do not wish to repeat, at least not within the next few years.