NEW!!! Topic of the Month contest - January

I've decided. I'm going to make this blog interactive!!


First off, expect to see new stuff added to this blog.


I'm going to start a topic each month. It can be based on a picture, a photo, an artwork, or simply a title, a phrase, etc. All you need to do is to get your Creative Cells Cracking! Yeah. The 3 Cs!


Rules of the contest:


Each month, I will come up with a topic. You can write a poem, a short story, a song, or whatever out of it. Post your entries in the "Comments" field. Remember to leave down your name and email at the end of each entry. And check out our blog regularly for updates! Each month I will pick out the best entry! And who knows, you might just win a prize! I'm serious.


Ok, here's this month's topic:



Get the entries rolling in!! Vroom vroom! =D


Closing Date: 31st Jan 08

The blues and soothes in My Blueberry Nights

I just watched My Blueberry Nights a few days ago with a friend. I remember how I got to know the movie. I knew nothing about the movie. Previously, I was so excited on watching Across the Universe that when I saw My Blueberry Nights title on the screen of the ticketing booth of the cinemas, I thought nothing of it. Until I went online and did a search for the movie.

I looked at the cast. First person that caught my eye, Jude Law. I repeat again.. Jude Law!!! My favourite actor!! His performance in Artificial Intelligence was astounding. But there again, Jude Law in My Blueberry Nights?! And to think I thought it as some "any other movie"!?

Next on the list.. Norah Jones. Wow. I was surprised. Norah Jones. The jazz multi-grammy-award singer on her debut movie role. Gotta be something huh? Like some songs she would be crooning?

Next it was Natalie Portman. I was not very familiar with this actress but I watched her act in V For Vendetta(again, one of my favourites), and I thought she put up a convincing one.

What really surprised me was that the director was Wong Kar Wai. He was a renowned HongKong director who directed the classic "In The Mood for Love" aka Hua Yang Nian Hua. That was a superb movie, though I couldn't remember watching it. But it starred Tony Leung and Maggie Cheung, both power-packed stars. So anyway, I learnt that My Blueberry Nights was Wong Kar Wai's first attempt on a Western movie, hence I was eager to find out. I mean, Ang Lee had done so well with Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and the controversial Brokeback Mountain. So it was no surprise that East is meeting West.

I watched My Blueberry Nights at Cineleisure. It was a small cinema, but relatively cosy. I liked the fact that we were up-close with the screen. And it was eye levelled. When the movie started, the music instantly captivated me. It was lushy, so soothing, like some blues. I thought it was Norah Jones. But then, I found out it was by some singer-songwriter nicknamed Cat Power. And the title was "The Greatest"(the song playing in my blog right now). But yeah, Norah Jones sang a song for the movie soundtrack called "The Story", which was good as well.

The meeting at a small cafe struck as a very intimate opportunity for sparks to fly and love to blossom. Jude Law(OH MY), acted as a cafe owner who baked pies and pastries. And Elizabeth(Norah Jones) first appeared being disheartened by the fact that her boyfriend was seeing another girl. So she just chanced upon the cafe, and left a bunch of keys to Jeremy(Jude Law), thinking her boyfriend would collect it. But as a matter of fact, Jeremy showed her a jar full of bunches of keys which was left by people. And most of them were left untouched for years. This was really meaningful. Keys. To someone's heart perhaps? There led on to frequent visits by Elizabeth on a desperate attempt to see if her boyfriend had collected the keys. Each bunch of keys tell a different story, so was Elizabeth's. I'm not going to reveal all of the plot cos you guys ought to watch it!

Surprisingly, Norah Jones did a pretty good job in her debut movie role as a pure, gullible yet determined and independent girl. In fact, her chemistry with Jude Law was there. She acted rather naturally. On the other hand, Natalie Portman paled in comparison. Her role in this one was not likeable, though the audience would probably sympathise with her. But her acting just failed to meet her usual standards, as in the movie V for Vendetta.

The best acting in the movie came from David Strathairn, an unknown actor to me. He acted as Arnie, a heartbroken, divorced man. And the portrayal of his character was so real and poignant that it touched me. He did such an awesome job in here that I think he deserves an Oscar nod. Like seriously. Rachel Weisz was not bad at all too! The actress who acted in The Mummy before did an amazing job by portraying a stubborn and aggressive woman who still sucuumbed to her real emotions eventually.

The blueberry pie played an almost unmissable and significant role in the movie, and the images alluding to it were rather deliciously portrayed. In fact, I liked the font and colour of the title, and the multi-layered meanings to it. There were many references to the colour blue, both subtle and obvious. And indeed, the movie was as sweet as a blueberry pie.

My rating for the movie: 4.5/5

I know it's high. But I don't like to lie.

Rehash on some sketches - Part 1

This was sketched by me a little more than a year ago. It was inspired by a meeting on Valentine's Day night with a girl whom I have known. I used to have mixed feelings for her. But it all came to light that it was but a mistake. But anyway, I was inspired to draw this pic, not because of the girl, but because of my desperation for a company at that moment of time. Of course, right now, this sketch can be aptly applied to someone else. :)

Let's see. I sketched this in my bunk on one of the beginning days of coming to the unit I was posted to. This was the exact arrangement of my little corner, but it all shifted soon after. Still, it depicted how I used to feel. The emptiness of it all. Not very well drawn though. I'm not an artist anyway.

This sketch was inspired by a movie I watched. The title of the movie was called "The Unforgiven". A Korean movie. And this sketch was how the movie started. A soldier drafted to serve the nation, his lonely journey on the bus. It was a very poignant and tragic movie. The ending was really sad. If you have a chance, go watch it.

I remember drawing this out of idleness in bunk. In fact, most of my sketches were drawn while I was in camp. This was some random design I came up with. The odd shapes all joined together. Random shapes, random shades. Kinda quirky though.

More sketches up soon!

Across the Universe - Review in a Nutshell

It's been long since I updated this blog, since I thought that no one would be reading it anyway. However, I decided to update it again, starting with 2 fantastic movies I have watched over the week.

Julie Taymor's Across the Universe is nothing like I have ever seen before in a cinema. It is actually a musical-film, one of my favourite genres for a movie. The movie poster itself strikes as another "Shakespeare in Love" or "Titanic" lookalike poster. But still, it's captivating. The movie tagline, "All You Need is Love" is a song by The Beatles. And it definitely encompasses the whole idea of the movie. The movie takes place in the 1960s, in the era of the Beatles, and also coincidentally, the period where US went into war with Vietnam. So as you would have expected, the movie is peppered with lots of political issues. But the main theme of it is still "Love", as a remedy for all sorrow, all unhappiness, and so on. And "Love" indeed, transcends all boundaries, across the universe, as explicitly explained in the movie. The movie started out with the lead actor, Jude(Jim Sturgess) sitting by the beach, and it immediately reminded me of the James Blunt look. He started out with a heartfelt song called "Girl". Amazing vocals I must say. As a music maniac, this is a great way to start a movie. Soundtracks are the soul of the movie. They bring the movie into life, sets out the atmosphere and make the plot and acting all so plausible. The magic that is woven into this movie are the songs and the visual cinematography. Absolutely breathtaking. An average movie-goer would find the transition of the scenes rather abrupt, but to me, I would think it's an intention of the director. A technique, though not very likeable.

This is the first time I'm watching a Julie Taymor's movie and I must say I'm indeed impressed. Throughout the entire movie, I gasped out countless times of "Wow". And I find that I can't help but blurt them out. It is a bold work of art, daring in the sense that Taymor goes all out to experiment new styles of visual cinematography. The result? A wonderful blend of fairytale-like imagery, blended with colourful scenes that were all so irresistable and fun to watch. There are many parallels made in the movie, and I'm intrigued to see how the songs and scenes blend in almost perfectly. I especially like Prudence(T.V. Carpio's) rendition of "I Wanna Hold Your Hand", another song by the Beatles. Songs sung by Jim Sturgess are all nice, but Sadie(Dana Fuchs) was the one who stole the show with her powerful performances and singing. As for the acting part, I find it rather mediocre, but still passable.

The main draw of the movie is not on the acting, but on the visuals, as well as the wonderful soundtracks. In fact, the songs are the main factor that give an extra "woosh" to the movie. The only downside of this movie is that it is rather draggy. And some scenes are unnecessary. Other than that, a wonderfully crafted work of masterpiece with a palette of refreshing and appealing colours bound to captivate and pull on your heartstrings.

My rating: 4.3/5

Highly watchable, but if the genre is not your cup of tea, give it a miss. However, if you are in need for a feast for the eyes and ears, go for this movie.

Waltz - by Anson Ong

(Here's another story I wrote quite some time ago. It's been a while since I wrote short stories. But here's one from a few of my works. Hope you like it too. :))

"What do you want in life?"

"I don't know.."'

That was always my reply whenever my friends, teachers or relatives asked me that. In fact, I didn't really know what I wanted out of life. The usual path would be to study hard, get a degree, get a decent job, have a family and have kids. Yes, that seems to be an ideal path anyone should have taken. For me, I thought that is a rather stereotypical measure of success. Mundane life. That's not what I wanted. We always think that way when we were young, brainwashed by our teachers or parents that a successful life should be that way. But when you grow up, your thinking matures along with you. You start to think differently. "I'm no longer a kid", I would always say whenever my parents want to decide something on my behalf.

And so, I'm on my own now. Life after college is not as carefree as I thought. In school, I always thought that schoolwork and examinations were everything and my maths teacher an asshole. I hated school, just like the other guys in class, and could't wait to get out of this living hell, to work, and to earn my own living. And then, it was finally over. I am all by myself. My studies were screwed. So much about getting a degree. I worked part-time at the cafeteria down the street. Slogged my ass out for puny salary that wasn't enough to buy me a wife. In the end, I had to take on another job at the music store where I worked overtime. And that was when I got to know her - Mavis. She's everything a guy could ever want. She has this long flowy hair, sparkling eyes that spoke a thousand words and sexy lips that was just so kissable. She was simply amazing and perfect. I was 21 then, and I met her, the person whom I want to make my wife. Well, at least, I paid a price to get my prize.

She must be the first person I ever set eyes on. I had girls back in college but wasn't really serious with them. Not that I didn't really love them. But I wouldn't want to spend the rest of my life with them. But Mavis was just so special, like an angel sent from heaven. She influenced me into music. Not pop or metal rock, but classical music. Instrumental music. Everyday she would play Beethoven's or Mozart's in the store, but her favourite were still Chopin's waltzes. Unconsciously she would dance to the melody and I would stare at her every chance I had. I just couldn't get my eyes off her. Of course, girls like her, being highly sensitive with their feelings knew very well that I was very interested, yet tried to feign nonchalance. That was when I had to do what a guy does - woo her. I dropped hints, asking her out for dinner, buying tickets and inviting her to movies. At first, she always seemed to be busy. But I would never give up. I planned surprises after surprises, giving her 99 roses on her birthday, and so on. She was touched. I won.

Years passed. We got married and bought an apartment by the beach. My mornings would not be complete without seeing her lying beside me each day I woke up. The smell of her hair reminds me of the fragrance of lavender, soothes me and tempts me to caress her, kiss her, and tell her how much I loved her. Days went on. I got a proper job at a big company and got a decent position. She, on the other hand, stayed at home on weekdays, did what a wife would do - tidy the house, did the laundry, cooked for me.

One fateful day, I returned home and I did not get to see her. I called her on her cell phone but the phone was shut off. She did not return by midnight and I called her every friend. Not a single person had news of her whereabouts. I got worried. I couldn't sleep with my mind thinking about her. And then, the phone rang in the middle of the night.

"Hello, Mr. Walkins?"

"Yes, speaking?"

"I'm the nurse calling from Central Hospital. Your wife.. she's met with an accident and is in the Emergency room. Can you come down now?"

My heart froze. My lips trembled. I grabbed my coat and rushed out of my house, drove the car at high speed and headed towards the hospital.

I waited outside the Emergency room and was pacing up and down restlessly. My mind was in a complete blank of state. And then the light from the Emergency room signal went off. 2 surgeons emerged from the doors. I ran over, gripping them by their hands in a frantic, couldn't wait to hear the results. They merely shook their heads and apologized. I dropped to my knees and my heart throbbed with pain as tears flowed continuously down my cheeks.

For weeks and months I cried each night while thinking of her. Flashbacks and memories came drifting across my mind like painful monochrome photographs.

Years passed. I remained a widower at the age of 58. My life went on as usual and I had made acquaintances around the estate. Yet, whenever I hear the waltzes of Chopin playing on the CD player, I would see her dancing in front of me. That graceful poise and beautiful sways never fail to captivate my heart.

Well, this is my life. Though this is not what I want in life, I am glad I once had what I wanted in life. Very soon, I shall dream of her. Very soon, I shall be with her again, for she was my wife. She became my life.

Believe - by Anson Ong

(Do you know what's my favourite word? It's in the title of this story which I have written quite some time ago. Since Christmas is just around the corner, I thought it is rather apt for me to share this with you guys. Hope you like it. :) )

It was Christmas season in a small town in England. It was a season of joy and celebration. The town itself was filled with merry making and the festive mood was getting strong. The grounds of the town were already covered with heaps and layers of thick white snow while the roofs of the cottages were shimmering with milky white snow.

Dan, a homeless boy was shivering as he slept in a cold dark corner of a tunnel. Occasionally he would sneeze and cough as he tried to wrap himself warm. Dressed in a tattered and torn shirt, Dan was cold, lonely and miserable. His family was poor. His dad used to work as a carpenter while his mom sewed clothes to make a living. They led a humble yet fulfilling life. He was the only child. Back then, every Christmas Day he would have gathered together with his parents at the small wooden table in their cottage. He remembered how his mom would cook a bowl of congee for him and also give him a small cupcake as a Christmas gift. He was satisfied and happy to be with his parents. However, he lost them in a war years ago and never got to see them again. He was left all alone.

As he was dirty and rugged, the town people advised their children not to go near him. Even the children themselves teased him whenever they saw him, making his life more miserable. He survived on leftovers and those that were dumped in the bins. It was a hard life. Yet, not all people in town were bad. There were a few good souls who would offer him food every now and then. He got to know an old man, Henry - a beggar who lived beside him in the tunnel, ang got acquainted to him when he first moved there. Henry looked after him like his own child and shared food with him. Dan depended on him and looked upon him as his own father.

"Son, wake up.." Henry called as he nudged him.

Dan slowly opened his eyes as puffs of vapour came out from his mouth and nose. He turned around and looked at Henry.

"It's Christmas son, you wouldn't want to miss this great day would ya?"

Dan smiled and slowly sat up as he stared into the sky which was already velvet dark and dotted with twinkling little stars.

"So sonny, what's your wish for Christmas?" Henry asked as he rubbed his hands to keep himself warm.

Dan looked up into the sky again. Staring into the myriads of stars, he thought he saw his dad and mom smiling and waving at him.

"I.. I would like my dad and mom back. I miss them.." Dan spoke slowly as tears began to fill his eyes.

"Oh, silly young man, do not cry. Boys don't cry. You are going to be a man soon." Henry said as he took him into his own arms and wrapped them around him to keep him warm. "Very soon sonny, you will grow up."

Back in his workplace, Mr. Santa Clause was reading through the wish list. Squinting through his glasses, he scanned through the wishes. Jan Hermione, 11 wants a barbie doll, Kathy Woodsman, 13 wants a new ipod, John Witherspoon, 14 wants a racing toy car... As he scanned through the list of wishes, he stopped at one particular wish. Dan Stewart, 12, wants his dad and mom back. He paused for a while, closed his eyes and flipped through his mind for the whereabouts of Dan Stewart's parents. Shortly, he opened his eyes and smiled.

Back in town, children were singing carols, holding candles on their hands as they walked through the snow. Christmas trees were erected in almost every household and families gathered to have their Christmas feasts. Dan took a walk around the town and was cheered to see the bright decorations on the cottages. As he walked, a little girl walked towards him and handed him a lollypop. Dan smiled and said "Thanks".

"Danny, wake up.." he heard a familiar voice.

Dan rubbed his eyes and his vision soon became clear. He could not believe his eyes. His mother was right before him, smiling at him. He turned his head to survey the place. It was his old cottage he had lived in.

"Mom!" He cried.

"Why boy, it's Christmas. You wouldn't want to miss this day would you?" His mother smiled at him again. "Come out, I have a surprise for you." She said as she walked out of the room to the living room.

Puzzled, he walked out of his room and was again shocked to see his dad sitting at the wooden table waiting for him. On the table were 3 bowls of congees. Right beside his bowl, he saw a cupcake.

"Merry Christmas son."

Tears flowed down Dan's cheeks. "Thank you Santa, thanks for making my wish come true."

A new agenda

A new agenda

Ok. So I have finally decided to start a blog to curb the cynic in me. When I say this, I mean I need an avenue to voice out my opinions. Since I'm much of a visual and auditorial person, the movie buff, reading geek and music lover in me urge me to start a blog to write all about all these. And of course, to satisfy my writing cravings. So, they will probably come in my own reviews which I will have my own take on them. You may not have the same likings as me, but if you are interested to find out what I'm digging, this is the place to start. It'll be cool to hear from you guys too. You know, discuss on what you have recently seen, read, heard, or what you want to see, read, hear. Also, this will be an avenue for me to post my poetry, sketches, and other miscellaneous stuff.

Oh, and by the way, the nick nightcharmer is my login name for an online writing website I have signed up quite some time ago. I'm duplicating the same nick for my blog cos it is apt in describing me, in some sense or other. First, I'm quite hardly predictable. So I would say I'm a mysterious person in some sense. Haha. And next, it is a nick to acknowledge myself as a horror fan, since young. I have people who gasped when they look at me or know who I am. So what can I say? Ha.

Anyway, hope you enjoy what I'll be posting. Feel free to share your views by commenting on any entries. I'll keep this blog template simple for now since I'm going back to the basics of blogging. That is, to write.

You're hearing from Anson. The man behind this blog. And I hope you do check back as I'll update regularly. Cheers. :)