I think my, er, advice worked – I received enough Ferrero Rocher to set up my own distribution centre.

Jokes aside, one present which stood out was the Teachers’ Day video done by 10A04.

Initially, when they bounded up to me to give me the DVD, I was like, “Wow! Mix-tape for me?”

I was genuinely elated; I remember thinking: Wow, these piglets have grown! They put their PW skills to use and realised that a mix-tape would be a great gift for me because:

• I like music,
• Mix-tapes have symbolic value, in that they hearken back to an era that I often romanticise, and
• Mix-tapes have artistic value, in that the choice of songs are not arbitrary but curated in order to achieve a certain effect on/send a certain message to the listener e.g. I’ve chosen these songs that I know you like because I want you to know I care, or I’ve chosen 12 of my favourite songs because I want to share my music with you (a deeply personal gesture, IMO).

Sadly, my happiness lasted for a while, because I soon found out that:

1. It wasn’t a mix-tape, but a video, and
2. ALL THE OTHER TEACHERS THAT TAUGHT 10A04 ALSO RECEIVED THE SAME VIDEO.

Wah lao eh! Felt somewhat cheated lor. LOL… Kidding, ya.

I really like the video; in fact, I like it so much that I want to share it with all of you here:

Click on this link in case you can’t see the embedded video.

Nice right? (BTW if you want to watch more stuff by Ansen Goh and Co., check out “A Measured Distance Away” and ObscuRed.sg .)

I’m so glad they came together to do this, not only because the video shows how much they’ve grown as a class, but also because receiving the gift has made me re-evaluate my ‘preferred present list’ – I’ve just included a section called ‘Digital Art’.

So thanks, kiddos, for all the love. I’m proud of all of you.

(Just to clarify that I’m neither a military nut nor a fanboy of the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF). I just have a keen interest in SAF-related issues for reasons I will not mention in public.)

I think the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF) has produced a good advertisement that makes use of the principles of literary technique to effectively communicate its message to the viewer.

Take a look at the advertisement here:

(Watch the video in a separate window if you can’t see the embedded video.)

The voiceover text, if you want to read it while the video is being played:

I am the wind.
On land, no blade of grass moves without me.
At sea, every rising wave is touched by me.
Wherever you are, I am high enough to see you
and strong enough to reach out to you	5
and place strength in your hand.
You may not always see me
but you will always feel me
for I am here
for a higher purpose.	10

I won’t discuss the visual semiotics because that isn’t the point of my post.

However, I’ll carry out a bit of literary analysis on the first ‘two’ lines of the text to demonstrate some sense of its literary merit as well as articulate some of the ideas that the advertisement aims to convey to the viewer.

As the “I” in the text represents the entity that is the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF), the “wind” is used as a symbol of the RSAF’s ‘invisibility’ (i.e. how it can operate without being detected by the enemy), its speed, its power, and its versatility at being able to be both strong yet gentle in different times of need.

On one level, the line “no blade of grass moves without me” is an image which evokes ideas of the RSAF’s power – the RSAF has the ability to influence “move[ment]“, especially in inanimate objects that would otherwise not move on their own.

However, if we also imagine the “blade of grass” to be a metaphor for the infantry soldier, which is a symbol of the Army, then the line is also meant to convey an idea of the superiority of the RSAF in the SAF’s war-fighting capabilities: it is at the forefront of military operations in terms of intelligence gathering efforts and attack manoeuvers, to say the least. {This is reinforced in the “sea” imagery used in line 3, which I will not discuss now for want of time/space.) At the same time, the combined image of objects “on land” and “at sea” moving with the assistance of the “wind” also conveys ideas of the interconnectedness of the three arms in war-fighting operations.

Okay, I know this is somewhat wankerish and some people might think I am stretching the limits of plausibility with my analysis, but do me a favour: assume that I am right for the time being.

Now that we’re all on the same page i.e. my analysis is right, what’s the significance of this advertisement in the larger scheme of things?

A well-wrought out advertisement like this can achieve many aims. Besides its primary aim of enticing people to sign on with the RSAF, the advertisement:

• Instils a sense of national pride in the SAF, from the point of view of the citizenry, thereby increasing national confidence etc., and
• Acts as one form of deterrence (among other deterrence strategies that the SAF uses) to ward off would-be aggressors, from an external point of view.

So one doesn’t need to know literary devices or techniques in order to consciously or unconsciously receive the implied messages that are sent to the recipient i.e. the person watching the advertisement.

But one would need to have some sense of literary technique in order to be able to create an advertisement as good as this one to achieve said aims I mentioned earlier.

And that, my friends, is another reason why there’s a point in learning literature as a point of departure toward doing other things in life.

P.S. I know I said I wouldn’t discuss the visual semiotics of the ad. But seriously – jogging girl is pretty cute.

However, the phrase (“you have stolen my heart”) niggled at the back of my mind the whole day and when I woke up this morning as well.

So I did what I should have done earlier: I Googled the phrase and added in “lyrics” as a search term. I was so happy when I chanced upon this video again!

(Click on this link if you can’t see the embedded video.)

BTW I strongly urge everyone to record and upload videos of themselves making the following sound effects:

• Lion.
• Car starting.
• Rocket launching.
• Sheep.
• Cow.
• Robot.

Who knows? You could have your 15 minutes of fame and even become the next Miss Universe!

Anyone else remember this commercial from our youth? I used to sing along to it whenever it came on.

People too old for this commercial to have been screened during their youth are still welcome to reminisce about the good ol’ days.

People too young for this commercial – make whale sounds.

…are we now, Mr Stark?

(For the more illiterate among us, this is a scene from Ian McKellen’s Richard III where Robert Downey Jr plays Lord Rivers.)

1. The Cure.
2. “In Between Days” by The Cure.
3. Ukeleles.

Imagine my surprise + adulation when I saw this video:

(Link here for those who can’t see embedded videos.)

Amanda Palmer rocks. Why didn’t anyone tell me about her? Nevertheless, I totally want a ukelele EVEN MORE now.

Favourite re-worded lyric: “You better shape up/’Cos you need a man”. (有。。。！)

In other news, I have a sudden obsession with songs from Grease. Other videos you might want to watch:

Summer Nights

• The Original.
• The Lego stop motion version.

You’re The One That I Want

• With er… subtitles.

Anyway, if anyone wants to learn how to kick-start a Vespa ET8 or ET4, here are some helpful links.

And a video to boot:

It’s one of the more ‘serious’ moments in the play, so don’t be fooled by the deadpan acting. Alternatively, check out some pictures of the cast warming up before rehearsal.

Brendon and Terry

Koey, Dwayne, Ghaz and Rodney

Qian Chou and Nelson

More pictures here.

It’s gonna be a great show everyone – I personally guarantee it. Make sure you’re able to say, “I watched Own Time Own Target and was blown away” i.e. buy your tickets now.