The Emancipation of BRITNEY

I have to admit: In the past, I never liked Miss Spears.

Always felt that she's got no voice (both singing voice and personal opinion of life and direction) ...and packaged.

Packaged, she definitely is. Her image and music are all Jive Records' work and of course top producer Max Martin's.

Direction? I, now know, she definitely had.

Let's all agree that we have always had this opinion of Britney: 'She's singing something that is more 'us' than it is 'her'. That it is all her producers' idea of making sure that her music 'connected' with audiences...'

NOW , seeing her in and out of rehab, messily divorced, 2 kids in tow at such a young age, an absolute free-loading cow of an ex-husband, ... and all shaved and tatooed .... and acting the part of trailer trash, we now see her free from the gloss sheened around her by Jive.

Suddenly, her past hits make sense.

....'I'm not a girl, not yet a woman'( grown-up and a mum but is still so young and lost), 'I'm a Slave for you' ( she's not sexing it up for herself but for us who love it.. damn us!), 'Over-protected' ( she's needs to be free to make mistakes so that she can learn, not constantly 'puppeted'), 'Everytime' (she wants wings to feel big and to fly away from all the fake-ness and scrutiny)... and of course ... 'Stronger' (she 's ready to grow up and was going into a relationship (albeit a wrong one) to becomes a 'whole' and normal person; filling a void in her lonely-star life;
' Lucky'. ) And, she's definitely proven recently, that she needs to live her own life as she sees fit ' My Prerogative'.

Yeash, finally, Britney is emancipated.

I don't know if 80 million albums (in such a short time!) later, with all this trailer-trash fiasco going on, its hard to fathom if she's got a career left come this September 2007.

But, at least, she's tasted mega success. AND is free, finally.


(In a way, she's fortunate. Madonna and Cher are still chasing fame at their grand dame-age, took so much mess and 14-years with Bad Boy Bobby for Whitney to figure it out, a very bombed out but still-at-it-desperately Mariah; to see her slowly get crushed by it, while younger and direct rivals like Beyonce and Aguilera incessantly trying to out-sing each other and are still lost and dazzled in the fame-game.
Yeash, Britney can at least say, she's been there and done that and can move on with her life... peacefully. And normally... away from the first 20-odd years that were others' rather than her's.)

Top Model ... its NOT Unreal

There have been criticisms that ANTM is un-realistic ... that it has yet to produce
'Supermodels' .

Hey, c'mon! It takes more than winning a top-rated internationally renowned and acclaimed Model-search show to put a model on the Supermodel-pedestal !

The girls have a lot going for them... but it still takes a lot of hard work and the right connections and stuff to be as big as Tyra.

The show basically puts these diamonds-in-the-rough in the forefront and 'out there' for exposure. (Something most models can only dream about!)

Train them with the best industry experts... and wish them luck . That's it.

Whether a girl becomes a 'star' in the fashion business a.k.a a 'Supermodel ' like Tyra, Naomi, Gisele or Heidi...is a whole different ball game.

Gisele didn't win Elite Model of the World competition. Neither did Adriana nor Isabeli nor Fernanda. There.

Tyra was rejected 6 times by various agencies before she got her break. So did Cindy.

For those who have dabbled in the industry will know how hard it is to make it big... you never really know who makes it or who doesnt'. Think it's easier studying for a pHd ! Seriously.

So give the show and its girls a chance. And more cred.

'Beauty and the Geek' ...the show is WORST .

This is the WORST show ever on TV...

It is not a no-brainer. ... It is just a seriously warped show... the geeks are hen-pecked with nary balls between their legs.

The blonds are biatches with no brains, no manners, no morals... no tact... no honesty.

It's angish watching how they systematically kick out all the non-blonds who do have brains, heart and personality.

It's like the ENTIRE show was scripted to make sure the brunettes get victimised and screwed to loose the game early on... get them all bashed up socially and psychologically.

So sad. So hellishly devious.

Stoooopid show. The worst. REPULSIVE.

Sleeping Pills

I think I need sleeping pills 'coz I've had insomnia for hella while now.

Can't sleep all night and falling in and out of 'full' consciousness during the day.

Shucks!

My life is now no different from Dracula.

Well, at least his nights are filled with lust and passion... and bleeding orifices ... naughty me I know :0)

But, hell yeah.. I've a sleeping problem!

AMO Complete Moistureplus Multipurpose Solution........ OUT

I'm just like a lot of people these days.... not blessed with perfect eyesight (since 4th Grade no less)

And since I am not a Nerd, I wear contacts.

Been using the the above product for years and now I know I've possibly been inducing possible 'infections (caused) by Acanthamoeba, a naturally occurring water-borne organism which can contribute to serious corneal infections.'

OMG.

It's off the shelves and I am down with nothing... LOL

Luring Stray Dogs

For those of you who have pet dogs, you know the agony of having to deal with strays that run around.... stealing food, deficating everywhere.... trying to mate.... Gosh!

They turn your normally well-behaved critter into a breathless wreck when a stray comes along in the neighbourhood.

As much as I love and care for the well -being of animals, we CAN DO WITOUT strays.

Their presence is a nuisance because it stresses out dogs and their owners. Creates tension between the folks and the authorities. And it certainly creates divides between pet-owners (pple of loved-animals and do the ACTUAL ACT of 'rearing' ) and animal-stray lovers (annoying pple that 'love and care ' for the strays, but do little in the way of adoption' ; all they ever do is to feed these animals independently in public areas, and luring them closer to the areas where pet-owners dread see them around ! )

To be caring is to be cruel . The vice is also very true.

Tell them that.

Shaping a future... or a SHAPED future ???

How do past experiences, when we were younger... growing up.., the various fortunate and unfortunate events/situations that we had gone through ( or endured).... shaped us... n our lives.... ?

Have you ever asked your self this ?

How much of our future is 'destined' by how we were shaped? So are we really shaping our future?Or part of that already shaped for us..?Predisposed to a certain extent... limited not by our talents or will power... but shaped and governed by luck (past and future), our mentality (rather than thoughts/knowledge) and shaped personlity (rather than mere action-discipline)....

It boils down to NATURE vs. NURTURE ... fundamentally as well.

How do we measure successs in life...is a moot point too.


So what say you? :p

Career vs. Relationships

Can there ever be a compromise?

Can anyone have a career and have a relationship at the same time....esp at the initial stages?

Let us ponder.

Firstly,
Careers are built on relationships...
1) Business partners (friends/relatives etc)
2) Business investors
3) Boss-Subordinates
4) Staff-Clients
5) Children-parents (moral/financial support)
6) Ahem! ..... Sleeping around to get to the top

Then there is that BIG relationship we're more interested here...

the Boy-Girl Sweetheart type

How much attention can we pay to our significant other when 24-7 all one thinks about and is concerning with him/herself is the career/business ahead... the step up...

It is easy for many to say that it's hardly difficult .... a simple call... a simpe message... a simple gift.... but is it?

Long distance relationships don't work for exactly the same reasons, you know .

So what say you?

(It is not a 'priority' issue because it is not up to anyone to say or judge... because every one has different priorities and goals in their various life stages. )

Fossil Fuel dependency .. who can we blame?

Recenly, there has been heated debate on how much depency we have had on fossil fuel....

Well, let's focus on the most obvious. Automobiles. Combustion engine. You get the idea...

Can we really not depend on it?

It's like we'd be stuck ! How are we to go places? No private or public transport out there can ever be 'non-combustable' ;p

10 years... that's all we have .

Hell, we can't even switch on our lights then...

The scale of this change for Man kind... is GARGANTUAN.

It wil be interesting what view'so others have of this imminent issue..

Gossiping PIGS

ALL MY LIFE ....

I've been plagued (and hurt) by gossips .
Rumour -mongers....
are P-I-G-S.

P-eople I-nsinuating G-ay - S-tories.

There is NOTHING wrong with being gay/lesbian/bi ... trannish/camp/queer/tom-boy/dyke or what have you to say about these individuals. They ARE not abnormal or anything . Leave them alone.

Now back to me.

I'm NOT beep ***beep*** beep*** beep***. .....Fill IN the blanks yourself.

But rumours like that ARE disrespect to people who may be different.. OR the same. And it BASICALLY HURTS EVERYONE.


The insensitivity , ironically, tend to come from people whom themselves have been victimized by others. So is it some sort of 'revenge'?

C'mon! Putting others down to make yourself feel good/all -powerfull... now that's immature.... (esp if you derive joy from it ... losse mouth !) LOW- DOWN behavior. Now that is far FAR FAR MORE serious than one's sexuality , know what I mean...


This applies to so many other types of rumours too. You critisise others... what are YOU doing with your life????


Crazy . And anal.

Superficiality equals bad judgement of Character

It may sound odd that someone like me who models, would talk about others being 'superficial'.

Well, trust me, when one is being judged constantly on how one looks (after a while one really couldnt be bothered!) and when it also irritates the hell out of me ... to see how people become poor judges of character and hidden agendas/personalities...

It irks me

....how... some one like me... who ought to be more concerned about 'looks and appearances' .... end up being less concerned of that when meeting people.... and yet ... others, who's lives don't necessarily revolve on 'appearances' and 'asthetics' .... as the cliche saying goes...'Judge a book by its covers'...

Its disgusting when you see the deceptions handed out and presumptions people make of them.

One fine day. The truth(s) wil spill out all OVER them.

Then again, few ever learn.

Victoria's Secret without... STARS

Tyra looking gorgeous opening the Last Show of her career.

The world-famous lingerie brand earns a whopping US$1 Billion annually in revenue . Period.

Hires 26 supermodels year after year for its famous-as-hell fashion show... Naomi, Karolina, Adriana, Alexandria, Oluchi, Fernanda, Isabelli, Anna-Beatrice, Heidi.... you name it...

In Nov 2005, the brand lost its legend of all legends.. Supermodel Tyra Banks.. marking the end of an 11-yr multi million dollar collaboration and contract ; she who is the first ever cover model on the now- world famous magazine the 'Victoria's Secret Catelog' (why famous? Try getting any magazine with a bus load of supermodels posing in next to nothing on every of its pages) , she who is The first and remains the only black model to be an Angel (contracted Victoria's Secret model; sans 4-5 other Angels, every other supermodel on the run way show is to fill the spaces so-to-speak... very expensive and sought-after spaces of course.) And there's no need to elaborate on her being the first black model on the cover of famed Sports Illustrated... on consecutive issues no less(the only model in the history of the magazine to do so) ... first and only colored Cover girl.. first girl on the GQ magazine covers....blah blah . Woo.

Well, other fans will probably say Tyra left because she wanted to concentrate more on establishing her self as a media celebrity (and darling) and not just remain as a high profile international model that she already is. Well, not far from the truth. But consider this scenario:

If the brand were to go " Tyra, we really want you to stay (which they had openly admitted that they do), we'll pay your another US$5million dollar contract to stay on. "

OK, granted, Miss Bankable probably earns A LOT more now being the producer and host to ANTM and The Tyra Banks Show.
(she's now only the 4th woman in history to be on Times 100 Most Influential People ,twice. She is now virtually room mates with Hilary Clinton, Condoleeeza Rice and Oprah)
She earned over US$30-million in 2006, alone.


Tyra saying good bye to the Wings that made her famous.

But hey, an additional five mil just to be strutting down the runway and doing photoshoots a couple of times (Damn! She wore an US$11 million Fantasy Angel diamond-studded bra; the most expensive couture outfit in fashion history, back in 2004!...) ...is good pocket money to pay the rent, you know ;op


Then this month, the brand lost yet another Icon in its ranks, Supermodel Gisele Bundchen. She who opens every show for Victoria's Secrets. She who has arguably the most perfect body in the fashion world. She who holds the record for being the highest paid model in fashion history... n that brings me to my point.... all she asked... was a 'puny' S$5mil more..... and the brand won't budge.
I mean, hellooooooo.... do they think Gisele will work for Peanuts? They probably need her more than she needs them.

Losing 2 of the biggest stars in the business .. 2 of the most famous bodies in fashion history (Naomi, Kate and Elle pls seat down).... in the matter of 2 years..bad business sense for Victoria'Secrets.

Alright, granted, these two models are very expensive commodities and the money they make can feed entire third world nations for months . And its hardly 'justifiable' to ask for more... (after all Greed is one of the Sins , right?) .

But we, normal folks, who just want pure entertainment.... can't possibly see Karolina Kurkova or Adriana Lima open every show... Alexandra Ambriosio looking all sweet and pretty all the time ..... and then there's Selita Ebanks and Isabel Goulart (god knows why and how these two even became the latest Angels! Where is Ana-Beatrice and Oluchi when you need them?! ).. erm... never mind.

Heidi Klum? If only , that is ... IF only, she ever gets out of maternity leave ... and stops getting preggy year after year....

Still, Tyra , then now Gisele .... are gone.

Last year's 'SEXY ' (Whatever) 'Justin Timberlake' showcase ... was already a little hodge podgey..
This coming 2007 Victoria's Secret fashion show....will be interesting.

Stay tuned..... and sigh your hearts out.


Tyra closing the VS show. For the very last time.

It's not HOW much you EARN but how much you SAVE.. ?

Just read about some financial planner telling everyone that to be 'rich' is not how much we earn but how much we save.

Hmmm. Don't we all already know that...

Questions is.... in the real context of things... is it really possible?

Don't people who earn more spead just as much to befit their higher social status and spending power.... I mean the only reason why people push so hard for higher education, fame, wealth and/or glory ... is so that they will have the status and spending power to enjoy the fruits of their hard-earned success....?

I cannot imagine anyone who aint motivated to earn as much as their possibly can simply earn a lot and at the end of it ... didnt know where the money come from or where it should all go too?

My argument is simple:If you aren't interested in earning/achieving more, you simply wont.

Success does not simply fall from the sky. You've got to have what it takes... and PUSH IT and want it badly enough .

So I do see the oddity in that comment.

Fighting DEPRESSION

We all have days when depression sets in ....

The helplessness. The frustration. The dilemmas. The torment.

For all thosereading my post.... let's discuss. Feel free to let loose here ... LOL

How does one fight depression?

i) Exercise?
ii) Drink you sorrows away?
iii) Get high on _________ ?
iv) Talk to some one? Pour you hearts out...
v) Dance the night away
vi) Get into a boxing session
vii) Holla at the open sea
viii) Holla at that loved one you take for granted ever so often?
ix) Cry and let tears drain it all away...
x) Or simply ... sulk . 'Shucks! Shucks! Shucks!' (haha)

OR... are you already on medication? Then my heart does go out to you. :[)

Yet another reality TV upset.... Yau-Man is OUT...

The mentally strong, intelligent and fair-playing Yau-Man from the latest seassion of The Survivor is ... out.

Such an inpiration for millions out there with his wit, graciousness, amicable personality and brain-over-brawn tenacity... would have been an instant shoo-in for the million dollarprize money.

Well, circumstances played him out.

No pointing of fingers because this IS a dog-dog game.

Yau-Man, all the best. An inspiration to us all ASIANS. You stand for all the qualities that make us who we are n are PROUD of.

You go, Man !

What's there NOW to watch on American Idol?

Nothing.

Melinda Doolittle is out... nothing's worth watching no more.

Who cares if an original like BeBop Blake or the star-perfect Jordin Sparks (beatiful name with the looks a.k.a a fat Beyonce with the height and stature of Tyra) wins... its not like the most talented of them is still around to really make the Finals worth reveting over.

So, keep me updated. Because I won't.

Friends ... who are they?

Have you ever wondred exactly who are your friends?

But never had that BIG tragic moment to ever sieve the hang-outers from the stay-by-your-sides ?

Never had one... will never know actually.

But in our hearts, we really do dont we ?

We join clubs, GO to the clubs.... the hugs and the kisses... the hi's and the byes... the treats and the sharing.... the rip-offs....

Think real hard.... and you realise ... DAMN..... most of my 'FRIENDS' do fall into that category.

They treaten break offs.... and betrayal.. you feel obligated rather than wanting to be around them.

What about the other group? The 'stay-by-your-sides' type? The ones who come in times of need?

How many of us are lucky to actually have one? I know none ...as I've said earlier...

NEVER HAD THAT TRAGIC MOMENT .

Not disillusioned

WRT to my earlier 'Model' post,

I'm not disillusioned ....not having been cheated or dumped.

Just that I felt a need to voice out about the cut-throat fashion industry that it is.

Disatisfied. Yes.

Pissed ... definitely. (Who wouldn't be over a pack of liars and fakers?)

But still shouldering on.

>>>Because thats ..... ME.

Modelling agencies....The NEXT BIG.... LIE

I never thought I 'd actually be talking about them.

They flatter you... take you for a ride... then dumb your sorry a**.

The fashion industry has the most beautifully groomed people around.
But for all the pills, creams, routines, surgeries and procedures ... it all does little to cover up the deviousness and ugliness that lies within.

They feed off your youth and your desperation; naitivity and helplessness.

They promise you one thing.. but really mean something else.

"You'll be on the cover of magazines, the face of some brand, the next big thing... " and then the 'cricket' -moments of silence; painful truth settles in.


No one to turn to, no one you can rely on... no one you can trust. No one books you...

They hint to you that you're "too this" ... " too that" ..... " Cut your hair" .... " Long hair please!" ... " too short..." ..... "too fat....loose weight!" .... b*t*hing no end.

Kidding? My BMI is 16 and I have a waist line of 26 inches... the same as my dog's.....

WHY the hell should I listen to these 'know-it-all' people?

You're not signing my pay cheque.. so quit tell me what to do !!!


..... All you ever see are ugly people who somehow get ahead of you.... and it just pains one to wonder why?

It's not sour grapes. It's the truth. It's not pretty. It never was.

DOORs... such conTRAPtions

Everyday, we are faced with choices that are pivotal to what lies ahead.

" What do I want?"
" Who am I?"
" Who or what do others see me as?"
" Do I really know my strengths? Am I honest about my weaknesses?"

Do we look into the mirror and not see who we are? Do we fear looking into the mirror and realise you do not recognise that person in it?

It's easy to say " One Life. Live it." OR " Just Do it" ..... but is it?

Often what defines us are the commitments we have made to or for others in our lives. Can we live ours?

All my life all I ever did was to study... study....train.... train...do well in sports.... get the good grades... be in the best stream and class.... get yourself a place in University.... grab that scholarship... get that decent well-paying job blah blah. Yes, I've done that. Well on my way.

BUT WHY AM I NOT HAPPY?

And then suddenly one day, you realise that you can be good at other things as well... you've missed out on so much....and oh how you wish... commitments arent pinning you down... it's like I'm living a life for others to be comfortable with.

The torment that the clock is ticking ... but you're not the one moving....

It's frustrating. It's agonizing. It's torturous. It reduces anyone to tears.

Can we ever be selfish enough to just drop all the baggage and say... from now on... the only responsibility is ME . My OWN. Can we? I doubt.

So exactly when do we see that door of opportunity opening? When do we see it close?

Life is not smooth.
Everyday, we get numerous doors slammed in our faces. I know I have been.

Few out there are willing to share their successes or let you have one yourself. They are cruel. They are self-centred. They don't want to see you succeed. They don't even want to know you exist at all. But who can blame them?

Your anxiety, your limitations, your plea for that chance... Do you think anyone listens?

And then there are those doors that open SO BIG that it makes one wary as to what lies through it. Can it be that simple? After all that I've been through?

So let's consider? What have I got to lose? EVERYTHING? or... NOTHING?

To be or not to be... that's the hardest question of all.



......and I'll still forever be that small boy... by the corner... weeping and pleading... and nobody knows or cares..... until I stand up and yell... and may be they will start noticing... or not... and continue with they daily doings... No harm done .

I think I've gotten my answer.