The DiaS’pura 2/Sing, City! 2 AAR

I wish we’d done this during the last DiaS’pura – uploading video updates of the day’s activities.  mrbrown has quite a few good ones on his blog.  I’m sure there’ll be more to come, as I saw numerous posting of photos of the event on Facebook from various sources.  mrbrown also took the time to cover the technology in Huntsman Hall lecture theatres:

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the speaker series.  I’ve heard nothing but positive reviews so far.  I’ll post any comments/videos as they come up.

The Yaps’ musical was a two-pronged attack on the audience’s hearts and the funny bone – the incessant gushing and awwing of the audience through the sentimental bits was matched only by the gaffws though the uproarious comedy segments.  I struggled to catch my breath after the US customs scene – I had strained my diapragm while laughing slumped on the VIP couch (generously offered to seniors by Caleb Yap).  And watching the actors, some old and  some new, take to the stage singing Random School Facility (with an additional verse written for YX’s misanthropic character) felt like a raucous class reunion.  I thought I could hear Jennifer Setiawan belting “…but I got it fuuuuuuuuuurst…”

Oh speaking of the musical, Josh or Caleb has reinstated the old Sing City musical blog, which houses some of their rants and thoughts from the first musical.  Check it out here.

I had to leave without watching the last quarter of the musical, which I heard had all the best songs.  Of course, Sekali I was the highlight of the evening for most people.  mrbrown has kindly included the lyrics to the song in his video:

And of course, the old fav, Noodle Blues:

On that note, if you have any photos/videos of the event, please send them to the Club Singapore exco at exco@diaspura.org so that it’ll be included in their archives (which I assume will eventually be released to the world).

I had to leave the musical early as I had to set up for the Mambo afterparty at Level Lounge at 21st and Market st.  This was my first experience DJing for a big party, and that will be an entire rant/post in itself.  All I can say is that I’m glad everyone on the dancefloor had as much fun as I did behind the DJ booth – seeing Garett breaking out his “who says white people can’t dance” moves, hypnotizing a huge group of Singaporeans into standing in a circle and doing synchronized moves in time with the music, and feeling the relentless thump of the bass from the club’s speakers was a gratifying experience.  I have no pictures/photos though – I was so busy trying to be “professional” that I completely forgot my Asian roots and didn’t whip out the camera!!!  If you’re reading this AND you attended the Mambo afterparty AND you have ANY photos of the crowd at the event (I swear I saw some of those overhead-angled shooters at work), please let me know in the comments.

All in all, a great night spent in Philadelphia.  Hopefully more updates to come.

mrbrown is in Philadelphia…

mrbrown is in Philly for DiaS’pura 2 – it’s not too late to get tickets!  Any Penn-pals recognize the U.City landmarks below?  Kinda creepy, but you can almost map out point by point the route he describes below:

I wanted to ride the bike out but it was raining and fairly late so I just walked to look for dinner. I ended up having a Baracoa bowl from Chipotle.

Part of my travel ritual is always a trip to the convenience store to pick up a few bottles of water and iced tea for the room. So into the 7-Eleven I went.

I spotted a big bookstore nearby (this is the university district of Philly after all) on the way to dinner and made a mental note to visit it.

In the middle of the night, still up at 3am because I am not used to the 12-hour time difference, I dashed acrossed the street in 6°C temperatures to a Wawa‘s to get a hot hoagie. It tasted good but man, was it messy to eat. I felt like a housewife cleaning up my table after I finished supper.

DiaS’pura twitter stream: mrbrown is on his way to NY/Philadelphia

mrbrown just twittered/microblogged about his preparations before leaving for the big Singaporean event in Philly this weekend, DiaS’pura 2:

…and still cannot stop twittering and using the Net. Gonna be a long flight to NYC and Philadelphia but also looking forward to meeting friends, old and new, there.

…I also packed a few more warm clothes in case it gets too cold in the East Coast. By the looks of the weather reports, it’s averaging 0 to 11 degrees C. Yikes.

Buy your tickets here, if you haven’t already done so.

DiaS’pura II film panel – preview

Since DiaS’pura II (“DSP”) is round the corner, I thought I might share my thoughts on what to look out for at the speaker series at DSP:

The film panel

The filmmakers coming to speak are all accomplished filmmakers who have achieved a certain level of recognition in Singapore.  I follow blogs about the Singaporean film scene on a regular basis, and these filmmakers have all been featured in interviews, exposes and discussions multiple times.  See below for some interesting (by my standards) links regarding these filmmakers.

• Michael Wang’s interview after a screening of “Carrot Cake Conversations”:

• Boo Junfeng’s showreel:

• Mirabelle Ang’s “Match Made” was screened at MoMA.

• Eva Tang’s blog – you can see the number of festivals her films have screen at.

• Li-Anne Huang’s “Singapore Girl” – you can catch a preview on her website.

• And the moderator of the panel himself, mrbrown, who needs no introduction to Singaporeans.  He is the brains behind the Mai Hum remix of the Blackeyed Peas’ “My Humps”:

BTW, DiaS’pura is still eagerly seeking donations/sponsorships!!!  Please click on the Donate button on their website.