Is there really such a thing as objectivity?

What shall I talk about first? Salsa or Michael Jackson?

Well, I'll guess I get you all hyped up first with Salsa, then I'll finish off with Michael Jackson because I know most of you really don't want to talk about him. So sue me.

Salsa... hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Last night school had this latin social night thing, which I attended, which marked my first salsaro mojo in five months (excluding that one stint in Shanghai when I started to really miss dancing).

And it was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo worth it.

As usual, CT (did I ever mention this guy? Guess not) was the one who felt sorry for me and started me off on the dance floor, and after that I was waiting around, then on advice of another salsa girl I just went for the kill.

For the most part of the first half of the night, I was very proud of myself for daring to wear whatever I was wearing (I refuse to tell you what I wore; suffice to say those who know me would be very worried about my mental state right now) and for stubbing only one toe the entire night (CT's... poor thing).

Then the party really got started. I did most of the asking, but it was still fun. DL pumped my ego a bit after we danced (I thanked him for indulging me, and he said it was his line... flattering, no?). Then an indian fellow asked me to dance salsa and man, did we really burn the floor (purely in my opinion anyway). He was good; it was as much as I could do to keep up with him. In fact, the dancing got so furious he accidentally pulled my pants open.

Stop. Imagining. Things. It does you no good.

Anyway, we continued after I fixed that little mishap. He did a few dip stunts with me (surprisingly strong guy for his stature and my weight). At one point I almost touched the ground. Man, what a ride.

After a couple of salsa rounds, he got me out again on a bachata. Another roller coaster ride. I didn't dare see how many people had their jaws on the ground and their eyes damaged (I mean, I didn't have a mirror to show me how good or bad I was). And there you have the story of my third bachata without proper training.

Talk about stress relief. That was a stress butcher.

Now on to Michael Jackson.

No No No No No No No No No don't you DARE avert your eyes! OY, I'm talking to you!

I've been hunting down MJ mtvs from his hey-days before the criminal charges, and when he was still dark-skinned. Gems, those are.

Hey, did you know that most of his songs are of a cautionary or campaigning nature? Bet you only knew the catchy bits. He's one of few singers left in this era who uses music almost exclusively to send a message, as opposed to just crooning love songs left, right and centre. There are exception, of course, like Thriller, but those constitute a smaller proportion of his repertoire than other bubblegummers.

And his dance moves are like, whoa. Y'know, contrary to popular belief, his moves are not limited to moonwalking and crotch-grabbing. Why does everyone assume that? That's just skewed perspective due to bad media coverage. His moves are really the futuristic avant-garde moves of the current era, and no pop or rock artiste has come near since.

I like Beat It, Bad and Remember The Time (Eddie Murphy as the Pharaoh!), but I can't find the full length video for Ghosts. I remember I liked that one a long time ago; want to see it again.

Okay okay. Keep your skewed perspectives. Party Poopers. *pout*

Intelligience needs rest too.

You know, I don't know why it is that it's the arses with no sense of humour who try to critique the slapstick films, and the idiots with no understanding of literature who try to critique the thoughtful films. It's just bizarre.

Anyway, watched Burn After Reading with parental units today. Sooooooo worth it. I mean, this is the leave-your-brain-at-home kind of madness. So people who's brains are getting fried from overwork should watch this movie.

Coen bros, man... this is their trademark straight-in-your-face shameless laugh. Their stuff were made for the 'educated' people who no longer have the ability to take a breather from thinking.

Did that make sense? Didn't think so.

Anyway, I've no idea how Brad Pitt did in Legends of the Falls; never got to see that one. I do know, however, that pure character-wise, this is his best out of all the Pitt-movies I've seen (repeat, out of those that I've seen). Believe it or not, it takes a serious genius to play an idiot with such aplomb. Man, I love playing idiots and madmen, but I do the madman thing much better; probably explored that a bit more than the idiot charade. Goodness knows how much training it takes to get to this level, to play the idiot smoothly, convincingly and still comically. Reminds me of Sean Connery in the fourth Indiana Jones film, playing the dad. Taking roles people don't expect them to take, and bringing them to life such like no one else can do.

Pitt hasn't broken that frame the audience has put him into (I get the feeling he doesn't intend to), but he certainly tweaked that frame for this movie.

Clooney plays his usual suave guy role for comedies, no surprise there; he's good at it.

Malkovich may not have smiled a lot in the film, but mark my words: He enjoyed every bloody bit of it. No pun intended. God, this movie is nothing without Malkovich holding as pillar, the other pillar being, of course, Swinton.

There was something about Swinton's performance, that contrasted with the rest of the cast; I just can't figure what it is. I could say she played her role straight, only Malkovich played it equally straight, if not more so, so that can't be it... I can't define what it is, but it may have something to do with the fact that, unlike most of the other cast, her role was not specifically written for her. She played it excellently, no doubt, but I just can't put my finger on what made it different.

Gah, need sleep. Another time. I've got 3 papers to write, one to rewrite and some ads to critique.

BTW, in case you haven't figured, "Burn After Reading" can mean "render this piece of information into carbon ashes", but can also mean "Burn a CD (of this) after reading". Good?

If crazy doesn't hurt anyone, what's wrong with it?

Right, updates.

I've been on a dating spree.

Okay, fine; it's my own personal delusion. Basically I'm just having meals with new acquaintances and playing catch-up with old ones. All males. One spontaneous one with a girl (but more on that in a while)

The catch-ups are certainly a lot more fun, and yesterday's was one of the nicest of all my recent excursions. LTB groupmate, RS. Maybe it's just a perception thing, but he really seemed a lot more outgoing and willing to take centrestage than usual. Then again, the usual LTB group was filled with very strong leaders then, some of us didn't really find the need to step up all the time.

Most of the dinner conversations revolved around talking nonsense, making snide comments, empty threats, imaginary mind control and accidental assassinations. Nothing major really, just all the small stuff. This continued on till after dinner, on our way to Shaw's to watch a movie. During this time RS began to educate me on the finer points of whiplashing and controlling minions.

When we actually reached Shaw's, I was threatening to buy tickets for The House Bunny (which RS vehemently objected to). The actual choices were between Mama Mia and Eagle Eye (hey, I just noticed: MM and EE... so cool), and after a little bit of cordial this and that, we chose Eagle Eye. Bought the tickets (after threatening to buy 1 Eagle Eye for me and 1 House Bunny for him), got coffee and hot cocoa during the wait (with RS trying very hard to put whip cream in my cocoa and me trying very hard to annoy him with House Bunnty), made a trip to the wrong theatre, looking for the theatre (while I explored the option that we would never find it and would have to settle for House Bunny instead), listening and critique-ing the Mama Mia soundtrack that was playing pre-movie (mind, we're not nice people), and made various comments during the show.

Did I mention RS didn't trust me with the tickets?

That was it. And that was one of the nicest outings. Well, for now I guess; got one more on Thursday and one pending confirmation.

Oh, the spontaneous dinner with the girl? She's D, needed a dinner khaki so we went for fast food. Turns out she met my brother in Sydney (GASP do we smell a conspiracy). She says I dress better.

Well, don't know about that. More boldly, maybe.

Oh, another guy I asked out on a meal actually followed up with a second date, to my horror. The whole flirting thing on the roof (it was a rooftop cafe, stop thinking twisted thoughts) was fun, but he wasn't my type. Anyway, think that's been dealt with.

Lots of work, and no galls to do them. sigh.

At least I need to look for something to do right now.