Today, I found myself.. (Day 251)

Today, I found myself knocked out from work of an incredible degree.

Today, I found myself.. (Day 217)

Today, I found myself relaxing by stressing as I observed a shoot in a shady inn.

Creepy.

Today, I found myself.. (Day 214)

Today, I found myself selfish in work and play.

Today, I found myself.. (Day 208)

Today, I found myself contemplating an implementation of change right before the storm.

Today, I found myself.. (Day 203)

Today, I found myself understanding that a bad start doesn’t always end bad.

Today, I found myself.. (Day 202)

Today, I found myself taking a short little break before hell in two prongs strikes me.

Today, I found myself.. (Day 200)

Today, I found myself chasing after my nose as motivation came from the future.

AMG.

Today, I found myself.. (Day 196)

Today, I found myself wishing that the example does not come true, at any all.

Today, I found myself.. (Day 193)

Today, I found myself feeling good taking it slow while questioning the uncertainty of the future in good faith.

Today, I found myself.. (Day 174)

Today, I found myself exploiting the old and introducing the new of media.

Today, I found myself.. (Day 89)

Today, I found myself tiring out and sleeping in front of the blue light.

Today, I found myself.. (Day 88)

Today, I found myself happy and contented that all’s done.

Today, I found myself.. (Day 81)

Today, I found myself getting a slap in my face by the dude up there. 

Today, I found myself.. (Day 80)

Today, I found myself burning out under the weather.

Today, I found myself.. (Day 79)

Today, I found myself drawing eye bags for myself.

Today, I found myself.. (Day 77)

Today, I found myself getting evaluated and rated.

Today, I found myself.. (Day 74)

Today, I found myself emotionally neutral as result via the side effect of work. 

Today, I found myself.. (Day 60)

Today, I found myself donning an imaginary corporate attire before swapping it for the theoretical pen and paper. 

All I want for Christmas is my two cents worth

The quiet and empty streets where Solace and Tranquility is evident.

The long awaited term break is finally here and quite honestly, never a better time. As much as I enjoy the daily pressures of school work and assignments, the break will serve as an ideal period to rest the tired bones.

In retrospect, the term was filled with a rich variation of activities; assignments, school work, late nights and other commitments.

To sum it up in a nutshell, it was a real difference as compared to previous semesters. A myriad of assignments and expectations supplemented the time during the term, making it a real challenge as well as an ideal learning process within.

However, I would like to talk about one particular assignment which I thoroughly enjoyed, and one of my favorites to date in terms of the process and final product.

Disturbing, ain't it?

I'm pretty sure that, to many of you out there, lugging through town at the wee hours of the morning isn't exactly a norm for an assignment. But that was exactly what we did.

Basically, the assignment circled around nation building targeted at the youths of the nation and what we were expected to do was a simple photo montage of various pictures which depicted the group's interpretation of the theme.

Sounds juicy doesn't it?

Our group decided to do something a little different and thus had to go around in search of "empty" shots. The only way to do it? The wee hours of the morning.

So where are You?

Sure it was tiring but the end product was, to me personally, well worth the effort as we got the shots we wanted, which conveyed the effect and atmosphere that we intended to portray.

An abstract 4/6 of the Drool Bits Team.

Take a look at our final product for this assignment and feel free to give me your feedback and comments. The members of Drool Bits Productions look forward to these responses.



Moving away from that now.

Christmas is around the corner, but with a difference. The global financial crisis has indeed affected the bulk of consumers, both in physical spending power as well as psychological security.

Take a quick walk down down and you'll see that companies are doing their best to entice the wary consumers this festive season. From vivid decorations to "too-good-to-be-true" promotions, manufacturers and companies are going all out to get the sales they project for the period.

Marketers are truly put to the test.

I was in town recently and quite honestly, didn't understand the severity of the crisis until I began to observe what was actually happening.

The moment I stepped onto the cobbled sidewalks of the infamous shopping belt of Singapore, Christmas songs sung by a choir, filled the air with joy, hope and happiness; a typical Christmas scene, in short.

Little did I realize at that time that the source of the music wasn't from an actual Christmas choir but from multiple speakers planted onto the Christmas decorations which dotted the shopping belt.

I've also noticed the abundance of salvation army stands set up at regular intervals along the belt, with distinct bells to attract the public's graze and hopefully, with a few dollars to spare.

Few donated, partly due to the financial crisis but also partly due to the controversial charity fraud incident which happened a while back; trust amongst the people have yet to be earned.

Consumers are more wary about their spending ability due to the financial situation.

Certainly, the current crisis has put a drape on the festive atmosphere and rightly so. With higher demands of living, it isn't exactly easy to get by these days.

And on to more lighthearted content.

I've noticed quite a number of "Christmas Lists" springing up amongst the other blogs and pages which I visited and thought it would be interesting to do a personal list for myself.

So Here goes;

Christmas List 101

(non-material items)
1. Happiness
2. Emotional Stability
3. Health
4. An end to suffering everywhere
5. To build and bond with friends and family
6. A clearer mind in preparation for the new year ahead
7. People around me to be satisfied with their lives
8. Freedom

Cliche as it may seem, I feel very strongly about the above aspects as that is what really matters to us as human beings in essence.

However, here's the more material list, for good measure;

(material)
1. Nikon D60 (or something along those lines)
2. A decent Drum kit (but not really due to space constrains)
3. I can't really think of anything else
4. Oh yea here's one, Cowbells (for my Welcome to the Jungle drum cover)

Just for the record, number 1 on the material list is already in acquisition as I'm currently saving up/working and also, striking a compromise with my Dad (who is mildly interested in the product himself) for a decent entry grade DSLR.

I'm still open for comments as to which model I should get so feel free to supplement me with advice and feedback.

As for number 2 and 4, I'm sure Santa would have his work cut out lugging around a 5 piece drum kit on board his little reindeer cart thing, so I'll work towards a solution to purchase it myself, a long term thing though.

I have hopes for Christmas as with everyone else. A season for giving, as they call it but most importantly, a season to be jolly.

The family's Christmas tree still lies packed in the storage room since last year and quite honestly, I'm not too sure myself if it's gonna be out this time.

Be sure to check back for updates this festive season. Everyone might be on holiday, but here at metallic-stains, we work while on holiday.

So buckle up your coats, ready your wellingtons and dig up those ear muffs as Christmas is upon us.

Let us smile for all that's worth.

Happy Christmas! (in advance)

Cya'll later.

*All the images, pictures and video as seen in this post here on metallic-stains is the result of an affiliation between Drool Bits Productions and the management team of metallic-stains.blogspot.com. Usage of material or content from this post without the knowledge of either Drool Bits Productions or the metallic-stains management team is at the user's risk and legal action may be taken depending on the consequence. The people at Drool Bits Productions and metallic-stains.blogspot.com wishes everyone a safe and happy holiday.

"Your Crazy Kitten Smile"
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Song of the Post


Now playing: Radiohead - True Love Waits
via FoxyTunes

The Missing Piece

Sometimes we just need to sit back and think about that missing piece.

I've noticed that my posts are getting more and more irregular and infrequent (about one post weekly). But rest assured, this can be solely accredited to the huge influx of work being thrown on us as the holidays draw near.

Christmas holidays to be exact.

More content will be available once time frees up and quite honestly, I can't wait for the Christmas holidays. But then again, who can? I'm sure all of us would welcome the soon-to-be-here break with huge open arms.

The pass few days were largely interesting to me as an individual, personally and professionally. Largely due to a particular assignment given which required photographs to be taken, whilst at the same time, following the specific theme.

For 3 consecutive days, I've been lugging through the distinct landmarks of Singapore, in hopes of finding the shots that are required for the assignment as well as for personal interest.

Interestingly, the more shots I took for the assignment, the more I found myself attuned to the novelty of photography. I've always been an admirer of great photographs but never really about the process of capturing the picture but this assignment has certainly changed my perception.

I've learnt that there are various elements to taking a good photograph and that it isn't as simple as to "aim and shoot". A good photographer will have to possess key attributes such as patience and a good eye of perception.

Certainly no walk in the park but its certainly an interest worth considering (though a costly one).

And now, on to today's topic.

Ever felt that a little something is missing at a particular period, a particular place or a particular designation during your life?

We live in a fast paced society and there's certainly no denying that. From the time we take our first step into education until the day we pack the office and leave for home after completing the last day of work, I'm safe to say that we live a pacy life.

However, let us now take a step back, ignore the pacy demands of life and ponder over the missing piece.

I'm sure that many a time, we've had the feeling of "a little something missing".

You have just finished your novel but as you read through the narrative, you find that there is "a little something missing"; The painting that you've been working on is finally completed, but as you sit back to admire your work, you find that it lacks "a little something".

A void of substance is often accredited to this "missing piece". We know the empty space is there, but somehow, we don't and we are unable to find something to fit that missing space, inch for inch, prim and proper.

I feel that this can be referenced to multiple aspects of life; Work, businesses, products, relationships, family and the such.

The list goes on and on.

It is interesting that we, as human beings, are such peculiar creatures on this level. As the "missing piece" is hard to find, many give up without even trying. While in some other cases, the missing piece literally walks into your life but goes unnoticed through the oblivious human perception.

People, things and opportunities walk right into our lives, but will we take it?

Life is a journey that contains imperfections, mistakes as well as obstacles. Some say that life is a puzzle. Yes, we can say that life is like huge puzzle, but I'd like to think of life as an "un-completable" puzzle, divided into numerous segments.

To find the "missing piece" in life, one has to look and observe and most importantly, treasure the things we already have while working towards the things we want to achieve.

Its like taking a good picture, where one has to find the "missing element" in a setting and portraying that element effectively in a picture. Sure, identifying whatever's missing is by far, an audacious task, but it is through these experiences which will make us stronger and improve.

Thus, identify the emptiness and seek to find an answer for it. Search for that special missing piece to make your segment of the puzzle complete.

I'll end here for now, a little food for thought through the topic, I hope. Assignment awaits.

As per normal, I'll be updating with new content soon so stay tuned and check back in abit.

One more week towards the much deserved holidays, let us all hang in there and make that final dash to the checkpoint.

Cya'll later.

*All pictures as seen in this post belongs to the management team of metallic-stains.blogspot.com. Plagiarism without consent will result in undesirable consequences.

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Song of the Post


Now playing: Taking Back Sunday - Make Damn Sure
via FoxyTunes