We have much to do, and less time to do it in...

A lot of things have happened since the last post, dated August 11th. At home, at work and at play. In domestic affairs I am much the same; I still live in Johor, have my own room etc. but my brother tends to sleep in the living room more (I think it is windier there). And we have to do the housework now (that IS something!)

In work I have had a complete shift from shift work (pardon the pun) to a five-day week. Well at least I can sleep better now. And at play--hmm, that is indeed something: my NightWalk event is going on at a fair pace, and I hope we make it in time.

Planning for the event began in June. The latest grand meeting was at the end of November, where a lot of big decisions were made and announced and commitments reaffirmed. I thank those people who admitted they couldn't commit and announced their departure from the planning team. At least they made it known in good time. And now things are really beginning to get going.

Does anyone have a portable sewing machine?

The Devil is in the Details

A NightWalk should be treated with the due respect it deserves, not just "Let's throw some props together and voila!" or even "Just give us the props, and we'll think of something!"

Sadly, this is the way most NightWalks end up becoming. We may talk of making the next NightWalk being better planned, with ample preparation time, and if possible better quality props, but in the end it always becomes a rushed affair. Just like an organised enterprise is better than a haphazard enterprise, a properly-planned NightWalk is infinitely better than a "chapalang" one. If it fails, at least we made the effort to plan it.

You know the haunted house attractions of the US and Europe? It is a buzzing industry there, where people acquire properties with a very foreboding aura to them and make an attraction out of it, the more elaborate the better. It is possible to make something as professional-looking as them, but with a shoestring budget (or shall I say, raffia string? ;p) This is not to say such a NightWalk *will* be chapalangly-planned, nor will it *look* chapalang. It will just be thought out more. How to maximise the budget, yet still put out something which will impress?

(Notwithstanding the fact that there *will* be "additional" funding ;)

The Beginning...

--This post took a long time in coming, so I'll just tie up a few strings left loose in the previous few posts.--

I managed to attend FOC 0910! Yes, I know it was right in the middle of "important events", but I managed to doctor my schedule to attend the camp, even if only for the first day, and the last day. There was a heart-stopping episode during the process, but it turned out fine, and I'm relieved to say that all that is over and done with.

I've obtained the Lost World soundtrack from the Esplanade library. A longwinded process, but it was possible to do.

The NightWalk Manual has been safely returned to me. It has not been updated much, I'm afraid, but it had been of some use during this year's MIT FOC. Never mind, MIT 2010 coming up!

About the abandoned writings, I will go easy on myself. No use forcing oneself to do something if inspiration does not strike. A bad case of either writer's block or too much material? It remains to be seen.

Caesar III? That game influenced me a lot, man.

And I have a ton of things to say about NightWalk!

--Pour être continué...--

Props, Netbooks, and more!

A renaissance has occurred! I have been invigorated with literary energy and have revisited my long-abandoned writings of MIT FOC 0607, and to a lesser extent 0708 and 0809. Now FOC 0910 is just around the corner, but I regret to say that there is no possible way I can take part, as it is right smack in the middle of important events happening in my current life! (Further elaboration on these "important events" will be delivered to you verbally upon request.)

The least I can do for FOC 0910 is to help out in the props, as I have always done for MIT since FOC 0607. Last Saturday I met up in the clubroom with several juniors, the majority of which were Games Personnel (GPs), and a few Organising Committee (OC) members. A class on How To Make A Sadako was held, with rather ridiculous results. The funky pink raffia hair hadn't been sprayed black yet! I don't have a photo of this, sad to say, but if I can get one I will.

How To Make A Hand was also taught. The right hand was made by me, and the left hand was made by a female GP (I forgot her name, sorry), which resulted in different-sized hands. But all these anomalies were merely dismissed with a pronunciation of the NightWalk Props motto: "At Night Cannot See!™" (Does not apply to the funky pink hair, though.)

Hope to teach them How To Make A Leg next Saturday. I'll make sure to choose a partner with similar leg sizes, lest we create disproportionate limbs again.

I also couldn't demonstrate fully aural scares. The MIT had two sets of speakers, a large one with a subwoofer and a small Creative one, but both couldn't be made to work! The Creative one was spoilt, and the large one had a missing cable. I must remember to bring an audio cable next week.

On another note, I have just purchased a netbook from the IT Show which occurred last weekend. It was an Asus EEE PC 901 priced at $498. Usually things like these cost $798, but for my version, they removed the 3G websurfing function, and it became $300 cheaper. There were some trade-offs, as is the case with netbooks, but I will excuse them. For now, Internet access is greatly simplified!

Previously I had to go to either an NLB library or SP library to use the net, since my residence in Johor doesn't have a connection. But recently my SP SPICE account was deleted, meaning I cannot surf the net in SP anymore (for free somemore). So I had to use the computers in NLB libraries, which entailed a cost of $1.80 per hour, and you cannot save files and transfer them to a thumbdrive. No colour printing also. Very restrictive. Therefore, the netbook.

Back to Props. The Props Department this year have very ambitious targets for props, I observed. Nothing wrong with that, as long as they're used fully. It won't help making 10 pairs of arms if they're of bad quality, and have to be discarded and remade. A waste of material, I'd say. Masking tape is extremely Valuable!

Wee Hong, the current Camp Coordinator, also requested to borrow my NightWalk Manual for his perusal, the first time it has left my hands. I hope the advice and ideas in it, collected over the years, are of great use. Perhaps some new and refreshing Scare Ideas?

Recent Developments

I'm looking for the soundtrack to The Lost World Jurassic Park. That movie. Hope it doesn't become too difficult. Usually things that I search for are hard to find. And I only find that out when I actually begin searching. Terribly frustrating, isn't it?

A case in point is my 26-inch saw (refer to Dec 20, 2006 and Jan 22, 2007 for the full story). And a more recent item was a toy I saw in my childhood called the Big Big Loader (which I will elaborate upon in subsequent posts). You never know how hard it is to find something until you search for it.

Had been reminiscing recently about my Tekong experience. Thought of posting it, but these things are better said than written. My experience in HTA now is also not worth recording, I feel. Some things are better recorded immediately, like holidays and such, and some are better in retrospect.

Lots of things hanging in the balance. The Black Book (vérsion écrite), I mean. I don't know why, ever since MIT FOC 05/06, I became subjective, and endeavored to record long events like camps in their entirety, which required tens of pages or more. Writer's block would halt production, and the Book would be closed to new stuff till the current one was finished. That was the fate of the second book.

And because of that, my whole poly life went unrecorded (except for camps). Somemore got a lot of things to write. Now mostly forgotten. A bit sad. I've since begun new Books to fill this gap. One day I'll try to remember all the singular things that happened in 3 years of poly.

I rarely end posts at such a low note.