Viewpoint - Boy Band Pandemonium

2012 is definitely the Year of the Boy Band. Indeed, the boy band phenomena is making a major comeback on the music scene. But the biggest wave must come from One Direction. This British-Irish boy band consists of Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan, and is signed to Simon Cowell’s record label, Syco Records.

They found fame after finishing third in another hit reality show, The X-Factor. In fact, the group was formed after each of the band members had applied unsuccessfully as solo acts for the “boys” category of the singing contest. It was judge, Nicole Scherzinger, who suggested they form a band, and together as One Direction, they qualified for the “group” category.

With their sunny good looks, strong vocals, and undeniable stage presence, One Direction has captured the attention and hearts of millions of fans the world over. Their debut single, “What Makes You Beautiful” went straight to number one on the music charts. For now it seems, One Direction is here to stay, and the only direction they are headed is up, as they are poised to rise even beyond the superstardom of earlier boy-band sensations like Westlife and Boyzone.

Colour My World

All of us are familiar with the colours red, blue and yellow. Why not? They are primary colours in the colour spectrum and most often, the first few colours taught to us. As we got older, we were introduced to purple, pink and green (secondary colours) which slowly progressed to teal, magenta and aubergine (complex colours).

Now, let's go a step further since most Journaling Clubbers are on the verge of young adulthood. OK, lame joke, I know. Listed below are the top ten unusual colours often used in art, paintings, crafts, fashion, where ever.

Vermillion - A vivid reddish orange
The word vermilion traces to the Late Latin vermiculus, meaning kermes. Kermeses are the dried bodies of insects, of the genus Kermes (see picture below), used to produce this ancient red dye.

Verdigris green - A yellowish green
Ancient Greeks manufactured this pigment by hanging copper plates over hot vinegar in a sealed container. When copper naturally oxidizes, a verdigris green film forms on its surface. This process has also occurred naturally which you can see on the Statue of Liberty (see picture below).

Titian - A brownish orange
In the paintings of the great sixteenth-century Italian artist, Tiziano Vecellio who was often called Titian, the women often have distinctively brownish-orange hair. Such depictions as shown in the picture below inspired the colour name titian.

Bisque - A light greyish brown
Bisque is probably a shortened and altered form of biscuit, meaning earthenware or porcelain after the first firing and before glazing. This is because the biscuit (see picture below)resembles the colour and look of Anglo-French besquit or twice-cooked bread.

Puce - A dark red
Puce entered English from French, where puce translates as flea. The relationship between the flea and the colour (see picture below) is almost certain refer to the flea's hunger for blood, which is dark red.

Cattleya - A medium purple
This colour comes from a kind of orchid named for William Cattley, a patron of botany whose enthusiasm for orchids helped fuel a British craze for the flowers in the 1700s. The most common form of one of Cattley's original orchids, the cattleya labiata (see picture below), highlights the colour cattleya.

Smalt - A medium blue
The colour name comes from the blue glass (see picture below) of the same name. Smalt is created by fusing together melting potassium carbonate, silica, and cobalt oxide. The word's Germanic ancestor means ‘to melt’.

Damask - A greyish red
It may or may not have originated in Damascus but the name of the damask rose, a flower that travelled to Europe during the Middle Ages, honours that Syrian city. The hue of the blossom as shown in the picture below lives on as a colour name.

Jasper - A blackish green
The colour name jasper comes from the name of the opaque quartz stone called jasper (see picture below). The ancient Hebrew word from which jasper comes may have meant something like ‘glittering’ or ‘polish’.

Bittersweet - A deep reddish orange
The oval berries of the European bittersweet plant taste first sweetish and then bitter. But it was the American plant called false bittersweet with its orangey-coloured fruits (see picture below) that inspired the colour name bittersweet.

View Point - Vandalism or Art?

I was at Scape Park on Orchard Road on Sunday evening when I spotted a few teenagers spraying paints on the walls and dustbins. I think it was the first time I had witnessed such a blatant act of defacing public property. And in broad daylight, too.

The first thing that came to mind was how irresponsible those teenagers were. I was angered by their actions. But that night, as I pondered over the incident, I found myself strangely feeling sorry for them.

You see, this is Singapore – all pristine and squeaky clean. Everything is neat and orderly, everything in its right place, so that there is little room for creativity and expression. What these teens need is a simple graffiti wall to express their emotions through street- art.

Now if there was such a medium for repressed teens to ‘let go’ and express themselves freely, perhaps incidences of vandalism would be dramatically reduced!

Editor's note: The photo above is not the actual vandalism mentioned in this article.

View point - ITE, A Pathway to Success!

With its advanced, state-of-the-art facilities and training centres, ITE College East is truly a great platform for students, who were deemed less academically-inclined in secondary school, to excel in their studies. This hands-on, practical approach gives ITE students a chance to showcase their strengths and talents and realise their potential, and ultimately to fulfill their goals.

ITE applies the same concept to everyone, including me. I may not have a strong foundation in many of my primary and secondary subjects. But ITE is the place where I am able to do well in the course that I am taking. In fact, I don’t remember ever doing so well in my studies! I know that this course will be a boost to my future career, as ITE specialises each course to a particular industry.

As a student in ITE, there will still be competitive challenges for me to embark on and obstacles for me to overcome. Every course I take will test my determination and perseverance in wanting to succeed in ITE. This hands-on in ITE is about the same as in Polytechnics, and prepares us for the workforce. There is a good balance between theory and examinations, as well as practice and industrial attachments. Students are graded according to a Grade Point Average (GPA), and it is up to each of us to work towards a perfect four-point GPA.

ITE offers each of us with the same opportunity to be successful in the NITEC or higher-NITEC course, and move ahead to the Polytechnics and Universities.

ITE is does not stand for ‘It’s The End’. For me, ITE means ‘It’s To Enjoy’. Honestly, I am enjoying my studies! I am enjoying my CCA and my campus-life in College East too. And best of all, I am doing well. Ultimately, it is up to each individual to decide what ITE means to him or her.

I am grateful for this opportunity to encourage people to think positively about ITE. I believe that the best is yet to come. I believe as long as ITE students put their “hands-on, minds-on and hearts-on” into their studies and embrace campus-life here in CE, they will succeed.

Blush Comes to CE!

Step aside Korean-pop girl bands, here comes Blush!

Hailing from five different Asian countries – Angeli from the Philippines, Victoria from China, Alisha from India, Ji Hae from Korea and Natsuko from Japan – these gorgeous girls are the products of Project Lotus, a continent-wide audition to find the next-big-thing!

Behold Blush, which has not only taken Asia but also North America by storm. What’s even more exciting is that they perform in English as well as in their own native languages.

In Singapore, Blush has chosen ITE College East to be their first pit-stop! As soon as we got news of their performance here, the Journalling Club flew into action. Our advisors, Ms Pam Koh and Ms Aslina, had arranged for us to conduct a short interview with the latest pop sensation to hit our shores.

When they sang, College East fell straight into their charms! We were as enthralled by their beauty as we were impressed with their high-octane performance. Blush owned the whole Amphitheatre and boy did they bring the house down! Their harmonised voices and faultless choreography wowed the student audience and left them clapping and stomping away.

During the interview, the ladies continued to charm us with their bubbly personalities and their down-to-earth attitudes. Victoria answered our questions earnestly and enthusiastically while Angeli was cute and sweet and always smiling. Ji Hae braved this interview despite claiming that her spoken English is not up to par (well, we thought you did great – you go, girl!). Alisha was sweet and humble in her responses and Natsuko, who was the expressive funny-girl of the group.

We had a great time with Blush! As we wished them all the best, we could think of was “Watch out Pussycat Dolls, here comes Blush!"

Finally, we would like to leave you with an unforgettable quote from Alisha – “Success is always 90-degrees steep. It is always straight up and continuing. To achieve success we must work hard and with humble commitment to start and reach up there”.

View Point - Summer Wars

Kenji, a high school student who works part time maintains a virtual online world called Oz. Oz avatars look cute and mostly their size is small. Basically the entire world is using Oz to function from e-mail and GPS to banking and weapons defense systems. Kenji has a crush on Natsuki, who invites him to work part time in the countryside over the summer. Kenji’s job is to act like Natsuki's fiancé to please the family matriarch, who will be turning 90.

Just as Kenji is starting to get into it, he solves a strange mathematical puzzle that arrives to his cell phone around midnight. This turns to be the security code for Oz, and once it is cracked a mega A.I. virus called Love Machine starts unleashing hell on Oz, enslaving other avatars and using the online infrastructure to throw the real world into utter chaos. Traffic lights cease to function, people don’t know where their locations, and even plan to destroy the whole town. At Morning, news reported him as the criminal but actually he is innocent. Kenji avatar been stolen and unable to login into his account, that is when he is heading to next room to lent computer and realize that actually she is controlling “King Kazuma”, which was once very famous and always get rid all evils who trying to bring chaos to Oz.

Natsuki's grandmother dies, but the family comes together to reconcile and defeat the virus. Natsuki uses her avatar to gamble at hanafuda cards, at first Natsuki is losing but because Oz is global and other countries trust her that she can bring peace to Oz, so they decided to give Natsuki a hand and win accounts back from the Love Machine, which weakens him enough so that her cousin "King" Kazuma can lay the smack down. Kenji cracks the security code and redirects a missile headed for the house - with the help of Wabisuke, the black sheep of the family who went to America and programmed Love Machine to prove he wasn't a screw up. Admittedly, it is a bit of a stretch that all these talented folks are under the same roof, but you just have to suspend disbelief.

Kenji and Natsuki say it for us, "She is amazing." The death of grandma solidifies the family, and they go after Love Machine with a vengeance. This includes his creator, Wabisuke, an unfilial son, but one that loved the old lady, who adopted him as a child knowing he was her husband's. There’s a flashback is grandma walking with the child Wabisuke hand and hand down a country road; we see them from behind walking away from us. There’s few great scenes have all the members of the family of all ages using computers, cell phones, Nintendo DS units and so on to access Oz and fight together. This isn't just about a breakdown between "the virtual" and "reality," but rather a nuanced commentary on how the virtual can affect us.

People aren't coming together, but rather being driven apart by unstable work, which strains family and dating relations. The movie is touching not because of its specific nostalgia, but rather a universal desire for a place to be and people to share it with. In Hosoda's Nagano, everyone grows up, comes together and succeeds. In scenes where the family is cheering one another on, it is hard not to join them; I almost shed a tear when Oz users from around the world offered up their avatars so that Natsuki would be able to bet enough to beat Love Machine; when Natsuki cries alone after her beloved grandma's death, I wanted to reach my hand out to her like Kenji did. With Natsuki I for once wasn't attracted to a character as such.

That said, she is cute when inviting Kenji to Nagano, begging him to play along (close up on her hands grasping Kenji's), blushing over an old crush on Wabisuke or kissing the awkward Kenji in front of everyone in the finale (in a kimono). 

Summer Wars is a feel good movie, as attested by hoards of fans who on the spot decided to move to Nagano.

Do You Know...Your Drink?

Do you know what is friendship tea?

Editor's note: It is a dry, heady tea mix that is usually kept in a container, and given away to family and friends. While most tea mix is sweeter than traditional teas due to the added sugar and other sweet ingredients, this has a tinge of spice that makes a wonderful holiday or housewarming gift. It is sometimes called Russian friendship tea.

Here's the recipe for friendship tea.

You will need

2.5 cups sugar
1 cup Tang drink mix 

1 cup of instant iced tea
1.5 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves

Method

Stir ingredients in a large bowl.
Store in an air tight container.
To make hot tea, mix 3 teaspoons to 1 cup of hot water.
To make ice tea, substitute the hot water for cold water and pour over ice.

Do you know that the first cocoa drink is a spicy, frothy, thick, cold and bitter drink?

Editor's note: It was made and drank by the ancient tribes of Mexico and Central America, including the Incas, Aztec and Mayans. As sugar had not been introduced to the New World then, they mixed ground cacao seeds (or cocoa) with various seasonings. It was called xocoatl and was believed to be a health elixir. In fact, the word chocolate comes from the Mayan word xocoatl which means 'bitter water'.

Here's the recipe for  a good cocoa drink.

You will need

2 cups powdered sugar
1 cup cocoa (Dutch-process preferred)
2.5 cups powdered milk
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 pinch cayenne pepper, or more to taste
Hot water  

Method
Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix evenly.
In a small pot, heat 4 to 6 cups of water.
Fill your mug half full with the mixture, pour in hot water and stir to combine.
Seal the rest in an airtight container, keeps indefinitely in the pantry.
This also works great with warm milk and will form a thicker drink.