two years on

This blog is retired! Why are you reading this?
Anyway, if you need to know, we got gold for our category in the Research Congress finals. (:

You wouldn't believe me if I kicked you

And that's because we're in RE Congress Finals. Are you serious? Daniel Peck describes us as "the most endearing group of the lot with the most character". Sweet. I guess we'll try to wow whoever we're trying to wow as much as possible. Ah well, see you in the finals.

Generic Titles for Generic Days

Thanks Bensen for giving the impression that this blog is active. Anyway, after a long time, I post again. Oh, and the definition Bensen posted on Wikipedia is off! Well... Read talk page plese. Oh nevermind.
Anyway, we had our RE Congress semifinals presentation yesterday, and it went rather okay. By my standards anyway. We went horribly overtime, but apparently the teacher's enjoyed it or something. They were, in the least, amused. I hope they weren't thinking "how did this group get into the SF" or something like that.
Anyway, we had really weird questions. Mr Court: "Should gnomes be illegal?". Haha yeah, I don't expect you'll see us in the finals, but yeah.

a Stroke of Luck and a Rock

rock solid definition that is!

although our concrete definition of kitsch has been finished for more than a month now, we are only going to put it up NOW. why is this? you ask. now that our definition has been previewed by certain members of the intelligentsia, and there has been no scathing remarks made against our work and no troublesome flaws that are immediately noticeable, we believe that it is now ready to be shown to an impressionable (and mostly ignorant) public!

Behold!
The Definition of Kitsch

The criteria of kitsch are as such. Firstly, it has to be done in bad taste. Now, even as the definition just begins, we are faced with a perplexing dilemma. Who decides what ‘bad taste’ is and how? If it were to be based on the opinions of individuals, the concept of kitsch would remain as fluid and indistinguishable as ever, thus removing the value of our definition.

The second characteristic of kitsch is that it has to be an imitation. It is unoriginal, and lacks creativity or imagination. It is reproduced in mass numbers shamelessly. This criteria is easily understood and completely objective. The third and final aspect that something must have to qualify as kitsch is that it has to have been fashionable once before. Emphasis is on the word ‘before’. While eons ago, the majority of the people may have enjoyed such a form of art or culture or concept, that time is now past. In this sense, kitsch is very much unlike cheese (although they are rather similar phonetically), it does not get better with age. Kitsch is more like milk gone bad.

The majority that has to decide what is ‘bad taste’ and what is ‘fashionable’ is the educated public or intelligentsia. Kitsch, as an intangible part of culture, should definitely be defined by the majority in a society. The problem here is that kitsch cannot be kitsch unless there is a group of people who like it to the extent that they imitate and reproduce them. How then, can we decide the majority? The answer is to value the opinion of the educated masses more. These people are more enlightened and thus more capable of recognizing bad taste.

Still this definition does not exactly fix kitsch completely. It is still rather fluid in the sense that the opinion of the educated majority can change over time, and it is completely possible that something that was once kitsch can become fashionable again, but at any one time in society, kitsch will always have just one individual definition.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Still, this blog is not as famous and well-hit as we should wish. Thus, to spread our love for wisdom further, we have even ventured to put our definition up on an acclaimed online encyclopedia for the inspection of the world at large! it has now been 10 minutes and our work has not been booted off the encyclopedia, and thus do we wait here, with the greatest of all treasures that is hope squatting in our hearts, niggling at our ambitions and flattering our egos.

check it out here! : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitsch
It is the section entitled

Extensive Definition of Kitsch and What it Entails

hopefully, it is still there when you read this, and hopefully, it will be there always. haha.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have yet to explain what the stroke of luck is! well, it is actually TWO strokes of luck.

First: Our RE group has advanced into the semi finals of RE Congress.

Second: We have had the opportunity to work on our Kitsch Film. it has progressed fairly well, which is much more than we had expected. Hooray! Kudos to our film editing professionals Kang wei and Kinkit!
We have been inspired to name our film 99% Love.
This has alot to do with the subject matter of the film, and the basic meaning of this is the irony that one immediately sees when we attach a numerical value to an abstract concept like Love. However, more importantly, the Title is rather Kitschy and there are other titles like that out there. Take for example the japanese mangga Strawberry 100%. haha.

If you see us at the semifinals, you will be able to watch a portion of this film. if not, too bad. Unless we actually make it to the finals itself! haha. but we have our fingers crossed.

at the moment, we are hard at work with our powerpoint presentation... it is rather boring working on it. we have an aversion to ppt. but we dont really have a choice. we have to squeeze our 30 minute presentation into 8 minutes. take away the 1.30min clip we intend to screen, we have slightly more than 6 minutes to cover 30 minutes of material. looks like we are going to have to cut out some stuff. which is always difficult. what to cut and what not to cut? hahaha.

we require tempus magis....

a little nothing goes a long way

Shawn: When shall we three meet again? In Thunder, Lightning or in Rain?

Bensen: There are four of us!

ZY: When the RE report is done, when the presentations lost and won

Shawn, Zy, Ryan: Foul is fair, and Fair is Foul

Shawn: Sleep shall neither night nor day, Hang upon this pent-house lid. Till the report's done and presentation's heed

Ryan: A heavy summons lies like lead upon me, And yet I would not sleep

ZY: What! Can the devil speak true?

Bensen: Come what come may, time and hour runs through the roughest day

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As you can see, about 7 months of dabbling in kitschcraft has made us all really witchy -- i mean kitschy. There are many things to be done tonight, so let us keep focus and not lose sight!

First before else, we must apologise for the immense lack of attention that we paid to this blog over the course of our study of kitsch. Alas, things more intriguing had taken our attention captive! left at the mercies of our passions, we couldst not help but leave this blog in the dust, forgotten.

But not for long! For came back we did! Late, though our realisation comes, it is never too late to live and learn, as my gaffer used to proclaim. Now that we have returneth to this fondest of places, we shall learn double fast and use it to its utmost potential. Here, we have our cyber herald. and two announcements to go with it as well!

ANNOUNCEMENT ONE
Our (the said 'our' being of reference to a Research Education Group in Raffles Institution comprising Shawn Chua, Zhuoyi, Ryan David Lim and Bensen Koh) Report ( the said 'report' being a term used in the social circles of Raffles Institution to describe the Final Product of an RE group in the physical form of a written or typed scientific or artistic journal, within which is detailed everything that occured throughout the course of the project) is Done! (The word 'done' here used to refer to the state of being in which perfection has been attained and no further edition is required)
be happy for us!

ANNOUNCEMENT TWO
Due to unforeseen delays involving certain complications regarding issues of time, excess of which was absorbed by other groups, thus leaving us in great want of it, has resulted in our presentation being rescheduled to a later date. (This friday)

watch this space for more updates! all ye who wish to become enlightened in the faculties of kitsch. patience is a virtue.

Dead.

Our RE blog is now officially dead. We've postpone Goth Night and I do believe we are not on schedule.

A Man Named Knight

There once was a man naméd "Knight"
Who fell once a day every night
He enduréd the angst
But alas he but canst
T'was the last of the man we called "Knight"

There once was a poet unrivaled
In poems he wrote named "Untitled"
He peppered his "dark"s
And drew acrid remarks
For his poems on love unrequited.