Somewhere in July 2005, I acted in two short films back-to-back, to be submitted for the Panasonic Digital Video Film Competition...

Both of them were written and directed by Marcus Lim, and starred both myself and Gillian Tan. More info and photos can be found here: http://tabulas.com/~Merman/923491.html...

One of them was called "Screen", in which I played a camera salesman who would sweet-talk anything to his customers to close sales. It's filmed in a variety of English, Mandarin and dialects, on purpose...

So it happened that my friend Hassim found the video of this 7:55min short film on Youtube! And now I can share it with all of you too!

SCREEN

(Photos Within...)

And after so long, I had forgotten if this film won anything or did well in the competition...

Oh well, what's more important is that it is a small piece of MY acting history...

1 angel(s) visited

Today, 2nd of June 2007, would have been my Mother's 59th birthday, had she still been alive...

But rather than dwell too much on the past, I am thankful for the life we've shared together, the amount of time we had spent together, and I am sure she will want me to celebrate my life as she would, if she could...

So here's an appropriate quote from one of the most inspirational ladies in the world...

Nitecaps #0043

Cheers!!!

comments

Today I met up with several blog friends for dinner and drinks, and to top it all off, I went clubbing again after a hiatus of about three months...

Wanted to take a break from my daily "Nitecaps" too, but I shall resist...

Nitecaps #0044

Good night, World...

comments

Back in my school days, I had joined and won many singing contests, and it was my greatest dream to perform in front of a massive audience and sing my love to everyone...

Then I woke up...

But there are still many more folks out there who share that same passion that I had before, and it is no wonder that there are more and more reality TV shows and talent schools out there milking this huge market...

Just take a look at the queues at the auditions for all these events...

Nitecaps #0045

I still love to sing and perform, but on a more personal, intimate level...

KTV anyone?

comments

Woohoo! My illustrations are getting published!

All thanks to Bryan, whose popular better Omhealth services have recently been translated from radio segments on LOVE 97.2 FM into a series of articles for the current and revamped "i-weekly" magazine...

From today, the above-mentioned magazine, together with "8 Days" magazine, both takes on a new compact-sized format, which makes it more handy and also reduced excess paper in an environmentally-friendly move...

My part in Omhealth for the past decade has been to assist Bryan in his workshops. I am also his official photographer...

Additionally, I had been drawing illustrations for Bryan's recently created blog (http://bryanomhealth.blogspot.com/) so his listeners and readers could better visualise his health tips and other messages...

Anyway, here is his first article on "i-weekly", featuring my illustration and a portrait shot of Bryan that I took...

(Enlarged View Of The Illustration In Here...)

More to come, so do watch this space...

comments

I've been thinking about creating my own series of collectible toys for quite some time already, something like the popular Trexi and Bearbrick toys...

But for that to happen successfully, I'll need  to create enough fun characters. I only have my little Eeni and Mini...

They'll do, for now...

Nitecaps #0046

For those unfamiliar with collectible toys, the one on the left is based on the Trexi design, and the one of the right is a version of the Bearbrick...

During my Hong Kong trip in January this year, I had already checked out the International Toys and Games Exhibition there, and found several interested parties on my artwork...

Hopefully something good will come out of this...

comments

Today, I attended the wedding dinner of Jenice (Qiaozhen) and her Burmese husband Sunny at The Legends...

I'd met Jenice some years ago when I was pretty active in the local Chinese theatre scene, and had worked with her in shows like "绿野仙踪", "风继续吹", "再别康桥" and "开心鬼"...

Back then, she was often cast as the Power Lady, the Evil Witch, the Diva etc. And the nickname she had given herself was "Piggypui", which was an indication of her size and self-image at that time...

And now, for the love of her life, she'd worked hard and lost her excess baggage to look perfect for the role of her lifetime: the Beautiful Bride...

If you're reading this, Jenice, know that you'd come a long way and I am very happy for you and very proud of you!!!

And please send me your beautiful wedding photos so I can post here!!!

Nitecaps #0047

Also, the wedding dinner itself was a reunion of some of my favourite local actors and theatre folks, most of them from the Singapore I-Lien Drama Society (新加坡艺联剧团) as well as Native's Art Society (本土一派)...

I also made several more friends from the local Chinese acting circle, some of whom are still pretty active on TV and in commercials...

Really happy to see all them again, and if I would ever want to return to the theatre scene again, it would be to work with these wonderful folks again!

comments

Through the Savage Chickens website, of which I am an ardent follower, I found another entertaining site that contained seemingly cutesy cartoons with a twist...

Introducing...

Kawaii Not

The Comic For Cute Gone Bad

(Some More)

There are some funny icons too...

 More Here

And if you liked what you see, do visit the artist's blog at:

http://kawaii-not.livejournal.com/ 

comments

Yo ho ho!

Yo ho ho!

Yo ho ho!

Erm... what else do pirates say? Har?

Or maybe, not these pirates...

Nitecaps #0048

Hehehe...

comments

Wow, I just noticed Youtube videos have got a new display interface!

Now they have a selection panel at the bottom of the screen just like those Mac users, although that could clog up the screen space and be a bit confusing at first...

As a demo, I'm using the short film clip that I did ages ago, which some of my newer friends have been requesting to watch. Those who'd seen it before, please bear with it...

Check out the other new features here...

The Letter

Pretty cool, hur?

1 angel(s) visited

It's been a nice lazy afternoon with me clearing clutter at home. And I took a little stroll back through memory lane...

Well actually I was spring cleaning my past show photos and recordings on my hard disk, when I came across a love song I recorded for a musical in 2005...

For the Singapore Festival of Arts Fringe in 2005, The Musical Theatre Society, together with United Artistes Network and The Next Stage, created a "musical incubation programme" where different creative teams were formed to write original musicals, under the "Five Foot Broadway" banner...

I was actually in two of these 45-minutes musicals: "Heartstrings" and "Don't Say I Do"...

The latter was written by Justin Kan (whom I'd previously worked with in "The Letter" short film - see previous entry), and directed by Irishman Paul Hannon. The music was arranged by Michelle Loh and Kelvin Fok...

And here are some of the cast...

L-R: JoAnn F. Hernandez, Edric Hsu, Nurul Maideen, Darius Lim & Elizabeth Tan

Well, I played this guy who, during the preparation for his oncoming wedding with Elizabeth (now seen on "Chakias and Slippers"), discovered that his ex-girlfriend Nurul (last appeared as a finalist in the "Singapore Idols" contest) was the bridal designer...

Kinda like "My Best Friend's Wedding", but different...

Anyway, I managed to find one of the songs we'd recorded for the musical soundtrack, and it's called...

Our Song

More photos and details here:

http://www.tabulas.com/~Merman/881536.html

http://www.tabulas.com/~Merman/891678.html 

***

Unsurprisingly, we didn't have a great budget or the luxury of time to record the songs, as there were other groups waiting for their turn too. And all three of us were having down with a cold from all the hectic rehearsals...

But listening to this song again now, kinda brings me back to the fun we had in the rehearsals, the intense but short-lived friendship made then, and also, sadly, my dwindling love for the Musical Theatre...

2 angel(s) visited

This post might seem an oxymoron, for I am about to introduce this Acupressure Point for Insomnia... at 4.44 AM no less...

Oh well, it is still evening time in some other parts of the world... nevermind...

So... here it goes (courtesy of Bryan at Omhealth)...

Remedy for Insomnia

Add 

1 drop of Lavendula Vera E.O.

and

1 drop of Grapefruit Pink E.O.

to a sheet of tissue paper,

inhale it deeply a few times, then

using the anointed tissue paper,

rub and press hard on the following

Spirit Gate Point

for 6 seconds, then release and repeat for 2 minutes... 

Nitecaps #0049 

Anyway, I am going to try this out on myself now, and if you don't see any more posts after this until, say, lunch time (Singapore time), then it worked...

Goodnight, World...

comments

This week's PhotoFriday challenge has the theme of "Purity"...

The first thing that came to mind is the colour "White"...

The next thing is "Water", also a rather obvious symbol of purity...

Or is it?

PURITY

"Water : The Symbol of Purity" ~ Edric Hsu
Photo Friday Entry #67
Image Size : 800 x 600 pixels
Digital Camera : Fujifilm Finepix F10
Location : Crown Casino, Melbourne, Australia
Date Taken : 29th December, 2005

comments

Last week's IllustrationFriday challenge theme was "Your Paradise", which gave me way too much food for thought...

What will my "Paradise" be like? What is the ideal, perfect world that I'll love to spend an eternity in?

I have not decided yet, but I am sure it involved a lot of fresh air, delicious food, beautiful photo opportunities at every corner!

Perhaps it's easier for my hamsters to decide what THEIR Paradise would be like...

PARADISE 

Nitecaps #0050

"Your Paradise" ~ Edric Hsu

So, what's YOUR Paradise like?

Incidentally, this post marked the 50th "Nitecaps" entry, which meant I'd been doing this for exactly 50 days since I started. *pats myself on back*

I shall now channel more of this discipline and determination into getting my house beautifully renovated...

And then I can invite you to MY PARADISE!

comments

This week's issue of "i-weekly" magazine featured another of my illustrations under Bryan's Omhealth Wellness article, on Page 76...

Here it is...

(View Larger Illustration Here...)

Those who wish to find out more about the tips shown here, do drop by Bryan's blog: http://bryanomhealth.blogspot.com/ for more info...

Please pardon his signature "Singlish" style of writing though... 

comments

Just read from friends' blogs about this...

We didn't know each other particularly well, but were classmates in the same singing course several years ago...

He was the class rep, and everytime I bumped into him during shows or on the streets, I would bug him for the class contact list. And he'd always be too busy to send it to me...

And today, sadly, he was found dead after several hours in a car at the National Stadium with vomit near him and a smell of burnt charcoal in the car... (read news here in Mandarin and here in English)...

Rest in peace, my talented friend...

Ishi - 刘玉豪

 (Photo Memories)

*

comments

OMG...

Yet another person whom I know had passed away suddenly this week...

Darius just told me that Steven, the only other male hairstylist who worked at Ashley's Salon, had died three days ago at Orchard's California Fitness gym after he fell off the treadmill he was running on...

He was only 37...

Rest in peace,

Steven

*

Life is just so unpredictable...

comments