A Midsummer Night's Dream

Love potions do exist in this world, though sometimes they are not quite that tangible as we think they are... but somehow they are there and they work.

A swinging bachelor friend MDK has been on a "passive" lookout for a potential since his banking job does not quite give him the active time to do so. After attending a lunch whereby a friend of his introduced a girl to him who totally sang a different tune using her ass while he harped from his larynx, and making just so many faux pas, MDK was left convinced that no-one could do a better job than the professional moi.

So over dinner one day many months ago and knowing that I have this exclusive cache of high net-worth eligibles (excluding myself of course since I am THE liaison middleman), I decided that I would introduce this Literature lady from Yale, JO. After all, MDK left Tokyo University as an economist, so a dose of dissimilarity should size up whatever bonfire there is.

Upon seeing the photo, MDK's comments came fast and furious (albeit in an honest way), "Aiyoh..Yi yuan's sister" (As you can imagine, Yi yuan was quite lacking in the looks department), "otak on two chopsticks", etc etc...

Oh give me a break.

The propaganda part of me decided to work its charm in the ensuing few months. Using the highly acclaimed WL LLG "NODA LTYF" teachniques, MDK was left in great angst over his singlehood and instead started querying abt JO. As if in the manner of an explosion, MDK started to really pass extremely positive comments about JO despite seeing the pictures again, and wondering aloud how pleased his mum would be on bringing her home.

I can only scratch my head. Calmly, I told him to watch "A Midsummer Night's Dream", whereupon, a love potion has been accidentally used forth, and I really wondered if this was the case....

"Having seen Demetrius act cruelly toward Helena (an ugly girl), Oberon orders Puck the mythical creature to spread some of the juice on the eyelids of the Demetrius. Instead, Puck accidentally puts the juice on the eyes of Lysander, who then falls in love with Helena.

Oberon sees Demetrius still following Hermia (the chio bu) and is enraged. When Demetrius goes to sleep, Oberon charms Demetrius' eyes. As a result, now both Demetrius and Lysander now fight overthe ugly Helena instead of the beautiful Hermia.

Helena, however, is convinced that her two suitors are mocking her, as neither loved her originally and ill-treated her"

As far as I know, MDK has defintiely been charmed by my propaganda!

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Digressing to another issue, The Leap Years which I caught today was delightfully indulging. Catherine Lim's novella and short stories have always that organic home-grown feel, and while not all have pleasant endings, the nasty ones are really a reflection of the realities.

The plot unfolded with that juxtaposition of traditionals and moderns, the former being how the protagonist Li-Ann buying her beliefs from the soothsayer who as if in the manner of fact, read her fate like a book. The latter would show how the kind of romantic love that Li-Ann was pursuing, encapsulated all the effrontery and boldness of the fairer gender in expressing their love. No one scene was too maudlin or too light-hearted definitively, for there were sobs of tears from the girl sitting on my right and guffaws from others sitting at the far end.

Confronted by the excessiveness of the uncertainties of love and fate lies the paradoxically convulatedly simple fate that Li-Ann would go through, which even she conceded towards the end that she "had waited far too long for an answer that was known 12 years ago". The audience was left in gasps and suspense when Li-Ann had to make socially unconventional choices, but the audiences wouldn't want the plot to be otherwise as well. Wonderfully nostalgic from the view of the characters, I strongly encourage you to watch it.