Kinetic Type

Alright, I think that’s enough Singapore. Moving on to more interesting things.

I came across a collection of typographic music videos:

http://yuxt.com/artist/Typography_in_Music_Videos

“Feeling Good” by Nina Simone, one of my favorites is below but all of them are pretty cool.  I recommend checking them out.

I’ve wanted to do something like that ever since I saw one for a scene from Pulp Fiction last year.  And then that speaker came, I can’t remember the name of the company – they did some film intros and the guy was all about using music to inspire video…  Music is something I find easily inspired by and considering I need to work with type more, I think it’d be a great exercise for me to make one of these.

From what I understand, kinetic type makes content more memorable.  Since you’re seeing what you’re hearing, it’s “stickier.”  When you think about it, you could draw parallels to powerpoint presentations.  Words flash before you as they are said to you.  Mmm, imagine the power of musical powerpoints.

10.

There is culture in Singapore. It’s just mostly located in the hawker centres.

There are dozens of hawker centres across Singapore – hundreds of food stalls all under one roof. It was only when I read the latest New Yorker’s story (all) about Singapore’s street food, that I realized what a novelty these hawker centres are.

In Thailand and other places I’ve been, there are lots of street vendors. This can lead to questionable sanitation and clogged streets. The Singaporean government, in their seemingly endless common sense, decided to take the street vendors (who used to be spread out just like other places in SE asia), and clump them all together. This way they don’t disrupt the streets and everyone and everything stays cleaner. It’s even to the point of each individual stand is rated on sanitation. And they are required to post it for all to see. It’s a good system – most are rated “A” and those rated “B” won’t be visited and will, as a result, have to clean up their act (no pun intended.. or maybe it was).

I’m just now appreciating the unique setup of those hawker centres. While I was there, I certainly appreciated their food. I could have had a different dish for everyday I was there, just from Lau Pau Sat, the hawker centre next door to Ogilvy. Unfortunately I found favorites and repeated myself too often. One of those favorites was Yong Tow Foo, a sort of buffet of tofu, vegetables and fish balls that you then add broth and either noodles or rice to. Singapore is such a melting pot, foods and dishes have transformed and influenced eachother so much that alot of it you can only find in Singapore.

The New Yorker article talks about conieusseurs of hawker stands, those foodies who have scoured the country for the best of whatever dish. (That’s right, hawker food is of such high quality, you can apply the term “foodie” to those who enjoy it.) And reading about all the dishes I somehow managed to never have, I find myself wanting to go back. For all that culture that is uniquely Singapore – and tastes so good.

9.

I never saw one cop.

The whole time I was in Singapore, I never saw one cop.  I don’t think I even saw a cop car. Obviously, this is puzzling, given Singapore’s reputation.  And it isn’t an inaccurate reputation.  People do obey the law.  I had to encourage my Singaporean co-worker to jaywalk with me.

And I jaywalked all summer. Because there weren’t any cops in sight.  I also chewed gum. (Ok, I never spit it out onto the street, but if there weren’t trashcans every five feet, I probably would have.)

I wasn’t scared but Singaporeans do seem to still be scared to break the law.  I don’t know why that is.  Maybe the streets used to be teaming with cops.  Maybe the cops are undercover and just never decided to arrest me.  Or maybe Singaporeans tell on other Singaporeans…

8.

I don’t consider myself a foodie.  I wish.  But what I do know (now) is pad thai.

I eat quite a bit of pad thai in the States, namely in Virginia.  And I love it.  I’m no pad thai snob.  I love the ingredients, the chopped peanuts, the bean sprouts…

So when Justin and I went to Thailand, we inevitably ate pad thai at EVERY meal.  (Don’t be alarmed, it was only 3 days.)  I thought I would get sick of it.  But no. The craving kept coming back.  Even in the face of the extremely INCONSISTENT dish that is pad thai in Thailand.  Counterintuitive I know.

But it’s true. Pad thai was different every meal.  Sometimes the noodles were flat, sometimes round, sometimes overcooked.  The chicken was sometimes chopped to the point of being pulled, sometimes nice and chunky.  And the flavoring – it was different everytime.  The lowest point was pad thai that tasted distinctly like coleslaw.

As a result of my experience, I propose there be a nationwide guideline for pad thai in Thailand.  Because such a good dish deserves to always be at its best.