Quotes from the Lesser-Known: Part 5

'What is your reaction to people who say music isn't essential?' 

'I would agree with them.' 

'What! No way.' 

'Absolutely. Music isn't essential in the way that things like, basic mathematical or language skills are to everyday life. But for all the years I've been a musician, the happiest people I have come to know are the ones whose lives are steeped in the The Arts. It's a richer kind of existence. Yes, we could live without music, but aren't you afraid to see what that world would be like? I am. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that, yes, music is only the icing on the cake, but isn't the icing the best part of it all?'

J.J. Davis, 26

Music producer, multi-instrumentalist & skeptic 

Violet

Today is just one of those days where everything seems a bit off. The tea is cold, the favourite movies are less entertaining & the comfort novels that I run to every time don't seem quite right. I am tired when I have done nothing all day. I feel like crying one second, and then I find myself laughing at absolutely nothing in another. I play guitar and listen to music and try to write, but the notebook paper remains blank, like the insides of my mind.

I know I sound a little bit depressed, but honest to God, I'm not. Maybe it's just too much Plath or Foer I've been reading lately, or work coming up next week (still not entirely sure how I feel about that), and having so many things on my mind. It's just one of those days, and tomorrow is a new one, so there.

Quotes from the Lesser-Known: Part 4

'What do you enjoy most about reading?' 

'What I enjoy most about books is how it opens up your world, how it allows you to use your imagination to recreate the places that the author puts forth in his stories. The thought of it is just so attractive: you are allowed to shape that place & those characters according to what you see in your mind. That's why I don't really like movies, because they force you into a way of looking at these characters, which doesn't give you that same liberty to craft them.'

Jennifer Lee, 22.

Literature student, doodler & avid Beatles fan

Quotes from the Lesser-Known: Part 3

'What is the rush you get from running like?' 

'Sometimes, running feels like you're chasing pavements. It’s a mimic of the journey of life. The rush never comes in the middle; it always comes at the start of the end. When your legs feel like slabs of concrete, and your lungs squeeze in agony, and your body screams to stop but you know you can't, because somehow you have to finish what you have started...' 

Samuel C. 22

Student & sports enthusiast

I choose light

 

The words we say today, we'll say

And we'll see them again, we'll see them again

So I choose my words so carefully

Like the sun, make it glow, or they glare at me

Well, I choose light

Light that won't

Keep me up at night

_________________________________________________

I am in love! I want so bad to be at Coachella now. There's a certain quality in their music that speaks of honesty and light and summer; it shines so evidently, even in the depths of a dark Brooklyn apartment. 

It frustrates me sometimes that I live here. I know I should be grateful to; there are so many reasons to be thankful for Singapore. But just by being here, I will never experience the secret pleasure of being at a clandestine underground gig, or feel the surge of thousands of people at a music festival become one, in the space of a song. 

The complete set-list 

hosted by La Blogotheque / The Switch

Saw You First

Atlantic 

Meantime

Up Up Up

Wandering 

Quotes from the Lesser-Known: Part 2

'What inspired you to get into theatre?' 

'My friend pressured me into auditioning for the school play. I was sick and unwilling to fight so I did and I managed to score one of the lead roles. Prior to that I was simply happy being an audience member captivated by what took place onstage.  But when I realized I could be a part of that experience as well and present truthfully to people that which isn't true, I fell in love with it. I know I sound like a sociopathic liar but I'm not, honest. Life is about telling stories, and telling them well.' 

'Was there a particular pivotal moment, or experience?' 

'One life-changing experience was when I went to watch a tiny production of Oliver Twist. Cast of 5 and only 2 major props which doubled as a boat, door, coffin, gallows, Fagin's underground shithole for runaways and other assorted naughty children, etc. Every single one of the songs were sung in 5-part harmony and it was fantastic. I think I was 14 when I watched it. I stayed back to congratulate Fagin and when I saw him up close, my mind was blown to see how a skinny, 6-foot-tall man could have been so many things on that stage. I think I still have that ticket with me.'

Elizabeth Mak, 19

High school thespian 

Quotes from the Lesser-Known: Part 1

'What is your favourite place in the world?' 

'Paris.' 

'Ah...Really?' 

'Oui.' 

'But why?' 

'(laughs) I'm sure the answer you wanted was something tinged with age-old wisdom that's often associated with seasoned travellers, like 'My favourite place is wherever I am'. I would love to tell you that, but then I'd be lying. Truthfully, I am in love with the cliché that is metropolitan Paris. I am in love with the nostalgic images, the smells of crisp baguettes and hot espressos on a Monday morning, I am in love with the beautiful men (yes, men). I am even in love with my noisy, cigarette-smoking French neighbours, and my grumpy landlady. I sometimes dream of kissing a stranger in the middle of a busy street, like that famous photograph... yes, well, that is how much I am enfolded in the Parisian dream. I might be a cliché, but at least I'm happy.'  

'That's beautiful.' 

'Thank you. Of course, ask me this question again when the faucet is leaking, or when I have three classical lit papers to write, or when I only have fourteen Euros to last me till the end of the week, and I'm sure I'd say my favourite place is anywhere but here.' 

Claudia Lee, 23

Literature student, indie snob & Francophile 

Prufrocking

'Let us go then, you and I

When the evening is spread out against the sky

Like a patient etherized upon a table

Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets

The muttering retreats

Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels

And sawdust restaurants with oyster shells;

Streets that follow like a tedious argument of insidious intent

To lead to an overwhelming question...

Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?'

Let us go and make our visit.

...

There will be time, there will be time

To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet

...

For I have known them already, known them all;

Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,

I have measured out my life in coffee spoons;

I know the voices dying with a dying fall,

Beneath the music from a farther room

So how should I presume?

...

Shall I say, I have gone at dusk through narrow streets,

And watch the smoke that rises from the pipes

Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of the windows?

...

And I have seen the moments of my greatness flicker

And I have seen the eternal footman hold my coat, and snicker,

And in short,

I was afraid.

...

We have lingered in the chambers of the sea

By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red & brown,

Till human voices wake us, & we drown.'

Excerpts from 'The Lovesong of J.S. Prufrock' 

T.S. Eliot.

_____________________________________

I love that phrase: 'streets that follow like a tedious argument of insidious intent.' I don't know the exact word to describe the way I feel when I read it, except that it is a pleasant and warm sensation that prickles through me. Strange, the things that poetry can do.

Last week, I was dozing off in a linguistics lecture, and the professor used the word insidious in a statement (which I now forget. It was related to phonetics, or sociolinguistics, or something equally sleep-inducing.) and I immediately snapped to attention. It just reminded me of this very special poem & how it made me feel. I began to smile like a complete goof & my course-mate looked at me like I was completely off my rocker. Like I was mad. 

I continued to smile widely to myself though, because it was all strange and funny and lovely to have this secret connection to a certain word that no one else knew about. Well. Perhaps all aspiring writers are a little mad, inside.   

Mix

I've never dabbled with anything to do with flour before. No cookies, no delicate french pastries, no fluffy cupcakes. I've always seen baking as a delicate art, something which involves precise measurements and the exact following of recipe steps, and then praying & hoping for the best when you put it into the oven. I've never been able to do that, but some days you wake up and you just have to eat pancakes (and not those from the box). It kinda feels like a life-and-death-situation. I'm sure you foodies can relate.

And pancakes... Well, pancakes are a nice in-between cooking and baking. The recipe is adapted from I Am Baker, a wonderful site with excellent recipes & food photography. I like it because unlike many other pancake recipes, it insists on using only egg whites. The recipes using yolks tend to produce more moist and heavier batches, which is fine too, if you like it that way. I like the insides of mine fluffy :) In fact, this recipe is so light that you could use it as a crepe mix.

On toppings and fillings: go crazy on the fruit, icing sugar, chocolate sauce and honey. One thing I love to do is to toss a few blueberries on one side of the pancake and flip it over, patting it down softly so that the berries burst and you can see beautiful irises of juice splattered on one side. Semi-sweet chocolate chips work the same way. It's nice to see the half-melted chips smeared on the top, or burst berries peeking out of one side of the pancake.

Reminiscent of all things sweet and summer. Enjoy!

Peppermint-scented Buttermilk Pancakes 
with Blueberries

The recipe halves nicely, if you're making it for two or three (go ahead and use three eggs for half the amount of batter). Highly recommended with a thick, milky cup of tea. The trick to having that smooth golden-brown hue is using vegetable oil spray instead of butter when it comes to greasing the pan (a lesson I learnt after four terrible pancakes). This video is also especially helpful when it comes to whisking the egg whites by hand. 

Ingredients

3 cups of plain flour

5 tbsp white sugar

2 tsp baking powder

5 egg whites

2 & 1/4 cups of buttermilk

50g softened butter

4 tsp vanilla extract 

Vegetable oil

Peppermint oil

Blueberries

Strawberries (optional)

Maple syrup/honey

Icing sugar

1. Place flour, sugar, baking powder into a large mixing bowl. Fold in the melted butter and mix, forming a well in the centre for the liquid ingredients.
2. Combine two cups of milk, the vanilla essence and 4-5 drops of peppermint oil/extract in another mixing bowl.
3. Whisk the egg whites into soft peaks.
4. Slowly mix the liquid mixture into the base mix, and then fold in the egg whites. By hand, it can take  a good five minutes of mixing till you get the right consistency. Add the remaining 1/4 cup of milk in slowly, to ease the mixing.
5. Grease frying pan with vegetable oil using a brush, or oil spray (anything that will coat the skillet evenly. Put on medium heat.
6. To make smaller pancakes, pour in 1/4 cup of batter at a time and spread them out a little with the back of your ladle.
7. They are ready to flip when tiny bubbles start to appear at the top. Just before flipping to the other side, add blueberries or chocolate chips on the top.
8. Pat the pancakes gently to break the berries. Fry till ready.
9. Garnish with icing sugar, and serve with halved strawberries and honey!

Makes 18 - 20 small pancakes, serves 5