Alright, so I know some of you read my blog regularly.
I'm sorry I've been disappearing for a while.
I'm typing this message inside a forest in South Dakota, called Black Hills.
Very big land with nothing but wilderness.
Feel very lucky to actually able to steal some signal from somewhere I don't even know where.
Will talk about the trip when I get back in touch with civilisation.
Cheers.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
Food fest, concert, and baba-mama's arrival
So I slept like so damn "early" this morning, it's unbelievable.
Nick woke me up at 11.44am to ask me if I wanna go to Food Festival in Manhattan, which I really wanted to go. So I pinched myself in the butt and made myself more awake, opened the door for Nick, changed to my concert clothes, and went straight to Manhattan.
The Food Fest was held for two days, and it spanned from 37 St, all the way up to 57 St, on 9 Avenue. NYPD blocked the road so that people can walk along these 20 blocks and enjoy their food.
There were soul food, latino stuff (one too many same ones), Indonesian food, Jamaican food, Greek, Italian, blah blah blah... they're all street food. One thing was, there were also lots of stalls that don't sell food altogether. They sold sunglasses...duh...CDs....duh....T-shirts....double duh.... but wait, we saw one very funny stall that only sells Obama t-shirts that they designed themselves. We saw "Obama is My Homeboy", "Obama mama"... there were more I couldn't remember.
I didn't eat too much, but I had Amy's Bread's yummy brownie, Indonesian chicken wing, Jamaican jerk chicken, and a BBQ rib from Spanky's Ribs. I also bought a strawberry-banana smoothie from a Taiwanese stall.
Along they way, I saw the Japanese bellydancer chick that I met in UN dancing on the street outside a middle-eastern restaurant. Poor girl was dancing in the drizzle, hope she didn't catch a cold with those sexy clothes of hers.
When it was finally raining for real, Nick and I went to the subway, and I went straight to my gig in Bayside.
It was a concert with the Oratorio Society of Queens, and I'm playing in a group called Ensemble of Orchestral Arts or some shit like that. The orchestra wasn't that impressive, but the choir was pretty good --- well at least they treat their game seriously, and sang with full passion and commitment. The soloist were all very good singers, some even sang in the New York City Opera, dun pray pray.
Got the check right away!!!!
After having a dinner with Brando and Charlie, Brando drove me back home and I finally took back my amp from him. My looping station is on the way, so I have to get ready to play my new toy!! hehe...
Then at 9.50pm, I got out of the house to take a train to JFK to pick up mama and baba. Gawd, they brought so many things over! I literally stuff my food closet FULL! I have one whole year of food right there... hehehehehe....
Alright, now they're asleep in my room, I gotta crash on the sofa now...tata...
Nick woke me up at 11.44am to ask me if I wanna go to Food Festival in Manhattan, which I really wanted to go. So I pinched myself in the butt and made myself more awake, opened the door for Nick, changed to my concert clothes, and went straight to Manhattan.
The Food Fest was held for two days, and it spanned from 37 St, all the way up to 57 St, on 9 Avenue. NYPD blocked the road so that people can walk along these 20 blocks and enjoy their food.
There were soul food, latino stuff (one too many same ones), Indonesian food, Jamaican food, Greek, Italian, blah blah blah... they're all street food. One thing was, there were also lots of stalls that don't sell food altogether. They sold sunglasses...duh...CDs....duh....T-shirts....double duh.... but wait, we saw one very funny stall that only sells Obama t-shirts that they designed themselves. We saw "Obama is My Homeboy", "Obama mama"... there were more I couldn't remember.
I didn't eat too much, but I had Amy's Bread's yummy brownie, Indonesian chicken wing, Jamaican jerk chicken, and a BBQ rib from Spanky's Ribs. I also bought a strawberry-banana smoothie from a Taiwanese stall.
Along they way, I saw the Japanese bellydancer chick that I met in UN dancing on the street outside a middle-eastern restaurant. Poor girl was dancing in the drizzle, hope she didn't catch a cold with those sexy clothes of hers.
When it was finally raining for real, Nick and I went to the subway, and I went straight to my gig in Bayside.
It was a concert with the Oratorio Society of Queens, and I'm playing in a group called Ensemble of Orchestral Arts or some shit like that. The orchestra wasn't that impressive, but the choir was pretty good --- well at least they treat their game seriously, and sang with full passion and commitment. The soloist were all very good singers, some even sang in the New York City Opera, dun pray pray.
Got the check right away!!!!
After having a dinner with Brando and Charlie, Brando drove me back home and I finally took back my amp from him. My looping station is on the way, so I have to get ready to play my new toy!! hehe...
Then at 9.50pm, I got out of the house to take a train to JFK to pick up mama and baba. Gawd, they brought so many things over! I literally stuff my food closet FULL! I have one whole year of food right there... hehehehehe....
Alright, now they're asleep in my room, I gotta crash on the sofa now...tata...
Friday, May 16, 2008
Jangan kerja utk orang yunani
Saya ni orang M'sia, biasalah tak tau orang yunani tu macam mana. Tapi tentulah kadangkalanya dengar khabar angin mengenai c'ita-c'ita kedekut mereka.
Tapi sejak sampai di Amerika ni baru saya tau seteruk macam mana mereka boleh jadi.
Di sini saya nak menyampaikan mesej saya dulu: Saya ni bukan racist. Saya menulis artikel ni memang kerana ada ekspiriens beberapa tahun berkerja dengan/untuk orang yunani dan akhirnya memang tak boleh tahan lagi.
Mereka ni suka membayar anda sikit wang, lepas tu buat anda kerja seandai kerbau.
Saya seorang pemuzik freelance di sini. Acap kali saya bermain dengan orkestra-orkestra dan band-band yunani untuk kenduri-kenduri ataupun majlis-majlis perkahwinan yunani. Setiap kali kami pemuzik-pemuzik kena main sepanjang 4 atau 5 jam di sana-sini seluruh hotel. Ada suatu peristiwa saya masih ingat, saya dibayar $50 selepas bermain sepanjang 5 jam!!
Tadi saya menerima e-mel dari guru besar suatu sekolah menengah yunani yang saya mengajar sekumpulan 16 pelajar setiap Isnin. Kerja ini membayar saya $24 untuk setiap minggu --- sama harga dengan saya mengajar satu pelajar di sekolah muzik lain yang saya ajar.
Pelajar-pelajar di situ memang tak serius, tak datang ke kelas, membuat bising semacam orang sakai. Malam ini saya menghantar keputusan pelajar-pelajar sial tu kepada guru besar. Selepas 2 jam, guru besar menjawab surat saya seperti di bawah:
Thank you Mr. X for getting back to me so promptly. I understand your disappointment in the group and regret having to hire a new violin teacher for next year. However, I am equally disapponted in some of the instructors of the classes as well, whose attendance and record keeping left alot to be desired and contributed greatly to the disfunction of some of the classes. There was little effort made on the part of some of the instructors to take the lead in seeing that their class would be successful. I partially blame myself for expecting too much on the part of some of the instructors. The nature of these classes was not to make concert musicians of the students but to expose them to an area of music that they had no experience with and to broaden their experiences in high school. When the program began last year in Feb. 2007 it appears that the original instructor made a connection with the students while teaching 5 different instruments on five diferent days and maintaining an attendance of well into the 90% range for the students enrolled. I believe the effort expended by some of the instructors determined the ultimate success or failure of the class. A number of instructors made no effort to find out why the missing students did not show up, rarely informed me of particular students absences, failed to keep regular attendance week to week, failed to submit those records to me on a weekly basis, never took the interest to get the students phone numbers and call home occasionally to find out why they had not attended, never even tried to learn the student names, came late or were absent numerous times themselves, sometimes sent substitutes who had no idea what was going on, never assigned seating or places, never made the effort to seek me out, never came early to discuss issues, only spoke with me when I approached them and so on and on. If I were a high school student I think I would have ditched such a class after a 10 hour school day. Once spme of the students realized an instructor didn't really care, they followed suit. Never-the-less, I thank you for your efforts and I am just as disappointed in the students who did not show the proper dedication to the class as you were but I am even more disappointed in the instructors who did not have the professionalism or skills to conduct a proper voluntary after school high school music class.
I wish you continued success in the future and thank you for your efforts on behalf of the students.
Best wishes,
Harvey Fxxxxxx
Ini memang pukimak punya orang. Mati sajalah!
Tapi sejak sampai di Amerika ni baru saya tau seteruk macam mana mereka boleh jadi.
Di sini saya nak menyampaikan mesej saya dulu: Saya ni bukan racist. Saya menulis artikel ni memang kerana ada ekspiriens beberapa tahun berkerja dengan/untuk orang yunani dan akhirnya memang tak boleh tahan lagi.
Mereka ni suka membayar anda sikit wang, lepas tu buat anda kerja seandai kerbau.
Saya seorang pemuzik freelance di sini. Acap kali saya bermain dengan orkestra-orkestra dan band-band yunani untuk kenduri-kenduri ataupun majlis-majlis perkahwinan yunani. Setiap kali kami pemuzik-pemuzik kena main sepanjang 4 atau 5 jam di sana-sini seluruh hotel. Ada suatu peristiwa saya masih ingat, saya dibayar $50 selepas bermain sepanjang 5 jam!!
Tadi saya menerima e-mel dari guru besar suatu sekolah menengah yunani yang saya mengajar sekumpulan 16 pelajar setiap Isnin. Kerja ini membayar saya $24 untuk setiap minggu --- sama harga dengan saya mengajar satu pelajar di sekolah muzik lain yang saya ajar.
Pelajar-pelajar di situ memang tak serius, tak datang ke kelas, membuat bising semacam orang sakai. Malam ini saya menghantar keputusan pelajar-pelajar sial tu kepada guru besar. Selepas 2 jam, guru besar menjawab surat saya seperti di bawah:
Thank you Mr. X for getting back to me so promptly. I understand your disappointment in the group and regret having to hire a new violin teacher for next year. However, I am equally disapponted in some of the instructors of the classes as well, whose attendance and record keeping left alot to be desired and contributed greatly to the disfunction of some of the classes. There was little effort made on the part of some of the instructors to take the lead in seeing that their class would be successful. I partially blame myself for expecting too much on the part of some of the instructors. The nature of these classes was not to make concert musicians of the students but to expose them to an area of music that they had no experience with and to broaden their experiences in high school. When the program began last year in Feb. 2007 it appears that the original instructor made a connection with the students while teaching 5 different instruments on five diferent days and maintaining an attendance of well into the 90% range for the students enrolled. I believe the effort expended by some of the instructors determined the ultimate success or failure of the class. A number of instructors made no effort to find out why the missing students did not show up, rarely informed me of particular students absences, failed to keep regular attendance week to week, failed to submit those records to me on a weekly basis, never took the interest to get the students phone numbers and call home occasionally to find out why they had not attended, never even tried to learn the student names, came late or were absent numerous times themselves, sometimes sent substitutes who had no idea what was going on, never assigned seating or places, never made the effort to seek me out, never came early to discuss issues, only spoke with me when I approached them and so on and on. If I were a high school student I think I would have ditched such a class after a 10 hour school day. Once spme of the students realized an instructor didn't really care, they followed suit. Never-the-less, I thank you for your efforts and I am just as disappointed in the students who did not show the proper dedication to the class as you were but I am even more disappointed in the instructors who did not have the professionalism or skills to conduct a proper voluntary after school high school music class.
I wish you continued success in the future and thank you for your efforts on behalf of the students.
Best wishes,
Harvey Fxxxxxx
Ini memang pukimak punya orang. Mati sajalah!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Nap...
Shit man, I haven't had a full blown sleep for NIGHTS!
Finally!!
I crash at about 6pm just now and slept till 9pm+!!!
It was grrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat!!!!!!!!!!!!
Finally!!
I crash at about 6pm just now and slept till 9pm+!!!
It was grrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat!!!!!!!!!!!!
Saturday, May 10, 2008
After the show and the rest in Boston...
I played my first show with Sirius on the 8th of March.
People loved it, and they were surprised when they realised that I only perform with Sirius for the first time. They said I blend in with them very well. Glad to hear that.
The guys accepted me as their member, and we are doing a Germany trip in the end of September, making a recording there.
*****
Right after the show, I walked over to the edge of Chinatown to catch my last Fung Wah ride for the night, going to Boston.
On the way, I called my sis to tell her the good news, she said she was very proud of me. And after a while mama called me too, she also said that she's very happy for me.
The reason that I came to Boston was to record for some guy's album. Jeremy got me this gig.
The next morning, we started recording at around 12pm and ended at 8.30pm.
The album was a concept album by this guy Gavin. He's a very serious musician who really knows every detail that he wants. I like to work with people like this.
But because the session was too long, at one point I felt like a zombie...
Although we started at 12, we got paid more than that because we were supposed to start at 11am and Gavin was late himself. He even paid for my bus ride to and from Boston.
The rest of the night was of course nothing but chilling.......
People loved it, and they were surprised when they realised that I only perform with Sirius for the first time. They said I blend in with them very well. Glad to hear that.
The guys accepted me as their member, and we are doing a Germany trip in the end of September, making a recording there.
*****
Right after the show, I walked over to the edge of Chinatown to catch my last Fung Wah ride for the night, going to Boston.
On the way, I called my sis to tell her the good news, she said she was very proud of me. And after a while mama called me too, she also said that she's very happy for me.
The reason that I came to Boston was to record for some guy's album. Jeremy got me this gig.
The next morning, we started recording at around 12pm and ended at 8.30pm.
The album was a concept album by this guy Gavin. He's a very serious musician who really knows every detail that he wants. I like to work with people like this.
But because the session was too long, at one point I felt like a zombie...
Although we started at 12, we got paid more than that because we were supposed to start at 11am and Gavin was late himself. He even paid for my bus ride to and from Boston.
The rest of the night was of course nothing but chilling.......
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
A conversation I just dug up
I was cleaning up my Facebook mailbox and I stumbled upon this conversation that I had with Liz, my non-genetic little sis, before she went over to Singapore to study.
She was a naive little girl when I knew her, homeschooled most of her life, very well-protected, didn't really know much about the outside world. But she had a very strong character and very opinionated, which made it hard to work with her.
So upon her departure to Singapore, I burned her a CD with Train's hit song, "Drops of Jupiter" inside. A year after she went to Singapore, I asked her if she liked the song, she said she naturally didn't like it cuz it was rock. I smiled it off.
Last year, I bumped into her on Facebook (LONG LIVE FACEBOOK!), so here's our conversation:
Me
7:42am Feb 28th
"Now tell me, did you sail across the sun? Did you make it to the milky way and see the lights all faded, and heaven is overrated. Now tell me, did you fall for a shooting star? One without a permanent scar and did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there?"
Do you now get the meaning of me sending this song to you when you first went off to study?
Liz
12:54pm Mar 2nd
Yes i do!! It didn't make much sense back then, but looking back after four years of college.. I have to say it's been quite a journey and an eye-opening experience. I bet you felt almost the same way when u went to the States!
Me
2:10am Mar 3rd
perhaps, but not as much as you, seeing the different environments we grew up in. it's always good to be around many people, u see u learn and u grow.So tell me, did you sail across the sun? ;)
Liz
2:07pm Mar 11th
Here's to you, big bro!
I sailed across the sun and made it to the Milky Way
And saw the lights all faded, stayed in heaven for a day
"Without scars there can be no stars", is what I heard them say
And missed you when I found myself.. back from the Milky Way
Me
1:03am Mar 12th
Haha! GOOD ONE!!! I like that!!!
(thank god it made sense to her...)
She was a naive little girl when I knew her, homeschooled most of her life, very well-protected, didn't really know much about the outside world. But she had a very strong character and very opinionated, which made it hard to work with her.
So upon her departure to Singapore, I burned her a CD with Train's hit song, "Drops of Jupiter" inside. A year after she went to Singapore, I asked her if she liked the song, she said she naturally didn't like it cuz it was rock. I smiled it off.
Last year, I bumped into her on Facebook (LONG LIVE FACEBOOK!), so here's our conversation:
Me
7:42am Feb 28th
"Now tell me, did you sail across the sun? Did you make it to the milky way and see the lights all faded, and heaven is overrated. Now tell me, did you fall for a shooting star? One without a permanent scar and did you miss me while you were looking for yourself out there?"
Do you now get the meaning of me sending this song to you when you first went off to study?
Liz
12:54pm Mar 2nd
Yes i do!! It didn't make much sense back then, but looking back after four years of college.. I have to say it's been quite a journey and an eye-opening experience. I bet you felt almost the same way when u went to the States!
Me
2:10am Mar 3rd
perhaps, but not as much as you, seeing the different environments we grew up in. it's always good to be around many people, u see u learn and u grow.So tell me, did you sail across the sun? ;)
Liz
2:07pm Mar 11th
Here's to you, big bro!
I sailed across the sun and made it to the Milky Way
And saw the lights all faded, stayed in heaven for a day
"Without scars there can be no stars", is what I heard them say
And missed you when I found myself.. back from the Milky Way
Me
1:03am Mar 12th
Haha! GOOD ONE!!! I like that!!!
(thank god it made sense to her...)
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Gay boy's finally gone
So, little gay boy Chen Han is finally gone!
We had a fun little gathering before he went off with his girlfriend.
No, he's not really gay, he just likes to act gay.
But yeah, u can imagine, we had a whole "gay fest" last night, that involves everyone in the house --- me, Jules, Mune --- and also someone worths a mention: Nick!!
Nick's always been so serious and shit, but couldn't help but yield at our gay act. So we simulated a whole bunch of crazy gang rape and BJ (using a beer bottle to be the replacement for a real cock), while Chen Han's girlfriend was standing right there watching speechlessly.
But it was fun to live with this dude, he's been a fun hang, and we wish him all the best in his doctorate studies oh and also getting out of his closet.
We had a fun little gathering before he went off with his girlfriend.
No, he's not really gay, he just likes to act gay.
But yeah, u can imagine, we had a whole "gay fest" last night, that involves everyone in the house --- me, Jules, Mune --- and also someone worths a mention: Nick!!
Nick's always been so serious and shit, but couldn't help but yield at our gay act. So we simulated a whole bunch of crazy gang rape and BJ (using a beer bottle to be the replacement for a real cock), while Chen Han's girlfriend was standing right there watching speechlessly.
But it was fun to live with this dude, he's been a fun hang, and we wish him all the best in his doctorate studies oh and also getting out of his closet.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
My first iPod, wandering around Manhattan, Kitchen ware shopping
Finally, I bought the first iPod in my life, an 8 GB iPod Nano. It's a nice little machine that stores up to 2000 standard length songs. It should be a fun experience to use it, at least it doesn't react as slow as my busted Creative Zen Stone!
After Paranoid Android's rehearsal last night, I decided to go watch a movie in TriBeCa Film Fest at midnight. It was funny that I didn't check the address of the cinema and finally got lost on 23rd St. So I ended up walking around there and found out a couple of spots that I could never piece together: The Cutting Room, Baruch College and the New School area. Bought some halal food at a roadside stall, quite nice. Then I waited for Jules at the Citibank next to the station, the time was around 12.30am. Finally Jules came and we started to walk up to 42nd St. Didn't really do anything as it was very late and everything closed...
And today Jules and I went to buy some kitchen ware in Flushing cuz gay boy Chen Han is moving away back to his bitch. So we can't rely on his gear anymore, have to buy our own stuff --- which I'm glad in away, at least the rice cooker is like 2 or 3 times bigger. I also bought a hairdryer for moi long hair, haha!
Diu, for a moment I had a weird feeling that we look like a married couple shopping in the supermarket, hahahahaha!!!
DIUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
After Paranoid Android's rehearsal last night, I decided to go watch a movie in TriBeCa Film Fest at midnight. It was funny that I didn't check the address of the cinema and finally got lost on 23rd St. So I ended up walking around there and found out a couple of spots that I could never piece together: The Cutting Room, Baruch College and the New School area. Bought some halal food at a roadside stall, quite nice. Then I waited for Jules at the Citibank next to the station, the time was around 12.30am. Finally Jules came and we started to walk up to 42nd St. Didn't really do anything as it was very late and everything closed...
And today Jules and I went to buy some kitchen ware in Flushing cuz gay boy Chen Han is moving away back to his bitch. So we can't rely on his gear anymore, have to buy our own stuff --- which I'm glad in away, at least the rice cooker is like 2 or 3 times bigger. I also bought a hairdryer for moi long hair, haha!
Diu, for a moment I had a weird feeling that we look like a married couple shopping in the supermarket, hahahahaha!!!
DIUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
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