Holy shit... It's been soooooooooo long since I came up here to drop a line!
I say blame it all on Facebook!
Facebook is just too convenient! hehe...
Anyway, I'm in Kuching, Sarawak, now. Yes! I'm in Malaysia! My annual return to Malaysia during the summer!
This time I'm sooooo much more freer than last year. I'm really glad that I learned to say "no" to some stuff, otherwise I'd be working myself dead again while I should be home accompanying my folks.
I went for a couple of movies these days. I found out that Mr. Thum that does the Chinese subtitles is really not doing a bad job at all --- other than a few occasional wrong words. But most of the time he did a beautiful job in making the Chinese translation comes alive! Good work Mr Thum! I shall check u out again next year!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Monday, October 13, 2008
張國榮vs歐陽鋒
我向來都不算是張國榮的fan. 他的歌聲, 老實說, 並不是我喜歡的那種類型, 他演的電影, 我也少看.
可是他有一個令我念念不忘的角色 --- 歐陽鋒. 那種深刻的印象甚至比<<霸王別姬>>裡面的程蝶衣更震撼.
電影開場他跟顧客"推銷"的那段就非常有帶入感, 那種眼神就很有"西毒歐陽鋒"的陰險奸詐, 讓你對這個人有點厭惡. 雖然就只透出那麼一點, 但在在表現出恰到好處的演技, 使角色非常有說服力. 甚至讓你深刻感覺到歐陽鋒未來的命運和性格, 在這屬於前傳的故事裡絕對有跡可循.
喜歡他在這部電影裡面的表現, 就因為他那種淡淡然的臉部表情, 更彰顯了那種自然流露的邪氣. 如果誇大來演的話, 相信效果就會很糟.
題外話: 我昨晚在電影院看的這個<<東邪西毒>>是最新的"終極版", 王家衛在電影裡面加了一些電腦影像, 重新錄了聲效, 把林青霞的原音帶回來, 更弄了個馬友友進來在原聲配樂之上添加了一些獨奏與即興片段(畫蛇添足). 裡面做的一些添加效果相當好, 至於馬友友的部分, 就免談, 實在不明白到底弄那個來幹嘛.
可是他有一個令我念念不忘的角色 --- 歐陽鋒. 那種深刻的印象甚至比<<霸王別姬>>裡面的程蝶衣更震撼.
電影開場他跟顧客"推銷"的那段就非常有帶入感, 那種眼神就很有"西毒歐陽鋒"的陰險奸詐, 讓你對這個人有點厭惡. 雖然就只透出那麼一點, 但在在表現出恰到好處的演技, 使角色非常有說服力. 甚至讓你深刻感覺到歐陽鋒未來的命運和性格, 在這屬於前傳的故事裡絕對有跡可循.
喜歡他在這部電影裡面的表現, 就因為他那種淡淡然的臉部表情, 更彰顯了那種自然流露的邪氣. 如果誇大來演的話, 相信效果就會很糟.
題外話: 我昨晚在電影院看的這個<<東邪西毒>>是最新的"終極版", 王家衛在電影裡面加了一些電腦影像, 重新錄了聲效, 把林青霞的原音帶回來, 更弄了個馬友友進來在原聲配樂之上添加了一些獨奏與即興片段(畫蛇添足). 裡面做的一些添加效果相當好, 至於馬友友的部分, 就免談, 實在不明白到底弄那個來幹嘛.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Germany trip
So, I'm back from Germany!
This 9-day trip was fun with the Sirius Quartet, it was an intense schedule. But don't get me wrong --- it was not a tour, we stationed in the Ochsenhausen Monastery and never left the place.
I flew in to Stuttgart from Amsterdam with our violist and founder, Ron. The flight was crazy because when we got into Stuttgart from New York, we only had around 20 minutes to run over to next gate for departure. And in between that, we had a big airport to deal with, a long line at the customs, and a security checkpoint.
When we finally got to Stuttgart, of course, you can imagine, our luggage was not there. We made it, but our luggage did not.
It was cool though, the Stuttgart Airport apologised to us (damn, when have you seen that in New York or KL?!) and gave us each a pack of toiletry for the night's use. They promised to deliver us our luggage bags to where we stayed, Ochsenhausen, which is a village in the middle of nowhere, basically. When I opened the pack in my room, I found a white t-shirt, a pair of socks (the kind which you can only use once), toothbrush and toothpaste, shaver and shaving cream. Gregor, our 2nd violinist, and Mike, our cellist, came to pick us up and drove to Ochsenhausen, which is a very quiet and tiny place, probably 30 KM outside from Biberach.
The second day was an intense rehearsal day with the student string orchestra with the first batch of improvisation students in the Landesacademie, which we didn't teach. The Landesacademie is an academy that runs different workshops the whole year, there are educational workshops, music workshops, art workshops and many many more. The monastery is basically turned into this academy, except their main church building, which is built baroque cum gothic style, during those respective periods. The interior was gorgeously painted with biblical stories on the high ceilings, sculptures and a beautiful organ. Too bad I didn't get to take pictures of these.
We finished our rehearsals at night, around 8.30pm, totally exhausted. But of course, the next thing I knew was.... BEER TIME! How can you not have beer in Germany? Each bottle of beer you buy from the machine costs 1.50 Euros. Among the string orchestra, I found my friend from Mancini, Katarzyna. She was serving as faculty in the workshop, we're so happy to see each other again. It was so random, you get to meet an old friend in a place you least expected.
The third day was our recording day (!!). Yes, already. One day of rehearsal, and then recording. It was very intense, of course. We started off recording Gregor's Cuban Impressions. That was almost a concerto for string quartet and orchestra, beautifully written, so complicated rhythmically, in the first movement. We got our ass kicked REALLY HARD to get the rhythm right. But hell, we got it right finally.
We continued our recording on the fourth day, which we finished up Cuban Impressions and went on to record Gregor's cello concerto written for Mike, with materials from Mike's own compositions. That was a tour-De-force for Mike and he played his ass off, it was so perfectly done on his part. Good job dude!
That night, we started our own album's recording. We did one movement and called it a night. We wrapped up on the next day by finishing the entire piece of Gregor's String Quartet No.3 a.k.a. New York Suite. The thing that we least expected was that we spent so much time on the second movement, 125th Street. It almost drove us crazy because we usually treated it like a jam piece without caring much, but our engineer, Johannes, pointed out so many things that we never took note of. Good on us for having such a great recording engineer --- in fact, the greatest in Germany! He's the engineer of Keith Jarrett's trio albums and many many other ECM and European recordings. This guy would read the full score while we record and would give us so many great musical suggestions which are 99% of the time accurate. You will spend half as much the time with him as you spent with other engineers. He is that great.
The string orchestra was gone since the wrapping of Mike's concerto. But the new batch of students came in the day we finished our quartet piece (we decided to do the rest of the album in NY). We met up and gave the students a brief orientation, playing 2 movements from Gregor's piece and Mike taught them a fiddle tune called "Shove The Pig's Foot Further into the Fire". Them kids (and adults) loved it and could never stop playing the tune since.
The rest of the days were all individual and group classes. On Day 7 and early Day 8, we did 2 short and messy rehearsals of the concerti with Mike and Gregor. I guess the students weren't confident enough with all the crazy cross rhythms and stuff, plus, further confused by the conductor. We had a nice concert in the afternoon of Day 8 though, playing our quartet pieces --- which included a new tune I wrote in Germany, This Could Be A Ballad. Gregor's 2 movements from his concerto was pretty messy, orchestral speaking, but Mike's concerto was great on both sides.
Sirius had a nice German dinner in the town area (that was the first time I've seen the town, honest), and had a long talk about future plans. We all agreed that this is a very exciting line-up and we need to do something to push our name to a wider popularity. Let's hope it will happen.
We woke up the next day at 6.30am, all looking like zombies, because we needed to check out at 7am. Gregor drove all of us to the airport. Poor Mike, he didn't even need to get to the airport so early, for his flight was around 2.30pm. But I heard he had a great time dining in the city of Stuttgart, good for him! As for us 3, we had our toughest time waiting for both planes in Stuttgart and Amsterdam. The Stuttfart-Amsterdam plane was delayed for an hour or something, which we thought was not so cool. But little did we know that the Amsterdam plane also had mechanical problems they had to change a plane that was flying in from Shanghai! And that delayed our Stuttgart-New York flight for 5 hours. Luckily KLM issued us vouchers to have lunch, call home, and 50 Euros worth of discount for our next KLM flight.
When I finally landed in New York, it was 7.40pm. Got home by subway around 9pm, had my dinner at 11pm. And my housemates went to play pool and ping pong till 1.22am. I didn't know how that can happen to me, for I should've been crashing. But I guess that's because I had a great time there, not travelling like mad, though busy, no phone calls, limited internet access...
Yeah, I can use another 9 days in Ochsenhausen... :)
This 9-day trip was fun with the Sirius Quartet, it was an intense schedule. But don't get me wrong --- it was not a tour, we stationed in the Ochsenhausen Monastery and never left the place.
I flew in to Stuttgart from Amsterdam with our violist and founder, Ron. The flight was crazy because when we got into Stuttgart from New York, we only had around 20 minutes to run over to next gate for departure. And in between that, we had a big airport to deal with, a long line at the customs, and a security checkpoint.
When we finally got to Stuttgart, of course, you can imagine, our luggage was not there. We made it, but our luggage did not.
It was cool though, the Stuttgart Airport apologised to us (damn, when have you seen that in New York or KL?!) and gave us each a pack of toiletry for the night's use. They promised to deliver us our luggage bags to where we stayed, Ochsenhausen, which is a village in the middle of nowhere, basically. When I opened the pack in my room, I found a white t-shirt, a pair of socks (the kind which you can only use once), toothbrush and toothpaste, shaver and shaving cream. Gregor, our 2nd violinist, and Mike, our cellist, came to pick us up and drove to Ochsenhausen, which is a very quiet and tiny place, probably 30 KM outside from Biberach.
The second day was an intense rehearsal day with the student string orchestra with the first batch of improvisation students in the Landesacademie, which we didn't teach. The Landesacademie is an academy that runs different workshops the whole year, there are educational workshops, music workshops, art workshops and many many more. The monastery is basically turned into this academy, except their main church building, which is built baroque cum gothic style, during those respective periods. The interior was gorgeously painted with biblical stories on the high ceilings, sculptures and a beautiful organ. Too bad I didn't get to take pictures of these.
We finished our rehearsals at night, around 8.30pm, totally exhausted. But of course, the next thing I knew was.... BEER TIME! How can you not have beer in Germany? Each bottle of beer you buy from the machine costs 1.50 Euros. Among the string orchestra, I found my friend from Mancini, Katarzyna. She was serving as faculty in the workshop, we're so happy to see each other again. It was so random, you get to meet an old friend in a place you least expected.
The third day was our recording day (!!). Yes, already. One day of rehearsal, and then recording. It was very intense, of course. We started off recording Gregor's Cuban Impressions. That was almost a concerto for string quartet and orchestra, beautifully written, so complicated rhythmically, in the first movement. We got our ass kicked REALLY HARD to get the rhythm right. But hell, we got it right finally.
We continued our recording on the fourth day, which we finished up Cuban Impressions and went on to record Gregor's cello concerto written for Mike, with materials from Mike's own compositions. That was a tour-De-force for Mike and he played his ass off, it was so perfectly done on his part. Good job dude!
That night, we started our own album's recording. We did one movement and called it a night. We wrapped up on the next day by finishing the entire piece of Gregor's String Quartet No.3 a.k.a. New York Suite. The thing that we least expected was that we spent so much time on the second movement, 125th Street. It almost drove us crazy because we usually treated it like a jam piece without caring much, but our engineer, Johannes, pointed out so many things that we never took note of. Good on us for having such a great recording engineer --- in fact, the greatest in Germany! He's the engineer of Keith Jarrett's trio albums and many many other ECM and European recordings. This guy would read the full score while we record and would give us so many great musical suggestions which are 99% of the time accurate. You will spend half as much the time with him as you spent with other engineers. He is that great.
The string orchestra was gone since the wrapping of Mike's concerto. But the new batch of students came in the day we finished our quartet piece (we decided to do the rest of the album in NY). We met up and gave the students a brief orientation, playing 2 movements from Gregor's piece and Mike taught them a fiddle tune called "Shove The Pig's Foot Further into the Fire". Them kids (and adults) loved it and could never stop playing the tune since.
The rest of the days were all individual and group classes. On Day 7 and early Day 8, we did 2 short and messy rehearsals of the concerti with Mike and Gregor. I guess the students weren't confident enough with all the crazy cross rhythms and stuff, plus, further confused by the conductor. We had a nice concert in the afternoon of Day 8 though, playing our quartet pieces --- which included a new tune I wrote in Germany, This Could Be A Ballad. Gregor's 2 movements from his concerto was pretty messy, orchestral speaking, but Mike's concerto was great on both sides.
Sirius had a nice German dinner in the town area (that was the first time I've seen the town, honest), and had a long talk about future plans. We all agreed that this is a very exciting line-up and we need to do something to push our name to a wider popularity. Let's hope it will happen.
We woke up the next day at 6.30am, all looking like zombies, because we needed to check out at 7am. Gregor drove all of us to the airport. Poor Mike, he didn't even need to get to the airport so early, for his flight was around 2.30pm. But I heard he had a great time dining in the city of Stuttgart, good for him! As for us 3, we had our toughest time waiting for both planes in Stuttgart and Amsterdam. The Stuttfart-Amsterdam plane was delayed for an hour or something, which we thought was not so cool. But little did we know that the Amsterdam plane also had mechanical problems they had to change a plane that was flying in from Shanghai! And that delayed our Stuttgart-New York flight for 5 hours. Luckily KLM issued us vouchers to have lunch, call home, and 50 Euros worth of discount for our next KLM flight.
When I finally landed in New York, it was 7.40pm. Got home by subway around 9pm, had my dinner at 11pm. And my housemates went to play pool and ping pong till 1.22am. I didn't know how that can happen to me, for I should've been crashing. But I guess that's because I had a great time there, not travelling like mad, though busy, no phone calls, limited internet access...
Yeah, I can use another 9 days in Ochsenhausen... :)
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Bravo Mr Thum!
I went to see "21" last night, and I was waiting for another good laugh of Shirley Pang's Chinese subtitles.
Surprisingly, the shit was smooth!
The Chinese was really not bad at all!
What was going on with that bitch? She improved?
No.
It was another guy who did that subtitles, and he was smart enough not to put in his real name, he only stated himself as "Mr Thum".
Very good, Mr Thum! You're good! Keep it up!
People, you should simply go to see 21 solely for that one reason!
I really wish to see more of Mr. Thum's work.
And fuck you, Shirley Pang, time to go home and sleep.
Surprisingly, the shit was smooth!
The Chinese was really not bad at all!
What was going on with that bitch? She improved?
No.
It was another guy who did that subtitles, and he was smart enough not to put in his real name, he only stated himself as "Mr Thum".
Very good, Mr Thum! You're good! Keep it up!
People, you should simply go to see 21 solely for that one reason!
I really wish to see more of Mr. Thum's work.
And fuck you, Shirley Pang, time to go home and sleep.
Monday, August 25, 2008
.45
I have a .45 pressed on my head, but it wouldn't go off. I'd rather it does.
Wouldn't it feel sooo good if I'm shot dead right now?
Been 2 months, what do I get in KL? Vacation? Officially yes, practically no.
Just give me a fucking break, that's all I ask for. I don't need much, just two weeks will do me so much good.
Otherwise, please pull the fucking trigger.
Wouldn't it feel sooo good if I'm shot dead right now?
Been 2 months, what do I get in KL? Vacation? Officially yes, practically no.
Just give me a fucking break, that's all I ask for. I don't need much, just two weeks will do me so much good.
Otherwise, please pull the fucking trigger.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Who is Shirley Pang?
OK, 回到最根本的问题上：到底谁是Shirley Pang?
我知道很多人注意到我最近在为这件事情抓狂，甚至有人以为她是个我想要追的人。
错！
这个人我先杀之而后快！！
到底Shirley Pang是谁？我问了好多人这个问题，都问不出个所以然来。
还有一个问题，她到底懂不懂中文？这也是另外一个谜。
前两年还是Sharon Pang, 今年突然间变成了Shirley Pang, 到底是怕被人打而换名字，还是做不下去了把自己妹妹抓出来顶差？如果是怕人打的话，为什么不连Pang也换掉？
不过，Sharon也好，Shirley也罢，反正风格非常一致，是谁是哪个名字都没关系。
超过十年前银幕上的第一次解逅，让我无法忘记这个人。电影人物姓“Pope”，就直翻“主教”。那个时候看来确实是一绝。
谁知道好戏才刚开始，更妙的陆续有来。
魔戒第一集里面的半兽人(Orc)竟变成“果树林”。
"Give him your gun"变成“给你他的枪”。
"Princess"变成“王子”。(Hellboy II)
"Ironman"变成《坚强的男人》。
还有更多不胜枚举的例子，足以令一部严肃的电影变成胡闹搞笑片。正如我朋友在网上告诉我的：“It really makes you angry in a funny way!”
好，笑够了。现在是下达通缉令的时候。
在逃犯：Shirley/Sharon Pang
悬赏：无价
罪状：1. 涉嫌丢尽马来西亚华人中文水平的面子
2. 胡翻英文电影对白
最高刑法：游街示众
Everybody! Let's go!!
我知道很多人注意到我最近在为这件事情抓狂，甚至有人以为她是个我想要追的人。
错！
这个人我先杀之而后快！！
到底Shirley Pang是谁？我问了好多人这个问题，都问不出个所以然来。
还有一个问题，她到底懂不懂中文？这也是另外一个谜。
前两年还是Sharon Pang, 今年突然间变成了Shirley Pang, 到底是怕被人打而换名字，还是做不下去了把自己妹妹抓出来顶差？如果是怕人打的话，为什么不连Pang也换掉？
不过，Sharon也好，Shirley也罢，反正风格非常一致，是谁是哪个名字都没关系。
超过十年前银幕上的第一次解逅，让我无法忘记这个人。电影人物姓“Pope”，就直翻“主教”。那个时候看来确实是一绝。
谁知道好戏才刚开始，更妙的陆续有来。
魔戒第一集里面的半兽人(Orc)竟变成“果树林”。
"Give him your gun"变成“给你他的枪”。
"Princess"变成“王子”。(Hellboy II)
"Ironman"变成《坚强的男人》。
还有更多不胜枚举的例子，足以令一部严肃的电影变成胡闹搞笑片。正如我朋友在网上告诉我的：“It really makes you angry in a funny way!”
好，笑够了。现在是下达通缉令的时候。
在逃犯：Shirley/Sharon Pang
悬赏：无价
罪状：1. 涉嫌丢尽马来西亚华人中文水平的面子
2. 胡翻英文电影对白
最高刑法：游街示众
Everybody! Let's go!!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
菅野よう子
突然间想用中文写部落格。
怎样？吹咩？想看啊？去学中文啦笨！
最近在纽约煲《攻壳机动队--Stand Alone Complex》电视影集。故事和先进动画看到爽之余，我也同时爱上了作曲者菅野よう子（Kanno Yoko，华语大概念成“阳子”还是什么的吧）。看名字就知道是位女士。她的音乐果然很有女性细致的一面，都写得非常用心。我很少注意到电视片集的音乐可以做到这么用心的。
菅野的这部作品大多运用电子元素，很多声音样本（sample），很多很好玩很特别的节奏，再加上很多延绵不断的悠长和声，把人带进无限遐想，且很有lounge还有chill out music的味道。
我非常幸运竟然在谷中城广场顶楼的东洋动画店找到SAC的原声唱片，不过一直都没有坐下来好好听。现在夜阑人静的时候插入耳机听起来，竟然让我连听了好几次！
有两首特别惊艳的曲目，让我在这里列明一下，好让当家去买了过后注意一下：
Track 5 Where Does This Ocean Go?
菅野在这里先让爵士常用的刷棒（brush）击打小鼓（snare drum）的真实声响，然后配上很空灵的Fender Rhodes电子钢琴的键盘声，非常有那种真假，新旧的对比。再加上柔美的歌声，听了根本就不会想再从梦中醒来。
Track 12 Fish ~ Silent Cruise
这首刚开始的时候很悲情，童声女高音配上委婉的弦乐，是非常典型的日本现代电影音乐。不过一阵沉默过后，五分钟十五秒的时候，电音节奏开始了另一段音乐。弦乐还是一样悲哀，可是那越来越强劲有活力的电音节奏竟然重新诠释了这段弦乐的整体感觉。虽然和声还是一样，但竟然在节奏下被重新定义成“酷”。菅野这一手还真的非同凡响，佩服！
接下来我要去买它第二第三张原声大碟，嘿嘿...
怎样？吹咩？想看啊？去学中文啦笨！
最近在纽约煲《攻壳机动队--Stand Alone Complex》电视影集。故事和先进动画看到爽之余，我也同时爱上了作曲者菅野よう子（Kanno Yoko，华语大概念成“阳子”还是什么的吧）。看名字就知道是位女士。她的音乐果然很有女性细致的一面，都写得非常用心。我很少注意到电视片集的音乐可以做到这么用心的。
菅野的这部作品大多运用电子元素，很多声音样本（sample），很多很好玩很特别的节奏，再加上很多延绵不断的悠长和声，把人带进无限遐想，且很有lounge还有chill out music的味道。
我非常幸运竟然在谷中城广场顶楼的东洋动画店找到SAC的原声唱片，不过一直都没有坐下来好好听。现在夜阑人静的时候插入耳机听起来，竟然让我连听了好几次！
有两首特别惊艳的曲目，让我在这里列明一下，好让当家去买了过后注意一下：
Track 5 Where Does This Ocean Go?
菅野在这里先让爵士常用的刷棒（brush）击打小鼓（snare drum）的真实声响，然后配上很空灵的Fender Rhodes电子钢琴的键盘声，非常有那种真假，新旧的对比。再加上柔美的歌声，听了根本就不会想再从梦中醒来。
Track 12 Fish ~ Silent Cruise
这首刚开始的时候很悲情，童声女高音配上委婉的弦乐，是非常典型的日本现代电影音乐。不过一阵沉默过后，五分钟十五秒的时候，电音节奏开始了另一段音乐。弦乐还是一样悲哀，可是那越来越强劲有活力的电音节奏竟然重新诠释了这段弦乐的整体感觉。虽然和声还是一样，但竟然在节奏下被重新定义成“酷”。菅野这一手还真的非同凡响，佩服！
接下来我要去买它第二第三张原声大碟，嘿嘿...
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Thanks...
Summer...
Time to go home for a while and leave everything in New York behind for two months...
Well, not everything, but you know what I mean...
But before I leave, I have to list out a few names --- people who treat me so well that I dunno how to repay them. Without these people, I'd say, I might have become very broke, not known in the scene, or.... well, let's just say, I might not become who I am today.
Thanks to
Ray Pizzi --- he's my improvisation Jedi master, but at the same time my father figure who taught me so many things in life.
Daniel Phillips --- my classical violin teacher who made me the musician I am right now.
Christian Howes --- my friend and some-time teacher whom I met at the subway, the first person in New York who really cares about my career as a musician and later signed my artist visa application, he's the whole reason I'm still around. He also changed the way I play jazz --- like how he changed many others.
Claudia Wigent --- if Ray Pizzi's my father figure, then Claudia's my mother figure. She's a great harpist and music contractor of various big wedding events. She is also one of the few people who really cares about my career, both artistically and monetarily. She's always watching my back. I am very touched what she'd done to me. *hugs*
Jenny Lin --- say, if Ray is my father figure, Claudia is my mother figure, I guess Jenny is my SISTER figure. I dunno how she trusted me so much, first time we met in her concert she said she wanted to play with me (she'd never hear me play before). And she's always very supportive about the weird stuff I have been trying to do. She just has that strange faith in me, somehow. *hug hug*
Mike Block --- this is my Jewish bro who approached me for the Sirius Quartet position. If it ain't this guy, nobody in the scene would take note of me still.
Yuko --- my dancer/choreographer friend. Even though we have only met for 2 weeks to date, she became my first ever loyal fan. She followed every single show that I played since we met. I should include Yoshiko and Rio's names here too but Yuko is definitely the leader of the fan base!! I also have to thank her strange faith in me (similar to that of Jenny's), hiring me as a "composer" in her project, knowing that I'm not actually a composer.
Last but not least, my hip hop brotha, Akim Funk Buddha. Yes man, you're another person who've been appreciating what I do on my fiddle and making good use of it. You brought me to Kennedy Center, Joe's Pub, all those places. What can I say except giving a big hug to you?
Thanks to all of you, I won't forget any of you for my whole life.
Time to go home for a while and leave everything in New York behind for two months...
Well, not everything, but you know what I mean...
But before I leave, I have to list out a few names --- people who treat me so well that I dunno how to repay them. Without these people, I'd say, I might have become very broke, not known in the scene, or.... well, let's just say, I might not become who I am today.
Thanks to
Ray Pizzi --- he's my improvisation Jedi master, but at the same time my father figure who taught me so many things in life.
Daniel Phillips --- my classical violin teacher who made me the musician I am right now.
Christian Howes --- my friend and some-time teacher whom I met at the subway, the first person in New York who really cares about my career as a musician and later signed my artist visa application, he's the whole reason I'm still around. He also changed the way I play jazz --- like how he changed many others.
Claudia Wigent --- if Ray Pizzi's my father figure, then Claudia's my mother figure. She's a great harpist and music contractor of various big wedding events. She is also one of the few people who really cares about my career, both artistically and monetarily. She's always watching my back. I am very touched what she'd done to me. *hugs*
Jenny Lin --- say, if Ray is my father figure, Claudia is my mother figure, I guess Jenny is my SISTER figure. I dunno how she trusted me so much, first time we met in her concert she said she wanted to play with me (she'd never hear me play before). And she's always very supportive about the weird stuff I have been trying to do. She just has that strange faith in me, somehow. *hug hug*
Mike Block --- this is my Jewish bro who approached me for the Sirius Quartet position. If it ain't this guy, nobody in the scene would take note of me still.
Yuko --- my dancer/choreographer friend. Even though we have only met for 2 weeks to date, she became my first ever loyal fan. She followed every single show that I played since we met. I should include Yoshiko and Rio's names here too but Yuko is definitely the leader of the fan base!! I also have to thank her strange faith in me (similar to that of Jenny's), hiring me as a "composer" in her project, knowing that I'm not actually a composer.
Last but not least, my hip hop brotha, Akim Funk Buddha. Yes man, you're another person who've been appreciating what I do on my fiddle and making good use of it. You brought me to Kennedy Center, Joe's Pub, all those places. What can I say except giving a big hug to you?
Thanks to all of you, I won't forget any of you for my whole life.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Ray Pizzi back with some words of gold (updated)
My dear musician friends, please, watch this! This man is my improvisation teacher and he is one of the few people I know who loves music more than his own life ---- and now he's teaching you how!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezUAUg1A6NU
This is the reason how he could survive on top of the food chain in the Hollywood industry.
Hollywood is a tough place to be in, and it's usually recording industry as everyone knows, which is hectic and super-organized --- to the point of "anal-ity". I've seen too many money-minded Hollywood musicians and composers who already forgot about the true meaning of music when I was there in LA. It's kinda scary to imagine what would I become if I lived there for 10 years as a studio musician. But under this kind of environment, Ray has been able to be on top of his form and makes good music every day and still loves every minute of making music. What does it take to stay in such good shape?
Now this is what I call "Practising what he preaches"!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezUAUg1A6NU
This is the reason how he could survive on top of the food chain in the Hollywood industry.
Hollywood is a tough place to be in, and it's usually recording industry as everyone knows, which is hectic and super-organized --- to the point of "anal-ity". I've seen too many money-minded Hollywood musicians and composers who already forgot about the true meaning of music when I was there in LA. It's kinda scary to imagine what would I become if I lived there for 10 years as a studio musician. But under this kind of environment, Ray has been able to be on top of his form and makes good music every day and still loves every minute of making music. What does it take to stay in such good shape?
Now this is what I call "Practising what he preaches"!
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Diuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
Sometimes I really hate New York subway.
I was running over to Panoramasian rehearsal today, thought I would get there on time this time (been late last time). Jules wanted to come along to Manhattan, so naturally, I had to wait for him a bit. Then he fucked up, he found out that his card was done and had to buy one at the vending machine.
"BRRRRRRROOOOOOM", one train pass by above my head.
Fuck, right?
So we waited for the 7 train, it took quite a while to come over to the station. 12.16pm, supposed to be there by 1pm. It's OK, I can make it because F train is fast.
Tried to transfer to F train, it was an E train right there and it went away as soon as we got to thr platform. And we thought F train will be next...
About like 10 minutes later... E TRAIN!!!
By then it was already like 12.30pm or some shit. If the train was F, I should've been able to be there on time...
OK, nevermind, I took E, thinking of transferring to F in West 4.
Fuck, when I finally got to the first stop in Manhattan, 12.50pm.
I'm fucked, I thought. So I got out of the train, ran up to street level and got a cab.
I was late still...
Diuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
I was running over to Panoramasian rehearsal today, thought I would get there on time this time (been late last time). Jules wanted to come along to Manhattan, so naturally, I had to wait for him a bit. Then he fucked up, he found out that his card was done and had to buy one at the vending machine.
"BRRRRRRROOOOOOM", one train pass by above my head.
Fuck, right?
So we waited for the 7 train, it took quite a while to come over to the station. 12.16pm, supposed to be there by 1pm. It's OK, I can make it because F train is fast.
Tried to transfer to F train, it was an E train right there and it went away as soon as we got to thr platform. And we thought F train will be next...
About like 10 minutes later... E TRAIN!!!
By then it was already like 12.30pm or some shit. If the train was F, I should've been able to be there on time...
OK, nevermind, I took E, thinking of transferring to F in West 4.
Fuck, when I finally got to the first stop in Manhattan, 12.50pm.
I'm fucked, I thought. So I got out of the train, ran up to street level and got a cab.
I was late still...
Diuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
Monday, June 16, 2008
My friend, Daijiro's "speech"
My buddy, Daijiro, went back to Japan after his short stay in Germany, studying with Roger Norrington. I was puzzled by his move. After many months, he finally gave me the reason why, and his words deeply touched me. And you asshole out there who think that we should all wear suits and night gowns into the concert hall! READ THIS!!
well this is why i came back to japan. i need to do this as soon as possible. otherwise, in 30 years, we are dead. I sound like making a speech below. well i intended to.
The environment where people get cultured
There is surprisingly a lot of concerts and exhibition in Europe.
There are concerts in numerous amounts of churches in a city every week, in music hall daily. Addition to it, there is operas. Beside, inexpensive tickets are always available.
This means that enjoying cultural events is normal act. And the environment for it is ready for people.
There are as many concerts in Europe as in Tokyo. However, the ticket price is much higher than it is in Europe. And the concerts take places in the same 4-5 concert halls which is located in City Center: therefore, it is quite far from the place where people live. The concerts begins early, therefore there is no time to have dinner before the concert. Hence audiences have to eat sandwich in the hall. This means that unless you have flexible schedule (who has it anyway in Tokyo?) and earn good, you cannot really enjoy concerts COMFOTABLY in Tokyo. In other words, most of people have to make effort or sacrifice in order to go to live performance. And top to all, Kids are not welcomed here.
When children grow up n this situation, they understand that going to concert is something special, something tiresome. They think participating cultural events, which enrich their life, is actually unproductive and waste. But they are the future audience. Is this OK? Off course not. Then, what should we do?
Children must attend cultural events as frequently as possible with their parents and enjoy. For this, creating such an environment is crucial, otherwise, we cannot hope for future.
The success of the Festival La Folle Journee in Japan is suggestive. The success is largely depends on its inexpensive ticket and flexible schedule. People are eager to engage themselves to these concerts if they do not have any stress both financially and time wise.
Unfortunate thing is audience for the festival does not listen to Classical music in normal situation. It means, there is no increasing in the amount of audience in professional music organization such as orchestras in Tokyo.
A big event does not help Classical world to have more audience. A fashion of listening to classical music does not help increasing audience. Because it is the big event, people come. Because it is cool only RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT, people listen. These things would not educate our future audience. NEVER!
Then what do we need? As I mentioned above, we musicians must frequently provide concerts which people can come without stress with their kids. In churches, public governed halls and Buddha temple and etc. If children grow up in this environment where they taste arts as daily food, they will be willing to go to those big halls where 100 people is playing together (this is really something abnormal you know that!), and therefore they understand that the ticket has to be expensive.
So please we have to spend our time and energy to create this environment. I hope you agree with me and do something together.
and this is my response to him:
Dude, well said! I have a lot of same thinking as u. Same thing happens in Malaysia --- well, even worse, because our level is not as high as Japan!
Going to see Malaysian Philharmonic is like going to a temple or shrine to worship the gods. And the stupid hall asks people to wear suit and night gowns to attend those concerts, otherwise they won't be allowed into the hall. Now what does that mean??? It ended up that most of the people attending are either hardcore music lovers who can afford to spend or yuppies who think going to concerts make them look cool and cultured, yet they don't know a thing.
I really hate this. I hate it from my guts. That's why I want to go home too. But not yet, not until I do something good here until people will believe what I say.
I wish you all the success u will get in the future! And please, if you can find sponsors to get me to Japan, let's play again!
Good luck my brother!
well this is why i came back to japan. i need to do this as soon as possible. otherwise, in 30 years, we are dead. I sound like making a speech below. well i intended to.
The environment where people get cultured
There is surprisingly a lot of concerts and exhibition in Europe.
There are concerts in numerous amounts of churches in a city every week, in music hall daily. Addition to it, there is operas. Beside, inexpensive tickets are always available.
This means that enjoying cultural events is normal act. And the environment for it is ready for people.
There are as many concerts in Europe as in Tokyo. However, the ticket price is much higher than it is in Europe. And the concerts take places in the same 4-5 concert halls which is located in City Center: therefore, it is quite far from the place where people live. The concerts begins early, therefore there is no time to have dinner before the concert. Hence audiences have to eat sandwich in the hall. This means that unless you have flexible schedule (who has it anyway in Tokyo?) and earn good, you cannot really enjoy concerts COMFOTABLY in Tokyo. In other words, most of people have to make effort or sacrifice in order to go to live performance. And top to all, Kids are not welcomed here.
When children grow up n this situation, they understand that going to concert is something special, something tiresome. They think participating cultural events, which enrich their life, is actually unproductive and waste. But they are the future audience. Is this OK? Off course not. Then, what should we do?
Children must attend cultural events as frequently as possible with their parents and enjoy. For this, creating such an environment is crucial, otherwise, we cannot hope for future.
The success of the Festival La Folle Journee in Japan is suggestive. The success is largely depends on its inexpensive ticket and flexible schedule. People are eager to engage themselves to these concerts if they do not have any stress both financially and time wise.
Unfortunate thing is audience for the festival does not listen to Classical music in normal situation. It means, there is no increasing in the amount of audience in professional music organization such as orchestras in Tokyo.
A big event does not help Classical world to have more audience. A fashion of listening to classical music does not help increasing audience. Because it is the big event, people come. Because it is cool only RIGHT AT THIS MOMENT, people listen. These things would not educate our future audience. NEVER!
Then what do we need? As I mentioned above, we musicians must frequently provide concerts which people can come without stress with their kids. In churches, public governed halls and Buddha temple and etc. If children grow up in this environment where they taste arts as daily food, they will be willing to go to those big halls where 100 people is playing together (this is really something abnormal you know that!), and therefore they understand that the ticket has to be expensive.
So please we have to spend our time and energy to create this environment. I hope you agree with me and do something together.
and this is my response to him:
Dude, well said! I have a lot of same thinking as u. Same thing happens in Malaysia --- well, even worse, because our level is not as high as Japan!
Going to see Malaysian Philharmonic is like going to a temple or shrine to worship the gods. And the stupid hall asks people to wear suit and night gowns to attend those concerts, otherwise they won't be allowed into the hall. Now what does that mean??? It ended up that most of the people attending are either hardcore music lovers who can afford to spend or yuppies who think going to concerts make them look cool and cultured, yet they don't know a thing.
I really hate this. I hate it from my guts. That's why I want to go home too. But not yet, not until I do something good here until people will believe what I say.
I wish you all the success u will get in the future! And please, if you can find sponsors to get me to Japan, let's play again!
Good luck my brother!
Saturday, June 07, 2008
Petrol~~
Oil price rising
Extra 78 cents per litter.
Buddy asked me what to do.
I said, "Nothing."
Yea but seriously
What to do?
NOTHING!
Life goes on.
He repeated the same question
I said,
Can't sell your car because Malaysian public transport
Sucks ass
Just live
A simpler life
Less expensive, branded clothes
Cook at home
Less entertainment
Less socialising
And most important of all
Divorce your wife
or
Break up with your girlfriend
And then
Life goes on
Extra 78 cents per litter.
Buddy asked me what to do.
I said, "Nothing."
Yea but seriously
What to do?
NOTHING!
Life goes on.
He repeated the same question
I said,
Can't sell your car because Malaysian public transport
Sucks ass
Just live
A simpler life
Less expensive, branded clothes
Cook at home
Less entertainment
Less socialising
And most important of all
Divorce your wife
or
Break up with your girlfriend
And then
Life goes on
Sunday, June 01, 2008
Back to Civilisation
Bitches, I'm back!
I can't believe I finally got back after a 14-hour drive from South Dakota dammit!!
We had a 4-day tour since Monday, visited Badlands, stayed there for a night, then checked in to Black Hills, went to see the four dead guys' heads in Mt Rushmore, crossed over to Wyoming to look at Devil's Tower.
In between those, we went to see some wildlife in Custer National Park, watching bisons, deers and shit... oh and the cute little prairie dogs.
In a summary, it's an ass-hurting journey of total boredom from old people saying garbage (am referring to my sis' mom-in-law) and lots of exciting wild animal action.
Tired tired tired...
But the views were nice, air was fresh, and people were nice out there.
Somehow I feel that the people there in the mountains are like Malays... Very nice people, very sincere, but when they do things they're very slow...
I can't believe I finally got back after a 14-hour drive from South Dakota dammit!!
We had a 4-day tour since Monday, visited Badlands, stayed there for a night, then checked in to Black Hills, went to see the four dead guys' heads in Mt Rushmore, crossed over to Wyoming to look at Devil's Tower.
In between those, we went to see some wildlife in Custer National Park, watching bisons, deers and shit... oh and the cute little prairie dogs.
In a summary, it's an ass-hurting journey of total boredom from old people saying garbage (am referring to my sis' mom-in-law) and lots of exciting wild animal action.
Tired tired tired...
But the views were nice, air was fresh, and people were nice out there.
Somehow I feel that the people there in the mountains are like Malays... Very nice people, very sincere, but when they do things they're very slow...
Friday, May 30, 2008
From Black Hills, South Dakota
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.
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.
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.
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