An e-mail to a friend

Hey,

I just ran back from the rain outside, soaked.

Thought of writing to you before anything else.

I'm listening to the duo performance of Kenny Barron (piano) and Stan Getz (alto sax) right now. So deep... full of soul... Makes you wanna lay down and not standing up anymore...

It's the last album made by Stan Getz. Right after he did this live performance, he died.

People say some can foretell their death before they die, I believe that. At least, I heard it from Stan's music. He blew out his sorrow, his low cry, his love, his... Life......

The album is called "People Time", a double-CD.

Go find it and listen to it and get drunk with it.


Love,
CH

Meeting fellow Malaysian

I feel so content, meeting a fellow Malaysian HERE IN NEW YORK!

Believe it or not, I never had a single Malaysian friend since I got here to New York.

It's pathetic and unbelievable I know, but that's how it is here.

One might ask me: What about them bitchin' Malaysian restaurants in town?

But I'm sorry, how am I suppose to get to know a waiter or waitress serving food, thinking about money and don't give a shit anything else in life, not even his/her own country?

Speaking of which, I thought of a mad story happened the other day.

It was August 30th here (already 31st back home), the eve of our Merdeka Day ("Merdeka" means "Independence" in Malay language). I went in to my favourite Chinese restaurant to ask the people if there's any Merdeka celebrations among our community. This one guy --- I CAN NEVER FORGET HIS FACE!! --- was looking at me like I'm a Martian or something and said, "Oh... that... no lah! We don't celebrate our National Day. US National Day we will celebrate!" I almost gave him a punch on this "fellow Malaysian"'s face. Motherfucker, no self-respect! He responded like a total stranger to the National Day of Malaysia, makes me sick!

Anyway, back to the topic. This guy I met is a piano performance PhD student in Juilliard, Nick Ong. Cool guy, looks so young, but never realize he's even older than my buddy Chong Lim! Wow!

Had a Sichuan dinner with him, some really spicy shit. Thus, I shat spicy too. hehe...

I've seen this guy playing the Liszt piano concerto no.1 with the National Symphony of Malaysia --- oh yeah, I was playing in there. Man, he's a motherfucker man, he can play like nobody's business!!! And now this dude told me that we should play together, you can imagine how fuckin' happy I am.

Nick also told me that he had never been home for 6 years... damn... I can't imagine myself staying outside for six years without them Malaysian food ...

If you are wondering what's so fuckin' special Malaysian food, just walk in to one of the Malaysian restaurants in town, and try ANY dish in the menu. Otherwise, you can ask Jeremy mah brotha. He will tell you how wonderful it is. Know why? Cuz he's a Malaysian now! That triggers another story...

While in LA, Ken and me brought our white boy Jeremy to a South East Asian restaurant, Noodle Planet in Westwood. They have like one of the best food down there. Jeremy had a Hainanese chicken rice there before and was diggin' it, so he didn't even think before he decided to go back.

OK, so there we were, two Chinese-Malaysians and one American dude. We started to recommend food on the menu and shit, and then suddenly we found out there's a special dish called "Durian with Sticky Rice". Ken and I, our eyes were like shining bright right away! (Durian is a kind of spiky fruit that only grows in South East Asian countries. The content is soft and slimy, the smell is too sweet for some people it stinks.) We wanted to order that shit, but we were worried that Jeremy can't take it.

So we asked him, "Dude, we gonna challenge you with somethin'. If you passed this test, you'll be officially accepted in the Malaysian gang. Are you willing to accept it?" He said, "Yeah man, I'm open to try", with his easy-goin', not-the-end-of-the-world tone.

Thus the dish came, we wanted him to try the DURIAN ONLY. So he had a small piece and put it in his mouth and bit it and ate that shit. Ken and I were watching his facial expression intensely, hoping to see some disgusted expressions.

But hell no! He didn't! He didn't show that typical look when Western people tried durians!! Then he said, "Why, I would say this is pretty good actually, I like it!"

We were both amazed like some kinda motherfucker and couldn't believe it.

So he's in. He's a Malaysian now.

Starry Sky

No, it's not about New York. I'm sure most of you can foretell.

It's Stowe, Vermont.

I was walking outside the resort, with Jing, talking about our ex-girlfriends. It was dark.

I looked up at the sky, I see millions of blinking stars in the endless dark backdrop.

Yes, Stowe is such a place.

A place with no excessive lights from the ground ----- not even streetlights on the streets.

I see a river of stars, flowing through the quietness of the night. It washed my heart clean.

Yeah... it's really been a while since I saw a sight like this...

Ray Pizzi's Quote of the Day 3

"I'll be the first to admit I'm wrong......if I'm ever wrong"

珍珠奶綠 / Lunch with A-chan

難以相信,回來了快兩個星期,昨晚才第一次去買珍珠奶綠來喝.

通常經過Flushing都會順道買一杯來喝,這一次確實有點一反常態.

連羊肉串也不例外. 我到現在為止,只吃過一串.

看來人真的是會變的.


x x x x x x x x x

Lunch with A-chan didn't happen.

I got her message this morning while I was still in the bed, she said she didn't sleep at all last night, so she needs to catch up with some sleep.

Oh well... Guess we all have our lives to live...

I'm glad enough that there are always some friends here and there. It's always good to have friends. They might seem distanced in usual days, but when something big happens, they're still the ones to go to.

Not the ones that WERE used to be close to you. No way. Those very close ones, once you part with them, they will never turn back...

My first official lesson with Christian Howes

Christian Howes, my Kungfu Master!!!
Yesterday was my first lesson with him --- officially. He gave me a lesson on the streets before, which was REALLY cool!
I got to Brooklyn, in his apartment, and took an almost 2-hour lesson with him.
It was great, I learned so much from him.
The lesson went back to the same problem I always have: Using much ears.
Before I started jazz, it was my sightreading that really sucked.
Now that my sightreading got better (much better), the intuition problem has taken over.
In jazz, I still trust my ears too much, I do not memorize chords too well.
Chris pointed this out to me again and again during the lesson.
He also explained the "4 in 1" theory to me.
So much to learn, so little time...

Oh, yes, he also passed me a gig, thanks Chris! I dunno how to thank you!

In NYC

Touched down late around 11.30pm on Friday night.

I went back home with a Queens Lincoln cab, 15 bucks, not bad.

The house was a mess. Mice droppings everywhere in the kitchen, food got eaten by those dreadful little creatures. Seems like they've open up some doors for themselves again.

Not gonna take care of those yet.

物是人非事事休, 欲語淚先流

Well I didn't cry, but I felt heavy when I saw the same things settling in the house but everything has changed personally.

I couldn't bear to look at it, so I went straight to Dong Hyun's house. He invited me to go there anyway.

We had Book Chang Dong soon doo bu before we headed to his house.

Stayed overnight, tasted my first cigar in my life.

Next day (Sat) was the rehearsal of POA.

After POA, I went to find CY, had lunch with her (actually, with myself, she had lunch). Then I went to her place to chit chat. Then I called Tian up and we met up to have dinner together with his girl.

3 of us met up with CY together again.

We went back to CY's apartment to drink. CY told me that HP called her up to ask her not to let me drink, I yelled in my heart, saying,"Fuck you bitch! Enjoy your sweet time with Sctt and don't bother me OK?!! It's my freedom to anything I want now! What do YOU care about?!!!"

So we all got drunk and BIG LOVE, we talked and laughed. So happy...

Yay~~~

The Evil Twin recording session!!

Jeremy and me are staying in LA for a few days, and decided to record ourselves so that we can put our clips on MySpace, since Ken offered to record us before.

So we finally did it today.

My bow was broken last week because of a small accident, so in the mean time I'm repairing it, I have to have a new bow. I had been thinking of buying a carbon-fibre bow anyways, so today we went to Studio City Music a.k.a. Eric Benning Violin Shop near the big movie studios. I got a Jon Paul Bravo model, original price was 210, but Eric gave me a discount and it became a 200 dollars deal. Out of my expectation, he asked me to choose any rosin I like! He told me to better choose the expensive ones. So I chose the Liebenzeller Metall-Kolophonium rosin, the Gold II series. According to Eric, Liebenzeller is the first person who put metal into the rosin to avoid rapid melting!

I tried out the bow in the recording session when we got back to Ken's apartment, man, I love the bow-chops it produces! It's so crispy, and it's definitely worth more than that price! Yesterday I used Jeremy's cello bow to record a trial take, haha!

Anyway, we took many takes today within the 4.15pm to 6.30pm, including another song, Crystal Silence, with only one take. I think "Get It" had us do 5 takes. Don't remember. We decided to choose the last take. At fist we wanted to choose the second last, but we suddenly realize we didn't switch on the mic... so there were only pick-up sound that sounds pretty ugly by itself. Shit... had to redo it once more, but we were glad to find that it was the best take!!

It's 3am now, Ken is still mixing "Get It"! Thanks buddy, you're amazing!!

Catalina jam

I should post my video when I jammed in Catalina's. You can't really see my face (again). You can also hear HP's voice behind asking Sctt to help her take the video and Sctt's answer. Pretty interesting. But please, focus on the music. Haha!

HMI 2006 (Final Week)

Ray Pizzi's quote of the week:

I don't care what scales or modes you play in a slow ballad man. As long as you make the bitches horny!

x x x x x x x x x x x x

Last week was a blur to me.

Because I found out something that would make me feel so bitter that I wanna kill myself.

It was in Catalina's, HMI organized a jam session in there. As usual, I sat in a corner with other fiddlers. HP sat with her girlfriends and this percussionist Sctt who likes her together on one table. I felt a gush of jealousy running to my heart.

Then they sat so close and talked to each other's ears and flirt.

Then later after the thing, I saw them got down from the bus and walked towards his car and went away.

I almost killed myself then.

I never knew how much I care. But now I think I know.

But I can't do anything, because I was the one who asked for a breakup in such an ungodly timing. I should be responsible!

The rest of the week was pretty emotional, lots of tears and alcohol (both from me and her).

But anyway, we had our string ensemble concert on Wednesday which went very well, though JC's program was too long. Also, my E string popped when my group started to play the first few bars. But luckily Hebe came in to switch her violin with mine. Later she even put on a new E string for me! Thanks Hebe!

The rest of the week was filled with jealousy and bitterness. I couldn't even remember the music much. For example, the Maria Schneider concert should've been great but all I did throughout the concert was peeking what they were doing in the far side of the plaza...

My heart was filled with anger!!!

But I know I hurt her too much, too much... there's no way for me to go back to her and tell her to come back, that would be shameless!! Plus, I really need time for music!!

See how complicated I am? I don't even understand myself anymore...


Anyway, the grand finale was great! Well of course, if you ignore Ahn Trio by purpose! Haha!

Michael Daugherty's Ghost Ranch was absolutely amazing, and very nice to be played too. Paul Chihara's The Tempest is cute too. Of course, it's Paul! He's cute himself.

The concert ended with Abe Laboriel's crazy bass solo in Peter Gunn. He is AMAZING!!

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Coda:

Now I'm in Ken's house, after checking out yesterday (sunday, 8/13).

Yesterday we were all very tired because of the crazy Toga/Mattress party we had after the concert.

We came to Ken's place, had lunch, then went on to the airport to send HP off to Portland, Oregon.

Life without HP is a little peaceful, for I don't have to see them being together. But I miss her a lot, I dunno if she feels the same. Maybe not... She has Sctt.

My heart is still aching, and also burns with flame. That bastard promised me that he will give me peace of mind just to go through the last week of the institute, and yet, they went to the beach together, sat so close in the concert... It totally burns me into flame.

Motherfucker...

HMI (3rd week)

It's been a cool week because we didn't have to go through all those difficult orchestra parts. Music's quite easy this week, I was glad. I guess the hardest parts were Tian's and Ulf's pieces. Easy week.

JD and Bill Cunliffe did some crazy changes on Rhapsody in Blue, but it was worth it. I almost cried when I heard Pascal's solo in there. Rhapsody in Blue with rhythm section in the cadenza, man that's a bold but creative move! And fuck that woman who shouted, "Wrap it up!" She clearly doesn't know shit about being a good audience, not to mention knowing music.

JD's brought our spirit up a level this week, cuz he kept on saying, "Playing music is supposed to make you FEEL GOOD. If you don't feel good, those cats in the audience won't dig it. If you feel good, the cats will feel good too! You dig?" Yes I dig, JD! And he always shouted, "SING IT!!! SING IT!!!" We did, it's another tear-jerking moment when we played the slow part. Damn, he's got some magic there, our Mr Penguin.

The concert in Marina Del Rey was awesome, but it can't beat the concert a night before --------- the chamber orchestra concert.

Gonzalo Rubalcaba totally tore it up!!! I saw Marianne's tears after Gonzalo played the first song! Yes, I was totally touched too.

Then Turnage piece is some shit man, I love it!!!

* * * * * * * * * *

Coda:

I really like HRK, but too bad, HRK has bf...

Well, I guess I shouldn't think about that for now, I don't want a gf now, and plus, it's just a summer fling...

But well, my point is, I really like HRK!

Maybe because she looks like Sodam? Dunno... maybe...

Ray Pizzi's Quote of the Day

"Don't play to fill up the space; play to fill some space"

HMI 06 (2nd part, week two)

So now's the end of week two. Let me look back and see what happened.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Allan Pasqua's improv class on Monday was awesome, he taught Giant Steps in the class. He designated some practising schemes, such as playing the changes in 14 bars, which means cut down the last two bars to lessen the feeling of settling down. This is for practising your skills of knowing where you are in the changes. Pretty tough, especially when he asked the students to trade 8 with the drummer, pengsan! They would all go back to 16 bars so easily, haha!

Nothing much to say about this week except Laurence Rosenthal came in to conduct us playing his Miracle Worker score, man... that was some deep ass music he was making man. If the same music goes to any other conductor, it would turn into another cheesy Hollywood music. Then Johnny Mandel came in to conduct his songs "A Time For Love" and "Emily" as well. Man, I can't help but be deeply touched by the music. And I totally salute to Mr Mandel because he is already 80 over years old like Larry, but he is still so clear about EVERY SINGLE note that we play. He could HEAR EVERY WRONG NOTE people did. He could hardly move his arms, but sure as hell his brain could move!!

Then it was the Big Band concert, pretty kick ass with Christian McBride. It was awesome! There was big party after that, threw by the string section, but sorry lah, I didn't contribute any beer, I only consume them, haha!! I even did a beer bong with two beers inside, crazy... And we were hugging each other so lovingly after we were all "gone", especially A and H! Haha! That was fun.

The film concert on the next day was awesome! People loved it, and we loved it too! I thought Richard Kaufman did a great job in conduct Austin Powers and Spiderman with the big screen behind us. Everything was DEAD ON the cues!!! My god... How could he possibly do that?!!

Post-concert party was another thing worth mentioning is that I jammed, for the first time in the post-concert party, with the real jazz cats, and the audiences and sponsors that came were all there. That was a bold move, I know... But at least that gained myself a little respect rather than hiding myself in a corner. String players who improvise should have more balls and stand out and say something with their horns!!! (See the video, although you can't see me, but you can hear very well for sure! )



After the concert, I found myself breaking up with HP... Might be a good thing though. But I'm sure she's feeling very very bad. I'm sorry HP, but this is a decision I have to make. I hope you will find someone that loves you back as much as you love him. Dont' find that asshole back again... promise?

Updates on HMI 2006 (first part, week 2)

So I wrote the first concert is over, pretty good.

Had some fun in the post-concert party, man, them jazz players tore it up!!!

Talked to Su a little, she's a fun person, especially when we use Manglish to talk, WOOHOO!!! What a rush!!!

The next day we went to Warner Bros., but since we were all so fucked up (we had ANOTHER party the night before right after the post-concert party ---- folks, that's HMI!), we woke up like zombies at 7 in the morning. And hell, the fuckin' bus didn't show up till late...sigh*, should've slept longer...

The Indiana Jones session in the Clint Eastwood Recording Stage in Warner Bros. wasn't as good as last year, I have to confess. The brass players this year, I dunno why, they kept cracking their notes up! We had to take so many takes until we didn't have time to look at the final result!

After the session, I followed Russ and his friend, Micah, to Universal Studio that's just around the corner to watch Superman Returns in IMAX version. Saw the movie before, so the whole point there is just to watch the three 3D scenes, yes, I said THREE. ONLY THREE. Luckily it's not so bad.

That night we went to Ken's place to eat Bak Kut Teh, yummy! HP made some chicken too. That was something! Then Nick came to let HP try his Izuka viola and fetched us back to the dorm.

* * * * * * * * * *

Rest of the week up till now is all about playing. Orchestra in the morning, 9.30am ---- which sucks. This week we're performing film music with a big screen behind. But not as good as last year cuz we almost don't have any other film composers to conduct us, except Pat and Larry Rosenthal. PLUS, no Paul Chihara! :( I miss him, hope he will show up eventually.

String band is going alright, more systematic this time. What I like is we only play one piece in the combine string band, which saves the havoc from last year.

Then, it's all jamming jamming and jamming. Jamming with any cats I would like to jam with. It's fun, it's great! I got better, I feel. And Jeremy and I came up with a new tune!

Music filled my life right now, I'm really really happy and satisfied. I don't think I have time for any other things, I really need my own space and my own time. I don't even know if having a girlfriend at this point is such a good idea anymore...

Ertinya "Malaysia Boleh"

The fanatical nationalists like to shout "Malaysia Boleh" before they think. Why shout "Malaysia Boleh" over those "longest, biggest, tallest, shortest, highest, youngest" records in the Guiness Book of Records?

Three nights ago, I shouted "Malaysia Boleh" in Los Angeles, CA. Not only out of patrioticism, but out of the bottom of my heart.

I saw Kamrul Hussin, directed such an excellent piece of music, that was used as the closing of the 2nd Salon of APPEX --- an Asian-Pacific cultural exchange programme held this year in LA.

I saw Joseph Gonzales, dancing away with his beautiful body movements, and choreographed such an excellent dance programme.

Pessimists like to say "Malaysia Tak Boleh", they think our culture and art is next to nothing.

But if they saw this, they have to admit they're wrong ---- Malaysia DOES have something to offer to the world!

Kamrul sung with such passion,"Maju seni, maju budaya!" Indeed, if the arts are advanced, the culture will grow.

That's what Malaysia need right now --- the growth of culture --- since our economy is so much better than a few decades ago.

I hope there are more people like Kamrul and Joseph, or even better ones, appearing in the art scene, I honestly hope so.

Good job Abang Kamrul, saya memang terharu!

Henry Mancini Institute 2006 (Week 1)

So I'm back here again, to HMI.

I took off from KL in the morning of 13th July, after a whole 3 weeks of craziness there.

Transit in Hong Kong was fun. I knew Julian was going home on the same day but I didn't know what time was his flight. I tried my luck by calling him with my cellphone. But there were some limitations going on there, I could only SMS him. Surprisingly, he called me back! Then he told me he was upstairs in the airport!

So I went up to meet him and Eddie. We took a couple pictures and they went to buy wine for people in KL. Then they told me about the whole Jackie Chan scandal in their gig with Jonathan Lee (李宗盛).

Anyway, I stayed on in the airport for one more hour after they took off.

Then I reached LA, my beloved city.

Waited in the special registration room for about an hour before I could come out as a free man. Then I waited for Ken and his woman to come fetch me at the airport. He told me there was big traffic along the way.

After I hopped on to his car, he drove me straight to see Pirates of Caribbean 2. I totally fell asleep in many parts of the movie. So I can't tell if the film is good or not, saw some nice effects, so I think it might be good...

Night time was drinking time with Ken, we went to buy sake and plum wine and had quite a lot, didn't get fucked up though, so it's fine. But whenever I get alcohol, I will always shit like mad the next day, haha! So you know what happened to me right?

So the next day we went to pick up HP, then checked in to HMI.

Many news faces, a few old ones. But it's cool, cuz my roommates are great people, including Jeremy my buddy, and Russ the viola principal of our 1st week, and Ben the bass trombonist who always seek for more jazz solo opportunities, haha!

* * * * * * * *

The funny thing about this time was, we started party in the first night! That, I guess, never happened before. At least we're not that crazy last year.

Anyway, in the placement audition, they asked me if I mind sitting in a principal chair again. I said I wanna do more of my own stuff, so the less responsibility the better. My wish was granted, I get NO principal chairs whatsoever, NO CHAMBER ORCHESTRA!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!! So this time I can sit in the audience and watch Gonzalo Rubalcaba perform!!!

Orchestra pieces this week are very nice this time, more depth, more artistic. The highlight of the program, I think, is Pat Williams' "August", a work he wrote after he had a health breakdown and went through a big operation. I guess life experience could change a person entirely. Pat looks different, not that his looks changed, but his whole attitude of talking and everything looks so unlike last year.

As for string band, I got put into Lesa Terry's band, which is cool. She is known to be very organized and systematic in teaching. I'm glad. A little disappointed that I don't get to play in Danny Seidenberg's band though... But oh well, others deserve an oppotunity.

This Saturday will be an audition day for us violinists to choose a soloist for Stardust, a piece arranged by Pat. There are some open solo changes that I need to work on. Ray Pizzi, my father figure in improvisation helped me for a whole one half hours yesterday. I'm soooo grateful about that! Thanks Ray! I will remember all the scales you taught me.

Tonight was another fun night, it's the SIMPSONS READING SESSION!!! Alf Clausen, the composer himself, came to conduct us as usual, and told us some nice and funny stories. It was great.

One thing I need to mention is the jams I had since I came in this year. I never had that much jamming last year, because of the business I had. So this time I got to jam a lot with Jeremy, and also the "real deals" in HMI. It was scary in the official jam session on Monday, seeing all them great players burning their solos like nobody's business. I played really really badly that night.

But just now after the Simpsons, somebody started a jam session, and I watched for a long time, wondering if I should join in, cuz I was nervous, plus I dunno those tunes. At last, they said, "Let's play a last one, All Blues in 11!" So immediately took out my horn (it's actually my violin) and joined in. It was fun, I thought I played well.

I guess I just have to keep on playing with other people, jamming without thinking what others might think of me. To be totally fluent in jazz is my goal, I think I can do it, it only takes time. So I will spend a lot of time digging into it, learning everything I can learn to be a pro. I don't think I have time for any other thing in this case I guess, but it's OK, if I can get it. What else matters?

Time to think...

So it is time to sit down and think
Should still be playing a solo recital
Should I? Or should I not?

I always feel so much relaxed and comfortable playing with my friends in a chamber group.
Be it a duo, a trio or a quartet.
But SOLO...

Sigh...

Sometimes I think classical music simply gives me a lot pressure
Pressure and pressure
Scared to get things wrong
Scared to play one wrong note
Scared to go out of tune
Scared of how people think I suck...

So it's time to sit down and think over
Should I do a recital anymore???

Chamber makes me feel much comfy
Why not just chamber?
And all other stuff
Like jazz, rock, experimental...........
Maybe I was born for those things, not for being a solo musician
I'm just not into that shit

Stereotyping musicians...

Most people that I know (not to mention those that I don't), have a stereotypical image of musicians.

They think musicians' life is easy, and they're poor, can't make enough money to eat, dreaming all the time about flower fragrance, praising the sun and serenading the moon... etc.

And all you people who think like that, please remember this phrase of mine: This idea is disgusting!!!

First of all, we musicians, like anybody else, need to eat and sleep and shit. We make money out of our hardwork. "How do you guys work hard?? I thought you only need to play music?"

HELLO????? ONLY play music did you say?!! Bitch you're too ignorant.

If we ONLY play music, why do we have to go through all those hazzle to find a good teacher, to go overseas and study?? You think playing music is easy ah? Try learning Tai Chi for a month then you will see how difficult playing music is! It's exactly how it feels like!

Then I've even came across some people that think that a musician can't fix their flat tyres, or wash toilet. COME TRY ME!!!

Basically, for them, musicians are bunch of sissies who drink the morning dew, serenading the lunar, chasing stars, surfing wind, diving in the safari, dance on the water, walk in the night sky... anything else you can think of?

In fact I'm tired of this shit, that's why I wrote this.

Eh, please lah, before you say such things think again lah! We are also human, flesh and bones like you OK?

Lunch at TP's

Big face lah me and KC, makanning TP's own cooking at her place!

Walauweh...

At first we said 8pm, but later TP changed time and we didn't know.

But luckily Yayasan is available for practice. So it's fine.

TP's cooking is mmmm mmmmm..... SOOOOOOOOOO GOOD!!!!

Nasi lemak I had two, her rendang~~~ OH MY GOD~~~ SYURGA nie!

Then Mama Mon made a vodka orange for me to drink, so good...

Then I met Camelia, the famous Malay singer... didn't take a pic....apalah me...

We couldn't move eventually, too full, even dinner also I didn't take. You can see how full I am.

But it's great to have that great meal! The bestest so far since I got back!

Thanks TP! You the man!!

June 29th '06

So I woke up early to rush "Canon in Z" today. First rehearsal will be at 1pm but I still didn't finish it. So I kept on writing without even thinking if it sounds good, just following my instinct. I don't think it would sound good...

So I rushed until almost 1pm right? I called up KC and told him I'm fucked, I can't be there on time. But he was cool, he said it's ok take your time and shit.

Ok lah, since he said that then I mah rilek loh...

I arrived around 1:30pm, started rehearsing my piece of shit. It was sounding quite funny but later we figured out how to shape it, then it sounded more like music then. One thing is for sure, the ending sucks. It's cheap and tasteless. And too short. (No time mah...)

Then we went to City Square to eat and copy out the parts, man, I had the worst Lemon Chicken Rice I ever had (or will ever have) in my life!!!!!!! Mahai... that dish is full of slimy lemon gravy that looks so artificial you can't even stand looking at it!!! I tasted a few bites, walauweh, tak boleh tahan! So i finished up the chicken and left it in peace. Cuz it doesn't seem to like me as well.

Then later I went to Petaling St. with Putra LRT and met up mama to go home.

After I got home we got out again to visit Masterclass, to let them sell some of my tickets. Dan saya nampak sesuatu benda yang begitu elok dan dahsyat!!!

Suatu insan yang berjantina perempuan~~~~ Oh Tuhan~~~ Tolong aku~~~~~!

Oh yeah~~~

OK, so then next thing was my dinner with my folks with my cousin Ah Let joining in for a drink. I paid for them.

The next thing was me having a drink with Adeline in 1 Utama's New Wing, in Chilli's. Jon the Joker was there also lah (who else would it be?).

At last I got a chance to talk to Ade about the piece she is writing for us!! YES!!!

Thanks Ade, you da best!!!

Recording for Ning

Did a recording for Ning's new song last night, don't even know the title...

Genervie is the arranger, she did a pretty good job. Maybe because she knows how strings work, that's why her string parts are all very executable and yet beautiful.

Jon was the biggest joke of the night! Out of tune, cannot concentrate and shit... Haha! Because he was starving --- or so he said.

I was the idiot lah, thought I would wait for him to go back same car with me so that he doesn't need to take a cab. Then motherfucker keeps on making mistakes until I fell asleep!!! Luckily Gen's bro Nigel could fetch us...

But because of this session, we missed the chance to meet up Ade that night... :( We will try again tonight...

Sick...

I felt so much air inside me yesterday, went to toilet so many times, even made myself vomit a little...

I dunno what happened to me. Maybe because I drank the old canned Nescafe gua?

Funny thing was, when I played in the gig, it was fine. But once I stopped playing and sat in the car or sat in the mamak, I started to feel weird.

Shit lah...

Talking about the gig, people liked what we did. Delighted to know that Kah Ming is the new and upcoming talent in Malaysia! He's got talent, this guy, he should keep it up, which he will!

Back Home

OK, I'm typing this in Manglish, because I'm now in Malaysia.

My aeroplane touched down at 12:27pm KL time. I felt myself starting to smile. Then I told myself, "You chi sin ah?! Smile what lah??"

Then I told myself because I'm home mah, excited lah!

OK, so my first stop after my parents picked me up was not home NOR mamak.

It's UPM.

Strange right? But I guess it's reasonable because it's on the way one, so why not pay Chan and Arif a visit. They visit was delightful. Lam and Indra was there also. Had a pretty long conversation, everybody was happy.

THEN, mamak.

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Next day I went to Puan Intan's house with Kett Chuan, had a long conversation, in and out of our recital matters. Sounds like they're experimenting in creating a concert series in the future here. That sounds like a great idea!

Then after that we went to makan in the great Thai restaurant in City Square. Mmm~~~ mm! Still the same taste!! How can I ever miss that lah?

The pandan chicken is still so good, and the mango salad, woohoo~~~~~!!!!!!!!

Then after that we went to KLCC to find music to fill up KC's program, but we couldn't find anything. So I decided to write one myself.

After my parents picked me up in KLCC, I went to ASK to meet up with Joseph to pass him his new toy ---- the Barcus-Berry 3100 bass pickup. Yeah babe, he was so happy.

Then I went to Woh Fatt to look for a 1/4" cord for my violin pickup. They weren't so bad, but maybe can find good ones in say, Bentley.

So we went to Bentley, and the guy inside handed me an Ibanez brand cable. He said, this is the best. So I tried on it, oh yeah, smooth! They give me RM5 discount, so it's RM90, very good price! Better than buying it in US.

Then later we went to Secret Recipe to buy two slices of cakes.

Then Low Yat Plaza. Bitches who know me well might what I was up to.

Yeah I went for pirated DVDs, but fuck lah, habuk pun tak ada! Seems like the government is very strict about it these days. But look at the price of the original DVDs they sell, it's ridiculous! 50, 60, even 90!!

Oi, our pirated DVDs are only 5 or 6 ringgit leh! How much a Malaysian earn a month lah? How can we afford??

Look at America, their DVDs are usually 15 bucks to 20 bucks. Their pirated ones are 5 or 6 also. So if you earn American dollar there, u don't have to consider buying pirated products!!

Anyway, I got home after that...

(What the hell am I writing?)

My Possible Lifetime Record

I flew in to Los Angeles last week on Monday, and yesterday (Sunday) I flew out at 11 at night and reached NYC at 8.30am this morning.

Tonight I have to fly another 11pm flight back to Malaysia, which will take 25 of my precious hours.

I don't remember ever having that much of plane flight in my life!

I think this really worths a blog, Michelle's right! So here it is:

MY POSSIBLE LIFETIME FLYING RECORD!!!

50 fuckin' hours of flying within 2 fuckin' weeks!!!!

I'm da man alright!!

John Williams

It's a bird, it's a plane...

NO!!

IT'S JOHN WILLIAMS!!!

Yes... that what he is for me. He is my hero.

And today, he walked in and rehearsed with us!

I heard he's not such a great conductor, but I think he is!

He has the Hollywood efficiency while working with orchestra, but in the same time, he has the New York intellectual mind.

"Sayuri's Theme" in Memoirs of a Geisha is not such a complicated piece, but he could make magic out of it by working on some details that non-other Hollywood conductors i had worked with would normally work on.

He told us to think about the beautiful sound before we try to play in tune. That is, if you have a perfect sound in your mind, it will make you play more in tune because a perfect sound also includes the accuracy of pitch.

Once the orchestra was in his hands, we sounded 10 times better than before!

Mr. Williams is definitely a great musician, I salute him.

No wonder he's my hero.

California Hangin'

So hear I am, in LA once again, after the big delay in Atlanta. Felt bad for my friends Ken and Fumi who were waiting for me on the car for a fat hour.

Never really like flying.

Luckily this gentleman, this doctor who sat beside me was a friendly man and we talked a lot about many things. Including his son, a medical student who plays the violin and loves Irish music, his daughter who is a stage actor and went to Interlochen, his trip to Nepal 30 years ago...

By the time I reached New York, it was almost 12am. Simply crazy! It should have arrived around 10.30!

Anyway, the next day, the girl who's got the hots for Mr. Hor here came and brought us out for a nice Japanese lunch and went to Venice Beach for a little walk. The beach was beautiful, it was all blue, the sea and the sky.

Then Fumi brought us to Fry's Electronic to buy some computer stuff. It was a big discount day, the things were so cheap. I bought a wireless card for my laptop, a cassette adaptor for my CD player in order to be played on a car, and... stuffs...

After the shopping, Ken and I went to UCLA to catch the UCLA Film Festival, which was featuring the spotlight movies by the students. Unfortunately, we failed to see anything, the James Bridges Theater was locked. Only later that night we found out that Ken has misunderstood the place that shows the movies ---- it was in Hollywood...

C'est Ken...

But anyway, we went to Noodle Planet to have a nice dinner and got home.

I didn't really know what happened next cuz I crashed on the sofa around 11pm something... See how tired I was? Never slept that early for a long time and it was a good sleep. Opened my eyes at 6.30am...

And today, NOW, I'm going to meet up with Bob Lennon in UCLA to play some music!!

Cassie's gig... for real...

So, it was June 9.

Cassie's gig.

I went to her apartment for a rehearsal that afternoon at 3pm. Nice small and cozy apartment, but strictly for person. So I sat on her pillow and she at her electric piano to rehearse.

We did all the songs, I did the stuff that I planned to do and some filling-ins, she was happy, so that was it!

Also, I showed her Chris Howes' CD, she was amazed by his playing.

Then I went off to walk around Times Square area. Planned to go to the Union to ask about the criteria to join them, but didn't remember the address, so I gave up.

Then I thought of going for a movie, so I went to AMC Theaters on 42nd to watch The Omen. Big theater it is, haven't been in there, 25 auditoriums. I was in the 18th.

8pm, I bought a chicken rice bowl from Yoshinoya (first time in New York), then I went off to take 1 train in the 42nd St Station.

Took me almost 30 minutes to find Caffe Vivaldi. Thought I would want to try out my pickup before the gig. Didn't work out though. Joy Askew was singing inside. So I had to wait, standing outside the door.

Then Cassie came with her crew and her boyfriend cum guitarist, Jim Adamo.

We waited for about 20 minutes for Joy to finish her set, then we went on to setup. It hardly took ten minutes.

I followed Pete Teo's advice, adjusted my violin sound on the EQ, and it turned out HOT!!

Thanks Pete. I know I've already told you that, but I want to thank you again.

Gig was cool, people liked it.

Think it's over after I finished the gig? No.

CODA:

This dude, Michael, who's a Russian jewelry dealer came to ask me if I wanna go to Caffe Taci, he said there's an open-mic that night.

I asked him what kinda music they play, he said, "Opera".

What the fuck??

So I went (of course!!).

Two sopranos were tearin' it up on the stage when I got there.

Man, ain't they great?!! The piano acccompanist --- an 87 years old Russian old lady ---- was amazing in following their rubato. For those who dunno, opera is much harder than any symphonies to be played correctly. Cuz singers like to stretch (this is the nicer word for it) and speed up spontateuosly (also a nicer word for it), so it's not easy at all, though you're not the main part.

Then I went on stage to play the famous Musetta aria from La Boheme (forgot the title, but you know what it is). People digged it (did they really?), they cheered and yelled and clapped and shit. It was fun. Open-mic for classical musicians and opera singers, this restaurant's boss IS smart.

So the boss came up and asked me in Italian of what I wanna drink, surprisingly I understoof him. So I said a beer. That made my night!

Met some great singers in there, all of them professionals. Also met this composer who wrote a jazz violin concerto 8 years ago, he said he will dig it out or me to play. I hope so.

POST-CODE:

What is that?!

OK lemme tell u the funniest story in the world.

I think I was too tired, I slept on 7 train once I got on it in Times Square.

When I woke up, I was still in Times Square...

You figure out why! ;)

Chris Howes

That was almost two years ago.

I came out from Manhattan School of Music after my lesson with Mr. John Blake. I carried my violin on the back and waited for the 1 train in the 125th St station.

This big guy came up to me and asked me, "Hi, you're a violinist?" I said "yeah". Then he said, "Do you study here? (as in MSM)" I said no I was taking a class with John Blake. Then he was like, "Oh!! John is my good friend!"

So we went up to the train later, he didn't stop talking to me. I asked him what is that big box carrying, cuz he was having two cases at that time. So he told me it's a baritone violin, and immediately took it out to show me ---- in that packed rush hour train. He didn't only show me how it looked like, he even showed me how it sounds by plucking changes on it.

I didn't know I was getting to know a great man and musician that would change my improvisational life forever.

He told me his name is Christian Howes, gave me his card, and invited me to go to his place to play with him together with his cellist Dana Leong.

I was a new guy in New York then, how the hell would I know who the hell is Dana Leong?

Because I didn't really know him well, I didn't dare to take that very kind offer, I told him I need to go home.

I promised him I will keep in touch with him though.

After that brief encounter, shit started to stir.

I started to see Chris' face on Strings magazine, both in an interview and a Yamaha Silent poster ---- which he is the sales representative.

Only then I knew how big he was.

I went up to his website and listened to his samples and told myself that he is probably the greatest jazz violinist in our time!

I finally had a chance to call him up to ask to play with him.

He immediately said yes and asked me to meet him up in the Musicians' Union.

That was a chilly afternoon before my 2005 summer vacation. Chris was rehearsing with John Abercrombie in the Union.

After he was done, he told me sorry that he couldn't get a room in the Union. "But let's do it outside!" he said to me cheerfully.

I rolled my eyes big and looked at him, "Outside??"

He was like nothing bothered him, "Yeah, isn't it a beautiful day?"

So we went out and went to this high school besides the Union and started to play. After a few minutes, he certainly could tell that I had more to learn. So he stopped me and started to ask me why do I play like that? And also other very simple, almost silly questions ---- that are actually very deep ---- that we usually avoided or ignored in life. We kept on playing till the school security told us that we can't do that in a private property.

So we changed our spot to the sidewalk of the streets, and we kept on going for about 2 hours. The chill penetrated into my bone but I didn't make a sound as a complanation because I knew this was a rare opportunity.

He taught me so many things, and was being strict. He really helped me a great deal!

He didn't want money from me, he said he was happy to be able to help me. I was very touched by his kindness.

And just now, I went to his show, meeting him one year after the lesson. He still looked the same, but his solos were amazing!! That was the first time --- but will not be the last --- I've seen him playing live.

During the break between the first and second set, I went up to ask him when I can have lesson with him. He really tried hard to squeeze out time for me, and suggested a variety of venues, such as his apartment in Brooklyn, and Iridium Club's backstage during Les Paul's show! (he wanted to give me lesson in between the songs he doesn't guest play in)

Unfortunately, none of them works for me because of my tight schedule.

So I guess I'll have to meet him after the summer. I have a feeling it will be exciting! In the mean time, time to start seriously practising my chops!

June 4 2006

I never used a date to be my title, I dunno why I'm doing it.

My day kicked off with La Boheme at 10am, it's a long-hour rehearsal, till 5pm.

Within that period of time, we had to finish running the whole opera (in for acts), while working on some difficult parts in between.

One very annoying thing that might happen in an orchestra is when you just raise your violin ready to play, the conductor stops you and went on to fix things with others while you just sit there looking. No, I'm not talking about once, but CONTINUOUSLY.

It's necessary to fix things for sure, but still it's annoying.

Where the hell is my six-dollar-check from Ambitious Orchestra??? dammit...

Is the landlord Mr. Zhang gonna show up or not? I have a feeling he won't. If he doesn't show up till HP goes home, I'm fucked. Then I'll have to buy the cable myself and then ask for compensation from him.

Oh, forgot to say...

... I'M DONE WITH SCHOOL!!!!!!

Upcoming program/ Flood

As we thought we might be putting one of Mozart's Duo for violin and viola into our Carnegie debut recital, new works flowed in like flood.

First Mikael already agreed earlier this semester to write something for us, FOC, as long as it's performed and recorded. This is further confirmed the other while talking to him.

Then Tyler said he will write something for us too ---- which I always welcome.

Now Momoko's asking us to try out her new violin duo short piece.

And then...

I was chatting with Adee that night and told her our duo got into this thing in Carnegie Hall to do debut there. She was like, "Do you want me to write something for you?"

OF COURSE!!

So there u go!!! Adee!!!!

Plus Paul's Duo Concertante is ready.

So why the hell do we need Mozart anyway? Looks like it's the modern music that rules!

x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x x

Talking about new pieces flowing in like flood, let me tell u about the REAL flood.

I was about to take a shower and go to FP's wedding... I have a strange habit to play CDs whatever I'm doing ---- except practising of course. So I switched on Wayne Shorter's JuJu.

Just when the first augmented chord on the piano hits the air, I saw a stream of water flowed in like Yang Tze River!!!

"I'm fucked," I told myself, "can't go out now, no way..."

HP was not at home, so what should I do?

DIY!!!

But the water flowed too fast, it hits the living room and HP's room right away!!!

So I didn't make a second thought and call up Brother Ming who lives across. Luckily he was free and he came to help.

Sigh... It took us more than 1 hour to clean up the whole mess in the house!!

That was a big effort.

So later I bought dinner for Brother Ming in the bakery, had some chit chat. It was still raining.

After I got home, everything was fine, no more water coming in.

BUT!!!!!!!!!!!!

My computer's fuse was busted... shit...

My fuckin' landlord came and saw the whole situation, he was just saying lightly, "We can't control mother nature."

Yeah right. Why didn't he block the whole first anyway? He knew that the water flowed in from the garage! Why didn't he do anything?

And when I asked for discount from him because my computer was busted, he said, "Oh! My son can fix it cuz he owns and internet cafe!"

Fucker, I knew you are afraid of losing money!! But I haven't told him that my bed is also soaked with water. I'm gonna tell him tomorrow. I swear I wanna get some discounts from him!!!

I'M DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, I'm done.

I used up the last minute of the library hour today and found out that I finally finished my final paper.

And thus, a freeman I am.

.........................................................

Met Prof Ritt today, she told me she let Jesse Levine listen to G2's recording of the Chihara Duo Concertante, and he really digs my playing.

Prof. quoted him, "The violin-playing is superb!" And she repeated, "Yes, 'superb', that's the word."

I'm glad Mr. Levine. If you ever walk by here and read this. I really appreciate your kind compliment.

Earth, Wind & Fire

Meeshy lent me a beautiful album of Earth, Wind and Fire today.
It's bangin'! What else can I say?
One thing is funny, I find that Outkast really sound like them.
Not only the way they sing, even the way they arrange their music.
So I guess it's the tradition we're talking about here huh?
Whatever people do now, good or bad, is somehow influenced by the elder ones. It's always been that way, nobody can deny it.

I dunno what I'm writing here... Just gibberish...

I'm still listening to Cassie's music... trying to figure out what exactly I will play... It's not easy to estimate how much I should play. But I guess I can make it. What would happen after the gig all depends on Cassie's taste I guess, if she likes it, who knows what will happen. But of course I really hope she likes it! Haha!

Got my pickup today, it's a Barcus-Berry Model 3100. I'm yet to get a preamp... I hate this... More money to spend!!!

Still can't find Joe's pickup for him though... Why the hell people don't sell it on eBay???!!! Bah...

Frustration, frustration, frustration~~!!

Maybe because I'm stuck in this little room here... Maybe because the weather is too hot... Wait, it doesn't make sense... cuz the weather back home is way hotter plus it's 24-7 and 365 days.

So what's happenin' to me?

Cassie's gig...

I dropped a line yesterday to Cassie on MySpace, saying hi. And she left me a comment on my page, saying that she is doing a gig in Caffe Vivaldi on June 9, asking me if I'm up to playing a few tunes with her.

Dammit, of course!

So she sent me a few tunes today to listen to, asking me to choose some to play with her. Four tunes there, all of them are pretty ones. So decided to play all of them.

Her compositions are smooth, warm, and yet driving, with a touch of her creativity in harmony in some spots. I think it will be a fun gig to play in, getting a few bucks and play with a beautiful and good musician ain't so bad after all.

For those of you who is asking "Huh? Huh? Huh? Cass who?", here you go, this is her website and this is her MySpace

Believe what you believe...

Saw the movie Da Vinci Code with HP and her mom. They didn't really understand what was going on because this is pretty much a dialogue-based movie.

After the movie, her mom said she read a bit of the book but gave up reading it cuz she thinks it's all bullshit, meaningless to read on.

But I was surprised how she can finish Onmyoji novel and TV series altogether in a matter of few days? That's even more bullshit.

I guess it's because DVC touched her religion, and made a story out of the whole Holy Grail thingy. She was offended I guess, maybe subconsciously offended.

Seriously, I don't blame her though. Because if I were her, who knows I might do the same too.

But this shows you how powerful belief is. It can make you understand life (in the way it wants you to understand), it can make you deny knowledge (be it true or fake knowledges), it opens your eyes (to beauty or ugliness), and it can blind you as well.

Belief,
What is belief?
Is it really truth
that lays inside belief?

I wouldn't say yes. But my belief is: If you believe in something, it is already there. It doesn't matter if the thing you believe ever existed physically or historically. If it lies in your heart, it already exists.

So, believe what you believe. There is no right or wrong --- as long as you do not hurt any others with your belief, or force people to believe what you believe.

I'll get the chance to see Okkyung's show!!!

Yay!!!! I found a time I can go to see Okkyung's show in The Stone!

Best thing is I can even see Ikue Mori in action as well!

I thought it's the end of the world that I can't be there on May 18th, but looks like it's not too bad anyway.

Here I come!!!!!!!

p/s:For anybody who has no idea what the hell I'm talking about, please check out Okkyung Lee (or Lee Okkyung in Asian's terms), this wonderful Korean improvising cellist in the NY Downtown scene. Her website is www.okkyunglee.com, also you can check her MySpace page. Her playing is beautiful, and her musical ideas are so close to my heart, probably because we have similar cultural background. Guys, go see her on May 18 or 27 in The Stone at 8pm.

What has my country become???

Racist, religious fanaticism, extremist...

Since I came out to study, I haven't hear anything good about my country but increasingly crazy stuff! Now don't tell me that Western media is corrupting my mind, because it's people who is currently STAYING IN MALAYSIA that told me about all these!

I'm very disappointed about what is going on right now, very...

Have a look at my friend Pete Teo's newest blog entry regarding this matter, triggered by the newest movie, Gubra, that depicts a beautiful love story between a Muslim Malay girl and a Chinese boy.

I mean, I love my country, but why is it turning that way?

Returned to New York

California is even more like a dream for me now.

It's like suddenly you are pulled away from Hank's music, from Williams' greatness, from all the music I love since I was a child, and from the feeling of home.

Jules, I meant to tell you that your piece is still "rumping" and "pumping" inside my very nerve. I kept on humming it to myself during the journey back home. It is not a coincidence, it is your passion that causes that.

I can memorize this piece in the back of my head, though I still can't figure out the meaning of the title.

Maybe that's why they say, "Name is not important".

Every time I hear the music (even if I'm only imagining it), I felt my eyes wetter than usual.

Straightforward is not a bad word, why always look for deep philosophy in music? Where does passion stand in philosophy? And where does philosophy stand when our hearts are trembled by the force of music as of an earthquake or tidal wave?

Rinduan Dalam Mimpi

(Kepada Iris)
Hari pertama ku nampak mu
Semacam orang New York dimandiri cahaya mentari California
Wajah semolek mawar
Suara semanis madu

Sekarang ku pun telah sampai rumah
Seperti kolam mimpi dikacau batu
Wajah molek tak dilupa
Suara manis masih didengar

Betapaku harap beritahu semua ini
Dalam bahasa umum kita
Tetapi ajaran moral dunia kita tidak benar
Rinduan hadap mu tetap sesat di mimpi

California Dreaming

We finished our concert in the Walt Disney Hall today, had a full house and a bunch of passionate audience.

Joyce gave Bob Lennon and me a ride back to Westwood, but not before we went to her friend's birthday party. So she went on to pick up Yohei, her boyfriend, and went straight to her friend, Maria's house.

Was a nice barbeque party, didn't stay long, but I did something amazing ---- playing the badminton after ages. It was so funny, we lost three shuttlecocks (birdie, them Americans call it...) behind the neighbours' fences. It was terrible.

Somehow California feels like home to me. Maybe because of the weather and the people that like to smile.

Everytime I'm here, I feel like I'm in a dream.

Everything is so colourful, warm...

Should I move here? When I move here, maybe it's not dreaming anymore...

Post-performance

At last I'm done with all the BIG projects I have this semester.

Four Seasons marks the end of my 3 massive projects, the previous two being Butterfly Lovers and my final recital.

People liked how my baroque fiddle sound like, happy about it.

Irving took me out to give a small talk about performance practice, and whenever I gave a point. I got some ooh's and ah's from the old people. There was even a funny old lady asking, "Excuse me, is vibrato, this?" Then she started to shake her hand in the air...

Second half of the program was some great music. Vivaldi's Flute Concerto that sounded awesome with Claudia Tseng's playing, and also Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings, both conducted by Ukon Daijiro.

Daijiro, if you're reading this, you did a great job my man! I'm not kiddin'. If that someone could get a good gig, I don't see why you can't. You've got the music inside your blood, which is very precious, don't lose it!!!

鼓祭神农 ---- 小曼

老祖宗呀！
您是我们的半个大姓呀
海水到处
子孙仍以肤色
血承炎黄！
　　
苍苍鹿原
六千年前
您高高举起一把薪火
烧尽茹毛饮血的蛮荒
这个绝早的文明姿势
从此雕成一个字
火叠着火
尊称“炎”

是您最早驯服了植物吧？
耒耜耕土
万里中原温柔了起来！
千百代人
从此学会
扎根
播种
生养
树人如树木

据说
您早就神了
通体透明
能验百草的喜怒哀乐
莫非一嚼断魂的断肠草
也是您呵护子孙的最后警告？
死于您是一种长活
一百二十岁活成了千古不老的苍山

据说
您先知衣着
治麻为布
以应苍天四季
风霜雨雪
礼仪
廉耻

说礼
自然鼓之乐之
不免音调宫商
天籁是否也是您留下的
大曲？
河川放歌
山谷回音
风忘形
云起舞
一个民族
从此能文能诗
能歌能曲能戏

您也是观天的智者吧！
否则子孙后代
岂能从这中原河域
辨识八节的隐喻
二十四节气的精华
七十二物候的精灵
让花草五谷鱼鸟虫兽
找到岁月流光里的归宿？

老祖宗呀！
我们只是走得太远的子孙
血性依然肤色不改
如今
蓦然回首
听见神话如河香火如灯
我们振臂
带歌归来
以一种血脉的铿锵
以一种鼓声名叫节令
轰轰隆隆
奔向您的胸怀

Untitled

Please make yourselves at home,

Guys!

Do not hold your girlfriend in your arm when you go for a movie

Do not kiss her on the cheek

Do not put your arm around her waist

Do not sit together on the garden bench

Do not go out together at night

But please make yourselves at home


Please make yourselves at home,

Girls!

Don't think you can put your head on your guy's shoulder just because you love him

Don't try to give him a surprise hug

Don't ask him to give you some warmth when the outdoor weather is cold

Don't try to kiss his face because you feel like

Don't even sit close to him just because you like him

But hey, make yourselves at home!

Tak syok kah? Hisap tektek lah!!!

Itu anjing ah, memang sudah tua tau?

OK lah, takpe! Kalau tak recognise kontribusi saya terhadap sekolah, biarlah saye tidur di bilik kelas lah... Saye tak penting ape! Sudah main konsert sebanyak bintang-bintang di langit pun tak dibagi satu anugerah pun, mengapa nak main?? Hanya nak menafikan kerajinan saya saje!

Konsert-konsert tak pay punya tau? Saya pun main!! Hisap tektek lah babi!!! Kalau tak main, recital saye lebih banyak masa untuk praktis! Hisap tektek lah!!!!!!

Sudah tua nak buat ape? Balik rumah tidur lah! Bodoh punya anjing tua! Pukimak punya orang.

U geram saye takpe, tapi kalau macam ini ah, ertinya "mixing business with personal grudge", tak baik tau? Nanti masuk neraka bila mati oh~~

Hati-hatilah anjing, jangan-jangan nanti dibakar api ok?

Jibai betul...

莫名其妙

今天有人講冰冰貓出水痘!! 而且已經傳遍學校了!! 哈哈!!
莫名其妙...
今天去學校練四季沙拉就已經問我冰冰是不是生水痘了. 我就說:"沒有啊, 挪, 她這不是來了嗎?"過後麥可也打電話來問學校的"妓女"中提琴有沒有在locker裡. 莫名其妙, 我就說我不知道啦...
後來練完了Paul Chihara11點多的時候, 老師來了一封冰冰貓看得莫名其妙的e-mail. 老師說他遺憾聽到關於冰冰的事情, 問我Chihara怎麼辦.後來冰冰貓救回信說她非常健康, 不知道老師從哪裡聽到的. 結果老師回信說:"是老狗說的."
哇哈哈哈哈哈哈哈!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
看來老狗是時候回家享清福了... ... ...

Papa and Mama

So they're here --- at last --- after so much persuation!!

They seem very excited, out of my expectation though... They didn't really wanna come so much before...

Papa has been smiling since he got here --- a rare opportunity to see that. He kept taking pictures everywhere, the BONUS he wants HIMSELF in the pictures! That's a miracle!

I'm really happy they're here to look at my life. They should feel happy to be here too, after all, how many times in your life do you have a chance to go half a globe from home to visit a place?

Oscars???

So there was this nominee who stepped on the tail of one of the jury right?

And take note that the stepping would not happen if it wasn't thanks to the ass behind who ratted this nominee.

So once this juror got stepped on his tail, he pointed at the nominee and accuse him as the Devil himself.

Great.

So now this juror persuaded the whole jury not to give this nominee even ONE award, so to let out his anger, punish the nominee, take revenge --- or whatever, you name it.

It's really interesting to see those people who only look at the surface of what had happened, and simply accuse the first person they saw as the criminal. They don't care who was behind it, and how would they even KNOW about this stepping-tail issue if it wasn't that one sneaky rat behind who secretly spread the "gospel" of his/hers. Talking about moral decay and back-stabbing, ha!

Is this about the Oscar® Award Ceremony? No, not at all.

Those who are involved and read this, THINK with your brains before you act! Who is the ultimate evil? Why don't you go find out who that is, and give him/her the same treatment as the nominee mentioned? And for that sneaky rat, if you dare, go ahead and forward this to whoever you like!

p/s: Those who think I stink, please, you don't have to pretend to be nice to me. You don't even have to talk to me if you don't feel like it, you know? That will make you sick one day if you keep forcing yourself to smile whenever you see me. Please, you don't have to. I don't need that hypocrisy! Just carry on with your preferred life, and I carry on mine, and that's fair enough!

The Return of Perfect 5th

I've been hating my fingered perfect 5th for a while.

Somehow I just couldn't get it in tune even if I tuned my A and E strings to ULTRA PERFECT 5TH!

At first I thought I suck big time because I didn't practice all that much (that's too kind, I almost never had time to practice actually) these days. But when I was dead sure I got the right positions (hey, the fingerboard ain't that big ok?) and I still couldn't get it right, I knew something was wrong ---- maybe the weather (it turned warm radically these days), my violin or my string.

It's like, when I place my first finger on two strings, the E is already lower. If I squeezed another finger under my first finger, then it will sound perfect 5th.

Most peculiar.

So I called up Martin at 11 something last night --- he was half asleep (sorry man, didn't know you're such an early sleeper!) --- to ask about this, he told me it's gotta be the string. He suggested me to try to change one of them.

So the only possibility left is my E string because my A string was only 2 weeks old. I had been using the E for a month or so if I'm not mistaken. All I know was it got a bit rusty in the first position (I've got the strangest sweat ever I tell ya).

So finally I changed my string tonight, and guess what? MY DAMN PERFECT 5TH CAME BACK!!!

But then of course, I have to fix my wrong finger positions that is a bad habit caused by the stupid old E string that lost its tension! Kind of a trouble too!

Over and out. Sleepy.

Nihm

Perhaps I should listen to the album more before I write this, but I'm too excited!

I was looking at some CDs the other day in Tower, after a very exciting gig. I got more than I expected from the person who hired me, so I decided to be a little bad boy for a day ---- to buy myself some CDs.

Damn are they expensive! But later on I decided to buy Erik Friedlander's Prowl. I've seen him playing live --- amazing. So I decided to buy it cuz it's on sale, 14.99 instead of the usual 16.99. *BAM!! "Sold for 14.99! Thank you sir..." (why am I doing this Phantom thingy?)

Then I thought of Okkyung Lee's Nihm, so I went on to find her name. I found the album, I really want to buy it, because I could never forget "A Windy Day" by her. It's simply amazing!

But I stopped and called Ken who's at home in LA, I told him to browse the Tzadik website for me before I make up my mind to buy it. He told me the price is much cheaper, so I went home to buy it online.

So at last I got the CD "Nihm" today.

I can't tell you how great the feeling was. Maybe simply because I'm an Asian. I can totally tell what she must be feeling when she created all these wonderful music. From "A Windy Day" to "Home" to "Sky" and so on...

I was touched in the soul...

Thanks Okkyung, for the great music you made!

Four Seasonssssssssssssss..............

Mike gave me a shocking e-mail the other day saying that he can't do the Four Seasons for my concert.

I was like, "Shit! What am I gonna do?"

I tried to ask for help from DJ but he couldn't do it either. So how? DJR was panicked too, cuz he was the one who helped me recruiting those people.

But finally I found that my paranoia is a waste of energy.

We had a pretty good first rehearsal last night, despite the fact that Carlene our cellist couldn't make it, David's not back in town yet to play the harpsichord. But they will be here soon, so why worry?

So we have HP on first, Ina on second, Sara on viola and Marty on bass, and I was the solo violinist cum conductor. It was a fun experience. Although we couldn't run 2 seasons as planned, we managed to rehearse and polish the Spring in a detailed way that we could never do if we have a bigger ensemble. So in a way, I was glad that we have a small group.

Members of the band are very motivated too! We immediately scheduled two other rehearsals after realizing we couldn't accomplish our schedule for the day.

Being a "conductor" while playing the violin is not easy, it's different from leading a string quartet or a violin section. I guess I learned something from yesterday's rehearsal, was cool!

Spring Break... how grand is that?

My first day of spring break was a day without HP at home.

I spent my daytime at school, printing the part scores for the Four Seasons band.

Then I got home, tired, switched on the TV, and fell asleep on the couch. When I woke up, it was about 8.30pm. I finished up Da Vinci Code in break-neck speed while the TV was still on, the National Geographic was showing the "Science in the Bible" series, discussing the role of John the Baptist towards Jesus Christ --- was he a mentor or simply a person who welcomed the arrival of Christ. Since the publication of Da Vinci Code, NatGeo Channel has been showing shows like this all along. How was Christ crucified? Who was Mary M --- prophet or prostitute? Now even better, the Gospel of Judas Iscariot ---- was he really a traitor or was he a hero? You tell me, I dunno. Then again, who really knows?

Then at about 11pm or so, I started to practice 'til one-ish. Go ahead, shout "YOU FUCKIN' CRAZY?!".

Then I took out my remaining sesame chicken that I brought back from New Wok's Kitchen, doing my "dinner" ritual, with Decalogue Two playing in my DVD player. Didn't finish Decalogue as I finished my sesame chicken. I went on to bed with Yumemakura Baku's "Shamon Kukai" in hand, read his preface, read the prologue, and passed out.

That was about 3am.

閒談水樂

媽媽說外婆並不識字,可是說的哲理卻比讀死書的讀書人更有深意. 她常告訴媽媽:"欺山莫欺水".

這句話簡單直接有道理.

水平時看似柔軟無形, 可是用處很大, 威力更大.

外婆, 不欺水, 嬉水總可以吧?

這裡說的是譚盾的<<水樂>>.

果然天才就是天才, 簡簡單單的四盆水, 他可以想出各種"玩水"的方式, 而且各種不同手勢打下去得到的聲音都在考慮範圍內. 發明新樂器達到自己要的聲音自然更加不在話下.

玩, 也要玩到有格調.

所以他玩起了他的劇場式演奏: 燈光 (全暗, 只有四個水盆裡的亮光), 走台 (四個演奏者拉著特別發明的樂器慢慢從不同角落步上台).

接下來是層出不窮的道具, 三個木碗倒放在水裡, 敲擊出音符與類似木琴的聲音; 把鑼浸到水裡, 扭曲鑼聲的音調; 敲打浸在水桶裡的塑料管, 以放置的深淺打出各種音符... 等等等...

外婆的"欺山莫欺水"道出水的潛力; 而譚盾的<<水樂>>, 則重新定義水的潛力.

More about lesson with Lipsey

"Why does Adams choose 3/4 meter? (Me: Because it's round and every swinging?) Not really. Think about it, it's just the same as why Bach used it. Because 3/4, when you play it in double time, which means in 8th notes, you totally change to a different tempo! You don't need to change tempo markings or the meters! See, now you have '1-2-3, 1-2-3' and then the next thing will be '123456, 123456' then if u want it faster, 16th notes '123456789101112, 123456789101112!' (Me: Ooh~~~)"

Never seen a Malay joke in e-mail before, this is the first one, and is a must-see!!

Keputusan seorang ayah... (The Decision of a Father)

Sang ayah dan ibu sangat marah dan menyesal bila mengetahui anak perempuan mereka hamil."Siapa si bedebah tu," jerit sang ayah, sedang si ibu menangis. "Suruh dia datang sini!"Si anak pun telepon le mamat yang bertanggung jawab. Setengah jam kemudian sebuah kereta Ferrari merah berhenti di depan rumah. Seorang lelaki separuh baya keluar dari kereta, memberi salam lalu masuk kerumah.Lelaki itu berdepan dengan mak dan ayah perempuan yang telah dihamilinya. Dia berkata, "Saya lelaki yang telah menghamili anak anda. Tapi terus terang saya katakan saya tidak dapat menikahi anak anda kerana isteri saya tak membenarkan. Bagaimanapun, saya tetap bertanggung jawab atas perbuatan saya. Sekiranya anak anda melahirkan seorang bayi perempuan saya akan wasiatkan untuknya dua buah supermarket, sebuah rumah banglo dan wang tunai RM5 juta. Sekiranya dia melahirkan ! anak lelaki saya akan wasiatkan untuknya dua buah kilang, dua buah supermarket, dua buah rumah banglo dan wang tunai RM10 juta. Tapi sekiranya anak anda keguguran apakah yang harus saya lakukan?"Sang ayah berfikir. Siibu berhenti menangis. Akhirnya sambil menepuk bahu lelaki itu sang ayah berkata, "Kalau camtu hang cuba le lagi."

Lesson with Lipsey

(After hearing our performance of first movement of John Adams' Road Movies)

"(To David) Do you like this piece? (David: Yes, I like it very much!) But you have to understand what's going on in the rhythm, you have to identify the patterns. I can here from you (pointing at me) a little bit, but not from you (David). (At me again) Although you did some but it's not enough, you can always do much more. I wanna hear the patterns.

Where did you (David) grow up? (Spain) Ah, so it's North African influenced. Just look at Flamenco music, it's very North African influenced. But this piece is not African influenced, it's very Indian. If Steve Reich, yes, he is very African influenced. He does the phasing technique by gradually speeding up one of the two unison lines and creating a new pattern. But for Adams, he uses the rhythmic division technique. Cuz Indian people has no harmony, they play in unison. How to make things interesting? They have to do something with the rhythm! Let's say when they're jamming, one person is playing 15 beats, and the other is playing in 5 beats. When the 5-beats guy finished his 3 time, that where the 15-beats guy run into each other, and they smile at each other like, 'Ah! This is it!'.

This piece is rhythmically dissonant. (I raised my eyebrows --- never heard of such a term) You're (as in David) playing 3 beats in a bar with four 16th notes in a beat, while you (as in me) are playing a three 16th notes group all the time. Now you have to have an idea of section in this music, let's say this section is the 'tonic' of the movement. (A tonic in rhythm?!) You have to play the tonic right, so that when you come back in the recapitulation, people will understand. Right? Just imagine if you play a first theme of a piece out of tune, can people recognize it when you're doing a recap?

(Lipsey started to show us how to feel the groove of rhythm by singing and clapping and stomping his foot, doing all the rhythms in our parts. Holy cow...)

As you realize, his (me) motif is fairly simple, it's just two 16th notes and a 16th rest and another 16th note. Then it develops into two 16ths followed by one 16th rest. Then all of a sudden, he added more pairs in here, 'da-da-da-dup!', it becomes for in a group! Then 'da-da-da-da-da-da-dup!!', it's six in a group. But they're developed from the same motif.

Now let's do it slow and feel the groove. Let's just pick a few bars and we'll loop it. Where should we start? (I said,"2nd to 4th bar?") Why do you wanna choose that? You think that's a pattern? (I was hesitating, and said, "Err...") Come on this is your recital! (With an evil grin. I was cold sweating... yeah in front of Prof Lipsey, I'll never know enough. Well, good to know what I dunno) OK let's do that!

(As we started looping the 3 bars slowly, he started to act like a drumset player banging different parts of the drumset. Sometimes the snare, then, "CRASH!!" cymbal crash, then high hat. Trying to make us feel the groove...)

As I noticed, you're always waiting a little too long in the 16th rest (at me). Same thing I noticed in Worker's Union (a piece that I play in the contemporary ensemble), you are always following the rhythm, you're not playing it at your own will. You should lead! Both of you should lead! (Same old chamber music saying, but when it comes out from a percussion player's mouth, man, I tell ya, it's a whole different meaning!)

(After the coaching...)

You guys shouldn't set up like this (I always stood beside David). I mean who cares how you look like on the stage when the music sounds like shit right? Face each other! Look at each other and communicate!

Take some time to read the music and look out for the things you should notice, especially you (me), it's your recital! (OK... I know...)

I think we should have a couple more coachings. (Whoa... never expected that! Awesome!)"

Quite a character, Prof Lipsey, but it's this chacracter that makes him a unique coach in my school. He's hardcore alright, but I like it. After all, that's the way our teachers from the Oriental side are, right?

Thanks Albert!

Oh Albert my friend! Thanks for helping me to search for John Adams' articles! Thank you so much!

Minimalism...

I am preparing to write my final paper.

Problem is: Books?

OK, don't get me wrong, I found some books about Minimalist composers from our school library. I found 5 actually. But the writings about John Adams are soooo pathetic!

I need more resources~~~~

I'm just so surprised that the writings and books about Minimalist movement in music (not to mention the composers) are so limited! It is such an important movement since decades ago and is still going strong now!

So far on New York Public Library, I could only find one book published by Phaidon, entitled "Minimalists", with Steve Reich's head on the cover. Not bad, but not enough.

Gosh... why are the topics that I chose are always so hard to gather information? I still remember what I went through went I was writing my bachelor paper about jazz violin and classical violin...

JC!!! I need your Pipe Piper!!!

Mr Corigliano!!!!!!! I truly need your help!!!!!! Could you please bring on your Pipe Piper to help me get rid of my apartment's mices?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Just imagine: I busted 4 mices in 3 days!!!!

See now the mices are getting immuned of the sticky boards I put in my kitchen! I had to go buy POISON!!!!

I don't mean to be saddistic but they pushing me to the edge! I dunno what would I do next! Maybe burn the whole heater room down!!!

Please JC!! Save me from this!!!

Miss Saigon..........NO MORE!

Champagne!!

Wine!!

Chips!!

WHATEVER YOU CAN THINK OF, BRING IT ON!!!

I WANNA PARTY!!!

For Miss Saigon has ended its last show on Saturday, April Fool's Day!!!

Yes, finished indeed, but I can't say the tunes have left my head. I still hear "You are sunlight..." and "Make me Yankee..." then "Girls~~ I got girls~~!" and then "But man, will always be man, you changed the regime, your mind's still the same"......

Oh God, when is this gonna end!!!???

Frank said this is a kind of schizophrenia, I would have to agree with him.

But thanks Jeff, for handling the check right after the show! I love your efficiency and your understanding of our nightmares. (hehe...)

Also many thanks for Marsha for fetching me and HP every day to the show, I dunno how we could make it without your help! (And of course, thanks for letting me fill your car with my weird music and bringing us to the Chip Shop)

Finally, many many thanks to Geoffrey my brotha for hooking me up with this gig and inviting me to the Chip Shop to celebrate! You the man!!!

p/s: I can't imagine how much will I miss the bikini girls on stage for the rest of the month! Pui-Shan, you're a wonderful singer, 加油!! And Yanni, I really hope to see you in action (literally) again!!!

Lesson with Xuereb

We arrived at his doorstep at exactly 10am, as agreed.

Monsieur Xuereb, with his usual slight smile, opened the door to greet us.

I handed him the tarts we bought for him as a thanking gift, and he kept on saying, "No, no... you shouldn't do that. It's ok..."

So we started to play Paul's piece, with Xuereb standing behind us, reading our music, since we didn't have the full score for him to read.

It seems that he liked our playing, he kept on saying it was beautiful, and then gave us some tips here and there. When I say "some", it doesn't mean it only helped a little. In fact, those are GREAT tips!

He especially made lots of violistic comments to HP, and directed her to a more viola-like playing, rather than her usual violinistic approach.

He also gave us some tips about playing contemporary music. For instance, he told us harmonics should always sound loud and clear in contemporary music ---- which is pretty much a subconscious knowledge but often ignored.

After the lesson, Xuereb told us that we could keep in touch and he might be able to hook us up in some summer festivals in Europe that provide scholarships. He said it would be interesting to have people from America ---- yeah well.... geographically, it's correct. Haha!

It was a delightful lesson. I hope HP will remember and apply the tips she learned today, it's not an everyday opportunity to listen to tips descended directly from Primrose to his student!

Merci beaucoup, Monsieur Xuereb!

Ensemble Alternance/ March 29 incident

It's very rare to see foreign artists to perform in our school, but last night, the opportunity came.

Ensemble Alternance from France came to perform in Queens College at 7.30pm.

I didn't know about this event at all at first, since I do not usually read the school calendar.

When I was heading out of the school, a guy with some thick accent came up to me to ask for direction to LeFrak. Then I saw a couple of other men, speaking French, holding instruments, followed him into the hall. I thought it was a jazz band from Europe, but later I checked the calendar and found out that it was a new music ensemble from France.

So HP and me decided to give it a try, since new music performance is not so frequently happening in my school, except the percussion concerts or Nota Bene performances.

What they played were new ---- and I mean NEW ---- works from the new generation of French composers. They played 3 works, which I had no idea about the titles, but I could certainly memorize the names for you: Gerard Pesson, Mark Andre, and Phillipe Schoeller.

These composers all intend to deconstruct the way of composition, and create a new sound out of ordinary instrumental idiomatics ----- you might say, "Oh well, who doesn't?". But this is not the point, the result is more important!

What they created was a kind of sound which they describe as "Saw dust".

Pesson's work was the most obvious example of "saw dust". He doesn't have very loud passages (if there were a passage), instead, he made the instruments creating snowflakes of sounds within a pointilistic texture.

My personal favourite would be the Andre and the Schoeller. They gave my nerves more impact than Pesson's work.

The musicians were great. HP and me went up to the violist, Pierre-Henri Xuereb, to ask for a class for our Paul Chihara Duo Concertante. Monsieur Xuereb agreed happily and we'll be meeting him in his hotel tomorrow at 10am! He heard Paul's name and exclaimed, "Paul Chihara! Of course! Redwood for viola and percussion!" Wow!

One thing that worths a mention is Monsieur Xuereb was a student of William Primrose. Ooh~~~ :o

I will write about the lesson after it happened.


March 29th Incident

HP went to Manhattan for a lesson today and I was all alone @ home. It's a rare oppotunity to be by myself and do what I feel like doing totally. I did a lot of practising (much more than anytime since I studied here), and I thought of watching a movie before 6pm, cuz that would be half price.

4:15pm show, I thought trailers would take 20 minutes or so. So I took a bus around 4:30pm, thinking that it would take 5 minutes to get there as usual.

WRONG!!

I was DEAD WRONG

It didn't happen that way!! First of all, the Q88 that I took was packed with people that I had to cross the border line. Then, more passengers means more stops. It took me about 10 minutes to get there.

WORST THING: After running a short distance from the bus stop, the lady in the box office told me that I was late for 20 minutes.

FUCK ME!!!

So I cursed that exact two words while walking my ass to Starbucks nearby, and bought a bottle of Strawberry Frapuccino, which is a coffee-free drink. Surprisingly, I found out that it's cheaper to buy such Starbucks product in Starbucks itself rather than the grocery store near my place! It's like 20 cents less.

Anyway, that drink was bought to comfort myself ---- even just a little ---- over the feeling of loss that I didn't get to watch "V for Vendetta".

FUCK ME!!! More practice then...

Take a break...

OK!! End of 3rd show!! Now I can have a break with Miss Saigon!!
I hope I won't hear the stupid melodies in my sleep!!

HP got back today from Taiwan, rough plane ride for her. Only went back a few days and came back... But still, she made a pretty good dinner, she's awesome~~

Had a rehearsal after Miss Saigon at home with Georgina, an oboist from MSM. Me, DI and DJ are going to play for her recital in Rose Hall. She's sounded beautiful. Mozart's Concertino for Oboe, oh yeah~~

The Da Vinci Code

Reading "The Da Vinci Code" these days... such an awesome book!
Page-by-page, chapter-by-chapter, I couldn't stop and it's very addictive!
Now, regardless if the incident about Christ's marriage is true, there are some other valuable things in this book.
One point that Dan Brown made in the book I couldn't agree more: History is always a one-sided account.
He quoted Napoleon's statement: What is history, but a fable agreed upon?
Using Sir Leigh Teabing's mouth, Dan Brown suggested that history is always written by the winners. "When two cultures clash, the loser is obliterated, and the winner writes the history books----books which glorify their own cause and disparage the conquered foe."
How true this is!
History from thousands of years ago is too far away for us to reach, and it's difficult for us to discover the "truth". But if we look at 20th century's history of China, you could see how many different accounts have been made upon a single topic by both sides of the Strait.
Every time I walk in to a Chinese bookstore in Flushing, I will find so many political history books that are written by either Mainlander or Taiwanese, both condemning each other's deeds.
If a person weren't born in a place where he can find books from both sides, meaning Mainland or Taiwan, his mind will be filled with one-sided account made by writers of his side without even having the chance to compare and contrast. How sad would that be!
That is how political authorities control the people's thinking, and it happens everywhere in the world.
This is also a topic that Gao Xing Jian --- the author of Soul Mountain and the first Chinese ever who received a Nobel literature prize --- wrote in his Nobel speech. He stronly condemns political control in literature, that made this beautiful art form into a tool for their political propaganda.
As common people, we would never know the ultimate truth behind what we read and hear. But at least, we should be aware of such things, and always be curious (if not skeptical) about everything. A curiosity that brings more knowledge.

Miss Saigon

I received a voice from Jeff Samaha --- the director of Ridge Chorale --- one day, telling me that Geoffrey Hull, my trumpeter friend whom I played for his final recital, recommended me to play in this gig, the legendary musical, Miss Saigon.

Pay isn't too well, 50 bucks per service (same as for concert), but hell, why not? It's a whole new experience for me, also it's a legendary musical! So I took this gig.

Surprisingly, Jeff sent me the first violin part. Bigger surprise was, there is only one player for each part, so I am playing by myself! There are some nice solos in there.

The part isn't too hard to play, only a few spots which imitates the repetitive sound of gamelan that needs extra care.

Tonight was the first dress rehearsal, at last I can roughly see the show with the lightings and costumes! I have to confess that the second scene, "The Heat is On in Saigon", was my favourite. The chicks in there were wearing bikinis that's why! Haha! But luckily I didn't miss any of my notes.

The rehearsals were quite long, usually 4 hours. As for tonight, it started at 8pm, and they original wanted to let us go at around 10:30pm, but due to some technical difficulties, it ran till, 11-ish. I was hungry and tired like mad! Too bad I went there by somebody else's car, otherwise I would have had leave the place for very good reason ---- time's up baby!

Tomorrow will be the last dress rehearsal, and day after tomorrow.... not the end of the world....will be the first show!

The the last show will be on April 1st. You can check the show time on my MySpace site.

All the best

Today is V's operation day, she came up to give me a hug yesterday and told me that she doesn't care anymore.

I hope she is alright, and I hope the Good Man up there will look after her during the whole process!

All the best to you V! You will be fine! I'm sure you won't pass out suddenly after you came back from your operation, how great would that be?

Leave some comments!

Some of you who had been following my blog --- for whatever reasons --- might find that you can't leave comments to me unless you're a member of Blogspot. I've changed the settings, so, by all means, leave me some words before you log off after reading my crap.

My Friend Muneyoshi

There is this interesting guy that I knew from PMF 2002.

Great violinist. Great person.

He won the first prize in ToHo (his undergrad school, one of the best music schools in Japan).

Muneyoshi is his name.

I think we started our friendship by talking about Roby Lakatos. We were discussing about how he did all the crazy techniques on the violin. Since then we kept in touch on and off, but we never lose touch.

When I first got here in NY, I got a call from him, saying that he wanted to come for audition and needed a place to stay.

Since then, we were very much in touch again.

Now he is doing his grad studies in Eastman with Kopelman, and he comes down once in a while to crash into my sofa. We don't talk much, unless necessary, but still, you feel that he is your friend. We still talk about transcendental violin technique, one of his favourite things. We could discuss it till dawn, no problem.

Muneyoshi's a funny character under his quiet looks. He is up for anything, you could ask him to go to the supermarket with you and he would be totally interested and ended up discovering some interesting stuff that you could spend hours to laugh about. (Remember your Chinese sexual elixir Mune? Haha!!)

I brought him to Forest Hills Park that day, cuz I told him that place looked like the backdrop of Miyazaki Hayao's "Kiki's Special Delivery Service". He was so happy and explored that place with me for about an hour.

I hope Muneyoshi could come more often, and we could check more weird stuff --- something that New York is never lack of --- in the future! And I wish he could event some crazy motherfuckin' technique on the violin too!

Orion in Action again

What more could you ask for when you can see Orion in Alice Tully Hall FOR FREE??!

They said the program is too modern and people don't dig them, that's why they're givin' out tickets... So that tells a lot about general New York audiences. But I am just wondering what would happen if we move this concert downtown in the Lower East Side?

The turn out was quite pathetic on March 15th, almost half of the seats downstairs are empty. Muneyoshi and me was sitting right in the middle of row X, good view! He got the tickets half an hour before the concert. But I was late spending too much time in getting my air ticket to LA. Again I have to apologize to Muneyoshi for waiting for me.

I overheard the Ellen Zwillich String Quartet from the speaker in the Tully lobby, Danny was the first violinist. It's a beautiful piece with no titles for each movement, only metronome markings. According to Danny, this is the easy-listening piece of the night.

The rest of the program proved him right because the Schulhoff Sextet that consisted of Clancy Newman (cello) and Huang Hsin-Yun (viola) together with the Orion, seems to be a hardcore piece. With fast movements and original ideas of each section, it's a great piece filled with creativity and energy throughout. The precious thing was, Orion and the other two additional members were able to grasp the audiences' attention without making anybody kicking their front seats.

After the intermission, it was the Orion alone again, closing up the night with a not-so-easy-listening Mendelssohn F minor Quartet. It's lacking of Mendelssohn's usual "happy" and "light-hearted" elements. Instead, it was filled with melancholy and grief in the most part. But why not? Great music is great music, stereotyping doesn't work for any composers!

V

V fell ill again yesterday. Like what happened a few times before. She was raced to the hospital again.

This time it's the chamber orchestra rehearsal. She demanded the music to be stopped because she couldn't bear it.

I feel bad for her.

Such a nice person, but with such a health condition.

Hope she'll get well soon. And I further hope that she could be cured of this problem somehow.

Disaster's back!!!

Warning!!!

Big asteroid with the size as big as Texas is falling from the ninth galaxy!!!

RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!!!!!!!!

If you're brave enough, go drill a hole on it and nuke it!!!!!!!!

Bartok on the challenge!

I dunno why, some people just keep armoring themselves everyday. As a teacher, when a student ask you a question, why not just answer them? Why do you have to think the student is challenging you? Aren't you happy that students ask questions? They're supposed to ask and you're suppose to answer willingly --- and, with a delighted heart. That's what this teaching business is all about right? If a student is asking you something ridiculous, yes, he or she is definitely challenging you. But come on man, let's face it! It's just a very usual question... If one constantly thinks his/her students are challenging him/her, then there is a big possibility that he/she has no security inside. If you have enough self confidence, you won't see every single thing as a challenge against you. It's very unhealthy to be like that... sigh*

Now here comes the REAL challenge! Bartok tonight!

Dong's concert consists of the Romanian Folk Dances by Bartok, it's an arrangement for string orchestra by somebody (lazy to check the name). And there are lots of solo parts for the concertmaster --- in tonight's case, ME. I haven't had the chance to really practice it, so today I'm gonna ditch Nota Bene to practice it before I out myself into shame on the stage, haha!

I have to pull of this semi-concerto!!!

Kjell

Let me tell you about my dear teacher, Kjell.

Some people would say he is my ex-teacher, but for a Chinese, we say "一日為師, 終生為父", which means "Teacher for one day, father for the whole life." For me, this Chinese proverb is not only a philosophy, but it happens in real life ---- Kjell IS STILL my teacher, and he always will be.

For me Kjell is the closest idea of "teacher" in an Oriental concept: He is strict, looks very serious, but yet caring and full of love towards student.

Since I studied with him, he never gave up asking about my progress every time I see him, even until now, it is the same. Every time he is in NY, he would call me and meet up with me for a meal ---- a meal that he insists paying for his student. My progress in violin playing is always his first thing to ask about. He even wants to see my lesson every time he gets here! Too bad he never had the chance to do so.

Understanding a student's financial situation is also a big part of his goodness too. Since I studied with him, he never complained that my violin or bow is not good enough. When I told him people said that I should change my violin, and that I have outgrown it, he asked me not to listen to those people, "It's a trap," he said.

Kjell and me are both super jazz lovers, he used to bring me some jazz CDs and asked me to burn them for my own collection, "Don't go buy them, it's a waste of money, safe your money for some good use!"

Kjell is such a person, kind-hearted and caring. And he is always trying very hard to set me a good role model, no matter as a musician or a man. He is a father figure to me!

Together with my current teacher Danny, Kjell is one of my best 2 teachers I ever had!

Dirty little secrets...

Watched a movie yesterday, it's called Adaptation, starring Nicolas Cage AND Nicolas Cage and Merryl Streep.

For me, it's not a story about adapting a novel into a movie screenplay. It's more about the two sides of a human being ---- the bright side (positive) and the darker side (negative). People who shows his bright side in normal days and kept his darker side to himself, we call them "good people"; people who does vice versa, "bad people". But this movie doesn't differentiate good and evil for you, instead, it let's YOU justify it.

Perhaps there is no absolution.

Merryl Streep acted as a successful journalist who wrote a breathtaking novel that was so beautiful and full of love. Nicolas Cage, while trying to adapt her novel into a screenplay, almost fell in love with her, idealizing her image as a human being with a divine soul and a love supreme in her heart. But only when his twin brother (I would be very happy to see him as his other side of his personality) suggested him to tail her that they found out that her life is full of lies, regrets, infidelity, and drugs. She even wanted to kill the brothers for knowing her dirty little secrets. Not so much a saint huh?

As a matter of fact, I believe, all of us have some dirty little secrets that we do not like to share with most people. And when it is not our business to expose them, we should let them be.

If you have a deep hatred or grudge towards somebody, stand in front of him and scold him face to face if you dare. Why bother to be like a sneaky little rat? Leave a comment here if you dare to! Coward!