Sinfonia da Vita, Op. 1
Monday, March 17, 2008
Lately I have been trying to clean up my Facebook profile. Lately do I realize there are options to hide certain applications. I’ve always been adding new applications as they are sent, until one day a few months back I become really tired of going through this process each time one comes about. At the same time it floods my profile and makes it extraordinary hard to load and navigate. A lot of them turn out to be pretty mundane stuff that I don’t follow. And there are several embarrassing applications that has me alarmed. For instance, there’s this application called ‘Social Network’ that unwittingly came with some friend-ranking thing. On ‘Social Network’ there is an option that says, ‘Will you date me – Yes / No’. Initially I do not think much about it until not long ago I realize that people have been clicking on that thing. And there I go, ‘Oh hell, better get rid of this’ Because it makes me sound and look like some desperado! What you write on the Internet can possibly tell a hell lot about you – you are personifying yourself on cyberspace.
Despite using Facebook for about a year, I only discover ‘escape clauses’ recently. They are usually written in small print on some obscure part of the page. At the same time, prevention is better than cure: be cautious about what you accept.
Ironically, the necessity of survival for the creators and owners of these applications is contributing towards the spamming problem in Facebook. We often see messages: ‘(Sorry! Because our competitors are doing the same…) You need to pass this on to at least [x-number] of people / as many people as possible before you can ya-da-ya-da…’ And so there appears this unfortunate entire vicious cycle.
¶ 3/17/2008 11:27:00 am 0 comments
Despite using Facebook for about a year, I only discover ‘escape clauses’ recently. They are usually written in small print on some obscure part of the page. At the same time, prevention is better than cure: be cautious about what you accept.
Ironically, the necessity of survival for the creators and owners of these applications is contributing towards the spamming problem in Facebook. We often see messages: ‘(Sorry! Because our competitors are doing the same…) You need to pass this on to at least [x-number] of people / as many people as possible before you can ya-da-ya-da…’ And so there appears this unfortunate entire vicious cycle.
Friday, March 14, 2008
I’m pretty excited about meeting with the head honchos of ‘Milly, Molly’, almost a year and a half since we started producing the first season of the series. ‘Milly, Molly’ is the cartoon series which I did music composition for. Production for the first season wrapped up last month and has been sold to a few TV stations. The three of them – Ron Saunders and Rodney Whitham (both producers) and David Evans (writer and director) have come down from Australia, where they are all based, to discuss production for the next season with Scrawl Studios, the Singapore partner, as well as meet up with everybody involved in the project face to face. So I am excited about going down to Scrawl Studio’s office today to meet the people I have been communicating with but never seen in physique.
There’s no nervousness because we’ve worked with each other before, we’ve each seen and heard the stuff each other has produced, hence the meeting is very laid back. They’re really nice people, very patient, understanding and compromising. I personally feel very privileged to have worked with a director who knows what he wants and offers very straightforward comments about how he wants the music – so easily understood that as time goes by I am able to interpret his intentions about the music.
We exchange niceties, and reminiscence about the production of the first season. David mentions, ‘I should have brought a kazoo along to show you!’ because there was an episode where Milly played a makeshift kazoo using a comb and tissue paper. A year ago, we had to create the music right after the script for one of the episodes had been produced because, in that episode, the students in the school put up a performance using instruments made out of recycled materials. For this, the animators needed music as a reference for the sequence of events.
I recall David sends us this photo of himself putting a comb tightly wrapped with tissue paper horizontally to his lips. We tried it ourselves – there was a mere ‘pppph’. Hardly much of an instrument, you’d say. And we had no idea what the real kazoo looked like. ‘Probably sounds like a harmonica,’ was the thought, since it is played in an almost similar manner. So we used a harmonica sample – for the time being.
On hindsight: we didn’t have the resourcefulness to check out Youtube.
One year later, we are haunted by the kazoo once again, as authenticity is required for the final cut. The samples we provided, using ‘realistic’ equivalents to the makeshift instruments, were too clean. We have to sample the makeshift instruments ourselves. We need a garbage bin for the drums, a metal garbage lid as the cymbals, bottles as glockenspiels (the small metal ‘xylophone’ – the actual xylophone has wooden keys) – as well as the comb-and-tissue kazoo. Which is probably the biggest problem.
I guess the second time round we manage to find out what a real kazoo sounds like, so we know of what to expect when we blow our fake one. Mike helps me with the samples. We discover a website that tells you ‘how to make your own kazoo’ in the same way that Milly makes hers in the show (there’s a picture and a description here: http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/its-easy-to-make-music/make-music-0184.htm). Mike takes a comb and wraps it with tissue. He raises it horizontally to his lips. And he blows hard at it.
A crisp bleeeep (like those duck hunting whistles) emits.
We are so jubilant! The best thing we can expect is a loud, clear sound. Quickly we rush to the recording booth to get the sound recorded so that I can add it to my sampler.
Unfortunately the melodic passage sounds very mechanical, because we only sampled one pitch and derive the other pitches – high and low – using this sample. Think of it like General MIDI. Every note sounds ‘bee – bee – bee –’.
David tells me today that they eventually rejected that track, which I say ‘thank goodness’. They ask for another sample of the music track, this time without the kazoo, and one of the girls at the production facility over in Australia went into the recording booth and blew out a sample of the tune. In David’s words, it’s very ‘naïve’ but the tune can still be made out. Which is good, because in the context we don’t want it to be too perfect.
We also take the opportunity to express the problems encountered, and come up with ways to avoid repeats as we work on the next season. Thereafter Rodney shows us the schedule planned for season 2. I am much more confident of working on the show this round as we have come to establish a particular ‘sound’ and style for the show. And having understood David’s ideas about the music for the past 26 episodes, I am more or less sure what are to be done and what are to be avoided. We probably spent a third of season 1 locking down a style for the show – in many instances I tended to ‘go over the top’ and score, for instance, life-threatening scenes too much like a thriller, with brass and percussion and all the works. And I’d score the terrifying bits eerily enough to make kids cry! But I’m grateful to David and the team for being particularly patient and allowing me to grow musically. I’ve heard of cases whereby production houses sacked composers who could not deliver in the musical language that they envision! I’ve really been fortunate to be guided along patiently. David and the others tell us that they were initially ‘very nervous’ (to use their words) when the team for ‘Milly, Molly’ was assembled, because they didn’t know who they were dealing with! It’s heartening that everything has turned out well and we’re going on to season 2!
And time and again I have to thank Brother Mike (my boss as well – for those who’ve watched ‘Chestnuts’ the past years you might know him as the Sound Designer) once again for always coming to the rescue so often, for making so many sacrifices and having faith in me. Looking back a year and a half ago, I was still learning the rudiments of music production. I’m glad to have been patiently guided along.
A video of a kazoo (the real instrument) choir:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Seglez6aw4
This is cool: one-man band of several kazoos and a ukulele.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbeAp-sbRDk
You can also see the videos below, if they’ve appeared following their transfer from Youtube!
¶ 3/14/2008 09:32:00 pm 1 comments
There’s no nervousness because we’ve worked with each other before, we’ve each seen and heard the stuff each other has produced, hence the meeting is very laid back. They’re really nice people, very patient, understanding and compromising. I personally feel very privileged to have worked with a director who knows what he wants and offers very straightforward comments about how he wants the music – so easily understood that as time goes by I am able to interpret his intentions about the music.
We exchange niceties, and reminiscence about the production of the first season. David mentions, ‘I should have brought a kazoo along to show you!’ because there was an episode where Milly played a makeshift kazoo using a comb and tissue paper. A year ago, we had to create the music right after the script for one of the episodes had been produced because, in that episode, the students in the school put up a performance using instruments made out of recycled materials. For this, the animators needed music as a reference for the sequence of events.
I recall David sends us this photo of himself putting a comb tightly wrapped with tissue paper horizontally to his lips. We tried it ourselves – there was a mere ‘pppph’. Hardly much of an instrument, you’d say. And we had no idea what the real kazoo looked like. ‘Probably sounds like a harmonica,’ was the thought, since it is played in an almost similar manner. So we used a harmonica sample – for the time being.
On hindsight: we didn’t have the resourcefulness to check out Youtube.
One year later, we are haunted by the kazoo once again, as authenticity is required for the final cut. The samples we provided, using ‘realistic’ equivalents to the makeshift instruments, were too clean. We have to sample the makeshift instruments ourselves. We need a garbage bin for the drums, a metal garbage lid as the cymbals, bottles as glockenspiels (the small metal ‘xylophone’ – the actual xylophone has wooden keys) – as well as the comb-and-tissue kazoo. Which is probably the biggest problem.
I guess the second time round we manage to find out what a real kazoo sounds like, so we know of what to expect when we blow our fake one. Mike helps me with the samples. We discover a website that tells you ‘how to make your own kazoo’ in the same way that Milly makes hers in the show (there’s a picture and a description here: http://www.traditionalmusic.co.uk/its-easy-to-make-music/make-music-0184.htm). Mike takes a comb and wraps it with tissue. He raises it horizontally to his lips. And he blows hard at it.
A crisp bleeeep (like those duck hunting whistles) emits.
We are so jubilant! The best thing we can expect is a loud, clear sound. Quickly we rush to the recording booth to get the sound recorded so that I can add it to my sampler.
Unfortunately the melodic passage sounds very mechanical, because we only sampled one pitch and derive the other pitches – high and low – using this sample. Think of it like General MIDI. Every note sounds ‘bee – bee – bee –’.
David tells me today that they eventually rejected that track, which I say ‘thank goodness’. They ask for another sample of the music track, this time without the kazoo, and one of the girls at the production facility over in Australia went into the recording booth and blew out a sample of the tune. In David’s words, it’s very ‘naïve’ but the tune can still be made out. Which is good, because in the context we don’t want it to be too perfect.
We also take the opportunity to express the problems encountered, and come up with ways to avoid repeats as we work on the next season. Thereafter Rodney shows us the schedule planned for season 2. I am much more confident of working on the show this round as we have come to establish a particular ‘sound’ and style for the show. And having understood David’s ideas about the music for the past 26 episodes, I am more or less sure what are to be done and what are to be avoided. We probably spent a third of season 1 locking down a style for the show – in many instances I tended to ‘go over the top’ and score, for instance, life-threatening scenes too much like a thriller, with brass and percussion and all the works. And I’d score the terrifying bits eerily enough to make kids cry! But I’m grateful to David and the team for being particularly patient and allowing me to grow musically. I’ve heard of cases whereby production houses sacked composers who could not deliver in the musical language that they envision! I’ve really been fortunate to be guided along patiently. David and the others tell us that they were initially ‘very nervous’ (to use their words) when the team for ‘Milly, Molly’ was assembled, because they didn’t know who they were dealing with! It’s heartening that everything has turned out well and we’re going on to season 2!
And time and again I have to thank Brother Mike (my boss as well – for those who’ve watched ‘Chestnuts’ the past years you might know him as the Sound Designer) once again for always coming to the rescue so often, for making so many sacrifices and having faith in me. Looking back a year and a half ago, I was still learning the rudiments of music production. I’m glad to have been patiently guided along.
A video of a kazoo (the real instrument) choir:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Seglez6aw4
This is cool: one-man band of several kazoos and a ukulele.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbeAp-sbRDk
You can also see the videos below, if they’ve appeared following their transfer from Youtube!
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Somebody just SHOOT me.
I know that I have a quiz in the Southeast Asian music course this week (a nicer euphemism for a class test, basically), but I do not realize that it takes place TODAY. Because the last quiz two weeks back took place during tutorial, I automatically presume that this week’s quiz would be conducted during such a session. NO! It takes place right smack at the beginning of lecture. Till now as I write this I still wonder where on earth I ought to have obtained the information that the quiz is on TODAY.
Okay, perhaps it was announced at the start of the lecture last week; I turned up but was grossly late by half an hour – as always.
In any case, upon arrival on the corridor where the seminar room is located (it’s a small class of about 80 people, hence not held in a lecture theatre), I spot someone leaning against the railing outside the seminar room, coffee cup in hand, speaking on her mobile phone. I suspect her to be another student of the course. Which passer-by would stand in the middle of this busy corridor without a bag, musing a coffee while speaking on the phone? A common practice during breaks is, when you need to make a phone call (or simply want to do so) is to go out of the room and loiter about the corridor immediately outside the door to do business.
And so I suspect the lecturer has given a break. But a break at 10.30am? The lecture began at 10am, and a break just half an hour later? Something is not right here…
Still thinking the bright side, I go into the room. Now the situation is simply NOT RIGHT. There is silence; all the students are kowtowing to some unseen thing on the little desks attached to their chairs; the lecturer is standing at his desk at the front but he is not saying anything…
I look at the nearest student and immediately recognize that sheet of paper.
Crisps! Why is the quiz on today?
I make my way up the aisle to collect an empty quiz paper. Thankfully I don’t have to ask the lecturer for one; they’re all placed on another table up front. So everybody might think I’m submitting the paper. Either that or they’re all too busy scribbling their answers.
I scour the seminar room for an empty seat. There is none. Every chair seems to be occupied by either a butt or a bag. I swear I could have died there and then. Eventually I decide to stop wasting time and simply plonk myself into any available seat – any seat that is empty for the moment shall be presumed empty!
Thankfully I had scouted the notes a few days back, hence there is some familiarity.
I tackle the first question. Suddenly I hear the lecturer speak for the first time this week: ‘You should be finishing your quizzes in another two to three minutes.’
WHAT! Two to three minutes! Not even the ample, pre-emptive warning of ten minutes!
Okay, keep calm, keep calm.
Then the claimant of the seat arrives. The moment she says to the student next to me (her friend), ‘What’s going on here?’, I somewhat know that the prime spot in this room where seats and walking space are scarce has originally been claimed. I apologise, grab my paper, and scour for other territories to seize for the rest of the lecture. It is much more difficult now, as other students are handing up their papers and going for break, hence I can’t be too certain which seats are genuinely empty. Well, there are empty seats – only that their little desks are missing.
Eventually I stand at the corner of the room where the additional chairs are stacked up (there are more chairs than room space to accommodate them all). I furiously scribble whatever I can. Attempt to exploit as many marks as I can.
The lecturer says, ‘Okay, you should be handing up your quizzes now’, rather than ‘Stop writing! Put your pens down!’ So that’s a relief. Taking advantage of the confusion of students moving in all manner of directions, I continue writing in my little hideout. Luckily the replies are short, straightforward, not essays. Basically the questions, about Indonesian music, require you to write out instrumental parts in relation to a skeletal melody. Indonesian music contains basic thematic material from which other parts of the composition are derived, as well as instrumental parts that play simultaneously with this basic theme. Within another five minutes I am done; there are still students making their way up to the front to submit their papers.
I did manage to complete the quiz, but I am extremely disappointed that I have not been abler to perform as well as I wanted to. This Southeast Asian music course is one that I want to do well in, particularly because it is easy to score, and it would at least be a life-saver for other subjects that I do not do too well in. I’m not exactly the sort of person who strives to be in the upper percentile in all my classes, but when it comes to courses that I’m very passionate about and I feel I have a good chance of doing well, I go all out for it.
I should get 30 strokes of the rotan for this for missing the start of the test by 30 minutes.
¶ 3/12/2008 02:51:00 pm 0 comments
I know that I have a quiz in the Southeast Asian music course this week (a nicer euphemism for a class test, basically), but I do not realize that it takes place TODAY. Because the last quiz two weeks back took place during tutorial, I automatically presume that this week’s quiz would be conducted during such a session. NO! It takes place right smack at the beginning of lecture. Till now as I write this I still wonder where on earth I ought to have obtained the information that the quiz is on TODAY.
Okay, perhaps it was announced at the start of the lecture last week; I turned up but was grossly late by half an hour – as always.
In any case, upon arrival on the corridor where the seminar room is located (it’s a small class of about 80 people, hence not held in a lecture theatre), I spot someone leaning against the railing outside the seminar room, coffee cup in hand, speaking on her mobile phone. I suspect her to be another student of the course. Which passer-by would stand in the middle of this busy corridor without a bag, musing a coffee while speaking on the phone? A common practice during breaks is, when you need to make a phone call (or simply want to do so) is to go out of the room and loiter about the corridor immediately outside the door to do business.
And so I suspect the lecturer has given a break. But a break at 10.30am? The lecture began at 10am, and a break just half an hour later? Something is not right here…
Still thinking the bright side, I go into the room. Now the situation is simply NOT RIGHT. There is silence; all the students are kowtowing to some unseen thing on the little desks attached to their chairs; the lecturer is standing at his desk at the front but he is not saying anything…
I look at the nearest student and immediately recognize that sheet of paper.
Crisps! Why is the quiz on today?
I make my way up the aisle to collect an empty quiz paper. Thankfully I don’t have to ask the lecturer for one; they’re all placed on another table up front. So everybody might think I’m submitting the paper. Either that or they’re all too busy scribbling their answers.
I scour the seminar room for an empty seat. There is none. Every chair seems to be occupied by either a butt or a bag. I swear I could have died there and then. Eventually I decide to stop wasting time and simply plonk myself into any available seat – any seat that is empty for the moment shall be presumed empty!
Thankfully I had scouted the notes a few days back, hence there is some familiarity.
I tackle the first question. Suddenly I hear the lecturer speak for the first time this week: ‘You should be finishing your quizzes in another two to three minutes.’
WHAT! Two to three minutes! Not even the ample, pre-emptive warning of ten minutes!
Okay, keep calm, keep calm.
Then the claimant of the seat arrives. The moment she says to the student next to me (her friend), ‘What’s going on here?’, I somewhat know that the prime spot in this room where seats and walking space are scarce has originally been claimed. I apologise, grab my paper, and scour for other territories to seize for the rest of the lecture. It is much more difficult now, as other students are handing up their papers and going for break, hence I can’t be too certain which seats are genuinely empty. Well, there are empty seats – only that their little desks are missing.
Eventually I stand at the corner of the room where the additional chairs are stacked up (there are more chairs than room space to accommodate them all). I furiously scribble whatever I can. Attempt to exploit as many marks as I can.
The lecturer says, ‘Okay, you should be handing up your quizzes now’, rather than ‘Stop writing! Put your pens down!’ So that’s a relief. Taking advantage of the confusion of students moving in all manner of directions, I continue writing in my little hideout. Luckily the replies are short, straightforward, not essays. Basically the questions, about Indonesian music, require you to write out instrumental parts in relation to a skeletal melody. Indonesian music contains basic thematic material from which other parts of the composition are derived, as well as instrumental parts that play simultaneously with this basic theme. Within another five minutes I am done; there are still students making their way up to the front to submit their papers.
I did manage to complete the quiz, but I am extremely disappointed that I have not been abler to perform as well as I wanted to. This Southeast Asian music course is one that I want to do well in, particularly because it is easy to score, and it would at least be a life-saver for other subjects that I do not do too well in. I’m not exactly the sort of person who strives to be in the upper percentile in all my classes, but when it comes to courses that I’m very passionate about and I feel I have a good chance of doing well, I go all out for it.
I should get 30 strokes of the rotan for this for missing the start of the test by 30 minutes.
Friday, March 07, 2008
From a Facebook Group ‘SAF Eyepower Division’:
Chao geng. Eye power. No action; talk only.
Minimum efforts, maximum results.
"We live to see."
Why waste 2 freaking years of your life to chiong sua when you can slack it off?
Tired of the bureaucracy that surrounds every damn unit?
Super sian of the weird and senseless rules?
Sick of the "simi lan jiao?" moments?
KENG LOH!
Do you remember your days of eye powering while the rest of your platoon mates were at work?
Standing around and pretending to give instructions while the rest of your section mates were erecting the tentage?
Were most of your NS days spent queuing up to see the medical officer?
Did you spend most of the training curriculum inside the training shed sitting in your PT kit?
Only singing or pretending to sing only when your sergeant is around?
Suddenly develop a case of Hoplophobia - "morbid fear of guns" when range training is here?
Pretending to let your platoon mates go first during meals, so you can have a larger portion of the leftovers? Cookhouse aunties are usually more generous with helpings at the end.
Paying a blanga to dig your fire-trench/shell-scrape during reservist ICT training?
Ever made up any kind of irrational phobias to smoke your sergeants?
The only exercise you did was walking the distance to the cookhouse or medical centre from your bunk.
You can shrug off cries of "chao keng" from your platoon mates without any tinge of guilt or remorse.
You enjoy discussing new ways to malinger with your fellow kengsters.
You feign a leg sprain/muscle tear/hamstring strain but amazingly you still manage to finish a 90mins game for your team's Sunday Soccer League.
You suddenly develop an irrational fear to suit whatever circumstances.
Amathophobia - Fear of dust.
Phallophobia - Fear of a penis, esp during erection.
Ancraophobia - Fear of wind. (Anemophobia)
Allodoxaphobia - Fear of opinions.
Arachibutyrophobia - Fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth.
Botanophobia - Fear of plants.
Phronemophobia - Fear of thinking.
Have you ever been...
1) Excused from running, marching and jumping for a period of more than 10 days?
2) Excused from uniform for "extended periods of time"?
3) Excused from the environment - sunlight, moonlight ?
4) Excused from the elements of - earth, wind and water?
5) All of the above.
6) All of the above + (insert more)
SAF Eyepower Division 7 Cock Values
1) Keng as much as i can.
2) Practice "Tai Chi" whenever i can.
3) Wayang as much as possible.
4) Act blur until that's worthy of an Oscar.
5) Everything also must take the short cut.
6) Keep my smoke grenades close.
7) Employ evasive tactics after testing the system.
Are you able to detect sai kang within 100 yards?
Do you recall yourself smoking out at every opportunity?
If yes, this is the place for all fellow smokers!
Notes on some of the terms used:
+ Chiong sua: to go on military maneuvers out in the field
+ Keng: skive
+ Chao Keng: an adjective expressing disgust at people who deliberately skive (usually through some medical causes as an excuse for not being able to participate in army training)
+ Fire trench: a huge hole where soldiers can hide in to attack enemies or protect themselves from enemy fire.
+ Shell-scrape: a hole that each soldier has to dig for himself for protection in combat areas.
+ Sai Kang: menial tasks that befall almost every army personnel - tasks that are usually seen as tedious yet unnecessary.
Monday, March 03, 2008
淚光閃閃
¶ 3/03/2008 09:43:00 pm 0 comments
The source where 陪我看日出 (covered by Singaporean singer Joi Chua - see video below) came from
Performed by Rimi Natsukawa
陪我看日出
¶ 3/03/2008 09:41:00 pm 0 comments
Another splendid set of lyrics by Liang Wern Fook. The tune belongs to a Japanese song originally (refer to the video above: 淚光閃閃)
陪我看日出
词：梁文福
曲：Begin
唱：蔡淳佳
雨的气息是回家的小路
路上有我追着你的脚步
脚下边保存着昨天的温度
你抱着我就像温暖的大树
雨下了走好路
这句话我记住
风再大吹不走祝福
雨过了就有路
像那年看日出
你牵着我穿过了雾
叫我看希望就在黑夜的尽处
哭过的眼看岁月更清楚
想一个人闪着泪光是一种幸福
又回到我离开家的小步
你送着我满天燕子都在飞舞
雨下了走好路
这句话我记住
风再大吹不走祝福
雨过了就有路
像那年看日出
你牵着我穿过了雾
叫我看希望就在黑夜的尽处
虽然一个人
我并不孤独
在心中你陪我看每一个日出
天冷就回来
¶ 3/03/2008 09:22:00 pm 0 comments
Beautiful song with lyrics and music by Liang Wern Fook, one of Singapore's foremost Mandarin song (新谣) writers. This is an MV from the Mandarin musical of the same name ('If There're Seasons') which ran during the latter half of last year.
歌曲：天冷就回来
词曲：梁文福
从前对着收音机 学唱旧的歌
我问妈妈为什么 伤心像快乐
妈妈笑着 说她也不懂得
我想出去走一走 妈妈点点头
天冷你就回来 别在风中徘徊
妈妈眼里有明白 还有一丝无奈
天冷我想回家 童年已经不再
昨天的雨点洒下来 那滋味叫做爱
呜~别在风中徘徊
呜~天冷就回来
渐渐对着收音机 学唱新的歌
我问朋友为什么 做梦也快乐
朋友笑说 他从不相信梦
我想出去走一走 朋友点点头
天冷你就回来 别在风中徘徊
朋友的眼里有明白 还有一份期待
天冷我想回家 年少已经不再
今天的雨点洒下来 那滋味就是爱
现在对着收音机 听自己唱的歌
我的他问为什么 幸福不快乐
我微笑着 说我也不懂得
他想出去走一走 我对他点点头
天冷你就回来 别在风中徘徊
我猜我眼里有明白 还有一丝无奈
天冷他没回家 我仍然在等待
明天的雨点撒下来 那滋味就是爱
呜~别在风中徘徊
呜~天冷就回来
Sunday, March 02, 2008
From Facebook:
You Know You’re From Singapore When…
1) You speak or randomly break out in Singlish
2) You crave chicken rice or the various uberlicious hawker foods
3) Tying a soccer game with Malaysia actually means something significant
4) You’re a guy and have no choice about National Service
5) You start daydreaming about $2 Nasi Lemaks
6) Orchard Road is a byword for fun
7) You pronounce and spell stuff the Brit way
8) You pick up the trash after missing the rubbish bin
9) You say rubbish bin and not trash can
10) You end ALMOST every sentence with a 'lah'/'lor'/'hor' and everything looks much better with 'x's and 'z's (right horxxzzz?)
11) You understand all the references in www.talkingcock.com (and find the site funny)
12) You're intimidated by the thought of a 45 minutes to drive to the nearest mall.
13) You're shocked that your ez-link doesn’t work at Mcdonald's around the world
14) People ask you what you speak at home and you say 'uhh...'
15) You are able to communicate in plethora of languages & dialects
16) Swearing in numerous languages & dialects is natural
17) You know that Newton Circus serves up shit food, but still go there anyway
18) You “chope” seats at food courts/hawker centers with little tissue packets
19) You've sung the national anthem since you were in primary 1 and still have no idea what it really means
20) There's always a traffic jam near a vehicle accident 'cause everyone slows down to
copy numbers for 4D
21) You start using abbreviations for everything, such as ERP, PIE, MRT, SBS, SMS, CTE, IPPT, NCC, SOC(army word)...... and many more.
22) You look at someone (when you’re overseas) and a 6th sense tells you that they’re from Singapore too
23) Someone asks for the time and your innate response is: “IT’S TIGER TIME!!!” *rawr*
24) Every Christmas, Orchard Road looks more like and more like Deepavali (The Festival of Lights).
¶ 3/02/2008 01:20:00 am 0 comments
You Know You’re From Singapore When…
1) You speak or randomly break out in Singlish
2) You crave chicken rice or the various uberlicious hawker foods
3) Tying a soccer game with Malaysia actually means something significant
4) You’re a guy and have no choice about National Service
5) You start daydreaming about $2 Nasi Lemaks
6) Orchard Road is a byword for fun
7) You pronounce and spell stuff the Brit way
8) You pick up the trash after missing the rubbish bin
9) You say rubbish bin and not trash can
10) You end ALMOST every sentence with a 'lah'/'lor'/'hor' and everything looks much better with 'x's and 'z's (right horxxzzz?)
11) You understand all the references in www.talkingcock.com (and find the site funny)
12) You're intimidated by the thought of a 45 minutes to drive to the nearest mall.
13) You're shocked that your ez-link doesn’t work at Mcdonald's around the world
14) People ask you what you speak at home and you say 'uhh...'
15) You are able to communicate in plethora of languages & dialects
16) Swearing in numerous languages & dialects is natural
17) You know that Newton Circus serves up shit food, but still go there anyway
18) You “chope” seats at food courts/hawker centers with little tissue packets
19) You've sung the national anthem since you were in primary 1 and still have no idea what it really means
20) There's always a traffic jam near a vehicle accident 'cause everyone slows down to
copy numbers for 4D
21) You start using abbreviations for everything, such as ERP, PIE, MRT, SBS, SMS, CTE, IPPT, NCC, SOC(army word)...... and many more.
22) You look at someone (when you’re overseas) and a 6th sense tells you that they’re from Singapore too
23) Someone asks for the time and your innate response is: “IT’S TIGER TIME!!!” *rawr*
24) Every Christmas, Orchard Road looks more like and more like Deepavali (The Festival of Lights).
Saturday, March 01, 2008
I have found this new webhost for my music stuff. Thanks to Linda for introduced me the 'My Band' application on Facebook, which really links to this webhosting site called Reverbnation. It's a bit like MySpace: it allows (especially musicians) to post up information about their gigs and to let others hear samples of their work. I have signed up for a MySpace account but somehow I can never get around to using it... seems complicated to me, so I stick by my Multiply website. On the other hand, Multiply limits in that in order to listen to music, you have to sign on with a Multiply account, hence this presents inconveniences. I might gradually give up my Multiply site for this one, until I feel I have enough credibility (and hence money) to get myself a proper website.
Hope to see you at the site: http://www.reverbnation.com/auglum, appreciate your support! Do feel free to leave comments, good and bad! (Preferably bad comments, so that I can improve.)
Unfortunately I cannot post more music from other productions because the majority of my stuff are locked away in a backup hard disk drive. I dropped it on the floor (thankfully carpeted) and the device where you plug in the USB cable sorta went kaput. Right, so it's safe to think of an analogy of a safe deposit box that is permanently sealed (for now).
¶ 3/01/2008 09:20:00 pm 0 comments
Hope to see you at the site: http://www.reverbnation.com/auglum, appreciate your support! Do feel free to leave comments, good and bad! (Preferably bad comments, so that I can improve.)
Unfortunately I cannot post more music from other productions because the majority of my stuff are locked away in a backup hard disk drive. I dropped it on the floor (thankfully carpeted) and the device where you plug in the USB cable sorta went kaput. Right, so it's safe to think of an analogy of a safe deposit box that is permanently sealed (for now).
This article might make you re-think about taking up that bottle of so-called spirit when you feel terribly horrible.
The Straits Time, 01 March 2008, p21
Drowning Your Sorrows is No Fix
Agence France-Presse
The age-old belief is that alcohol helps people drown their sorrows, but in truth the bottle only makes bad memories linger, a Japanese study said yesterday.
Researchers at the University of Tokyo concluded that ethanol – an intoxicating agent in alcohol,- does not cause memory to decrease, but instead locks it in place.
The researchers, led by pharmacology professor Norio Matsuki, gave mild shocks to laboratory rats to condition them to fear. As a result, the rats would freeze in terror and curl up the moment they were put in their cages.
The rats were then immediately injected with ethanol or saline.
The researchers found that rats with alcohol in their veins froze up for longer, with the fear on average lasting two weeks, compared with rats that did not receive injections.
‘If we apply this study to humans, the memories they are trying to get rid of will remain strongly, even if they drink alcohol to try to forget an event they dislike and be in a merry mood for the moment,’ the study said.
‘The following day, they won’t remember the merriness that they felt,’ it said.
Professor Matsuki said the findings offered lessons for people living with bad memories.
‘To forget something you dislike, it’s best to overwrite the negative memory with a positive memory at an early stage and leave out drinking alcohol,’ Prof Matsuki advised.
The study was published in the United States academic journal Neuropsychopharmacology.
¶ 3/01/2008 01:09:00 pm 0 comments
The Straits Time, 01 March 2008, p21
Drowning Your Sorrows is No Fix
Agence France-Presse
The age-old belief is that alcohol helps people drown their sorrows, but in truth the bottle only makes bad memories linger, a Japanese study said yesterday.
Researchers at the University of Tokyo concluded that ethanol – an intoxicating agent in alcohol,- does not cause memory to decrease, but instead locks it in place.
The researchers, led by pharmacology professor Norio Matsuki, gave mild shocks to laboratory rats to condition them to fear. As a result, the rats would freeze in terror and curl up the moment they were put in their cages.
The rats were then immediately injected with ethanol or saline.
The researchers found that rats with alcohol in their veins froze up for longer, with the fear on average lasting two weeks, compared with rats that did not receive injections.
‘If we apply this study to humans, the memories they are trying to get rid of will remain strongly, even if they drink alcohol to try to forget an event they dislike and be in a merry mood for the moment,’ the study said.
‘The following day, they won’t remember the merriness that they felt,’ it said.
Professor Matsuki said the findings offered lessons for people living with bad memories.
‘To forget something you dislike, it’s best to overwrite the negative memory with a positive memory at an early stage and leave out drinking alcohol,’ Prof Matsuki advised.
The study was published in the United States academic journal Neuropsychopharmacology.
