These are the photos we managed to take after the show. Fans, enjoy.
photos of celebrities
Yesterday, me and my friends went to Shah Alam to watch the final of Hits1 Song Competition, by RTM. Although my beloved songstress was not there, but there were so many famous local singers, like Dayang, Misha, Adibah and Jac.
These are the photos we managed to take after the show. Fans, enjoy.
These are the photos we managed to take after the show. Fans, enjoy.
Some crappiness to kill the time...
Layer One:On The Outside
Name : Trumpet player and perenang terkenal. Chet perasan.
Date : why? U want to give me birthday present is it?
Current status : slightly hungry, and trying HARD to make this entry interesting.
Eye Colour : colorful like coloured pencil luna staedtler like that.
Hair Colour : colorful like buncho poster colour. Eh! I discovered one joke!
“Please bancuh your Buncho properly.”
Righty or Lefty : I use both to play my trumpet, I use both to become a butterfly swim butterfly.
Layer Two : On The Inside
Your Heritage : sungguhpun i am pure malay, but people think that i am indian. Don't like u know!
Your Fears : kachuak and hantu. Eeee.. scary the marry.
Your Weakness : anything with cheese. So sinful but i cant help it lah.
Your Perfect Pizza : i still favor carbonara pasta than pizza. Pizzas are often so dry.
Layer Three :Yesterday, Today , TomorrowYour Thoughts
First thing when I wake up : wah so cold today but better i wake up la because i want to go find job some more. So depressed being jobless.
Your Bedtime : wah so nice so nice my bed so fluffy and thick thank you ikea.
Your Most Missed Memory : 256MB memory.
Layer Four : Your Pick
Pepsi or Coke : try the starbucks new banana choc chips! Nice also.
McDonald’s or Burger King : fried bitter gourd at spicey's hartamas. Hahah jealous? I feed you some bitter gourd you want?
Single or Group Dates : group dates with the gang la. Can go watch B-rated horror movie together-gether.
Adidas or Nike : alah! Everytime i choose a nice design, surely got WMNS. No point la right?
Tea or Nestea : earl gray tea. Vogue not?Chocolate or Vanilla : chocolate and vanilla AND strawberry please.
Cappucino or Coffee : if i drink coffee i will headache-headache-housefly.
Layer Five : Do You..
Smoke : last time i tried smoking to look macho, but perhaps i ended up look like a hooker.
Curse: cursive writing difficult to write/read la, like worms like that. Better let it stay simple.
Take a shower : i prefer indulge in a hot aromatherapy bath with flower petals around. hahaha.
Have a crush : computer crash got la. damnit.
Think you’ve been in love: yes, you alls. It's nice to take care of someone who cares for you.
Go to school : only if someone offers me a ride because i dont think it's wise to bike four towns away to reach my old school.
Want to get married : choi..
Believe in yourself : this one needs cher to sing it.
Think you’re a health freak : no lah, i just swim to show of my oh so beautiful bawdy. I kan model. hahahahaha.
Layer Six : In The Past Month
Drank alcohol : no la. I used that to clean up my cd player onli.
Gone to the mall : alah, the mall is so five minutes away from my apartment. Sigh, well...
Been on stage : on stage, in front of stage, outside stage, beside the stage, all got. Under the stage never been la because so eerie wei, scared that my friends would lock me inside.
Eaten sushi : euw! Why suddenly it sounded wrong here?
Dyed your hair : those were the days. I cute enough la no need dye dye one.
Layer Seven : Have You Ever..
Played A Stripping Game : havent la. But how about reading comic strips?
Changed Who You Were To Fit In : i never change into an aminal but friends can call me a bunny. So bad you know.
Layer Eight :You’re Hoping To Be Married : what's this marry, marry marry? Marry had a little lamb?
Layer Nine : In a Girl/GuyBest
Eye Colour : perlu ke....Best Hair Colour : any color also can. How about ash green.. wah.. that'll be so cool.
Short Hair or Long Hair : short spikey stylo stylo cuba hong kong like that la.
Layer Ten : What Were You Doing
1 Min Ago : i was typing the part where “people can call me a bunny”
1 Hour Ago : trying to rescue all my online photos but there were so many. Curse my crashed PC!!
4.5 Hours Ago : i was trying my best to work out at home but very lazy wei.
1 Month Ago : analyzing the theories secretly with mama diva regarding on bibik's new food tapau-ing habit. Who is that misterius guy? Aku lari dulu naaa...
1 Year Ago: oh, i went to phuket and was at the peak of my camwhore status.
Layer Eleven : Finish The Sentence
I Love : to eat raw juicy bitter stinky onions in front of the horror of my friends.
I Feel : that the parkson store in a nearby mall should be burnt down for introducing durban and john master, and stopped selling tommy jeans and samuel & kevin.
I Hate : err. spiders?
I Hide : my stack of naughties cos u want to steal them from me so that i appear decent.
I Need : to stop now because i am getting so lame!
Layer One:On The Outside
Name : Trumpet player and perenang terkenal. Chet perasan.
Date : why? U want to give me birthday present is it?
Current status : slightly hungry, and trying HARD to make this entry interesting.
Eye Colour : colorful like coloured pencil luna staedtler like that.
Hair Colour : colorful like buncho poster colour. Eh! I discovered one joke!
“Please bancuh your Buncho properly.”
Righty or Lefty : I use both to play my trumpet, I use both to become a butterfly swim butterfly.
Layer Two : On The Inside
Your Heritage : sungguhpun i am pure malay, but people think that i am indian. Don't like u know!
Your Fears : kachuak and hantu. Eeee.. scary the marry.
Your Weakness : anything with cheese. So sinful but i cant help it lah.
Your Perfect Pizza : i still favor carbonara pasta than pizza. Pizzas are often so dry.
Layer Three :Yesterday, Today , TomorrowYour Thoughts
First thing when I wake up : wah so cold today but better i wake up la because i want to go find job some more. So depressed being jobless.
Your Bedtime : wah so nice so nice my bed so fluffy and thick thank you ikea.
Your Most Missed Memory : 256MB memory.
Layer Four : Your Pick
Pepsi or Coke : try the starbucks new banana choc chips! Nice also.
McDonald’s or Burger King : fried bitter gourd at spicey's hartamas. Hahah jealous? I feed you some bitter gourd you want?
Single or Group Dates : group dates with the gang la. Can go watch B-rated horror movie together-gether.
Adidas or Nike : alah! Everytime i choose a nice design, surely got WMNS. No point la right?
Tea or Nestea : earl gray tea. Vogue not?Chocolate or Vanilla : chocolate and vanilla AND strawberry please.
Cappucino or Coffee : if i drink coffee i will headache-headache-housefly.
Layer Five : Do You..
Smoke : last time i tried smoking to look macho, but perhaps i ended up look like a hooker.
Curse: cursive writing difficult to write/read la, like worms like that. Better let it stay simple.
Take a shower : i prefer indulge in a hot aromatherapy bath with flower petals around. hahaha.
Have a crush : computer crash got la. damnit.
Think you’ve been in love: yes, you alls. It's nice to take care of someone who cares for you.
Go to school : only if someone offers me a ride because i dont think it's wise to bike four towns away to reach my old school.
Want to get married : choi..
Believe in yourself : this one needs cher to sing it.
Think you’re a health freak : no lah, i just swim to show of my oh so beautiful bawdy. I kan model. hahahahaha.
Layer Six : In The Past Month
Drank alcohol : no la. I used that to clean up my cd player onli.
Gone to the mall : alah, the mall is so five minutes away from my apartment. Sigh, well...
Been on stage : on stage, in front of stage, outside stage, beside the stage, all got. Under the stage never been la because so eerie wei, scared that my friends would lock me inside.
Eaten sushi : euw! Why suddenly it sounded wrong here?
Dyed your hair : those were the days. I cute enough la no need dye dye one.
Layer Seven : Have You Ever..
Played A Stripping Game : havent la. But how about reading comic strips?
Changed Who You Were To Fit In : i never change into an aminal but friends can call me a bunny. So bad you know.
Layer Eight :You’re Hoping To Be Married : what's this marry, marry marry? Marry had a little lamb?
Layer Nine : In a Girl/GuyBest
Eye Colour : perlu ke....Best Hair Colour : any color also can. How about ash green.. wah.. that'll be so cool.
Short Hair or Long Hair : short spikey stylo stylo cuba hong kong like that la.
Layer Ten : What Were You Doing
1 Min Ago : i was typing the part where “people can call me a bunny”
1 Hour Ago : trying to rescue all my online photos but there were so many. Curse my crashed PC!!
4.5 Hours Ago : i was trying my best to work out at home but very lazy wei.
1 Month Ago : analyzing the theories secretly with mama diva regarding on bibik's new food tapau-ing habit. Who is that misterius guy? Aku lari dulu naaa...
1 Year Ago: oh, i went to phuket and was at the peak of my camwhore status.
Layer Eleven : Finish The Sentence
I Love : to eat raw juicy bitter stinky onions in front of the horror of my friends.
I Feel : that the parkson store in a nearby mall should be burnt down for introducing durban and john master, and stopped selling tommy jeans and samuel & kevin.
I Hate : err. spiders?
I Hide : my stack of naughties cos u want to steal them from me so that i appear decent.
I Need : to stop now because i am getting so lame!
terms not to be confused
Once inside the car after a suprise-belated-birthday-steamboat-dinner, me and my friends were laughing about the words sometimes pronounced wrongly by us. Well, it happens all the time actually.
There were a few wrongly spoken words that "tickled-tickled my heart", I laughed inside.
Term: Crows
Not to be confused as: black stray birds that the city council often shoot them dead.
Actual meaning: shutting an opening.
Example: Please crows the door.
Term: Foo
Not to be confused as: A chinese name
Actual meaning: the state where an area or compartment is filled with the utmost capacity
Example: I dowan to eat anymore, I am already foo.
Term: letter
Not to be confused as: a document addressed to a particular reciever
Actual meaning: afterwards
Example: After we are done, we will see them letter.
I think I am out of idea.
I will add some more terms when I can recall them letter.
There were a few wrongly spoken words that "tickled-tickled my heart", I laughed inside.
Term: Crows
Not to be confused as: black stray birds that the city council often shoot them dead.
Actual meaning: shutting an opening.
Example: Please crows the door.
Term: Foo
Not to be confused as: A chinese name
Actual meaning: the state where an area or compartment is filled with the utmost capacity
Example: I dowan to eat anymore, I am already foo.
Term: letter
Not to be confused as: a document addressed to a particular reciever
Actual meaning: afterwards
Example: After we are done, we will see them letter.
I think I am out of idea.
I will add some more terms when I can recall them letter.
superimposing
I tried superimposing in photo editing class today.
Not really smooth though, because it's my first time.
This is it....
Recognize him?
Not really smooth though, because it's my first time.
This is it....
Recognize him?
Photo editting class
During my photo editting class, I used three photos to combine into one:
A view of a lake;
A traditional Vietnam boat;
And some seagulls.
I combine them all and it became like this...
Not really perfect. First class mah.
A view of a lake;
A traditional Vietnam boat;
And some seagulls.
I combine them all and it became like this...
Not really perfect. First class mah.
kid's stuff that i draw
These are the drawings that I did during my Illustrator class..
An unfinished project of a musician fish.
A pink toaster.
An unfinished project of a musician fish.
Saying it with flowers and valentines.
A pink toaster.
SBP wind orchestra preliminaries, 2007
Note: this is an old post.
Click here to go to 2008 SBP Competition.
April 15th, last Sunday, it was held in the hall of Sekolah Seri Puteri, Cyberjaya.
Congratulations to the host, for they have organized it so smoothly this year, I hardly heard any complaints so far. Regardless that the weather was scorching hot, and nothing can be done about that. Except that, who knows, the city council decided to plant huge gigantic trees everywhere which would have the risk of being uprooted in a thunderstorm.
I believe that everyone was really pleased by the acoustic of the hall this year. I don't know how the organizers did it, but I guess that it's the huge backdrops which have lead to a drastic sound improvement. They act as a sound reflector, and they have consumed some space at the back of the hall, hence the orchestra players would have to sit further in front, therefore, their sound projection is much closer towards the audience, instead of being trapped and circulated inside the stage itself. Kudos to Sekolah Seri Puteri. Quite simple, but brilliant.
My overall preview of this year's competition is that I am really delighted with the improvement shown by all participants. This is one next step towards lifting the quality of the competition; to be at par with the other world class competitions, out there.
SEKOLAH SERI PUTERI (SSP)
::western piece::
This year, their Western choice piece is The Pioneers. At first we predicted that this piece falls in the classical genre, but it sounded far different than their last year's Candid Overture. This piece seemed to be less complex, and the team played it really well.
All the short notes were played clearly, with a very good tuba support. The sound of their muted trumpets were very much to my liking.
When it comes to soli playing, they could deliver a very good punch and the sound is thick and solid.
::malay piece::
This year, they are still in pride and optimistic with their favorite commisioned song writer. They played Pesta Menuai, and I started to feel really skeptical about this.
However. To my astoundment, their overall playability has really improved, and they proved that they could perform this Malay piece so as to catch the interest of the audience. This piece, once it has been played to a higher quality of performance, reminds me of the Disney movie soundtrack, Pocahontas. My friend the music expert, said that it reminded him of the good wind orchestras from China.
I am happy that the team host of the competition have improved so much.
SEKOLAH DATO ABD RAZAK (SDAR)
This school, for the recent few years, have been targeted as the newcomer which have put themselves as one of the top best wind orchestra in the SBP league.
This year, they have a theme. Both of their choice pieces are of Phillip Sparke's arrangement.
::western piece::
Starflash is the title of their Western choice piece. Just like what they did with their last year's piece, this year they produced a super clean performance sound. Only that this time the arrangement is far more enticing than the previous one.
Their pitch is so good, and all parts were clear. The articulation and the punchy dynamics were perfectly delivered. This song somewhat reminded us of the Back to the Future movie theme, and there is a strong Phillip Sparke's characteristic in the middle part of the piece; witty and fun.
They managed to fulfil the requirements of this piece. I enjoyed their performance, very much. If I were a SDAR exboy, I would be really, really proud.
::malay piece::
Postcards from Singapore, is the original title of their Malay choice piece. Arranged by Phillip Sparke, this piece is a medley of Tanjong Katong and Lenggang Kangkong. To suit the fact that it should be a Malay piece, the school translated the title to Khabar dari Temasek.
I could say that this piece is simple, and it's somewhat tricky to create a wow effect out of this piece to pull and attract the audience's attention.
The school however have played it without any noticeable mistakes throughout the song.
SEKOLAH SULTAN ABDUL HALIM (SEMSAH)
Throughout the workshops where we could have a peek of what the others are playing, this school again gave the initial scary impression that they are playing really tough pieces again.
::western piece::
Their piece is entitled Dans Diabolic, translated to English, as the Devil's Dance.
Explained by my friend the music expert, the devil is intrepreted in this piece through the diabolic or "devilish" chords, throughout the song.
This piece is in the genre of Russian classical dances, which is fast, full of running notes, and definitely a tough piece to be dealt with.
Credits should be given to the school for practicing a very impressive piece, eventhough there are so many improvements that should be done. The performance is not tight enough, and we did not detect the typical strength of a Russian dance piece. There was no noticeable mistakes, but overall dynamics is still poor. So to say, their expression is still not to a satisfactory level.
::malay piece::
Joget Kenangan Manis, a popular piece sung by the famous late Sudirman.
Their version of this title is in the jazz category, which is the strength of the school.
However, they are still not playing it tight enough, and the solo trumpet was quite a dissapointment.
Anyway.
I was informed that all the players were juniors, and they were still young.
The instructors aim is to have a long term plan, rather than to win the competition.
Their strategy to be in the competition is more of exposure of the orchestra, and to give them experience in competing and observing other schools.
Based on that, I could say that they did their responsiblity really well.
TUNKU KURSHIAH COLLEGE (TKC)
Their Western choice piece reminds me of the composer Ed Huckeby.
Their performance was just okay.
They played Indah Permai for their Malay choice piece, and it was really upsetting.
The dynamics and the layers of the song (what we nicked as the 'triangular' layer where the trumpets would answer each other) were not shown at all. Instead, they controlled their sound, and it was played monotonously without any highlights emphasized in the song. They still have not fulfil the demands of the arrangement.
MALAY COLLEGE KUALA KANGSAR (MCKK)
They decided to play Alvamar Overture, by James Barnes.
The risk is that they will be compared with the best player of Alvamar Overture, SEMSAH.
Shortly said, their sound was muddy, all the running notes were not clear, and it was just played without much atttention to the details of the song.
SEKOLAH TUN ABD RAZAK (STAR)
With the tutoring assistance of the song arranger himself, this team succeed in playing the Malay piece, Tanah Pusaka, really well. The lower brass produced a very thick strong support, and the trumpets were really controlled.
Their Western choice piece, was cute.
SEKOLAH (SULTAN) ALAM SHAH (SAS)
::western piece::
Russian Christmas Music, was referred as a Grade 6 piece by an article in a wind orchestra magazine in The States. The difficulty of the piece is more towards on the interpretation of the song, besides the high endurance required for the brass section, and the technical skills of the woodwinds at various parts in the piece.
Their Western choice piece, was played before by Nanyang Technology University, Singapore, a few military bands from The States, and Tokyo Kosei Winds. This piece was written by Alfred Reed, which tells the story of the celebration of Christmas in old Russia. Christmas was not celebrated with Santa and colorful decorated trees, but it is more like a dark Christmas.
The huge challenge for the band is to achieve the expression of telling a story of an orthodox Christmas celebration.
During the first few months of their practice, the team aimed in the basics; by perfecting the pitch and tune of all the long chords in the piece. As the rehearsal reached to the last few months before the competition, they focused more on the details. For instance, they practiced perfecting the hidden running scale of the woodwinds as the brass give their final long note (along with the gong) before the whole orchestra meet to silence in a particular bar in the piece.
We are content that the present orchestra team have done a very good job, by acquiring the good points from the previous orchestras all over the world which performed this piece before. They certainly played their version of Russian Christmas Music with pride.
::malay piece::
Jauh-Jauh, performed a few years before, is one of the best masterpiece written by Suhaimi Yacob.
Through the newer perceptions of both instructors of the present team, this piece was altered by tempo and tone.
The middle part of the trumpet score was played with a slightly bright effect to bring out the jazz effect. The horns after that would bring out the legato swing mood, which reminded me of the romantic atmosphere in Paris.
Certain bars which was previously played in a fast catchy tempo, is slowed down to elongate the part where the flutes, clarinets and oboe reply one after another. This is done to create an effect of emphasizing the existence of their thick solid tone.
The lower brass, the tuba and the timpani would give their forte low punch after each phrase, which is also one speciality of this piece.
I could say that this is one of the best performance of Sekolah Alam Shah for years.
It was a shame that non of us recorded it, and we could not keep it as an audio history profile of the theme.
But of course, there were still minor mistakes and space for improvement for both songs, and they can check those parts, besides dealing with the change of acoustic in the hall of Putrajaya Convention Centre, where they will fight again with the other finalists.
All the best to all finalists this June.
Click here to go to 2008 SBP Competition.
April 15th, last Sunday, it was held in the hall of Sekolah Seri Puteri, Cyberjaya.
Congratulations to the host, for they have organized it so smoothly this year, I hardly heard any complaints so far. Regardless that the weather was scorching hot, and nothing can be done about that. Except that, who knows, the city council decided to plant huge gigantic trees everywhere which would have the risk of being uprooted in a thunderstorm.
I believe that everyone was really pleased by the acoustic of the hall this year. I don't know how the organizers did it, but I guess that it's the huge backdrops which have lead to a drastic sound improvement. They act as a sound reflector, and they have consumed some space at the back of the hall, hence the orchestra players would have to sit further in front, therefore, their sound projection is much closer towards the audience, instead of being trapped and circulated inside the stage itself. Kudos to Sekolah Seri Puteri. Quite simple, but brilliant.
My overall preview of this year's competition is that I am really delighted with the improvement shown by all participants. This is one next step towards lifting the quality of the competition; to be at par with the other world class competitions, out there.
SEKOLAH SERI PUTERI (SSP)
::western piece::
This year, their Western choice piece is The Pioneers. At first we predicted that this piece falls in the classical genre, but it sounded far different than their last year's Candid Overture. This piece seemed to be less complex, and the team played it really well.
All the short notes were played clearly, with a very good tuba support. The sound of their muted trumpets were very much to my liking.
When it comes to soli playing, they could deliver a very good punch and the sound is thick and solid.
::malay piece::
This year, they are still in pride and optimistic with their favorite commisioned song writer. They played Pesta Menuai, and I started to feel really skeptical about this.
However. To my astoundment, their overall playability has really improved, and they proved that they could perform this Malay piece so as to catch the interest of the audience. This piece, once it has been played to a higher quality of performance, reminds me of the Disney movie soundtrack, Pocahontas. My friend the music expert, said that it reminded him of the good wind orchestras from China.
I am happy that the team host of the competition have improved so much.
SEKOLAH DATO ABD RAZAK (SDAR)
This school, for the recent few years, have been targeted as the newcomer which have put themselves as one of the top best wind orchestra in the SBP league.
This year, they have a theme. Both of their choice pieces are of Phillip Sparke's arrangement.
::western piece::
Starflash is the title of their Western choice piece. Just like what they did with their last year's piece, this year they produced a super clean performance sound. Only that this time the arrangement is far more enticing than the previous one.
Their pitch is so good, and all parts were clear. The articulation and the punchy dynamics were perfectly delivered. This song somewhat reminded us of the Back to the Future movie theme, and there is a strong Phillip Sparke's characteristic in the middle part of the piece; witty and fun.
They managed to fulfil the requirements of this piece. I enjoyed their performance, very much. If I were a SDAR exboy, I would be really, really proud.
::malay piece::
Postcards from Singapore, is the original title of their Malay choice piece. Arranged by Phillip Sparke, this piece is a medley of Tanjong Katong and Lenggang Kangkong. To suit the fact that it should be a Malay piece, the school translated the title to Khabar dari Temasek.
I could say that this piece is simple, and it's somewhat tricky to create a wow effect out of this piece to pull and attract the audience's attention.
The school however have played it without any noticeable mistakes throughout the song.
SEKOLAH SULTAN ABDUL HALIM (SEMSAH)
Throughout the workshops where we could have a peek of what the others are playing, this school again gave the initial scary impression that they are playing really tough pieces again.
::western piece::
Their piece is entitled Dans Diabolic, translated to English, as the Devil's Dance.
Explained by my friend the music expert, the devil is intrepreted in this piece through the diabolic or "devilish" chords, throughout the song.
This piece is in the genre of Russian classical dances, which is fast, full of running notes, and definitely a tough piece to be dealt with.
Credits should be given to the school for practicing a very impressive piece, eventhough there are so many improvements that should be done. The performance is not tight enough, and we did not detect the typical strength of a Russian dance piece. There was no noticeable mistakes, but overall dynamics is still poor. So to say, their expression is still not to a satisfactory level.
::malay piece::
Joget Kenangan Manis, a popular piece sung by the famous late Sudirman.
Their version of this title is in the jazz category, which is the strength of the school.
However, they are still not playing it tight enough, and the solo trumpet was quite a dissapointment.
Anyway.
I was informed that all the players were juniors, and they were still young.
The instructors aim is to have a long term plan, rather than to win the competition.
Their strategy to be in the competition is more of exposure of the orchestra, and to give them experience in competing and observing other schools.
Based on that, I could say that they did their responsiblity really well.
TUNKU KURSHIAH COLLEGE (TKC)
Their Western choice piece reminds me of the composer Ed Huckeby.
Their performance was just okay.
They played Indah Permai for their Malay choice piece, and it was really upsetting.
The dynamics and the layers of the song (what we nicked as the 'triangular' layer where the trumpets would answer each other) were not shown at all. Instead, they controlled their sound, and it was played monotonously without any highlights emphasized in the song. They still have not fulfil the demands of the arrangement.
MALAY COLLEGE KUALA KANGSAR (MCKK)
They decided to play Alvamar Overture, by James Barnes.
The risk is that they will be compared with the best player of Alvamar Overture, SEMSAH.
Shortly said, their sound was muddy, all the running notes were not clear, and it was just played without much atttention to the details of the song.
SEKOLAH TUN ABD RAZAK (STAR)
With the tutoring assistance of the song arranger himself, this team succeed in playing the Malay piece, Tanah Pusaka, really well. The lower brass produced a very thick strong support, and the trumpets were really controlled.
Their Western choice piece, was cute.
SEKOLAH (SULTAN) ALAM SHAH (SAS)
::western piece::
Russian Christmas Music, was referred as a Grade 6 piece by an article in a wind orchestra magazine in The States. The difficulty of the piece is more towards on the interpretation of the song, besides the high endurance required for the brass section, and the technical skills of the woodwinds at various parts in the piece.
Their Western choice piece, was played before by Nanyang Technology University, Singapore, a few military bands from The States, and Tokyo Kosei Winds. This piece was written by Alfred Reed, which tells the story of the celebration of Christmas in old Russia. Christmas was not celebrated with Santa and colorful decorated trees, but it is more like a dark Christmas.
The huge challenge for the band is to achieve the expression of telling a story of an orthodox Christmas celebration.
During the first few months of their practice, the team aimed in the basics; by perfecting the pitch and tune of all the long chords in the piece. As the rehearsal reached to the last few months before the competition, they focused more on the details. For instance, they practiced perfecting the hidden running scale of the woodwinds as the brass give their final long note (along with the gong) before the whole orchestra meet to silence in a particular bar in the piece.
We are content that the present orchestra team have done a very good job, by acquiring the good points from the previous orchestras all over the world which performed this piece before. They certainly played their version of Russian Christmas Music with pride.
::malay piece::
Jauh-Jauh, performed a few years before, is one of the best masterpiece written by Suhaimi Yacob.
Through the newer perceptions of both instructors of the present team, this piece was altered by tempo and tone.
The middle part of the trumpet score was played with a slightly bright effect to bring out the jazz effect. The horns after that would bring out the legato swing mood, which reminded me of the romantic atmosphere in Paris.
Certain bars which was previously played in a fast catchy tempo, is slowed down to elongate the part where the flutes, clarinets and oboe reply one after another. This is done to create an effect of emphasizing the existence of their thick solid tone.
The lower brass, the tuba and the timpani would give their forte low punch after each phrase, which is also one speciality of this piece.
I could say that this is one of the best performance of Sekolah Alam Shah for years.
It was a shame that non of us recorded it, and we could not keep it as an audio history profile of the theme.
But of course, there were still minor mistakes and space for improvement for both songs, and they can check those parts, besides dealing with the change of acoustic in the hall of Putrajaya Convention Centre, where they will fight again with the other finalists.
All the best to all finalists this June.
after so long
After weeks so long that my PC is not functioning, I stopped taking pictures for a while, for I don't have anywhere to store them.
But what the heck.
Cam whores are cam whores.
So.
But what the heck.
Cam whores are cam whores.
So.
love knocks the door the least you expected it
My iguana pet, Hoshi, would act normally as other iguanas do.
Hard to tame,
Always scratches the tank and want to jump out of it,
And runs in a greedy giddy way whenever I release it to roam inside the apartment hall.
As usual, today in the evening as I indulge myself watching Sex and the City DVD, I released my pet from its tank, to have another exciting discovery adventure in the hall.
After iguana proofing my house by closing all doors and windows, I watched the tv, and only checked the naughty lizard once a while as it dashed from one end of the apartment to the other.
As I was so busy with the idiot black box, slowly Hoshi walked towards me on the carpet. I looked at Hoshi and looked back at the TV.
And to my most pleasant surprise, suddenly Hoshi jumped onto my left arm. It just stayed there, looking at me.
For a moment there, Hoshi achieved a certain level of tameness. It never budged, as if hoping for my response. So I gave it a rub on the neck and it closed its eyes.
Ah, it’s nice being loved, even by a pet.
Hard to tame,
Always scratches the tank and want to jump out of it,
And runs in a greedy giddy way whenever I release it to roam inside the apartment hall.
As usual, today in the evening as I indulge myself watching Sex and the City DVD, I released my pet from its tank, to have another exciting discovery adventure in the hall.
After iguana proofing my house by closing all doors and windows, I watched the tv, and only checked the naughty lizard once a while as it dashed from one end of the apartment to the other.
As I was so busy with the idiot black box, slowly Hoshi walked towards me on the carpet. I looked at Hoshi and looked back at the TV.
And to my most pleasant surprise, suddenly Hoshi jumped onto my left arm. It just stayed there, looking at me.
For a moment there, Hoshi achieved a certain level of tameness. It never budged, as if hoping for my response. So I gave it a rub on the neck and it closed its eyes.
Ah, it’s nice being loved, even by a pet.
i am in the statistics.
Yes, I am still in the statistics of the more than 20,000 local graduates who are still unemployed.
At times I feel really bad, especially when I am urged to pay the monthly apartment rental, and each week when I had to ask allowance from dad.
There was a point when I stared through the newspaper jobs classifieds, and thinking that I went on and on trying get myself hooked with a permanent nice job. Minutes after that I thought, what was actually my plan to have a great life?
Yeah, like dear dear Z said to me:
I have been talking about amazing things done by the people that I know,
but how about my own self?
My actual plan was to have a decent job during the day, and get out of the office at five, and have my own free time to do lots of things; like:
-do a few laps of butterfly strokes in the pool (just a few, because normally I can't do more than five even)
-hang out with my friends for a dinner, or a movie, or a theatre
-do my passion: practice the trumpet in my apartment, play the trumpet in an orchestra performance, teach the trumpet to my student.
I am greedy. I want to get employed and at the same time I do not want the job to kill the fabulous life that I have.
Now back to me staring through the newspaper jobs classifieds.
My mood suddenly went down again, and I thought how hopeless it is the effort to find a job.
I went to a lot of interviews. I even went to a one whole week training just to discover that it's a foreign exchange company and I had to find clients to get myself promoted.
Absolutely not my type of job.
As I got fed up staring at the newspaper, I decided to practice my trumpet instead.
But the low moods really got me again this time.
I crouched there on my day bed in the hall, with the trumpet mouthpiece, stay still in my mouth.
I was thinking to myself, I don't even cannot play the trumpet well.
I can't even do a living in music because my trumpet playing sucks.
People of my age, or even younger than me, can play the trumpet amazingly.
I just leave the mood hanging there for a minute or two.
It sucks to be this way, but it does need more action from me; more than just sitting there, do nothing and be sad.
I decided to just continue the days keeping on going for interviews to get myself a job.
Of course someday I will get one. Definitely.
It was a hard moment, me crouching; with the trumpet stuck in my mouth.
And then I finally started playing it again.
At times I feel really bad, especially when I am urged to pay the monthly apartment rental, and each week when I had to ask allowance from dad.
There was a point when I stared through the newspaper jobs classifieds, and thinking that I went on and on trying get myself hooked with a permanent nice job. Minutes after that I thought, what was actually my plan to have a great life?
Yeah, like dear dear Z said to me:
I have been talking about amazing things done by the people that I know,
but how about my own self?
My actual plan was to have a decent job during the day, and get out of the office at five, and have my own free time to do lots of things; like:
-do a few laps of butterfly strokes in the pool (just a few, because normally I can't do more than five even)
-hang out with my friends for a dinner, or a movie, or a theatre
-do my passion: practice the trumpet in my apartment, play the trumpet in an orchestra performance, teach the trumpet to my student.
I am greedy. I want to get employed and at the same time I do not want the job to kill the fabulous life that I have.
Now back to me staring through the newspaper jobs classifieds.
My mood suddenly went down again, and I thought how hopeless it is the effort to find a job.
I went to a lot of interviews. I even went to a one whole week training just to discover that it's a foreign exchange company and I had to find clients to get myself promoted.
Absolutely not my type of job.
As I got fed up staring at the newspaper, I decided to practice my trumpet instead.
But the low moods really got me again this time.
I crouched there on my day bed in the hall, with the trumpet mouthpiece, stay still in my mouth.
I was thinking to myself, I don't even cannot play the trumpet well.
I can't even do a living in music because my trumpet playing sucks.
People of my age, or even younger than me, can play the trumpet amazingly.
I just leave the mood hanging there for a minute or two.
It sucks to be this way, but it does need more action from me; more than just sitting there, do nothing and be sad.
I decided to just continue the days keeping on going for interviews to get myself a job.
Of course someday I will get one. Definitely.
It was a hard moment, me crouching; with the trumpet stuck in my mouth.
And then I finally started playing it again.
bla bla bla while i am hungry.
There are always times when I am fickled minded.
I was going back from swimming just now, only a few metres to enter the gates of my apartment, when suddenly I just turned my bike away and went back to the road; because I am hungry.
And then when I was following my instinct to decide where to eat, I ended up here in the cyber cafe; simply because it's just on the way.
And it's so wrong timing for me to browse the net right now, instead of browsing for food.
But then.
It is ALWAYS the case that it's wrong timing for me to type a blog entry, but what the heck.
I noticed that some people visited my blog lately only to see that it is collecting dust, again.
I MUST POST SOMETHING to fulfil the needs of hungry blog readers. Begitu!
Anyway.
Last weekend, I followed Z to have a karaoke get together with his mates in an old place in Ampang. Apparently all the friends are three pairs of straight couples (three straight girls with their three straight guys); and one single straight kid (he is a brother of one of the straight girls.).
After settling my butt on the couch and settling myself with the ambience of a karaoke setting in the eighties (because it existed SINCE the eighties), I decided to choose some songs, with the help of Z (because it's kinda tricky to use an 80's-karaoke-song-selection-system).
Of course I would DIRECTLY go to my favorite female singer collection because I always have fun singing them.
And then out of no where, my dear dear Z said.
"Pilih lah lagu yang jantan sedikit".
(translation: Please choose more manly songs this time.)
Whoa.
It really turned my mood off just in one split second.
I froze, and then I moved away from the computer, trying not to really show that I was mad.
I decided not to sing at all.
1001 thoughts came through my mind:
--How come you were fine the last few times I sang less than manly @ faggot songs and we had fun?
--Are you ashamed of being with me?
--Is it worth that I go here just to sing stuff that I hate?
And it goes on and on...
So I kept quiet, not wanting to say things that I regret.
Z noticed, and he decided to just let me sing whatever that I wanted to sing.
And then he said, he feared that the straight friends would think differently and refer me as a queen for singing such songs.
And then it just hit me.
I realized why all these while I tried to avoid straight crowds,
and why I am always quiet when I have to meet them.
Because I cared too much that they are too different.
Because I cared too much what they might think of me.
Because I cared too much that all my actions seem weird.
I was too long being in my comfort zone.
I was so being in a place where I won't be judge, and I mingled with all my dear friends,
I forgotten that I used to face and deal with a lot of bad words being thrown at me.
I was actually used to be the person who would not care less.
I myself would set up my own rules and boundaries of what can I do to be presentable and and what I shouldn't do to not to offend people, in the straight, straight world.
And what Z said was just something that shouldn't have made me upset.
I got off my anger within a split second, just like how it started.
It was a shame that as I was contemplating with my own thoughts before I got off the anger, it gave the straight couples ABUNDANT time to choose all the typical local rock bands for them to sing.
Those typical howling ones with deafening rock guitars.
Gosh. Faux pas. At least fifteen straight-ish songs for us to bear with.
But they really enjoyed themselves though.
So I have decided to slip in the song that I wanted to sing.
Eventhough it was getting late and I had only got the chance to sing only one song,
I have learnt something.
I'm me. Live with it.
And guess what?
The one straight kid that I thought was straight, was a straight cover up.
He sang Mariah Carey, high pitched.
Period.
I was going back from swimming just now, only a few metres to enter the gates of my apartment, when suddenly I just turned my bike away and went back to the road; because I am hungry.
And then when I was following my instinct to decide where to eat, I ended up here in the cyber cafe; simply because it's just on the way.
And it's so wrong timing for me to browse the net right now, instead of browsing for food.
But then.
It is ALWAYS the case that it's wrong timing for me to type a blog entry, but what the heck.
I noticed that some people visited my blog lately only to see that it is collecting dust, again.
I MUST POST SOMETHING to fulfil the needs of hungry blog readers. Begitu!
Anyway.
Last weekend, I followed Z to have a karaoke get together with his mates in an old place in Ampang. Apparently all the friends are three pairs of straight couples (three straight girls with their three straight guys); and one single straight kid (he is a brother of one of the straight girls.).
After settling my butt on the couch and settling myself with the ambience of a karaoke setting in the eighties (because it existed SINCE the eighties), I decided to choose some songs, with the help of Z (because it's kinda tricky to use an 80's-karaoke-song-selection-system).
Of course I would DIRECTLY go to my favorite female singer collection because I always have fun singing them.
And then out of no where, my dear dear Z said.
"Pilih lah lagu yang jantan sedikit".
(translation: Please choose more manly songs this time.)
Whoa.
It really turned my mood off just in one split second.
I froze, and then I moved away from the computer, trying not to really show that I was mad.
I decided not to sing at all.
1001 thoughts came through my mind:
--How come you were fine the last few times I sang less than manly @ faggot songs and we had fun?
--Are you ashamed of being with me?
--Is it worth that I go here just to sing stuff that I hate?
And it goes on and on...
So I kept quiet, not wanting to say things that I regret.
Z noticed, and he decided to just let me sing whatever that I wanted to sing.
And then he said, he feared that the straight friends would think differently and refer me as a queen for singing such songs.
And then it just hit me.
I realized why all these while I tried to avoid straight crowds,
and why I am always quiet when I have to meet them.
Because I cared too much that they are too different.
Because I cared too much what they might think of me.
Because I cared too much that all my actions seem weird.
I was too long being in my comfort zone.
I was so being in a place where I won't be judge, and I mingled with all my dear friends,
I forgotten that I used to face and deal with a lot of bad words being thrown at me.
I was actually used to be the person who would not care less.
I myself would set up my own rules and boundaries of what can I do to be presentable and and what I shouldn't do to not to offend people, in the straight, straight world.
And what Z said was just something that shouldn't have made me upset.
I got off my anger within a split second, just like how it started.
It was a shame that as I was contemplating with my own thoughts before I got off the anger, it gave the straight couples ABUNDANT time to choose all the typical local rock bands for them to sing.
Those typical howling ones with deafening rock guitars.
Gosh. Faux pas. At least fifteen straight-ish songs for us to bear with.
But they really enjoyed themselves though.
So I have decided to slip in the song that I wanted to sing.
Eventhough it was getting late and I had only got the chance to sing only one song,
I have learnt something.
I'm me. Live with it.
And guess what?
The one straight kid that I thought was straight, was a straight cover up.
He sang Mariah Carey, high pitched.
Period.
am i old?
It's like everytime I click to the "Create New Post", I will straight away click the close button or I'll just type in another url.
I just don't have anything inspiring or interesting to write!
Okay recently it was my birthday.
I did get very wonderful gifts that I would definitely cherish from everyone:
Birthday wishes; verbally or via SMS that reached to my phone.
The thoughtfulness, is so meaningful to me.
It reminds me that I do have a lot of people around me loving me as a friend.
Even those who I knew online and unexpectedly they also wished me on my birthday.
And of course the most appreciated are those recieved by people close to me.
One friend stayed up til midnight to be the first to wish.
Another friend called from a foreign country to wish.
And there are friends who wanted to spend the night with me watching movie, along with my beloved Z.
Thanks everybody.
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