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Sunday, August 29, 2004
+ Tiger in the backyard +
The moon rises high, and she crouches low... the tall grass gives excellent cover... she makes sure to keep the wind in her face, lest her unsuspecting prey detects her scent... she stealthily moves ever closer... one bite to the neck should suffice to bring it down... the wind changes! Suddenly her quarry is aware of her presence... the time is now or never... one pounce, a scuffle, the chase is over in seconds... it is a parly meal... she'll have to feed again later. Then a tingling sensation, an unexplainable animal instinct tells her its about 10pm... time for the auntie to come down to the void deck bearing goodies which don't run away... ok... the intro was quite cheesy... by now most should get the hint i'm talkin about a neighbourhood alley cat. Gotta love these creatures, the domestication of the cat meant we could bring the bare savagery of naure into our very ikea sofa sets. Humans have had cats for only about 10000 years, but we've had dogs long before recorded history. Thus cats still look like cats, but dogs well, sometimes look like sausages, pigs, stick insects, rats, koosh rejects... u get the idea...yet all dogs came from a common ancestor... the first true "dog"... see what man screwing around with nature for several thousand years can do... yeah, i don't like dogs much, they're so easy to control and manipulate... hence obidience schools... dogs have absolutely no... pride. Master calls, dog comes; master raises voice, dog runs with tail in between legs...master orders, dog fetches slippers with its friggin mouth... a dog is such a... dog. Apart from that, they all smell funny, they bark, fight, bite and kill. Its official, dogs kill more people in the US (abt 7 a year) than shark attack (1 a year). Figures for number of deaths caused by rampaging cats not available. Those that aren't bred to be killing machines, their only role in life is to look cute. Hell, lots of other small furry mammals look cute too... cute dogs have forgotten all means of survival without humanity's assistance... they're friggin wimps... i've seen a jack russel (starhub dog) get spooked silly by a snarling kitten! (it was quite entertaining i must admit) 
But a cat will do fine whether you pamper it or not. It is still essentially, a wild animal, still as dignified as the way nature crafted it, still won't follow orders whether it loves you or not. You can always feel at ease with a cat. You need not fear it slobbering you or taking your arm off. It just has that kind of look. I swear stroking a cat is theraputic... some doctors say it temporarily lowers blood pressure. There's a cat which hangs around the camp guard room at night. At 10pm, I reckon its the only intelligent lifeform with 100m which bums around an army camp by choice, and while everyone goes into zombie-mode, its the only thing which seems happy to see us. Pity i never knew the pleasures/pains of keeping one. cheers!*raises wine glass, strokes cat sitting in my lap*
Sunday, August 22, 2004
+ Murphy's Law +
this band is Weezer... check out their mtv with the muppets.. friggin hilarious... Due to an insane schedule this whole week, only now, i am bloggin about an equally insane event which happened last week. Sunday 150804.. approx 1130hrs... my 1st time playing in front of stangers, in a strange land (namely, upper Thompson). Joel, Joash, and Desmond were with me all the way, Andrea and Rebecca on the day itself, the day of reckoning. If any of you are reading this, Thank You all!! You guys were great!!! So you think you have it all figured out, well figure some more, cos anything that can happen, will happen, and it did happen.
Let the music play! Cheers all! *raises wine glass*
Saturday, August 14, 2004
+ Vincent vs. 10 baldy recruits +
 vs 
No prizes for guessing, but my money's on the guy with the Armani suit wasting the 10 teenage dudes in Skeleton Battle Order, probably without getting his shirt untucked either. (don't bother looking for me in the photo... i don't do the whole "chiong swa" scene) I kinda figure they'll still be trying to remember their "enemy contacted drill" before Tom Criuse is done filling their guts with lead. Why the weird/one-sided comparison? Well today i was scheduled to run 13km with 50 or so other sweaty guys. At the end of the run we were screwed upside-down for not being "committed", "disciplined", "professional", and "forgetting who we are" . Apparently we were underperforming. Admittedly i am guilty as charged, but "who we are" really bites you down there. I know damn well who i am. As much as people usually identify themselves with their association(s)... i will never do so with the Army. My friggin life won't find fulfillment if i ran my heart out. I had a gig to practice for later in the day, so the last thing i needed was to be too bushed to carry a guitar, i know what my real committments are... Oh well, enough bitching to fill today's quota, friday was a blast, in stark contrast to saturday morning. I have finally watched the coolest movie this whole year, on its opening day too... Now to join the likes of Ocean's 11, Snatch, and The Italian Job... Collateral. It has won the "cool movie award" in my book, hard to believe it beat Ocean's 11, but yup... it did. Tom Cruise plays "Vincent", a professional killer, in all senses of the word. And Jamie Foxx can ACT?! i mean seriously... i'm shocked, he can!! here's my breakdown of this kickass performance... Directing -9.5 Acting -9 Plot -7.5 (questionable, but hey, thats what artitic licence is for) Action -6.9 (not a movie for ardenaline junkies) Dialogue -8.9 (infectiously cool, even philosophical, but still believable) Ending -9 The portrayal of L.A. is killer, very much like Singapore, minus the carjacks and muggings. "17m people, all of them strangers"...sad but true *sigh*. Oh well, every year we have 25000 or so new baldy chaps to keep us safe, bet you feel a hell lot better... Cheers! *raises wine glass*
Monday, August 09, 2004
+ ying n yang +
Today I've seen the absolute polar opposites of the s'pore music scene, heck, so did everyone else watching S'pore Idol... but they only know half the story. Oh well, lets go see the bad news first... everyone seems to wanna give William Hung a run for his money. Recipe to be a sell out for instant fame? Be really good, or really really bad.... too many jokers think the latter is easier.... I mean who can forget the likes of the "lemon tree guy" and the "mime guy"? (hell, my cheese on toast is louder than him)... they'll be talking about these village idiots for generations... it is said William Hung sold 30000 copies of his album in S"pore alone... i find tt, well, plain unnerving. 30000 people spent $20(+-) to tell William Hung he's on the right track... its about as "inspirational" as Freddy vs. Jason. Now i hear he's making a movie. I swear... the best way to make that a blockbuster comedy is to give it a tear-jerking, sensitive, emo script. Oh well, with Hung around, no one's gonna think the chinese are gonna take over america and steal all the jobs anymore... *shrug* Now for the good news....uh... searching...hang on....still searching... ok!! Here's some!! After a lengthy investigation, i bought myself a copy of "the obsevatory"'s debut album (time of rebirth). Yes, i finally put in my part to support our local bands. I highly recommend it... its like jazz that went psychadelic... kinda like weed music.. but i like it... refreshing stuff in weird beats... the singing voices really suit the subtly pessistic tone of the songs... good stuff. Kudos goes to the cd cover, yeah, you heard me right, its a highly original concept. Its not a plastic cover, its like a diary with a cd in it. Really sticks out, got me puzzled at first... truly creative, good personal touch too. As for those who bought William Hung's... i say 20 bucks could have been given to those more needy, less fortunate than ourselves, not the "pitiful" buck-toothed rich bastard. Now you'll listen to it once, laugh yourself to tears, then throw it in the fish tank where it'll come to more use onarmentally (providing the prolonged exposure of his face to the fish won't make them die of cancer). cheers all! *raises wine glass*
Saturday, August 07, 2004
+ AGBN ---- voice of the looking glass +
Went with joel n joash to check out baybeats music fest awhile back. The Singapore music scene ain't really in good hands i'm afraid. The show was dominated by indie bands, few of which had the talent worthy of the expensive gear they were using... guess should be thankful that at least some are... it appears the only way to make it big locally is to look hot, sing in chinese, make it big in taiwan, only then will you get accepted here... bloodly ironic... but you can't deny i'm right... my dream is to change that. Last year the 3 of us formed the foundation of a band, then christened it AGBN. 2 more joined our band of merry men, desmond n marc. It occurred to me what an amazingly weird menagerie of untapped talents i've assembled. These guys rock as individuals, put them together and i'm hearing sounds i can only describe as...well... addictive. We all have backgrounds so varied that it was kinda a fools gamble to stuff'em all in 1 band. Joel---- started off as a punk rocker (don't bother asking him, he'll renounce that era of his life) then goes into speed metal, then blues, more recently classic rock. Plays metal with a Fender Telecaster... what the hell? freaky ability: he's a bassist-turned-guitarist....???? joash---- heartbeat of the band. Into weird music from the likes of The Vines, The Strokes , The Hives and The Verve (is a pattern forming?) Hope he improves, his drums will carry this band through weird timings like 11/8 and 7/4. Freaky ability: being joash... enough said. desmond---- comes from a dying race known as male pianists... he's into jazz AND bossa!!... can't believe what an endangered species he is... freaky ability: being able to stand all the shit we throw at each other... cool as a cuban cucumber marc---- voice of the band. Auditioned for s'pore idol, didn't qualify, probably for lack of showmanship, 'cause i really can't grasp what else they can penalise him for. I'd swear his life was written for a sentimental manga comedy to be based on it. Hope he'll write more songs, saves me the effort.. heh heh.Freaky ability: being able to talk tons'o'crap anywhere, anytime ian---- joel n i sometimes trade roles of lead n rhythm guitar. i got stuck being the leader of the band 'cause everyone else is too lazy. into rock, jazz, latin and j-pop (alright!! i admit it!! but only certain j-pop artists!). Currently holds the title of writing the most songs for AGBN. Freakly ability: still surviving in this band despite having no professional music training (joel swears my motivation is the money and the groupies... don't listen to him) yup... 5 people 1 passion, to make great music. here's to music! cheers all! *raises wine glass*
Friday, August 06, 2004
+ "Deep" Shit +
Quite a few people i know have taken the view that God is out to get them. If it ain't for doing some heinous crime in the past... then maybe for just for laughs. I don't think i'll ever be able to share such a view, considering the deep shit God has pulled me out off all these short years of mine. Couple'o'weeks back i was in real serious shit. I was guard commander, then an officer paid the camp a surprise visit in the dead of the night. What he saw would have made minister of defense get a severe heart attack. Sentries were sitting around, the building unlocked, my second in command was wearing a friggin t-shirt, and I was with him chatting on the phone... The officer threathened to charge me, in pretty colourful language i might add. The way i saw it, he was more than ready to saw my butt off and parade it in the town square for all to see. As guard commander i had to bear the responsiblity, i knew it too.. I was scared shitless, at the next cell group they asked "any prayer requests?" so i was like "yeah, i'm gonna get charged.." ....."Huh?!! Are you joking?".... "I wish i was.." Miracle of miracles, that was not to be... but the icing on the cake came today.... I received an award for "Best Soldier of the Quarter"!!!! better check the sky for flying pigs man... Needless to say I'm not taking chances to slack off next time... there might not be a next time... As Joash told me once, God loves us like children. You know how babies may get themselves in loads of shit... literally... they don't see the big picture, may even have fun playing in shit, but their parents still go "awww... got yourself covered in shit again... lets clean you up now..." ain't it the truth? As mere humans we can't see the bigger picture either, an we're too quick to ask God why he allowed us to get into deep shit. But God still loves us no matter what, more than any mortal parent can. He knows we are frail in body, mind and spirit. He'll clean up after us, i'll trust him to. cheers! *checks wine glass for any shit stains*
Thursday, August 05, 2004
+ but mommy wants us to SHARE +
This was the most hilarious thing i saw all day... kittens are just so damn cute... hahahahaha!! But seriously, i think music sharing actually benefits the whole frigging industry. "Yeah, this crock 'o' crap coming from a budding guitarist".... No seriously!! Music sharing will promote overall awareness of what the music scene truly has to offer... it squeezes those lameass artists who think they can get away with just having 1 hit on their cd and filling the other 14 or so tracks with monkey droppings. If they are good enough, we're still gonna buy their cds at the end of the day right? I mean who has the guts/stupidity to display a collection of burnt cds? ok... maybe a few diehard cheapos... In the end it all boils down to "is this guy/gal/band good worthy of my support out of my hard-earned money?" it demands higher standards... consumer is king. There is more than just the ear candy anyway... a cd collection is basically us, who we are, what we cherish, respect, emulate, immerse ourselves in. we dance to their beats, hum their bars, lose ourselves in their rhythm, cry with their lyrics. Surely your friendly neighbourhood musician deserves a little payout for giving our souls a temporary rapture? yeah.. they get ridiculously rich... but what's 20 bucks or so for the high and the memories man? ah... music sharing... the wake up call for aspiring artists... the music lover's nirvana cheers all! *flicks a coin into the "get a ian new cd fund" *
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
+ The Struggle Against Stupidity +
I feel it... it draws ever closer with each passing day... the end... the end of the war against stupidity... in layman terms, my ORD. Seriously, some people view our national duty as merely a physical tribulation, or at most a day to day body vs mind saga. I've been here long enough to safely say, as Kun Liang's personal mantra goes, " its All in the mind". What?! Stupidity exists within the ranks of the protectors of our holy ground?! Hell yeah... it'll eat you alive... from the very start, they hammer into you that unthinking obedience is to be admired. My friend had a nervous breakdown after 4 hours of trench digging. When we were ordered to fill up the trenches we laboured on the whole day, he finished within 10mins, then promptly snapped. After he was taken by the medics, Sgt. Bastard commented, "he's a good soldier, i like men like him". Note Sgt. Bastard was at one point in time an ordinary person like you and me. I should know, I saw him in an old JC year book, he looked like a geek. He merely succumbed to the "Army Mentality". Look for me personally for the juicer details. I'll try to dedicate at least 1 encounter with the "Army Mentality" a week, I'll call it the "Dumbass Army Stories Series", shouldn't be too difficult, i get weird brainless shit on almost a daily basis. cheers! *raises glass of SAF standard issue Tiger Beer, then waters the grass with it*
Sunday, August 01, 2004
+ Sand and Dust +
welcome... welcome... pull up any chair... well i finally have a blog to call my own... i'll start it off by explaining why i too have joined legions of bloggers around the world. i appear to have entered that stage in life where one questions what he's been doing with his life, and where he'll take it from here.. smells like a mid-life crisis.. but i'm only pushing 20...... weird. oh well... this documentary... or some might think peep show.. shall be the records of this focal point in my life... anyone is welcome to witness it and be duely entertained.. but that is merely a side effect. what matters to me is present.. i care not what the future brings, for only now i have bearings to control it. we are but sand and dust.. yet our actions matter so much.. thus i'll rely on the past to be one of many guides. watch out world... this pile of sand and dust is ready to take you on. cheers all! *raises wine glass* |
