Monday, April 30, 2007.11:57 PM
Princess Tutu
A great and funny anime! I initially avoided this anime cos of its title...You should watch it if you're a serious anime addict, like ballet, like ballet music, like cute and funny characters -Ahiru! (in jap = duck); Neko-sensei their ballet coach (in jap neko=cat) - or simply, like a good story. Unfortunately the worst thing this anime has going for it is it's title: Princess Tutu. With a name like this it is quite unfortunate that many older especially male audiences will not watch it. The truth is that this series combines good animation with an interesting storyline, together with an outstanding sound track. This puts it a far cry above the common mediocre anime series that I have seen. One thing is that this story is based on a tragic heroine and I don't know if the series will end happily or tragically. Still this series is a relatively unknown underdog that should be on the watch list of any serious anime fan. For the full review, go to http://www.anime-source.com/banzai/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=802
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Thoughts...
I spend time doing useless things, rotting away and thinking alot about almost anything.
Especially about what I had done to get the silent treatment.
One should right the wrong - that's what I think and will try to do.
It's probably the lack of understanding, extra something, or what...I don't know.
Hopefully things aren't as bad as I'd imagined them to be.
Hopefully, things will be back to normal soon.
I am not the ungrateful sort. If I appear to be, I am probably unable to express that gratitude outwardly...
Everyone has lessons to be learnt, don't they?
You are a dear and helpful friend. I'll always keep that in mind.
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Thursday, April 26, 2007.1:12 AM
Why I haven't been updating...
SO...
Am finally done with my exams. A large burden off my load...
Gotta be back to practicing my bassoon very soon :p
What else was I up to during the past week and a half? Mugging, mugging, MUGGING, mugging and mapling... (playing maple story)...!!! LOL. Mapling is only to take my mind off the books temporarily otherwise I'll be bored to tears lah...
Holidays now. So what?
Try to hunt for a job.
Hmm...minus off 2 weeks in june which I already have employment...so which company wants to take me in?? I can do photocopying, faxing, emailing, filing, data entry, teaching music, scolding kids, play gig, selling bassoon reeds......Make coffee and tea also can. Heh.
Enough crap.
Wish me luck!
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Wednesday, April 18, 2007.12:47 AM
Fazil Say - Paganini Variations
His own composition on the variations of the Paganini theme. Nice.
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John Cage's 4' 33''
!!!!!!
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Saturday, April 14, 2007.2:19 AM
Think of 20 things you dislike...
- Bananas
- Cockroaches, beetles, long & many-legged living things
- Brinjals
- Oily food
- Illegible handwritten music scores
- Spoilt brats
- Blasting trumpets/trombones
- Self-important people
- Taking me for a ride
- Selfishness
- Double-standards
- Petty minds
- Not settling disagreements
- Bias
- Strongly opinionated people
- Disrespectful/Rude people
- Ignoring me for unknown/unjustified reasons
- Being wronged
- Lack of empathy
- Egoists
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PLAY! A Video Game Symphony
PLAY! A Video Game SymphonySingapore Festival Orchestra
conducted by Arnie Roth(USA/Singapore)
"PLAY! The symphonic extravaganza featuring award-winning music from popular blockbuster video games comes to Asia for the first time after its sell-out success in US and Europe. Thrilling video game music written for a full orchestra, choir and pipe organ will be accompanied by outstanding game images played on large screens above the Orchestra. The music from titles such as Final Fantasy, World of Warcraft, The Elder Scrolls, Sonic The Hedgehog and Super Mario Bros by well-known video game composers including Nobuo Uematsu, Yuzo Koshiro, Jason Hayes and a special performance by famous composer Takenobu Mitsuyoshi will leave you asking for more. Grammy award-winning Arnie Roth, the Music Director of PLAY! conducts the Orchestra in this heart-thumping treat for all music and cyber-game lovers. This performance specially inaugurates the Singapore Festival Orchestra comprising the best of Singapore’s professional musicians prepared by its Music Director Chan Tze Law. Joining the Orchestra in delivering an unforgettable punch is the award-winning Vocal Consort prepared by chorus master Nelson Kwei."
*image and text taken from Singapore Arts Festival website.
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Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Orchestra Concert on 7th April at Esplanade Concert Hall featuring Qin Li-Wei
Tchaikovsky's Rococo Variations was quite well done considering the accidents that always occurred in rehearsals. Qin Li-Wei's musical sensitivity and ensemble playing skills leaves me speechless at times. Prokofiev's R & J...rather disappointing. However, I think encores should never be performed if they're not rehearsed properly. If you want to do it, then please, have the decency to practice/rehearse it until it won't embarass everyone on stage. The experience was utterly painful. I have never heard a more BRUTAL and VULGAR Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance. Ok...maybe some were just too passionate in their playing that they started blasting their way through even though it wasn't their graduation concert. You can do that next time if we ever have fireworks in the concert hall ok? Then no one can hear those insensitive playing. But I think that's not going to happen for many years until someone invents concert-hall size fireworks that won't actually burn down your concert hall. So till then, please show some musical sensitivity when you're playing on concert stage at least...
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Thursday, April 12, 2007.4:57 PM
Super Mario Bassoon quartet
The 2nd bassoonist who also does the beatboxing in this video is SO FUNNY. Somehow he reminds me of Melvin Leong. :D Way to go, Oberlin bassoon quartet!!!
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Bassoon Quintet Rehearse in Xi´an-china
Stephen Weidauer, Liu Chang, Zhang Jin Min, Zhou Wenbo, Shi Li at the Puechner exhibition 2006!
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The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen)
East Berlin, November 1984. Party-loyalist Captain Gerd Wiesler hopes to boost his career when given the job of collecting evidence against the playwright Georg Dreyman and his girlfriend, the celebrated theater actress Christa-Maria Sieland. This operation 'Lazlo' was initiated not because the Socialist Govt suspects him of anti-Govt sentiments, but that the Party secretary was attracted to the actress Christa-Maria and wants to get rid of Dreyman. What the captain Wiesler didn't anticipate was that he'd change once he was submerged in the world of the target. The immersion in the lives of others--in love, literature, free thinking and speech--makes Wiesler acutely aware of the meagerness of his own existence. He started covering up for Dreyman and the appearance of the "Spiegel" article about the suicides occuring in the East Germany sparked a whole series of interrogations that led to the death of Christa-Maria and demotion of Captain Wiesler. Eventually, when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, the Secret police files were opened and Dreyman found out who helped him get rid of the typewriter that he used for the "Spiegel" article. He wrote a book "Sonaten von dem Guten Menschen" (Sonata for a Good Man) and when Wiesler (while distributing leaflets from building to building) came across that book in the Karl Marx Buchhandlung, behind the title page wrote "dedicated to HGW XX/7". HGW is the initials of Wiesler.
Such a bittersweet ending.
In fact, the actor who was cast as Captain Wiesler had first-hand experience of surveillance by the Stasi. His wife was the secret informant(which she denies).
In one of the scenes when Wiesler and his boss Grubitz were at the canteen, Wiesler insisted on sitting at the tables for the lowly staff. And one of the lowly staff started talking about a joke on Honecker, one of the leaders of the Socialist Party.
The joke went something like this...
In the morning, Honecker says to the Sun: Good Morning, Sun.
The Sun replied: Good Morning Erich.
In the afternoon, Honecker says to the Sun: Good Afternoon, Sun.
The Sun replied: Good Afternoon, Erich.
In the evening, Honecker says to the Sun: Good Evening, Sun.
The Sun did not reply.
Honecker repeated: Good Evening, Sun.
The Sun finally replied: I'm in the West, you idiot!
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Wednesday, April 11, 2007.12:51 AM
Grading at YeaST
GQ made countless mistakes like missing notes, wrong notes, not playing in tempo, not together with the piano etc. It was all over the place. A terribly disappointing performance. Instead, the panel decided to give him a high grade (A or A+). Because he's the 3rd prize winner in the Fox Bassoon Competition? Yes, he has a sweet sound. That's all I can say about his performance that day. So someone who didn't even participate in competitions and didn't take music as their major study since young doesn't deserve an A? Ceteris paribus (namely beauty of tone), I think credit should be given to someone who despite that kind of background, manages to pull off a more decent performance instead of one who's a prize winner and yet doesn't put up a performance of winning standards. He who's the prize winner should be penalised even more for those kind of mistakes. Papers aren't going to prove to people how good he is. So why the bias? To save your own faces? Is that it?
Go chew on it.
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About me!
Try it yourself! :)
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Sunday, April 8, 2007.11:06 PM
Tang Quartet's short demonstration of Ali-Sade's piece during History of Chamber music class.
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Got into cycling accidents while learning to cycle... (cycling is so fun! actually everything new is...)
Sprained my left foot and grazed my legs...
Missed orchestra rehearsal yesterday morning at Esplanade to see a doctor...
Only realised I forgot to bring my concert shoes when I reached the dressing room...
Made reeds until 6am in the morning just to get some reeds out for my students...
Massive headache today...
Younger sis yelled at me just to get me to wash her stupid cardigan cos she HAD TO wear that particular cardigan to office the next day. And I simply refuse to be ordered around. So she continued yelling. (why am I saying such embarrassing stuff...)
These are the trivial things...
BUT
Wish life could be a little easier sometimes.
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