Moment Musicaux :: June :: 2007

Moment Musicaux

June 29, 2007

Live wire.

"Live Earth is a 24-hour, 7-continent concert series taking place on 7/7/07 that will bring together more than 100 music artists and 2 billion people to trigger a global movement to solve the climate crisis. Live Earth will reach this worldwide audience through an unprecedented global media architecture covering all media platforms - TV, radio, Internet and wireless channels.

Live Earth marks the beginning of a multi-year campaign led by the Alliance for Climate Protection, The Climate Group and other international organizations to drive individuals, corporations and governments to take action to solve global warming. Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore is the Chair of the Alliance and Partner of Live Earth." […]

Well, here’s a simple point to ponder:
Just how much electricity and fuel will they (read: concerts, television audiences etc.) be consuming for the event itself?

Talk about saving the earth.

June 27, 2007

Since I was 6.

June 25, 2007

Off-Beat@Home Club

Interestingly, I only knew that Home Club did a write up of my band on their website to publicise the gig after the gig. Here’s how it goes:

"You and Whose Army

With influences such as Radiohead, The Mars Volta, Mew, Kings of Convenience, Bloc Party, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Hiromi, John Butler Trio, We Are Scientists and Muse these guys take on a both powerful and laid back introspective approach to their brand of indie rock.

Unique in their own right for a Singaporean band they convey both a sense of urgency and edge that is unparalleled. With lead guitars and vocals that pierce against a backdrop of poppy snares a raw rhythm riffs they provide a untainted canvas of sound.

Mysterious and simply put they state, "we are nice people." See them rock on HOME this Friday."

Heh. We were always stuck when it comes to writing a ‘band bio’. Even I, the ‘writer’, couldn’t bring myself to say anything self-proclamatory and thick-skinned about ourselves. So I thought I’d simply put the essence of all 4 of us — that we are nice people. Hey it’s true. Nice, but not overtly nice.

Anyway.

It’s interesting (and much more refreshing) to see what others think of our music. So that’s what it is.

On the gig – it went well I guess. I didn’t feel as psyched as I was about Bar None, but people who had been to both (thanks so much for coming down!) said that we sounded better in this gig. Good enough for me… Save the drum throne that kept sinking (hints of my growing weight, I suspect) which meant that my rimshot was more prone to becoming, well, rim knocks.

No gig lined up for the months to come. Time for me to (try to) improve myself and work on new originals before we go out again!

June 24, 2007

Glue-ing 1.

Filed under: Happenings, Pictures, Church

June 21, 2007

Off-Beat!

Filed under: Happenings, Music

June 20, 2007

Fire Rainbow.

Better known as a circumhorizontal arc, this fire rainbow hung over northern Idaho on June 3. As a closet lover of all things colourful (read: rainbow spectrum kind), I silently praised God and marvelled at its splendour for quite a while.

Amazing. And amazingly rare, too. Here’s an excerpt:

"The sight occurs only when the sun is very high in the sky (more than 58° above the horizon). What’s more, the hexagonal ice crystals that make up cirrus clouds must be shaped like thick plates with their faces parallel to the ground." […]

June 18, 2007

Backadeck!

Church camp made me miss being work-less and school-less all over again. But it was a good spiritiual refreshment; it’s been too long since I properly sat down quietly and managed to reflect effectively. I’ll put up the pictures later.

This year’s church camp saw more new faces than old, which was still great since it encourages all of us to interact with those we have never did. The camp theme: Glue-ing in Fellowship. The speaker, Rev. Timothy See, brought us back to the heart of what a ‘church’ is. In a nutshell, a ‘church’ is a body of people, each given gifts in different areas, a la body parts. So in order for the whole body to work together, it has to be in agreement and know each other well. Which leads to the main reason for fellowship. And in order for the church to work outwards (i.e. Evangelism), the church must first let Him work in them.

This camp was mostly run by the Youth Fellowship, and I as music coach was in-charge of the worship segments. There was a bit of a scare in the first worship segment, but the PA problem was soon solved before the next. The rest of the worships went well, albeit the fact that we had no personal monitors after those technical issues. Kudos to the Logistics team (led by Rose for her first time) for doing a good job in making sure things ran smoothly. :)

The games were fun — too vigorous for many of the adults — but they were already very easy by the YF standards! Well even if they were ’xiong’, the adults were very fun, spontaneous and competitive in their own right. Most of us agreed that being competitive (in games) is the Glory culture, from young to old ones alike.

My group was Ang Ku Kuey (we were named after popular local fare), a vocal group that had really deep discussion topics, ranging from pre-destination to talents and spiritual gifts. I gained a lot of insights from the adults, and it was especially heartwarming when they shared about their struggles, even if only briefly. Even the baby of the group, 13-year-old Marcus, was being his articulate self. I hardly see anyone at his age this willing to pray out loud, clearly and with hints of wisdom. (:

And yet again, the burden of learning to love those who are hard to love always nagged at me. The number of cases around me requiring such attention have been on the rise. I know how it feels like to be treated differently, and God probably had His reasons for letting me experience it some months ago. And my tongue, my tongue. It’s a weakness I have to really watch.

The ‘highlight’ of the fun I had (apart from Wii-ing) had to be the buggy I rented with Aaron! We went crazy — I was warned not to be reckless by countless number of people — and even erm, off-roads. Heh. Hey I wasn’t that bad (or reckless) a driver. 

Thank God that the weather was great. I was so glad to be able to soak up the sun and play my heart out once more. So yes. Pictures up when I get sufficient ones! Praise God again for a great church camp! :)

June 12, 2007

Phewter.

After the furore, thank God I’m off.

Don’t think I handled the matter very well within myself though.

Do I really have to learn to always mask the way I feel? So fake. I can’t stand it. Maybe I am a social retard in my own right.

Please pray for a smooth church camp. :) Tanjong Puteri Resort, here I come!

June 9, 2007

Dieeee.

Filed under: @Work, Randomlies
(That’s a mini-tee shirt and Ricola-turned-coaster that I made. My colleague-who-was-on-holiday’s toy (what’s it called?) was ‘killed’ by the pirate whose eyes you can only see. I gave it a tombstone and some california-maki-esque flowers. Nic, I’m placing you under a gag order not to divulge my doings!)

June 7, 2007

Re.

Filed under: Uncategorized, Thoughts

Every time I look back on how things have unfolded in my life, I thank God for a life so blessed. Blessed, that I’ve a personal relationship with the Sovereign Lord. Blessed, that I know the meaning of salvation. Blessed, that I’m surrounded with great friends and family. Blessed, that I’ve Adam. Blessed, with talents that I can use to serve Him. Blessed, that He has everything under His control, and He makes all things (it wasn’t specified good or bad) work for the good of those who love Him.

An ex-Sunday School teacher once wrote to me in a card, "Can one grow up too quickly?". Well, yes. Not that I’m like, totally, like, mature – but circumstance does make it possible. My family probably isn’t anywhere the near finest, financially. But God has kept us for the many years since dad got retrenched from his managerial post. Of course, I’ve ever wished that I were money-rich and affluent, so that I can do the many things that I want to. Yet this inability pushed me to realign my youth’s perspective of my ‘needs’ and ‘wants’, and their actual, respective definitions. To sort out my priorities in life; the management of my being and surroundings. All these have greatly contributed to the pragmatic mould of my character. My dreams still exist, but dreams are, well, dreams. I take the bigger picture.

Because at the end of the day, all that I am is nothing. What I represent, as a child of God, is everything.

June 4, 2007

What is wrong?

Forward…

Anyone up for the Singapore Arts Festival?

Do check out Forward Moves.

"In the second series of Forward Moves, three Singapore choreographers make their Festival debut working with dance critic Tang Fu Kuen as their dramaturg."

(And so is a drummer close to my heart. Yeah, yeah. I had a motive, so there. :P )

Featuring: Morpheus by Daniel K, Biggerbettersuperfaster by Jo-anne Lee, X-Ray by Ricky Sim.

Date: 6 & 7 June 2007
Venue: Esplanade Theatre Studio
Price: $35 (Student, NSF, Senior citizen discounts available)
Duration: 105mins with intermission

So.. Support local arts, not just music! :)

June 1, 2007

Thicker skin.

Filed under: Thoughts, Randomlies

Many people probably think that I behave, or regard myself a know-it-all. But any sane person would know that there’s no such person who’s truly a know-it-all — euphemisms aside — apart from God (if you believe in one). I know that full well. Sometimes I do like to contend my stand, but when I’m proven wrong, I’ll stand corrected. Because I’m very aware that I’m NOT omniscient. There’re so many things that I do not know and have yet to find out. So do go ahead and correct me (constructively AND rightly so) instead of snickering behind. I will well remind myself to be humble when I’m being taught.

Because there’s no end to learning.