Worship Songwriting with Bob Fitts - Day 1

It was the 1st day and my! I could feel the presence of the Holy Spirit, gentle as it may be.

I think this is my first time attending a songwriting class. Coincidentally, I met my guitar instructor from Believer Music there.

Today's session was more like "discovery" as we touched on 2 topics - 1) understanding the uniqueness of your gift, and 2) setting the stage to release your gift. It was interactive as we were asked to share and ask questions or give comments, even as Bob went through his points.
Before we began each session (in between breaks), we would have short worship sessions and they were really good times as we broke into new songs during the "free worship" portions. Unfortunately, I've forgotten the tunes to what I sang, but I did jot down the words. Must remember to record them tomorrow.

Anyway, today's session spoke to me and I was constantly reminded of the profoundness of simplicity. That has been my motto or how I describe myself (see my header above - complexity in simplicity, simplicity in complexity)! And also, a prophecy given to me many years ago during a church retreat came back to me. One of the prophecies released to me was a worship anointing, and it would be that 'in mine is a simplicity'. Gee...I forget these prophecies sometimes, but thank God I have reminders (and the transcript).

Tomorrow will be more of the "technical" part and will probably do some "practical", i.e. write songs on the spot. *stressed* but am looking forward to it. :)

Just a side note...Bob Fitts looks really young; he looks like in his late 30s or about 40, but he's already 55. Ok, that's beside the point. But I've always felt that those who follow God closely always seem to look younger. Even my senior pastor is like that (my friend thought he was in his 30s but he's already 58). Must be all the joy and hope that they have in Jesus.

You Can Win and Have Success

These 6 weeks are meant to be special, or rather, specially themed cellgroup sessions that are focus on overcoming life's difficulties when you have Jesus. It's our church's 40 Days of Faith movement (I happen to be the facilitator for the first few sessions). Generally, it's not just about asking your friends to share in the good news, but it's also a time for us Christians to renew our faith, and build our faith. After all, we're all humans and experience our ups and downs in various aspects of our life, and all need that boost once in a while. We can trust to be overcomers when we put our faith in God.

Well, this week's theme (3rd session) is "You Can Win and Have Success" and it basically targets our work life (or school if you're a student). But I'm sure it can apply to all areas. The 3 key points (or blessings we can experience) are that with God and faith in Jesus, there will be sufficiency, satisfaction and success in our workplace (and all areas of our lives).

I was just thinking, without a God-focused take on our work, we will lack 1 or the other. Personally, I feel it's like an equation. When there is sufficiency, there is satisfaction; with sufficiency (believing God will provide all our needs and make us fruitful), we are contented. Hence, we can be satisfied. And when these 2 add together, we are successful. All 3 'S's will only exist together when we let God lead us. And only with His provision, will we have success. For unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain (Psalm 127). So trust in the Lord in the ways He provides for our jobs. He always has plans, not to harm us but to prosper us (Jeremiah 29:11).

On a personal note, I thank God for His provision. I've shared this a couple of times, that my job/career is one of the biggest area where I've seen God's provision. It's amazing how He led me here, right now, and I'm glad I can continue to give thanks for that, even as He continue to pave the way for me, wherever it may lead. I'm assured of the sufficiency I get from Him, from the open doors to the sufficient resources, and also how He guides my way throughout, even when it baffles me initially.
And all things worked out well eventually, just like how I didn't get the transfer I applied for because it wasn't the right time (anyway, it didn't feel right at that time), and He has put me in another (totally new) area to further develop me in my work. And I'm learning a lot more about the Singapore music scene (well, the "older" generation in fact, like xinyao) as a result. Well, music is one of my passions after all.
And I'm glad I'm contented, and thus satisfied with His provision, whether it's my pay (I always can't remember how much I actually earn, exactly) or the work He's given me, and the favour shown me. So yah, I think I'm pretty successful in my workplace. Why worry so much? Of course, it doesn't mean we laze around, but we just do what He's planned for us. And doing so will reap a good reward.

I've been asked whether I will work as a librarian "forever". After all, I've been here for almost 6 years now (time flies!). Or what I would do if I stopped being one. Honestly, I've never really thought about it (ok, maybe a little bit...since people asked) and my answer would be, I really don't know. Since God led me here, my next stop will be where He wants me to go and when He wants me to go. Hopefully I'll be ready and willing then, so He doesn't need to be too hard on me.

Boeing Boeing

Caught this last week with my mum and we both enjoyed it.
It is a local adaptation of the French play and very local it was! (except for Adrian Pang's accent...and maybe Daniel York's)

It was hilarious and fast-moving, such that time flew by real fast. I was like, "it's the interval already"? I shan't go too much into the story, which was basically an architect's 3-timing relationship with 3 air stewardesses, which of course, couldn't be kept up for too long. I felt though, that the male lead seem more to be the character of Robert (Daniel York), who tries to "help" out with Bernard's (Adrian Pang) mess, and eventually gets engaged to one of the stewardesses.

My favourite stewardess would have to be Miss Cathay Pacific/Jelly (Wendy Kweh) who really gave one the Hong Kong impression especially with the Cantonese accent. And she's probably the most "woman" of the lot plus her strong character. Haha...the best part was when she remarks "qi sin", the Cantonese term for "crazy", after Robert finally manages to convince her not to enter the room where Junko (Emma Yong) was sleeping. I think Emma Yong is getting too typecast as the "sweet" thing though.

Another entertaining production by W!ld Rice.

Worship Songwriting Workshop with Bob Fitts

I'm taking 2 days off next Tue and Wed. For? A workshop on worship songwriting by none other than Bob Fitts. Am really looking forward to it.

Saw the many broadcasts about this workshop organised by CS Music. It took me a week or two to decide to sign up for it, but I was prompted that I should go in the end. And 1 of my resolutions for the year is to write more worship songs. Come to think of it, I've not written one for a long time...in fact, I've not written any songs this year at all!

I'm actually not so familiar with Bob Fitts' songs, but I've heard of him. (Or maybe I've heard them before but not know they're his?) I pray it will be a fulfilling session, not just to learn more about worship songwriting, but also taking time off to have a fruitful session seeking God with a purpose. A heart of worship.

PS: Pray that I can finish my work that's due on Monday...so coincidental, just the day before I'm taking the 2 days off. Though rushed, but I believe it's God paving the way, so that I won't be distracted by work.

Hazy scattered blur

Phew, coming into the 4th month of my new job scope, and I'm still quite blur. A lot of things seem to be "floating" around for me to do and understand, as I try to balance the various "jobs" I need to complete. So worried I'm not catching up fast enough and lag in delivering. Things are looking messy. It's really a whole new area for me and I really hope I perform well. I just realised too that my boss has yet to formally give me a "guided tour" of the department! So yah...I'm also physically "alien" to my department as I've yet to move to sit with the rest of the team.

Besides the new area, I still need to cover some of my old job scope plus clear some backlog from that past. Gee...and I don't seem to be managing it so well. Hope I can cope eventually.

张信哲《幸福觉哲》世界巡回演唱会 (Jeff Chang Happiness Choice World Tour)

 

阿哲 yeah!

刚从阿哲的演唱会回来，重温了许多金曲，也“发觉”了许多“新”歌。原来他一直都还在出唱片，只是我没去留意 (my last album was 《我好想》)。 听说他将在九月出新唱片。。。拭目以待！

演唱会was superb! 场地几乎满座。他还是有很多支持者的！

张信哲的歌声一点都没变，还是那么地清晰、那么令人陶醉。Pristine. You know he's got a good voice when what you hear is exactly what you would get from the CD...no special "engineering"; you know how some don't sound as well 'live'. 他根本没有走音到，而且声音一直保持 in control 的状态, with no signs of stress.
演唱会就像一个大型咔啦OK一样，大家都不由自主跟着他唱。更何况，他也把歌词放映在荧幕上叫我们一起唱。这个演唱会 has no frills， 真地只专注在他的歌中。Too bad, 没机会看他拉小提琴。

他开场的是“信仰”， 也陆续唱了大家熟悉的”难以抗拒你容颜” 、“宽容”、“爱不留”、“过火”、“不要对他说”、“太想爱你”、“别怕我伤心”、“我是真的爱你”、“且行且珍惜”, etc. 较新的有“逃生”、“肩膀”，etc. 落幕曲 was “爱如潮水”。

我想，我需要去搜寻他2001年以后的CD。

《雨季》 December Rains

"有些雨下过了，就过了；
有些雨永远不会过去。。。"

Caught the long-awaited 《雨季》 December Rains last night. I think I was feeling rather 感性 / 情绪化 yesterday, hence I cried quite a bit, although the story was a pretty conventional love story of misunderstanding and regret, and well, the plot was a bit "flat" as some would call it. I think I was moved mainly because the songs (lyrics) were so well written and Kit Chan's singing. True to the poetic style of 梁文福, the lyrics of the songs were so powerful; he expresses so much in just those few lines. 在那一段段的一字一句中，溢出了重重的遗憾、爱意、悲哀。 I also discovered a few familiar songs were from this musical. However, most of the songs are pretty old school lah...well, the setting is so.

The story goes like this...

Act I is set during the time of the bus riots and 丽卿 (Li Qing), the heroine, with the help of good friend 明理 (Ming Li) who is their "postman", starts a relationship with the student council leader 英雄 (Ying Xiong), which faces her parents' opposition. Ming Li is actually in love with Li Qing, but he suffers in silence for her happiness. Ying Xiong decides to go to China to 建国...it's during those times where the 华校生are still looking to China as homeland, mainly because Singapore was still under colonial rule. They decide to "elope" to China but Li Qing is locked up by her parents. She asks Ming Li to pass a letter to Ying Xiong to persuade him to stay. On reaching the ship dock, Ming Li quarrels with Ying Xiong when Ying Xiong says he cannot stay but will wait for Li Qing in China. In his fit of anger over Ying Xiong's 辜负towards Li Qing, he doesn't pass him the letter, which incidentally reveals that Li Qing is pregnant (Ming Li opens the letter). But it is too late as the ship has left the dock and Ming Li is regretful and doesn't know how to tell Li Qing.

Then to Act II many years later. Li Qing has lived a successful but unhappy life as she thinks Ying Xiong left even though he read the letter. She has brought up her daughter as a single parent. Ming Li has helped take care of Li Qing and her daughter, 梦雨 (Meng Yu), never marrying. Meng Yu falls for a guy from China, 阳光 (Yang Guang)， who incidentally is the godson of Ying Xiong (who has also stayed single), who arrives in Singapore to meet the parents of his godson's girlfriend. A confrontation occurs and finally all is revealed when Ming Li suffers a heart attack and finally tries to reconcile the couple before he dies. 终于，他们都 “走出那年的雨季”。

My most memorable quote would be “不了解的爱不是爱，是害”. and of course the lyrics of the songs.
Favourite songs? “只要你相信”，“我该怎么做”and of course the theme song “请你告诉他”。

The musical would have turned out better if there were better singers in the cast. Aside from Kit Chan, the delivery of the songs were a bit below par. It was especially obvious the moment Kit Chan sang her first song (she only started singing in the 2nd scene). 真是天壤之别。 Her powerful, melodious and versatile voice was perfect. She had to play a young girl (20s) and an older one (40s?) and she adjusted her voice accordingly, sounding more matured for the older role. I still believe she is the best Singapore singer in the past 2 decades despite the uprising of other pop stars from our island. As for the male leads, Jeffrey Low (of 《李大傻》) didn't really have such good a control of his voice when singing, but his acting was good, And George Chan (of 《天冷就回来》) sang a bit better, but I still think he can't sing so well.

Also, there were some actors whom I noticed who usually performed more in English theatre, and it was obvious when they spoke or sang (didn't really fit in, especially for this setting). You realise it's really difficult to be good in both English and Mandarin theatre.

I can't help but think of 《雪·狼·湖》, partly because Kit Chan was in it (and 歌神 Jacky Cheung)。Think 《雪·狼·湖》 was one of the better Chinese (actually I watched the Cantonese one) musicals I've seen, not that I've watched many.

Short + Sweet 2010 (Finals)

It was a tough choice tonight running through the top 10 plays again (2 for the 1st time). However, strangely, I didn't feel so "stressed" or critical today, as i went without the mindset of doing evaluation...just sat back to enjoy the show, despite having a mild flu (maybe that contributed too).

I'll just go through the plays once again (in their stage sequence). Won't repeat my comments from before, but just some impressions tonight. Just a quick note, judges picked 2 best plays from each programme plus the top 2 most popular plays.

1) All the Answers
This was one of the better plays from Programme 1, but I think this time, it played out a bit better.

2) The Benefit of Friends
I still don't know how this got in...it wasn't very strong and rather mundane, but garnered 1 of the most votes. Well, maybe it's really "the benefit of friends"?

3) Bringer of Light
This came out stronger (better) than before and I think it was partly because they changed the actor for the chef. It has potential, even to make into a full-length play (or musical). I just realised that this is the only play that is like just a scene, as compared to the others where the story starts and ends in that 10 minutes. This could be the reason why there's something slightly missing.

4) My Name is Art
I think the Theatre Studio worked better for this play. As I commented to my friend before the show, the viewing perspective could be more suitable here than at The Hall due to the context (art piece at a museum). It was still funny and the audience loved it, although I felt the ending remark by the "touring art piece" was anti-climatic.

5) The Kill
The venue was a little detrimental to this, even though it still packed its punch. I guess the wide space didn't give it that sense of "tension" and audience had to imagine a smaller area to experience the "fear" of the "victim" when cornered. Not that I felt "frightened" coz it was a comedy. I think the raised stage also played a part. It's still an excellent play with a good twist. 1 of my gauges of a good play is that there's not much you can add (or minus) to make it any better, and this was one of those.

6) Good Girls
This was the 1st time I'm watching this and I agree with my friend...this was a tad raunchy. But it was funny. It was initially set in a nunnery but was considered too controversial, so it was changed to a school (prefects). This caused some references to be lost (if those parts were in the original script), e.g. the part when 1 confesses having "relations" with 35 men before meeting God. It could be my misconception (must be the "nuns" thing), but there was a moment I thought "Sound of Music" was referred to.

7) The History of St Paul
I must be a bit slow but I finally realised the significance of the setting at the Church of St Paul in New York, near Ground Zero. It ties with the notion of leaving a legacy behind, finding and serving a purpose. I like the warmth of this play and there seems to be a touch of "down-to-earth"ness to it.

8) Joy of Solitude
Still its artsy feel. The way to interpret this play, I think, is to not think so much about it (despite its abstractness) but just to take it as it is, the cyclical intent of the writer.

9) Short+Salty 2010
My friend's play, which he said he was surprised it was one of the most popular plays in the remaining top 32. My friend commented that it didn't garner as much audience response as before, which I perceive to be its close reference to the workings of the competition itself. It's as he calls it "intellectual humour", where it's a level deeper, rather than slapstick, in-your-face kind. It's likely the previous audience at The Arts House were more attuned to playwriting. But anyway, I think laughter in the Theatre is not so reverberating as in The Hall, since it's at least 3 times larger and the soundproofing is better. The main grouse I had was that the music didn't fit/build the mood, especially the opening. It should have started lighter.

10) Lifetime 
This was quite interesting and unexpected, especially after reading the synopsis (skewed opinion?). You wouldn't have thought to depict marriage/relationships this way. I wonder though if this being my first time I'm watching it made a difference in my opinion of it. On the other hand, I think the delivery is very important for this play, which fortunately, the 2 actors were great. Actually, I felt that it had a much deeper meaning (which was obvious in the synopsis) despite the comical display. Do we rush through life in its routines and forget to get to know the other half?

~~~~~~
My friend asked me which I would pick as the best play if I were the judge. As it is, it is difficult to decide as it is very subjective, depending on the mood and focus of the audience, especially without a known criteria. It's like why the Oscars and Emmy's have such a variety of awards.
Best script? Well, I can't read the scripts here which could have been much condensed by the time it hit the stage, so can't judge by that.
Best comedy? I think I'll vote for "The Kill" although "My Name is Art" was pretty funny too. I really loved the knife and tomatoes.
Best twist? "The Kill" too.
Best concept? Lifetime.
etc.

I know, I haven't given an answer, but really difficult...maybe "Lifetime"?

What to write?

My friend's recent success in playwriting (plus all the watching) has stirred in me my interest to write again. Not that I wrote anything much previously, except maybe poetry and some brief storylines.

But what to write? A murder mystery? A horror flick? It's tough coming up with a good story to 1) keep audience in suspense, and 2) have a good twist. I realise I have abstract ideas that kind of find it hard to become a full story. And I'm quite bad at "conversations". After all, plays are about dialogues. *sigh* Well, that's for plays.

Musicals? Maybe I should go back to some of those storylines that I came up with before (and lying cold) and try to work something out from there?

Alive Gallery

Saw this advertisement on TV and was very tempted especially since there's Van Gogh's "Cafe Terrace at Night". Find out more here. But it's at Downtown East though. Anyone interested?