My birthday

Have not been blogging lately...coz I've been hooked on Facebook! Yikes! Ok, also because my Flickr was not working well at home & needed to find out about making collages as I wanted to have some photos on this post.

Finally got round to uploading the photos from my birthday celebrations. My presents received.

Hmm...seem to have a purple theme to it. There's the musical doll, something to pamper me and my forensics book (biography/cases).

Of course, what's celebration without food & entertainment! Well, what you see here are from Fish & Co. (Glass House) and Sanobar (One Fullerton).

Breaking Out - Year of Exploration

This year seems to be for me a year of exploration; a breaking out of conventions; a year of "adventure" and pursuance of my passion for the arts.

I've been rather proactive and "daring" this year. 1 obvious exploration was my try-out with the art installation design project. I have never expected myself to do any design or visual art stuff as I can hardly draw. But this being a platform for amateurs, I actually dared to sign up for it. And I won! Well, probably because it's more craft than drawing. That probably boosted my confidence a little. I realised that once I have a concept or inspiration, I am of a 1-track mind.

Then there's my resolve to look into new genres of sound & music and I found electronica/indie. Well, there are various types but it's interesting to explore new ways to make sound & music. I decided not to attend any SSO concerts or classical concerts and to make attempts to go for performances that I have never tried before. Well, there was Electrolab and these few days' Hadaka. Think if I were still in the previous conventional mindset, I wouldn't have gone. Maybe the old ways were getting "boring" or restrictive for me...maybe this year I wanted more activity & dynamism; new things...wanted to feel alive. Maybe because of certain influences.

I've also been seriously looking into photography. Guess it's really because I now have a digital camera which allows me to freely take photos without wasting film and & I can try out the features of the camera. And there's Flickr. Haha...maybe a bit thick-skinned, but some photos I took before looked great to me.

Hmm...think I'm looking at more meaningful doodling, i.e. something that looks like some form. Haha...well, just doodling. Abstract art maybe? Also, I'm trying to integrate into the arts community...maybe join some arts circle or social group. Found 1 though, see how'll it turn out.

Besides artsy stuff, guess doing fencing is a new thing too. I'm not the sporty kind (a bit lazy lah) so yah, at least I"m doing some form of sport.

I've been wondering, as consideration for my career path, have been thinking of specialising in the arts field. As I thought further, I felt that actually I'm more interested in become an 'artist' than an arts librarian. But if I ever get to specialise, probably it'll help me know more about the arts scene in Singapore.

Hadaka: K series - Day 3

Day 3 - compared with the past 2 days, tonight's performance was a milder-toned session.
In a way, it sounded to me like ripples & waves (the flow of it), like the sea...maybe it's because of the recent tremors, but somehow, the peak of the sounds made me think of tsunamis/tidal waves while in between it was the quiet nature of the sea. Some parts also sounded to me to be darkness personified.

So what has come out of this 3-day experience? Well, all 3 days were so different in the way the sounds were played and personally, I think I liked yesterday's performance best.
Let me attempt to link the 3 days for me: the 1st day was like "chaos", while yesterday's was more interplay and something like exploration of new life? Tonight's was more like a rounding up of life's ups & downs and maturity. Probably have more thoughts with more reflection. Hmm...well, I guess it was a whole new experience...One must try new things.

Hadaka: K series - Day 2

Today's performance was quite different from yesterday's. I'll just give my own impression of it. Others might have differing views about it. The performance had 3 parts.

Part 1
You hear a myriad of sounds where I recognised some to be mundane/everyday sounds we hear like water running. Anyway, 5 artists for this part. Also, amidst these, I felt some suspense or maybe some sense of possible culmination at some point, but not in a strong way. In a way, I could close my eyes & "feel" the sounds.
I realised that this sound art thing is really about how one interprets or feels the sound. Maybe there's no explanation, just blending and improvising as it's not really a definite form at that point of time; like how it's written in the programme, "uncurated". Hmm...maybe I'm getting it?

Part 2
In part 2, a different set of 4 artists took the stage in a rather different aspect. Each produced 4 distinct sounds - one "sang" some ghostly murmurs...not really chanting, but it gave you that Asian traditional feel. Then, another artist (Chee Wai) used the crisp, clear sound of the piano, which gave you a western, classical perspective. Then we have Atsuhiro with his optron which gave "electric" sounds. One other produced sounds that were sort of pan-background (some parts involved the static sound), but seemed like a buffer among the rest...I don't know how to describe the effect it gave in relation to the other 3 sounds.

Part 3
Finally, in part 3, all came together, i.e. part 1 & 2 combined, which is the culmination of all the sounds.

It's really interesting how they coordinated the timing to be exactly 1 hour for both nights. Tomorrow's the last night. See how it goes.

Hadaka: K series - Day 1

I bought a 3-day pass to experience this sonic art programme held at Esplanade. It features up to 9 Asian sound artists exploring and collaborating in an interlayed experimential production of sounds.
Well, I took an interest partly because 1 of my acquaintances, George Chua, was performing and I thought, why not hear out what his being a sound artist is like. Another reason was this year, I'm exploring new sounds and genres of music...although I don't really consider this music, rather a sonic form of expression.

So, what's my impression of Day 1? Hmm...I admit I'm really new to this and honestly, I'm quite clueless as to what to make of tonight's session. But I'm curious. It's really my 1st exposure to such a performance of sound mixing involving so many artists (9 tonight) and each having their own performing methods and styles. Wonder if anyone can do some explanation about this kind of performance to me?

1 thing that really made me wonder was how the light-sound display came into play in the whole picture. Maybe there were too many different sounds so I couldn't really make out how/when it came in. Let me try to describe the light-sound display by 1 of the artists. He's Atsuhiro Ito who uses fluorescent lighting in the creation of an original musical device called the optron. How it plays? You've got to watch him use it to understand fully...he uses a fluorescent light tube hooked up to some sound board and he uses some foot pedals too. He uses his hands to control the lighting and movement of the tube to produce sound and flashes of light. Hard to describe & I really don't know how it works, but then you can see the partial light-ups, which reminds me of a science demo during a visit in my school days where the instructor showed how one could control the lighting up of a flourescent tube even just part of the tube (something to do with ions?), even when it's not connected to electricity.

The sounds altogether were really loud (ear plugs were provided just in case). I tried to close my eyes to get a more focused sound reception, but it was simply too intense when all 9 artists were working it at the same time. It was a whole hour of this display.

I realised too that I'm so familiar with picking out sounds (of instruments) in a classical setting that I'm not used to trying to pick out sounds like 'who's playing now' in tonight's performance.

Well, let's see what tomorrow holds.

Fauxliage

Was browsing emusic.com recently and discovered this.

"Fauxliage is the first full length collaboration between former Sixpence None the Richer singer, Leigh Nash, and Bill Leeb and Rhys Fulber of Canadian ambient pop outfit Delerium."

I kind of like the electronic ambient music, rhythm and the voice.

Check out their myspace spot.

Changi Chapel & Museum

I took half-day today to have some solitude/personal sabbath time, to get away from the distractions of work. What's more quiet than being at the museum? My visit - Changi Museum. Unfortunately, this is a relocated site, not the original chapel & museum due to the expansion of Changi Prison (Complex). Regretted that I procrastinated so long before visiting it. Well, better than nothing.

Admission is free, but you had to pay $8 (adult) for the audio guide. I couldn't take photos inside the museum but I did, however get to photograph the re-created chapel. I didn't realise that the original was actually an outdoor chapel until I did some pre-tour research. Anyway, here are some shots.

The museum was a simple set-up in a U-shape.

I really didn't expect myself to spend the whole afternoon there. But it was an enriching experience. I know I couldn't feel exactly how people felt in those times (World War II) as I did not go through it but walking through made me feel for the people during those times, and I couldn't help but tear. I think we all know how horrible those times were, so I shan't elaborate more.

Well, Changi Prison, being where the POWs were interned, would of course be the museum's focus. At the museum, besides the torture, defeat and hard times, one could also see how something can be created out of "nothing". It was really an eye-opener when I saw how the POWs created works of art and creativity. How resourceful and innovative they were in improvising whatever was available around them, creating products out of scrap and whatever they could lay hands on, like brushes, beautifully handcrafted pocket knives, metal cases with etchings (like jewel boxes), musical instruments and even prosthetics! The things didn't look like they were made from scrap at all and were very well-made. They also found their own remedies for deficiencies and diseases, e.g. lalang juice. They also had ingenious hiding places for radio receivers, e.g. in a broom (inside the bristles), in matchboxes, shoe soles and even antennas woven into mosquito nets. Of course, there are the famous murals by Stanley Warren and also various art pieces.

Another touching point would be how the locals displayed courage and their kindness. They helped the POWs a lot by smuggling supplies to them, or even stationing themselves where the POWs would pass by on their way to their labour field, and offer food & drinks even though the Japs would slap them when they did so. They were really risking their lives and giving up their own supplies. 1 POW said that he felt humbled and ashamed that previously, the British had not treated the locals so well, like they were slaves, but the locals still helped them.

Though small, the museum holds some strong information and connection to our past. I hope our younger generation would not forget our past. Right now, there seems to be a sense that the younger generation do not really value the past/heritage or important morals & values of being a person. Societal influences? TV? (Lack of) discipline?

Verbally Unsavvy

I think I'm really quite bad at expressing myself verbally, or would I say "slow"? This is especially so when I receive compliments or even when people say "thank you" to me. Somehow I always seem to get caught off-guard and get tongue-tied. Hmm...maybe I tend to think too much? Then after that, I would regret and think of what I should have said, which would of course be too late.

So friends, please do not be offended if somehow I don't respond well. I'm not being "dao" or rude, I'm just a bit slow/unsavvy at expressing myself verbally.

Jigsaw Puzzle Challenge

Yesterday, a couple of friends and I took part in a jigsaw puzzle challenge organised my my organisation. The idea was to finish as much of a 750-piece puzzle as possible by the cut-off time. The 4 of us as a team took part in the staff & family/friends category. And guess what? We won! Yeah!


Well, as at the cut-off our puzzle was not finished yet. 2 of us stayed back to complete it. We resolved not to give up as if we didn't, we will never continue with it. Anyway, as a good "sportsman", it's only right we did. And eventually, we completed it! Here's how it looks.

The whole puzzle took us 5-6 hours.

《天冷就回来》

一夜就这样过去了。刚看完了《天冷就回来》，也丝毫有了丝丝触动。这部歌舞剧是根据梁文福的歌曲而排编的。也许是那幽忧的旋律和歌词让我如此感怀。它讲述了梦想、希望、执著、原则、抱负。一个抱着梦想的人，会在艰苦的风雪中屹立不倒，抱着希望地挣扎。但在其中，我们不应该放弃原则，走上“不轨”之路以让美丽的梦想蒙上灰暗的面纱。


听着熟悉的歌曲（其实大部分对我来说，比我的时代早一小小点）和那句句带有深厚意义的词，不仅发现梁文福的词很诗意。他用词上非常精粹，很巧妙地在歌词中简洁地点出含意。想当年读大学时，我曾上过他的诗词班。还记得那时学会在不同的诗歌中发掘他们如何运用词语来加深其中的含义如用重叠词。还记得他所写的《担心》（那是他课堂上其中被讨论的一首歌），他解释是用了同音词 - “担心 你的单心。。。”虽然有点忧愁，不过好听又文艺。

大致上这演出是蛮不错的。只是其中有一段剧情让我的朋友感到惊愕的。是这样的，俊强（郑展伦）在一小段里，突然出现唱了一首思念曲《久久才见到你的好》。我们本来觉得很奇怪，但后来，不可思议的事情发生了。他终于找到他曾舍弃的旧情人。但原来他就是其中一位男主角，阿强（陈瑞彪），偶尔“不小心”会想起的旧情人（《如果你不小心想起我》）。我的天啊！怎么突然有同性恋情出现！他们并对唱了《让夜轻轻落下》。我的朋友说那一段“破坏”了那首歌的形象。。。从此以后要如何平静地听那首歌呢？

就这样吧。