You know the seventh month's coming, when that empty field in front of your window transforms into a stage. I think I've asked this before, but I guess it's worth another mention--why don't we have getai singers dishing out songs like 'kiss goodbye'? I mean, I guess there are young souls among them too? I hate not being able to sleep until 10.30pm every night because of all the singing that I don't appreciate, that I start to wonder, if they sang songs I could identify with, would I appreciate them? Maybe.
Somehow the Victoria Junior College that I've known for seven months has changed over the past few weeks. All of a sudden, 'fun' has been replaced with 'study'. But somehow, the sudden emphasis on academics, and the constant reminders that we're so much worse than the previous batch, seem to ring a bell. Memories of remedials are flooding back. Oh, and 'fun' is in quotes because I'm not very sure whether I have ever been 'out having fun' in VJ. Perhaps it's just the culture of my class that doesn't really fit into the school in the conventional sense.
I guess I don't blame the school, because promos are really just over a month away. A year ago, waiting at the bus stop after playing basketball, I happened to meet one of my seniors, who was busy preparing for his promos. Promos? What a far-fetched thing, I thought. And now it's almost here.
But the Joker has a point too.
Why So Serious?
I can identify with his thinking. I prefer leaving things to fate, because when I do otherwise, there's seldom a good outcome. Sometimes I feel tempted to flip a coin and let that decide everything. Right now, I don't know what path to take. I've never looked past NS before.
Academics aside.
If there's any other must-watch movies right now besides The Dark Knight, then it has to be 赤壁. Though it's another 2-hour plus movie, it left me without a feeling that I experienced while watching The Warlords, namely boredom. The battle scenes are really breathtaking. And it ends with an unexpected twist (mind game).
I originally planned to write this entire post in perfect English, but then again,
Why So Serious?
so heck, it's back to normal blogging k
project work sucks to the max. there's still 700 words to cut from the written report, as well as back up some of the points, and carry out surveys and stuff. and it doesn't help that somehow i'm tanking everything right now. well, maybe this is a poor excuse, because sometimes i do prefer working alone. i mean, too many cooks spoil the broth, no? but this is project work, so i guess everyone's in it together. let's just hope im not the only one wanting to get an EE grade.
and my eom got a less than AE. what we were told in sec4 were lies. because history sbq skills aren't that applicable to our eoms as we were once told. i guess i should pick another source with more depth, especially since the article i was working on suddenly disappeared from the web (and i now bear hatred against websites with only a 7-day archive).
OG dinner yesterday at astons specialties. in the end only jingwen, shi hang, the ogls except anthea and i turned up. cos somehow everyone else is busy. but i guess after a while we all have our own lives eh. but im glad that our og is still somewhat alive. haha. the good times in vj. hopefully we can have another outing where more people can turn up.
oh and talking about astons, i think the price is really good for the place and the serving. i mean, how often do you get to eat at a restaurant for only 6.50? and you can get more than what it's worth, by hoping that the waiter gets the side orders wrong so you get another free side.
and my class is supposedly the top 3 classes for physics in terms of % passes, cos we got 100% passes. let's just hope i don't pull down that percentage during promos, because everything dynamics and after i don't understand.
but i hope today's mugging session was somewhat effective.
and john sloman's economics book is woah. the bible of econs? let's see how far i can go with this. i still want to take h3 econs, but i need to make sure i won't get forced to drop to h1 first =\
reuben @ 9:47 PM.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
dark night
my ranking points are 40/80 (or is it 90??). haha well i guess i'm one of the bottom few in class, but at least i didn't receive any letter from the principal.
coach came down ytd, i think he's cool, but i guess everyone was a little disappointed with some things that he said, although it might be the cold, hard truth. well, i guess we have to try our very best and give it our all then.
saturday was a looong day. the ndp thingy forced me to wear my school shoes for the entire day. i guess next week i won't bring the 'fake bata' shoe anymore so i can wear sneakers or smth.
anyway, chma was a blast. i managed to crash the concert, haha. i think the lighting, air conditioning and sound effects were much much better than musicfest. and the lucky draw prizes were like woah. i guess vj has something to learn from this huh. but if chma had music videos and stuff it would be better i guess. but the vocalists were quite cool, and we were puzzled why the flutist became the overall winner.
and juz-b made it even better. their kiss goodbye was really really nice. and you sometimes forget for a moment that chinese isn't their mother tongue at all. i really wouldn't mind paying for this year's chma if i wasn't allowed to crash.
well after chma we went walking around bishan, then me, charles, zm and grace decided to go amk to watch movie. we wanted to watch dark knight at 12.30, but it was full, so we settled for the 1.30 show. lol sorry jon for not calling you along.
while waiting, we played cards at mac. at least we didn't get chased out like the other time. then we smuggled food into cathay and watched.
and the movie is amazing. although i slept for a tiny little while at the start cos i was really super tired. it's really mind-blowing, one climax after another, and it really helped that the joker was acted out really, really well. this show ain't just about the black and white; it shows both sides of the hero(es) and the villian. the joker for example, wasn't totally evil; he was just, well, eccentric and looking to have some fun. you can't really blame him too, given his background story. gordon and batman himself, are often caught in conflicting situations too and have very important decisions to make. and the name 'two-faced harvey' is self-explantory.
exactly six months ago when heath ledger died, i didn't know at all who he was. i was even wondering what's the big deal about this guy. today, i know that a very talented actor was lost. if there's any sequel to this movie, i don't think anyone could replace him as joker, perhaps the only person that i can think of that might come close is johnny depp.
anyway, after the movie we were left without any bus services, and money. so yeah, in the end reached home at 6.30am. and slept.
the dark knight is a mustmustmustmust watch!
p.s. i didn't know going to the toilet could result in a ten-minute lecture on why we are to be blamed for going to the toilet during lessons and why we shouldn't drink fluids.
somehow this year has gone by way, way too quickly, it's hard to breathe. part of me still hasn't accepted the fact that i'm a vjc student proper, and the first three months are long gone, and a levels will zoom by soon enough. i remember last year didn't pass that quickly, maybe except after november.
all the results are out. not as bad as i expected, with a SEEEC. well i dunno what word that can be formed from that. happy and glad, because i managed to clear GP with a C (i mean, that's even better than my english last time), but upset, cos i didn't expect to get an S for econs. it just had to spoil the CEEEE i was hoping for. but i guess, give and take. but somehow, results seem to be inversely proportional to hard work. because on that fateful day in the study room i spent all my time mugging econs and neglected gp. yet gp is my best of all subjects and econs is the worst huh. 'isn't it AMAZING? it's so strange!! '
jokes aside, it's time to put all the baggage from the past 7 months aside and work hard for promos. 8 weeks more. and 8 weeks ago there we were watching the hockey girls play sajc. and it seemed just like yesterday...
and people are already talking about becoming ogls for next year. and just a little while back we were young freshmen confuddled by the weird layout of the school.
hey, we shouldn't dwell on the past. the future is shining bright, perhaps a tad too bright that i don't know where im heading to. ndp cheer is coming to an end finally, yet a part of me doesnt want it to end, i mean, it's one of the few times you can put everything aside. i want to play sb well but i cant do so. somehow. ironical how i just wrote an essay about sports building character rather than revealing it. oh yeah, i love writing but somehow words can't flow lately.
tmr's tie day, and my tie is soaked thanks to my water bottle somehow not closing itself tightly. and all my notes need to be dried, too.
lol this post is full of fragments of thoughts here and there; if you managed to read till here, well done, and take a bow.
断了的弦 再怎么练？
reuben @ 9:44 PM.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
hey, just to clear up a misconception, im not unhappy or emo or troubled or anything, so yeah. what's with all the concern.
if anything im only emo cos roger federer didn't win wimbledon.
i don't know when i became interested in tennis; maybe it's due to virtua tennis or cos i happened to turn on the television the other time watching djokovic fight tsonga at the australian open. and i don't know when i started to be a fan of federer.
somehow when we watch matches at jon's house, the match would turn out to be a significant one. the other time we were at his house england lost to croatia and failed to qualify for euro 2008, and now federer lost his wimbledon title for the first time in five years.
well i guess the youth day holiday was well-timed, if not i wouldn't have the chance to witness such a great match. imagine rushing to watch the match at 9pm and finally finish watching it at 4am the next morning. the rain delays only kept us all in further suspense, and they possibly changed the outcome of the match as well.
it's really amazing to see the fighting spirit between fed and nadal. when nadal won the first two sets 6-4 6-4, and started out pretty well in the first set, i thought all hope was lost. but no, he fought on, and after the rain break the momentum started to change. many times he was a point away from losing, but somehow the aces came at the right time. 7-6, 7-6. wow. and they fought to the very end, with nadal prevailing, perhaps deservingly, winning 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7. it was quite a pity for federer though; if he won the eighth set he could've saved himself.
but i guess it goes to show that even the world number one is affected by pressure and nerves. they're just normal people, really. just that they have extraordinary willpower and dreams that carry them thus far.
well i wish i could go back to sunday night all over again.
and on monday, zm lionel and i went to watch hancock. it's really funny, although the ending was abit zz.
damn, there's school tomorrow. and my room is in a total mess, since mid years were over. i need to start packing soon, before everything gets misplaced.
reuben @ 9:05 PM.
I can take the rain on the roof of this empty house That don’t bother me I can take a few tears now and then and just let them out I’m not afraid to cry every once in a while Even though going on with you gone still upsets me There are days every now and again I pretend I’m ok But that’s not what gets me
What hurts the most Was being so close And having so much to say And watching you walk away And never knowing What could have been And not seeing that loving you Is what I was tryin’ to do
It’s hard to deal with the pain of losing you everywhere I go But I’m doin’ It It’s hard to force that smile when I see our old friends and I’m alone Still Harder Getting up, getting dressed, livin’ with this regret But I know if I could do it over I would trade give away all the words that I saved in my heart That I left unspoken
What hurts the most Is being so close And having so much to say And watching you walk away And never knowing What could have been And not seeing that loving you Is what I was trying to do
What hurts the most Is being so close And having so much to say And watching you walk away And never knowing What could have been And not seeing that loving you Is what I was trying to do
Not seeing that loving you That’s what I was trying to do
reuben @ 6:51 PM.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
chem lectures on fri are rofl-ish. not because of the lecture itself but cos of the person conducting it. hahah. name games and stuff; and we never fail to be wowed by things like 'ISN'T IT AMAZING???!!', 'WHAT A COINCIDENCE!' and 'IT'S VERY SIMPLE!!'. intonation makes a hell lot of difference i guess. and the way he says 'very polarising' and shows us the difference between 'partially dissociate' and 'completely dissociate'.
ok enough about that lest i get into trouble.
so ne show 1 was ytd. when we first practised in the morning it was very hot, thankfully it rained after that. but overall the performance went quite okay i guess, though i did screw up towards the end (and i was right in front). i sure hope the camera didn't zoom in on me.
anyway since we had tickets to this show we went in after our performance using the tickets, with ian, sihan, fhm, jian xiang, and later eunice and lihui who dabao'ed our dinners for us LOL.
the parade section was quite interesting as well as the black knights performance. 'let us welcome the president, his excellency s.r. nathan..... SIMULATED.' lol they even got an indian guy to act as the president and he was waving his hands at everyone as if he was really the president, as least for a moment. haha how come we need to rehearse, but the real president doesn't??
but the post-parade segment was quite boring... especially the acts and scenes which we had no clue what they were about. but the fireworks were great. much better than those i saw as a p5 kid, and perhaps even better than those i snapped 2 years ago. well, but this time it's quite a pity since i used my camera phone instead of my powershota95.
anyway, here are some of the pics i snapped ytd. oh and somehow we're in the ndp website somewhere and in the booklet in the funpack. =\
21-gun salute. see below the flyover. and the guns are like 165m away from us, cos we heard the sound only 0.5seconds after we saw the lights coming out.
look closely, and u will see that the formation is actually 'NDP 08'.
black knights
'when you and i collide'
love is in the air, but why did they have to make love behind the stadium lights
thinking about it, there's no better word that can substitute it. messed up, screwed up, bungled up just doesn't have the intended effect. nothing's as forceful as the word fuck.
so how is life fucked up? it's fucked up cos i realise i have many, many things left undone. my table is in a bloody big mess as if i don't need to study for the rest of my life; i have like no time to study at all (well although i think i'm just procrastinating). 3rd period, softball, ndp, pw and promo worries. i wonder if i can pull through all these. it's a tough, tough road ahead. i hope things get better after 9aug. promos are like, less than 3 months away... somehow at this time last year, my thoughts were about the same. it's that time of the year again.
and for a moment, i wish to go back to last week. yeah, the grass is always greener on the other side. last week i wanted to fast forward to this week. but having to sit through boring lectures i have no idea about is just plain torture. last wednesday, i'd all but given up on chemistry and went to bed hoping for the best. one week later, and that same carefree feeling seems so far-fetched already.
because reality has sunk in. how nostalgic, to be back to sec 3 days, when bottoming the class doesn't seem far from reality. yes, i have passed so far, but it's nary a pass, and can't really be considered a proper pass. 49.5% for physics, 45% for mathematics. i can't even conquer half the paper. sucks to be right at the bottom, but i guess someone ultimately has to take the place of being 垫底, so it's my turn for now. but at least i feel comforted in the fact that i have no papers that teachers don't even bother to grade (aka Ungraded) yet.
and it's not just about studies. ndp, no stunts up for the past 6 weeks for me. and the last time i did stunts was a horrible nightmare that i don't want to relive again. the family day show is round the corner, and i don't even have a wee bit of confidence. softball, well, i can't even catch a ball properly. trying, hoping to improve, but i'm still stuck at almost square one. i can't imagine the disappointed look on the coach's face when/if he (ever) comes down.
but no this ain't going to be an emo post. cos only losers are emo, right?
it's just good to get everything off your mind, once in a while.
somehow i decided to watch wang leehom's live peformances on youtube. then somehow i wandered into his website, and read one of the articles he wrote:
http://wangleehom.com/press/byleehom/view?id=274
Thank you all for your congratulations! It is a great honor for me to win this award again, after 7 years!
I wanted to take the opportunity in my acceptance speech to talk a bit about the importance of practicing, and to encourage the audience to work hard. Unfortunately, the speech time was limited and I was only able to say some of what I wanted to say. Here's what I REALLY wanted to say:
I never thought that I had a good voice. In 1999, when I won this award for the first time, I knew there were serious problems and limitations in my voice that were caused by bad habits and poor technique. I was struggling with my voice and sometimes it even hurt when I sang. Honestly, when I received that award, it scared me. I thought, "My voice doesn't do what I want it to...how can someone with all these vocal problems be the best male vocalist of the year?!"
From that point on, I worked on my voice harder than ever despite many people saying, "Singing can't be learned. You've either got it, or you don't." Never believe someone who tries to tell you you can't do something. If you really want it bad enough, you'll find a way. But most people HATE practicing because it forces them to face their weaknesses and magnify what they aren't good at. Practicing makes us feel uncomfortable and can sometimes shake our confidence. But you don't improve by staying in the comfort zone. You won't improve without venturing beyond what you already know.
Seven years later, I still don't think I have a great voice, but I know I am a better singer than before. These improvements have come SLOWLY as the result of commitment and faithful adherence to a vocalizing regiment. I practice almost every day, and always warm up before every performance (even if it's just an autographing session). I focus on the difficult passages of each song (instead of just enjoying the easy parts) and work on them until they become easier. This often sounds awful and can be embarrassing when people happen to listen to me practice. But it works. And if practicing can work for me, it can for you too.
Whether you are a singer, an actor, professional athlete, or WHATEVER, practice is key to getting better results. "Gong yu shan qi shi bi xian li qi qi. 工欲善其事 必先利其器" For a school student, practice might mean preparing for a test and working on your weaknesses (unfamiliar material). Hate practicing? Well I've grown to love it.
I sincerely hope the new Chinese artists can realize the importance of practicing. Our competitors should not be each other, but rather, the international artists who have historically set the standard in popular music. I know if we put in the hard work to improve our skills, we will be one step closer to making Chinese pop music a worldwide phenomenon.
Good luck to all, and happy practicing!
Well, there you have my full speech. That's what I would have said if I had had 5 minutes!
Thanks for reading, and thanks again for your support. Now that I've won again, I'll continue to work harder. I hope someday I'll have the voice that I think is actually worthy of such an honor!
Love, peace, music Leehom June 13, 2006
and i find this particularly inspiring. it applies not only just to music and singing, but to every aspect of life. 'believe, and you will see.' it worked before, and i hope it works its magic again.
and i think wlh's command of english is just amazing.
anyway, a few days ago i watched i not stupid too. quite a nice movie i feel, one of the better jack neo movies i dare say.
oh and wanted is a must-watch.
and i must start mugging. soon. now.
reuben @ 10:06 PM.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
stressed.
new chem teacher. and new maths teacher i wonder how s/he is like. but in either case i'd prefer the teachers from jan-june i guess...
this is one of the few times i really want to be left alone. it's fun sometimes to observe things around you, without getting involved.
then smses came in, telling me i have softball tmr and ndp cheer trg on wed and fri. and once upon a time i was looking forward to all those.
and i still have 3rd period pe tmr.
at least physics wasn't as bad as i thought. well, i've done worst before, haven't i?
