Sunday, January 30, 2005

Beauty

What type of guy/girl do you like?

Sounds familiar?

I'm sure at some point of your life, someone would had asked you that question.

How does one set out to answer that? I don't have a definite answer. Looking back, the girls I was interested in fit into many categories. There were different characters, likings, dislikes, common and un-common areas of interest.

Yibin, my good friend, commented recently that I seem to like girls who are difficult to understand and that's a bit scary to him.

On the same topic, Xiaopei said that I was digging a pit for myself. -_-!

Well, I'm essentially a person who likes unique things and this goes for girls. Put it in a way, everyone is unique. We have a unique set of fingerprint, iris pattern and DNA coding. So what defines a girl as unique? Perhaps it's the character that attracts me, someone who don't think like the average Singaporean female.

My friends and I had a discussion over dinner. Someone said that although people like to say that looks doesn't matter, it's more than often not the case for most males. To make a point, I asked 2 male friends on their opinion.

A said that his girlfriend should be very pretty and possess a good figure, read: busty. B started off saying that the girl should be chio and shorter than him (think someone's who's short! =P). Upon pressing, he concluded that it's ok as long as wo kan de shun yan, literally meaning pleasant to my eyes.

I think it's an undeniable fact that men are attracted to beauty and women doll themselves them up to look pretty. I am too. If you haven't seen me stealing glances at the pretty girl walking past on the street, you're probably blind. On the other hand, when looking for a partner, beauty is not high on my list.

It's not that I have a floccinaucinihilipilification for beauty or something but I have had enough failures to know that beauty is not everything.

As long as the girl doesn't look like a monster and causes me to go into shock every time I look at her.

What good is it that I have a pretty vase in my arms and I spend time with her feeling that I'm alone? Friend A doesn't seem to mind. I do.
fjozn at 11:51 AM

Monday, January 17, 2005

Soccer

Let's talk about soccer today.

Singapore won the Tiger Cup!

And,

Arsenal lost!

Not to say that I'm a died-hard fan of the Lions, I haven't even caught a single match, I'm still happy that the national team has finally won something decent, albeit it being a regional tournament. In any case, if I haven't been playing for a concert last night, I would have definitely been out somewhere watching it!

Ole! Ole! Ole!

Anyway, I'm not like some people out there who really supports a club and hate the rest of the world. Why hate the others? I support Manchester United but I don't hate any other clubs. Of course I'm happy to see clubs like Arsenal trip because it can only mean a chance for MU to catch up.

Knowing the crowd, there's always a fair share of MU haters. Why bother? Just go support your own club. However, these "fair-weather" haters are starting to turn their attention to Chelsea, which is interesting. It?s just so interesting also to see fair-weather MU fans ditching their red for the new Chelsea blue.

The new dynasty, they said. To this I say: Bah.

I might not be a hardcore fan of MU but at least I had followed their fortunes for the last ten years! Sad to say, they had really gone down since their Treble days in 1999. I'm also quite ashamed to say that I haven't catch a MU match for quite a period of time, no thanks to the SCV/ESPN monopoly.

GO MAN U!

***

Okay, so I didn't play well at the concert last night. I foresee all my critics coming out with rifles aimed at my head.

Well, what to say?

I didn't practice enough myself.

Well!

Other than this, the New Year has been pretty good to me. Let's just hope all these continue and perhaps bloom into something even better!
fjozn at 10:45 AM

Saturday, January 15, 2005

My neck

I'm getting into the habit of blogging once a week!

Latest update: I sprained my neck this morning. @#$%^&*!!!

I bet I'm the only person you know who can get a sprained neck from sneezing too hard. How dumb is that?

For a while I feel paralyzed. I couldn't move my left arm without any sharp pain. It's no joke man. Thankfully I don't have to wear a neck brace. I'd be the laughing stock of the band scene if I appear on stage with a neck brace tomorrow evening!

Anyway, I just come to the conclusion that sneezing is actually a very dangerous action for all humans.

Sneezing is actually quite a vigorous action, if many of us don't realize.

There's a reason why the human eye shuts automatically when you're sneezing and mind your back too. You wouldn't want a slipped disc or something!

Moral of the story: Sneeze as gently as you can!

Natalie the Goat was kind enough to dedicate a short section of her entry to me. (Actually, it wasn't that much. Most of it was lifted from my Friendster profile. Plagiarizing goat!)

And no, I am not that bitchy! Only a bit, well, maybe.

But still, thank you!

In return, I shall write something nice for her.

Natalie is generally a nice goat, oops, I mean girl. She's normally very nice except that she goes "meow" when I ask her to say "meh".

Talk about identity crisis.

She plays the oboe like I do and the piano and violin on top of that. Perhaps one of these days I should ask her to play all three at one go. It should be quite a sight. =)

Guys who are interested in her should note this. Natalie the Goat is allergic to grass so please do not attempt to put a leash on her and bring her to the meadow to graze.

That's it. I'm out!
fjozn at 3:11 PM

Sunday, January 09, 2005

Hello!

Firstly, let me welcome wendy and JGR to my blog.

I might not have any idea to who you are but let me tell you this. I write what I feel and won't change them regardless of what people say, unless I really feel that they have a point. =)

So why did I complain so much?

Picture this: You go to the hawker centre and order a plate of chicken rice. It comes to you with the chicken still bloody and the rice undercooked. How would you feel?

This was the case. The music wasn't prepared. Never mind that it was out of tune. Never mind that some parts were too technically challenging.

It was clearly unprepared.

As a paying consumer, I expect my money to be well spent. Isn't it the same when you are saving up for a nice buffet dinner at a high-class restaurant? Ok, I was harsh, rude and bitchy. But I really expect more when a band puts up a fund-raising concert. It didn't seem to me that they were very sincere about raising funds.

Furthermore, it's a case for concern if they are really planning to bring this kind of standard over to the World Music Competition. National representation! For goodness' sake!

Compared this to the concert I went to last night, courtesy of dragging and pouting from the Natalie the Goat. But thanks! I totally didn't regret it! At least I made one new friend!

Of course the music standard wasn't world class; there isn't any world class band in Singapore.

It was, however, much more prepared.

The programme was a bit on the heavy side though.

The first half consisted of pieces like Don Juan, Carnival Overture and the Mastersingers by Richard Wagner. Anyway, for the better benefit of my Readers, the Richards in Richard Strauss and Wagner are pronounced as REE-CARD.

I really felt like walking out after the first half, not because that the music was bad, but rather that it was very tiring!

Sembawang Wind Orchestra
The Mastersingers
Weber Clarinet Concert 1 in F minor, Soloist: Chen Weiling
Don Juan
Carnival Overture

-interval-

Yio Chu Kang Secondary
Slavonic Dances

Dunman High
Mahler 3rd Symphony, 1st movement

Combined band of Dunman and Sembawang
The Magic Forest (literally translated), Soloist: Andrew Ng (Oboe)

Look at how heavy it was? The first half alone was more than 70 minutes! That can be the entire length of a concert already. I would rather have quality over quantity, thank you very much.

The soloists for the night were good. Andrew's intonation could have been much better for his Adagio. Well, don't use a Loree! Haha! (Loree users, please don't burn my oboe!)

Oh yes.

I want to address the claim that alleged I was in the opinion that my own playing standards were very high

No, I do not think that of myself and had never written so in a way suggesting that. In fact, I believe that I was lamenting recently that I'm lagging far behind among my peers. Please do your homework before pointing your finger at others.

One doesn't have to be a good cook to appreciate good food.

And what makes you think that the overseas standard would be better? A lot of Singaporeans still have the impression of "wonderful foreign talent". Just look at the Thai band concert I attended last year. It was so painfully dull and yet people were cheering them on. Please, not everything that comes from overseas is good.

If all the good players are heading overseas, Singapore will never grow.

I'm thankful for some of my friends who had seen in me beyond what I've written.

Thank you!

For those who still don't agree, especially those who don't know me, you are welcome to rebuff what I have to say, but please do it in a constructive way.

If you don't, please proceed to bang your head against the wall. (The Writer assumes no responsibility and/or liability to any physical and/or mental distress and/or injuries to any Reader from this blog.)

***

Anyway, HMV's having a clear-out sales!

Do check out the classical section if you are free, there's quite a good selection on the Eloquence Label and they are all going for $9.95 each!

I've gotten quite a few myself. 25 CDs in 5 days! Phew. Anyway if you are wondering, 16 of these 25 CDs were box sets, which means like $19.90 for 16 CDs!

GO!

***

One last thing.

I will be guest playing for Singapore Wind Symphony this coming Sunday, 16th Jan 2005. It's at Victoria Concert Hall at 5 p.m.

Tickets are available from me at $12 each. Call me at 9430 4990 if you want any!

The programme includes:

Lord of the Ring Symphony (Complete) (Johan de Meij)
Fantasy Variations
Fantasia for Saxophone, Clare Grundman

Out!
fjozn at 10:35 AM

Monday, January 03, 2005

Complains

Mus'art Concert, Impressions of Japan
29 Dec 2004, Victoria Concert Hall

Justin played very well! It sort of inspired me to play my own solo piece after seeing him play. Well, he actually didn't start off very well. The tuning note and the first few bars were a bit wavy. However! It was all smooth sailing after that!

It was really a pity about the band though.

The Irish Tune they played in memory of the tsunami victims really left people in tears and agony. The compere made Gurmit Singh looked good on Singapore Idol. The contrast in style between Justin and the band was so big that you could put an entire herd of elephants inside and still have space to drive through.

The band sounded like they had only got together a few days ago to start rehearsing. The only piece deemed decent enough was the title piece of the night, Impressions of Japan.

Even though, it wasn't that great! I left after that piece.

Needless to say, it was quite terrible for me.

Someone please tell me why I should still go for sub-standard concerts?

Anyway! It's the New Year so I shall try to be nicer.

But!

I'm not at the end of my complains yet. Damn, why am I so complain-ish today?

The Phantom of the Opera, in contrast to all the good reviews I heard from my friends, wasn't that good at all.

Sure, the setting and costumes were nice. Perhaps more details could have been paid to the costumes. In close-ups, it was apparent that the clothes were manufactured modernly with the double sewing lines. I don't think these existed in 19th century Paris!

And why was the mask on the Phantom's left cheek in the movie poster and right cheek in the movie?

The music was fine, except why do they have to repeat all the popular themes over and over again? It really got boring after the second rendition.

Well, today's the last day of my long holiday. It's time to start work tomorrow and hopefully keep my resolutions for as long as possible!


Once again, Happy New Year everyone!

fjozn at 11:05 AM