Battle Royale - 日本

Yet another outcry from the Genus senior community, this time sparked by an email sent by Dom regarding the auditions for the impending Japan visit.

Nothing to do with me, to be frank, since i am neither going to Japan, nor will be involved in the auditions in any manner. But the episode has nevertheless been rather amusing and even funny, in a manner of speaking. It made me think:

这趟日本之行，到底是为了什么？

我想对很多人来说，是一个难得的机会。能够老远地飞到 Ｎｉｉｂｏｒｉ 吉他的出源地 － 日本，和当地的吉他团“砌磋”歌艺，又能同时欣赏到那里的风俗和美景，肯定是一件赏心乐事。

但对另一些人，这也可能是一种骄傲，一种肯定。怎么说，能够代表自己的团队“出征”海外，并不是人人都能拥有的宝贵经验。

这也许就是为什么有些人对这次的日本之行怀着一份强烈的期待，一份执著。。。

But because the trip is NOT going to be paid for by the CFA management nor by Genus ( even with the subsidy, the costs would still be significant), another train of thought or emotion surfaced:

They (ie. CFA/Genus management) should be glad i am willing to (take time off/leave, and spend my own $$) go. If not for a substantial group of us stronger players going, Genus may suffer a loss of face, loss of reputation, even loss of relationship with the Japan side.
So why should i subject myself to ridiculous demands such as attending AUDITIONS to prove my "worth"?

This perhaps and unfortunately, may clash with Dom's opinion that "members should feel PRIVILEGED to have this opportunity to go Japan and represent Genus, and (much as i'd liked to send every single member there) due to budget/logistics constraints, only the deserved members can go". Hence the silly auditions...

As it stands, i am not sure how many members are really keen to go (mainly due to the costs involved), but i do feel that having an audition may dampen the interest and force some people to rethink their decisions.

Yes, we DO want to send a strong team over to Japan, to carry Genus flag high and to show them what we can do, even as a NON professional music group. But on the other hand, we have to remember that Genus IS a CCA club meant for undergraduates who like playing in a guitar ensemble setup. We are NOT a music school (like Yamaha, or YST Conservatory), and our members join purely out of their own interest in guitar music.

So is it really a "shame" EVEN if we end up sending in a young undergraduate team which may not play as well as we'd have hoped?

IMHO, showing great commitment to the cause of Genus, and hence be willing to practice doubly hard on the performing repertoire (for Japan) is good enuff to 'qualify' someone for the trip. And after spending at least a year (or years) together in the ensemble, surely the group's manangement (including the MD!) should have a good idea which player(s) belong to the siow-on & committed and which are the bo-chap & cannotmakeit ones ... *in the 1st place, this 2nd category of people wouldn't even want to go! rem: it's NOT free *

Audition? For fxxx...?

Getting sentimental...

haha.. never thought i would be writing on a topic so er... "mushy". :P
Maybe becos 人老了，感情也比较泛澜？

Anyway, i was just thinking.. having watched so many movies (for those who dun already know this, i am a self-professed movie junkie. yay! ), which are some of the movies that made me cry?
I can remember some of those, like Braveheart, Schindler's List, and more recently, the Korean war film - Brotherhood (taeguchi or something like that).

The thing in common in all these films - while they all depict war scenarios and human misery, they also highlight qualities like LOVE and the indormitable HUMAN SPIRIT.

Take Braveheart for instance... i can vividly remember the scene where Willaim Wallace (Mel Gibson's character) dropped to his knees and then sat down on the grassland when he found out he was betrayed by Robert de Bruce, the so-called heir/king of Scotland. The haunted look on his face, the total look of hopelessness, as well as anguish, at the ultimate betrayal by his "friend" and lord, stripped him totally of any HOPE to go on. I was so moved by that scene that tears flowed uncontrollably, hard as i tried to control my emotions.

More recently, while watching Brotherhood on DVD at home, i had to really suppress the urge as tears threatened to swell up in my eyes... Admittedly, it was easier to control my emotions this time, as i was not in a dark cinema, and my wife was watching the DVD at home with me. It would have been so "un-cool" to cry over a film in front of a woman, ya? (call me chauvinistic, but i'm still stuck with that stereotyped outlook :P )
But as Won bin's character narrated on how his brother (played by one of my fav korean actors - Jang Dong Gun) would kill anyone/anything just to protect his loved ones, and when you see how he finally sacrificed his own life to preserve the life of his brother... That scene, coupled with the hauntingly solemn and melancholic soundtrack in the background, it was really moving (to put it mildly)...

Hmm..

Come to think of it... i am usually not easily moved by a man-woman love flick. (Which probably explains why i totally give those korean tear-jerkers TV series a miss... ) Most of the time, the love story is narrowly focused on this one couple, and many a times, it makes my blood boil (with frustration) rather than feel any sort of sadness for them, when the so-called "tragedy" results from either a misunderstanding, or a series of misfortune that somehow prevents the couple from being together... (eee.. mushy..). Either the plot becomes really hopeless and cliched, or the actors themselves fail miserably in bringing across the supposed tragic and pain of losing out on finding that one true love...

If i have to name one romantic tragedy that made me feel like crying though, then it must be <新不了情>。 我记得最后那一幕， 当男主角〖刘青云】买到了女主角〖袁咏仪】爱吃的食物， 而赶回到了医院的时候，才顿时发现。。。那一幕真的令我印象非常深刻。
Of course, the beautiful tune sang by 万芳also helped create the moment, one which was truly heart-breaking.

What movies have you watched (in the past and recently) that really touched you, and made you feel for the character in the film? :)

Group dynamics

Just thot i'd post my feelings on group dymanics, or very roughly in chinese "一个组合的默契". after reading an article in Yen's blog...

you know.. having played in so many small groups over the years that i've played the guitar, i must really say that every group has its own distinct group dynamics (gd).

Take for instance, my very first Genus small group experience, playing this piece called "Aria" ( i cant even remember the whole song title, and the composer..anyway..) in my 1st year undergraduate life. The group consisted mostly 2nd year members, many of whom i really didnt know well at all, even at that time. I was simply a junior tasked with handling a really simple contrabass part. (think it was all single notes, and absolutely no complex rhythms) I remembered, Hui min *wonder if she is still working in Medicorp these days.. have not seen her on any news reporting channels lately* , who was playing the guitaron, really helped me settled in the group. Other than me, the other junior then was Chet Fui, who was really stressed out playing the Prime part. The group (at least to me at that time) was functional, but there was little interaction, little teasing and jokes, and hence little fun. Thus, my memories of it was also really limited to those bits i already mentioned above.

The most memorable small group i joined and played in my undergrad years in Genus must be the Tabajaras Small group. This was my 3rd year in Genus. The group consisted of :

(1) Kar Mun - musically strong and can play decent guitar, but tend to be overly critical, and sometimes he's just downright 'nasty' (like Simon Cowell in American Idol)
(2) Raj - the oldest bird in the group, aka the Maestro. As always the chords and rhythm experts, and the forever Mr Nice guy! :)
(3) Hon Kit - the studious Guitaron player, who suffers from fits of uncontrollable laughter at times, esp. if tickled by dirty jokes from (1)
(4) Ivan - then President of Genus. Loves hanging out with the guys in the group, cos he's definitely 'deprived' of male-bonding opportunity in his Committee (FYI - 8 gals, 2 guys)
(5) Ee Ping - the only gal in this testosterone-driven group. volunteered (or was it forced by us? hmmm) to do percussion with the Maestro (2)
(6) Me - Ex-president, determined to finally enjoy making music (and dirty jokes) with kakis, esp. after a siong year in Comm in the previous work-year

Listening back to our recording, we did a nice job with the medley. Especially since we've had no scores whatsoever to work with. It was simply listening to recording, and planting our own tunes + Chords + counter-melodies + percussion, etc... But what was truly memorable was we REALLY HAD FUN! The GD was fantastic, and each practice session was more like a fun gathering, where we tried out ideas, cracked jokes and suan-ed one another (i admit, we also suaned a lot of other genus ppl as well lah), and genuinely enjoyed the process of making music together.

I wonder if the current Genus small groups actually do have fun playing together or not... or was some of the groups formed purely becos Dom "forced" them to form a group and play... That would be sad.

Anyway, to more current groups...

Guitaresque has been formed and re-formed several times over. But throughout the changes in membership, we've always maintained it as a Guitar Quartet. I remember we were once called the Genres Guitar Quartet back then... Anyway, the transformation looked like this:

Kar Mun, Shu Hann, Raj, Ivan
Karen (In) , Kar Mun, Shu Hann, Ivan * Raj (Out)
Liang Shan (In), Karen, Shu Hann, Ivan * Kar Mun (Out)
Alex (In), Liang Shan, Shu Hann, Ivan * Karen (Out)

** Reads like a substitution list of a football team eh? :)

Of the original 4, only Ivan and I remained. But that is hardly important.. What is though, is that throughout the years of playing in the quartet, we've continued to improve and develop as better ensemble players. And perhaps strangely, even though we had all these "substitutions" throughout the years, the GD got richer with time too. We have better 默契 now then we ever did before. For instance, some of us are able to "read" how the other player is gonna pull-back the tempo, or execute a rit. and will react instinctively to 配合. Other times, it's just the sensing the "nods" and knowing when the guy is going to 'come in' for the next note, the next phrase, etc.. (And yet, all the time, we're laughing at our mistakes during practices, poking at one another's "indian improvisations", and total disregard of rhythm/tempo signs, even at "blackened" guitar strings that should've been changed years ago! )

Perhaps it's becos we've all become better players over the years. Perhaps it's becos we are playing on better (and more expensive too!) instruments that we didnt have before. Or perhaps it just simply a matter of us finding the right mix of people to enjoy the process of music-making with?

Which brings me to my other small group - Masak.

Unlike Guitaresque, which is a all-prime quartet, Masak is a Niibori based 5-man group. What is similar, however, is that we've also had to "substitute" a player. After ATKS pulled out of the group, Hansen joined us.

It's difficult to make comparisons between Masak with Guitaresque. Firstly becos the 2 groups play different instruments types (prime vs niibori). Secondly, the style and the selection of repertoire is totally different as well. Where one plays a lot of technical and classical guitar pieces (we're trying to change that lah), the other does mainly easy-listening pieces like contemp, and popular songs. Thirdly and most importantly, the GD of the 2 groups are quite different...

When i come to think about it, this is really weird, becos currently, the 2 groups have 3 common members in them - me, owls, and Alex. But the practice feel and atmostphere is quite dis-similar. It has felt a littled dull and has that almost like go-thru-motion feel recently.

Take our most recent performance - Suteki da ne. We met up only for 3 brief practice sessions, and off we went onto stage for performance. It really felt to me as if Masak had performed a song for the annual concert, either becos we were obligated to put up an item (to fill a time slot? ), or becos we wanted to show "we can do it" to others? Or simply to convince/reassure ourselves that the group still has a role to play, a future to look forward to...

Somehow, the process of making music together and more important -the enjoyment of that process , felt somewhat secondary to our objective of producing a concert-worthy song for R&R.
No doubt we've had our time issues and scheduling problems to deal with. people working overtime, overseas, basically over-exhausted from personal commitments...I admit i myself am also guilty of that at times. But what disturbs me is that i don't feel any sense of that anticipation, or excitement, or even the little feeling of 'guilt' sometimes when one didnt prepare your own guitar part before coming together for practice. To sum it all up - maybe there's a lack of "freshness" in our practice. Reasons for this? I can think of a few possibilities:

1) irregular practice time (correctly highlighted by Yen), so no constant follow-ups and less opportunities to develop our GD as well as group identity
2) lack of new musical direction and challenges.
3) players now have another 'alternative' to satisfy our hunger for Niibori-styled ensemble playing - the Small Ensemble (as Snowparang pointed out - that's become like a Masak-plus). So the eagerness and excitement (and thus the willingness) to play in a Niibori quintet seems less appealing than before

Unless and until something is done to help navigate the group back on its course ( and i dont pretend to know what that may eventually be ), i think the feeling of disconnect and disinterest in Masak and its practices will grow. 但是，如果我们就此解散了的话，那将是一件非常令人婉惜的事。。。

It's up to the group members to redefine what we want to do together, to achieve together, and to decide if there's a need to remain as a quintet playing together. Afterall, even IF we should decide to disband, we'll still be playing together in the small ensemble right? *see what i mean? - refer to factor (3) above*

But if we should decide to remain performing as a regular performing quintet, then the members have to find the little bits of extras that will set the Masak practices apart from the small ensemble practices. Be it the excitement of playing new genres of music, new repertoire choices, more musically/technical challenges in the songs, or even the joy of teasing one another, the jokes, the laughs....the camaraderie. I feel that at the end, it's really up to the members of the group to reach a 共识.

But, having said that, it is also clear that in order for any group/organisation to move forward, there must be a leader, one who must take responsibility and lead the way...

Brown bear - quite hiong

hehe. just added a nice pic of a brown bear to my profile. hiong gai gai, the bear.

oh, just realised i have links to blog sites of past and present members of my small groups (although 5th Bull's site appears to be abandoned, for some reason.. ). Only ATKS, Barber Lee, and OG are missing.. hey! cho kang leh you guys! :)

老情歌组曲 and Fragile

Yay! I am done with the additional bars for 老情歌组曲, in particular, for the fast tempo section of 给我一个吻. This is following feedback from my Guitaresque buddies that this section seemed to end 'too fast', and before they can strum a few chords, the song transits into the next piece (of the medley). Oh, also added a surprise at the end! hohoho!! The guys are gonna laugh their heads off when we jam the piece this weekend. hmm.. maybe should ask OG to bring his video cam and do some extra damage... kuja has volunteered (again) to do the honours of filming.

haha.. this is my 'contribution' to those years of hairy encore pieces played by Genus... muahaha!!! So, next time if we have a chance to encore, then we'll show'em! :)

Also, the piece which i started some time back (on Finale), Fragile , i finally moved it onto to Sibelius, and continued to work on it. Actually, i am almost done with it... the only problem seems to be the ending.. How the heck do you end a piece which fades off (at least in LAGQ's version)?? I think i must seek some help here.. Owls, any ideas??

hmm.. maybe if somebody has a recording of the actual song, performed by Sting, it might help...

好期待那么一天

Chaired the meeting for the small ensemble on Saturday (18th March), regarding the future of the small ensemble, as well as to provide feedback to CFA, on Dom.
The meeting went on smoothly, and I was really glad i took the time to discuss a whole lot of issues and details with Alex the night before. His input helped me put some things into perspective and to give a more balanced view/approach to the matters.

I think much has been said about Dom's lack of responsibility and commitment to Genus and his apparent laziness - in terms of doing his 'homework' before coming for practices, as well as his long delays in coming out with transcriptions and arrangements. Most of the seniors' comments dwell on related topics, giving case examples to support the claims.

While i don't necessary agree with all the 'complaints', i have to say that most are valid to some extent. However, it is probably unfair to compare Dom with Mr A, since the latter was the founding father of Genus, and being a retiree, he really dedicated his whole heart and soul into Genus. I believe Genus will never have another "Mr A"...

The final decision (obviously) lies with CFA, but we did our part as ensemble members, and provided the necessary feedback to ZQ, to be forwarded in his report to CFA management.

What i was more interested in, however, was what was to become of the small ensemble (SE)... should we split from Genus and form our own group under CFA, or should we stay in Genus as an alumni group. If you asked me... that 2nd option sounds suspiciously similar to the PO/SO system that we had last year.

In the end, our star player gave his opinion, which most of the members agreed to - that we are to remain as part of Genus, but simply as another small group. That way, we would most probably stay 'off limits' to the MD (whoever he may be) regarding our song choices and direction, and if we are to perform in the annual concert of Genus, it would be limited to only that 1-2 pieces. Much like taking up the Alumni item spot, a performance timeslot "reserved" for an alumni small group in all previous Genus concerts..

But 我最期待的是有一天我们能够呈现出一场属于我们自己的演出。 Be it a small performance in CFA itself, or perhaps in a small theatre in UCC - it would be a concert that i would seriously look forward to. And given the crop of players that we have now in the SE, i think that is a distinct possibility. We can probably prepare an full 60 min worth of music in 3-4 months, if we really want to do it. The planning and administrative arrangements are probably what would pull us back, given that most of us are working adults with busy schedules.

Still, one can hope right? Really..好期待那么一天快点儿来临。。。

On recordings and reforming

Wow! I am impressed to find our concert recordings all up on the net available for download, as early as yesterday - one day after the concert itself! That's great work - i assume from Jin (since he was the one who sent that email to inform us)! Even kuja was very impressed. :)

So far, i've only managed to hear a few of the songs, but they didnt sound too crappy, i must say! And it also cemented my gut feeling that the small ensemble sounded great. Even the smoked out runs were well camouflaged and sped through like nobody's business :P

I thought Guitaresque sounded pretty good too. Much of it due to the sound balance which was just about right.. only the lower bass notes (my part) was a little muffled and under. But other than that, melodies came through.

Masak's Suteki also sounded ok on recording, except that Snowparang's folk guitar was really, really soft.. funnily, the lower voices (Alex's cbass, and my prime part) were very outstanding, while Yen's Alto part sounded subdued. Maybe its becos her score had lotsa chords/arpeggios, and the alto guitar isnt really suited for that?

Will check out the other recordings soon...

Zhiqiang sms-ed me yesterday, and brought up the issue of mitosis again. Said he couldnt hand-over to the next Comm when these thorny issues not settled. Also mentioned that Leo has got to start coordinating the practices for Japan trip, and this issue is sort of getting in the way.

Grrrr.. i had to suppress my initial reactions - which was to simply ignore his sms. What the FXXX?? one day after the concert, and this guy's already asking me to cho-kang! But i have to say he is quite siow on also lah.. afterall, he could just as easily bo-chap and hand over whatever shit there is to the next poor chap taking over. But he didnt.. and that sense of responsibility has to be applauded, I gotta give him that. That is something our MD appears to be lacking in, in more than one way...

So, grudgingly, i complied with his request, and proceeded to type out a long email, sent out to all those old birds playing in the small ensemble, calling for a meeting to trash things out.

Now let's see if we can get a substantial group of people interested... Afterall, if we don't get at least that 12-15 senior players committed to play on together, there's absolutely NO POINT doing any of this. But if we DO have this group of mutants who want to make it happen, then i say:

Let the party begin! REFORMASI !!

Genus 2006

And yes.. the much anticipated and at the same time dreaded Genus annual concert has finally come to a close. It was kinda exciting to be playing in two small groups plus the mini-ensemble, so that explains the anticipation part. The dread that follows stems from the fact that we are now faced with the difficult decision of what to do after the concert.

Not that the concert didn't go well. It was, IMHO - ok. Really..

Capriol was smooth, and i was pretty impressed with the kind of tightness the ensemble showed when handling the many little intricacies of the suite (namely the quick change of expressions and tempo throughout), especially since it was the opening piece of the concert.

And on that note - may i add that it must have been no fun sitting out on the stage (like fishes in a tank) for a half hour, with audience still strolling into the hall at 1945 hr. Reason being - there was a major cock-up at the reception booth (ticketing) area, resulting in long queues of people not seen since the "bak kua ones during CNY" (quote from OG).

The concert finally started at 1950 hr. Thank goodness...

Masak's Suteki went on with no hiccups, as expected i may add with some pride. The only small downside was latter revealed to me thru my harshest critic (yah, the b'day gal), that the sound balance was off and that the chords played by yen's alto and snowparang's folk guitar was too soft. Alex's cbass was said to be "dunno what he's playing". Still, i figured we did well enuff to get the nods from many of the younger audience (esp. those who know the song thru FFX)

To me, the small ensemble's job was well executed. Even though YY's concert day rendition of the Spirited Away prime solo was just a little too expressivo for some of us, including Owls who had a stunned and bemused look on his face during that few bars of music, we still carried the piece with confidence and i think it showed to the listening public. Farandole was equally convincing, though not before we really smoked out the audience at the fast running notes 2/3 way thru the song. But the song was played with enuff gusto to earn us some praises latter on from friends amongst the audience. Kudos to Owls too for the great effort in his arrangements!

Next came... (oh shit..) Handel. Our concerto gross(o)..
Given the kinda expectation i held for the piece (which was really not much), i have to say it wasn't TOO badly done. Of course, the usual slips up were there; the missing running notes; the lapses in concentration - given the long duration of the piece; the weirdness of the conductor 'conducting' with his face!??!? (again, THE critic strikes mercilessly). But at the end of the day, the song withstood its tormented lashing and wounds, and somehow managed to run through without breaking stride. I guess that must be applauded, and to a certain degree, even seen as a victory. Guess there is only so much the Genus Angel can do lah... :P

The Interval was another highlight of the day. During the soundcheck earlier, i was politely requested by ZQ to attend the reception during the concert interval. (How can i say no to the man-0f-the-day, the President???) So, there i was mingling with the "VIPs". But it was not a wasted trip, as i expected. I got to have a little chat with Ms Ho Siew Ling (who seemed to be a CFA staff for the longest time i could remember), and Ms Chua Beng Hwee. It was interesting how they saw the concert till that point. Comments like "i liked the concert!", "it was very interesting(???!!?)", "i think the standard improved a lot" were coming hard and fast. I'm left guessing whether these are sincere remarks, or simply just polite ones, or even worse, they were meant to justify their appointment of a certain Music Director... Whatever...

The Huifen/Songyi duet came and went quietly and quickly. I wasnt able to catch most of it, as i was busy doing last minute tuning backstage. But from what little i heard (THE critic commented that the audience also heard very little... hmm ), it sounded rather meek and unsure. But still nevertheless - pleasant.

Dredlock & Along the Edge was played to tempo and as a performer, i felt we did relatively well. Other than the occasional rough edges that showed when we negotiated the more technically demanding bits, the 2 pieces cruised along with relative ease. Alex's decision to snip off a couple of bars of music early in Along was quickly sorted out and he recovered well. Certainly not our best performance, but given concert circumstances, i have no complains.

Pain is the one song which i have not heard. Not once. Not during the sound test, not during any rehearsals, and not during the concert itself. The only bits i caught was nearing the end of the piece, when i managed to hear what sounded like a very out-of-tune singer, trying to raise above a loud mixture of elaborate sounds... Can't comment beyond that though.

There was a series of loud thumping of heavy footsteps following Prisilla's annoucement for the conductor of the next piece -La Partida. What a joke! This fella was actually lying on the floor at backstage, and got up just in time to run to the side of the stage to make an entrance. Either he is crazy, or he is simply an attention seeker... not sure which is worse. But anyway, the piece sounded good, which was all the more surprising given the fact that it must have been one of the least rehearsed piece in the ensemble repertoire this year...

I liked the last piece - Spring Overture. I am very impressed with Melissa. I thought she did a fantastic job last year with Princess Mononoke, and followed up this year with another good one. Alex did a decent job of conducting the piece also, though i had a good laugh at his matrix-style arms swing somewhere in the middle of the piece (i think). Maybe audience found it very impressive even. :) The only thing i didnt really approve of was that some of the percussion instruments were way too loud, and it sort of stick out like a sore thumb in the middle of the music. Hopefully it didnt sound like that to the audience, who may be hearing a totally different sound from what i heard at stage end.

Fortunately - no encore. We've had enuff of those over the last decade to last for a long long time.. :)

11th March preparations

I am not talking about preparing for Genus concert lah...

Rather, its the day my lovely wife celebrates her birthday!! And this year, to 'make up' for not being able to celebrate with her ON the actual day itself (i am performing in the concert mah.. ), i've got be a little on the ball. Otherwise, will kenna super nova, or whatever spell it is that KUJA casts.. Owls may be able to help me out on this.. Afterall, he probably has a phD on Final Fantasy.

Anyway...

whew! Finally manged to find that elusive shop an Ann Siang Rd to buy those fanciful candies, after a hot and frustrating 15 min walking about like a fool, in the hot 35 degrees celsius hot S'pore sun. Why am i doing that? oh well.. here's the (short) story..

It started with the copy of the newspaper call Urban, kindly distributed by the unseen 'uncle' every Thurday morning at doorstep of my home. Its actually part of the Thursday edition of the Straits Time, but it has become the MOST popular part of the newspaper to Ping. You see, every morning, i'm usually the one who picks up the newspaper, lugs in out of the home, pops it into my car, and then have a slow read over breakfast, or in office. For her, she'll usually just flip the pages for interesting/important news late at night.

But the Urban is different...

So come Thursday, she'll automatically 'volunteer' to help carry the papers as we trot to the carpark. And the first thing she'll do once on the car, is to scurry through the usually colourful pages of Urban for some nice looking bags/shoes/clothes, etc.., or even some quick tip on where's the latest shopping fixes. Most of the time though, after flipping through the pages, she'd just sigh, and either:

1) comment nonchalantly that there's nothing interesting this week...sigh..
2) sigh noticeably louder and comment on that nice looking branded bag, which cost about the price of an Asturias guitar, or sometimes even more than my Kohno guitar

However, the 9th March edition of Urban was different... afterall, it is her birthday week!!??!

This time, she just stared intently at an advert of some nice looking candies, and pointed repeatedly to them. No words were needed beyond that little, yet obvious gesture.

fast foward to 10th March afternoon, 2 pm. at Ann Siang road...

The shop was supposed to be at Ann Siang road what!!! where the heck is it????

After frantically walking up and down the small street, and getting not-a-little lost (even ventured over the Club street!), i finally found the not-so-eye-catching shop at a street corner. And... ta-dah!







Some good-looking and expensive candies.. (i hope they're good tasting though..)




And now, for the limit break...

Hope i've done enough to be 'pardoned' this year.

Why does Genus concert have to be on the SAME day as her birthday???

The Last 8

ops.. i was wrong! So arsenal managed to squeeze past the bunch of old galacticos at Real, and poor liverpool fans.. haha (not that i really mind)

Looks like this year might just be Barcelona's year. With the squad they have, and the way they're playing at the moment, they're arguably the best football club, and certainly the most entertaining to watch!

So.. after this round of knock outs, here the last 8!

Barcelona
Arsenal
AC Milan
Juventus
Lyon
Benfica
Villarreal
Inter Milan or Ajax Amsterdam (match postponed) <-- hmm..wonder why

Chelsea is OUT !!

I am typing this post a littled dazed due to the lack of sleep from last night's vigil over my television set.

But hey, it was worth it! Afterall, i got to witness the utter destruction of Chelsea at the hands of Barca. More importantly, i should say, i was really happy to see the arrogant grin wiped off the face of Jose Mourinho. It was truly satisfying...

But i digress...

The match itself was not really the thriller most football fans have expected, given the recent history between the 2 powerhouses of club football in Europe. Most neutrals like me (okie, i admit, i am not really a neutral when it comes to Chelsea. ) who are not fans of either club, were looking forward to a match with lots of controversies, lots of pushing and shoving, and of course, lots of goals! But it wasnt to be.

Right from the whistle, after a tense opening 10-15 minutes of play, it became evident what both clubs had set out to do - die die don't concede a goal. The maths is simple, really. If Barca were to concede, especially in the early stages of the game, it would put them in real pressure for the remainder of the match, as Chelsea would just need to pop in one more odd goal to win 2-0. The mindset of the Barca players would definitely be altered if Chelsea HAD grabbed an early goal.

On the other hand, if Chelsea were to concede a goal, it would virutally be the death knell for them, as they would need at least 2 goals to "breakeven" (they were down 1-2 at Stamford Bridge, from the 1st leg), and 3 goals to win. Even Chelsea (and Mourinho), in their supreme arrogance knew what a task it would be, to score 3 goals against Barca at the Nou Camp.

That being the case, both teams played really tight midfield and defence, and with so little room for the playmakers of each team to roam, chances were at a premium. In fact, i was so bored after the 1st half, i contemplated giving up and going back to sleep. But somehow, i endured and kicked myself up for the 2nd half.

It began in similar fashion to the 1st, but Barca were beginning to show more signs of penetrating the Chelsea defence. Probably due to the tiring legs after a tense 1st half... In particular, Ronaldinho was magnificent with his one touches and lotsa audacious backheels and flicks to team mates. I think he is probably the only player in the world who has the skills and confidence to try out those 'tricks' in such a tightly contested and crucial champions league match as this one - AND to successfully execute many of those tricks he attempted. It isnt difficult to see why he was named the World Footballer of the year... (sigh.. if only Man United had bought him over some years ago when he was still 'in the market' )

As the 2nd half petered out with the score still at 0-0, you could sense the desparation building up on the Chelsea camp, as Mourinho threw in Gudjohnson and Crespo to sharpen the attack play. To be fair, Crespo did have a good chance to put Chelsea ahead, but his attempted toe-poke went agonisingly wide of the Barca goal post. And then... finally, we saw the flash of brilliance that lit up the relatively dour match. And it was that man again - Ronaldinho!

Picking up the ball some 40 yards from Chelsea's goal, he somehow side-footed and danced past 3 Chelsea defenders to power a low drive past the diving Petr Cech. 1-0 ! The stadium erupted instantly with cheers of joy and jubilation, and it made me sit up a little straighter on my bed as well. It was a truly marvelous piece of individual flair and magic we witnessed from the Brazilian. One that deserved to win the match, and the battle.

Chelsea did score a late late consolation goal, courtesy of Frank Lampard's penalty, after John Terry was deemed to be fouled after charging thru into the Barca penalty area. But it made little difference, other than saving a little of Mourinho's face. (muahahaha!! )

hmm.. with Chelsea now OUT of the Champions' League, we shall wait to see how the remaining 2 English clubs fare. My gut feel... Arsenal will LOSE to Real Madrid, despite bringing a 1 goal advantage from the 1st leg at Bernabeu. Liverpool might just WIN, after some extra time/penalty shoot outs (as they always seem to be unable to win matches based on goals in open play)

Yawn..time to catch some sleep..

Of Genus, mitosis, and Japan (Part 3)

Japan (Japanese: 日本, Nihon or Nippon, literally "sun source") - an East Asian country surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Sea of Japan, the Philippine Sea, the East China Sea, and the Sea of Okhotsk. *source: Wikipedia *

It is also the place where the Niibori guitars originated.

FACT 1: It has been more than 20 years since Genus has been performing with these guitars, and we have always been keen to publicise the fact that we ARE the first and leading Niibori guitar orchestra in the region (ie. SEA). As a matter of fact, i believe there aren't that many such guitar orchestras in SEA to start with, and probably most of those are found in Singapore.

FACT 2: It has been more than 10 years since Genus has ventured out of Singapore to perform in ANY sort of performance/engagements. Since my undergraduate days in Genus in the mid 90s, this has been the norm. Each time the Committee proposed and planned for an overseas trip, the idea would suffer a quick and silent death. Dreams about going overseas for an exchange, or a guitar orchestra competition, remained as what they were - dreams, as no Committee had the time, energy, nor guts to carry the "burden" of following up on the planning details. Thus, with the handing over of duties to the next Committee every March/April period, the dream also gets handed over and forgotten quickly - buried under the more impending and mundane duties like planning for Welcome Tea, Matriculation ,etc..

FACT 3: Genus has been invited by our Japanese counterparts from the Niibori academy to visit Japan for a 2 week exchange programme! This was following the visit to Singapore by the Tsu Ensemble last year, where Genus invited them to perform for us at our CFA Dance Theatre. Japanese, being the ever polite and good host they usually are, reverted to us on a proposed performance 'tour' to various schools/locations in Japan. An ad-hoc Committee was thus formed, comprising mostly seniors members of Genus, to coordinate and plan the Japan trip. So that this time, the dream would finally come true..

So what do all these have to do with Operation Mitosis? Lots...

Firstly, the trip is scheduled sometime in June/July 2006, which means that whoever is selected by Dom to represent Genus, would probably have to meet up for practices between March and June.
Secondly, with an estimated performing strength of 20 people, Dom has already hinted that most like he will pick the seniors/alumni members, as these folks are the real "pillars" of Genus, and can be trusted to put up a credible performance in Japan. Obviously nobody wants to go to Japan and make a fool of themselves by playing some lousy shit, and worse still, playing out-of-tune and not knowing it!

To me, this presents a huge problem and dilema. With the R&R concert ending in March, i believe that ideal time to bring about mitosis would be the one-two weeks following that. Many seniors are considering leaving Genus after the concert this year, based on the general feel and mood (and of cos, based on the gossips and hearsay) of the lot. Thus, if we DO want to bring forth a formal proposal to CFA on the formation of a new guitar entity, we would have to garner some support and commitment from these senior players. Afterall, without a committed group of at least 12-15 players, i don't feel that we have a case and there's no point even going further, considering the amount of effort and troubles that mitosis would entail.

Yet, this 12-15 senior players are exactly the SAME group that Dom is targetting for the Japan trip! As of now, i do not know if these players are, in fact, interested on going to Japan, but i believe some of them would surely relish the opportunity to visit the Niibori schools. I myself being one of them... how i wish i could be there...

However, what would be the consequences of this group of players actually going to Japan, representing Genus, using the Genus fund to subsidise their trip, and then come back to Singapore only to declare - We are quitting Genus. Not only that, we are joining/forming a separate Niibori guitar group that has nothing to do with Genus.

I don't know how other people feel about this, but that sounds really callous to me...

Think about those other Genus members who would love to go Japan, but would have missed out on the opportunity because there're a handful of these senior players who have seemingly a "guaranteed" spot.
In a truly meritocratic society, there's no fault to be found. May the best player win the spot and carry the Genus flag high in Japan. But is this what we really want?

I am forced to relate this situation with the so-called auditions of small groups, each time we prepare for a performance/concert. Now, if it was really based solely on merit (ie. which small group can play better), i would really, really feel sorry for the junior(s) who had joined a small group and wanted to play in the concert. Why, senior groups like Masak and Guitaresque could easily take up ALL the small group slots! What's there to audition then??

Coming back to the Japan trip, i feel that players who are eventually chosen and decide to go to Japan to perform as part of Genus, should stay in Genus to give back to the group. The experience gained from the trip should benefit Genus, especially the younger members who have missed out on the opportunity this time. For instance, if the players attend a workshop or even a sectional in the Niibori school, they could bring back what they see and hear, and introduce any good practices that they learned to Genus. But whatever it is, they should not just adopt a "thank you and good bye" attitude. That is my personal opinion...

Sigh... so should we just give up Japan and carry out mitosis, or should we forget about mitosis totally, and just enjoy the trip while we can. Or could we just bury our conscience for a while and go Japan, and STILL carry out mitosis when we are back?


Personally, i don't think i am prepared to live with the consequences of that 3rd option...

Of Genus, mitosis, and Japan (Part 2)

On the topic of mitosis..

Snowparang has pointed out to me that this is not exactly "mitosis", since it doesnt result in the creation of 2 duplicate entities. Rather, the end result may be 2 very different creatures, sharing the same environment and resources.. That part i have to agree. What i do not think will happen, is the original cell 'suffering' from any degenerative backlash. ( But whatever the case, i will still be using the word "mitosis", one - for lack of a better word to use and two - Operation Mitosis sounds quite impressive. )

Time and again, I have debated this same issue with Alex and Owls.. but no conclusion can be reached. That's because nobody knows for sure what WILL happen to Genus (as we know it), should it ever revert back to its former days of catering purely for NUS undergraduates, as a place for learning and enjoyment of guitar playing, while socialising and forging new bonds of friendship. But that is precisely it!

The "Genus" as we know it today has evolved throughout the years, in terms of the make-up of its membership. Especially evident in the recent 3-4 years, this trend has resulted in a slightly 'top-heavy' kind of distribution, as compared to the 'bottom-heavy' scenario years ago when i was in my undergraduate days. Let me explain:

'Top-heavy' refers to the situation whereby there is a (relatively) large cohort of senior players in the ensemble, in relation to the entire membership population. To me, a player is considered senior when he/she is either in the final year of NUS studies, or has already graduated (could be doing post-grad, or working), and returns as an Alumni player. One characteristic of such players is that they have played in the ensemble for at least 3 years or more, and usually would have developed a certain level of technical abilities, together with a decent sense of listening and musical ideas.
I do not have the exact figures with me (i guess i can get the numbers if i really want to.. just lazy lah), but a very rough estimate would put the percentage of senior players in the ensemble as 30%.

This is in stark contrast to the "old" days whereby the seniors are a rare breed in the ensemble, and the Alumni considered 'untouchables'. I remembered when i was in my 1st year in Genus, we had a grand total of ...*drumroll* ONE alumni playing in the ensemble. Back then, the 3rd years students were considered the lao chiaos, and any 4th year students were SUPER lao chiaos. I have a feeling the percentage of these breed was about 10% or less. That is the 'Bottom Heavy' era of the past.

IMHO, if Operation Mitosis were to take place, it would simply put Genus back into its original roots. It would become a place for younger players (undergraduates) to learn, and really enjoy the process of playing guitar, without too much stress from their seniors, who grow increasingly annoyed by the apparent lack of musical progress of the ensemble as a whole. The conductor will then have a group of players of more similar abilities, and he can better judge the need for Sectionals and mini-ensemble practice sessions to advance the preparations of the group. In other words, he will not be "misled" into thinking the group is playing wonderfully when in fact, only the front row of seniors are producing the bulk of the sound. Note: The Pareto principle (80-20 rule)

One clear objective of the new entity from Mitosis, would then be to uphold the ROI that the bureacrats at CFA so desparately wants - in terms of better performing standards, better musical variety, and overall, a better image for CFA as a mover of the Arts in Singapore. And in truth, a more compact and technically competent small ensemble (like the current one that Owls has initiated) would be in a better position to achieve those targets, as compared to the current Genus, with all its 'fringe' players - no offence intended.

Sure, there would some problems created and difficulties to handle. The obvious one being the limited resources (includes instruments and practice venue) that would have to be shared by the 2 groups. Logistically it may be more tiresome and there could be accountability issues. Another probable concern would be the "talent drain" that some Genus loyalist (kekeke..) claims would lead to the ultimate demise of Genus.
Some of these worries are indeed, noteworthy issues but nothing that cannot be solved with proper planning and execution. Other worries are .. well, simply needless worries which may or may not materialise at all.

At the end of it all, i have arrived at a seemingly simple conclusion:

Operation Mitosis may not just be an interesting idea that we continue to dabble with..
It is probably becoming inevitable.

But therein lies a problem... Japan.


To be continued...

Of Genus, mitosis, and Japan (Part 1)

What has Genus got to do with mitosis and Japan?
Well, apparently, quite a fair bit. Especially given the recent run of events.

First, life in Genus has been 'interesting' recently, to say the least. With the concert up in a weeks' time, with stress levels of some individuals going up a notch due to the heightened sense of urgency and anticipation, you'd expect fireworks and gunpowder to feature in rehearsal sessions. Events of last Saturday was a classic example of such a scenario.

However, it is clear to me that many senior players were already unhappy with the way things were, way before the concert deadline drew closer. In fact, things were not sitting too well ever since... yep.. the changing over of conductor for the ensemble. Mr Alex A may be getting on in terms of years, and he may never again have that kind of energy and spirit to leap and jump on stage (as he did when i was still in my early years in Genus ) , BUT to many of us, he is still a figure we respect and loved, as a kind mentor, a patient teacher and most importantly, a friend.

The new conductor - Dom, certainly fitted the bill in terms of his qualifications. Afterall, how many persons in S'pore can you find, with such impressive credentials as :
1) Degree in Music (Guitar)
2) Winner (1st) of guitar competition
3) Have experience as a conductor of an ensemble in CFA (albeit a not-so-good one lah..)

To me, last year (2004-2005) was not a good gauge of things, as Dom came in almost half-way thru', and Raj and I had already fixed certain repertoire for the year. So, all he had to do was to take over the pieces and bring them up to performing standards. Not that it was tough, given that he was dealing with the Performing Orchestra back then. But even then, after a time, word got around... irritating style of conducting ensemble, doesn't do his 'homework', hence changing his mind every other practice, shouting at people during rehearsals, etc..etc..
Result? Some seniors decided - it was enough. They left.

Those who remained probably felt like me, give it one more year. Maybe all he need is time.. things may get better.

Looking at this year's concert repertoire and the general feel amongst many of these players, i would have to say, it might have gotten even worse. 2005-2006 was always going to be tough for Genus, made more so because of the extra concert that we had to prepare. Although.. it has to be said, that HAD Dom listened to feedback, he would have sent teams of competent small groups to play for the FR concert, and focused on the Arts Fest (R&R) instead. But no, we had to prepare 2 separate repertoire for 2 concerts, spaced 2 months apart. Well done...

Add to that his decision to almost 'scrap' sectionals completely in the initial period, saying that sectionals were a waste of time, and all that was needed was for SLs to work out fingerings and somehow pass them on to members. And viola! Everyone should be able to play together during ensemble! The result? We lost truckloads of the better 1st years, as there werent enough sectional sessions to gel them, and to make them feel a part of a team.

The formation of the small-ensemble was a form of a 'relief', away from the dry repertoire, away from the cramped style of conducting, basically away from Dom.. I believe it all started from the performance at the Guitarist Network last year. I think everyone who played felt pleasantly surprised that actually playing together with like-minded peers of more equal abilities could be much more rewarding. Certainly i felt good playing interesting pieces, and feeling that the 2 hours spent each week was worth the time. It was efficient, it was rewarding, and most importantly, it was fun!

That was when it struck some of us.

Mitosis - the process by which a cell separates its duplicated genome into two identical halves

What if... we could form a alternate and separate entity, under the flag of CFA (bo-bian, since we need the Niibori guitars), and play and perform in our own concerts???

We could play our own choice of pieces, our own arrangements, we could accept only players who have attained a certain level of technical ability, and who shares the same kind of passion for guitar ensemble playing as us. And all these, without the interference of a conductor whom we cannot work with.

To be continued....

Azumi 2 - A ninja/samurai flick

I just watched this japanese swordfighting movie, starring the pretty Aya Ueto, as Azumi, a trained assasin, caught in a feudal war between some warlords or whatever.

Actually, the movie's plot is quite idoitic lah.. and there's no "twist" or anything, but then who watches these kinda movie for plot anyway rite? Basically, its about this master (ugly looking old foggie) who wants to go to war and destroy this other master (another ugly looking old foggie), and the latter guy hopes to avert war by sending assasins to murder the first guy (huh??.. whatever :PP )

Anyway, as if i care about the plot. Like i said, i liked the movie becos:

1) it has some interesting fighting sequences, featuring normal kah-kia ninjas, with flying dart attacks; as well as some "boss" fights, featuring quite impressive looking foes (one 'boss' is a large muscular guy in a mask, who swings a huge cleaver-like weapon, which he can throw like a boomerang! it can cut throw human torsos, tree trunks, etc..)

2) it has its share of eye-candy. The lead, Azumi (Aya Ueto) is a young sweet thing, but she sure can swing her samurai sword, and she looked rather impressive as an assasin. ( hmm.. female assasins are definitely more effective killing weapons.. especially if they are THAT attractive!)

3) it features 'special weapons'! as mentioned above, the flying cleaver is one example. In one other 'boss' fight scene, Azumi takes on this Monkey-like guy who spins a web trap using the bamboo trunks in the forest to trap her. The 'web' is made of this material that can even cut a falling leaf into half! whoo hoo!

Phew..

Now really looking forward to some great movies coming out in the next month or two... BL told me he saw the trailer of "Silent Hill". Man.. that is a certain must-watch for horror afficianados like me! Another interesting one coming up is "the Hills have eyes", which apparently is a remake of an old Wes Craven movie(?)...

Haha..