recalcitrance

to all my juniors,
good job!
i really enjoyed the performance! =)

i remembered my SYF (or any other competitions) quite clearly.
which part of it you may ask.
i dont really rmb the exact day, but i remembered:

how we toiled and practiced everyday.
how we all became better musicians than before the SYF.
how we all got to become such great friends with each other.
how we all look back on this journey and not remember what we lost, but what we gained.

its the journey that matters more.
and its the memory of it that will seriously be with us for a very long time.

a very meaningful song I'd like to dedicate to everyone i know.
to my bestest friends and all the marist band family.
for all the memories you've given me.
be it good or bad, you guys definitely made a difference in my life.
and to all the juniors in MSSB, good job and you guys definitely made the big band family proud.

Carrie Underwood - Whenever You Remember

When you look back on times we had
I hope you smile
And know that through the good and through the bad
I was on your side when nobody could hold us down
We claimed the brightest star
And we, we came so far
And no they won’t forget

(Chorus)
Whenever you remember times gone by
Remember how we held our heads so high
When all this world was there for us
And we believe that we could touch the sky
Whenever you remember, I’ll be there
Remember how we reached that dream together
Whenever you remember

When you think back on all we’ve done
I hope you’re proud
When you look back and see how far we’ve come
It was our time to shine
And nobody could hold us down
They thought they’d see us fall
But we, we stood so tall
And no we won’t forget

Whenever you remember times gone by
Remember how we held our heads so high
When all this world was there for us
And we believe that we could touch the sky
Whenever you remember, I’ll be there
Remember how we reached that dream together
Whenever you remember

Yeahhh, Ooohh

We claimed the brightest star
And we, we came so far
And know that we showed them all
And no they won’t forget

Yeahhh

Whenever you remember times gone by
Remember how we held our heads so high
When all this world was there for us
And we believe that we could touch the sky
Whenever you remember, I’ll be there
Remember how we reached that dream together
Whenever you remember

Whenever you remember

Ooohh, whenever you remember



-------------------------------------------


For some life lasts a short while, but the memories it holds last forever.
- Laura Swenson

2008 was the year of many many fond memories and happenings.
5 things/events that i remember most fondly (or hated with much bated breath) are:

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1. WRITERS' STRIKE
For those of you who don't know what the writers' strike is. The writers to all major american sitcoms or dramas went on a strike, protesting for 14 weeks and 2 days. holy shit. that meant that all dramas and sticoms like my favourite shows were all suspended. BECAUSE THERE'S NO ONE TO WRITE THE SCRIPT. wth. definitely something i hated the most in this year. fortunately, reality tv shows went on as they are unscripted. maybe thats the reason I didn't die of boredom. but otherwise, this year's television was really great. almost everything I watched produced good stuff for viewers. i love foreign tv. but well some said little nonya is damn nice also. so perhaps can give mediacorp some kudos for producing something that generated all these hype. haha.

2. MARIS STELLA SYMPHONIC BAND ALUMNI
Well, looks like we made it another year in this organisation. I honestly wonder how much longer we can all stay in the band and make music. when Uni starts, when schedules get tighter, it seems that if we do want to stay in this band, we'll have to either sacrifice something or manage our time really really well. but hey, i believe this band is just another wonderful platform for us to meet, chat and what not, and we should totally make use of that. very glad that kel and bernard decided to come back again following a N year hiatus. fueled by the win in SIBF, let's see if we can make a miracle in 2009 to get enough sponsorships to make people wanna go for WMC. ha!

3. TABLE TENNIS
Following the nation's sudden passion for the sport, the gang started learning the sport a few months back under jinyan's persuasion and we never looked back. It was like learning a new sport altogether, just like how we learnt badminton. Table tennis (or TT) is now just another part of our lives.

4. ORD
i wouldn't say i remember a thing about how i felt before i ORD or when i got my IC. it seems just like another ritual that every guy goes thru and I'm glad i finally completed these 2 years. to think that i was quite sad after coming back from the hongkong trip with the gang because i am due to enlist 3 days later, thinking how time is passing by DAMN slowly and totally thinking that the ORD date would never come. it came though, slowly and steadily. but it still came.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

i guess its just these 4 things that are etched quite deeply in my mind.
with that, i happily round 2008 off by setting 9 new year resolutions for 2009.
some are relatively easier to achieve and some (like no. 1) sounds damn difficult.

1. SAVE UP!
2. do well in school when it starts.
3. pack my room more frequently. haha =P
4. exercise more to prevent myself from expanding any further!
5. learn to appreciate the many good things in life.
6. be safe and healthy.
7. buy only cheap and good things (contridicting no.1 but buying stuff seems rather essential.)
8. spend more time with my family and also my friends.
9. last but not least, enjoy life.

this year was great, until lehmen brothers collapsed.
after which the new year's outlook is what is described as GRIM.
totally harry-potter-like. LOL.

therefore i'm extremely glad that we're entering uni next year.
by the time we graduated, hopefully the market would have picked up a little.

for all within my social circles,
the marist gang,
the vjc people,
my family,
thanks for a great year and i wish you another great year ahead.




2009 is what i call a highly anticipated year.
i can't wait.

totally happy day.
full of ups and downs.
haha... i'm quite glad for mr. chiang.

for topping the first div and also getting us into the finals!
haha.
i can't wait to play in the esplanade yet again!

yea! =)

we did it.
and happy 22nd bday daniel yiau!

with one competition over,
it seemed that we were going into things with a little too high expectations.

with the second one just 10 hours away,
it seem like crunch time to pull ourselves together.
nerves better don't get the better if me this time.

a gold was 80%, now its 90%.

the stage is bigger,
the stakes are higher,
the judges are definitely more critical.

i can't wait to hear our form in the band room later.
and hopefully, we bring the carrot back this time.

let's do our best, and hope for the best.

it was a good performance in my opinions.
the pressure was off.
haha...
=)

the last hurdle is SIBF.
honestly, i can't wait for it to be over.
and i can finally rest. =S

its so tough sleeping so little every single day.

including today. haha...
i think i've a 8 hr sleep coming up? which is totally not enough.
lol...

ok. i present, the eupho section of MSSBA for NBC '08 and SIBF '08!
i had so much fun making music, jokes with u guys!
let's stick together and maybe go for WMC '09?

=)



its a low quality pic.
don't ask me why, ask daniel yiau. hahaha.

=P

i can't wait for tomorrow.

and i also can't wait for this two weeks to pass ASAP.
i'm so physically drained.
today was the first day i reached home before 10pm in like... 2 or 3 weeks.

but it was quite a relief to know that everything will be over soon.
=)

i honestly hope for a good result this coming thurs.
i know we can do it if we really want to.

looks like we were kinda robbed.

no, i'm not being a sore loser.
but well.

like wy's nick, the truth has surfaced.

and i believe it did.
with time, and the individual judge scores announced, i believe everyone either have to believe that it was totally rigged.

haha...
i hate such politics.

that's why i don't think i will actually survive well in an office setting.


we had it in the bag, we really did.
well done people! i guess we can be proud of ourselves no matter wad.


as quoted from a website...

"Associate Professor Ho Hwee Long is a widely recognized and respected figure in music circles. He possesses a Masters' degree in Music Education from Northwestern University, Illinois, USA, and has studied band conducting under the tutelage of Professor John Paynter. Since 1967, he has an impressive record of achievements in the field of Singapore band music. He is currently an Associate Professor and the music coordinator of the Division of Visual and Performing Arts in the National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University. He conducts the NIE Symphonic Band, and the National Junior College Symphonic Band. His love for music and beliefs in exacting standards has seen his bands make their mark in the local band scene."


oh his beliefs in music definitely allowed his bands to make their mark.


(oops, what mark did they make?)

we should just wait for the official release of individual judge scoring.
we'd see more light.
but that would probably make me even angrier.




screw him!
maybe someone really did.
and let's all work hard!

the aftermath of everything is so real.

just like how waiyip was talking about how it'd be so empty after the month of july w/o all the alumni pracs.
it'd honestly be kinda empty.
the alumni band had not only helped us realise the satisfaction from making good music.
it has already become an avenue where we meet up.
have lunch and talk cock/business like we used to in secondary school.

it's really hard to imagine us being so tight and close to each other should this band not exist.
we won't even be talking about meeting three to four times a week.
we'd be fortunate enough should we be able to meet once a week.
catch a movie every fortnight.
or have a decent meal together every month.
the band had served more den a sole purpose of creating good music.
it brought people together.

oh and i learnt two new terms today...
BFF = Best Friends Forever.
and the other one i forgot le. haha...
hopefully, the band forged bonds between people that will go on to be BFF.

=)

listening to our recording last night made me more than satisfied with our performance.
its just because our time to shine even brighter is not at NBC.

天时，地利，人和。

our time had come before, and will come again, provided we work hard!
and i guess we will work hard.

=)

我们不是省油的灯！

haha.
things that do not break us will only make us stronger.
and i believe this will.

all the way, MSSBA!

the Maris Stella Symphonic Band Alumni added another gold to our collection.

i think we did well! haha...
managed another gold.
we should be proud of it.
especially when we never tried to emotionally blackmail our competitors using perfectly ridiculous reasons.

we played fair and square and we should be proud of that.

but it was soooo bitter sweet.
it had been such a long and tedious route.
every step of the way, it seems like we're only worrying abt music.
but thats so not true.

people have been trying to trip us on the way with stones.
its getting so frustrating for us to deal with:-

1. music.
2. bitches.

wait a minute.
maybe point number two should be a singular noun.
that bitch.
why can't we enjoy the process of music making and skip the back-stabbing part.

its nice to watch on tv (aka survivor) but definitely not nice in real life.
ain't our purpose to make good music?

enough of that bitch.

with that in mind,
let's work hard and charge forward!

=)

omg.

i am supposed to go to sleep.

haha. ok. i can't wait for tmr!
argh. its like... so much prep for just 20 mins on stage...
pls let us do well! =)


btw. this might be my last post since i vividly remembered how i almost lost my life two years back by:-

1. my heart pumping like at 300 bpm when the results are abt to be announced. i tot i'm in cardiac arrest.

2. almost screaming my lungs out literally when we realised we won 1st div.



so let's hope we get thru tmr safely.

=D

with the competitions draw even closer.

currently, i am

1. EXTREMELY sleep deprived.
2. a little excited.
3. VERY nervous
4. quite angry


its barely 3 days away!
heard some stupid news about some old baby was whining about something that the rules allowed.
well, since the rules allowed it, maybe u should just choke on your milk and shut the hell up.

a new template.
looks good eh! haha...
have been wanting to change it for so long.
finally i see something i kind of like.

i'm trying very very hard to think abt the last experience at NBC 2006.
but realised i couldnt remember anything except the cheering at the end!

haha. and i can't wait to experience it again.
if we can.

i can't wait for this sunday to come.
i honestly just want to get it over and done with and give the best i can.
its really tough juggling so many things at one go.
i wonder how people can do one million things at a time.

i just want everything to be over soon.

oh. and more sleep. much more sleep. =)