3.30.2009

The Afternoon Quickie

-Will not be posting till Wednesday. I THINK.
-Going to watch Oasis with ZT! SUNDAY! I'm gonna start a revolution from my bed. It's going to be crazy.
-2A & 2B photos soon!
-More photos & random craziness

-Believe it or not, Syafiq and I are going to try and join the next Street Fighter 4 Tournament. To get our asses handed back to us on 6 buttons and a joystick all in the name of good fun >.<
ARR I CAN'T WAIT!

3.29.2009

Paper Tigers~ Class of 2F 2009

Tuesday is Hell Day for me. 4C/4D, 2C, your class, and than 4F/4G. I wish I could give you guys 100% because your class really demands that, and more but I can't. By the time i come in, I don't look it, but I'm already half-dead.

I'm sure many people have told you guys that most of you guys are darlings, and that's true. 

I think I'm just saying I wish I did a much better job with you guys, spreading my attention more evenly. I learnt alot from teaching you guys though. And everytime I manage to not mess up your class I give myself a mental ^5.

Rachel's a very nice girl! She always looks like she just wants to get on with the lesson and is secretly griping about how immature the boys are. Or something.

Kenji's art!

This is Benjamin. When he's not shouting in my class, he's blowing up his art folder into a pillow and than sleeping on it.


Good girls~

It's funny I found out teaching you guys, that the most notorious boys in school, the ones who break the rules every chance they get, who test the teacher as often as they can, who pick a fight with most everyone They never dare to get their picture taken. It's funny really. I've thought of a few possible reasons.

-they pretend they're minor celebrities
-they're afraid of getting recorded down on (digital) film as (kinda) bad people
-they think I'm going to stick their face on some almost naked body of a 89year old man to get back at them for being total asses in my class (which actually doesn't sound like a bad idea)
-they don't have balls. I mean have issues with their self confidence
-they think they're ugly (which they really aren't, mostly)

But I still don't know which one's right. Baffling really, that all the time they'll be trying to get everyone's attention and step up to most anything but really turn away when there's a camera. If you ever want to keep naughty boys away, bring a camera.


Melvyn~

You're going up on Speech Day!

Jason trying to block out the camera Lol >.<

There's no way to pronounce his name without being offensive. Yew Fatt. Hard to live with :p Good Luck in the future you'll need it!

Think everyone goes through a phase in their life where they're camera-shy. How cute HAHA.

3.28.2009

Coldplay + Jay-Z Remix

Bring on tha Freakin' Drums!
So apt, for this blog, at this moment.
So it's tough being Bobby Brown
To be Bobby then, you have to be Bobby now
And the question is, "Is to have had and lost
Better than not having at all?"
Because I'm...

Oh and I'm, just waiting ‘til the shine wears off

Him Lim

-I remember you.
-I'm not sure they'd like me wandering around. Going back to sign out one last time was a lame enough excuse. Let's try and think of a few more. ART REMEDIAL~!?
-Life. you don't always get what you want. Every teacher is different. He's trying to understand you guys the same way you're trying to understand him. Give both of you time :) and we all know y'all like me only cos I (try) don't scold you guys. (I'm sarcastic too)
-I don't do links. Not in the near future at least, I'd need to link like 300 people if I do. Too much work for too little returns.
-Probably won't go back to teach. After all the crying, if I went back, Anti-climax in Full HD 3D Surround Sound. Also, too much work for too little returns, and life shortening. Really.


On Lamp Posts and Trees

Today, rained from the sky.
from my nose, and from her eyes.

and I took the long way home
just to know again what it feels like to be alone.

3.26.2009

And it chars my heart to always hear you calling, calling for the good old days

There were no good old days.
These are the good old days.

Love Song For You From Tokyo

Some moments in your life, you're so impressed, awestruck by something so much you wish the rest of the world got a chance to witness what you just did. Those are special moments, and usually pretty fun.

It's Sunday morning 3a.m. and I'm quite sure I just returned from one of the most amazing things I'll ever have the fortune of enjoying. Alex (The Tall & Handsome One) and me returned from our first Explanade concert by a Japanese Jazz Band called Soil and "Pimp" Sessions. From my sizeable English vocabulary, I found almost no words could describe the experience. 

It was in the newspapers a few years ago when they came down to perform where I first read about them. I was very intrigued by their look really cos this is what they look like.

Back than I went on youtube and didn't seem to enjoy their music, and than recently I checked out the Mosaic website and saw them Back by Popular Demand. Which if you understand Singapore and our music festivals, it REALLY doesn't happen alot, if at all. So off I went to their myspace page and it was only after listening to them in the background for a long while before it started growing on me.

After asking something like 1500 boring people I was extremely surprised that Alex actually (already heard and liked their music and) WANTED to go to their gig. So we literally spent the last bit of $$ in our banks on the $58 ticket to see them.

So we reached Esplanade about 10:45, it was an awesome place very well designed, 

the concert hall itself was BEAUTIFUL. Wasn't as big as i thought it would be, but after a while I thought any bigger and the audience might be too far to see/feel the action and energy.

Than the lights dimmed, they all came out together, The Agitator said "ARE YOU READY TO PARTY" the music blasted, in 5 seconds most everyone was up on their feet dancing/cheering, Alex included (if you haven't seen me dance you don't want to).  Within 15 seconds I came to the conclusion that the Double Bassist is the best I've ever seen, same for the Drummer, Trumpeteer, Saxophonist, Pianist, and of course the Agitator (he agitates the crowd. MAD cool).

Weirdly it didn't feel all that foreign to me being in their concert because it looked alot like a punk rock concert that traded Guitars for a Double Bass, Brass and Keyboards .
It's really difficult to describe, but what ensued, was really 70 mins of crazy music. At times it's a cacophony of blazing music almost like it's a carnival, at times it's very dancey, at times slow, at times purposefully silent, and than roaring into life again. Crazy and definitely alot of fun. The energy was ALWAYS HIGH, I was permanently in awe (still am) of their skills, their amazing synergy and their courage to ALWAYS push the envelope, both in terms of music, and Live performance.


A very memorable example would be on one of Josei's (Piano) many jaw dropping solos, he was finger dancing ultra fast towards the highest notes on the right side of the piano. When he reached the left-most note, and there were no more notes to strike, he struck his finger on the wood just left of the left-most note instead, (producing a loud dull TOK! sound if that makes any sense) as if cursing the piano for not having a higher note for him to carry on. This created a very interesting kind of punctuation mark to the solo, plus it was super funny. And they had so many moments like those.

Throughout the concert me and Alex kept shouting YABAI!! Pretending they could hear us over the other cheering fans. :p

Motoharu (Saxophone) had the coolest outfit on that night, a ULTRA COOL Tshirt, with jarring coloured camo printed baggy pants, and ultra hi-top fisherman's hat cocked sideways. He would always be dancing, sweating, at one point standing on top of the bass drum, another point going into the stands, climbing on top of an empty seat and playing it up for the crowd, all while cranking out super music AT THE SAME TIME. Probably the most fun, free spirited performer I've seen in a very long while, with the technical chops to back it up.
Akita Goldman (Double Bass) was the least prominent one but even he stood out with his LOOONG flowing hair untied. I always wished he got maybe a good chance to solo or something. But still, he had some pretty aggressive bass lines to play, and really held the whole band together very very very well.
Midorin (Drums) looks alot like Kohta Watanabe from Duncan Crew Japan. Extremely consistent drummer, very interesting drumlines, super solid double freaking pedals. Just before he launches into the super fast parts he would take a split second to lick his thumb before murderously destroying his drum set. Freakin Killer soaked his overalls through and through by the end of the concert.
Tabu Zombie (Trumpet) proved that if you're a Rockstar, you can wear anything and still look cool. Case in point, Leopard print newspaper boy cap. Playing your music with every last ounce of energy your neck muscles can produce helps alot too. So does long curly hair and Gold & Black Hi-top sneakers (I THINK they were Supras).

President aka Shacho (Agitator). Where do I start. He looks like the Yakuza. Maybe that's why everyone listens to him. You have to give it up to anyone who can make a local crowd cheer and clap for every solo, pump fists in air, chant, sing, and basically go crazy. Never hogging the limelight, he instead draws it onto his band members. When crowd cheers for said band member, he tends to play even better and even harder, which makes crowd go even crazier which makes him play even better and it goes on and on. Beautiful really.

And when you put this few pieces together, it's really crazy. and I was just telling myself this is going to be a really difficult article to write because REALLY, no matter what I say, no words will do their music justice. 

When they finished, the crowd wasn't done and the Esplanade whole place cheered non-stop for an Encore before the Agitator walks out again. Best gig ever!


A stellar encore later (where everyone got to sing along), it was the After Party a.k.a AUTOGRAPH TIME. Saw me become No.1 fanboy. Got book signed, pictures. They all laughed when we kept telling them they were Maji Yabai. Turned out to be very nice people to talk to.

I passed Midorin (Drums) a lot of things to sign so I jokingly pointed to random parts of my body and said "and (sign) here, and here and here" and he said "Really?" and than we looked at the back of my Tshirt and I said ok sign there and he did.

After the first signing, I realised I only got 2 signatures Tshirt and it looked retarded when there's only 2 when there's supposed to be 6 so I queued up once more. This made me the last person to get autographs that night. Which turned out to be awesome cool, cos Sarah (I think) who was the one who broguht them down came to talk to us and was nice enough to offer to lend us $10 when I told her we spent our last $58 on the tickets and we didn't have anymore money to go home LOL. Got to talk to the band more, got Tshirt signed (lucky Alex didn't take from the side would've looked pretty gay).


Super Awesome Night, really opened my eyes and blew me away on so many levels.
In music you can have chaos, you don't have to follow the rules all the time and it can still be beautiful. 
Once again they reaffirmed the fact seeing a band Live and on video/CD, completely different. I think the most evident thing that transfixed me to their music thoughout even though most of the time I couldn't grasp the technical intricacies of it all was the heart and soul that was pouring out from them. They really really played with love. 
Push the envelope. Just cos you can.
Yabai!

3.25.2009

THIS IS DEATH JAZZ~~!

Super Crazy Musicians.

Massive coverage of their gig coming up.
Class of 2F and than 4C,4D also!!

3.23.2009

Goodfellas & Nice Jeans

For those of you whispering behind my back "wah teacher wear skinnies" and those of you asking me "what jeans are those". They're a  pair of Raw A.P.C New Standards (www.apc.fr/) which I've been wearing for a little over a year from Front Row (www.frontrowsingapore.com/) @ Ann Siang Road.

Raw Denim is basically Denim that is not washed so it comes in a very rich dark blue (indigo). They are usually worn VERY tightly at first.

As the Jeans are worn more and more, 2 things happen. The jeans stretch out to conform to the owners legs creating a very good fit, and around the stress points of the jeans where it usually creases when legs are bent etc. the rich dark indigo will fade to a lighter blue thus creating fade marks. 


And because everybody's legs are different, every pair of jeans will end up fitting and fading differently, thus creating a very personal piece of clothing! The Japanese make the best jeans in the world. Usually made from Selvage Denim which is really just a cooler (old school) version of the Denim on your jeans. So there. 

Last Thursday was at Esplanade to check out jeans at Arc which is a boutique there. Opened by the same guys who did Woonderland. They have a very good selection of Japanese Raw Denim (which usually runs upwards of $200).

They had Denime, Full Count, Kicking Mule Workshop, and Omnigod, all of which I know produce really nice jeans. Tried on something from every brand except Kicking Mule cos they were like $395 so even with 40% discount is still expensive :(

After that we went to watch the free concerts at the Outdoor Theatre thanks to the Mosaic Music Festival. Managed to catch the Goodfellas which is a band I heard from friends are pretty good. They played a very good solid set with a very well thought out set list, which in cluded songs catering to almost everyone. They played ABBA's Dancing Queen for the older generation, Ne-yo for the young ones, The Killers' Mr. Brightside for the rock heads. But the highlight of the night was when they broke into Sweet Child of Mine. Which is probably one of the best rock songs ever and a very technical one to play. So I was super stoked to hear them play it very well.

They play pretty often at a Bar (I think?) called timbre. So go show love if you're above age limits.
Goodfellas @ timbre

I am just very pleased, and very proud to know that on our tiny mostly boring island, there are still a couple very tight, solid, entertaining bands that can play good music. Whoo!
I wanna go to timbre! Ok sleep time going to teach at Elias Park Primary tomorrow (actually just later toady)! 

(Pictures very blatantly stolen from letgoasyoulike.fc2web.com & kieraroxanne @ CubSnap)

Recess Time~~ Class of 2C 2009

You guys are darlings. I almost love stepping into your class, not too difficult, not too easy to teach. Always running around. The girls don't talk to each other. They communicate in a mixture of dance and sign language. It was weird at first. But out of necessity, I caught on pretty quickly. Dancing gets the message through to them WAAY faster than talking.

Don't know who's work is this but it's cool. If you know, leave a comment thanks. (Update it's Chia Yu! WHOO!)

I'm jealous of Weng Keh.

Smiles all round. IS THAT YI JING THAT'S COVERING HER FACE~!? Anyway thanks Yi Jing for staying back to complete your work it's beautiful!

I THINK these are the dancing girls I was talking about.

I Still don't know which one is Tham and Trang or if they're even in the picture. Peep Jacky's masterpiece in the making.

Naughty Boy.

The Mischiefs.

Delwin!

Yan Da and Li Liang (i got your name right woohoo! Thanks for making Wei Zhe collect all the class work himself LOL). 

Love from Indonesia pronounced Moo-(Roll your tongue)-Tee

Thanks for holding down the class when I have to run out for random Shenanigans.

Aqil. Jia Yi please pronounce it properly.

Claims Jacky copied his style. Lol. Fun stuff. Keep loving art! Don't be afraid!


Love from China. I think.

Just writing about you guys makes me miss you already. Hope you guys have fun in the new term!



TEACHER REMIX!

Hi guys school's started for you guys. I'll not be teaching you guys anymore, much as I'd love to. If there was a final favor I could ask of all my wonderful students, it is for us to please give Mr. Dzul your fullest support and cooperation. 

Things will change. That's life. Roll with it. Learn to love him the way you learnt to love my Super American Accent and Awkward Eccentrics. He is a good teacher. Just trust me on that and things will work out fine.

Remember:
It's Art Class, go crazy. 
But put thought into it and make it look cool.
REMIX EVERYTHING!

With much love,

3.21.2009

MISTER ONG~ THE FILE.. Class of 2D pt.2

finally managed to get it on youtube.

SHOUTOUTS
Jian Xuan for buying me lunch and being an all round Gentle Giant and making me feel cooler than I really am.
Ros for not ever letting me go more than 2 sentences at once without her interrupting.
Remus for staying back to complete your work.
Dominic for saying Hi all the time.
Kim Ji Ho for your autograph. (it's on Ebay at S$44 and rising fast)
Hanafi for being awesome.
Gao Xu for your super distinct drawing style.
SJAB girls for.. entertaining me with your drills when i look down from the 2nd floor staff room?
Benjamin and Joanne for showing me what Mr. Ong was like when he was 14.

With Love!

3.20.2009

Some things I wanted to show you guys,

but for some unfateful reason didn't get to. It's mostly about how there's alot more to art that what me or any teacher will ever be able to teach you.

So this is what I want my breakfast to look like.

Don't know where I found this really, In case of riot. Cheeky social commentary. So real, so funny yet really depressing. 

More to come!

Pressing Conferences

So on Tuesday I had to wake early and head to Scape Youth Park (with my ultra sore leg muscles from hell-ish physio the day before) for a press conference with the guys for the Singapore Street Festival. Which did sound like alot of fun to do. Simply cos I've never done like a real press conference before. Ok fine I've never done a fake press conference either. Not the point.

I THINK the Street Festival is SOMETHING LIKE a bunch of coolass performers go around and perform and stuff and in return they each get support for their events.

So basically I THINK all the performers there gathered to give the press (and obligatory Minister VIP) a sneak preview of what's going down. So it was pretty fun. There was a ALMOST metrosexual "hiphop/street dance" (what do they actually call it?) group. Which was pretty ok.

I think this guy's name was Shen (?) who is a really solid guitarist. He played like a not-so-guitar-god level instrumental which already is pretty impressive. Only thing is I never did manage to see his eyes. He was really cool though.


There were the ever flashy B-boys. Again a pretty solid crew. Not the best but still pretty good. With the obligatory freeze shot.

I just had to take a picture of him molesting himself. SORRY!

Obligatory too-fast-for-my-camera shot. I guess.

The Rap group whose name i forgot. Which really wasn't my thing. They were all right I guess. Very friendly guys though from the little interaction I had with them.

THE CROWD. I think because everyone there is either a performer or working for the festival so everyone was really supportive when we performed which was coolio. Pink arrow points to girl who (for some reason) looked like the happiest smiliest girl in the world when we were performing. I tell myself she looked like that only for our performance.

Me and Annie who deserves Super Massive props for holding down this festival for I don't know how many years, her tireless support of local youth culture giving Singaporean Youth a platform to showcase their skillz. Srsly.

THE CREW! Mr. Ong, Drew Beans, Q, "The Tall & Handsome One", JJ