I Give Up

You can say I have been living my dream these two years. Somewhat. I get to share good things with people, whether they know me or not. And I get to teach.

Now all these are crumbling bit by bit, corner by corner, into routine dreariness. Forget it.  I'm not going to let things collapse on me. I'm not stupid. I'm not dumb. I will hang on for alot of things, but when I know it's going to hurt me in the end, I will pull out first. It's not like there's anything left for me to hang on to anyway.

This is the end. I've had enough.

I'm quitting Tech65.

Passion

I always seem to pick musical genres up from the most despised forms. I started on opera by listening to Russell Watson, hated by the community as a nasal-sounding wannabe. I discovered the joy/terror that was Stevie Ray Vaughan by playing his classic Pride and Joy on Guitar Hero On Tour. And yes I was totally pwned to the floor the first time I tried it. I found one of his Greatest Hits CD on sale for a measly amount at Gramophone, had the fortune of having a campmate with the same interest, and now I'm helplessly into blues.

I don't know how much of my circle knows but I'm quite used to acquiring my media via... unconventional means. And long story short, I came across this album that is now possibly the most listened on my Creative.

When I listen to this album, I don't see an accomplished artiste showing a relative newcomer to the scene who's boss, or even how to do this or that. Nor do I see the prodigious new kid on the block showing off to the old bird.

All I see are two people with a common blazing passion for the blues, coming together to let loose and enjoy themselves and spread the love of the genre. And the only thing that can beat a guitar battle where the one-upping never ends, is the beautiful collaboration you hear in this album where two artistes level up together and hit new heights.

Duet people. Don't duel.

WHEN?!

So my brother saw me playing Ikariam. Well you can't really be playing Ikariam, but I had it open in one of my tabs. And he went, "OH OH is that Virtual Villagers?" "No, that's Ikariam." "No that IS Virtual Villagers!" (typical of him la). And I go "What the heck is Virtual Villagers?" and without waiting for an answer I habitually clicked on my search bar and googled it up.

And my bro started saying "No it's an iPhone game where... EH WHY SO FAST?"

"What?"
"How did you type 'virtual villagers' so fast?"
"Here la." (I showed him the search bar.)
"But how?"
"It searches to google?"
"How??"
"Type in here la!"
"WHEN DID YOU TYPE??"

Either my keyboard's soft, or I'm good, or he's a blur cock.

Church and Music

Today for the first time in I lost count of how many months, I went to church. It didn't feel like anything strange, or unique, or special. Which is the way I like it. At least, that's how my church works. I dunno about yours, but when I stepped into the Rock Auditorium today (yes, I belong to the Suntec church, the one-north church, the long queue church), it was just like finally coming home. Where I can, quite literally say, "Father, I'm back." Back to worship You and feed on Your precious wisdom.

Hopefully this will start the momentum rolling again.

As I stepped on the train to get back home, I had my earphones plugged in but no music on yet. I felt a tap on my shoulder and a muffled "Renhao". And I turned to see my three campmates walking out. For some reason I zipped right back out of the train.

Turned out to be a fantastic decision.

My friends were going to catch the closing performance of the Mosaic Music Festival 09 at the Esplanade Waterfront stage, and if I hadn't bumped into them I would have missed out on a night of shit-awesome music. There was Andre Harihandoyo and his band from Indonesia playing some sweet blues, Malaysia's 40 Winks playing ska (we adjourned to Clifford Pier Coffee Bean during their second set), and to end it all, The Condors from Japan. Crazy 30+ year old uncle motherpunksters that could put probably about 2/3 of the wannabe bands here in Singapore (actually, maybe the whole SEA) to head-burying shame. The crowd just lapped it all up enthusiastically. And well, it's the second time we made a choice to stay for the closing set of an Esplanade event (this one was slated to end at 11.30pm) and both times we were rewarded for our patience. So there's something to consider if you're gonna be chillin there on a Sunday.

Pictures will say what I fail to.

Oh God I realised I effectively only had Shih Lin Crispy Chicken and HK Milk Tea for dinner. Shit I'm hungry. Better go sleep before I gorge. Kthxnowbye.

FB photo album (public access)