Wifey

I finally did it.

After two years of testing how long I can press onto steel strings without shredding my fingers into ribbons of blood, I bought my first electric guitar.

Big deal. Well it is. I paid for it dammit. Every cent. It's a very nice classic tobacco burst finish with yellowed pickguard and peripherals to create the whole vintage feel. And yes. With this investment I have sealed my fate as a left-handed guitarist. It's a hard uphill battle, one that will end only when Fender begs me to collaborate with them to create the Fari signature lefty Strat. You might have noticed that I changed my profile pictures from my classic katana picture to a photoshoot with my new wifey. If you haven't, go to Twitter or Facebook or Plurk to feast your mortal eyes upon it.

My experience buying it, however, wasn't anywhere as pleasant. I bought my wifey from Davis Guitars, I guess the biggest shop at Peninsula Shopping Center.
*-* The remainder of this blog post has been labelled NC16 by the author in view of its bright and colorful vulgarities. Please leave now if you are an underage hissy who will weep at the mention of the word fuck. *-*

I went there late morning on Good Friday. GOOD FUCKING FRIDAY. It still wasn't open yet. So I went looking around (I think only one other shop was open... The one that sells J&D guitars la for those who know, I forget the store names).

By the time I was done Davis was open. And oh joy my wifey was there for the taking! So I asked to try it and was entertained by the uncle himself. When I was there one week earlier, I was trying it when he came by and asked, "How? Everything ok? Are you going to buy the guitar?" And I thought, well, that's some direct business making going on there. I said something like "I'll think about it." And he nodded and reached out. "May I?" I wondered what magic he was going to do to the guitar. A magic switch to make it sound super sweet?!

He unplugged the guitar and returned it to its rack.

I'm a bodoh when it comes to these kinda things, so even though I was quite shocked I just got up and left the store to find my other friend who was repairing his guitar somewhere else.

So back to Good Friday, I was the first and only customer in the store, and he pulled the same thing on me again. If I surprised him by answering "Yes I'll take it", he didn't show it. I was sold anyway, I just wanted to make sure it was in proper working condition.

While he was processing the transaction, I asked a burning question. I saw the various effects pedals on display all neatly wrapped in plastic, some with price tags on them, and found it really strange. "These pedals, they are second-hand?"

"NO NO NO. You want second hand you go to Cash Converters."

I was again taken aback, and a little bit amused (I assure you that bit wore off quite quickly). I was asking quite a noobie question, for lack of a better word, but I'm sure there is no need to react so indignantly. And rudely.

I told him that I wanted a gig bag, and also requested that he changed the strings to 10 gauge (I know that string changing is complimentary and did not ask for a free set of strings) because I didn't like the thinness of 9, and also that he lowered the action.

"Action-wise, I can lower it for you no problem. But the strings... you should play it for awhile first... Get yourself used to it before thinking about changing."
Puzzled... "These are 9 gauge right?"
"Yes 9 gauge."
"9 gauge is too thin for me. Could you change it to 10 gauge? I like the sound better."
"But these are new strings... quite new. It would be a waste to change it."

Now I was downright shocked. Advice is one thing, and of course I appreciate advice, especially from old birds like him. But 1) Why the heck be so roundabout about it, and 2) what motherfucking business of yours is it if I wish to change my strings every 12 hours? I wonder how many of you reading this would disagree, and not that it's wrong to, that getting an instrument is a rather intimate process. Perhaps that's why they're called wives, because we invest so much time and effort assessing, re-assessing and assessing again whether this instrument is the one for us. And even more so for me, a lefty, it's gets rather personal don't you think? And now after I've paid you for the guitar, you're telling me what I should or should not do with it? It was only after alot of insistence and a developing black face on my part that he relented and said "I could change for you, if you want, no problem." As if he was giving in to my petty request.

And by the way, earlier, I was staring at the huge variety of strings, wondering what to pick, and I asked "Any string set you can recommend for playing blues?"

"Oh no no no, blues is in the style of playing, nothing about the strings. You play this way, its called blues, the only difference in strings is its clarity, brightness, and tone."

Fine, I'll give that one to him la, but still, how rude.

Honestly, if not for the fact that I fell in love with everything about this guitar, I would have walked out of the store. Gee Davis isn't the only store in Peninsula selling lefties I saw at least 2 more. I just happened to like this particular guitar the best.

Apparently I'm not alone. My friend related a long story about how his friend had an even worse experience than me, but it is not my place to say it here, because it did not happen to me, nor was I there to witness it. Exclusive distributor? You see how long you can last with that, if you get enough people angry. I just think that customer service like that shouldn't have to be tolerated. Not in the best of economies, and certainly not in times like this.

What do you think? Have you had any similar experiences at Davis?

Susan Boyle's I Dreamt a Dream

I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hopes were high and life worth living,
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving.

Then I was young and unafraid,
When dreams were made and used and wasted.
There was no ransom to be paid,
No song unsung, no wine untasted.

But the tigers come at night,
With their voices soft as thunder,
As they tear your hope apart
As they turn your dreams to shame

And still I dream he'll come to me
And we will live the years together!
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather.

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the dream
I dreamed.

My friend was right. Human appreciation is fickle. Scrap that. Human appreciation doesn't stretch beyond the skin. 36 years, since she started singing at 12, no one wanted her. Now she's gone for it. And now she's got it.

The song is particularly beautiful because it so poignantly describes her life so far. Perhaps that's why she could ace it.

I'm gunning for her to win this round.

Funeral - English

A number of you would have already seen this aired on TV. The only thing that stopped me from letting my tears roll down freely the first time I saw this was because I was watching it with about 15 other guys. Yes I'm a dude like that. But everytime I've seen this ad so far tears never fail to well up in my eyes. The start of the music halfway through the ad is the cue.

Wonderful imperfection. Yasmin Ahmad was probably the best PR decision for MCYS ever.

Happy April Fool's Day from Tech65!

While Tech65 tried to pull an obvious joke, we didn't want to put something up that would really freak the sphere out. We have that kind of influence, we know. ;P

I'll take this opportunity, as I'm sure the others are in some form or another, to thank you all once again for your support. I wasn't kidding about one thing in the previous post. I have been living a bit of my dream, sharing my knowledge and thoughts with people, educating them and enriching their lives in that little way.

And for all the bitching we did yesterday, I think we actually do put up with alot from each other. The fact that we're still blazing strong thus far should be testament to the team's passion for technology and podcasting, one that we hope won't die out just yet.

Happy April Fool's 2009!

Update: Ok so a few of you did freak out after all. I thought we all made it quite obvious, but perhaps it's not that you're none too happy about. We're sorry. We still love each other, and you. :)

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)

Live Blogging from BarCamp 3 afternoon session

My Random 25

I thought I'd post it here too, just for the posterity of it all.

1. I like the color purple. The shades that aren't awfully gaudy anyway. I love the life and vibrance of this simple mix of red and blue. Some say that makes me a king; others say it makes me a queen. It doesn't matter. Purple, I love you.

2. I am a signaller in the 8th Signal Battalion of the Singapore Armed Forces, dedicated to homeland security. If I tell you anymore than that I shall have to order in the commandos at my disposal to wipe out your bloodline.

3. I have rediscovered my love for reading (proper books, not blogs and FB notes) in 8 Sig Bn. Go figure.

4. My sources of digital entertainment are my Creative ZEN, Nintendo DS, XBOX 360, and my absolutely sexy MacBook Pro. Although the last two aren't too portable. I mean ideally I'd move all 4 into camp but...

5. I disliked coffee when I was young. After I entered uni at age 16+, I slowly began to drink coffee like an addict. I heartily blame Geek Terminal for sealing that addiction into my life. :)

6. I am allergic to peanuts. I will get an uneasy sensation in my mouth and if left unattended I will lose my voice for the day.

7. My mom ate a shitload of peanuts when I was gestating. Protein or something. Guess it was abit too much.

8. My musical tastes have evolved as follows:
Pri sch/lower sec: pop/boyband/radio hits
Upper sec: hardcore opera
Uni: death/black/power metal
Uni ending: add on abit of post hardcore
NS: revisiting classical music, symphonies concertos and chorals.

But I still do listen to my previous interests... the above are just my main focuses.

9. Red Cliff finally got me interested in The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and I bought the Moss Roberts abridged translation.

10. Hero and Red Cliff also got me interested in ancient Chinese music.

11. Oh speaking of music, I'm an amateur audiophile. When I... um acquire music I try to get it in high bitrates. I'm still trying to decide whether having my files in WAV format is really worth it. Damn space-costly. The history of my earphones are as follows:
Apple in-ear earphones ($68)
Creative EP-630 ($45) - one of the best budget earphones you'll ever find.
Creative Aurvana ($169) - though I got it for far less. Lovely phones they really are, but no match to even the lower end prosumers. For example...
Ultimate Ears Super.fi 5 Pro ($399) - Do you know, once upon a good time, it used to be 299. Then Logitech bought over UE and fucked it all up. Royal arsewipes.

12. My ambitions have evolved as follows:
5 years old - Sebastian the crab
14 - actor
14.9 - journalist
15 - newscaster
16.2 - errr somewhere in the media wherever
17 - marketing/advertising
18.5 - Public Relations FTW!!

13. Being Communications Scapegoat for Tech65 sealed the above decision for me.

14. It is also my distant dream to conduct Tchaikovsky's 1812 overture, complete with cannons and a chorus.

15. I played quite a bit of pool and foosball in uni, because SIM's recreation room (now a gym) had two pool tables and a foosball table.

16. As foosball players we dreaming youngsters developed signature moves and gave them names. One could do an uncatchable arc from the defender and swing the ball in from the side - he called it the Comet. One struck from the attackers with blinding speed and precision - he called it the Heavenly Striker. I discovered a strange strength in my wrists, and developed a morale-dropping move I called Raishin - Japanese for Thunder God (yeah, shut up). The ball dropped into play, rolled along the line to my midfielders. Nobody moves. It reaches the center man, I rotate my players slightly back. All they see is a blur, all they hear is a crack. The ball disappears into the goal. The same thing done from the defenders or even better, the keeper, I called Ten no Raishin (Thunder God from Above - shut up).

17. It was a good thing there was a glass panel over the table to stop people from pocketing the ball. It also stopped plenty of eyes from getting taken out.

18. I got a beautiful black metal Seiko watch from Japan, solar-powered, sapphire-coated glass, and the ability to do a once-a-day check with Japan's time radio signal towers and sync the time accordingly. It cost S$400, which I later found out was half price. Either way, my mom had a black black face for quite some time after, but had to grudgingly admit after a few weeks that it absolutely suited my personality. When I'm out of camp it follows me everywhere I go.

Thanks mom, dad. :)

19. I lack in psychomotor skills. Slow reactions and butterfingers (limbs). In my early early years my parents were worried because of this that I was mildly autistic.

20. I personally believe that in some miraculous strange way, I do have a very mildly autistic part of me, which hardly shows up the typical ways autism do, but would account for quite a chunk of my personality.

21. I am an extremist. Even on the same subject I can at times lose interest in a matter of seconds, or get glued to it for hours. I have mild obsessions with newfound interests - buying hundreds of Magic cards to find they're essentially useless, complete sets of movie promotional magnets or calendars just for the heck of collections, buying every game I think I might like when I got my 360. List can go on. And that is why I am extremely, extremely cautious and apprehensive about getting into prosumer photography, even though I love it.

22. I am anarchically untidy in certain matters and dictatorially neat in others. When some switch in my mind is successfully flicked, I will arrange books on my shelf in order of descending height, or use a ruler to ensure the three stacks of various books on my table are in line with each other. Otherwise, the place in question basically looks like an aftermath of an earthquake hurricane and tornado combined.

23. As I was saying, I love photography because it allows me to share the little pleasures and sides of my life that I don't think people usually take notice of. Perhaps it is for that reason that I especially indulge in macro shots.

24. I get long-winded. But perhaps you have already noticed. That explains why I often give up on my own blog post drafts (yes, loso until no patience to continue. winner right?) or else write posts so long that it spans the entire webpage.

25. Ok, last one. I indulge heavily in the individuals I consider friends. Time, abit of money, favors, extra miles. My only expectation is that they will readily do the same for me. And God knows how many a quibble that has caused. :)

I do hope you've enjoyed this little indulgence in myself. As the other notes say, I would like to know you that little bit more if I tag you, so if you're willing to take some time out (I think I took 1.5h) to do this note too, be sure to tag me back. Shalom~ :)