Funny how things "work", the things I wasn't able to complete for my team suddenly got cancelled but can't help but feeling a bit useless in the office but guess i needed to be humbled.
It's a steep learning curve

Attempted to counteract my recent bout of unproductivity after work and decided to give my blog an overhaul. Hahaha now if only I can learn how to make some real changes instead of just swapping images.

My DesignEdge 05 Conference arrived in the mail today


Quite excited about some of the names that are going to be presented, but I read in a book called "50 good habits for good designers" that "good designers never go to design conferences".... I guess I'll see haha
There's a free party for DesignEdge this thursday at the Gallery Hotel, I'll probably drop by to check it out, anyone else wants to have a look?

Came back from work at 130am today feeling extremely frustrated and annoyed at myself
I've been complacent with my skills and training as an architect is all i can say

i think my team leader was being nice and sent me home but on the taxi ride home i was blinded by the rage of me not being able to deliever.

ugh i need to chill n sleep, tomorrow is another day i guess and i think i need to be less competitive......

Yay once again it's the weekend, although I will most likely be playing mahjong and sending off my grandparents but looking forward to sleeping in...
Was looking through some of my old photos and found this one



hang in there teddy bear !

Have a good saturday and sunday everyone

One of these arrived at my place today.
Out of curiosity I opened it up, it's some kind of designer Furby thing that you "feed" music to through your music player and it will develop a personality. Appararently it will turn into happy, sad, excited, lonely, bored or estactic depending on the music you feed it.
Just for kicks i've been feeding the dog all my sad music all my Dashboard, Further seems forever, gloria record, jimmy eat world... I wonder if it will disppear one day to the roof and start strumming a guitar.
Maybe then i'll reset it and feed it hardcore and metal, then maybe all my ambient stuff.... Hmmm maybe ill make a iDog U2 edition and feed it all my U2 albums...
I wonder if this what they mean when they say you are what you listen to.

Felt very lethargic after quite a sleepless saturday and sunday. Had fun at power jam, didn't make it to semi's but i think we did a pretty good set going in with one practice, no lyrics for our original song and for some reason the bassist sang...

Anyway it was my first appearance on stage since my high school graduation but back then things were different and I was into hip-hop and R'n'b (no i will not discuss what I performed...).

I guess today I became aware of how nice my collegues and boss is when they let me work at home so I can spend more time with my grandparents who are in town for the week from HongKong. The downside of this arrangement is that I am basically going to playing a lot of mahjong this week but I loves my grandparents so it's all ok haha...

Had a crazy day at work today working from 9am to 9pm non stop (I even managed to lose track of time and 20 minutes ofmy lunch break) But one good thing about having to wait for photoshop load times is that I spent a lot of minutes shopping for a new bass guitar and managed to narrow my options to 2 finalists and the final 2 of the once in a long time Shawn Li choice of bass guitar is:


Fender 51 re issue P bass

and


Fender Aerodyne Jazz Bass

now to plan my finances......

Oh also watched cinderella man, the reviews said it sucks but I've got a soft spot for characters who beat all odds just to survive in a shitty world. I guess critics these days cannot relate to that anymore. The boxing scenes were tight, the characters real and inspirational and the humour was vintage. Not a bad way to start off the weekend at all

After about 13 months my 5 string yamaha bass, my very first bass guitar has had it. During our first proper practice for power jam, i plugged it in, only to have it choke out noise that was similar to water boiling in a kettle. At first I thought it was just a problematic amp but when I brought it home and plugged it into my practice amp, i knew that it was over. I think that the pickups are dead.

Im not going to start moping about how a part of me died blah blah, but i have to admit i'm a bit frustrated since this could not have come at a worse time considering my part in a band competition in 3 days. I now have to a) borrow a bass guitar that i can play comfortably, b) replace my pickups and possibly my whole electronics or c) go shop for a new bass. I think in the end i would have to do all 3 anyway ugh i think i need to stop writing and jus go to sleep.....

If anyone out there reading this can recommend
a)a good pickup/electronic system for a yamaha bbg5a bass guitar
b)a good fast and cheap repairman or
c)where i can get a cheap fender telecaster bass
please msg me

I think after this incident I am completely turned off by active basses and any modern musical technology... GO ANALOG!

Had a pretty relaxing day today after playing some lethargic basketball. After youth service we went down to plaza singapura and had a very funny but quite disturbing conversation about how many of us consider musical instruments as more tangible objects of desire compared to girls.
Some of the observations include:
- While "normal" guys would gather around a copy of FHM and comment "wow she's got such a HOT body!", "look at the curves on her!" or "I bet I can make her scream all night!". We would most likely say the same things, but replace the girls' names with fender and gibson
- When an attractive girl who happens to be more undressed than dressed walks past a group of "normal" guys, some headturning, whistling or cat-calling may occur, but we are more likely to ignore the girl and stare at the gretsch white falcon her boyfriend is carrying
- Most of us will probably (and some of us already have) hug, stroke, kiss or even attempt to spoon an Orange Amp
- "Normal" guys visit porn sites, we visit www.guitargeeks.com

yes i realise we all need to get help

Note to self to listen to more radio and brush up on writing pop lyrics
Had a heck of a hectic day yesterday at office and out
Power jam original is .... well off the ground at least. Now have to do the admin stuff and write lyrics for our song.
Who is coming over for SE BBQ on Sunday? Pls let me know by Friday

Living with our uncertainties
We all are scream and shout sometimes
I wonder why this is all happening (to me)
Can we all just listen sometimes

The world is round but it’s lopsided
There’s no more meaning to the word crime
Searching for some hidden purpose
Are we all faulty by design?

The things that go wrong around me
But I see the fuel for this fire inside
The soothing touch I seek seems to be
Hidden from plain view
But running water runs deep to reveal
Another and better point of view

Ruled by numbers and the things that fade away
Our thoughts become the same
If I had a chance I wasted it
Chasing after the shortcomings of romance

So make the best of the scraps we have
My collection of cds sits next to
My collection of broken dreams
But at least I touched the ceiling while reaching for the sky

The things that go wrong around me
But I see the fuel for this fire inside
The soothing touch I seek seems to be
Hidden from plain view
But running water runs deep to reveal
Another and better point of view

I went to ICA today to collect my letter of renounciation, so as of today I am Singaporean no more. Honestly I don't really know how to feel or think, the whole process was simpler than I thought, i was half expecting deportation or being retained and sent to NS but I walked in and out in about 15 minutes, 10 of which I spent waiting for an elevator. The letter itself was plain white paper with 2 sentences on it, indicating I no longer I have ceased being a Singaporean today.
There were a lot of conflicts as I struggled through the rest of my day at work, someone told me recently that whatever I choose I shouldn't feel I've let anyone down, but somehow it feels exactly like that. I couldn't help wondering if there was another way, if I could have fought to keep both my citizenships, cos it's like I've given up part of my identity. But now that I think about it I might as well let Him determine my path, I know that I have things to do here yet and I guess which country I belong doesnt really matter in the end.

Following the tradition of the Notorius MSG comes

RED TROUSERs: the life of a Honkie Stuntman

I've recently discovered that the French have a way of making charming little movies that are very refreshing from the usual hollywood junk that somehow slips past common sense and good taste. Just finished watching Yamakasi, basically a movie about 7 nice guys who are good at climbing and jumping off buildings but somehow is has a very cool sense of humour and some cool action (made me started doing push ups and checking out the side of the building next to mine...)
The triplet of bellevue is an animation where the characters are all drawn in cariacature and there is no dialogue but i found myself amazed at the depth of storytelling, plus the deliberately misdrawn perspectives and proportion of buildings and objects just had me ogling the screen.

Anyway a bunch of us entering a band comp called Power Jam in 2 weeks time haha should be a bit of fun.

The band lineup is (in order of age haha):

Jon Chung: Guitar(?) Drums (?)
Symon: Vox
Marcus: Guitar (?) Drums (?)
Me: Bass
Kevin: Guitar

First prize is $2000 cash and a chance to produce an EP. Methinks we takes the cash and disband the band hahah
see everyone in a few weeks hopefully with a new bass guitar

Have to find a way to balance myself for the next few months, I just realised this week I have a lot on my plate between work and a good night's sleep.
I just pray that those good ideas that normally bail me out of my proscratination will not elude me, but will have to buy a proper schedule diary, diligently plan my life out for 3 weeks or so then abandon it for the chaos.

Forsight and visions
Like waves beautiful to look at but will shatter at the rocks
By the shore I walk with my eyes close my sense
Of hearing is my guide