So i just came back from the OMS welcome tea. Pretty interesting, met quite a number of people as well. Too bad there aren't any really hot babes around, or else it will be REALLY fun. Got to know one of my NJC's junior, name is Xiang Yang. Cool guy, loves thrash metal (it's just metal la), and plays a mean ESP LTD. Woot. Then there's is Swede, Anders, and he checked out my Sweden Rock Festival T-shirt. He actually lives nearby tt location, tho i have no idea where the hell is that. Plays punk, like punk in its purest form. So punk that the Ramones and The Clash do not classify as punk in his book. Plays bass and trumpet. Wicked stuff. We need more bassists in this world.

So i finally saw Weiguang and Shredcow in the flesh. Weiguang, quite a sian sian guy, but can talk crap la. Probably abit shy too so din really share much stuff. Anti-metal dude tho, hmm would have to slowly introduce him to tt over time haha. I guess the religion is in the way la. Myopic. As for Shredcow, i really did not expect him to look so much of a goon. Yea really. I tot he's cool and all that, probably wow-ing off the panties of the chicks with his guitar skills. But sad to say, he looks bad. Real bad. And he lacks PR skills. I can so understand now some of the SOFTies are against him. Yea he's weird.

Kai said something very true, that guitar geeks have to find the fine balance between guitar and a life. So Shredcow is probably someone who leaned too much on one side and never looked back. I'm quite the geek myself i guess, but maybe i havent devoted that much of my time into perfecting my craft, which i am ashamed of. Then again it's not really something that i must die die do, it's just a hobby. But of course i'd love to be good at my hobby. Maybe i should practice more and turn into a complete slob. And then Shirui will leave me and my life will spiral downwards. And probably i'd marry my guitar.

Anyways let's hope this OMS works out, and hopefully i'll have a wonderful semester ahead of me.

Alright! Finally got a new spanking hard disk! 320 GB of wholesome space, gonna fill it up with music, videos and hopefully some nice recording softwares + softsynths + vstplugins. Setting up this hard disk has been a very very humbling experience. Here's some take aways while doing the installation:

1. I must always remember to set either disks to MASTER and SLAVE mode BEFORE screwing the disks in. And JUMPER does not refer to a button that I can press. It's actually tt wedge-like thingy u stuff onto the back of the disks. There are instructions at pasted on the surface of the disks. READ THEM FIRST.
2. "DEL" is the button I press to get to the computer's BIOS mode. Not F10. Or F12. Or any other F button.
3. I can format my drives in Windows itself. There's is no rush to insert the Windows XP setup disc immediately after connecting the drives.
4. 4GB is not enough space for the Windows partition. I must be conservative and give it 15 GB. What works for other people doesn't necessarily work for me. I am a kiasee person. I must give more leeway.
5. When the internet connection suddenly goes missing, it might be the router's problem. If the router is reset, but it's still gone, then it might be the cable problem. Change a cable and it's still missing, then it might be the ethernet card problem. When it is the ethernet card problem, DO NOT bother with trying to install the drivers and shit. Just open up the comp, and unplug it, and slot it back in. IT WILL WORK.

That's about it. My rollercoaster ride with my hard disk drive. At least now i know how to do it myself. Always love to learn new things, though i always learn them the REALLY REALLY hard way.

Just a preview of what's coming up ^^. Smooth, jazzy funk tune. No vocals yet cos i haven't finish the lyrics, and poor little has a bad throat. But at least the guitar solo is more or less done. Or at least i can't whip up a better sounding one. Improvising over jazz chords has gotta be the hardest thing!!

Click here for ear candy ---> EAR CANDY

Finally get to see Gabriel once again. My ex-hall neighbour, in fact the closest guy im with in hall together with Colin. They are what i like to call buddies, cos even though we havent met for quite a while, everything clicks back without a hitch. And we like to take care of kittens.

Speaking of friends, i do have a very warped take on it. Partly due to my cynical personality i guess. Friends, to me in the simplest of simplest definition, are pple that i turn to when i need something. Of course there are various things tt i can ever need like help, company, answers for homework, a listening ear,... everything and anything u can imagine of actually.

So technically speaking, my "friends" exist for various reasons. The IT friends exist because they can help with hardware, software issues. The Guitar friends exist because they can help with guitar problems. The school friends exist because of homework, bidding of modules. Though it may seem very saddening that my relationships with people has become so warped, i take heart in that these people "befriend" me for the same exact reasons as well.

We all need help. That's y we are "friends".

I really hate to use this word friend, cos it has already lost it's meaning due to over-usage. A person whom u met 3 mins ago and barely caught his name is a friend. A person whom u got to know through internet, but never met in real person and never knew his real name till 5 mins ago is also a friend. The coffeeshop uncle is also a friend because u are a regular customer.

Our relationships with majority of our "friends" have became so shallow, that calling them as friends is a joke. Seriously, if u look through your friendster account and start deleting people that u really dun give a shit about, chances are that only abt 10% of them are pple u really give a shit about. And about 60% of them are the people that are your ex-classmates and deleting them off will put u in a weird position in the nxt class gathering. The rest of them are just filler people. Really, filler people.

I believe i have alot of filler people in my msn list. I have about 200 people there right now, and i only talk to about 20 of them. Serious.

I see no point in initiating a chat with someone which i barely give a shit about. Because it works for that person tt way too. He/she too, doesn't really give a shit about u as well. That's y there' no talk. But you guys are friends. See the irony?

So back to my definition of friends, or people that i turn to when i need something. They solely exist because i need their presence around. So that my problems can be solved asap. Tt's about it. But being the nice me, i try to work on these relationships as well, partly due to the reason that with a improved relationship, comes improved help. I do not deny that, cos that's how the world ticks btw. Get real.

But but, dun put me down as yet! I'm not so saddist and unfeeling of a person la. There exist a special group of "friends" whom i would like to term as... Buddies! Yes, buddies are special people in my life. They exist because we have crossed paths during sometime of our lives, and we share a special connection. These people are the people i truly truly give a shit about. 100% shit. And i know all/most of their secrets/stories/bloopers inside out. They are the people that i would die to save them. Yea.

So in summary of this big rant:

In my life

1. There are people i dun care about. They regularly get deleted off my handphone, my msn, my friendster. Please do not even associate me as a friend.
2. "Utility" friends. Useful people. Nice to know u guys. Of course i would love to know you guys better.
3. Buddies. Thanks for everything. You all have shaped me into who i am. Kudos.

I really do not have to drop names here and there to tell who belongs to which group. Feel for yourself. Like a wonderful quote which i just came up myself: "How much you care for a person, is usually how much he/she cares about you."

So true.. especially in my context. I can sense this kind of things very strongly. Like Gab and Shirui said, my people sensing skills are relatively sharp. I know who's the guy to stick with, and who's the fucker to avoid.

Anyways note to Gab, why worry so much about someone badmouthing you, when you dun even give a shit about tt bitch. Save ur strength and worry for someone that u really care about ^^.

Currently working on a jazzy pop tune, something simple but yet funky. Trying achieve the vibe like Morcheeba (Nik dun laugh). And this time around, Shirui will sing! Finally. Let u guys hear what a beautiful voice she has, tho not really suitable for this genre. But oh well, we'll just try try la hor. Now all tt's left is the lyrics and we'll be done ;)

As for tt epic progressive track i think it has to be shelved for the moment. Too technically demanding to record, and it seems to run out of steam towards the end of the track. Still needs more work in arrangement. Need new ideas to fuse with the existing structure as well.

Went to Livideyez's (yes his "codename") house on Sat morning. A haven for someone like me man! CDs and CDs and MORE CDs!!! I almost wanted to take all of his CDs home to rip, but i guess tt will scare the hell out of him. Another time, since i live 5 mins from him. *evil grin*

Anyways got some pretty solid softwares from him in the form vstplugins. Pretty wicked stuff, tho majority of them dun really work with Adobe Audition. Which is a real pity. And that BFD drum software i got from him doesn't work either. Seems like i really have to change a new recording software in order to enjoy cool effects like Ping pong delay, Mondo mondo, Amplitube, Battery. Argh. Damn sian half.

Added more kickass music into my comp:
Francesco Fareri - Shred
George Bellas - Shred x 2
Marcel Coenen - Shred x 3
Marty Friedman - Shred x 4 (with exotic scales)
Mattias Ia Eklundh - Wierdo whammy bar nonsense. Very very interesting listen. Highly recommended.
Neil Zaza - Melodic instrumentals
Opeth - Progressive Death Metal
Ron Thal - Wierdo whammy bar nonsense x 2. Not so extreme, but very varied playing
Steve Vai - Do i need to introduce him? :D

I seriously need a new hard disk. With all these new music coming in by the gigs, my remaining 16 gigs is gonna get filled up really really soon. And with all those new softwares tt eat space like nobody's business, my comp will blow pretty soon. Hopefully can get something like a 240 gig harddisk, or a 480. Hmm or is there a 480 in the first place.

*shrug*

Gah, got a cut on my right eye brow. Looks deep tho. Hope it heals nicely. Or else i will be fucking ugly x2! Ain't i ugly enuff?!?! Must be God/Buddha/Allah playing games on me la, punishing me for having no religion.

Must be.... must be...

Initially wanted to record a small snippet of a new song. But seems like my mike doesnt work, my guitar cable doesnt work either. Lazy to setup the entire thing at this time of the night. Guess it's not wise to record songs at 2 am :D

Once, i heard Robin said "Everyday think about music, very stressful." RAFE broke up btw, and i'm not sure why, but i guess that could be a catalyst.

Music doesn't have to be so stressful, i figured. Just 30 mins ago, i emailed the chairperson of NUS Guitar Club to book an audition for a guitarist role in their band. 30 mins later, i decided to just ignore the incident all together.

Truth is, i dun really feel the need to be so suckup, so wannabe, so dying for success blah blah. If i'm decent enough, offers will come knocking on the door like Christina. Yup i've decided to help her for her recording project. I figured that this would be much more interesting than rehearsals and gigs. FYI, recording is a very tough process, pre and post recording. Challenge myself.

So i guess for this sem, Guitar Club is out of the way. I'm still harping on whether to join OMS (Original Music Society). It's more freelance like Jinyi said, it's just a forum for musicians to locate members to form bands and play ard. If there's gigs they'll gather us for a show. Smthing like that.

Though i still dun feel ready to play in a band. Maybe my expectations of an ideal band are too high.

So right now, no stress over band formation, no stress over whether i'm good enough or not. Just work on my chops, write music, and do whatever i want. If anything happens, it will come naturally. Hmm maybe i shld go take lessons again, this time hopefully from Biao's teacher.

Let's see what kind of a breakthrough i will get.

No stress no stress.

Feeling the age in me lately. Mum's bugging me abt my future plans, whether i got save money for the *ahem* or not. Haiz, signs tt im getting old. Have to make all these adult decisions already.

Never expected to live till this day. Really. I seriously thought the world will end before i turn 18. Or probably i will die by then. But nah, i gotta live to see the shit happening everywhere.

Seems like every couple i know now is going thru the "im ahead in my life, and sorry u are far behind but i cannot wait for u" period. Even i myself is going thru this phase, but probably to a less serious extent. Career is seriously impt in Singapore, cos it totally makes or breaks u. And breaks ur relationship as well.

Anyways it's not a sulking entry, just saddening to see how the pace of life has crept into each and everyone of us.

Classic moment: "I getting my first paycheck liao, and u havent stepped into uni yet". Big ouch.

My friend alias Koyuki (ya too much Beck) keeps jioing me to perform in his gig. As a guest performer or smthing like that. One or two songs. Anyways, Koyuki is the lead guitarist in the jrock band R.E.I. , relatively well-known in the Singapore JRock scene. Some of u might have been to his concert once maybe.

This fella holds me in high esteem, and i really don't wanna disappoint him. But but, i dun have a band!! And i dun really wanna make use of his band to play for me. Not really nice. Quite embarassing to keep turning his request down though.

Reasons i don't wanna perform:

1. My songs are not good enough
2. My skills are not good enough to play live (i tend to get nervous and mess up. Happened twice)
3. My singing sucks/stinks, but i can't picture someone else singing my song. Weird feeling.
4. I dun have a decent band to practise with. Not many pple are interested to collaborate with me.

That's probably enough reasons y you dun see me going ard in the gig circuits.

Emokidjoe said something true, that i tend to shut out people. Be it in school, army, work.. everywhere. I guess the reason is because it's very tiring to meet new people. When i want to befriend someone, i want to know alot abt him/her. That's my style. It requires alot of time and effort on my part, and when the other party doesnt connect, it's goodbye. Too many goodbyes leads to jaded-ness. This goes for bandmates. The sad thing is the music people im close to doesnt really do music well enough to meet my standards. Shrug.

Truth is i really yearn for the desire to gig. Just to get the music out. Do it for the heck of it, like a once in a livetime thing. Live the rockstar dream.

But heh, have to be realistic la.

Talking in circles.

Imagine you are 60+, have a heart problem. Would you put your life on the line by attempting to break the world's land speed record, using a motorcycle bought in the 1920s and self-modified with scrap metal found ard the house?

Burt Munro did, and he's still currently the world record holder for the land speed record for motorcyles under 1000c. Bear it mind that record was set in the 1960s.

Stories like this just make me want to try and achieve something big. Something stunning. Break out of the box i guess.

Watch "The World's Fastest Indian" to get what i mean.

Anyways i've kinda "forced" a few selected friends to join my soundclick mailing list. Guess these are the people who really bother to listen to my stuff. If you are somewhat interested to know any updates of my music, pls join the mailing list on the right sidebar. It's written very big there. Thanks for your support.

Quite pitiful to see that my fan base doesn't even reach 25 people. Still got a long way to go.

*sigh*