Guitar #6

221209

TODAY WAS A GREAT DAYYYYY

i learned how to play enrique aglaises (or however u spell his name)'s song HERO. hahahhahah....its like a serenading song for those who don't know. using Gmaj chord with different bases.

basically all you do is keep the ends of the Gmaj chord, strum G alternating with the last 3 string. E with the last three. C with the last three. and D with the last three. I rmb on valentine's day I saw my friend play this and almost fell in love. NOW I CAN PLAY IT!!!! bwahahahha....

will someone fall in love with me? @.@ LOLLLL

Guitar #5

151209

After basic learning of the chords i decide....i want to learn a SONG. a real song that is easy, can impress ppl, and is so good.

so he teaches me this bass chord normally used for a jazz piece.
if you can try it :) DO!
i took pictures of the strings needed to be plucked. its just a one string melody kind of thing. no 2 strings at one time so it should be easy.
AND THIS. IS MY WAY OF REMEMBERING IT :D :D :D :D enjoy



lol. does it work?

Guitar #4

081209

so i practiced all week my one finger stopper chord and.....it seems to be working out :) now i just need to be fluid in my finger motions. After a while I suddenly realise.....I don't know what chord this is. I ask. :P I don't know is the reply. it just sounds so good. ah well....playing by ear has always been a dream of mine. why not start with the guitar?

Then i realised. you know....there would be seriously something wrong if i didn't know the NAME of the chords. so i demanded to know C, G, F, D, A and E chords. we worked on that the whole day. my fingers got seriously messed up that they're starting to harden now and but i do know how to play them! :D clap for me!!!!

now....just progression again. i can do the chords slowly. but not progressively. hehe
OOPS then what is the point of playing the guitar? XD

i decided after chords i would like to go for.....plucking

Guitar number i don't know what

011209

I HAVE DECIDED TO LEARN CHORDS.

like really really really hard chords.
so I asked ronald to throw me a bunch of chords that I could try out, take them home, practice like mad, come back, be a pro at it. and tadaa.....i learnt he guitar.

sadly. I realise my chord progressions aren't that great.

Ronald has the great jazz piece that he figured out himself that i really really want to learn but HE HAS GOT SUCH A STRONG PINKY FINGER. he asks me: can i do it? I follow thru with an optimistic energy. the thing is.....its quite hard. what i have to do is.... put my whole finger on the entire bracket. doesn't sound so complicated right? HAHA. it is. my short puny finger won't push all the strings right.

maybe i need new strings.......

TO TRY AGAIN NEXT TIME

thank you boom :)

Chinese beading - 2nd time since half term

261109

its been my 2nd chinese beading since half term :P
so many assignments and due dates. i'm sorry!

hehe.

but anyway. today was really an unwasted day. wenlu and janice didn't come. TOK presentations after school. so its just me and iyune.

i finish off all my beautiful leaves which of course i rmb how to sew :)
and check this out


MY NEW TOY. hahahhah chinese beading gets prettier and prettier

Chinese beading - a leaf :)

today i really really REALLY work on something new.

THE LEAF


yes. and I work on this one little thing for the WHOLE HOUR. frustrating but when I look back at it i smile for some odd reason. An exasperated gratifying moment i guess. well first, i did the leaf HORRIBLY. then the thread for entangled. THEN my thread was too short. can u guess why i took an hour to finish this?

anyway. thats not exactly my point. THE POINT IS I LEARNED THIS REALLY COOL NEW THING. teacher says i'm ready for my little project *beams*

Guitar - alone but with guidance

091109

Today I was messing around with this song I really liked. Its called "through it all" I love the song so I worked it out on piano, thn realised.....hey! y can't I do it on guitar as well? since i'm learning it right? and i can figure out each note on the strings using my piano base. so i try to form a little something by myself.

I don't know how to use any chords yet so I pluck most. I record it and send it to ronald and he says wow: he's impressed! yayyyy.....! did I just learn something on my own? hehhe....i ask him, y is he so impressed? he says : well, cause when ppl learn the guitar, they usually go into just learning the preset chords and are not confident in trying to form something like what I did. was it acoustic or classical he said? i dunno but I rmb him saying that that kind of playing was getting less, especially among the ppl we both know who play guitar, and jazz as well. time to keep it alive? :D awesome

Guitar - dropping from space

021109

I don't know where to start. hehe.
Told ronald. OK. i want to learn something. he says what? I say. I want to learn "what a friend I have in Jesus" He shows me how he does it and its really so so so so so so soooooooooooooo complicated. especially with the one style that you have to use your whole finger to stop all the strings. OUCH.

ronald says: you learn that. then you can play this song. Okkkkk.....so I go to practice. what a.......*speechless first day*

Chinese Beading - first time back

291009

We're back and I'm actually quite excited to complete my five petaled flowers with a pearled middle :) I like it and I kind of practiced beading a little over the holidays.....

so we're back in school and already i see more people in chinese beading than before. Usual on the 1st week of school? yup. Janice joins as well! and there are NEW COLOURS. wheeee. I make a prettier version of my five petaled flowers. all white and red is boring. I make one with white, peach and green :) and they look like lotuses. very very nice...

while i'm happily doing my flower, everyone around me just seems to be unable to thread their needle. My forte! haha. itsn't it amazing that you discover your hidden talents to thread a needle at SCHOOL?! i know. of all places. but well, my mom made me practice it alot when i was younger.....she complains she's old so I do it for her. :P isn't that nice?

So anyway, the teacher was busy bustling around accomodating the new students that I thought I wouldn't want to bother her. So quietly I sat and did my beading. :) what a peaceful student. Class ended and we all went back. wonder what we'll learn next week?

Dance - Performance #2

251009

My body wasn't feeling so good today. We did run of fast bit as warmup. decide to go further with the "prayer ritual" push the boundaries and interact with audience. Did the run, I actually felt more energized than thursday. but as I did my flip, I banged my arm in the wrong way and it hurtttttt. As I did the ocean bit, I was really in quite abit of pain but i continued to do it. no stopping now. the ending bit, I tried to drag out my ending more, tried to feel the pull, tried to feel the transcendence but my energy level stooped. NO STAMINA STILL?! yes. afhan was there and I explained the whole journey of my piece to him. said I looked ready.

feedback. VERY GOOD. today was an awesome day. broke into groups to discuss changes audience would make. more distorted beginning again. get REALLY deformed. and maybe side profile to be turned other way. use of not only hands. but fingers, parts of the face. maybe USE hand to initiate movement in other parts? we only got to that part.

but overall. it was awesome :)
let the pictures talk

Dance - Performance #1

221009

Its satisfying to know that you only have to do the run once. arrived almost 6. warmed up, run through the ending bit. go in to work on lighting, positions with the light. realise that Kat is more organised than Kent who didn't book panggung sasaran before that to work in the space with his dancers haha. people come in. Aida explains the program. Kat talks about the piece. I do the run and I AM ENERGIZED.

I feel like...ok....it isn't such a good run that I did. And Kat says I could have dragged out the ending a little bit more. But. its done. I did the best I could, GRATIFYING.

Overall, it was ok. phew. tough work but, its nice to hear people reflect. One feedback I liked was this guy ken who thought that I could look more distorted in the beginning, like literally SPLAT on the floor. makes you wonder how much you could have ventured into a limp beginning eh? then that could change my initial movements as well. WELL, as i said, "work-in-progress" ;)

Another thing I liked was, how, this one lecturer asked me to explain the sounds that came out of my body. Like what was it for? I literally pointed out my whole journey of the dance and BAM the recognition displayed on her face was priceless! like itty bitty pieces coming together :)

Dance - do you feel the nerves?

201009

Today we rush costume while doing a full run before the performance. We are joined by yoke pin, the producer of this whole workshop who....apparently hasn't done much producing work in this project at all. I find out that it isn't her fault. Musn't judge yes?

So anyway, today we try out the some shirts to replace the shirt that wouldn't do (mine) I bring a bunch of stuff that DOESN'T work while I try on Kat's stuff. She has this really cute white button down but it....buttons in a weird way. In the end we settle for a grey long sleeved top. :) simple yet nice. After yoke pin sees my first run, she comments that it looks like a high energy piece, something which I might not actually have....yet again, I get so tired after each run. but then, she gives some good feedback, how sound initiates movement and how in the end it seems more controlled, thats me taking control of my energy and spirit. parallel? I would say so :)

It was honestly, a really tiring day. School stresses out my brains and now contemporary dance stresses out my body? phew! but i still do it...only 1 more days left of this ;)

YES I FEEL THE NERVES.
the day after is performance day 1

Dance - Kat in KL

181009

Today Kat is gone and I think I feel so lazyyyyy. Time to slacken? HEE HEE HEE. i admit. I did consider, but.........with all the effort Kat put into the project. I just couldn't. I meet up with Aida in USM and bring the suggested costume we discussed on tuesday. a white shirt and pleated skirt. I do a full run for Aida with the whole outfit. My legs shaking at the end btw, and she gives me feedback. Saying how she likes the ending bit :) i'm glad. Today, she picked out something AMAZING, transitions, when I don't realise, she sees it. And I'm so glad that I came for today. She pinpoints the part where I make a loud humongous bellowwww and go into my froggy bit. She says : what makes you want to stretch and keep your body close to the ground? I say the resonance of the sound I make. She suggests looking as if I had my ear to the ground to listen for that resonance. I try it. Wow, I feel it and she says it looks great. b^_^ thats what I call great collaboration. A real work-in-progress project. Next we take a few pictures with me in my costume as a "poster" for this workshop >_< gahhhhh I didn't know that she was going to do thattttt.... but i do it, for Kat's effort.....yes? ;)

Dance - at USM

131009

Today is our first day at USM. Kat picked me up and we settle into panggung sasaran, where my REAL performance area is.

First we determined my performance space, put chairs to determine my boundary (will bring in duct tape next time) walked through a full run to determine where to place the audience. Last tuesday we experimented on positions and we decided the ending bit to be in the left top corner of my performance space. And another round of experimenting, we changed the ending completely. This time, yes i do the "ritual" the ear thing again and again, and then after a while go into the 7 points, that somehow progresses to become more aggitated as I realise my 'ritual' really does not cleanse me at all, and I'm fighting my way through trying to sanctify myself by the scrubbing and I breakout with a loud STOMP. something so heavy and grounded and impactful that people realise that my confidence in myself has grown, and I grow more to a point where i find peace. and its drawing me higher and higher, my hands lead me to this place, my body rises and I transcend. the lights dim. IT IS AWESOME.

We get so into it that we LITERALLY lose track of time. I get home around 11pm with an exhausted satisfied body. I feel the transcendence of my piece. and it is gratifying :)

Chinese beading - last for midterm

151009

more flowers?

Today i continue with my flower beading skills. tedious abit, the same but in a slightly more advanced method. Today wenlu came. Doing a 5 petaled flower is easier than it looks. The spacing has to be even and the distance of the edge of the petal to the centre has to be just about right. I later tried doing the 5 petal with a pearl in the middle and....HMMM....didn't look too great. gotta refine it when term starts

MRC Heritage Walk

111009

We were passing around this paper during TOK and I saw heritage walk and went "what is this?! is it a walk? I WANT IN!" So........I guess you could call it being proactive. I started rambling about it and now on 11 oct, sunday morning we have wenlu, janice, iyune, shaeny, gen, me, ryu, yitong, adam, jack, maiki and chihyao coming for it :) i started something big. heheh

Anyway, we get to the walk at 715am, register, get a purple band and go walking. Never done POWER WALKING before so its a first yea? ;) always a run, but never a walk. something new for me i suppose. it was hard.....kinda, to JUST walk. especially when so many ppl around you are just running and running to get it done under 1 hour to get the lucky draw. but OBVIOUSLY. its such a short walk, surely you can get it done. and we did! :) walked all the way, POWER WALKED, and still made it for the eligibility of the lucky draw. the form said walk. so i walk :)

it was for charity, for the redcresent society of Penang Branch so I guess the RM30 we paid for did not go to waste.

lucky draws were drawn and guess what?!
I WAS 2 NUMBERS AWAY FROM WINNING A BIKE.

ARGH

all in all. a day of great bonding with the Uplands ppl, healthy, entertaining, FUN

Dance - Back at square one

111009

Today Kat brings in the music that she first created with Yasu. :) and honestly, its nothing like what I expected! haha! The most thing that annoyed me was how loud the HINDI music was! hahaha yes. it was the ending and I felt like leaping to my feet, shaking my feet, hips, and neck like a Bollywood dancer. Kat said that what I taped for her was abit not like what she wanted and so she didn't bother listening to those beautiful random bits of conversation I caught in math class. oh well. she said she liked rosy's "I would like to have silence here please" haha. So, whilst she was waiting for the morning azan prayer, she caught this awesome game show thing, lame but so amusing! its like standing on a platform between two pools of water and trying to arrange their bodies to fit a "wall" which was coming at them with body positions that were really really awkward. haha. so lame but i laughed alot.

well anyway, after hearing it, we tried to arrange a last bit. and because the "prayer ritual" was supposed to be most prominent, we used Afhan's hand behind the ear motion as a guide. Today was a FULL DAY of EXPERIMENTATION. we had no clue where to start it. how the journey of the prayer would progress, where it would lead to and why it would end the way it is. But as we were doing the "ritual" it DID develop. Because somehow, rituals always end facing down towards the floor, and the 7 points of the prayer, we found it essential for me to drop to the floor. the 7points being the toes on 2. knees on 4. hands on 6 and forehead on 7. we spent so long just experimenting this. what happens, how does the body respond to this action and so forth. In the end, it evolved to a process of cleasing, and rituals always signifies. from splashing water onto face to literally scrubbing the "dirt" of the hands, legs and face. then somehow the hitting hand impulses would come and wow, Kat got this great inspiration! stomping. I like it. But I couldn't get the sound that she got with her feet. amazing. she did indian dance before! hah! not fault on my part :P So we ended up getting this feeling of release from the stomping, I fling my arms as if splashing in a pool of water, but it is a joyful event. something which I don't think i portray much in but, give it a try. NOPE. i do it wrong. but then I am determined to know how!!! i've come all this way to give up on a good ending? NO WAY. I ask kat how and what is her feeling? I forgot what exercise she gave me, but it was one that we had done previously. and I managed to understand her. I try it and she decides. ok....why don't you just continue in that movement, stomping around, looking happy. while i dim down the lights and the music and blackness on stage and its the end :D

i like it.
i'm so happy I managed to capture the stompy feeling she wanted :D

Chinese beading - NEW STUFF YES!

081009

Today's chinese beading was the happiest so far!
I learned the exact patterns I wanted! I flower! and the scaled. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

it looks gorgeoussss and required the good taste of the seamstress to determine the colour of the beads and sequins used.EXACTLY WHAT I ENJOY AND AM GOOD AT :)

i know there's only 2 patterns a day. but slow and steady wins the race right?

take a look for urself

dance - after the changes

081009

I was excited today to see what would happen to my piece since Kent suggested that she "tone down" my piece. too much of self hurting and pain. :) am I going to rest more? haha. turns out NO. *sigh*

we did a lot of stuff, since the feedback of last sunday. first was the idea of positioning, staging, or blocking, whatever you call it. Now here's the new plan.
Aida thought watching my first part from the side to be better, so now, we have a thing called the "fake audience" and the "real audience" the fake being the initial one and the real the position of the audience on the real day.

So we start from the same corner, but switch the audience. I start out at the same part, but as I do my froggy bit I travel diagonally to the end, encountering a "brick wall" and fighting against that, I push and push till it propels we to the same end as my beginning position, i flip flip flip and turn to face the real audience as I do the floaty bit. Now here's the confusing part. I have to face my real audience for my first sequence, but for the 2ns time, I have to face my fake audience. Hard to get my bearings when I'm exhausted and dizzy? I know. haha this is all structured so I can end at the same position I started and....... we didn't have time to complete the ending....will do that this sunday :)

TODAY I ACTUALLY ACCOMPLISHED SOMETHING.
the floaty bit. before that, kat told me her inspirations on legalism and stuff. and somehow, it touched me. and then as we did the floaty bit I felt comfortable. i felt it! and it connected. something in my soul and body connected and what I wanted was shown through my body. Here's something that we set though. I need to at one point get the hand up movement, go into backwards scurrey, use triceps to block face, remember interaction of hands with body, freeze and release. Next I need to pick up the pace, get the 2/3 rhythms, and from a fast beat move into 2nd backward scurrey, however, with shadows of the initial relaxed phase. Then everything just picks up from there, spins and flips and arms flying in the air BOOM. stutters of words pop out of my mouth. and this is hard to describe so I won't. that basically ended it. :)

change has come