Buying A Violin...

Buying a violin is like getting married.

First, you have to pick out your possible partner, i.e. the violin. You scout for it at certain shops. Then, you wait for one that shouts 'love at first sight'.

Once you've got an eye for the violin you want, you start to consider the possibilities for you to be together. The most pressing matter to consider is whether you can afford the violin and its maintenance, parallel to whether you can afford to lavish your money on your newly found 'girlfriend' or 'boyfriend'.

In the process, you try out your compatibility with your violin - how can it adapt to you, how good you feel being with it, how you 'click' together and how you pair together to produce beautiful music.

After everything's done and you have decided on your violin (the financial factor plays a great part too), you can propose to your violin, get married and bring it back home.

However, that is not the end of the story.

After marriage, you have more maintenance to do. Buying accessories for it (like the bow, casing, rosin, shoulder-rest and stuff), change some of its' 'clothes' (bridge, strings, knobs, chin-rest...) and taking good care of it (wiping it after use, polishing it and more). If you don't do all that, your violin will get angry with you after a while, and it won't serve you any more.

Also, if you decide to 'play three sticks' with it and place your attention on another violin instead, chances are, if you ignore your violin for too long, it will get spoilt after a while too.

The only thing that makes violins better than a husband/wife is that if you change your mind and want to divorce your violin for another, you can easily do so without much complications. Beware of your finances though - a new violin will suck your money faster~

*all these came to mind when I found out that, in order to replace my violin strings with the same brand, I need to fish out RM198. It's like buying a new guitar =.="*

Reminiscence

Weird name for a post, I know :)

My friends said I've changed since some time around the end of last semester. According to them, I've become more particular about my appearance (like, since when have I actually cared whether my shirt matches my pants?) Before this, I used to wear any clothes that can cover my body, I mean, that's the main purpose of clothes, right?

Next, they say that I speak more Malay recently. Even from my own observations, I really speak more Malay now ^_^ When I first came into IPBA, I used to speak English with all the budak TESL, and a mixture of English and Malay with the others. Now, I speak Malay with almost everyone except for my Chinese friends.

I used to be an anime freak, self-labeled otaku, and I drool over anything related to anime or manga, even spending over RM150+ for an art book. Now, I care about anime and manga just for the sake of its art...as graphic designing is still my hobby, and I can get really good ideas from this form of Japanese art.

My friends who know me from secondary school will be shocked to know that I'm actually listening to songs in English, Malay and Chinese now. They used to tease me mercilessly that my songs folder contain 90% Japanese music, 8% classical music and 2% of songs in other languages. Now, I love music from Green Day, Avenged Sevenfold, Blink 182, Jay Chou, JJ Lim and more, a big difference from what I'm used to.

Sometimes I wonder, why have I changed?

Is it because I've grown up and become more mature?

or

Is it because I was influenced by other people around me?

Somehow, I feel that the answer is more to the latter...since handling a particular event last semester, I've realised that the world is not only limited to what I'm used to , but it is formed by different people with different backgrounds and different personalities. Having to work with other people, to ask for permission and to endure tyrannical behaviour from a particular lecturer forced me to learn that things do not always happen the way you want it to.

Still, I'm grateful for the experience...through the event, I got to know many musicians who are as spirited in music as I am. From chords to composing music to harmony to synchronisation, I've indeed gained a lot of knowledge. Also through this event, I managed to recruit two great guitarists for my future band in Canterbury, both with their specialties. In fact, I regularly exchange text messages with one of them, who managed to stump me with all the questions about music he asked me, and impressed me with his knowledge of music, especially when considering that he has not received formal music education before. Go Cocuphy!!! :p

One of my biggest faults was that I tend to develop a crush on someone very easily and quickly, and the feeling will disappear just as quickly. I'm not afraid to admit that I've done the same thing in college before, but I've already lost any romantic interest I might have had for that person. Now, I just hope that the person is not offended by all the stupid gossip, for it was my fault that I acted improperly, and I have the feeling that we are uncomfortable in each other's presence. Still, I need his help in the Merchant of Venice play and the Music Society, and I don't want to be like strangers when we once worked together and made an event a success. I have only myself to blame that I revealed my feelings to some of my friends, not knowing that one of them is the kind who wants just the guy that other people are interested in. Well, I don't need to continue the story ^_^"

At least, one positive thing about myself is that I will never be interested in people who are already unavailable, i.e. who have girlfriends or boyfriends at the moment; or those whose my friends are interested in >_<

------

Now, the idea to form a Music Society is going on quite okay...as opposed to really well or impossible :) I got the assurance from Madam Satinah (our deputy director), Tn Haji Kamar (the Head of the Social Studies department), Mr Baseni (Head of GERKO), Mr Baharudin (ex-head of GERKO) and Madam Khalijah (a music lecturer) that they will fully support this proposal. The only problem is with Tn Syed - as I'm worried that he might use his principle of 'girls only' for the usage of the music room :( Besides, I have to wait until the next meeting on the 27th of July for them to formally approve this proposal in a meeting, unless Mr Baseni has the power to allow us to operate before that by signing my letter of request to use the music room. My impatience is killing me...*facepalms*

Practice also has been going on every night for the Merchant of Venice. Since I'm in charge for the music section, I need to compose more songs and decide which to use for which scene. Now, I still need to come out with a nice waltz for one particular scene. Oh, and if anyone who knows them are reading this, extend my thanks to the 3 guitarists from 3 Missed Calls - hengget, awie and rahman for agreeing to help us out :D We really appreciate it~ I still need an extra musician...any volunteers? :p

Oh, and just for fun, this is the logo I designed for 3 Missed Calls~ I just hope that I can join in the show next time :D any comments or advice will be greatly appreciated~



P.S: If anyone wants me to design a logo for them, just drop me a note - I will do it for free if I know you...huhuh :p

Breaking Conformity

According to the Collins Cobuild Dictionary 2006, conformity means behaving in the same way as most other people. In some ways, it is good. Like how you might help a child who fell down, help your friend to carry some stuff if you think it's too heavy, queue up at the cashier while paying, etc etc.

However, in most cases that involve thinking, conformity is really dangerous. Imagine if all the people who lived before us conformed their minds to a certain set of rules. Galileo, for instance. If he did not dare to challenge the notion that the Earth was the centre of the universe, we will still be believing that until now. What about all the scientists who invented all those gadgets we are taking for granted today? From electric lamps to PDA phones, all of them are the brainchild of scientists who dared to challenge conformity, to think out of the box and ultimately, to come up with something new, different, useful and innovative.

Okay, I'm not claiming to be a scientist here, and I do not know how to invent things...yet. I just want to share with you some of the things I have done to break conformity - of course, nobody was harmed during this *ahem* production xD

#1: Holding the door open for other people.
Somehow, it has been a common practice for the man to hold the door open for a lady (although sadly the habit is not practised much in IPBA), but there's rarely, if not never, a case of a lady holding the door open for a man.

What I did: When I walked out of the library with a bunch of people, I held the door open for the guy behind me.

Result: Well, I was expecting a 'thank you', but it didn't come. And the guy behind him gave me a baffled look and asked, "Why did you hold the door for him? He's a guy!"

#2: Offers from others - sincere or not?
You know how when people offer you food, they expect you to say no instead of taking it. That's why I played this small joke, more for the sake of observing the reaction than having the food ^_^

What I did: I was at a meeting with one MPP guy named Rahman, and one of his pals was also there. He took out a packet of pickled mandarin orange skin, and offered it to me. I actually saw him draw his hand back a little when I stretched my hand out =D That shows that my hypothesis was true. Then, I took a small piece of the pickle, nibbled on it and watched the expression on his face, which changed from startled, perplexed to slightly amused.

Result: The guy said to me, "Orang Cina memang suka makan benda cam ni ya?" (Translation: You Chinese love to eat food like this, right?). Speechless, I just nodded.

#3: Relationship with lecturers
Well, there's also such a perception that lecturers must look strict all the time, the students must show deference and respect to the lecturers, etc which cannot really be applied to the world we are living in right now. With all the new technology for communication and stuff, I daresay that all our status are slowly becoming equal. Personally, I prefer lecturers who can joke around with us, care about our lives and such instead of a wooden block of a lecturer who just comes into the class, teach, and go away.

What I did: I joked around with most of the lecturers, except for those whose faces hang as long as water dripping out of a bucket. Well, some of the jokes are just normal ones, like at the lift, one French lecturer ask me where I was going, and I answered, "Somewhere~" He appreciated the joke, and asked, "Somewhere over the rainbow?" That's just one of many examples. Mostly I do it during class, when the lecturers ask some questions and I just give random answers, which are literally correct but does not answer the question =D Provided that I see that they are in a good mood, of course ^_^

Result: The lecturers are less reserved, at least, they seem to be so ^^ And classes are so much more fun >3

Some other less unconventional things include saying hi to the people I don't know, talking to some of them (the responsive ones), greeting the canteen 'pakcik' and stuff like that xDD I have to say, it's been a very satisfying change for me, and I'm gonna continue breaking the conformity of my life.

Of course, there are more serious types of conformity than all those mentioned above, but they are sensitive issues, and well, should not be discussed by someone under a government scholarship =D