Contemporary Music

I went to the International Composer Pyramid Finals at St Gregory's Centre in CCCU today (it was a competition to showcase the compositions of 12 young composers)

but frankly,

I can't understand it at all.

To me, it sounds as though all the composers had the same teacher as the style of the music is almost the same -- firstly and obviously, the melody does not follow the normal classical music structure, the notes and harmony are randomly organised (yeah, oxymoron intended) and there are loads and loads and loads of harmonics, high notes and running notes and all those stuff that is (sorry) quite unpleasant to the ear. To add to that, out of nowhere comes strange noises which make you feel as though you are in a metal jungle. The rhythm is also extremely inconsistent. In fact, I feel like it's just a whole bunch of notes with no time bars and you just play it whenever you should. There's no melodious sense at all - everything is just a bombardment of notes and sounds united by the conductor.

To be fair, I have not studied composition, and I know nil about contemporary music other than it is the product of this century (compared to Baroque and Classical and Romantic), so I probably can't tell the difference between songs No.1 and No.2. Besides, I haven't played any myself too, and that's probably why I can't appreciate it. To use an analogy by Philip, my partner in orchestra, it's like listening to a beautiful poem in a totally foreign language. It only shows its full beauty to the people who understand the language.

Not all is lost this night though. The 8th song I've heard had a very creative touch where rock drums were incorporated at the very end, which came as a pleasant surprise to everybody. Besides, this was the first time I've seen sounds and noises made on the violin in so many places.

However, if I, a music player feels this way about contemporary music, I would imagine that the public will feel about the same way too. And I don't get why contemporary music insists on being different. Once you insist too much, it becomes a priority, and it is different mainly for the sake of being different. To me, that spoils the whole essence of music really, as music should be a pattern of sounds instead of a jumble of noise and sounds and goodness knows what. I can even relax listening to Rachmaninoff, but after listening to contemporary music, all my muscles just tense up, and I feel like I'm going to have a nightmare tonight ;/

But then, I digress. Contemporary music might be just one elite culture that I can't ever get.

100th Post!

And My Heart Will Go On



and on, and on... :D

I Talk Too Much

Or rather, Malaysians talk too much.

When we first arrived in England, our lecturers told us, 'Go ahead and make friends with the locals. Don't be discouraged if you find that they're not as friendly as you hope, because British people are generally reserved and take some time to open up.'

That's true in some cases.

However, the lecturers forgot to mention that compared to British people, Malaysians talk a lot. In fact, I think we talk too much. And maybe it scares them a little. Or a lot.

In my case, since I'm a Gemini (yeah well, blame it on the horoscope), my mind works a little bit differently and in a conversation, I veer off in many different crazy directions that I forget what the conversation was originally about. And sometimes, I get so engrossed in talking I just go blabbering on and on and on and on and on and on. I once recounted one of my conversations to my friend, and she said 'If I were the person, I'd have punched you in the face for talking too much.' {=_=}

Still, there are people whom I enjoy talking to and who enjoy talking to me. And those conversations have a tendency to be punctuated with lots of laughter, which is good. I still have to remember though, about 85% of conversations in England, or at least in Canterbury, start off with 'Hey, you all right?'

In general, maybe I should learn to control the amount of things I say (well, people's minds work differently, and most of the time they can't catch up, or can't see the link).

On the other hand, this is actually good practice, as I'm going to be a teacher, and I need to talk a lot anyway. ;)

Ciao!

~Culture Shock in the UK~

It might seem a bit late for me to write about experiencing culture shock in the United Kingdoms now, since I've already been here for more than a month. However, it also means that I've already had enough time to settle down and observe the things here in Canterbury that's so different from what I'm used to in Malaysia.

1) Dry Toilets
All the toilets here are well-furnished with toilet papers and a good flushing system, but no WATER TAPS/HOSES!!! For us Malaysians who are *ahem* used to cleaning ourselves using our hands rather than the toilet paper, we had to take some time getting used to using the toilet paper (and slowly killing Mother Nature) instead.

2) Traffic and Rules
When the light flashes red in Canterbury, the drivers actually STOP. No, they don't see the yellow light and ram on their gas pedal to speed towards their destination. They slow down, and they stop for pedestrians to cross. Also, drivers give way at any zebra crossings if they see people waiting to cross the road. That's how courteous they are. In Malaysia, you are already risking your life by crossing even when the light is red, just because there will always be one or two motorists who can't wait for one single minute for their turn to move.

3) Recycling
The government, or rather the city council here places a lot of emphasis on recycling. All food packaging are labelled clearly whether they could be recycled, and the council sends workers to pick up recycled stuff once a fortnight. You can argue with me that Malaysia has the 3-coloured bins for recycling too, but frankly, we are still a long, long way behind.

4) Greetings
Somehow, I find the locals here a little 'on the surface'. Sure, they are friendly and everything, but somehow it doesn't go deeper than the surface. For example, when you meet them, they smile at you and say 'Hey, you all right?', but they do not actually wait for an answer. Somehow, I'm baffled as I always tend to answer the question. However, a little more than a month is too short of a time to gauge how friendly British people are, and things might change :D

5) Lack of Bolsters
Bolsters. Hugging pillows. Whatever you call them. No, I can't seem to find any in Canterbury. I miss having something long and soft to hug at night. Oh well, when I get a little richer, I'll try to get one from Ebay.

6) University Culture
Here, people address their lecturers by name, regardless of their position and qualifications. The lecturers treat us as mature adults, and there are not so many restrictions on whatever activities the students want to carry out. No paperwork, no invitation cards, none of the jiggly-wabbly-wasteoftimeandpaper-thingy all students have to go through when trying to organise anything in Malaysia. Now, this is what I call true democracy, and true support for learning.

Anyway, there's more, but these are the few main ones I can think of right now. Ciao!

~Happy Re-Birth Day, Me. 07.11.2010~

It started off as a practical joke...I changed my birthday on Facebook to the 7th of November just to see how many people will go 'Happy Birthday' on my wall XD

Not surprisingly, I received a lot of birthday wishes, some even from the people who've wished me on my real birthday - 3rd of June. That's really funny, and it shows how much people depend on Facebook these days to remember their friends' birthdays...but there were some who remembered though <3 And I can't really blame those who just added me recently either, since they probably don't pay attention to or won't remember birthdays :P

However, after the joke progressed and I read through all the birthday wishes, I felt as though it was really my birthday. Firstly it's because I didn't do much on my real birthday as I was in a camp (BTN) and there were no cakes or stuff. Secondly, it seems like a long time since I've been in Canterbury, and lots of things have happened. Next, birthdays are fun =)

At the same time, I've finally sorted out my feelings and thoughts. It didn't happen gradually - it was more like a flash since I discovered the way out. Before this, I would be dwelling over trivial things, such as other people's selfishness, bad ways, stupidity and such. Those things range from irritating me to making me angry to making me stew in solitude or disturb my emotions in general. Also, I tend to get obsessed over things that I cannot have, at least, not in the near future.

However, now, I've figured out (at least I hope I have) a way to work around these negative emotions. The principles are:

-Smile (and everything will be all right)
-Don't do upon others what you don't want done upon yourself
-When someone does bad things to you, it's not necessary that you should act the same way back
-Go with the flow
-When you can't get/do something, you can always get/do something else to replace it
-Loss of things, as long as they are not lives and your loved ones, are replaceable
-Money hoarded is not happiness
-Remember that not everyone is born with the same strengths and weaknesses as yours
-Don't be jealous of other people, as they might envy some things you have that they don't too
-Forgive and don't hold grudges
-Help people as much as possible without expecting anything in return

So, the 7th of November, 2010 is going to be marked as my REBIRTH DAY.

Let me gain the strength to close the chapter of the old, calculative, sensitive, lazy me, and begin a new chapter of an optimistic, happy, helpful and better me.

Keep on Going~

It doesn't matter if people do not like your music.


It doesn't matter if people do not like your wallpapers.


It doesn't matter if people do not like the things you write.
http://www.fanfiction.net/u/863421/

It doesn't matter if people do not like the things you say.


It doesn't matter if your first few attempts are rejected.

Coz' the important thing is -- you loved doing all those things. You feel happy. You're satisfied with what you've done. That's all that matters.

Ha. Hi. Hu. He. Ho. Manual.

Haha. Hihi. Huhu. Hehe. Hoho. Ahaha. Ehehe. Ohoho.

In case you haven't guessed, these are the 'words' most of us young adults, teenagers and kids use very frequently while typing in chats, texts, messages and stuff. Of course, there are more evolved types of unvoiced laughter such as 'kahkahkah', 'kuikuikui', 'muahaha', and the list goes on and on. However, this post shall only focus on silent laughter that has the letter 'h' as the first or second alphabet. Besides, I will endeavour to classify the emotions of the speaker while using any kind of laughter and also name the people who usually use that kind of laughter.

Now, this is my attempt to decipher what another person means when he/she is laughing on a chat box. Feel free to feel differently, as this is just a result of my perception + my experience of the words.

I shall start off with laughter that begins with 'h'.


Haha - the most conventional laughter. Most people sound like that when they are laughing (which means if you want to be unique, don't use this one). Use it to show happiness, joy and a little surprise. Since it's the most conventional one, it does not belong to a specific group of people.


Hehe - More often people say 'hehe' to show a sense of pride and self-satisfaction. Of course, you can also use it to hint 'serves you right', 'yeah, I'm awesome', 'smirk' and similar things. 'E' is a common vowel across many languages, so it's not strange to find people of all origins using 'hehehehe' too.


Hoho - Most commonly associated with the white-bearded, red-cap-wearing old man, or else known as Santa Claus. As the 'ho' sound needs relatively more air and energy to emit, usually people use 'hoho' when they want to show that their mouths are in an 'O' shape. If not, stick to 'haha' and 'hehe'.

interesting image, isn't it?

Hihi - The mouth stretches wide into a 'eee' position and the teeth is more clearly seen with this laugh. Usually used by cute people, cutesy people and people who try to be cute or cutesy. If you think you fall into any of the categories above, go for 'hihihihihi' and add a wink ;) or a smiley :D


Huhu - Used to show embarrassment or uncertainty. However, it's most common among Malays, Indonesians and the sort. Use it on people from other parts of the world and they will think you are going 'huh?' instead.

******
Then, there are types where you start with the vowel instead of 'h', such as...

Ahahaha - To portray 'Ah, I see + laughter'. Used to show comprehension. More commonly used by Italians (I noticed).

Ehehehe - To show a little bit of embarrassment and shyness. More commonly used by Japanese and Italians.

Ohohoho - Try saying it. Yes. Ohohoho. That's just plain evil, foxy laughter. Use this to show that you are scheming something (but if you are really scheming something, why show it? :o)

******

THE END

P.S: All images (c) their owners.

More on BadaBimBumBand

I can't start to explain why I like this band so much. Maybe it's because of the amazing choreography, maybe it's because of the creative way they strut their stuff, maybe it's the way they coordinate and cooperate to perform, maybe it's the way they arrange their music to be so vibrant and spirited, maybe it's the way they interact with the audience despite being able to speak little English, maybe it's the way they're all men in unitards dancing around in the streets...

:D

Anyway, I've found more videos in my camera on BadaBimBumBand (easier said than typed), so here goes -- just to share with my readers ~

P.S: All of them are around the Canterbury city centre, since I'm relatively new in Canterbury and only managed to figure out where 'Dane Johns Garden', the castle area and castles grounds after the whole affair xD

1.



2. Jumping and galloping around?



3. Marching through the town (I was stalking behind :P)



And lastly, a group photo I snapped ~



This is my new favourite band :D so I'm gonna keep an eye out for them whenever they have street shows in the future....for those interested, here's their facebook group page link:

BadaBimBumBand

Something Exciting in Canterbury (BadaBIMBUMBand?)

I've been in Canterbury for so long, and yet I haven't found something really exciting to post in my blog about -- I mean, you wouldn't be interested to see photos of my room, my kitchen and the substandard food I've been cooking for myself...if you'd understand what I mean :D

Anyway...I've finally encountered something that was quite out of the ordinary while taking a seemingly eventless walk to town to set up an appointment with HSBC.

So it happens that it was the Eurofair in Canterbury from the 24th to the 26th of September (for more details about the Eurofair click here)

While walking around town in the afternoon, my friends and I did not notice the hubbub in town as something unusual since it was a Friday. I bought some strawberries, tried on some trench coats and boots and made an appointment with HSBC to set up a bank account.

Suddenly, I got drawn to music playing somewhere around the center of the city, and my friends and I made our way towards it. I was then surprised to see about a dozen men, all dressed in white jackets and pants and shades playing some brass instruments.

Upon close inspection, I noticed that they were all saxophonists with the exception of two guys on the drums. The music was indeed great - harmonious and clear, but what made it even more awesome was the fact that they were dancing while playing, and the arrangement was so nearly flawless that I could only hear a few blowing mistakes here and there.

They had a good way of interacting with the audience too. In one particularly mischievous song which was the one before the last, they spread out and tried to intimidate the audience by going as close as possible to them. Of course, ladies squealed and men chuckled as they tried to avoid being in the way of this marching street band. After deciding that they have scared the onlookers enough, they made their way back into a straight line and composed themselves for the next song. Amazing choereography and idea, I must say.

Anyway, after their show I had the luck to get a photo with a few of the band members before it started to rain. Here's the photo...

and the video...

Cheers!


P.S: I might write more about my daily life in Canterbury and the differences between it and M'sia if I suddenly decide that it's not too boring to read :D

Just a short post about dickless bastards.

Image from Kenwooi.com

...about the inconsideration and selfishness of some individuals.

Place: KTM Kuala Lumpur Station
Date: 22nd August 2010
Time: Approximately 5pm

The KTM train recently launched a new system - they turned the middle coach into females-only coach.

So one fine day, after getting down from the bus, I went to the station to take the train back to KL Sentral so that I can go back to my college.

However, the first train that arrived was so crowded and many passengers were already waiting to board i.

Of course, there was a big scramble to get on the train first (imagine all the people in a Mega Sale with 80% off Burberry). I, being a female, made my way to the coach that says 'females only'.

The coach was tooooooooooooooo full to make way for my two bags. Okay, I can understand that. But, inside the coach, there were a few guys staring innocently outside, probably feeling an odd sense of satisfaction for being to get into the coach on time instead of having to wait for the next train. They even had the gall to smile indulgently at me when I had to hop out of the train to avoid being turned into minced meat by the sliding doors.

I just want to say...

Female-only coaches are FEMALE-ONLY coaches. Unless you suddenly sprouted a pair of boobs or got castrated or really had to hurry to take the expressway to hell or you are a lady disguised as a man...

You. Men. Are. Not. Supposed. To. Get. On. Female. Only. Coaches. You. Dickless. Bastards.