邱旭泉

the marimba(Malaysian Philharmonic Youth Orchestra`s one)

Me playing the marimba(a little SS here =p)

this is a xylophone owned by MPO, the MPYO one which i usually used to practice is being used by MPYO for their upcoming concert rehearsals, so the MPO percussionist allowed me to use this one.

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2.

Showcase 1st sem 2008/09. It`s on the 17th October 2008, place yet to be decided. All this while after i 'retired' from being one of the planning committee members for the showcase last semester, i planned not to take a big role in the planning of this semester`s showcase but instead just help out a little bit and maybe do a performance. BUT! My "wonderful"(note the " " marks) classmates decided to co-operate and vote me as the head of this coming showcase. MY SKIES!!! =.='' my gosh.... i dislike this job of being the head of the showcase. Why?

Reasons why i dislike being showcase head:

1. Being the head, you have to plan the whole showcase out. Plan the committee, plan who is in charge of doing what and many other stuff
2. Being the head, you have "fill the plates" of various lecturers. You have to agree with everything any lecturer says or asks you to do, even if it contradicts with another lecturer`s plans. (Honestly, i dislike the idea of "licking balls". Sigh, wat to do? already elected as head. =/ ya... i really "LOVE" my "WONDERFUL" classmates.)
3. Being the head, if anything goes wrong, it`s your head that`ll be on the chopping board. The first name to be shouted at is yours. Any lecturer is not happy with the work given, the head`s name will be the first to be shouted at. And again i say, i`m not the "ball licking" type.
4. Being head, you have to even please the needs of the performers. If a particular performer is not happy with the position of the piano, die die also have to make sure they like the position of the piano. If the particular performer wants to perform in the begining of the event, die die also will have to make arrangements to make sure he/she performs in the begining. Wat to do? Bachelor in PERFORMING ARTS ma. The performance and performer is more important ma. University Malaya! "Producing Leaders since 195something". Right... i prefer Ching Liangs version of that sentence. Ask me about it ;)

so anyway, i really was super super emoed when they elected me as head of showcase. Dah lah i have to work on my pengajian utama to get an A or A- at least so that i`ll have a shot at becoming a recitalist next year, then got assignments gonna pile up, then i already planned to perform for the showcase, and some of my very beautifully wonderful (take note, when i use these words, imagine the " " signs around it) classmates always disappear from the pusat after class. THESE PEOPLE SHOULD BE THE ONES DOING THE WORK DAMMIT!!!!!! INSTEAD OF US WHO ALREADY DID LAST SEMESTER!!! supper emo man.. we work our assssseeesssssss offf for the showcase last semester, while they were happily busy disappearing from the pusat after class(got to teach somewhere la KONON!!! blardy hell!! i can rush straight to UM halfway during church and u can tell me u`re busy teaching some kid? your job on the line? please la... you want your education to be on the line?!?!). They shouldn`t deserve the praise the lecturers gave man!! These people should deserve to be the head of the showcase committee man!! Din do work(got la.. on the showcase day oni do work) and feel proud cos of lecturers praises. NO SHAME MAN!!!! sigh.... i can just predict that my sleeping hours will decrease, my time spent with loved ones will decrease(*sobs*), and my anger will burst many times. =/ my shot at being a recitalist..... looks like i`d have to kiss it goodbye... =(

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3.

I really don`t understand typical chinamen. pure chinese? please, please go meet my lecturer Mr Edin Khoo(no he`s not related to me, and he is REAL) and he`ll give you a long lecture about the term "pure chinese" or any thing you define as pure in terms of race. Especially when you`re in this wonderful[taking note again? ;)] country called the "boleh land".

chinamen, sighs. i can`t understand it. why the pressure on your kids?!?! my gosh.. so freaking demanding.... as if the world revolves around them and they`re the 'god' of that universe.. kids can`t even have a say.. "kuasa mutlak". all thanks to Mao Zedong...

well.. wat to do? live with it only lo............... aihhhhhhhhhhh =/

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4.

It`s been pretty gloomy these few days, the weather i mean. Raining every day. Well, maybe it speaks out for me :)

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5. You know the question where wives or girlfriends like to ask their other half "if me(the girlfriend or wife) and your mother fell off from the ship and are drowning, who would you save first?". it does not only apply to guys okay.. it`s quite common that mothers love their last son a lot.. but it`s also common that fathers love their daughters more. it`s not 100% true.. but i think it`s quite a common perception. so, back to the question, i think it can also be applied to wives/girlfriends too.. dont you think so? ;) "if me(the boyfriend or husband) and your dad fell off a ship and are drowning, who would you save first?" i seriously think not only guys have to think of this question, but girls too.. ;)

well.. just a random thought that came into my mind..

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6.

well, thank goodness it`s the holidays now. So i had the opportunity to book practice rooms at MPO on tuesday, wednesday, and thursday(yesterday), and today i went to UM to practice(didn`t book at MPO cos i wasn`t sure whether or not i`ll be goin` to genting with the Taiwan people. Apparently i`m not "needed" to go..*COUGHmorelikebuaysongifigoCOUGH* well.. so i went to UM to start practicing on the timpani today(friday 22nd August 2008) cos the past few days at MPO there were no Timpani to practice on.. the MPYO needed it for their rehearsals.. so i only focused on the marimba and xylophone. Well, can say i`m pretty satisfied with my practice sessions, though my timpani practice wasn`t that satisfying. lol. i still haven`t managed to finish learning and memorising my piece yet. haha =p and i haven`t even started on my snare drum!! =s gosh!! and holidays are almost over!!!! sighs.... *booohooo* =( i need more holidays. lol.. shall not use the word time, cos if i were to say time, i shouldn`t be here blogging.. lol.. and plus, my practice time i limit it to 3 hours a day only. why? simple:

1. if i practice too much on the marimba, my hands would get blisters(which i already have) because i`m holding 2 mallets on each hand, and the handles of the mallets will keep scraping my skin while i play.
2. if i practice too much, i`ll get a headache. lol.. seriously.. and it`s tiring!!! to hold 2 mallets in each hands, and to focus for such a long period of time. really tiring.. lol

so in short. I decided to limit my practice duration to 3 hours a day. Maybe as time goes by i`ll increase the duration. haha :)

well, i`ve been starting to learn the new piece my marimba tutor(Cheng Kok) given me called "yellow after the rain". and i`m proud to say that i`ve learnt, memorised and finished 3/4 of the song. The last 1/4 of the song my tutor told me not to try it yet as it requires a lot of skill. slowly la yeah ;) below is a video recording i found on youtube(not me playin =p) for this song. very nice song! :)

there`s another new piece given to me last saturday called the "bohemian dance" from carmen suite no.2. A two mallet piece. Very fun to play with :) can`t wait to get my hands on the score and try it out this coming sat(forgot to get it from him last week.. lol.. *blushes*).

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well.. i`m done ranting now(i think). want to go off now..

cheerios ;)