FITS AND STARTS

Wednesday, March 29, 2006

Gig it

ABM played their second gig at The Cartoon in Croydon last night. Lil couldn't make it because his dad was flying off, neither could Suan because her mum's in town (and will be for the next 4 weeks), nor could Chun How, who had a KCLMSS dinner to attend. Azlan said the doors would open at 7.30 pm and that ABM was second in line to play. I left the house at 7.30 pm (estimated travelling time = 1 hour), and hey whaddya know, the underground trains at Bayswater were all delayed. By the time I got to Victoria to switch to the National Rail, it was already 8.20 pm. Eugene and I boarded the train which was due to leave at 8.30 pm. Tick tick tock. 8.30 came and the train didn't move. Eugene called Azlan's phone. Lijun picked up and said the band had already started playing. I called Lip Sin (whom we were supposed to meet at East Croydon) and told her to carry on ahead. Tick tick tock. 8.45 pm came and it didn't seem like the train was going to move anytime soon. I called Lip Sin and she said the band was still playing. Their set was supposed to last 30 mins. Eugene and I "one two jus"-ed, and consequently decided against a pointless 35 min journey. So we were left with two wasted train tickets, which cost £6.50 each. We headed back to Bayswater to grab a bite. But the damn trains were still failing to run efficiently, and we had to endure a 20 min delay at High Street Kensington. Oh of all days for underground delays to occur. A video of the gig can be found on ABM's website (see right). Take note of Azlan's American accent, heh heh. He only speaks like that to non-Asians and it's quite amusing to hear.

Thursday, March 23, 2006

Birthday duck

Before the eyebrows were plucked...


After the plucking...


Happy birthday Suan! :p

Monday, March 20, 2006

Brunei Night 2006

IT WAS FABOOLUS!!! Everyone's talking about it. We didn't receive one negative comment at all. People said it was hilarious, that they enjoyed themselves and that they're really proud of the fantastic show that we put up. Sigh. All the rehearsals, the late nights, the Brunei Hall dinners, the people - I guess they paid off :D :D :D There were a couple of hitches though, like our boring emcee, the impromptu curtain call, and the slow sound cues... omg the sound cues TOTALLY ruined our cabaret!!!!!!!!!!!!! The minute we turned around to face the audience, our arms in the air, the music got cut off. SOOOOOOOOOOOOO potong stim. And so much more embarrassing. Viana, Adli, Kel, Syikin, Eugene and our three stooges (Jus, Azmi and Azlan) pulled off flawless performances as usual. Nina and Rey sang beautifully at the end (apparently numerous members of the audience shed tears). And you could tell our dancers were genuinely enjoying themselves despite their going through the motions for the umpteenth time. Eeeeeeeeeeeeee. Brunei Night's been over for 3 days already, but I'm still squealing about it. I can't wait for next year's production! In fact, Vi wants to start planning for it in the summer. Somebody also recorded the show on video cam, and now we're trying to see if we can burn it on discs and sell them. Heeheeheeheehee. I'm supposed to be getting back to the books now that B-Night has finally ended, but I think it's going to take awhile for the hype to die down. I'm still constantly playing Ain't No Mountain High Enough and Smooth Criminal on my iTunes :p

Thursday, March 16, 2006

Track listing

I came up with a list of songs that I'd play if I were deejaying in a club:

1) Toxic - Britney Spears
2) Girl - Beck
3) That Thing (Doo Wop) - Lauryn Hill
4) September - Earth, Wind and Fire
5) Virtual Insanity - Jamiroquai
6) Don't Phunk With My Heart - Black Eyed Peas
7) Hey Ya - Outkast
8) What You Waiting For? - Gwen Stefani
9) All For You - Janet Jackson
10) Senorita - Justin Timberlake
11) Beat It - Michael Jackson
12) Shake Your Tailfeather - Nelly, P. Diddy & Murphy Lee


I know Dian would include much more Earth, Wind and Fire songs... but you can't show favouritism to one artiste you know? :p

Thursday, March 09, 2006

What to do when you're stumped?

I believe that it helps when you talk about things that are weighing you down. Problems, is the layman's term for such trivial issues. Although, I think I'll steer clear away from that word because it seems to be overused in this part of the world.

It takes two hands to clap. Likewise, it takes two heads (or whoever else in involved) to solve a quandary. But what if you bring up your concerns but the other party can't come to grasps with it? Or on the flip side, what if you yourself don't want to resolve things? What if familiarity has in fact bred contempt? You've adapted to change, albeit via a rocky path; you've taken out the trash and you don't want to talk about the matter anymore; but now change wants to undo its seams. You've gotta walk back to that trash bin, find a certain bin bag you threw out a long long time ago, sift through the items and pick out what's useful or can be repaired. Sigh. So many decisions. So many choices. So many things we'd rather run from sometimes.

On a separate note, we put the finishing touches on the cabaret yesterday night. It looks good, so our spectators say. I'm very very proud of everyone, especially our lead actress Nina. She's had to cross some pretty intense hurdles just for this and I'm beyond impressed with her dedication.

I also bumped into Amily in Nahar yesterday afternoon, while I was having lunch with Eugene. She was in London for the day to return the costumes her M-Soc borrowed from the Malaysian Tourism Department for Cardiff's Malaysian Night.

Only 9 more days to Brunei Night. Even today's usual day off had to be scrapped.

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!

THE R&B IS FINALLY COMPLETE!!!!!!!

That means we've finished the all the dances with the exception of the cabaret, which Nadeeya, Bella and I will be dancing to. We'll have pin striped suits, bow ties AND canes. Sweeeeeeeeeeet! I can just see it on stage. It'll be suave. It'll be sexy. And deeeeeefinitely glam! Fingers crossed :D

Tomorrow onwards we'll be working on the script and we have a week to perfect everything. I am so positive about this. If only all of you could be there for our big day!

17 days to go

Brunei Night is getting closer and closer everyday. I'm not feeling the panic, although everyone else is, but I think it's because I'm Malaysian and we're all inherently last-minute. Rest assured, three days before the big day, I'll be far from cucumber-cool and collected.

Much has happened in the past week, which is perhaps why I haven't been blogging too often. Sometimes it's difficult to describe the events that happen over here because some of them are inextricably delicate, and you never know who else reads your blog. Anyhoo, getting back to Brunei Night rehearsals - the boogie is looking good (except for a few shaky bits during the jive), the R&B is almost complete (we're supposed to finish it up today), we have yet to start the traditional dance... and as for Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal... it's probably the best number by far. Me, Azlan, Eugene and Chun How are dancing to that (heehee), as well as 7 other Bruneians. It's sooooo cool! If I could get my hands on the video we recorded and post it up here, I would, but then I'm terribly inept at computer related activities. To be honest, I really miss the stage. The thrill of delivery with numerous pairs of eyes on you is still there. And despite the years, it's funny how my face still turns bright red even though I have no qualms about performing.

I've been listening to Michael Jackson tunes of late. It's like I have this MJ-shaped vaccuum in me and I'm just taking my time now filling it up because I was never really part of the hype back then. His songs are maha addictive; once you start you can't stop. The beats just keep on drumming in your head and they get you tapping your feet and moving your body and all you want to do is dance like him! I think I finally realise why Eugene and Jasmine are totally nuts about him :p

Annie are you OK, so Annie are you OK, are you OK Annie?

With songs like that to shuffle your day along, I think I'll be fine. I just don't know it yet.