Blog Title: deft dissonance.

[gigalerter] Hot stuff on the Cool Deck@Sentosa

the passing of james brown

stumbled upon this a few days back:
James Brown dies at 73
One of music's biggest stars passes on Christmas Day

James Brown, Godfather of Soul and one of the 20th Century's biggest musical names, has died this week aged 73.

On Monday, Brown was admitted to an Atlanta hospital after a home visit by his dentist revealed him to be suffering pneumonia. Brown's illness rapidly escalated, and by 1.45am on Christmas day it took his life. James was quoted saying "I'm going away tonight" sometime before he passed away. According to reports, he took three long, quiet breaths, and closed his eyes before dying.

Throughout his remarkable career, Brown would be defined by his energy and dedication to showmanship, with the veteran star over the summer for London's Tower festival, as well as last month's BBC Proms, both part of his "Seven Decades Of Funk World Tour".

A friend who was by his side when he died, Charles Bobbit, said he wanted people to know he was someone 'who preached love from the stage.""

He was a true humanitarian who loved his country," he told press outside the Atlanta hospital. US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson added this week to the Associated Press he "was dramatic to the end, dying on Christmas Day."

"He'll be all over the news all over the world today. He would have it no other way," he said.

In Brown's hometown of Augusta, Georgia, flowers were laid at a statue of star to mark his passing, where Mayor Deke Copenhagen described his friend as "just a wonderful giving man".

James Brown 1933-2006 R.I.P.

Source: http://www.soundgenerator.com/news/showarticle.cfm?articleid=8762&CFID=22908744&CFTOKEN=42548529
---

Yup, the godfather of soul left his body.
if i were at his bedside when he heaved his last breaths, i guess i'd go "Get up! Get up!"

the world lost one of the most infectious musicians that day, James Brown was the absolute real deal. he was such a lover of life and it was intrinsically inherent in every note he wrote. He got people listening.

he was infectious.

after all, what is music but the delivery of ideas.

Brown- he would fulfill that definition superfluously.

Lester
rest in peace.

X'mas

just gobbled up a white chocolate snowman the mom got from mandarin.
curse my deadly penchant for white chocolate!

the flute section came over for the eve lunch party (i'm the king of scrabble);
t'was quite a smashing christmas eve.

Oh the weather outside is frightful,
But the fire is so delightful,
And since we've no place to go,
Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

Lester
today's the 25th. cheers.

band fest '06

In "Life!", Pg 9:
Junior College Band Festival
Join the bandwagon to cheer on musicians, under the baton of renowned conductors Kikuo Atarashi from Japan and Joseph Cheung from Hong Kong.
Esplanade Concert Hall, Today: 7.30pm, Tickets: $13 & $16.
Tel: 6348-5555

Oh my. They left out the delightful, ineffably convival Mr. Alan Lourens.
although some peeps from my band would also use "sonorous" and "percussive" to describe him.

This is very obviously a last-ditch attempt to up ticket sales, which are still quite abysmal. Please heed Life! and come down. You'll prolly be able to get tickets there.

Lester
let's play.

band fest '06

i'll be succint: i've been participating in this years wasbe band fest, so as to replace my college juniors who pulled out at the eleventh hour. my compadres would know i'm always dashing around like a busy bee; but they'd also know that i'm always game for something new.

yea! i know; i'm an amazingly spontaneous person.

i'll be on flute at the Esplanade on the 21st (This thurday).
the full day rehearsals have been arduously long. but nonetheless very fulfilling. This is by far the most interesting event on the band college calender. Every band is randomly formed from the different jcs and are instructed by dynamic conductors that wave in different colours to the tapestry of the music played. i really was looking forward it.

i'll stop droning.

PLEASE cell me if u wanna get tickets, even at the last minute. sales have been abysmal completely to the previous yr. (i always knew my batch was beettter)

AH. did i mention rehearsals have been long and tiring.

the cute one of the section turned around and snooze on my stand.
right in the middle of the rehearsal.

arduously long.
just ask her.
---

here's your poison eleanor.

stop bugging me for doggie pics.

Lester.
as of this moment, my wunderkind-k9 can shake your hand, give a low-five, and beg for food.
email me for a video of the tricks. It's a short-clip, just play it thrice.
awesome.

the precocious busker

little big bad drummer boy Ethan (age 7) doing his thing, near the Paragon.
the little tyke's got a fanbase.
This is the best shot i got.
crowds don't take too kindly to big guys. lol

oh, Crystal had this to say a few days back when we met up: "why aren't u aware that people are always talking about you."

i guess i'm not one to bother.

Lester
-does not have an affinity with passport photos.
PDL

it's a holly jolly christmas.

Joy to the world!
for it's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.
GAH I'll be home for christmas this year.

I guess good ol' st. nick is gonna be more lovingly avuncular this year. I'll probably be spending christmas with family and friends, gathered at a eve party the mom's got planned out. Despite the fervidly portentuous outlook i had on christmas this year, it's what you get when you make extemporaneous plans for the holidays. The parentals were pretty occupied these recents weeks and kinda made me the designated holiday planner at the most impossible time, evidently. We couldn't get tickets to anywhere nice.
-

Having walked the winter wonderland the past 3 years doing christmas- seeing snow suddenly seems gratuitous, especially with the perfunctory (READ: big-is-good) care they took with all thing *SHINY*, like the steamers & the christmas tree "round-thingys" in town.

there's an increase in dead magpies, in town, evidently due to accute exhaustion. Rigor mortis confirms that they died with wings extended forward slightly curl- in a hugging position.

(if you didn't get that i feel sorry for you. and your mother.)

However i do think the relevant authorities should peruse (again, pls) through my proposal to line the roads with fine, imported snow, just so i can relive my white christmases.

Well, let's just say that i develop insatiable cravings for coke when i'm on a vacation, and i like spreading the christmas cheer.

like i've always said- nothing like reliefing the memories.

shoppers be fawned! just not thirsty.

So it's not gonna be a white christmas this year. I mean was surround by white people in New York 2 holidays ago, and the tanning salons were closed during my last holiday trip to Japan.
---
First Greeting of the season:
came in the mail bout a week ago.

ho ho ho, samuel lee.

---
Will be spending quite some time at bbdc in the coming weeks.
i will get my license to honk at children.
---

Lester
it's a holly jolly christmas,
it's the best time of the year.

the 8th

started sax lessons again today.
did quite of practice today. gonna get my chops back.
got a random pic of my furry critter.

Will bust out the cookbooks when i'm done fattening him.
all in good time, and all in a day's work.

heh.

Lester
squirrels.

quick one.

gonna make this quick.
caught "Deja vu" today.
frankly, i loved washington's performance in "Johnny Q" a tad more.
exited the theatre hall sheepishly 'round midnight, to a ghost-mall. Suntec's the ultimate for scaring children at this hour; if there ever was a twillight zone, i'd imagine it exactly like this, save for the rotund narrator who talks too much.

Gonna risk my randysavagemachoman rep: yes, it was spooky.

nonetheless, we all should catch a midnight movie once in a while. would have taken pics if not for my friend's aversion to the occasional janitor. (apparently, they have the uncanny ability to get rid of blood stains, lol.)

segway- youtube finally unbanned this video. It's Peter showing the Proclaimers who's boss. Yup, it's a dog-eat-dog world in the music business.



Lester
quick one.

no clue at all.

Check out dave foley on THE Craig Ferguson Show, speaking bout TIME's Person of the Year.



I love how Craig pronouced Bono as "Broneo". Foley's hubris is absolutely jarring.

---

Trotted down to thomsonjazz after more than 2 months. It was a refreshing afternoon, to say the least.

Lester
oh dun be a playa-hater.

Basic Driving Theory Test

Q219. When approaching children while driving, you should
(A) reduce your speed and drive carefully
(B) increase your speed in order to bypass them quickly
(C) stop and horn at them

Answer: A

I'm such a "C" person.

Lester
dora the explorer (18 years and above)

not worth a penny.

astute economic analysis aside, i just had a thought.

you know, a widening income gap wooould mean that there's a 50% chance you're on the side of the rich.

now think about that.

Lester
nonsense for the weekend.
to tag-board or not to tag-board??

winter holidays

was having one of those usual exchanges on the phone with melvin a few hours back. We were toying with the idea of a bunch of us going on an overseas trip to somewhere far, considering the inherent cosmopolitans we are. (WELL, 'cept for melvin, who still gasps ungayly when he hears "homo". Although we do have poh, who oddly enough, embraces each of the 4 letters)

yea, we're an interesting bunch. amen to that.

anyway, we figured that it'd be the ultimate tourist experience going to somewhere like the US, especially if we went during jan/feb- the most empty malls and the shortest queues at theme parks. Here's why:

1. Stastically, they're the months with one of the lowest birthrates- fewer peeps at the malls shopping for presents, high tensile strength rope, and groin guards. (see poling)

2. Over there, people actually make way for us. Can almost forsee the throes of people parting like the red sea so they dun get swiped or picked. The asian on the street has nimble mind and dexterous fingers, which can be put to deadly use apart from the calculator. Yes, we will be counting your money.

3. No ugly dogs sniffing us out on the streets, or grand central park for that matter. people know we might get hungry.

amazing how stereotypes work out for everyone. :)

all in all, i dun really have an opinion where we set the jet, but disneyland's a sine qua non. I didn't get to rollercoaster in the dark the last time i was in the Land of plenty.
---

Was planning to write about the hell of a week i had, but it's 'bout time i turned in. Anyway the Bond movie actually exceeded my expectations. Despite bypassing traditional elements like the smashing car, elaborate tools of destruction and an "explosion" ending (complete with hottie), i felt it was an adequate elucidation of the nascence of the whole bond franchise.

loved the part where he ran through a board-wall like a stripper jumping out of a cake at a bachelor party. It gave way like vanguard sheet.

oh- we later find out that he has balls of steel... kinda explains alot.
----

currently blogging on a notebook i acquired during the week. It's the HP pavillion 9014. The most awesome chunk of hardware available on the market, coupled with a 17-inch lcd and 240 gigs (non-paying) of memory.was watching channel 5's "one leg kicking" on it.
one WICKED machine. DVDs are crystal-clear.

(only if u support the war against piracy; smuggled crystals tend be lackluster.)
Now, i can brandish my new toy at the thousand and one starbuck branches around the island. It's practically a membership to join all the poseurs at starbucks doing "work". yes u.

I just have to get my class 5 license, then purchase a medium size crane at COURTS so i can move the thing from my table.

like i said, one WICKED machine.
---

I'm a huge fan of Craig Ferguson and the late night show. He's got to be one of the most talented comedians. His routines are always ostensibly infused with vitality and a brimming enthusiasm that has since become his signature. I had to put this here:




Lester
welcome back my naughty lil' donkeys. welcome back.

fresh to go

i'm finally done tweaking with the new template; have been searching for a new skin and this one's not too shabby and it's far from cluttered. I have a disdain for overklls.

will put the typing digits to action tomorrow- it's been a hell of day and i'm spent.

zy just logged on msn to confer his "Happy World Aids Day" wishes.
Prima facie, this is kinda irrevelent. I guess it's pretty safe to assume that i don't have aids. I checked off none of the symptons AND have been keeping prudent tabs on all my illegitimate children in the asia-pacific. yuup. no aids.

BUT! we must remember that a united front against this disease is critical. Judging from deplorable statistics, the battle is very much the proverbial uphill climb.

Do stay positive.

lol.

Lester
this writer does indeed support the international efforts against aids and in no ways demeans the struggles that many entities or individuals go through due to this debilitating disease. Please take this as trigger happy blogging. Do forward complaints to:
getasenseofhumour@halfprice.com
*logo property of site linked.

cybershot-ed.

I guess the recent outing with the ol' ac band peeps wasn't as "well-received" as expected. I guess it was okay to let david, sorta the "meticulous one", to plan the outing without much perusal, but only FOUR people turned up. tsk.

Despite being half the original bunch, it was good fun. I guess we never, ever fail to see the salaciousness, of the bigger picture, even in a smaller one.

i mean, 4 guys in a shopping mall (Plaza Sing)- wad cha gonna do.

Turns out that dominic saw one of his rather rotund college juniors smoshing (heh heh) at that ice cream parlor smack dab in middle of PS (Gela-ra or smth), with a pretty lady. After he told us how unfitting the protanganist's name, and the nature of the mating situation is, i proceeded to name the junior in question wilbur-
"he looks like a wilbur, therefore we shall call him wilbur."

At this point, i figured we were just gonna bitch about him, and resume our trot round the place.

Then dominic took out his phone to take pictures.

now, i'm not one to partake in such ludicrous conquests.
it's downright childish i tell you. cant stand stuff like that.
---

In other news, Lester is now armed with a Cybershot k800i, baby.

The nifty thing's pretty smooth and i haven't had anything to gripe about.
though i had though it came with a drop dead gorgeous tennis player.
my bad.

plus it has an awesome camera... Tested it out at PS taking random shots.

Wilbur would love the pics.

Lester
wilbur.

1 month to go.

it's gettin awfully quiet around here. and quienscence is a begrduging concept. Hence i shall attempt to muse, despite my inherent sombre mood. (my a levels are about a month away).
----

It has been 6 days since my prelims concluded;
but i guess it hasn't concluded in its entirety- the results will hardly cease to haunt me when they manifest themselves one by one. But thank goodness i'm a person who moves on. right.

Upon reaching home, i would always dash up the stairs to my room, pounce on the bed. (no, jessica simpson doesn't live under my sheets) And i'd always pass the shed. For muggles, "the shed" is where music people practise, it's kinda where the dried up blood and sweat are ostensibly evident. Anyway, i realised it's been 2-3 months since i last picked up my horn.

God i miss fingering through the keys, and singing through my instrument. Imgaine a poet who has had to go mute, a painter who is fettered blind or dancer who like, stopped being pretty. the travesty!

I miss the incandescence of performance. The moment on stage where you have to summon up the tenacity to deal with the focus of an audience, and in switch in time it, you could just let it all go OR make your presence on stage fleeting, in the best of manners. I wish i coul just sum it up in "a rush of adrenaline", but i guess that cheapens the fleeting adventure, if you will, of the arts.
Maybe John O'Farrell's intro to "Walking into the Wind" elucidates this most artfully.

"But of course you never do shatter the magic because for that precious hour or so the audience completely love you and that is why being on stage is the greatest job".

hmmm come to think of it, the audience doesn't love you all the time and being on stage might not be the greatest job in the world. but you get it, la.

Cant wait till all this is over so i can start monkeyin ard.

Lester
yea lady... my dreams are big.


p/s i was at Nokia's Customer Service Centre at Wheelock place to get my ol' 7610 fixed up at 4+ on sunday. Due to my impeccable timing, i had to queue up behind 30 people. Guess what- while i was moping the lost of my sunday afternoon (i'd prolly have to wait an hour or so) , this charming young woman waded through the crowd just to give me a better queue number. i thrashed up my 161 for the 133 she gave me and got called up straightaway.

wow. she chose me. hehe. *play forest gump theme.
lol she strutted towards me and i notice right away coz she was kinda hot, and then she held up the number and asked most daintily: "hey, do you want this."

heh heh yes... i want both. LOL jk.


angels do exist... i hope they make sure she chances upon this place.

30 days

nth much to blog about.
in a few hours time it'll be exactly a month to my prelims.

and well, mom got a pup 2 days ago; the whole family deliberated on its (his) name for the longest time, before settling on the pleasantly sounding Ping An. (which means peace in chinese)

Yar. Ping An... a chinnnnese name.
consider how i'm not exactly a linguistic prodigy in the field of mandarin, and how i would sound totally off each time i call for the lil tyke, u can guess i wasn't over the moon about it.
But trust me, it was the better end of the bone.

Mom wanted to call it "Tornado". I swear.

Actually that would be undeniably amusing. Just imagine walks in the park.
all the weird stares.
but then again it'd all be made worthwhile to see just ONE idiot ducking.
---

It's not me to reporoduce emails but this one caught my attention, especially against the backdrop of tiresome study and penning ridiculously long and pointless expositions. (see last entry)

it went:

"Geography Of A Woman"
Between 18 and 22,
a woman is like Africa;
half discovered, half wild, naturally beautifulwith fertile soil.

Between 23 and 30,
a woman is like America;
well developedand open to trade, especially for someonewith cash.

Between 31 and 35,
a woman is like India;
very hot, relaxedand convinced of her own beauty.

Between 36 and 40,
a woman is likeFrance;
gently aging but still warm,and a desirable place to visit.

Between 41 and 50,
a woman is like Great Britain;
with a glorious and all conquering past.

Between 51 and 60,
a woman is like Yugoslavia;
lost the war and haunted by past mistakes.

Between 61 and 70,
a woman is like Russia;
very wide, and borders are now unpatrolled.

After 70, she becomes Tibet.
Wildly beautiful, with a mysterious past and the wisdom of the ages, only those with an adventurous spirit and a thirstf or spiritual knowledge visit there.

"Geography Of A Man"
Between 1 and 70,
a man is like Iraq --- ruled by a dick.

I am ostensibly outraged even as i'm typing.
Slurring Mockery and untruths, and may i say, a brash infringment of the values i hold steadfast in our society of civic-mindedness. Esp the value of being constantly up-to-date.

Everyone knows Iraq's no longer ruled by a dick.

Lesterrr
rawr!

Imperative: Do note that i do not claim ownership/copyrights to the joke in this entry. It is purely extracted from an email that was being circulated, which excluded proprietary detail. I also does not condone the stated propositions.

er, no animals were harmed in the process.
except Ping An... he was squealing like a dick.

episode 2.

check out episode 2 of Chad Vader- Day Shift Manager.



Like Gotham Writers' Workshop's "Fiction Gallery".
i'm halfway through this well-written antho. A bunch of poigant short stories for that half hour before your Zs.

speaking of anthos... i wonder whether my bridport poem has already been read...

Lester
"laaaaser check out system...."
"I command you to bring us menus!"

T & T

they say teachers always push you to greater heights.

Mr G, my endearing economics teacher was in a "benevolent" mood on wednesday. Upon discovering that threee quarts of the class had forgotten to bring a piece of work. He passed his sentence.
Naaaah. No detention, no corrected work order, perhaps they just weren't consistent with his fabled ingenuity. The lovable man didn't even raise his voice. He just wanted us to write a little ditty.

"The Trials and Tribulations of coming to class not prepared for tutorial"
1500 (freaking) words. to be handed up on friday.

wow. it's 1.30am in the morning. Alot of my classmates are still online. heh.

I actually broke the record for the largest amount of crap i have ever had to write in one sitting.
---
tutor sam was such as asshole today.

k gotta trot back to mugging right now.

Lester
Written by Lester Ang.

pseudo-hiatus

hey.
i'll be preparing for my a levels in the coming weeks, so i prolly won't be updated this place much. Anyway which the copious dry stuff i'll be going through, u can be very sure my muse to muse will be very stifled.

i'll still be checking back here every now and then and maybe blog a ditty or two now and there. I'll pretty much be preoccupied with this "rite of passage" that every troubled teen in singapore will go through this tremulous period.

It's always good to be rooted to optimism, it tides u over the worst of stuff, brings the carrot a little nearer. Optimism like a half-full glass of water.
(but pls, hor. don't be optimistic at some places, the half-full glass of water costs a few thousand carrots)

I remember a certain someone (profho) once averred in his foretelling weathered tenor tone, but perhaps more as congenial encouragement: "you'll do well wan la, you'll do well."

anyway knowing profho's unpredictable memory and how young he is, i don't think he wouldn't remember even impressive me now anyway. haha.

Nonetheless, i believe we'd all do well to not only hope, but believe in the best outcomes.
(sheesh, i think i'm being dam boring today. drivel drivel drivel)

I shall leave you with a little something i hope u all will enjoy.



Lester
the mind is willing, but the flesh is spongy and bruised!
laser checkout systems

today, is a special day. (warning: crap post)

yunru has just alerted me to a most gross injustice.

apparently no one realised that we had been denied a particular public holiday for the past few hundred years.
cant believe no one pointed this one since the romans created the calender.

but we shall suffer no more
i declared the this day, the 22nd of July... Pi Day!
(why u ask? because 22/7= Pi)

Letters to the relevent authorities are in motion.
---
anyway, for those of you who do not know, i'm an absolute fanboy of "LOST: (we are not sure where)," the tv series.
found this incredibly quirky spoof on the tube. Enjoy. :)




Lester
"and i'm the best lookin..."
"here comes a pregnant woman... and a hobbit..."

let me tell you

had a vocab quiz at school today.
and let me present a tidbit.

so, pls. freaking stop asking me "where's the cookie."
-
moving on, one of the words tested was "bellicose"; we were supposed to make a sentence with it.

For the uninitiated:
Bellicose: Warlike in manner or temperament; pugnacious. (syn. belligerent)

one of my class, averred most assertively:
"My mother cooked bellicose for dinner."

i really hope he was kidding.
i don't know whether to laugh or cry.

Lester
man.

arturo

testing. (love the part where she starts singing in spanish)

[edit: booyea the emb video thingy works]

Lester
hand me the world on a silver platter

liberating times

i believe we all look forward to those satiating weekends. for they are liberating times.
when we could see the sun rise from the afterglow of the night before,
but we choose not to.

for now, a new day can wait.

then, as surrendipitious as your blurry eyes saw that flint of a sunrise,
a saturday night will be gone before you know it.

Lester
this week, lester tells you to
cherish your weekends. or not.

call of the nation [NEW UPDATE]

drove down to cmpb today for my ns medical checkup.

well, mum drove actually...
had to go through the whole kit and caboodle of tests.
---

ah, the inducing first step into national service.

and the bonding has already begun.

I guess one of the most infallible ways of gelling national servicemen, even before they step into the camp, is those seemingly degrading but physically innocuous tests that everyone goes through.

A particularly outstanding one is Test P.
or more endearingly known, Test "Pee".

Without sparing you the cruddy details, we were supposed, uh-huh, into this tiny red bottle, and then insert a strip (i think it's a acidity indicator) into the sample, throw away the bottle and wadeva's inside, then present the strip to an officer, who would assess the result.

There was abject doofus who, obviously was heard of hearing, who took his sample and then placed it snugly on the officer's desk.

After staring that the bottle in shock,
the officer gasped like a woman. then he went
"WHAT THE-"
"throw away throw away throw away"

needless to say, every one in section P tried to hold in thier giggles, trying to look like, well, mature young men.

except me, la.

i was the only one who saw the smirk on his face. (get it?)

you cannot control laughter. You can only seek to repress that indomitable sensational for just that switch in time. Humour has its champions.
Someone had to save section P.

that day, my steed was calling.

"hey look, the officer's pissed off."

and we all had a bladdy good time.

Lester
edit 14/7