the wanderers annual concert was a marvelously entertaining medley of performances consisting of sketches, musicals and dances covering various genres…i was there on an assignment and i thoroughly enjoyed the flawless display of sheer talent and artistry… not to mention the elaborate stage props, visual effects and so forth… the students were bursting with energy all throughout the night… and it was evident through their enthusiasm and unity as they celebrated their success as the concert drew to a close… the atmosphere was so upbeat and electric… :)

the two days of freedom festival was a blast… the highlight of the rave party was none other than tiesto… possibly the most renowned dj in recent times… others who were spinning include ferry corsten, cosmic gate and vinn… seven hours of shuffling to booming trance accompanied with synchronized blinding psychedelic pyrotechnics, laser beams and fireworks was total bliss and simply euphoric…

it's the concert i had been waiting for years… i flew down to singapore last week to catch dream theater stirring up chaos in motion… it was three hours of live progressive rock at its best… headbanging to irregular time signatures while being drenched in the pouring rain… the crowd was so alive and i definitely enjoyed every bit of it… everyone stood in awe of the immense chemistry and virtuosity of the band as they rocked fort canning park so hard… it was a night that will forever be etched in the memory of everyone present…

p.s. thanks amaka for the pictures…

after another long week at work for the new alterians… we chilled out at… erm… chill out… and i even got a free jd flask which i've always thought was pretty cool… speaking of electronica and club music… here's quite an in-depth resource on its various genres…

my coursemates and i traveled all the way to balik pulau for some delicious laksa… most of us had two bowls each… asam and siamese…

the weekend is almost over… at least i got to recuperate and relax…

the most crucial part came to pass… and serpent immediately celebrated the joyous post-demo hours hanging out downtown… as well as jamming… for the first time this semester… and after that it was time for command and conquer 3… and good old counterstrike till sunrise… it was tiring but fun nevertheless…

our very own homegrown rapper point blanc has a couple of new catchy singles… including ipohmali… which i'm sure all ipohians can relate to and be proud of… it is a cool anthem which also features jaclyn victor on vocals… it's been all over the airwaves on hitz of late… and since i've got a new fm tuner at home… i've been listenin' to the radio more than i do usually…

a week has passed since i came back…  and there hasn't been anything exceptional to relate about… besides the usual meet-ups and hang-outs from time to time… and since my baby niece is stayin' with us… i get to bully play with her daily…

tomorrow marks the end of the lunar year… and before i adjourn to the mamak now… happy chinese new year everyone… :)

everybody got their fifteen minutes of fame today… as the popular expression goes… technically… most of them only had fifteen seconds to strut their stuff onstage and prove their talent… or rather… the lack of it… i spent around four hours in the audition hall where the preliminaries of akademi fantasia 5 took place… and for the first time… i could experience first-hand what a panel of judges in a singing competition have to endure and enjoy…

i haven't watched af at all before this unlike malaysian idol… well… their format is a little different whereby the first-round contestants are to choose and perform a song from a predetermined set in front of a panel of judges… as well as a few dozen of their peers who are waiting for their turn in the same room… which if i'm not mistaken differs from the idol's individual format… if the contestants manage to impress the judges with their rendition of the first song… they are then given the opportunity to continue with other songs of their choice to show off their vocal versatility as well as to emphasize their strengths…

all in all… only one or two in fifty managed to cross the first hurdle… a few rather good ones… in my opinion… were turned down… but on the whole… i would say that the judging was fair… most of the contestants were average singers… about one in seven forgot the lyrics or had timing problems… and only a handful of the few hundred that i saw were actually tone-deaf and sang way out of tune…

congratulations to all who made it to the next stage… including a friend of mine :)

don't worry… i didn't finish it all by myself… ;) we had a couple of drinks before adjourning to the dinner… that way… the guitar solos would have more soul in it…

it was a night of med students and docs from perak college of medicine… no guessing as to who was the odd one out… with a few hours of practice… we managed quite comfortably with four songs… we were supposed to do a couple more but scrapped it due to time constraints… all in all… it was quite an interesting night… especially with sporting docs shaking their booty on stage…

this is an interesting piece of pieces… very creative indeed…

we jammed for the second time this semester… if i recalled correctly… and it's sad to say that there aren't many chances left for us to play together anymore… the drummer's leaving in less than a fortnight as he's finishing his course this semester…  and i'm wondering if i should have spent more time with the band…

i guess the four of us will be playing our swan song in ten days' time…

it’s been almost a year since the all-night recording session in singapore… how time flies… we jammed as a three-piece band earlier tonight… the same people from that p.m. to a.m. to p.m. trip which totally drained our energy… i was the drummer then and this time around… a role i usually don’t play besides this couple of times…

that was the semester when my axe, pedal and i went almost everywhere together… now that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore… as i can’t find a replacement adapter for the spoilt one… even after searchin’ in numerous music and electronic shops downtown… i shall probably have to get the original one in kl or sg sometime… and that wil set me back more than a hundred i guess…

bands have come and gone… ugly breakups and silent splits… i could name a few but it wouldn’t change anythin’ anyway… well… i’m not referrin’ to mine though… serpent is still very much together but just not as active as before… the other bands with more talented musicians did not end up too well though… from what i’ve gathered… their ex-members are not exactly on good terms with each other… it’s sad to know that music hasn’t really brought everyone together as it should… as the complexity of social relationships is greater than what rock can unite…

maybe one day… we would all learn to put our differences aside… and appreciate the true essence of music together… we would learn to be humble and play for the sake of just playin’… for the true love of melody and harmony… this true honesty is the most perfect pitch of all…