hmmm...spent the last few days having rehearsals for RISE...getting owned by aldwyn tan...haha...though jerald said that music isnt abt who owns who, i still feel that the competition is pretty vital in the development of music given that you will be motivated to play better, improve and try to beat that guy who once beat you in his playing...when i first saw aldwyn, i thought of him as some funky hair style guy...just got the looks, not the substance, cant be that imba one that got promoted in SNYO just half a year after a stint in SNYTO...but hey, after playing Prince Igor with him, i realized wads the fuss abt him...he is THAT good...i mean, i found out that he plays the bass trombone, but his high notes certainly dunt make him sound like a bass trombonist...i thought i was like one of the best in perhaps school bands for high notes trombonists, but since i heard him, i started having doubts abt myself...i idolize (?) matthew, charles, quan hui, michael, ziluo for their trombone skills, but to be honest, i feel that aldwyn is the standard that i must reach bfore i move on in my music "career"...hmmm...shld start practising harder...it wunt be that easy, but since he started playing only when he was 12, and hes like maybe 2 years older than me, i would say that it can be done...JIAYOU!
ok...going on the RISE...i must say it feels more like SNYO then RISE..given that we have wad? 25 guest players????....and some of the ppl there ARE SNYO...its been a really great experience...forget wad jerald said abt orchestral songs being boring...i really love those songs...because these songs really kinda force me to play better, to improve...rather than the songs that i get in RIMB...granted, its still not perfected yet...but HEY, if you can sightread some of the songs, whats the fun in it???...ok, resting for 100 bars isnt really sth that i have experienced, but it forces you to concentrate, to listen out for the music...that is wad orchestral music is all about, and i do think that this stint in RISE really makes me remember my dream of getting in SNYO, rather than something like philyouth winds...if RISE asks me to play for them again, i would do so, not because im a rafflesian and im obliged to do it, but because i really love the orchestral atmosphere...
That part was abt orchestral music, now its abt RISE...i have played for RIMB, and i have really fallen in love with the music, with the band etc...so much so that i have feelings when i play for them...these feelings are not frm the scores, or abt the scores, but they just flow out bcuz of my love for RIMB...HOWEVER, when i played for RISE, my only joy for playing for them, or rather my only feelings, were, as forementioned, for the music itself...i do not have any feelings for this "ensemble", which actually means that im not giving my all...hmmmm, maybe its the time problem...too little time with them, the animosity of everyone..."im like the only sec school wind player"...but hmmmmm, it really wasnt that enjoyable, and if it wasnt for the orchestral pieces, i would have walked out...

David said 12:49 PM<3

hmmmm...looking back at this year huh...or rather the last six months...have to say, its been a rather disappointing(academically, personally, musically etc) semester, yet one filled with joy, happiness, pride, but in some cases, sadness.
My grades are somewhere like 3.69, but i know that i can hit 3.8 easy peasy if i worked hard for my first APR. A 3.6 for history, bio, chem and physics for me?nah, i should be getting a 4.0 for these subjects...no offence to anyone who did badly for the first APR, but it was really so easy, that i might have gotten higher marks if i closed my eyes and do the papers and assignments...then personally, hmmmm...just want to close one chapter of my life and move on..but it hasnt been easy...maybe things will get better in RJC?...then musically...rejection by SNYO isnt hard to overcome, but when you find out that you are not better(at least not in the sense of the judges) than the SL of RGS, it really makes you think alot about your own standards...excuses like "oh im too old" or like "theres not enuff space" isnt really valid, given that if you are good enuff, they will rather take you in than to keep those who arent up to standards...
But hey, in this past month, or to be more specific, on 15th May 2008, at VCH, something happened to lighten up my semester by 100000000 mega watts...at that moment, wadeva grade, wadeva rejection didnt hurt me anymore in that few hours...on that day, RIMB'10, RIMB'09 showed RIMB'08, Mr Oura, our alumni, the audience what they can do...it was really a proud moment for me as a senior, as sec4 leaving the band in a matter of months...the concert was really great for us...keep it up guys...i hope that what happened in the atrium ystd was an one-off event...show us that you guys are ready for the big stuff...you guys should do it, you guys must do it, you guys can do it, and you guys will bring back another gold(with honours i hope) frm nxt year's SYF...
Ystd night, i woke up at arnd 2 am...i just sat in bed and thought abt my years in RI...the premier school...the premier institution...but most of my happy memories seem to come not frm me getting full marks or wadsoever for my academics, but they come frm RIMB...frm sec1, when i just go promoted, go lanning with tbones'05; all the way to sec2, promoted to lance corporal, faced with humiliation for NBC...i still rmb vividly that day, when we got a mere 80.4% to scrap a gold home and how our seniors, michael, jeremy lied to the whole school to keep our reputation intact, but lo behold, prometheum XI was fantastic, still could rmb justin singing the institution anthemn in VCH, we doing the Unite cheer without the rest of the school, saying goodbye to michael; then on to sec3, SYF...how we worked really really really hard just for that gold and for our reputation...i rmb fondly the moment the announcer said that RIMB got gold...it was really sweat and toil, but we made it when others say we will falter, to the malaysia trip, great fun, to con brio...esp hao qing's imba encore shouting...then farewell to matthew, promoted to Corporal, and having to take charge of the band with my batch; now, here we are...sec4s...we just finished prometheumXII, the alumni said it was good, mr oura didnt look too disappointed, and poof!thats our last prometheum for RIMB as a RIMB member...of course, we still have that japan trip and SIBF to look forward to, but thinking back at my days at RIMB, the days when i didnt really feel for the band to the day, that day, prometheum XI, when i finally felt that band is my second home, not the school, the band, i cant help but shed a few tears...RIMB, we said that you are one of the best, we are wrong, you are the best...wad makes us special is not that 17 gold SYF streak, its the brotherhood that the batches have shown, its the bonding btwn batches(there arent really any inter batch conflicts), its the heart that we put in our music...i have done my best for RIMB, my very best...but after SIBF, i really cant do anymore...at least not in a direct way lah....i really feel very sad that my time in this great band has to come to an end soon...how i hope that i can serve you for the rest of my school life, or even my life...RIMB, you made me realize wad RI is all abt...its not abt the mugging, its not abt the hours spent in school...for me, its the hours spent in the bandroom that really makes my RI life so memorable...thank you RIMB...the band cheer shall continue to be true for as long as the spirit of RIMB remains...

David said 9:56 PM<3

whoa...its finally over...the one last public concert that the batch of 08 will have with RIMB as members of RIMB...hmmmm...it kinda feels sad yeah...i mean, the feeling was just so magical, the great support after merry widow, the laughter for circus, the ensembles, the screw-ups...but in the end, the audience loved the concert(i think) and i feel thats wad it matters...
Hmmm...a analysis of the songs??haha...dunt blame me for trying

Wind Harmony March:
For me, it was our best song of that night...i was talking about that smile on mr oura's face as the song ended...the starting was great...you could see him nodding...then the rest was okay, except perhaps for the semi-quavers part in C...that was not done well, but it was still a good job

St Florian Choral:
The clarinet part was great...thanks clarinets..but i think our harmony wasnt that good...but still not too bad...other than that uncalled-for imba high note played by a clarinet...i mean, it was a bad mistake lah, but im sure many others will also have cracked under such pressure...good piece...

Symphonic Festival:
We started fine...but as we move into the fast part, suddenly, everyone started disintegrating...at least it wasnt as bad as it was today during Open House, but it was still bad...some sections played quicker than the conductor, then some sections cannot come in...then result in the whole music sounding wrong...definitely one of the worse pieces of the concert

Dance Celebration:
It would have been the best song of the night if not for MY screw-up...the last part...tonguing part...i tongued slower!!!then i cracked on my C...omg...but overall, it was pretty great, but i wish that i can solve that problem...its still bugging me today...until the last time when we played it today...must work hard on it

Merry Widow:
I would say that based on the applause alone, this was the best piece...everyone loves it (i think...)...it sounds good...in fact, it sounds very very very very nice...until the last allargando..some sections came in early and played quicker than the baton, which kinda results in the whole run-down of notes turning into some disaster...other than that, it was pretty okay...but my lips had die :( nearly couldnt hit that G...but when i did, it sounds nice..to me...lol...and the OFFBEATS...omg...must sort it out liao...within the section

Ensembles:
Perc ensemble was well-received...esp. stinky grabage...well done jerald and co...then came the swing ensemble...it would have been funny normally seeing yingzhe not hitting the high notes, but on that night, it was really quite a sad sight lah...i mean, he worked so hard for it, but it didnt sound half the way it sounded like during normal prac...plus i think his lips had over-worked...he commented during intermission that he couldnt hit above F...much more hit that high B flat that was theoretically out of the range of a bass trombone...but luckily it still sounded okay(and not many ppl know abt monster inc)so yeah...then pink panther...i was damn nervous when i was standing at the pillar, then samuel signalled...but hey, once the audience starts clapping the rhythm, it feels alright...some people mentioned my tone was nice etc etc...but i shall leave that to the audience k...but hey...ensembles was well done...

Comedians' Gallop:
Ben NI!!!!!!!...probably a testamonial for one of the few like not so flashy ppl of our batch!i mean, you dunt see or hear ben ni playing the drumset right...but his solo was damn nice...must have spent alot of time on it...anyway, 'nuff said...it was fantastic...good job ben!

Black River Overture:
hmmmm...in tune flutes?check...tpt coming in at the right time?check...saxophone solo?check...i would say that it is good lah...but not great...but definitely something that we had worked hard for...given that it was taken off the list some time ago...

A day @ the circus:
When i first read the score, i laughed out loud...i mean...it was damn easy...but hey, easy songs are harder to make them sound pro...but Mrs Chua did just that!...i would say that her commentary probably over-shadowed the clowns and that cannonball guy...but hey, im not saying that im not happy at that...in fact, i think this is the most fun song on our repertoire...practically, it was good lah...but im nearly deaf frm that timpani hit...i shall bring earmuffs nxt time

Bandwagon:
Im not going to blame the euphos...im not going to blame anyone...but seriously, i think that was beneath our standard...maybe everyone's tired?but yeah...we can do better for bandwagon than wad we did on thursday...much much better

Eres tu:
hmmmm...this song is probably one of the most boring songs i have ever played...but hey, its a good training for lip muscles...so yah...we shall use it nxt time for lip training exercises!!ok...for first trombones lah...it was really really xiong...

Thank you guys for coming down k...hope you guys enjoy it...haha...and thanks RIMB...you guys really make me proud...granted, the concert is not perfect, but lets face it, we are not perfect either...in fact, i think that this concert is great cuz you showed everyone what you can do...so why not start doing them now???lol...continue working hard guys, and we can perform at the presentation for SIBF...its hard, but never impossible...

David said 9:30 PM<3

ok...now it comes down to this...the last 2 (or is it 3 or 4 or 5?)tests for the last week!!!whoops...not the last week im sorry...but probably the last significant week of the semester!!yayyy...i mean...after week 8...with that crazzyyy HMT Mid Year(or rather mock O level HMT scenario 1), and that not so crazy but still quite crazy BIO...oh...did i miss out something???i think i missed out that i-dunno-wad-the-hell-it-is-about-exactly chem practical!!yayy...and of course..we still have the i-think-i-heard-her-say-it-but-i-cant-confirm chem OBA!!...omg...and yah la...got the 1000^1000 projects that we need to do, and hand up..and the movies i need to watch...and the girls and boys i need to chat to at night...etc...but first, lets go to the projects...let me see...wad do we have here hmmmm...bio portfolio(i have no ideaaa), english-cum-philo argumentative essay-cum-argument tree(when is it due arrr), then still got the history project(i hope to get extension for this...since she has alrdy given one extension, she might just give another)...did i miss out anything??OH YAH...the bio FPS...or is it FPA??heck lah...just know that we are going to do something abt something that happens in the future...for reference, if you wanna know wads gonna happen(and wad the peeps at that time gonna do), go read nostradamus' s lost book...it may give you some clues...i mean...ok, it concerns us, but HEY...how the hell can we do a good one if we do not know the resources that the govt(or rather the world)has???i mean, for all you know, they have already invented some machine that can give you 10 billion bags of rice for like one bag put inside....so yah...its never to early to plan for your future, but make sure that you know wad you have....
ok...moving away frm the academic stuff...we have BAND! BAND! and more BAND!!...Prometheum XII..7:30 pm...15th may...VCH...you know you want to hear us...but hmmmmm...did i miss out something?yeah...i missed out the price...its 10 bucks btw...but theres still one damn impt fact...we are playing on a thursday night :O...for all you know, we could have sold triple our tix sales now if we didnt tell them that and scammed them..but hey...when we were selling tix, there was a pledge nailed to the wall and we just looked up, saw the I-word and told them the truth...its not In, or intellectual...its integrity...but still...i would say that i feel much more comfy telling them that instead of them finding out and being angry, shocked...and just make sure tt you cant play for the concert...then after that, we have Open House...you know, i bet that just having Shazam and Tessa having a play abt love in raffles would attract more ppl than the rugby team owning ACS(I) infinity to 0...but yeah...its the schools' decision, and who are we to interfere???but hey...having a performance TWO days after our concert isnt going to do us much good...and ppl are going to pon anyway D:...but LUCKILY, rjcsb is having prac on that day...hmmm...may be able to drag some peeps to come over and cover...oops..i mean make the music better...yeahh...then still got the japan trip...kinda excited...NOT CUZ OF THE GIRLS...but cuz of the music...really makes me feel jealous that a japan school, dunno if its an elite one or not, having their own symphony hall (whoa)...compared to our auditorium(not too bad lahh)...rooms for individual sections compared to our bandroom (fantastic!)...but hmmmm..maybe thats the norm in japan??but hey...RI has done much for us k...i mean, not many schools in the whole of Singapore can boast that they have a bandroom...just ask some other schools in bishan lah...but are we going to get mocked at in Japan??...the people there might not say that in our faces, thats not their norm i hope...but in our hearts??some ppl may just say "aiya...only a trip wad...and they are SUPPOSED to be better than us lorr"...and just push it out of their puny brains and waste their 2010(NICE NUMBER!!) bucks...in physical fact, these money are gonna pay for the OIL that our plane runs on..the beds we sleep on etc...but hey...wad makes this trip cheap is not that fact that it only costs 2010 bucks for a 7 day trip...wad makes it priceless is that we are prolly learning from some of the better school bands in the region...so yah...hope that ppl dunt just go there and act that a gold in SYF is some big deal and not learn anything...
then on to the sporting arena..the rockets are out (aiya, expected lah)...the hawks squeezed the celtics to game 7...but other than that, nothing really surprising...probably the most surprising one shld be dallas and phoenix...dallas lost to hornets and kidd looks like hes never gonna become an owner of a ring...which makes him look like charles barkley!!in terms of the hair(or the lack of) and the lack of a ring...and then we have phoenix...hmmmm...it would be great if they had o neal, stoudemire, nash and marion...BUT HEY!they didnt have that last guy and they dunt look so fantastic...comeon...surely o neal isnt worth a marion???...even pau gasol costs less...are you saying that o neal is better than gasol??6 years ago, i would trade anyone for o neal hands down...6 years on, i would only trade someone like boris diaw and like 3 more players, with a future draft pick for o neal...moving on to soccer!!!paul scholes shld get the "best" goal of the season award...bfore i saw marco senna's strike against betis...MAN U IS GOING TO THE FINAL!!...i know that place is where that rich kiddo called roman came frm...but hey, if its gonna be fergie against grant...van der sar against cech, brown against ferreria(or belletti), evra against ashley cole, ferdinand and vida against terry and carvalho, ronaldo against joe cole, giggs against wright phillips(or malouda or kalou), scholes and carrick(or anderson or hargreaves) against essien and obi(or makelele or some random guy), tevez against lampard, rooney against drogba the guy who "dived"...i would go for man u...hands down...why???bcuz man u play attacking football..while chelsea play defensive...yes...man u were defensive in the last few matches..but when its the last match of the season, you will see the dead coming back to play the game they shld have played 50 years ago...you would see rooney with the power and grace of tommy taylor...scoring like theres no tomorrow..you will see brown running the wings like roger bryne..you will see scholes, or carrick, or tevez even..playing with the power, with the grace of duncan edwards...drogba would be the most representative of duncan in that match, but hes wearing blue, not red...so yeah...you will see tevez running down the defence like duncan, shooting with so much power, yet with so much control...these are just some examples...but basically, on that night, 22nd of May, in Moscow, Manchester United will pay tribute to their 1958 counterparts..on that night, the swashbuckling style which has maded Manchester United the Red Devils will be back...on that night, there will not just be 11 players on the field...there will be 22...the last 11 being those who didnt make it to the final that year...and 8 of them who died trying to do so...it will not be simple, but on that night, Manchester United will not be a corporation, it will be a football club...a club trying to do what it tried to do 50 years ago, but with tragic results...the cup will be won for the Manchester United of 1958...for all the players who lost their team mates, their friends, their colleagues, their comrades in Munich..and also to those who tried to bring glory to England, to the city of Manchester, but died in the conquest...the dream was accomplished 10 years after that tragedy, now, it will happen 50 years after the tragedy...rest in peace babes, for your contributions will never be forgotten, and they will continue to inspire the future teams of Manchester United, whether they are in the EPL, or the Conference...

David said 8:39 PM<3