9.30.2002

 

gripe, gripe, gripe. okay ill stop for now. another post if i ever finish everything by e time i hafta leave (ie not likely)!

ooh interesting factoid from daniel ong on 987 - apparently shifty shellshock, he of the oakenfold "starry eyed surprise" fame, was e vocalist behind crazy town's "butterfly", too! how interesting. ref: paul oakenfold feat shifty shellshock - "starry eyed surprise". nice!

i still think Bunkka isnt that bad an album, based on "starry eyed surprise". oh well..

timestamp: anonymous 10:52 0 comments

 

aside- pleasantly surprised to find that i listened to soul hooligan's "algebra" last night on radio.. only thing is i cant remember on which show i heard it, so i cant credit anybody with e honour! anyway i think i heard soul hooligan's "algebra" cos i distinctly recall the title "algebra" and the subject matter - everything but the artiste/group name. hrmmmmm. reminds me of a maths-based parody of e BSBs' "i want it that way"... something like that... way back when. (sec3 actually). those were the days.. anyhow "algebra" isnt quite like that. give it a try!

another thing - while sorting out e mess of mags in my room (believe me it is a lot) my mom came across this ish of mixmag wif 3 big, BAD words sprawled over e front cover (*wince*) - "sex/ drugs/ ibiza" sigh. it came in a poly-bag (shrinkwrapped) together wif a nice vinyl tote-bag (ie sized for holding vinyl, not made up of vinyl!!! what do u think i am??) which hid e cover. im not sure i wouldve bought it if i knew that was what was on e cover.. so there, thats why mixmag's more crass. now my mom really will be unsettled when im over there!! *major groan*

timestamp: anonymous 10:48 0 comments

 

what's wrong wif me?!!! ive just successfully wasted another day completely and utterly. bumming in front of e com, playing warcraft3 - 1 very long level (human campaign, level 5 where u start off really close to the @$#% undead base) on hard - so long that i doubt if i won thru skill rather than thru attrition, and one of the nonsensical diablo-like single player maps, that one i cheated.. anyhow its hard to see how even my game-playing has improved. so basically instead of sticking to my meticulous workplan i have extended 'rest' from 1200 all the way to 1730++, and since i have to get back soon and nothings been done OR studied, im kinda in a very big mess now! =(

why doesnt my time management improve? heck i shouldnt even be *typing* this. i should be working my bum off to try n get everything settled before i get back. major stress headache coming on. sigh. stay tuned for the continuing adventures of procrastinatorman! if he ever gets round to writing new posts... *groan*

i really feel worthless n useless now. i cant even get a day right! how the heck will i ever survive overseas? prob gonna be washed down - and washed out - in a sea of hedonistic (gee i like that word) partying/clubbing (hmm i dont really party in that sense. *sigh*)/computer gaming or whatever.. accomplishing absolutely nothing. great.

timestamp: anonymous 10:42 0 comments

9.29.2002

 

neat stuff - Too Phat's "boogie down".. equal parts 70s style disco-retro and contemporary (noughties... i just came across that word today!) hip hop. from across the causeway, too! wonderful stuff. i should go buy their cd soon... not that ive been buying cds lately, given how i spend like 50-60+ on mags alone a month. im outta control...

timestamp: anonymous 16:30 0 comments

 

argh realised that all the 'lazy links' in my last post came out with my domain (fanzine.blogspot.com) instead... eg instead of "www.muzik.co.uk" u get "http:/fanzine.blogspot.com/www.muzik.co.uk" AARRRGHH apologies to all who tried to follow the links - they should be corrected by e time u read this!

timestamp: anonymous 16:11 0 comments

 

are there a lot of people on MSN messenger? its always in my system tray since i switched to xp, and im wondering whether i should just get rid of it- or jump on e bandwagon. your opinions please!

timestamp: anonymous 15:53 0 comments

 

hm. feels weird not going back to camp - down wif flu n fever, actually caught it since from the crazy all-nighter (2-nighter to be precise) [gee the standard of my writing's getting from bad to worse. not a good sign!] i pulled last tue/wed. *groan*

tried to listen in on my fren Calvin's radio show, Tour de Trance and went to the trouble of installing real player 8 but for some reason real player wouldnt play the .ram audio stream.. maybe cos its no longer the newest version? i dunno.. anyway the show's on on Sun 1200-1400 local time.

wouldnt it b cool to host your own radio show? thats definitely something id like to try when - when - im in uni. *dream* its possible, cos my college has a radio station, like calvin's, but given how atrocious my time management is now, when im already bombarded by 1000s of things to do, lets just say im not too confident i can juggle something like that when im there. =(

kinda perturbed- really feel like im a hermit, cut off from the world, and having no frens. there's only so many empty, unused comments columns at the end of each post u can take before u feel like uve been cast away and disowned in a corner of some dark dinghy basement to rot. not very good at images/metaphors now i am. hrmmm! its not just that, okay, lest u think its some one-liner, erm, one-reason rant. i dont get much opportunity to have a life here - not that i particularly went about living life in a going-out type of hedonistic way when i still *could*, but choosing not to and being forced, by time constraints and worst of all, work, is something else entirely. somehow - tho i must admit its not very surprising - when im down wif this much work - inevitably more than what i could ever imagine even when back in jc - somehow i just go all hostile and stuff. one-track single-mindedness to get the job done and in the process cut myself off from frens, family, just about anything u can think of, with the notable exception of my music. thats why u never see me on icq (honest confession time!!), im there but i dun wanna talk to u. or anybody else, for that matter.. heck i don even talk much to my parents, grandparents, cousins (who im real close to), EVERYBODY!!! the irony is im so much more communicative during the workweek - even when pressed for time.. er, maybe not when pressed for time. at night at least. - than when im back. its just work, work, work and sleep like a log. cant really think of any more reasons but the feeling is that its much more than this.

speaking of clubbing, found this article on how ecstasy damages ur brain which kinda goes against what new scientist very controversially said, which is that ecstasy might actually be beneficial - or at least not be detrimental - to ur health. ironically ecstasy damages 'depominergic neurons' [sic] - DOPEminergic, i think, however ironic that is - e nerves which are associated wif the ability to feel pleasure n pain. ... !! realised that i couldve suggested that as a controversial theme for my fren whose gf who was struggling to come up wif something controversial yet not too common (irony!!) to write about. arrrgggh.. think he settled on the issue of streaming. streaming as in i not stupid style streaming. which i havent quite formulated an opinion on yet - tho segregation of any sort, as ive experienced, isnt too good when u go out n work n realise someones come from e same sch, same batch as u n uve NEVER ever come across them before. in many ways its worse than having someone from a diff background entirely, theres no shame in saying u never mixed around then, would there?

*ding* remembered another thing along those lines. watched e big unknown, not sure if its a series or a special, on channel 5 on sat. lo and behold they showcased this girl, i-jun i think, from rj council who was going to the uk to do med (not sure if its cam cos i do vaguely remember hearing her name on the list of acceptees) and that's when i really felt bad about how small my social circle was. i dunno if i actively shun people in the same way i do when im piled with work (in here ONLY, for the record, i never did that back in school! honest!!) cos sometimes, now included, i feel that im too mindful of the company i keep - i noe in sch i purposely shunned e people i felt were too popular or too sporty or too funky. inferiority complex? have no idea absolutely.

as heard on gilles petersons' worldwide - just only - "... kinda generic, in a really good way". gee.. i just came across this on a website (forgot which, couldve been the oct muzik for that matter) - "ure really kinda average, but in a really good way" under the heading "best insults ever told" - or was it "best white lie uve ever told"? i can never retell jokes. hrmmm.

muzik seems so much thinner now - and hence less value for money. then again its not about value for money, its about whether u like e mag or not. (am rationalising..) okay, most of the heft used to come from club listings and ads - not for music but classifieds, the "call this number now" type, erm u noe what i mean. this ish theyve all disappeared, i dun think its cos e editors pulled e plug - who quibbles wif extra ad dollars/pounds/euros? - more of nobody was really responding to e ads n monetary pressures made them become more selective about which mags they went about putting their ads in. thats wat i like to think, anyhow. so e end result is muzik's much more compact and tight now, maybe its not such a bad thing after all - e main competitors, ministry n mixmag (of which ministrys more high-class/highbrow and mixmag, well, its more like a lifestyle mag. and a bit crass, too. erm i dont quibble wif free cds tho!) sport tons of [club] listings. which isnt a bad thing if u live there... but i dont! anyhow muziks club listings are supercompressed into 3 pages so its really just those joints (ho ho ho) that cut it (ha ha ha!).. doubt if ill have much time to club unless my time management improves - whoa, coming back full circle.

before i continue on about muzik there are other things ill b spending/wasting (depending on ur view) my time on- read in computer arts about the Digital Arts Festival Digital Arts WORLD that's held in london. woo hoo! not to mention those cool festivals.. hedonistic hedonistic HEDONIIIISTIC!!! haha

anyway - despite it all i still feel somewhat cheated let down by muzik.. fine there are tons of reviews, on compilations and all e diff subgenres but i dunno - somehow it just feels lacking in a way that i dont get when i read computer arts. maybe its cos e latter sports a more polished look n feel - given its subject matter its not suprising? realised how mags kinda reflect e person u r. or put another way - seeing from e opposite view - theres always a mag for every kind of specialised interest or hobby or wat have u. computer arts is equal parts industry news, reviews and tutorials.. heck given how ex current com books are its probably more economical. anybody who noes me long/well enuf should noe that ive always wanted to be a designer - as in working with new media, heck even old broadcast media like video. which happens to be wat ive been arrowed to do now... one thing i do know: ill b spending a lot of money on mags when im there. subscriptions, not individual ishs... must cut back. and ive already cut back - no longer buying computer game mags (used to b a staunch


OMG I JUST LISTENED TO the streets' "weak become heroes" on LOCAL RADIO!!! 913... ks lee. gotta love him. OMG OMG OMG!!! its so nice i never thot it would sound so nice... i noe its epic but.. *wowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww*

sorry - staunch reader of pc gamer) or cre@te online, for that matter.. =(

okay thats it for now im gonna concentrate more on listening to e radio n maybe even studying for all e tests this week (groan). if i can get e pictures to work then ill set about scanning an ad for "weak become heroes"... cool.

timestamp: anonymous 15:51 0 comments

9.27.2002

 

getting all sorts of inspiration for the video project. watched a couple of vcds the nj dvc (digital video club) made, there are some good ideas and some learning areas (hmm being politically correct =p ). can feel it shaping up. now, if only i wouldnt be so lazy to lug the camera around and actually set about getting more incremental footage!

timestamp: anonymous 14:15 0 comments

 

music update:
really love "dilemma" by nelly ft. kelly rowland (the kelly rowland from destiny's child)
and jay chou's "jian3 dan1 ai4" [direct translation: simple love]... and and S.H.E.'s "lian4 ai4 wei4 man3". doesnt take much to guess my mood now huh? =P

people do weird things when theyre stressed. was listening to my Matrix OST in the wee hours of the morning/ really late on tue night doing the maps in the lecture room and, as usual, everybody was like "what, you listen to heavy metal?" and i roll my eyes and go "no, this is the Matrix OST and its music i like to listen to when im stressed/frustrated.." [note that i din say 'angry'..] and then sbdy said "dun u think this might make u more frustrated?" as usual, i dont know..

timestamp: anonymous 14:13 0 comments

 

zero comments on the blog for like 3 weeks running already - i know i dont update this often but its really so boring that nothing deserves a comment? guess ill work harder on the thot-provoking reflection-type posts. also: does anybody find the stream-of-consciousness "..."s irritating? wonder if i should abolish them altogether.

swamped with video editing work in addition to the usual tests n such. everybody whos in uni now: i feel your pain all too well, and i never expected to be going thru it so soon! hang in there...

timestamp: anonymous 14:00 0 comments

 

had a crazy week. was arrowed to take on an appointment for a simulation and it just so happened that i stayed up til 0400 the nite before drawing endless map overlays in our lecture room - ie < 1h of sleep, sprawled on two tables. havent listened to so much radio since last dec, i think! so. anyway i was half expecting something like this already, so i was equipped with 1x can, red bull. it turned out that that was all the nourishment i had yesterday (okay, wednesday) - cos everybody else was sent out of campus to do the simulation and rather obviously they pigged out on food they werent supposed to be buying, much less eating. (bear with me, im whining again) the up side of it all is that im very surprised at my ability to get by- i din get a wink of sleep till 0230 thu, was working all the way from wed 0500 and din feel like i had to sleep in the least bit til the thing ended. nor felt the need to eat, either - the red bull was out of necessity, to preserve concentration. totally impressed with myself cos i never thot id be able to do that.. suddenly, housemanship doesnt seem so daunting anymore.

that's the good part: the simulation itself was a complete and total disaster, much like any other task that i happen to be in charge of. maybe i was really over the brink of exhaustion til i din even feel particularly bad about the thing ending in disaster- numbed to the max. i dont doubt that the (unconsciously-felt) fatigue took its toll on my ability to think clearly, much less plan, but to be honest i dont think much more sleep wouldve had any noticeably beneficial effect. just glad that i stayed awake and (dareisay) functional thruout. =|

timestamp: anonymous 13:57 0 comments

9.22.2002

 

im really awfully sorry its been so long since i last blogged. ive got a TON of things to blog but no time to write!! sigh. u guys just drop me a line or something, ill reply ASAP... drowning in work here. really!

timestamp: anonymous 16:20 0 comments

 

STRESS... got adobe premiere up n running but its gonna be heckuva pain editing. sigh

timestamp: anonymous 16:19 0 comments

9.13.2002

 

OMG - breaking news - cream to CLOSE??? great. before i even *get* there its gone. hip hop hooray!

is this something inherent in music - club culture even - that even established names in the business will inevitably bow to the pressures of reality and go belly-up? the music business has always seemed to be more rooted in art for art's sake - think radiohead and aphex twin - than on the concrete mundanities of the daily grind. even commercial music bows down somewhere along the line: think euro-dance and the incredible turnover rate of artistes there - does anybody remember Emilia who sang "Big Big World"? and whatever has happened to Aqua who were the biggest thing on radio 2 years ago? maybe its just cos music, like fashion, is a slave to trends, and whatever's not in vogue at the moment will fold if it's a big enough organisation with bigger bills to pay. sounds awfully like whatever's happened to the once-thriving .com business...

[ that was my first attempt at creating some reflection-type post in a very long while... ]

having said that i cant believe that cream doesnt make heaps of money. theyre a SUPERCLUB for crying out loud... festivals, sponsoring cds on my favourite music mags, the staple presence at ibiza, even sending their resident djs overseas... so what the heck is wrong with their sums? its not profitable?! sounds like somebody isnt making sound financial decisions... [ho ho, pun!] but its true. music and money just dont go together.

timestamp: anonymous 12:18 0 comments

9.10.2002

 

dont think i can afford to buy a spanking new digicam - unless i can somehow persuade my parents - that can pack in movie clips together with inexpensive media and decent image-capture capabilities (i dunno, how much is enough? *so* alienated from the world of technology - and that's the big problem with this long-term assignment of mine. im no longer as fluid or spontaneous as i used to be with computers, multimedia in particular. crap.) that's cheap enuf to justify a purchase - knowing very well that e camera could be damaged or even destroyed given e rough conditions of work. what the hell...

have settled for mostly video, came to an independent consensus with earlier batches that mostly-images (video and/or still) are the best way to go. thinking of using one of my dad's old Hi8s so it wont be all *that* bad if it dies.. but it does present a problem (which i wont elaborate on) wrt capturing the video on the com. which basically means that i can only do this at home - and we all know (well, i do, painfully well) how short a time i spend at home and the amount of work i bring back without fail.

if i can survive this course i think my time management skills will become so super that ill be able to manage like 5x what the average uni student crams into a day. heck, maybe even 5x what the average NUS med student is cramming, right now, 2 months into the first year... (*shudder*)

timestamp: anonymous 15:55 0 comments

9.09.2002

 

alas, very backdated blogs again. today i get piled with a new assignment - gotta make a memento like thing for my course of trainees at work... groan. must write proposal, get it approved, n submit e 1st 'instalment' of backdated stuff... on top of all my existing work... aargh!!! thinking of using a non-digital-video camera and then converting it into avi or mpeg on e com... sigh. ideas? i need a theme, too...

timestamp: anonymous 14:39 0 comments

9.07.2002

 

backdated blog posts galore... aargh, dont think i can finish - much less remember - them all. btw, the space bar on my keyboard is degenerating into mush (must have been too much 3D fps already... hardcore laptop gamers pls take note, if ure gonna start pounding away at your laptop, ud better have a replacement handy! damn, there goes the notion of portability. my replacement keyboard is a full-size USB affair, which then brings the problem of overloading my USB ports - e extigy isnt exactly a very low-USB-bandwidth device and im already out of USB ports [1 + 4] plus i havent even installed my USB gamepad yet. yes i bought that for gta3. and although ive seen 60-70% size keyboards around - think laptop size external keyboards - i think theres little point in straining your fingers further on something that doesnt even have a palm rest.. all imho of course.) so pls ignore any words that happen to be glued together.

timestamp: anonymous 15:34 0 comments

 

this is worrying.

Disorder	Rating
Paranoid:	Low
Schizoid:	Low
Schizotypal:	Moderate
Antisocial:	Low
Borderline:	Moderate
Histrionic:	High
Narcissistic:	High
Avoidant:	Moderate
Dependent:	High
Obsessive-Compulsive:	High
-- Click Here To Take The Test --

timestamp: anonymous 15:28 0 comments

9.03.2002

 

seriously think im too zonked to blog properly... aaargh! thinking of getting a new email addy that i can check on my phone via GPRS, ever since yahoo mail started charging for POP mail [meaning the capability to check email remotely - usually in the form of a desktop program, say outlook or eudora mail, logging on to a web based mail service n downloading ur msgs etc] . ur views?

timestamp: anonymous 14:59 0 comments

 

mooncake festival's a-coming. yum.

timestamp: anonymous 14:53 0 comments

 

it's a small small small small small world, part 35

in this short week that ive spent here in my new workplace i think ive bumped into more than a handful of the people i'd least expect to meet, here at least. frens from school, people ive met at various events n activities from yonks back, and - beat this - my cousin on the paternal side, who's 2 yrs older than me but just entered. gee whiz... din noe until i ran into his mom at the gate on my way out. and strangely enuf things get freakier - browsing the cc lists on peoples' mail addy change-notification mails reveals a LOT more coincidences than i ever thot possible.

~ sigh it actually sounds a lot more [less?] underwhelming in words like this - think its cos i really highly compressed the events (dont quite feel at liberty to divulge much more details) and this is a very backdated post - meant to write this last week when the coincidence really had me gobsmacked. =|

timestamp: anonymous 14:52 0 comments

 

YOZ wouldja believe theres wireless internet access from the living quarters in my workplace? er but i din bring in my laptop (anyway i dont think id b authorised for wireless net access from my com anyhow) so access is limited to 2 common terminals. and obviously the queue is as long as can be imagined... but whos complaining?

anyway this is fair warning: im now *able* to post any day of the week... so all you loyal fans (*bhb*) hafta (ok, CAN) check more frequently on weekdays already! (i can hear the groans coming from the back of the audience...)

timestamp: anonymous 14:45 0 comments