Invisible Drum Kit

Kudos to Rowan Atkinson! A wicked awesome vid!

August 21..

Some days you just feel like you're on top of the world, being adept at the various responsibilities you shoulder daily, may it be yr profession, studies, bumming. BUT you have days where you feel oblivious to everything around you, and at that moment it seems everything that seems to matter to you, don't matter anymore.Today was that day. I'm tired, tired of being extra nice to people eventhough I get treated like a dirty rag, or taken for granted, tired of studying, tired of being nice to relatives I don't like, tired of being a responsible brother and son (though I love it, it's tiring) or to sum it up, maybe I'm simply enervated from trying my best in life, to make the best out of everything I have (which is not much), only to find out it was not worth it in the end. Life is sure one hell of a game. I sound emo and depressed, don I? I concur. I need sleep NOW.

Mischievous Moses

August 11..

A busy last week, and weekend it was. Rock climbing, meeting up with friends who are back for the hols, movies, more movies, bumming, reading up my stack of novels, catching up with more friends, going for gigs, late nights, more late nights and a whole lot of other events I can barely remember. Glad I got a few newbie's hooked to rock climbing!

One interesting event that just came my way was when I was asked to play for a Soul/Jazz/Funk band last Saturday, together with other professional musicians like Juwita's bassist and keyboardist, and drummer Steve Jordan. It was actually my first gig out without my band, Crimson Epiphany, and playing a music genre that's not even my own. It turned out, well, fine I guess.

It feels good to play with professionals, knowing they have your back and you feel safe when playing. A whole lot of ther stuff happened that night, with legendary jazz guitarist/singer Jordan Rivers walking into the cafe and later playing on my guitar for a song requested by the audience. I was just awestruck by the amount of talent, coupled with humility, that he has. He was also generous with his advice, giving me pointers on how to play the guitar with my heart, and not by over-thinking.

Well yea, I also found out a couple of months back when I was at a gig at The Attic, that Jordan Rivers' son, the drummer that night, Steve Jordan was my junior back in Primary School and he still remembered me all this years. And to make it more interesting, Ben Jin from church was his classmate in the same school where I was their Senior. Its funny how we are all connected, and maybe its time I believed the whole "Six Degrees of Separation" theory.

Ah well, a lot of other stuff happened, but I guess I do not have the patience to write about everything. Here are 2 pictures of me and the other of the legendary Jordan Rivers (my apologies for the bad quality of the pictures taken) taken from the gig by Aaron on his mobile phone.

Dramatic Beaver!!

Make sure your speakers are on FULL! Dramatic Beaver's in the house!

Aug 7...

Hey guys.. it's been sometime since I last blogged, and now I've decided that I'll discipline myself to blog often.

Anyway to start off the whole blogging thing again, here's something interesting..

My friend Cheryl has decided to start a female accessories business that caters to well... females. It is a joint partnership with her fellow cousins. Here's the intro I copied directly from her website:

"This little band of merrymakers in their search for the "one piece only" decided to take matters into their own hands! We use stainless steel, silver, semi precious stones, crystals and some man made ones too! Its all about expressing yourself = accessorize!! accessorize in one offs!!! Welcome to the world of "bits and bobs" where there is something for everyone! I WANT TO ACCESSORIZE... Got to have to them, got to know more about the pieces, drop me an email at bitsnbobsmsia@gmail.com. We can send the pieces out by mail. However, please note that prices shown do not include shipping."

Do check them out at http://bitsnbobsmsia.blogspot.com/ 

11 June..

Sorry this blog has not been updated in ages! Have been busy (yes
don't misconstrue it as me being plain lazy).

As some of you might have heard, Crimson Epiphany is releasing their
debut album on the 27th of June! Get one (or more) from a music store
close to you! Crimson Epiphany's single, "Reason Or Rhyme" will be on
air really soon on your favorite radio stations! More details soon!

At the mean time, visit www.crimsonepiphany.com for a preview of the
upcoming single, "Reason Or Rhyme"!

August 1...

Crimson Epiphany had the craziest weekend ever, we played 2 shows,
One Rock [towards a drug free nation] on Saturday and at a conference
on Sunday evening.. Both were great! Here are the videos for 2 songs,
Lift Up Your Eyes and Reason or Rhyme. Both songs will be in our upcoming full-length album. Enjoy!

Lift Up Yr Eyes


Reason or Rhyme

July 9.....

I am a piece of dead meat. Recording is coming up tomorrow running
all the way through to the end of the month, and my semester finals
are in 2 weeks. I am bound to screw this sem up. Plus there are
assignments to finish and only half are done because the lecturer
gave the summary on the other one later. Life can't get any better. I
am going to disappoint my parents with horrible results, not that I
want to, but I can foresee that happening due to time constraints.
Well, at least this puts more meaning into the word 'sacrifice'.. or
whatever the word is..

March 31...

Aaron MADE me take this personality test and asked me to post the results... grrr...

anyway, here goes.... [i would like to think that I am not Melancholy Choleric, maybe Sanguine.. but everyone can dream right?] =)

Melancholy Choleric

14 Sanguine, 50 Melancholy, 50 Choleric, 21 Phlegmatic

Hail to you who is a Choleric Melancholy.

The depth to see into the heart and soul of life.

The grip of leadership to head us to the good.

The firm control when others ar losing theirs.

The ability to analyze and arrive at the proper solution.

The willingness to take a chance in a doubtful situation.

The talent to create a masterpiece where nothing existed before.

The pledge "if it is worth doing, it's worth doing right."

The confidence to hold true in the face of ridicule.

The urge to "take arms against a sea of troubles by opposing them."

The aim to finish what you start.

Yours is the most successful combination of the personality types. The pairing of your decisive Choleric leadership, drive and goals, with your Melancholy's analytical, detail conscious, organized schedule-oriented mind is unbeatable. Your melancholy side is inclined toward perfection, and your choleric side is predisposed towards success. So you will get what you want no matter how long it takes. 

This is what is awesome about you as a Meloncholy:

You are deep, thoughtful, analytical, insightful, serious, purposeful, genius prone, talented, creative, possibly artistc, musical, poetic or philisophical. You are considerate, conscientious, self-sacrificing, and sensitive to others. In the workplace you set high standards, pick up after others, are schedule oriented, organized, detail concious, persistent, and thorough. You like charts and graphs. You see the problems and find creative solutions. As a friend, you make friend's cautiously, are content to stay in the background, avoid causing attention, are faithful and devoted, deeply concerned for others, will listen to complaints, and you can solve people's problems.

And here is what is awesome about you as a Choleric

You are a born leader, strong willed, active, dynamic, decisive, not easily discouraged, unemotional, independent, self-sufficent, confident, with a compulsive need for change & to correct wrongs, and you can run anything. At work you are goal oriented, you see the whole picture, seek practical solutions, quickly move into action, delegate, organize well, insist on production, stimulate activity and thrive on opposition. As a friend, you have less need for friends than other temperments. You'll work for group activity, lead, organize, and you excell in emergencies. You are usually right.

Can you see how cool this makes you? You can do anything! Others are hesitant, indecisive, impulsive but not you. However, it is not all roses. There are some hefty weaknesses here too.

Here are your weaknesses as a Choleric:

First of all you don't think there is anything wrong with you. You think you are always right, so you can't be wrong. You'll probably think the following aren't even weaknesses. They are. Cholerics are impatient, impetuous, inflexible, unsympathetic, bossy, quick tempered, dominating, and too busy. You can't relax, you won't let others relax, you like to argue, you won't give up when you are losing, you won't admit you are wrong, and basically you come on too strong. In the workplace, you have little tolerance for mistakes, you don't compliment others instead you are rude and tactless, you make rash decisions by glossing over details (unless you have a melancholly edge to you), you are manipulative & demanding. As a friend you tend to use people, dominate, decide for others, know everything, think you can do everything better than everyone else, be unapologetic, and be too independent.

Those blend powerfully with the weaknesses of the Meloncholy:

You remember negatives, hold on to hurt, sulk, get moody or depressed or guilty, you are too introspective, self-centered, with a low self-image, you feel persecuted and you mind is off in another world. In the workplace you may be too meticulous, or a martyr. You are not people oriented, choose dificult work, are hesitant to start, spending too much time on planning, prefering analysis to work, and you are hard to please with your high high standards. As a friend you live through others, are critical, withdrawn, hold back affection, don't accept compliments, you are unforgiving, suspicious, and you dislike those in opposition towards whom you are antagonistic and even revengeful.

Okay that is a crap load of negativity there. You are for the most part, freaking awesome. You are the cornerstone of any good plan. Without you everyone would just be running around like a chicken with their head cut off, or sitting around relaxing doing nothing. The other personality types would like you to understand how overbearing you can be, and they'd be grateful for more acceptance from you, but for the most part they appreciate your making things happen. 

March 13....

Last night was an amazing night! The evening at the MPO was one that
I would cherish & remember.. [other than the Fourplay jazz
performance there last year]

Chick Corea is a prolific jazz composer/musician that has a track
record going down all the way in the history books of jazz & music,
in the past playing with/for legends like Al Dimeola, Miles Davis,
Stanley Clarke, John Patitucci, Dave Weckl, Al Jarreau and many
more... not to mention he is a multiple Grammy award recipient.

The feature for the sold-out performance at MPO last night was Chick
Corea on the piano & his vibraphone counterpart, Gary Burton (once a
lecturer & Chief Operating Officer at the prestigious Berklee College
of Music). Amazing...

Well.. Jeremy's family, Aaron, Barry, Ps Chris and I attended it and
I guess it was just pure fun and inspiring.. they did famous
repertoires like Native Sound, Crystal Silence, Duende...
Ah well, now we can only hope that he brings down his whole band the
next time round [if he does come back!]

Well that basically wraps all of it up...

March 10...

Congratulations adrian chew, you are 80% not Malaysian.

That means you're as Malaysian as...


Michael Jackson!

How Un-Malaysian Are You?

Jan 30...

I was browsing through Jeremy's multiply site and found a really funny photo of me.. We were in Sheila Majid's studio practicing last summer prior to recording.. And we had all his camera shots taken by our photographer [kudos to Matt]. I showed this particular photo to a few of my friends and they all burst out laughing.. So I guess it's funny.. Take a look at it, and read the tagline below the pic..

http://epiphanyjkhp.multiply.com/photos/photo/6/33

Jan 24...

Hello 21! Sweeeeeeeeeet....

I finally turned 21, got my freedom key, and the comfort [or not], of knowing that i'm emancipated [legally].
Previously, I thought turning 21 was all so cool and bla bla bla... but now that I've turned 21, being legally free & emancipated, I suddenly feel that sense of responsibility I have in everything I do, every action I make from now on. This sucks, but in a way I guess it'll mold me through time as I continue making mistakes and constantly learning from them and trying not to repeat them.

Ok, enough with the sentimental talk...

I have a bad feeling my 21st Bday party will be rowdy and boisterous... wait, did anyone say PARTY?
What party? When? What party?? *grins*

Jan 19.....

Uninspiring Vista... ah, how apt...

http://www.technologyreview.com/Infotech/17992/page1/

Jan 3....

Happy New Year everyone! What a great start to a new year... feeling fresh and anew! Since I'm in a jolly mood now I thought I'd just post a few pics up for fun... was at a wedding 2 weeks ago and guess who was at the wedding, and better still, the brides best friend? Elaine Daly... Miss Malaysia 2003 and True Fitness Ambassador. Ah, joy...

December 8...

Crimson Epiphany Debut EP Launch

We at Livehouse Project and Crimson Epiphany are excited to announce our CD/EP was launched today! The tile of the CD is Awaken The Dawn EP. You can get it in stores like Rock Corner, Canaanland, and Glad Sounds starting today! Go get your self a copy! It is only RM9.90!


Live inteview with Crimson Epiphany on Xfresh FM

Tune in to 103.0 Xfresh FM, tonight (Friday, 8th Dec) at 9pm to catch the live interview with Crimson Epiphany on Xfresh FM! It's gonna be great! Xfresh will be giving out 10 CE's Awaken the Dawn EP today on Xfresh so tune in! If you are lucky and bumped into the Xfresh Street Surfers, you might stand a chance to get a free copy too!

Visit our official website www.crimsonepiphany.com & www.xfresh.fm to vote for CE's single, "Bleed the Same"

November 9....

Trust is a LIE, and it is way overrated. Life experiences will give you that honest answer. Once again, trust is a lie. People whom you think cares and treasure yr 'friendship', wouldn't even give a shit about you after sometime. And time will tell, just keep out of contact and go missing for a few months, and if not even a simple text message reaches you, TOO bad. It's not worth it. Cultivating friendships are a waste of time.

November 2...

"Life is a balance of holding on and letting go," Keith Urban

I have always enjoyed Keith's music, though he has not produced many albums. Just a few to name. I was glad when he decided to go for treatment to curb his drug & alcohol problem a number of years ago. But since he married Nicole Kidman, he went back to his old habits. I am bemused at the moment to why this has happened. Could it Nicole? Could it be pressure? I doubt it. But once again, my personal belief, women are the root of all evil. I do not intend to sound censorious toward women, but they are the sole cause of the fall of men, in almost every aspect.. But for now, I am just glad he checked himself into a treatment centre now that he realised it. And his new album is launching in 4 days, can't wait to get my hands on it.. tee hee hee

November 1.....

I thought I'd just post photos of my new guitar. I got it almsot 2 months ago and i bought it in the USA, not here. American companies love sending junk and products that barely passed 'QC' to asian countries and keep the best stock for their own country and people. Idiots. So i had to get it there instead eventhough it costs more. As for guitars, an experienced musician will know whether the guitar is a 'junk'/defective/barely passed QC product, just by playing it, for an amateur, they won't know or notice at all, its quite hard. It's the feel and tone of the guitar that matters most.

Anyway, this is another limited edition i got, it's 50th anniversary. I got this on back order, brand new, because this guitar was only sold in 2004 in conjuction with it's 50th anniversary celebration of this guitar. The grain of the wood is AWESOME. You can barely find another guitar with such a beautiful grain in Malaysia. Once again as I mentioned earlier, Americans keep the best products for their own country. The pickups are one of a kind Custom Shop 1954 exclusive. The guitar's design is even older than most of your parents! The design has been unchanged since 1954, and this guitar has stood the test of time. Artists like Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, John Mayer, and all yr idiotic corporate sell-out punk bands use it. Legendary