Mid-year Review

I'm back!
.
.
.
for now.

This is the longest hiatus I've ever taken since I've started blogging. Halfway into 2011 without an entry, I was in two minds about whether to continue blogging or just shut it down altogether. So the time was ripe to revisit my original intent of blogging, as it has certainly evolved over the years,

During my army days, the sole purpose was to hone my writing skills. I was thoroughly convinced that I could guard the mindless wasting of my brain with some pseudo-intellectual discourse on my social life and current affairs. Of course, that pragmatic goal quickly retrogressed and my blog became a place where I could seek solace and bitch publicly.

In my four years of torture in NUS, it kept me sane (or so I think…) as I struggled through an engineering course, despite my apparent lack of aptitude for it.

It was great fun delivering verbal diarrhoea, knowing that friends and stalkers (or fans as I endearingly call them) would read my rants and raves. Yet because I knew intelligible life forms were actually visiting my blog, I felt compelled post regular updates.

On days when I was swamped with work, I resorted to posting an obligatory series of web comics. During periods of gruelling examinations, I would take a break altogether.

Just I thought I was really busy in NUS… Then I graduated and entered the workforce. The frequency of updates was proven to be directly correlated to scarcity of time.

Then came... Facebook.

If I wanted to announce anything to my circle of friends, I no longer had to resort to my ailing blog. If I wanted to make my friends envious (not deliberately of course…) of my overseas escapades, I could upload photo albums with a few clicks of the button. Complete with auto-resizing and reduced resolution!

In a nutshell, Facebook provided greater interaction with people I knew and cared for.

Yet surprisingly, I’ve found a good reason not to shut this blog down.

Public Comments
I never fail to be amused that my rants on NUS modules BN3101: Biomedical Engineering Design and MUA3201: Chamber Singers are still able to attract random viewers via Google.

Just Google "BN3101" to amuse me.


So what's next for this blog?
My guess is probably nowhere.

As a matter of fact, I cannot imagine Blogspot to continue on perpetually. The mere thought of visiting a blog already sounds so passé to me. But like an open diary, I might return to reminiscence the naive crap I've written over the years.

Of course, I might even add on to this ever growing list of incriminating rubbish from time to time. Probably not as often as I used to, but hopefully more frequently than once every 6 months.

Till then...

Random picture!

Shakespeared Songs

Ha. The long-awaited concert of the century is finally over!

My heartfelt gratitude goes out to all who came to concert. And for those who did not, I am also thankful that you didn't. :p

The concert was riddled with so many screw-ups, it was inhumanly possible to list them all.

1) Everyone went FLAT by probably more than a semitone in some songs. It's pretty telling especially when I can't even reach the supposed low F, even after trying to croak it out.
2) Diction was much to be desired. The lyrics were all derived from the great works of William Shakespeare, so it was a pity that hardly any words muttered were discernible.
3) Some pieces started off very weakly, as if no one was quite sure about the actual starting first note.
4) Starting off weakly unintentionally is bad, coming in for individual parts at different times was even worst. It sounded like intermittent bird-dropping.
5) Pitch? Hello? I know there were dissonant chords, but we manage to stretch its definition to possibly the realms of noise.

And just when you thought unaccompanied parts were bad, the bringing in of instruments could not salvage the situation.
6) I know I'm nitpicking, but Miss Cello player, the bass section is relying you heavily for your notes. Coming in at the wrong time certainly did not help matters.
7) Timing timing timing between the choir and the pianist. While an untrained ear might not be able to pick out tonal mistakes, rhythmic ones are much more apparent. The coordination between us could be summed up as "Faster or slower, but rarely in unison." Of course, how could anyone forget the disastrous ending of epic proportions when the choir ended 1-2 seconds earlier than the pianist!

I wonder I can grab the live recording of it, then you can witness some of the atrocities committed.

But my conductor, Dr Katherine Wallace, sums it up most nicely and politically correctly...
"Thank you once again for a great concert last night. I felt there were some truly exquisite moments."

LOL.
Despite massacring Shakespeare, it was still pretty fun though.

Songs from Shakespeare

It's really unbelievable. Really.

Here is the unabridged entry of my previous post on reasons not to take MUA3211 - Chamber Singers II:

1) It was worth two modular credits (normally four) and there were two 1.5hrs lessons a week. Considering that there are no breaks in between and it ending late at times, the workload is substantially heavier than other “normal” modules. Oh, and did I mention there were extra rehearsals?

2) MUA3211 is almost impossible to ace. A third of the class are currently singing in NUS choir, a third is studying (for real) in Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, the rest are from some alumni chorale or a capella groups or other choirs. After eliminating almost everyone, that probably leaves me at the bottom of the hierarchy, a former choir member.

3) I cannot sight sing, other than maybe pitching basic solfège or major thirds, perfect fifths and octaves. And of course, because there are no hardly any sectionals teaching, you're expected to figure out how it sounds like just from the score (minus an external instrument).

4) My voice has bloody chui-ed. Hitting an E can potentially kill my vocals (and the surrounding people...)

5) The module is held on Tuesday and Thursday, effectively transforming my 3 day week to a full 5IVE day week!

6) This module is absolutely extraneous since I've already overshot my quota of academic credits.


Unfortunately, there was only one reason why I still took this:

1) I enjoy singing in a choir.

Yes, your eyes ain’t playing tricks on you. That’s me being brutally honest.

Singing in a choir doesn't sound remotely as cool as singing in an a capella small group or jamming in a band. In fact, it sounds sissy, soft, limp and lame. The only thing that probably ranks lower (at least to me) are male ballet dancers.

No offense. Heh.

Of course, other than immersing myself in the lush layers of vocals, it was rather refreshing to view NUS in a such different light (or tone). At every turn and corner of the building, you hear music played instead of muggers blasting mainstream music through their iPods.

And just like how lifeless final year bioengineering students present their "findings" in a pathetic poster presentation, these Yong Siew Toh students see their various works culminate in an evening concert, performed to hundreds!

Damn it. I know it's not exactly analogous but I digress.

So anyway, in YST Conservatory style, MUA3211: Chamber Singers II ends with a bang this Monday (6th April 2009) with...
Featuring Canadian Katherine Wallace as choral director; premiering new works "If Music and Sweet Poetry Agree" by Chen Zhangyi and "Folly Folio" by Emily Koh; the prodigious Austrian pianist Andreas Eggerstberger; and last but not least, the comeback performance of the millennium, Kelvin Lim.

For full programme outline: http://scmapp.nus.edu.sg/events/details.asp?e_id=903

La La La

If education was meant to inspire students the wonders and joy of learning, I think it has failed me on most accounts. In fact, I am convinced that there are murderous consequences...
Of course, there were rare moments in NUS when I genuinely looked forward to lecture... but tragically, these "interesting" modules seem to gravitate strongly towards the Arts and Social Sciences faculty.

This semester was no different. Despite having fulfilled the university requirements of elective modules, I decided that this was my last chance at taking a module that I truly liked.

It was a tough decision with tempting (at least to me...) modules such as Reason and Persuasion (Philosophy), Japanese/French/German Language, Science of Music, Music in the Global Context, Introduction to Film Art.

But in the end, I rashly bidded for MUA3211: Chamber Singers II.

Module Descriptus:
This course allow students to learn the fundamentals of vocal production and choral techinique through participation in a vocal performance ensemble. Students will participate in regular rehearsals, and will learn and perform choral music with an emphasis on Renaissance and Twentieth-century music. Through this course, students will gain knowledge of diverse repertoire, composers, genres, styles and period performance practices. They will also learn fundamentals of vocal production and choral technique and will experience working together in a unique team ensemble.

It was unplanned and unexpected because it was worth only 2MCs (as opposed to the normal 4MCs), 3 hours of lessons, and even had a compulsory audition. In other words, this module is really damn boh hua lah.

But who could resist the temptation of NOT taking a module at Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music? The cacophony kaleidoscope of music I hear as I walk to my class is sufficient to make my day.
Fine, I'm not very rational again.

Nonetheless, I've stuck long enough to realize that there's a performance in less than 48hours... and to think that I've never gone for any of the free noon recitals at Yong Siew Toh Conservatory before.

Guess I'll view the conservatory concert hall for the first time, from the stage. AGAD.

Monday Noon Recital
Venue: Conservatory Concert Hall
Date: 16 March 2009, Monday, 12.15pm

PROGRAMME

Piano Sonata No. 2 in D minor, Op. 14 (1912) by Prokofiev
IV. Vivace

Khoo Hui Ling (MUS3), piano

Sonata in A major (1886) by by Franck
III. Recitativo - Fantasia
IV. Allegretto poco mosso

Cantabile by Paganini

Jia Xiaoke (MUS4), violin
Liu Jia, piano

Three Shakespeare Songs by Vaughan Williams

Fancies I by Sven-Eric Johanson

Sigh No More, Ladies (from Much Ado About Nothing, Act II, Sc. 3) by George Shearing

Conservatory Chamber Singers

The Start of The End

2009 began tumultuously with this.

Already a few weeks into school, and reality finally beginning to sink in that my days in NUS is indeed numbered.

Especially, now that I've officially run out of opportunities to sell my remaining textbooks, after a very unsuccessful attempt at BuyBackAsia.
So here's a final shot. Anyone interested in the following textbooks, please contact me. I guarantee the best price, value and quality!

Title: Essential Cell Biology
Author: Alberts Bray Hopkin Johnson Lewis Raff Roberts Walter
Edition: 2nd

Title: Biology, Concepts and Applications
Author: Cecie Starr
Edition: 6th

Title: Marketing - Real people, Real choice
Author: Soloman, Marshall, Stuart
Edition: 4th

Anyone interest?
A donation is much appreciated...


On a separate note, my Final Year Project has been a bottomless pit in terms of time and effort.
I'm beginning to suspect that my mentor expects me to be in lab during normal working hours, even if it means skipping my lectures and tutorials.

And of course, after conducting my daily experiments in lab, I would have to crunch out some useful numbers, to prove that I'm making groundbreaking discovery.
But I think I'm more more of an alcoholic than a researcher.

Indeed, culturing all these bloody (pun intended) human umbilical cord blood-derived mesenchymal stem cells have driven me close to insanity.

But the final straw had to be this...

Do notice that there a tiny lump of growth in the tissue culture flask.
And NO. The flask is supposed to contain clear cell culture medium and NOTHING MORE.

To prove that the twenty-cent-sized lump has to be some sort of insidious creature, here are some photomicrographs of it on the edges...
I get goosebumps whenever I see these evil fungal growth.

So you could imagine how I almost fainted when I found the "MOTHER" Fungus growing in the tray of water in the incubator. The motherfungal thing was at least half the size of my palm!

You might not "appreciate" the gravity / grotesqueness of the situation if you have not handled cell culture before. But it's probably the equivalent of finding first finding a cockroach in your food, and then discovering the cook is a cockroach!

Fine, bad analogy.

On another random note, I just found out that playing 围棋 (WeiQi) and "digging gold" is much frowned upon in Bishan Community Club.

Finally, this entry wouldn't be complete without announcing to the world that I have officially joined...

The Conservatory Chamber Singers of
Yong Siew Toh Conservatory Music

It sounds good, ain't it?

Haha. Actually, it's because I'm taking this 2MC module by Yong Siew Toh "MUA3211: Chamber Singers II"

Module Descriptus:
This course allow students to learn the fundamentals of vocal production and choral techinique through participation in a vocal performance ensemble. Students will participate in regular rehearsals, and will learn and perform choral music with an emphasis on Renaissance and Twentieth-century music. Through this course, students will gain knowledge of diverse repertoire, composers, genres, styles and period performance practices. They will also learn fundamentals of vocal production and choral technique and will experience working together in a unique team ensemble.

As I've mentioned, this is my final semester in NUS. So I decided to fulfill my final wishes and end it off with a bang. Indeed, this module is absolutely extraneous which probably has no effect on my CAP and might even siphon some of my precious time from my FYP.

But who could resist not taking a module conducted in a classroom with a Steinway Grand Piano?