jetaweti

Blogging takes a backseat

2009-03-19T21:38:00.002+08:00

Hey people! Well, I dunno how many of you are still following my blog but as it is pretty obvious, my blog has not been updated since a month ago. I don't think I have a huge following here, but with my 'unupdatedness' that would probably shrink the already small number of readers here.

Anyway, my apologies for keeping things barren here. I've been busy coping with university life. So, if I do manage to find pockets of free time here and there, then just maybe I would describe the world and life through my eyes.

Until then, have fun. And all the best to me in managing time.....

Can I pull this off?

2009-02-19T14:15:00.003+08:00

Some of you may be wondering 'Pull what off?'. I'm not pulling off my mask or pulling down my pants. I'm not pulling off anything tangible, but rather the intangible. It's a figure of speech. Anyway, I'm just doubting if I can conduct a drum class.

I was asked if I could teach a bunch of kids how to play the drums in church. I said 'Yeah, sure'. The problem arises here where I have to come out with a curriculum since it is a drum class. DRUM CLASS. Hmm...curriculum? Well, I have a problem coming out with a curriculum because I dunno how a drum curriculum is supposed to be like. XD

A little bit of history here, I've never had formal drum training; not even an ounce of drum education. I'm more of a naturalist (if there is such a term), a self-taught drummer. I listen, observe and pick up how other drummers play.

So, asking me to draw out a curriculum will be challenging. Not impossible, thanks to Joseph who will be my co-teacher. Even then, it's still going to be tough. At least, Joseph has formal training.

Apart from the drum class, I will also be coaching two other students. Wesley and Andy. This will be a one to one thingy, more personal. And I don't have to come out with a curriculum. I just teach what comes through my mind. =)

To sidetrack a little, Andy wants to call me sifu drum. I told him 'No need lah'. Sifu sounds so old when I'm still young. He's still figuring out what to call me. -_- haha

Whether I can pull this off or not, remains to be seen. I'll just put it in God's hands and do the best I can as a form of service to God.

Ka Rao Ke

2009-02-10T22:23:00.021+08:00

Last 2 sundays, we had a farewell for Ridz. On someone's idea, we had it in a karaoke; Amp Square in Pyramid. Haha, I think it's more to the delight of our organiser, Fatin.

Anyway, we had a jolly good time, I guess....Everyone had their fair chance of mike domination. Of course, there were some who were more fair. Haha. And one who didn't sing. Barely audible. Ran! Open that voice box, haha

We sang a lot of tunes from boy bands of yester fame. I don't think we did a great tribute to the songs, but we had fun. Fun laughing at the il divo's and diva's (pinjam from Mal).

Apart from the 'soulful singing', we had gassy ice lemon tea. Since when is ice lemon tea a gassy drink?

The dude in red is why we had the karaoke.

If I'm not mistaken, this is a duet belting out She Will Be Loved. Memories for Ridz, haha.

Our 'tai ka jie' giggling. The one who organised events.

Ms Iva hogging the mike.

Who are you smiling at? Haha

Ta da da da! Malaysia, we give you our top ten finalist noisiest people.

* Pictures courtesy of Mal without permission. Thank you ya

Would You Be Happier?

2009-01-31T22:29:00.004+08:00

Beautiful song. It matches my 5 year frustration.

Would the sun shine brighter if I played a bigger part?
Should be.

Would you be wonderful if it wasn't for the weather?
Yeah of course.

Are you not afraid to tell your story now?
But everyone is gone; It's too late.

Was everything you've ever said or done not the way you planned?
Mistake.

And so you promise that tomorrow be different than today.

But I'm gonna be just fine.
Because He cares for me.

Great Plan

2009-01-27T22:03:00.003+08:00

That made me wanting to cry because on that Friday evening, God wasn't that faraway, untouchable, big and almighty God, but he was that one-to-one personal God who comforted and assured me when I start to falter.

Check out this video.

This is so inspirational. When I first saw it about a year ago, all I could say was wow. Truly amazing. The 2nd time was the best.

Anyway, I've got a testimony to share out here regarding this video.

I was in college last year and there were clubs, societies and all other sorts of co-curricular activities that one could join. That was in the early part of the year.
It wasn't compulsory to join, but most joined because we still carried that mentality from high school where it was compulsory.

Even so, most students joined for the sake of positions, fame and what not. I joined for the certificate. Though I didn't get any after all, haha.

Coming back; I joined the squash club and we had the first meeting to elect the committee. We had our chosen ones and in barged in some gal and her 2 male lackeys trotting behind.I recognised her as a former head prefect of a particular school in Subang.

Basically, she was late for the committee election and she was rather pissed about it. She begged the former club president who chaired the meeting to restart the elections. I'm glad he didn't.

I was thinking to myself, 'wow this is one power crazy girl'. During this time also, she was running for President on the A-levels student council. Certainly power crazy.

Another thought came into my mind. I was appalled to witness these people vying and lobbying for positions. I wondered what gets them going, what they would do to achieve that or what means to justify their ends?

And besides that, fame plays a very important role here. If you ain't one of the top dudes in college, you're never going to get nominated let alone voted for any position.. I, being not influential am not going to be anywhere near there.

I felt intimidated and hopeless. If these are how things are gonna be, I'm going to be achieving peanuts. I talked to God about it. Poured my soul to Him.

And I thanked God that He responded. Though not through this way. The following day was a Friday and there was CF. Thank God for CF! Coz that was where God comforted me.

There was this lady pastor who was the guest speaker. Sorry I can't remember her name. Too bad I came in late coz I had classes. But the best thing is that God made me come just at the right timing.

I came in time for this video. I was touched in my soul. I forgot what the pastor said, but the gist of it was God has a great plan and a future for you despite whatever circumstances you're in. You know, it felt like that whole CF meeting was set up just for me, because that message was for me.

That made me wanting to cry because on that Friday evening, God wasn't that faraway, untouchable, big and almighty God, but he was that one-to-one personal God who comforted and assured me when I start to falter.

I thanked God for that, coz that made God even more real to me. He listen's to the cry of his people even if mine is considered petty.

I left that CF meeting feeling much lighter and assured that God has everything marked and ticked in His plan.

Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I KNOW the PLANS I have for YOU, " says the LORD. "They are plans for GOOD and not for disaster, to give you a FUTURE and a HOPE."

Best Drummer? Nah

2009-01-19T21:56:00.003+08:00

I just received an email a few hours ago and it turned out to be a reply to some of my comments of a particular video in YouTube. Correction, make it a particular drummer. Simon Phillips. Well, I just felt compelled to air my grouses here after being bombarded by protests of Simon Phillips loyalists.

Just a little background over here on Simon Phillips. He is one of the world's most renowned and respected drummers, whose style not only reflects his technical gift but also his distinct musical sensibility. He was a sessionist drummer in his early years working with the likes of Mick Jagger, The Who, Jeff Beck, Jack Bruce, Peter Gabriel, Joe Satriani, Tears for Fears, Judas Priest, Roxy Music, Michael Schenker, Nik Kershaw, Phd., Al DiMeola, 801, Pete Townshend, Russ Ballard, Robert Palmer, Stanley Clarke, The Pretenders, Jon Anderson, Whitesnake and Dave Gilmour... to name but a few. He then joined Toto and became the successor to Jeff Porcaro. Currently, he is on a break from Toto to continue on his solo efforts.

I stole the highlights from Drummerworld. You can get his full background from there or his official website.

Anyway, Simon isn't the best drummer out there in my opinion. And this has garnered quite a lot of disagreements from fans of Simon. Well, that's your opinion and this is mine.

Simon ain't the best drummer 'coz he ain't got the grooves. He's very technical, employing a lot of drum rudiments. Nothing wrong with that as all grooves are based on rudiments. The thing is, Simon does not make it 'flavourable' or 'groovy' with the rudiments.

Perhaps some of you out there thinks that he's the best because of his quick flexes over the kit. No doubt over his speed. I've seen him live in a drum clinic and he is indeed fast and precised. I respect his speed. But speed is not all that makes a drummer the best.

Here is a video depicting some of his boring solos. Some may argue he is just displaying the warm tones and sounds of the Tama Bubinga toms and thus not displaying his grooves. A valid point, though I still think he could make it more 'interesting' since he is said to have grooves.

Nevertheless, there is a saying that goes: one man's rubbish is another man's treasure. And so, one man's grooves is another man's boredom. It's subjective. If you think Simon's playing style is groovy, so be it.

But my verdict is that Simon's style of playing is not groovy and not 'interesting'. Thus, he is not the best drummer.

Some Songs

2009-01-13T17:47:00.004+08:00

Here are some songs that have been playing over and over again in my head. I got these songs from Rachel after 'spot checking' her phone. Thanks ya! In fact, I've heard of this song before. But it never got registered in my head back then. So what is pumping in my internal jukebox is the Leaving On A Jet Plane.

I love the Chantal Kreviazuk version. I think this song was originally sung by John Denver. Anyway, I prefer Chantal's rendition of the song. Here....I've got the music video. Unfortunately, it's not the official music video. I can't get the html codes for that.

I love the background sound of the song. The bass and the piano(if I'm not mistaken) blend harmoniously with the echo effect. It gives an other worldly sense of feeling. The piano sounds very bell-like though.

I never knew this song was in the Armageddon soundtrack. Thanks to Rachel; now I know. Aerosmith's song must have overshadowed the rest. Anyway, do check out the official music video. Chantal is looking hot on the piano.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7RLcq4Kn3Y

Another song that I stole from Rachel is Always Be My Baby. Nope, it's not Mariah Carey's song. But yeah, she is the original singer of the song. David Cook's depiction of the song just blew me away.

It made me listen to this song. I am never much a fan of Mariah's pieces. David Cook made it possible for me to listen to this song. =) Here's the AI version of it.

I just love the way he ends the song in a minor key.

Caroling! Part II

2009-01-04T20:36:00.005+08:00

I'm kind of lazy to write on this but I don't like to leave it hanging. I've lost the hype on caroling already plus my memory ain't fresh. Anyway, once started I intend to complete it for the sake of completion. Haha

The 2nd caroling night could have been better. We went to 2 homes. The first home we dropped by was a house somewhere in Kelana Jaya. It's a nice bangalow. Why I said it could have been better was because we were treated like stage entertainers. At least, I felt that way. I don't know about the rest.

After we performed, we were given a small piece of cake and iced water. Well, at least something. But most of our stomachs rumbled in unison. We were actually looking forward to the refreshments as our dinner. But only the guest were happily chomping down food. And then we performed our last song and were sent off packing with a gift.

I heard the gift was nice. A photo frame and Ferrero Rocher or something like that. I forgot about it and left it in Uncle Danny's car. What a waste. Anyway, it all felt like some part time job. You strut your stuff or job and then you get paid or bestowed some reward. I expected more from homes since homes are associated with warmth and informality.

Maybe why I felt that way was because the homes that we've been to before were homes that were filled with some church members among the audience. So in a sense the carolers and audience are 'kaki lang' or in other words 'own people'.

So of course we would treat each other like how we treat our friends or relatives who visit us.
They would offer us mountainous food and bottomless drinks. Of course I'm exaggerating here, but you get the point.

Our last home before we called it a day was Uncle Aaron Andy's place. This time we combined with Chacha. And how ironic it is for Theva to perform at his own house.

The highlight this time goes to the tenors. Lol, myself, Keenan and Ming Yan. There was this carol, O little town of Bethlehem and we decided to be a wee bit ambitious. I can't remember who initiated it but we attempted to harmonize.

Our harmonizing ended up in chokes of strangled laughter and weird stares from the bass. Our so called harmonizing never actually harmonized with the melody, but it seemed more like 3 tone deafed people. Lol! My salute to my comrades Ming Yan and Keenan, haha. May we try that again next year. Haha

This time around we had more refreshments compared to the earlier house; much to the delight and relief of the Alpha group. But then again, we have our counterparts from Chacha to share with. So more men less share.

Caroling! Part I

2008-12-27T00:24:00.004+08:00

So yeah, I've joined the caroling team and have been going house to house lending my 'tenorful' voice. Some of you may have given me that cheeky grin depicting that 'What?! Jeff, you sing?'. Yeah, I do sing. So what...haha.

On the 20th to 22nd Dec, we strut our audible stuff somewhere within Klang Valley. We did that for 3 nights. We had 3 teams and they were alpha, beta and chacha. Haha, I don't recall chacha being a Greek alphabet. That you have to ask Donny.

I was in alpha and during the first night all the groups combined over in Summit. So we performed on a few floors. One was near the KFC. And we almost looked like we were part of the KFC staff as we wore red tops and black bottoms.

Audience was great! Hehe, mostly church people only.....but yeah there were also the rest of the Malaysian folk. Best part was whenever we shifted floors, our audience migrated with us too. =) and yeah they were church people.

Later, we had dinner in Chatterbox Cafe. I'm doing some advertising here, though not paid. For those of you who are absent-mindedly trotting down to the cinema all these years and not knowing where Chatterbox Cafe is, it is situated right next to the GSC cinema. I'm one of those people =P

After dinner, we splitted up to our respective groups heading to our designated destination. My group went over to a house, if not mistaken Uncle Frankie's niece's place. We sang, they listened, we sang more and they listened more. Food was in abundance, but really, we couldn't make much room in our tummies already. Except, maybe for Uncle Danny. =P

Our last visit of the day was GSC Summit. That was an awesome experience; singing in front of a queueing crowd. The crowd was great. This time around we did not have the full support of the church members, but I'm glad with the support given by the cinema goers.

I shall continue this perhaps later today. Hopefully I can get the photos soon.

Relationship themes

2008-12-16T14:58:00.006+08:00

Relationship themes add much depth and reality into TV shows. People get to identify themselves with the fictional characters who are facing relationship conflicts.

In the post-SAM era, I've been busying myself with TV series that are still countable with anyone's 2 hands. Of course, this does not go to explain why my latest post is 1 week and a day later from my previous post. =) I blame that on self procrastination and the ever fluctuating streamyx broadband. So much for the broadband connection....

So....I've been 'couch potato-ing' on Heroes, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Chuck, Clone Wars, Stargate Atlantis, Knight Rider and Gossip Girl.

Well, I'm just gonna touch on Heroes, Chuck and the Connor Chronicles. If you've noticed in the still current episodes, the prevailing theme that was meant to project to viewers was on relationship issues or conflicts; more particularly on family relationship themes. As for the Connor Chronicles, the entire series itself is an ongoing relationship theme based series.

This is what makes a TV series great and so popular despite 2 of those series being sci-fi and the remaining being a action-drama-comedy - I know of some people who despise sci-fi. =P Relationship themes add much depth and reality into TV shows. People get to identify themselves with the fictional characters who are facing relationship conflicts.

In Heroes, it's a mother and son thing. I am rather touched with the Hiro and mum scene. Hiro the master of time and space visited the past to the moments of his dying mother. That is so touching.

Then, there is also a father and son scene. This is between Mr. Petrelli and Sylar. As it turns out, Mr. Petrelli wasn't who Sylar thought he was. Arthur Petrelli never was Sylar's father. Sylar took over Peter's role in murdering Arthur Petrelli. I'm so glad the producers didn't make Peter a murderer again. =)

There is also a father and daughter scene as well as a mother and daughter scene. Welcome to the Bennet family! Claire got transported together with Hiro into the past. It's interesting to see Claire trying to convince her younger mom that she'll be a great mom without revealing who she is.

I love that trademark Mr. Bennet smile and it seems that the affectionate 'Claire-bear' may not after all be Noah Bennet's creation.

Chuck. It's a nice series although off late its run has been quite boring. But I like the latest episode. Here we have a father and daughter scene. Sarah Walker's dad has returned into her life and he's a conman. So we can see the struggle in Sarah juggling her CIA cover and her real life.

Also her father double crossed her and never really showered her with much attention and love. The ending showed Sarah providing a distraction for her father to escape the police. It must have been hard for her to honour her duty and to let her father escape. And, once again her father has ceased to exist in her life again.

I love this series very much. It's not all just guns blazing and mechanical doomsday, but also the relationship between a mother and son; a mother and son trying to lead a normal life despite evading the predatory terminators set out to terminate John Connor.

The latest episode portrays the Connor household rescuing a family targeted by the terminator. The mother of the family was injured and her daughter has been protecting the family; preserving what's left of it anyway. It's touching to see the mom striving to hold on to life to deliver her unborn daughter.

Futsal photos

2008-12-07T23:14:00.011+08:00

Here are the much belated photos of the futsal game. Sorry ya if my previous post was tooooooo long. But I don't care. I typed that for the sake of quenching my satisfaction. Plus I like to be detailed. Thanks to Mr. Kevin G for the photos. Hey I hope you shoot your future photos with the flash on. It's very underexposed.

John and Mr Munin. What a contrast, haha! I can barely recognize Mr Munin. The photo is so underexposed.

Loong, Guan and myself were miserably watching the lecturers playing while we wait in agony for a chance to play.

This is us after futsal sitting around a rather small table since there were so many of us.

Here, we were all playing UNO while waiting for an empty court. I think there were 10 of us playing, crazy.

Here's Caryn and Michelle and Loong is looking blur.

My best futsal game

2008-12-03T18:09:00.001+08:00

Arguably, this is the best futsal game of my life. It wasn’t just the beautiful passes, crosses and goals but also to see half the class playing together.

Last night or rather last evening (20th Nov) was our last futsal game together with T1 students and our Math lecturer, Mr. Munin. We also had a guest lecturer; Mr. Kevin! This futsal game was originally played between the guys of T1 and Mr. Munin. We started playing together sometime during the start of semester 2. From that time, we had a series of games. I don’t remember how many games we played. I say 4 or 5 games before yesterday’s game. Yesterday’s game would total up to 6.

The interesting part of all these games are that each consequent match was a rematch for the previous game, except for the first game that we played. Basically, there were 2 teams headed by Mr. Munin and Loong. Mr. Munin ‘graciously‘ allowed Loong to pick the cream of the crop from the class. With much humility, I’m with Loong. Haha! As for Mr. Munin his team consisted of the rest of the guys. The amazing thing about our class T1 was that we had 9 guys. So it was a perfect fit for a futsal game between us 9 guys and Mr. Munin; 5 on 5. All the guys got to play.

Coming back to last night’s game, we were supposed to start at 5. But thanks to the ever unpredictable weather, most of us came late. I was early. I came to the court at about 4 something. It wasn’t because I was too kan cheong or what =P, but I was on the way back from KL, so no point making a few trips to and fro to the Sportsplanet and home.

While waiting for the rest of us to arrive, some of us who were present started playing futsal with the Taylors’ staff. So it was Mr. Munin, Loong, Guan, Hon and I playing against a team of lecturers. I think they were lecturers. I’ve never seen them before. So we played and we got trashed. I thought we young people could beat them or at least give them a run for their money. They were good. We manage to slot in a few goals, thanks to our all time T1 top scorer, Hon.

When everyone came we were to play in the opposite court. But there were already people playing in it. Initially, I secured that court when I came early. Mr. Munin and I were there early. He was warming up in the staff court while I was warming up in the other court. A group of guys came into my court and I negotiated over the court. I couldn’t much actually as I was only a one man army. To cut the story short, these guys were supposed to play until 5 and scuttle off. But seeing that we were playing with the staff, they decided to continue playing in our court. So there was a minor scuffle between those guys and Mr. Munin over the court. You’re the man, Mr. Munin! Anyway, honestly I think both sides were at fault. We were late and thus they started playing first. Don’t expect me to hold down the fort with a one man army. They were also at fault as they didn’t honour our agreement to buzz off at 5.

Nevertheless, Mr. Munin pulled rank and we got our court back. We were 1 man down since Zi Jun couldn’t make it for our game. So we invited 1 of those guys to play. Jeremy the Indian dude joined us. He’s a good player, very tricky and good footwork. He’s fast too and his shots were admirable. But what disgusted me was that he was a show off. He bao sai everything and Mr. Munin’s team didn’t really get to play much. Every time Jeremy scored, those other guys cheered. Obviously, they were still pissed off and wanted get us through Jeremy. I didn’t really enjoy this game. We left the game early as more tension erupted from the other guys. Mr. Munin handled them efficiently.

Anyway, the rest of us were kind of disappointed. Those guys didn’t like us very much after we repossess our court. We were about to call it quits as it was already 6 something and there were no other courts available. We decided to book another court meaning that we had to pay. But all courts were fully booked. Mr. Munin suggested we play in the staff court at 7 after the lecturers have finished their game. We were initially hesitant, but we eventually agreed. After all, we haven’t even played a good game of futsal with only T1 boys and girls and lecturers.

Mr. Munin dragged Mr. Kevin into the game after much persuasion. So we had about 14 players in the futsal court. They were Loong, Yung, Vincent, Jia Jiun, Guan, John, Hon, Angie, Yi Ping, Michelle, Caryn, Mr. Munin and Kevin, and I. Arguably, this is the best futsal game of my life. It wasn’t just the beautiful passes, crosses and goals but also to see half the class playing together. It was so much fun and amusement to see and play with 13 other people running after a ball. I scored a couple a fantastic goals which I am very proud of. Not to mention, I set up some great goals for Loong. The girls were also equally sporting. Haha! Caryn was always very enthusiastic and verbal. She’ll always shout some encouraging statements. Then, there is Michelle who is always getting in the way when the opponents were dribbling. Some of her attempts were successful; she even managed to snatch the ball from Hon. Mr. Kevin wasn’t that bad in playing futsal after much fuss over his excuse saying that he is bad in football. All in all it was a great game. There were moments where we laugh over someone’s silly moves. That was enjoyable! Everyone would just pause affixed in their positions cracking with laughter. There was also the drunken goal scored by the potentially alcoholic Angie! Haha! This is by far 1 of the best futsal games that I’ve ever played if not the best. I’m proud and grateful to be with this sporty, exciting and energetic bunch of people.

After that game, we had an ‘interrogation session’. We gathered round the table with chairs and we joked and talked. Haha! We even got Mr. Munin to admit that T1 is the best class he has taught this year. Plus we got that on video! Then, each of us got interrogated about what we have gained from the one year in SAM other than academically while Mr. Kevin videoed us. I guess I left early after my interrogation which was not much. I bid my goodbyes and shook hands with everyone. That was emotional. Haha! I heard the rest of us continued on till 10pm. You guys tak makan dinner ke?

Cheers to T1! I hope we can all meet together again sometime in the future. Perhaps another futsal game? Haha! You know, I still don’t know which side won. Mr. Munin’s team or Loong’s? Anyway, yesterday’s game will always be memorable for me. All the best to you guys and God bless ya!

Photos will be posted soon, if I can get them.

Hey all!

2008-12-01T10:51:00.000+08:00

I must be one of the last humans on earth to start a blog. Haha even my younger brother has a blog before me. Well I must say that I actually wanted to start blogging sometime last year, but then I never brought myself to doing it. I was kind of concern and am still concern that I may post something that I may later regret. It's like a knife. It can be used for good or bad. But people still use knives anyway, because they assist a lot in our task even though it can also be used to kill someone. So, the point is I'm delving into blogging knowing that I may post something silly but I'm looking more at the bright side. =)

Maybe you're wondering what 'jetaweti' means. Sounds Indon right? The answer is far from it. In case you weren't bright enough or simply just don't know, 'jetaweti' stands for the first 2 alphabets of my name. Go figure out, haha. It wouldn't take rocket science to figure this out.

Anyway, here's to my first post of hopefully many more posts to come!

YYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMM SSEEEEEEEEEENNGGG!