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Attended the annual WOMAD (which stands for World of Music, Arts & Dance, in case you have been living in a black hole) at Fort Canning Green last evening and was amazed at the performance level. For a mere $25, I watched acts that were world class, so much more fascinating than if I paid $50++ for a high brow affair at the Esplanade.
The atmosphere was different from any performance that i have ever attended. Perhaps as it was an outdoor event, with squishy wet grass and stars beaming down at us, the mood was electrifying. People were open and raccuous. We shouted, screamed, lounged on our wet picnic mats and looked up at the stars, rushed from set to set and ate chips as crunchingly loud as we wanted to. We stood up and jived. We stepped on bags and slippers as we try to find the purrrrfect spot to settle down. The toilet queue was long and unbearable. We (okiez, I) debated if I should get a beer cos it was a Heineken.
Some of the acts are those that would have been totally out of place at the so-called people's arts centre the Twin Durians. The Cat Empire is one such example. Loud, energetic and irreverent, they would have been so out of place at the Esplanade. But under the WOMAD setting, their music was perfect. It was almost like a rock concert.
Another wonderful act is the Afrocelts. It's amazing to hear how music from such different cultures and continents can blend together. Offhand, I recall an Irish fiddler, and Irish pipes, an Indian Sikh on percussion, a Kenyan on vocals and percussion and an English flutist. Check out my link to stream their music, as I am doing now. By the time the Afrocelts came onto the stage and exploded into their music, the crowd was on its feet and dancing to the rhythm.
Of course, as it was an outdoor Arts event, a large percentage of the audience members were Caucasians. And as with any place where there are many Caucasians, you see a number of token SPGs who were scantily dressed and not exactly there for the music. But oh well, their loss. I had everything to gain.
It's so tiring when you are trying to work so hard and people don't understand/appreciate.
Am trying to put together a proper system of PR for Chorale but I meet with so many blocks. First, there will always be people who do not like extra work and then there will be people who miss deadlines and give me the things I need late.
I do not like to keep telling them to "Give it to me!!" so often. i am also tired and have my own life to live. I don't have to do this. Hope that they can understand that this is not fun for me either but it's for the good of Chorale.
Then there are the others outside of the committee who do not appreciate our effort. Helloooooo. Why don't they try chasing after journalists who ignore your email? Or face the disappointment that we feel (or at least, I feel) when reporters deem our event not newsworthy enough to even put a small column for us?
Sometimes, I think that the problem with me is that I care too much.
It's been almost a week since Chorale's last concert, In Song 2003 and my feelings are a mixture of relief and sadness.
I don't know why but the exuberance of singing and performing was just not there on August 22. It was our first performance at the Esplanade and I should have been excited and nervous. But I was neither.
Perhaps it's because of all the publicity work that I had been doing for the months leading up to the event. It really is a disappointment when we do so much work and yet do not receive enough recognition. Journalists don't reply to our email, do not return our calls, go MIA and refuse to even acknowledge receipt of their complimentary tickets. How can the local arts scene grow when we do not even get enough support from the local media? When foreign performers come to town, there's so much publicity dedicated to them. But when local acts try to get a piece of that pie, they are shunned and kicked out of the door. I'm pretty much sickened by this, having done it for the past three years and seeing no improvements. But at least I know that now, I am doing something to make PR a system at Chorale, right from keeping media archives to putting together a database of journalists.
So now that the big night is over, I heave a sigh of relief that it went smoothly enough. The lack of practices really irked me. The feeling of un-preparedness annoyed me. The worry of not getting enough publicity and audience plagued me. In short, I was not really that happy.
And a tinge of sadness......because someone is leaving. Someone who's dear to me, who's been at every practice since the day I joined. Chorale is different without him, at least to me.
Today is the day Mars is closest to Earth. During orbit, Mars is usually about 100+ million miles away from Earth but today, the distance is reduced to just 30+ million miles. Being an astronomy fan, this is one event I cannot miss.
The sky has always been fascinating to me. I loved looking up at the sky and seeing countless stars sparkling down at me. It makes you feel so small. I loved seeing them twinkle, it's almost as if they are sharing secrets with me, their "eyes" shining with mirth. I loved seeing the contrast between the dark blanket of the sky and the silvery glint of millions of stars.
I remember how, as a kid, we used to try to spot Mars. Someone older would tell me that the faint red glow near the dark moon is Mars.
Well, tonight I will know. Or perhaps, just perhaps, the red light in the night sky is really Flint's fire while he waits for Tasslehoff. ;)
**PS This was actually written last nite before I went for my Mars expedition, using my Clie. Ahh the marvels of technology. I'm so going to be late for work. Lang li ge lang ....
Juz came back from viewing Mars at Telok Blangah Hill.
Was expecting a fiery red planet but well, all I got was a slightly yellowish star. But it did burn bright in the night sky though. Perhaps a telescope would have given me a better view.
I so love to see sparkling stars in the darkened skies. Have always been fascinated by stars since I was a child. But more of that later, when my Clie (which has now been relegated to Clearance status in the States) can sync with my iMac properly. Palm Desktop's conduit seems to be locked and I need to restart the Mac and sync again.
Right now am too tired to do anything but crawl to bed.
Good night, world. =)
Hip hip hooray!
Hee.....I am just so happy that I am nearing the half way mark of my internship.
Not that I dislike my company, but it's just so much more fun to be back at school, lazing around, slacking and skipping classes to throng the eagerly anticipated Mango sale.
Alright, I am definitely not your normal kiasu Singaporean who wishes to get First Class honours and top the class. I just want to graduate with my degree and see if I can make my mark somewhere. It could be in PR, it might not be. Who knows? The future is scary but it is extremely exciting too. There are just so many things that I could do, but then again, there are just as many things blocking my way. Be off, negative thoughts!
Am listening to several good songs by the talented young female artistes of today. Nope, not Britney Spears (yeeeks) but Avril Lavigne, Norah Jones, Michelle Branch and our own Corrinne May! Some songs make me wanna cry (especially Corrinne May's) and some songs just make me wanna rrrrrock! Hurrah for the female species! Hurrah for Singletons!
Remember when a friend told me recently that people don't really like being around individuals who are always unhappy or depressed.
That really woke me up for I have been making myself feel miserable for the past few weeks. I never really thought about how that would affect the people around me, especially those who love me and care for me. In my state of unhappiness, I only thought about how I was unhappy, how I was so miserable. I never realised that people who loved me were rendered unhappy by the sight of a visibly depressed me.
Now I know that being an unhappy person is actually one of the most selfish acts one can inflict on his/her loved ones. And I learnt it the hard way. In a bizarre way, the more unhappy I was, the more I wanted to be unhappy. Makes sense? It doesn't.
I have to make sure I remember this lesson. And if you are the one who happened to have told me this illuminating fact, please always remind me of it if I should ever wallow in my well of self-pity.
And my dear Claydoll, may you always be happy. =)
*yawn*
finally managed to change the appearance of my blog. thankfully, i have some knowledge of HTML.
Caught two movies yesterday - Down With Love and LXG . Both were good movies in their own right but were not entirely that great.
Down with Love had such beautiful sets. The producers had somehow managed to reproduce the ditzy golden age of the 1960s and all the props were fantastic. Loved the outfits that Renee Zellweger wore and the moves she made. Hilarious. Sadly, the movie's direction was a little crappy. The so-called "twist" wasn't well-executed and didn't leave me with a "WOW!" feeling.
LXG was another visual stunner. The graphics were exhilarating and the actors were well-cast. Sean Connery is still so charismatic despite his advanced age!! But the pace of the story did leave me going "huh?" at certain parts of the show.
And so ends another weekend.
It's going to be another 5 day wait for the next one.
Well, mebbe not. I guess with bloggers' first posting, they are supposed to tell whoever is reading the reasons why they have decided to go public. No, not that gahmen campaign that tells people to take public transport whenever they drink.
Truth is, I have always wanted to do a blog but I am just too lazy to start anything. Besides, I am not really that kind of person to follow on something regularly and faithfully so there was a high probability that this thing will go out of my mind after a while.
But then, I started working (I'd like to think of it as free labour) and I suddenly found myself with lots of time on my hands. Now, if I were at home, I could always take out my diary and scribble in it or surf the ever tempting Victoria's Secret site. But at work, I had to pretend to be busy and shopping online is not exactly very inconspicuous. If I did nothing, my mind would start to wonder and I would start thinking about things and that, I promise you, was not good.
So here I am, trying out something new and hoping that this would last. And anyway, I was inspired by my dear friend, Ame no Tenshi so here's to you girl! =)