Sunday, November 26, 2006
hi its me again!hv been slpin lyk pig ever since we gt back frm aust..
d trip was REALLY REALLY REALLY fun.4 those who didnt go, u guys really missed out on aloooot. think all those tt went enjoyed themself tremenduosly.
Day 1:d entertainment on plane was so interesting..there was a screen infrt of every seat n we could watch movies and play games.as result think no one slpt muc..we reached aust n went 4 lunch n had city tour.after tt we had our 1st performance..played lyk shit..didnt even sound lyk funeral band..sounded lyk smth worst.mayb cause every1 was tired?anyway we went 2 watch d brisbane brass band rehearsal..they were so freakin pro..trumpet player pitch high notes lyk no1s buis..d brass players went 2 play wif them and d rest of d band watch..well sorta watch..every1 was really slpy n trying really hard 2 keep awake..they were gd but we were really tired :) tried waking those slping up cuz mr tan looked angry but halfway i oso gt prob staying awake hehe
Day 2: here's d big joke..purpose of trip was to go for xchange wif QYO but sm1 frm their band pass away n there was no xchange..laugh? we went to iona college n performed 4 their students(all boys but no shuai ones) we did beta than d previous perfomance but wasnt anyth fantastic.after tt we toured d sch.they r so so rich.their performing hall was so nice..after tt we had a 1hr workshop wif mr peter francis..he changed our band sound in no tym..but if we want 2 keep d sound we will hv 2 practise. he was quite inspiring n we learnt alot. guess we learnt d most on d trip frm him.christine n sherilyn were great..the both of them supported d whole band..can really see d effort tt they put in..mr francis said tt we hv 2 enjoy d music n nt jz read off d score(sounds familiar?) he also said tt our brasses should play louder(mayb cuz we had few brass players) although it was oni 1 hr long, we gained alot.had lunch by d park n beach.tt was so cool.d wind was wonderful n d scenery was breathtaking(especially sm1's briefs).at night a large grp of us gathered at swimming pool n mr foo n huang lao shi told ghost stories n jokes.d jokes were so cold..didnt noe we had such lame n fun n caring teachers in band..WE LOVE U!!!oh n sm cuckoos went swimming n gt caught(guess who?ask yy mayb he noes haha)
woah long post le.continue sm other tym?d trip was amazing n alot of d fun we had cannot b told in words.it has also improved both horizontal n vertical relationships.i noe i m repeatin myself but hey its really fun :)
update u more real soon,
ger
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
The bls just wanna say
" WE
LOVE THE BAND A WHOLE LOT!"
germaine just wanna add ,
" PLEASE
PRACTICE MORE!"
yiang shan just wanna say,
" OOOO look at this pink bubble, Yum yum yum!"
shit ling just wanna say,
" FOCUS ON SYF PLEASE!"
terence just wanna say ,
" WOOF!"
Mr Foo just wanna say,
oh no? hes not gonna say anything. hes
happy just to be there with us.:)
Huang Lao shi just wanna say,
" GONG GONG GONG! gong Gong gong gong gong gong gon...."
Peggy just wanna say,
" ehhhh.. oink oink?"
and YY just wanna add,
" we live each day happily, and we dont care how many times we'd fallen, because the smiles on our faces will forever be at our command. So pick ourselves up right now if we'd fallen, and work towards that shimmering Gold with Honours. Its reachable, i believe, and so do the other bls;
its your turn to believe now. Work hard, live hard, play hard, blow hard ,lol, musically."
lotsa of smiles.
YY.
* all conversations are made up but are meant to encourage readers to work harder and strive for the very best.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
We're back! Haha back on the small island, back home in Singapore! Anyway Australia is quite cool. This trip really bonded lots of the members and hopefully, made them more passionate towards music. Note: For those who went for the trip, please do a evaluation of what you have learnt and what you benefitted from this enriching experience in as much details as possible. Kindly hand in this evaluation the next band practice. (No slipshot work allowed)Important! Mr Tan said we might be doing a presentation of what we learnt from this overseas music exchange. Therefore, there will be a committee gathering tomorrow, 20 November at 1 pm. Please put all the photos you took during the trip in a thumbdrive to be handed in tomorrow. Thank you.For all brass members, take note that there is brass tutorial this coming wednesday, 22 November at 9 am. Please be punctual and for those who want to return your instruments in the bandroom, you can do so on that day as well. As for those taking taxis to school with big instruments, please remember to take receipts so as to claim money from the school. Ok I shall stop here. See you soon around.dearest BL, nsl
Thursday, November 09, 2006
HALLO!!
Guess who’s blogging ? of cuz it has 2 b me!!ur hardworkin bl germaine
Ok d Australia band has been rather bz lately so here;’s wad happen recently..
We had many much needed last min pracs and I noe it interfere wif lots of chalets and stuff… so thkz to the 208 ppl n zhirong n 2 any1 else for comin back even though u guys had smth on *huggies* :) for those who didn’t cum mayb u guys shud reflect a little..
Jr band attendance sucked big time today..so many missing ppl(moz of them r sec1s) u huys beta hv a gd explanation to y u didn’t turn up..they played right here waiting n sm other pieces..for those who hv been cuming regularly.. JIAYOU!
Today’s prac was quite a disappointment..we started of quite well and mr tan even praised us infrt of mrs song..BUT things changed when we played ivan hoe.. a lot of us didn’t even noe our notes..hey d trip is only 3 days away..can we plz stop this bad habit of slacking..its now 2 late 2 work anymore b4 d trip..yes, we can improve d situation a little but we noe tt it is impossible to get all d notes right in jz tmr’s prac..if we continue wif this attitude we can say BYE 2 d gold nxt year.
I noe many of u hv voiced ur dislike of mr tan’s sarcasm..i dun like it either.but mr tan is changing for us..its also tym for us 2 change our attitude towards band n start going back for regular n serious self prac..if mr tan can change for us, why cant we change? Self practicing will only bring our band 2 greater heights..i dunno bout u guys but any idea how paiseh I felt when we played nonsense infrt of AMKSS bls today?
Of cuz every1 noes tiz formulae :X=Q
But guess wad? I hv another formulae : xmsb = P
Guess wad ‘p’ stands for? PRACTISE!!! Wif tiz formulae we can b d best band..PLZ PLZ practise k..remember..as long as 1 player in d section is playing rubbish, its as gd as d whole section playin rubbish which is as gd as d band playin rubbish..dun b d 1 tt causes d band 2 fall..
I luv IVAN-hoe :)
ger
Sunday, November 05, 2006
yes i admit im addicted to blogging..so?big deal..
yiyong's post is all crap lor he jz repeatin d same thing again n again..i still d best haha
i DON'T agree(as usual) wif yiyong's previous post..True, we can only excel as a band if we r united but i dun agree tt it was wrong for mr tan 2 praise individuals..tiz ppl r d ones who realy practised really hard n they DO deserve d praise..if u really want ur section 2 do well, u would nt b jealous or hate ur sectionmate jz cuz sm1 praises his or her playing..its true tt playing is nt jz solo work but team work so tts y we want u guys 2 practise hard
quite alot of things r coming up..those ppl going 4 d trip will be leavin on d 12th (sun).we will b gatheing at changi airport at 9.15pm..those ppl nt goin cum send us off k :)
tiz fri,10th the annual nco pop(passing out parade)will take place..6.30 at ccab plz go suport felicia n shi hui..if u nid directions lt d bls noe
for d sec4s, ACJC band invites u guys to go make music at thier school at 25th Nov 9.30am..plz bring ur own instruments if u r going..plz lt d bls noe if u r going
germaine
Friday, November 03, 2006
your dearest bl Yiyong is here to rock down the lively blog!
well when i checked the blog yesterday, I was really shocked to see so many new posts since my previous post!
Obviously germaine and shitling , since they are newcomers to the blogging world, must had find it super addictive to blog.
Im really glad that the blog is super active now, with germaine's pure boring ramblings about how her life had intertwined with the band world, and NSL's plain dead announcements with the absence of anything that can send the reader into hyper mode.
So your very well bl here has decided to show them what a true crapper can do to an alive but boring blog.
Well you see an alive but boring blog resembles a human vegetable,
although alive, this human vegeatable is nothing more that consuming but not producing humour at all.
So you see we need posts that entranced the reader and make him/her laugh.
Okay la,
the posts aint that bad.
I strongly encourage the rest of bls to update frequently still.
I know many of you want to blog too,
but we cannot afford to give you guys the passwords as after the case whereby someone abused our noticeboard ( by pasting a false notice),
we really had to take measures.
And the saddening thing is,
the trust we have on the band was defintely bruised.
Okay so you know, whenever mr ass ( i jsut found out i have a new nickname! but please dont use it on me on real life!) comes online to blog, his post will always be super uuper long.
Well this time, i wont dissapoint you guys at all.
Yesterday, we had band practice.
It was tiring as usual,
and we went through
Ivanhoe, Burst of Brass and
JoyOf course we didnt do well again but thats seriously not the point.
I know most of the band practices were always depressing for many band mates.
And i personally find yesterday was tough.
Of course , i have to admit i was really mad when mr tan praised terence in front of the whole band .
I was mad because
1. i couldnt believe that he was embarassing the saxy seniors in front of everyone.
2. it just makes the atmosphere in the band even more tense.
Point one is just a humane reaction, and point 2 is the one that everyone should take note.
Sidetrack from this , All those who know terence should know that he easily gets proud of himself,
and mr tan doing so,
just makes things even worse.
I mean if mr tan embarasses your seniors in front of your face, and you as the junior, would you still want to listen to them?
Yes and maybe no.
Of course, i was also happy for terence for being praised,
but i believe that its never about the indivual in a particular section,
but the section itself.
I have to pin point this,
as i dont want any ego freaks to think that they can walk alone in the band society.
Mr Tan was very wrong to praise only an indivual,
because as a section,
this can bring lots of hatred amongst each other,
and the aftereffects are really hard to tide over.
In a band,
all of you must understand,
its never about the me but its about the
us .
Its a very stupid thing for a conductor to praise only one person in the section.
Yes i may agree to the point that if the person deserve praising for his excellent performance, he should be praise.
But in a place called band,
unity is the key to sucess.
And by praising an indivual,
Mr tan is poking a hole in a big boat.
Lets imagine this now,
IF our band was to be a big wooden ship floating in the middle of some ocean.
And mr tan was to poke only one hole in this ship,
will the ship sink?
OF COURSE THE SHIP WILL SINK!
Thats why,
its never advisable for any section leaders nor bls nor band teachers nor even the conductor,
to praise one indivual in a cohort of so many bandmates.
I enforce, i strongly enforce,
that the band should remain as one and always as one.
THERES NEVER ANY MOMENT THAT A CERTAIN PERSON SHOULD HAVE A LARGER LIMELIGHT IN A PLACE WHERE WE ARE SUPPOSE TO BE ONE BIG FAMILY.
Im sorry to break the bubbles of people who think that shining brighter than the rest in the xinmin band is a fact to be uphold - because its not.
No matter what the hell - a soloist or a 1st instrumental player,
everyone
has equal limelight,
and everyone should contribute as they should contribute.
In a section, a bond must exist.
In a band, a family must exist .
The similar thing happened to the trombones, whereby Sherilyn was given more limelight than the rest of the trombones.
Yes, sherilyn played very well, she'd improve tremendously,
but are we building a band,
or a soloist?
Of course, im not pulling sherilyn out to blame her for her good performance,
but instead im showing you guys what happened wrongly.
i know its quite puzzling to understand because a person who had put extra effort should be more commendable than the rest.
But again i draw up the main point of my message :
We are building a band.
If we are going to get gold next year, its not only about one marvellous player, but its about every band mate in the band.
Everyone in the band matters,
and its dampening when your own conductor prefers to praise individuals.
You can continue to work hard on your own ( if you are doing it )
but let me warn you,
you are just gonna destroy your entire section,
and destroy moments where you feel united as one family with the rest of the band.
A band can grow an inch if there is an outstanding player,but a band can take leaps if there is an entire cohort of outstanding and confident players.And i strongly enfore the word confidence too.
Please dont let your confidence hit rock bottom because of anyone else's harsh comments towards your playing.
My band members,
always have your head high up,
and always believe in yourself,
our band motto is not for nothing ,you know.
Believe in yourself and believe in others.
If mr tan says your section or you are not good,
think first whether did you put in an effort to prove yourself worthy,
if you did, than mr tan is wrong to say that your section sounds rotten.
IF you didnt, you are just forcing your entire section down the pit bottom of Mr Tan's list.
What i want to infuse into all of your minds is that indivuals arent relevant at all to the word "
unity"
Family, friends, mates and a
happy united band,
all comes under one roof,
and that roof will resemble heaven's richest clouds,
and will help all of us tide over our worst troubles.
What makes us who we are today , are not naturally because of our own decisions,
but its affected mainly because of other people's decisions.
Since we are so reliant upon other people's perspectives ,
can we try to be reliant on each other during band practices and performance,
and listen to each other,
and try to build
harmony?
I know we can do it.
We believed already,
dont we?
your dearest bl,
yiyong.
P.S : As the syf is drawing nearer, i think i will decrease the amount of crap in my future posts.
I hope we will be a happy band after the syf.
After reading germaine's Wednesday, October 18, 2006 post,
im deeply dishearten that we may have a dejavu if we continue to go on like this.
I strongly advise everyone to take on the reins now,
and start to GID DY UP!
i believe in the band.
and so do the rest of the bls.
Please dont dissapoint us.
remember,
have faith,
trust each other,
harmony,
unity,
and naturally everything will come into place.
And of course the rythmns as well.
Hello! Like what germaine has said, we really apologise for not being able to open the bandroom for the past few days due to o levels papers and practical exams. Well, but we can tell you all are quite eager to practise (which is something good of course).
In any case, there might be a slight change in the pieces we are going to play. We may not be able to play the
Pirates of Caribbean since most sec 2s have not seen the piece yet and we fear there is not much time. Also, we may want to try
Howl's Moving Castle in replacement of pirates. Thus, SLs please dig out your Howl's Moving Castle scores. Checkthat your members still have a copy each.
Some other pieces added in are
High Plains Overture and
Under the Flag of Glory. Also, we may be playing some ensemble pieces but it is still not confirmed yet. Meanwhile, members please note that time is running out and we need to put full focus on our pieces especially Ivanhoe. If we don't, then when the set piece arrives on 27 Nov, everyone will panick and it will be double work for us. Please feel the urgency to practise and make both sectionals and practice productive. Thanks.
pure idiot
" WE LOVE THE BAND A WHOLE LOT!"