Well, our company's annual dinner was a blast. And our performance was a hit! =D It was the favourite of the night.

I'm not sure when the video will be out yet (they hired professionals to film it), but when it's ready, I'll post it up. For now, you'll just have to be content with a written description of the performance.

So anyway, my brother was the one who came up with the brilliant idea for our performance. We'd have a Walton Idol auditions, like all the American Idol ones, and end with one of the 'auditioners' starting the original song which Lone and I wrote, and everyone else will join in from the first chorus.

Altogether we had nine 'auditioners', the last one being Lone, who would start the song, coz he's playing the guitar. So anyway, we replicated almost everything, our host, Jin, was given the alias, Ryan Jin-crest. Our judges, Remus Chong, Tatiana Solibun, and Joel See, were given the alias, Randy Chong, Paula Solibun, and Simon See-well, respectively. *wink*

Our first contestant called herself Chinny Chin, she came all the way from China and sang a Chinese opera song for her audition, when the judges asked her to sing an English number, she sang the same exact song, translated into English. LOL! Unfortunately, she didn't make it to Hollywood.

Our second contestant was Sister Connie, a singing nun who came from the abbey and was in search of a man to love. She sang 'I Will Follow Him' and followed our host, Ryan Jin-crest, around the whole stage, hoping that he may be the one for her. She too, didn't make the cut.

Our third contestant, Spice Boy was the most energetic and flamboyant contestant, he was a huge fan of the Spice Girls; he looked like Scary Spice, admired Posh Spice and sang like... um.... Tone-deaf Spice. He sang 'Wannabe', dancing around the VIP tables and asking them all if they wanted to be his lover. He also showed us some really interesting moves, his interpretation of how Posh Spice danced... you'd have to see this, words cannot describe it.

Our fourth contestant was Paulina, who was a huge fan of Paula Solibun's, she sang The Archie's 'Sugar Sugar' substituting the 'sugar' for Paula. Being such a fan, she generously decided to share the lollipop she was licking with Paula, who declined quite violently, I must say. Paula's violent reaction unfortunately hurt Paulina's feelings, and she burst out crying. Randy Chong got up to console her, thinking to cop a feel at the same time. Paulina wasn't falling for it though, and she gave Randy a good kick in the balls. Randy doubled over, groaning about 'his precious'.

Our fifth contestant, Betty Clarkson(me!), was a professional singer, and after no luck with any of the previous contestants, the judges' hopes were raised. She sang 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow', knowing that it was Simon See-well's favourite song. She sang beautifully, but suddenly missed all the notes after the first two lines. The judges were shocked, what happened? Betty Clarkson answered that she had had a rough two weeks, she'd been down with the flu, a sore throat, cough, and fever. Her dog died, her mother ran away with another woman, and her father got pregnant. Paula must have sympathized with her, because she argued with Simon that Betty should get another chance. While they were arguing, Betty sang another one of Simon's favourite songs, 'Unchained Melody'. All the notes were off, and she wouldn't stop although they told her many times too. She ended up being escorted out by security, still singing off-key all the way out.

Our sixth contestant was lizard-phobic Yong Yong Zak, from Japan, he sang a song entitled, 'Feelings' which started off well, but ended with him pulling out his samurai sword and singing, 'Cicak(lizard) on the ceiling.' Too bad he was kick out for posession of a dangerous weapon because of his phobia.

Our seventh contestant was the only one who made it through to Hollywood. Pussy Doll, which according to her, was actually spelled, P-O-O-S-E-E, she performed a very tentilating dance while singing the Pussycat Doll's hit song, 'Doncha'. Randy Chong and Simon See-well were very suitably impressed, though Paula Solibun seemed unmoved. Paula brought up the fact that Poosee had just turned 40 the week before -although with the help of Botox, implants, and her plastic surgeon, she didn't look a day over 25- and so should be disqualified from the competition. Randy and Simon thought Poosee would be a great candidate for the Walton Idol title though, so they both voted her in.

Our eighth contestant was none other than the notorious Dallas Hung(my brother)! He skipped school to sing for Walton Idol, which his parents would not be happy to know, but showed his dedication to music. He sang Ricky Martin's 'She Bangs' complete with really awkward but cute moves. Unfortunately, Simon See-well thought that he couldn't sing, he couldn't dance, so what did he want Simon to say? Our admirable Dallas Hung replied that he did his best, and he had no regrets at all, and also that he had no professional training at all. Simon said that must be the surprise of the century.

Our final contestant, A-Lone, got his turn at last, he was so eager to sing and kept saying that over and over. The judges asked why did he think he could be the next Walton Idol, and he replied that he could sing all the high notes, and also the low notes. They laughed, and asked him what about the middle notes. So he fixed up his guitar, and proceeded to show them.

Here's where our *original* song started! Lone played the intro and sang the first verse, while the rest of us, hiding behind the curtains, waited for the chorus. When he hit the chorus, Willie came in with the drums, Melanie with keyboards, and the rest of us sang. This is one performance I can't describe either, and you'd have to see it for yourself. I'll post up the video soon, I promise! As soon as I get it from the powers that be. =D It's really great, and it was the talk of the whole company(so I was told...=D). In fact, I even got an offer from the sound guy to intro me to someone he knew who was in the music business, and who might be interested to listen to the song and maybe making a recording of it. Whoa!! *proud* =D

Ok, it's unfair of me to tease you guys so, isn't it. You'll really have to watch the video. I promise I'll post it up soon!!

Life is like a roller coaster...

Sometimes you're up, sometimes you're down, sometimes you plummet so fast and so hard that you can't catch your breath and you feel like you're dying.

Right now I'm down. For the last few months I haven't actually been up at all... I've just been hovering on the 'ok' line, and most of the time I've been on the 'not ok' line. And this fact itself brings me down.

I had a great life. And in one irreversible moment, all that changed. Now I'm stuck in this unhappy situation... It's not a *very* bad situation or anything, it's not like I'm being physically, emotionally, or whatever-abused or something. But it's not a happy situation.

I try to find happiness in other parts of my life... but there's not much left for me. Too much of my life have been touched by these elements. I feel too old to be going through this sort of shit. I just want a happy, simple, uneventful life... I'm not into drama anymore. Can't we all just get along?

I don't show it to anyone...but everyday this situation continues, I die a little more inside. I try to pretend that I don't care, that it doesn't affect me...but it does...and I care more than anything. Yet no one else cares. Although I tell them how I feel...I try to change things...but nothing changes. And I'm just asking myself...what am I still doing here?

Sometimes I feel like running away, I don't want to face this everyday... And sometimes I wonder what running away will solve. Where can I go anyway?

I know I'm not alone... But sometimes it really feels like I am.

Something's got to give...

Well, kind of... =)

A couple of weeks ago, my division asked me to write a song for them, just for our D&D night performance.

It's not anything big, each division had to perform something. Last year, we got together on the day of the event itself and put something together spontaneously. This year, our division manager was smart. She knew we had musically-inclined individuals in the division: Willie, Lone, and I were all band-mates, and 'division-mates' as well. Willie was known for his performance in the highly acclaimed Christian musical, Drunk Before Dawn, and he was also a very good musician. Lone was known for his exceptional guitar skills, and his talent in writing music. I was known as the previous Walton Idol, and for writing songs too.

So...Our manager got Willie to be in charge of our division performance, with the idea that we write our own original song for the performance. And while the whole performance consists of other acts, not just the song, Lone and I were put in charge of writing the song itself...(like, obviously you knew that was where I was going, right?)

Anyway, the conception of the song started with me first. I had to write the lyrics, and then Lone would do the music, then we would do the arrangement together.

I wrote the lyrics, without a melody, which is actually the first time I'm doing it this way. Normally, I'd write the lyrics and melody together, but Lone was a whole lot better with melodies, so I decided to let him do the melody with the music. Trust me, I've heard his melodies, and I've heard mine, and I like his better. LOL!

So I wrote the lyrics knowing that I might have to change some minor words here and there later, to fit into Lone's melody better, and of course, with that idea in mind, I just wrote some really simple lyrics that fit into our purpose and meaning. And also at the time, I just thought, hey, just write it and get that part over with, coz it's no big deal anyway, and I won't have to keep thinking about getting it done later.

I wrote it in less than an hour (just the lyrics, mind you, which is really easy), and in a state of indifference, gave it to Lone to put the melody in. I was pretty much ambivalent about my lyrics, it wasn't stuff which made prize-winning poems or whatever. It was as literal as they come. Even now, I still don't think it's any good for anything other than as our division song. But as our division song, I think it's pretty good. *ahem* =P

Then it was Lone's turn to work on the song, putting the melody and music in. Well, I don't know much about his process, except that he let it stew for a long time before he actually got down to work on it. He finally set aside one night, and came up with really good music and melody. =D

And then he showed it to me, and then we got to work fixing it up. We changed some parts of the melody, I changed a little bit of the lyrics to make it fit, he worked on the guitar sounds and technique, we added the harmonizing sounds and effects, I added another part to add depth to the song, and viola! We have a hit song! =D

Ok, we don't actually have a hit song, but it could be one! =P It's a great song, it's a fun song, with a catchy tune and inspiring lyrics (for our divison! =P), and I ended up being really proud of my contribution to it!

Well, of course I know Lone has a part in it, etc. But my point of this whole post is that I'm proud of my own contribution to it, and I'm really satisfied and happy with what Lone and I have accomplished with this song. I've never truly written a *finished* song before, because I didn't have the musical knowledge that Lone does, all I could do is write the lyrics and melody, and imagine how it would sound in my head, but never manifest it with music. This is the first time I finished a song, with Lone's part in it being very important of course! =)

I'm proud of the song, I'm proud of our work, and I'm proud of Lone's and my ability to work together to produce something that's so good. I'm bias, of course. =P But it's really good!! I'm not just saying that! =D But then again, my judgement of it is probably skewed towards the more favorable side. And then again, I'm usually my own worst critic too!

Well, the only way for anyone else to judge is to hear it for themselves. Which our whole company is going to do this coming Wednesday night. Part of the wonderment of the song is having many voices singing it together, with lots of different parts for backup, harmonizing, different texture of voice, tone, etc. It definitely won't be the same if only one person sings it, it'd be a whole different arrangement of the song entirely. Which brings me back to, I'm so proud of our arrangement! =D

I'm feeling pretty smug and self-satisfied right now. So yeah, maybe I'm boasting, but I'm entitled to! =D

I'm back!! I'm back!! My internet is back! Yayyyyy!!!

*jumps around* Wooohoooo!!

Hahaahhahah!

I've said it already, many times, but isn't it amazing how dependant we've become on the internet? =P

Well, anyway, this is just a short post to let everyone know I'm back! And I'll be doing a lot of updating, little by little over the next few days, of course.

It's kinda late now, so I don't want to start doing everything now...but soon! =)

See you soon!

I.Can't.Take.It.Anymore.

I want my internet back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've tolerated this for a month now, and in this month, have only come online to check some mail and blog occasionally.

I feel very very unproductive because:

1. I haven't been able to upload or post any pictures up.
2. I can't update my bookblog, or change the layout, which really needs to be changed.
3. I can't download anything, because I'm using my dad's computer.
4. I can't use Windows Messenger, and I feel so out of touch with all my friends already.
5. I can't even bookmark sites because this is my dad's computer.
6. I can't keep up with my mailing lists, I haven't read them in weeks, because I can't spend too much time on the computer since my father and brother wants to use the computer too.

And the longer I hold off doing all these things, the more things I'll actually have to do to keep up, and in the end I might not do any of it!

I need my internet back!! I feel so seriously handicapped without it. =(

Seriously, I can go a few weeks without it, and I *do* have a life without it, seeing that I have managed quite well for the past month. *ahem* But for a prolonged period it is really hampering my productivity. I can't research articles or sites for work, nor can I surf for fun, and I can't even blog as much as I want, for stress-relief. =P

Well, obviously I know that I can always go to a cyber-cafe or whatever if I urgently need to get whatever things done. But that's the thing, I don't *urgently* need all these things, so I put them off until I can do them conveniently, but I want to get them done, because I feel so... Arrgghhhh!!!!

I.Want.My.Internet.Back.

*snarls*

Anyway, I know I haven't blogged much while most people are already getting back on the internet with no problems. But *sigh*... let's see...

First, my modem had problems, so I couldn't go online.

Then, my modem got fixed, but the internet lines were down coz of the earthquake in Taiwan, so I couldn't go online.

Then, the lines are getting fixed slowly, and everyone got back online, but my modem went down again, so I couldn't go online.

Then, my brother did something to the modem(whatever, I'm technology illiterate) and now only my dad's computer is connected to the net, and there's not even a tiny little bit of connection to my computer, so I can't go online unless I use my dad's comp, which means I have to squeeze in the times when dad and bro isn't around, coz they get first dibs.

*Sigggghhhhh.......*

There's been so many things I wanted to blog about!!!!!

Like how I got drunk on New Year's and kissed a dozen or so guys and another half dozen girls and groped at all of them, esp. the girls, and got slapped a couple of times by the not so sporting girls, the guys kinda liked it, so... !!

Ok, I'm joking, obviously. LOL! But it could've been true, and no one would've known. Because I couldn't blog about it!!

Hmmpphh!!

How did we ever survive without the net a decade ago?

Well, I will try to hang in there while waiting for someone to do something about the connection, so hang in there with me too, dear readers. In the meantime, I'll try to squeeze in a little post whenever I do get to go online.

There's still hope! =)

I've been tagged by Denise! Fun! (In other words, me = no life...)

It goes like this, if my life was a movie, this would be the soundtrack.
So, here's how it works:

1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle.
3. Press play.
4. For every question, type the song that's playing.
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button.
6. Don't lie

Opening Credits: Sass Jordan - Goin' Back Again (Sounds good actually...)

Waking Up: Chantal Krevezuik - Leaving On a Jet Plane (Hahaha, fits the opening credits, I'm going back somewhere and leaving on a jet plane...)

First Day At School: Bon Jovi - It's My Life (I'm really starting to like my soundtrack. *grin*)

Falling In Love: Lene Nystrom - Pretty Young Thing (I swear I'm not cheating! Everything's really good so far!)

Fight song: The Veronicas - Heavily Broken (Damn...this is freaky)

Breaking Up: Saving Jane - Girl Next Door (This works too, I guess. LOL! So he's breaking up with me for the girl next door?)

Prom: Bad Company - Shooting Star (Wow...Prom Queen? LOL!)

Life's OK: Shakira - Hips Don't Lie (LOL! What do I say to this?)

Mental breakdown: Coco Lee & Julio Iglesias - When You Tell Me That You Love Me (Your love drives me crazy? Hahahh!)

Driving: Liz Phair - Blowjob Queen (Um... ahahhaha!!! Will probably get into an accident!)

Flashback: Snow Patrol - How To Be Dead (Hmm....well, title aside, the song sounds nice for a flashback *shrugs*)

Getting Back Together: Jaclyn Victor - Gemilang (Aww....)

Wedding: Liz Phair - Extraordinary (Great! I'd like my wedding to be extraordinary!)

Birth of Child: Aqua - Be A Man (Yup, I want my child to grow up to be a man. Unless she's a girl...)

Final Battle: Corrine Bailey Rae - Enchantment (Well...)

Death Scene: Fort Minor - Be Somebody (I would hope I've become somebody before I die...:P)

Funeral Song: Goo Goo Dolls - Broadway (Broadway is dark tonight coz they lost such a talent like me? LOL!)

End Credits: Alisha's Attic - Indestructible (Ooohhhh....I really like this song for my end credits.)

Well, most of them are really appropriate, some work if you stretch your imagination a little. LOL! But mostly, I really like my soundtrack! Who wanna watch my movie? =)

I'm tagging whoever wants to play, so have fun, guys!

Yes!! I know I haven't blogged in like almost 3 weeks! It isn't my fault, I swear!

My internet connection went down on the 23rd right after my last post, and then I went for I think 6 days without the net, when the earthquake in Taipei happened! Just when I got my modem fixed! Argghhh! Just my luck, isn't it. =(

So I missed Xmas and New Year's online. =( Didn't get to wish a lot of my online and international friends. I hope it isn't too late to wish everyone a belated Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year! =)

The year is still new after all! May all of you have the best year, with lots of health, wealth, and happiness! Love you all!

And may the internet lines be fixed real soon. It's amazing how dependant we've all gotten on the internet since the last decade, isn't it?

Well, I'll post again soon, but I won't be uploading pix until the connection gets better. See ya! =)