Why Would I Write

  • PastPosts reflection #1

    I recently signed up for PastPosts.com just get an idea just to see what I’ve been up to over the past year, maybe it’ll give me a chance to reflect on my life, to think about what I’ve done since then. It’s a pretty interesting service and I think you guys should check it out too, if you’re interested in knowing that kind of shit. I mean, I do visit my old blog occasionally just to read what I’ve written, and I gotta say, looking back is something I really enjoy doing.

    I know it’s better to leave the past behind than dwell on it, but I guess I’m just one of those people who appreciates all the great memories I have. I fondly remember my days back in high school and college, and I gotta say, those were some of most fun days of my life. Probably one of the best parts is that none of them were alcohol induced. Except those days after college when I would hang out at Seng Yip’s house and we would have a can of beer, two packets of nasi lemak and laugh our asses off watching The Simpsons on Star World. And I think it was more because of the TV show than the beer.

    Anyway, according to PastPosts.com, one year ago I was still in Inspidea, and it was around the time when I was teaching school kids about storytelling all over Malaysia. There was only one post on my wall – one of the kids saying thanks for accepting his friend request, and me replying him “good luck, I hope you get to go to Disney Land!”. And in my mind, it’s actually all quite fresh. I had a great time teaching those kids, and it was good bonding time with my colleagues and boss who came along on most of the trips.

    What’s been new in my life? Well. To be honest, nothing out of the ordinary. One thing I am disappointed with myself is my lack of improvement in my current job. I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I can’t seem to stay focused. I can’t get my work done on time. I think since the beginning of the year, I have yet to finish on time. Not good. Maybe I should go do some yoga or meditation or something. Or take some Ritalin. I might have ADD.

    Oh yeah, and I realized I am such a heavy sleeper. I remember back when I was in high school and college, I used to be able to wake up at the slightest noise. Now, I can have my bloody alarm clock next to my head, ringing for an hour and I still won’t get up. I set three alarms on my phone all the time just to make sure I don’t miss any, and I still don’t wake up on time. I don’t hear phone calls in my sleep. Hell, I don’t even hear the knocking on my door. People have to come into my room to wake me up. I don’t know why. Is this a problem?

    The other day Andrew told me I looked like I was dying. I think I’ve been coughing for about two weeks now. Maybe I am? I think if I die, there’s a high chance I’ll be dying in my sleep. I’ll be sleeping, and some murderer comes into my room, knocks over my guitar stand in the dark and panics. The rest of my house gets up, my mom and sisters would be burst into the room, see the murderer and yell, “GEORGE! GET UP!”, and I’d still be sleeping. The murder will pull out his blade, tilt my head back and slit my throat. I’d probably feel the sharp metal slice my throat, just before I die.

    When you die, do you bring the very last sensation you feel with you? Do you carry it in the afterlife? Is there even an afterlife? People like to believe it’s heaven, or hell, or reincarnation. I don’t know. I think everything just disappears, and you cease to exist, you don’t even know you die, and you would have no memories of the past. You’d just be nothingness. In fact, you can’t even be nothing. It’ll be like you never existed. Or something.

    Maybe.

    The other day, Jason gave one of The Wishing’s songs a title: Whisky and Making Out. Then I thought to myself, damn, I’ve never had that kind of experience before. Then now I think back again. I had some sort of experience like that. Except that I wasn’t conscious. And it was Absinthe, not whisky. Did you know you can spell it whisky or whiskey? I did a quick Google search and apparently there is a difference between whiskey and whisky. I’m glad you guys learnt something today.

  • Gig #69

    69. Such an interesting number. Why? I’m not going to elaborate.

    All I gotta say is, gig number 69. After about 3 years of playing live shows, I’m one gig away from #70. Yay. If you remember, my first open mic gig was back in May 2008 in Marketplace. Well, it’s been 3 years and one EP, and I don’t think I want to stop anytime soon. No sir. I want to write, play, sing and record even more than I did before.

    But I think I might take a break from 2storeyheart and focus on the band I’m in at the moment – The Wishing. My guitar playing is not up to standard, I can’t keep time to save my life, so I’ll need to spend a lot more time practicing it. I’ll probably still write 2storeyheart material in my own time and do home recordings, but it won’t be my main focus anymore.

    Well this Thursday will probably be the biggest of all the gigs I’ve played so far. Thanks to Darren of An Honest Mistake, I’ll be one of the performers for this week’s Thursday night at Laundry Bar, the Curve. Do come and watch! I don’t think I’ll be playing at such a huge location again anytime soon, and entry is free. Drinks aren’t free though, but hey, you came for the music right? 😛

    Hope to see you guys there. Drop a request in the comments/Facebook/Twitter if there’s a song you want to hear. Haha. I haven’t figured out a setlist yet, so any suggestions are welcome.

    RAWR!!! The Gig Goes To LAUNDRY!!!

    Thursday, May 12 · 8:30pm – 11:30pm
    Location: Laundry Bar

    RAWR!!! The Gig is back with a super duper line up at the ever so popular Laundry Bar at The Curve. Organized by local easycore sextet An Honest Mistake’s frontman, Darren Teh, this show is something that you must not miss!

    Featuring:

    2storeyheart
    Azureforjanne
    Red Ruby Avengers
    Psytrus
    Koujee

    Ranging from acoustic to post-hardcore, you just have to be at this awesome mix of bands. They are top quality. Enough said. Be there!

  • Movie Review: Priest

    Movie Review: Priest

    Priest
    So I went into the cinema with low expectations mainly because I didn’t expect much after watching the trailer for Priest and I wasn’t impressed. And I was right.

    Priest tells the story about a priest (Paul Bettany) in a futuristic post-apocalyptic world that sets out on a journey to rescue his niece who was abducted by vampires. The Church, unhappy with his intentions sends out some priests after him to bring him back. And let’s not forget the mysterious villain, the man in the hat who looks a lot like Hugh Jackman.

    A typical story that’s been done quite a number of times, except this time it’s set in an interesting location. One of the strongest points about the movie is the whole post-apocalyptic setting and the Church – it’s not a totally fresh idea, but it certainly is a nice breather from all the typical vampire movies we’ve seen recently. Speaking of vampires, these creatures aren’t your regular humans with fangs either, they look more like aliens from space than anything, which is good and bad. People aren’t used to vampires being like that, which probably makes it hard to accept, while it makes the movie stand out from other vampire films.

    The protagonist, Priest, was unlikeable. He wasn’t interesting, and besides his ability to kick ass, there was really nothing going for him. His sidekick, Hicks (Cam Gigandet) was even more interesting than him. But all in all, the actors were probably the worst part of the movie. A lackluster performance from most pretty much everyone who wasn’t a vampire.

    To sum it all up, Priest isn’t a very good movie. But it isn’t terrible either. It probably could’ve been a better movie if they had better actors or a more captivating script. Props to the crew for coming up with an interesting setting and creating a new style of vampires. Definitely not a movie I would watch twice, but if there was a sequel I might give it a shot. The animated introduction was probably the best part of the film. Priest gets 5/10.