What's Spinning?

Now You Can Be a Famous Bee Gee!

This is really hilarious!

We're Brothers Forever!!!!!

I really love this guy... his name is Reynaldo Lapuz, a 44-year-old Filipino nurse from Reno, Nevada. His audition was awesome and I just couldn't stop laughing (with tears in my eyes even) everytime I see it. Hope you enjoy!

David Bowie Gets Covered... Really Well

Haven't posted in awhile... work was really busy the past two weeks... but glad I can post a little today! :)

Got these YouTube links from a friend recently... they are hilarious!

Here's David Bowie doing a cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "America" for the New York Benefit Concert due to the 9/11 incident. It's a very good cover BTW:



And here's another vid of this amazing comedian (Stevie Riks) imitating Bowie... same song, it's fantastic! Like my friend mentioned, he should take part in American Idol. He has more videos at http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=caroline372. Really excellent stuff!

Inspired by Love but Reality also sets in...

Went to church on Sunday (of course I had to) and Pastor Marion (that's my senior pastor) preached a wonderful sermon about love, the true meaning of it and perhaps the lack of it in our lives... the world today just describes love in a casual way (lust, sex, love for material things/wealth, etc..), but in the sermon, I was again, reminded about the true meaning of love and the wonderful love of Christ for me and also how I should try to be like "Christ" and love others, love the unlovely, etc... how I should do everything with love, or my works are nothing! A wonderful and timely reminder indeed, especially during the start of the new year!

Here's a passage of Scripture from 1 Corinthians 13:

1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

9For we know in part and we prophesy in part,

10but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.

11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.

12Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Of course, as the week started yesterday, came again the daily grind of work... oh Glorious work! I think I have about 8 projects (maybe more!) going on simultaneously, and as I resolve to work with passion, with my heart and soul, with love and so forth... it gets more and more difficult. I miss out on sleep, on leisure and on my (ahem!) social life...

It's sort of an irony right? We work like mad so we can enjoy life, but we can't enjoy life cos we all work like mad... if we don't work like mad, we can't enjoy life either cos life is not free...

Well, hopefully, I will be able to finish all these tasks in good quality and good time and still have love in my heart... till next time!

My Home Gym - sort of...

In my bid to get healthier in 2008, I've collected, this morning, a set of used dumbells and a barbell... these are the ones that could fit adjustable weights so the set will grow with me as I progress. This would really save me lots of travelling time to the gym and also waiting time as the gym is usually very crowded with lots of people waiting to use that particular dumbell, etc...

I started to gym seriously about a little more than a year ago. I weighed about 82-83 kilos at that time. I still looked okay then - maybe it's because I had a bit of a petite frame, and still looked alright to most people. Truth is, my waist was getting bigger and bigger each year and there was even days when I had to unbuckle and walk around with my pants that way because my pants were becoming too tight! Yeah, sounds awkward but it's true! Besides, being a guy, it's quite acceptable to just tuck out your shirt most of the time or for most people, it's alright for guys to be fat.

Well, one day, I watched the TV reality series, "The Biggest Loser"... yeah, I know it's reality TV but hey, it really hit me! These guys are extremely obese and yet, they could achieve so much. If they put their minds to it and work hard! So I decided then and there that enough was enough and I went to purchase the Biggest Loser DVD.

I did the workouts there for awhile and did lose a few kilos but soon, I plateaued (that means, my progress stalled), and I decided to enroll myself in a gym to get professional guidance.

So I started to lose weight gradually from there... it's a lot of work, but it pays off! It's also fulfilling when people around you start telling you that they notice the change. My health has improved a lot too!

As time went by, I've decided to do it on my own. This would save some money as well, I roughly know what to do now as I've learnt a bit from my trainer! Hopefully, will get closer to my goals this year!

As of today, I'm about 75 kilos... hope to lose a bit more! If you're thinking of losing some weight, no use reading about it! Just do it!!!

I'm Gonna Get Arrested....

By the Police that is...






With prices as high at $600 for the best seats in the house... I really could not afford, but I'm really thankful for a generous friend who decided to surprise me with a ticket!

It's not one of the $600 seats (I wouldn't expect my friend to go to that extent - I'm already damn grateful man!!!), and it would probably be quite a distance away, but I don't care!!! It's definitely going to be a treat to see my musical heroes in action this February! :)

Productivity has to be Fueled By God not Me

Just wanna share a personal thingy today... you know those days where you are just so stressed out and have no time for personal devotion, no time to read the Bible, no time to pray... well, it happens a lot to me... maybe you have experienced it too?

It's very tempting for me to just skip all of those and just go through the day without God. And I'm afraid to say that there are days when I just do EXACTLY that... but after a period of observation I realise that those days are all completely unproductive. I do not get to finish what I want to accomplish and the whole day becomes frustrating... there's also little peace in my heart... as I write this, I'm reminded by a statement made by my Senior Pastor, "...a day without prayer is like a boast against God..." sounds quite harsh, but how true it is!

In contrast, when I actually spend time to pray, and read the Bible... somehow, God just makes me very productive... I make wiser decisions, work faster, become more productive, become better in a lot of things... it's not my strength that I'm relying on now, but God's enablement and strength that gets me through my day. For that, I'm really encouraged and I hope that you'll be encouraged to do the same as well! :)

New Death Cab For Cutie Album in May 2008

I really love this band to death... glad they are going to have another new album in May 2008. It's been at least 3 years since the last one... It's about time!

For those unfamilar with the band, this talented quartet has been releasing one of the most enjoyable and exciting music I've ever heard from any band anywhere the past 5-10 years. Pity that they are not getting the media attention they deserve cos they really write great tunes... well, guess it has to be a secret to a select group of fans for now I guess. :)

One reason for their unpopularity could be their group name, I mean with a band name like "Death Cab For Cutie", you could get misunderstood as some sort of Death Metal band? hahaha! Fortunately, they sound nothing like that (hit the play button on the YouTube video for a sample). Rather, they marry awesome melodies, musicianship and great lyrics! A rare combi these days :)

Here's an except from Paste Magazine:

"...This morning, as borderline obsessive followers of Death Cab for Cutie logged onto their favorite band's website, they were greeted with two tasty treats to accompany their coffee. First, the Seattle darlings have revamped their home page. New videos and pictures are now available for all to enjoy.
Still, what fans might have been more excited to see in the early hours of the morn was the splendid new intro that welcomes them into the band’s new digital abode. The video displays footage of Death Cab in the recording studio, and best of all announces a release month for the band's upcoming album.
According to this little slice of cinema, Death Cab will have its new record ready to drop in May 2008. This will be the first LP that the band has put out since 2005's Plans..."

Here's a video of their 2005 song "Soul Meets Body"... enjoy!



Visit the Band's Website

Christmas Banquet Pictures

Really had a wonderful time at church last december during the HOF (That means Hearts On Fire) service... we had a fancy dress contest.. theme was Street Wear, some were really daring and nice... here are some cool pics!

Me and the hippie bros: Jeff, Linton, Ting Chun, Me

Mic and Me (Thanks Sherry for the pix!)

More coverage here: Visit Website

Congrats to my bros Gerald Ling and Ting Chun for winning the best Actor and supporting Actor awards respectively. You guys did good! My region in church also won the best poetry presentation! Kudos to them for all their hard work! It was nice to be able to soak in and relax this time round! hahaha!

Thank God also for the souls which have responded and also for the good attendance!

Lindsey Buckingham Gets Under My Skin

Revisiting this album today... it really gets "under your skin"... love his mastery of arrangments and his brilliant singing and guitar work!



Visit Lindsey's webpage at http://www.lindseybuckingham.com/

Demsey Outing

Here's are some nice pics from Lynnette... some of my church friends and I went to Ben & Jerry's at Dempsey Road a few months back for some nice ice cream! Yummy!

(From Left to Right: Rita, Xingyi, Adelene, Me, Michelle [Wong] and Linton - Lynnette's not in the picture cos she was taking the photographs)

I really love the volkswagen van in the background... must have been all
the Herbie movies I've watched as a kid! Hope I can own a volkswagen one day :)

Oh ya, here's the ice cream:

Anyway, looking at these pictures, I must say that I really miss you guys... hope we can hang out soon in celebration of the new year!

PS - I look really happy, must be high on ice cream! hahhah!

U2, Resolutions and Looking Back at 2007

My 1st record spun on the turntable for 2008 is U2's The Joshua Tree... Hard to believe it was 20 years ago!

Still an excellent album, great songs, beautiful instrumentation! It was an important album for me... listening to it as a 12 year old kid then had a huge impact on me as a guitarist. Mine was a cassette copy then...

Well, I managed to acquire a 2nd hand LP of the album late last year but it seems to have some noisy groove noise even after a few rounds on my VPI record cleaning machine... will try some turpentine perhaps...

Anyway, since the new year is here... I've decided to come up with some obligatory (but I'm serious about achieving them) resolutions for the year... here goes:

1. Be a better person, son, boyfriend, baker and musician
2. Earn money on a more regular basis (a regular job perhaps?)
3. Get a driver's license
4. Fulfil all my monetary commitments
5. Pray and read the Bible more
6. Lose more fat and gain more muscle
7. Update this blog more often
8. Get my family and friends saved! Jesus help me!
9. Upgrade my vinyl rig further
10. Streamline my massive music collection
    

I would really like to thank God for a wonderful 2007... though there were up and downs, there were many highlights too... some of which which came to my mind were:

1. The YellowRen tours in Singapore, Australia and Philippines where I played guitarist (visit website :: view slideshow :: view video)
   
   
   Soundcheck and Setup for the gig
   
   

Meet the band: Royston (Acoustics), Me, Kirk (Drums), Heng Yee (Bass) and not forgetting... Ricky, who was catching up on some sleep at the time


Playing with Rex Goh was really a treat for all of us during the Singapore Leg. From Left to Right: Rex, Heng Yee, Me, Kirk, Ricky, Ernest


On Stage!


The Whole Team! (Ps Dale, Kongster, Me, Chengster, Royster, Ricky, Changster, Peggy, Ps Mong Yee, Dayna, Wee Leng, Sherry and Oon Hong were our photographers so they not in the picture)

Other things to thank God for:

2. My new Arcam Alpha 7 Integrated Amp, Graham Slee 2 Phono Stage and Denon DL-110 HOMC Cartridge... I love my vinyl rig now... maybe next upgrades would be a hercules power supply and better tonearm (will get some pics up some day)
3. HOF Youth Camp was awesome (view webpage) although I was dreading it a bit at first... no regrets!
4. My Thailand trip with my bro, Ting Chun was really fun, but also cheap! (view photos)
5. My region won best musical (something which I wrote) for David & Goliath (view photos)
6. Another year surviving as a freelance web designer and musician
7. Discovering that I could bake!
8. Another year of relatively good health
9. A new distortion pedal (The classic Boss OS-2)
10. Michelle, my belle :)

Looking forward to the year ahead... :)