Chapter B - CELEBRATION WOHOO

LA lakers just won the NBA finals.

Streets are going nuts.

Random people shouting.

Cars honking.

People selling T-Shirts.

"Lakers Just Won"

"Boston Sucks".

Wish I had my camera.

Walking down the Boulevard.

Madness.

Insane.

Noise can be heard from my apartment.

Still going on now after 2 hours.

Cops will be busy tonight.

Finals done.

Went to see one of my teachers gig.

Awesome jazz gig.

Great way to celebrate.

Relax.

Enjoy.

Will update shortly.

HOLIDAY.

Whee.

Chapter pvu3h4r

pvu3h4r is what you get when I close my eyes and randomly press my keyboard. This post is a flurry of random updates so it's fitting.

Some people have asked if I'm going to keep up this whole 'chapter' business. Well I will.. until I run out of ideas. And since I'm such a creative guy *cough* I think it might go on for quite a while.

It's close to thanksgiving - a holiday celebrated exclusively by Americans. A huge deal here. And they're forcing me to take a long weekend off. I don't want a long weekend off. I want my friday class. I have alot of cool stuff going on Friday. GIVE IT BACK! I DON'T WANT FRIDAY OFF!!

Seriously.. I have my jazz LPW, my jazz class, and my private lesson (mostly jazz) on Fridays. IT'S AN AWESOME DAY and they're forcing me to go on break? UNFAIR! INJUSTICE! I DEMAND A... a... a.. refund. I want my friday back dammit.

Ok, since I have alot of stuff to write about, I'm going to number them.

Number ONE - My Night With Steve Gadd

Some of you guys might remember my first visit to the Catalina Jazz club to see Dave Weckl. Well this time around Steve Gadd was performing there. And I HAD to see this.

He was blazing awesome. Heck the whole band was blazing awesome. If I had the money, I would've gone to see him the next night. It was that fantastic. Some pics from the show - we had a shitty table and my camera doesn't do night shots that well - well, night shot mode is better, but it has a higher chance of being fuzzy, but normal mode isn't bright enough. So I compromise. Better than nothing I suppose.

At the end of the night, I was itching so badly to take a picture with Mr. Gadd, but unlike the night Weckl performed, he didn't hang around to chat. He went straight into the green room and stayed there. So I didn't get my picture. Apparently he did come out on the last night of the gig. And a friend of mine got his sticks signed. And I just erupted with jealousy. Curses.

I promise you Gadd, I will meet you again in the future. I PROMISE YOU!

Number TWO - My New Earphones

TADAA!

Number Three - Goin' Home!

How fitting that the LPW just before the Thanksgiving break would be entitled 'Goin' Home'. Alot of people will be 'going home' so to speak over the long weekend. Sadly I won't be. This does not, however, make me feel homesick. Yet.

It was actually a stellar performance by all the musicians. Me included (shameless boasting). I know the sound may suggest otherwise, but trust me - this was one of those magical times where everyone knew exactly what they were doing and magical music was produced. I don't know how many of you know what that's like especially when you're playing with people you don't normally play with. Most of the time someone somewhere hasn't got it together or just doesn't gel with someone else in the band. Sometimes that person is me (shameless self depreciation - it balances out the boasting). But this performance was that one time where everything worked together close to perfect and it made great music. Not just a great cover, but music in it's own right. It was enjoyable.

Number FOUR - Things to Come

Alot of stuff is going to happen over the next two months.

- Christmas is coming. Christmas in Hollywood. I hope it's a slightly more refreshing experience versus Halloween in Hollywood

- Might be going to the mountains with some friends to get some PROPER WINTER.

- Watching Mike Stern and Dave Weckl(again!) perform at the Catalina.

- Watching Victor Wooten (@theotherKJ - nyek nyek nyek I get to see him LIVE) and band

- New Years in Hollywood?

It's look to be a fun end to a year.

Number FIVE - Nurse?

Welcome to American College. Where teacher wins sports bet.

Number SIX - Nothing

No really. Nothing. I've run out of things to say. I have a hunch I have more that I forgot, but hey I can always post again. Yay for me.

Bye.

Chapter alt+f4

Got out food from fridge to cook.

Turned on stove.

No gas.

Night, couldn't call anyone.

Had sandwiches for dinner.

Called office next morning.

Gas company shut off our gas due to miscommunication.

Made new account.

Waited.

Still no gas.

Gas company said to wait 1 week.

1 WEEK?

1 whole week with no gas.

Bought sandwich food for a week.

Looks like same meals for a whole week.

Tuna, ham, etc...

Still lots of food in freezer to cook.

So tempting.

Stupid gas.

Earphones broke.

Only pair.

Need for ear protection in labs.

Comfy.

Useful.

Broken.

Attempted repair.

Opened it myself.

Checked wires.

Didn't work.

Couldn't practice as much all night.

Sound in one ear only is weird.

Sent to shop.

Cost 5 bucks.

Soldered back the wires.

Didn't work.

Bought super glue to fix myself.

Spent 2 dollars.

Got glue on my hands.

Didn't work.

Scrapped plan.

Remembered backup ones from home.

Worked, but no ear protection.

Relatively useless in practice.

Scrapped those.

Went to music store.

Looked at new ones.

50-100 Dollars.

Nearly fainted.

Scrapped plan.

Went to electronics store.

Saw sale.

Rejoiced.

Brought old pair to compare.

Found similar model.

Hoped they worked. Much like hoping to win lottery.

Paid 20 bucks.

Prayed and hoped.

Went home.

Opened package.

Tested.

Worked.

Rejoiced.

Had sandwich.

Now waiting patiently for the week to pass.

GAS!

THANKSGIVING!

CHRISTMAS DECOR IS UP!

TINSELTOWN IS GETTING SOME TINSEL!

Crappy week now.

Better one coming.

Chapter HNO3 - The Halloween Adventure Pt 3 (Final)

Ok. Here's just some random photos I took.

Bear in mind a couple of things

- It was crowded as hell

- It was dark

- People were walking in every direction and didn't stand still

- My camera ran out of batteries like 20 minutes into the night

With that in mind, I got very few photos, some of them were blur, some of them didn't even have anything in them and it was just a bunch of random photos. But I think it gives you a better idea of what it was like that night. So here they are anyway.

__________________

On a totally unrelated note, I don't usually post food up here anymore, but I was so proud of this one I simply had to. This is one of those 'I dunno what I'm doing I just hope it tastes nice' moments where I just wanted to make something but had no clue how to do it.

Presenting, KJ's delicious onion soup.

Recipes upon request.

Chapter H20 - The Halloween Adventure Pt 2

So, now that you've caught a glimpse of what Halloween was like, it's time to get on with the experience.

It was a long walk - about 2 miles to where the huge gathering was. And by the time I got there, I was already tired. The nearer I got, the more dress-uppers I saw. And this was around 9pm, and most of them were already drunk, screaming their heads off.

The moment I hit the street where the whole thing started, everything changed. It wasn't just littered with people here and there. This was like one solid mass of human meat. Wedged together as tightly as can be. And it was a daunting task to move around in this place. And an even bigger task to snap photographs. It was close to impossible to take a picture of costume people without blinding someone with my flash. I tried. And I failed. And also, stupidly enough, my camera ran out of batteries. I would've taken like a million pictures if it wasn't for the fact that my camera battery decided to die after the 20th shot or so. I regret not charging it up fully before leaving, but then again most of the pictures I would've taken would be difficult to see anyway. Night shots don't quite work when you're trying to photograph a sea of people.

So what was the experience like?

Unique.

That's the most polite word I can think of. It wasn't my idea of a more 'traditional' Halloween. Mainly because this is Hollywood and everyone just wants to party. I guess Halloween in Hollywood really is more of an excuse for the city to go mad right up to the highest degree. It's quite mad as it is already on normal days, but I guess when it comes to the 31st of October, these people forget all sense of holding back and really just go mental. It's like one huge party. Think 'college dorm party like in the movies' kind of party. There's just people all over the place dancing, drinking, eating, etc... but just in weird costumes.

Speaking of costumes, I did mention the whole cast and crew in the previous post, but there's something I forgot to mention. With such a vast majority dressing up, I guess some people just go the extra mile to look extra special. The 'twitter' costume was pretty funny. They basically had a styrofoam block around their face with the 'Twitter' design and they had the Bird Logos on sticks which they carried. Then of course there were some really cool robot costumes with blinking light eyes. There were also group costumes - there was one group of elderly folks who dressed up as angry villagers with torches, protesting against 'monsters'. Kinda cool. Then there were just some people who went crazy and made like these really elaborate costumes.

And for the night, they became celebrities. People were taking pictures with them. They were basically standing around with their costumes, flaunting their style while waiting for people to come up to them and take a photo. They became the Hollywood regulars - the ones dressed as all the famous movie characters in front of the Kodak, each and every day. For one night, everyone adopted that occupation.

It's an experience I enjoyed, but only once. I'f I'm here for the next one, I'm not going there again.

I did catch some really nice music though. I remember mentioning this 'gospel'-ish style group? They sang alot of really 'black-church-gospel' type songs. With all the crazy tambourines and clapping and happy jig dancing. It was fascinating to see that happening alongside techno DJ's not 20 metres away.

The highlight of the night - and I really enjoyed this one - was a group of dancers performing Thriller in the middle of the street. They had a portable boom box with the music and they had a cast of zombie/ghost dressups doing thriller. That was actually pretty darn sweet. Now I wish I had learnt the moves and joined them. That would've been so much fun. It's still a stupid dance in my opinion, but when you have 20 people doing it, it suddenly becomes so darn cool.

To wrap up? It's not what I imagined Halloween to be. And technically, it's not what Halloween is like anywhere else. It's Hollywood, what do you expect?

I'd like to experience Halloween elsewhere - with kids running around trick-or-treating and homes decorated to look like spooky houses. It's all apartments in Hollywood - nothing to decorate.

End of Part 2.

*******

Part 3 - PICTURES (not alot of them)

Stay tuned.

Chapter H - The Halloween Adventure Pt 1

Where to begin...

Where to begin indeed. With so much madness going on, I don't even know where to start.

Observations first.

So it's Halloween. What happens on Halloween in Hollywood? Well.. everyone dresses up and goes on a 'parade' on Santa Monica Blvd. Approximately 1/2 a million people show up for this event, all dressed up.

And when I say all, I mean literally all. The whole cast was there.

*Deep breath*

There were werewolves, vampires, zombies, policemen, doctors, surgeons, fairies, dragons, elves, dwarfs, knights, pixies, kings, queens, priests, pirates, nurses, barbarians, trojans, ents, devils, angels, fruits, ghosts, skeletons, cavemen, firemen, clowns, jesters, prisoners, wardens, astronauts, geishas, bikers, mermaids, peacocks, wizards, witches, trekkies, stormtroopers, wookiees, chickens, insects, robots, lions, tigers, aliens, trolls, maids, schoolgirls, ballerinas, mobsters, villagers, ogres, jedi, ninjas, samurais, cheerleaders, sailors, archers, gladiators, cupids, cowboys, indians, nuns, mummies, damsels, princes, princesses, Amazons, goths, mimes, soldiers, horses, pharaohs, muppets, wrestlers, sumo wrestlers, corpses, sportsmen, ghostbusters, punks, pumpkins, teddy bears;

Then there were famous characters and people. There was Superman, Batman, The Flash, Joker, Spiderman, Dracula, Wolverine, Robocop, Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Jack Skellington, Abe Lincoln, Queen Elizabeth, Captain Planet, Captain America, Catwoman, Supergirl, Superman half changed with his tie and glasses still on, Optimus Prime, Iron Man, Homer Simpson, Marge Simpson, Quagmire, Marilyn Monroe, Michael Jackson, Freddie Kruger, Edward Scissorhand, Medusa, Link, Naruto, Rorschach, The Silver Surfer, Ben Grimm, Wonder Woman, Snake Eyes, Bill Clinton, Mickey Mouse, Shrek, Darth Vader, Harry Potter, Frankenstein, Jabba the Hutt, Princess Leia, Power Rangers, Waldo, Tin Tin, Bruce Lee, KISS, Dorothy, the Tin Man, Hellboy, Nobita, Inspector Gadget, The Cat in the Hat, Willy Wonka, Winnie the Pooh, the Gingerbread man, Jack Sparrow, The Incredibles, Broom Hilda, Luke Skywalker, Colonel Sanders, Scarecrow, Mickey Mouse the Apprentice;

Then there were the inanimate objects. There were Showers, Twitter boxes, rubik's cubes, candy bars, ice creams, the house from Up, burgers, cars, planes, stacks of money, beer pong tables, hot dogs, dog poo, UFOs, pizza slices, sign posts, ships, Empire State buildings, bowling pins, window frames, beer bottles;

Then there were the people who just mixed whatever they wanted from the list with whatever else. Like the zombie clowns, and the fairy demons, and the undead surgeons, and the clown police, and Shot in the Head Abe Lincoln....

There were rows and rows of portable toilets, rows and rows of food stalls, DJ's every couple of feet, loud booming music, crazy dancing people, cigarettes, cigars, booze.

There was a unique clash of culture right there. On one end you'd have crazy DJ rave music and right at the other end there was this concert being held by this 'gospel'-ish group.

And there was the immorality of Hollywood on display. The gays, lesbians, drunkards, crackheads, potheads, smokers, pill poppers, transvestites, cross dressers...

It was a great clash of cultures, ideas, beliefs, and people. It was insane.

End of part 1.

****

Part 2 - the experience. Stay tuned.

Chapter 1.5

The last adventure of the holiday. An uneventful holiday it was. Moneyless holidays are difficult to do. But I do them nonetheless.

I rode down to Silverlake the other day which is an incredibly hilly area around a lake. Or at least I think it's a lake. The whole place is just a monstrosity of ups and downs with houses all over the place and interesting stair climbs to do. I parked my bike and attempted to find my way up there, but it's like a labyrinth. I came to many dead ends and went down the hills I got up and up the hill I went down. And I almost got lost. But thankfully, I am not my mom.

So here's the closest I got to a top of the hill lake shot.

Sadly, it's not a lake. It's a lake, but no one can go near it because I think it's also LA's water supply. Or something to do with the LA water department because it's all fenced up.

And as usual, in LA, a gorgeous shot like this is utterly ruined by some man made fence and cables.

And I thought that was that, but on the way back, I came across something interesting. I stumbled upon the Barnsdall Art Park.

I don't know if you remember some of my early posts, but I remember coming across a 'sanctuary' of relaxation somewhere in Downtown LA. Well, this was one of them. In the middle of the busy city and in the midst of nothing but concrete jungle, here was a tiny pleasant part with trees and grass. A sanctuary, up a small hill and shut from the noisy crazy world below. Only 10 feet outside it's premises the concrete jungle began. But yet this sanctuary existed. I think I've found my weekend relaxation place.

Gorgeous isn't it? It's nothing spectacular, but after seeing nothing but buildings for 6 months, this is heaven.

Being an arts park, there were some abstract art sculptures littered around the garden.

I'm not into art. I think those look like scrap. But I decided to take pictures of them anyway.

There was also something called the HollyHock house, which is apparently some 'old fashioned' style house that was donated to the place and preserved as a museum. The tours were off and I didn't have money for them anyway so I didn't explore it. But it did look quite pretty on the outside.

And there is of course an art gallery there. They didn't have any shows when I went there. They're having one next weekend. So I'm definitely going there.

That's the art gallery and theatre. Don't the trees just look awesome? I dunno, but now I'm just so excited to see trees.

People of malaysia, be grateful for the parks that exist in every neighbourhood. It's not so bad. This is the only park that exists in the entire area of Hollywood. Be grateful for the padang asam. Be grateful for public football fields. Even if there's little grass. Be grateful for small sanctuaries like these. For there are few. And even fewer in Hollywood. I'm grateful I found this place.

I suspect I'm going to be there quite often.

Chapter 4 - Fall

The heat is subsiding in Socal. (Southern California for those who are wondering.)

The sun goes down by 7:30.

The nights are cooling.

The air condition is being used no more. Well exception of some rare afternoons.

The quarter is coming to a close. A new one is beginning.

The tourists are gone.

The Boulevard isn't as crowded anymore.

The blockbusters have ended.

The Summer Music Festivals have come to a close.

The free jazz is finished. The paid ones carry on.

The city is that bit quieter. Although still quite noisy on weekends.

...

The summer has ended.

But not before leaving us with this.

That's the moon, made red by the fires in LA. A moon tainted by the dust, smoke and ashes. A fiery moon, making it's last stance against the change in weather.

A moon, serving as a reminder how hot the darn place became, and once again subsiding to another portion of forgotten history.

The fall is coming.

The fall is here.

Gaya leh.

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away...

THE JOHN WILLIAMS ADVENTURE!

Yes, you heard right.

I went to see John Williams in concert with the LA Philharmonic Orchestra at the Hollywood Bowl. It's such an awesome venue. And such an awesome atmosphere. 18,000 people showed up and Mr. Williams was there himself to conduct the orchestra.

Apparently he does it every year and every year it's different. This year we were treated to a whole set on Harry Potter (with the new movie out and all) and a whole bunch of favourites. I'm wayyyy at the back so don't blame me if you can't see anything because I couldn't either. But hearing some of these theme songs live just puts a smile on your face.

Before I get to the videos here are some pictures first. We actually had a picnic before the thing started at 8:30, but I didn't take any pics of that because I was too busy eating.

My ticket to the 'Music of the Movies' Night.

Up the escalator into the BOWL...

And into the huge mass of human beings.

Since I was so damn far away, that was the best lighting I could get for my camera in nightshot mode. Thankfully the videos are a little brighter for some strange reason.

Now, the videos bit was a little tricky. Since nobody had any clue what he was going to play next, it was a hit and miss thing with the guessing. I basically recorded the start of every song so I wouldn't miss the opening notes. Of course I ended up with a whole bunch of small clips that were meaningless and this meant I ran out of space really fast. And it didn't help that I only had 15 minutes on the darn thing.

They opened with a Harry Potter set (with the new movie out this year and all..). I didn't record the entire thing mainly because I realised I would run out of tape pretty quick and I could only record so little. And also because not many of you would know the songs anyway.

That was the opening. And it cut off pretty quick.

And now.... for something more.. SUPER

If you look to the left later on, they had screens on the sides showing the movie clips. I have no clue why Batman was in there as well. But there you go. I think you can see quite clearly the superman sign.

And last but not least... the one everyone knows..

The moment the song comes on the crowd goes wild and all the light sabres light up. It was hilarious. Everyone just goes nuts when this song comes on.

They played the Imperial March (to all you people who don't know what that is, it's the evil Darth Vader/Empire Armysong, then again if you don't know it you probably should kill yourself) as the finale. Like I said, the filming was pretty hit and miss so by that time I had already run out of space and my battery was dying. And I was frantically trying to figure out which videos I could delete... and I couldn't hear a thing. So I just decided to forget it and enjoy the EVILNESS of the Imperial March.

John Williams is awesome.

I might just see him again next year. Hopefully with some Indie Jo.

CChhaapptteerr 44 - The Movie Adventure

I went to the MANN's CHINESE to watch a movie the other day.

Instead of reviewing the movie (which was District 9 and was pretty darn awesome) I want to review the theatre and the experience.

Going to the movies in America is very very much different from going to the pictures back in Malaysia. It's an entire event. It's not just going to see a movie, it's the whole package of it. People lining up at the box office to get tickets, queuing up early to get good seats (yeap its' free seating in there) and buying all the confections from the glitzy stands right outside the hall.

So there I was sitting in the amazingly beautiful auditorium (it's not just crap seats and some dim lights and padding on the walls. The inside of the Mann's Chinese is really gorgeous. It's got all the chinese themed decorations all over the walls and roof) waiting for the movie to start. There's advertisements going on without little sound at first and not just a black screen. And just before the movie starts, they actually have a freakin' curtain drawn across the screen! It's like a real theatre experience. Then they draw back the curtains and the previews begin. And movie starts.

The audience is a whole different story. They clap and cheer and all sorts of stuff when things happen during the show. Funnily enough, there was a preview for a movie 'Legion' (which looks pretty cool) and the start had a wall climbing, fast moving, people eating, grandma. And the crowd just clapped and cheered when that happened. Hilarious.

Interesting bunch of people, the American theatre audience.

And then when the movie ended, everyone just applauded. Applauded whom, I have the faintest idea. I seriously don't get that bit. Who on earth are we applauding? It's not even opening night where the stars are there or the director's there. It's just a screen. Why are we applauding the credits?

It's a unique experience. And a pretty funny one.

Chapter 5% - the art of Elevator talk

I'm not one for small talk. In fact I hate small talk. I much prefer 'bullshit' talk where you just get together with friends and talk bullshit.

I guess it's a huge disadvantage to not know how to make small talk. I can never initiate a conversation with strangers. In fact I don't really talk alot unless it's bullshit talk with people who also indulge in bullshit talk.

But here in America we have Elevator talk culture. I guess it's something rare in Malaysia. You don't talk to anyone in the lift no matter how long the journey takes. The only time the silence is broken is when someone yawns, sneezes, coughs, burps or farts. No one talks. And I'm quite happy to be in that situation.

But things here change. I now take the lift everyday several times to get to my 4th floor apartment. And when you do on the occasion meet someone in the great glass elevator (no it's not glass.. I'm just.. nevermind) then Elevator Talk commences.

I literally just met a guy whom I've never seen before in my life and he just started telling me about his week and his work. Amazing how much knowledge you can cram into a 30 second lift ride from the ground floor to the 4th. It all starts with a 'how you doing?' or a 'how's it going?' and then if you're kind enough to answer and ask back, then only God knows where the conversation will end up.

I guess it is a good thing. Elevator Talk culture isn't really all that bad. In fact, the world would be a nicer place if people talked more freely like that.

Whatever it may be, I am learning the art of Elevator Talk.

Watch out.

*Oh and watch this video. Music ppl, it will brighten up your day for sure.

The Holiday Adventure Pt 5 - the Big Finale!

I have to wrap up the great holiday adventure now - partly because the holiday is long over and partly because I have something special coming up.

And what a way to end the Holidays with an awesome 4th of July celebration at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena with a bunch of people from church. It's a great American adventure to experience a true and traditional 4th of July celebration. I have a load of pics from the event.

I think Malaysian Merdeka celebrations ought to be like this. What happens is everyone goes out to a nice public park or venue and just chill the whole day. They bring baseball gloves and footballs and frisbees and volleyball nets and badminton portables and all sorts of stuff to entertain themselves. Then there's the inevitable Barbeque grill set up almost everywhere and the great smell of hotdogs and burgers wafting in the air. People bring their own little blankets to lay on the grass and umbrellas and coolers to keep the afternoon heat at bay. Except for me of course - being the Malaysian I am, I happily walked around in the baking sun (with protection of course) while in my jeans - to which most of the people there gave me nothing but bug eyed or dropped jaw expressions.

It's just so much fun. And it's a whole day thing. Not just some midnight count down - and there's no midnight fireworks by the way... I just thought about it and realised how much sense it made. Why the heck do Malaysians have fireworks on midnight of the 30th/31st? When I asked why the Americans didn't have fireworks on midnight they just replied simply 'the fireworks are on the 4th of July' and it just makes sense. Instead of a bunch of people going to a crowded public location to catch midnight fireworks, and then treading through the traffic until the wee hours of the morning, and getting home only at 3am, people here just have the darn fireworks on the day itself as soon as the sun goes down. Then everyone packs up and leave and we're all home before midnight. That makes so much more sense to me.

So if you're an event organiser for Merdeka day, take my advice and just shoot the darn fireworks at 8pm on the 31st... There's nothing wrong with that. Scrap the stupid parade and let everyone relax in a humongous public park and drink beer. That's more of a celebration. Rather than seeing a bunch of people walk down a road with multi coloured uniforms, singing a dumb song every year that sounds exactly the same as the previous year. (They seriously need to hire some better composers for each Merdeka song every year)

Anyway, without further ado, here are the pictures from my final BIG adventure during the holidays.

So here we are at the Rose Bowl!

And here are some random pics of the surroundings - the crowds of people gathered around the big inflatables, mobile stations of games and bungee thingies and lots and lots of food! And the people with their tents all set up for a day of relaxation and fun!

And here's our spot in the golf course outside the Bowl.

The spot kinda grew larger over the course of the evening as more people came in.

Our view of the Bowl.

So what on earth did we do for the whole afternoon? (we got there at like 4 o'clock, and the fireworks only started and like 9:15) Well, we played volleyball and threw some football around... and ULTIMATE FRISBEE!

Nothing can truly prepare you for the madness that is Ultimate Frisbee. The whole world needs to play this.

Ultimate Frisbee - a sport like no other.

The 'Spot' as it started to get dark.

As you can see, it grew quite a bit.

And now for a bunch of unnecessary pictures of fireworks!

It is of course a stupid and futile attempt to capture fireworks on still pictures.. which is why I have ...

VIDEO!!!

I do apologise for the tilting in the first video.. I totally forgot what it would turn out like when I tilted the camera.. tilt your heads and enjoy.

Since my camera isn't geared for high quality video, the sound is equally crappy and the colour isn't really defined. But imagine the reds and blues and greens 10 times more vivid... an awesome fireworks show.

And here's the aftermath

That's what the sky looked like once it was finished.

And that, my dear friends, is how you end with a BANG!

*THE END*

*roll credits*

-Stay tuned for a real treat in the next update! Cheers!

Chapter dx/dy - Anjing Panas

So I was thinking of continuing the DUN DUN DUN post just for fun. I thought it built suspense - which it certainly didn't. But it was a cool thing to note that I'm actually a 100% done with my quarter. Now all I have to do is finish my finals and whoopee - I'm 1/6th of the way complete with my awesome drum skillzzzzz (when you add more 'z's it's more cool)

But I had an extremely American adventure just a couple of minutes ago and I decided I needed to post it here. 

Welcome then, to America's answer to the Ramly Burger.

The Street Hot Dog

It's 100% wholesome goodness with a huge beef frank fried in grease until it's crispy on the outside, with a whole ton of onions and peppers deep fried in grease, and topped with crispy bacon fried in grease and smothered in mustard, ketchup and mayonnaise that's fried in grease. Okay, maybe not, but it's so greasy, it wouldn't make any difference. 

And it's delicious.

The power of the combined flavours and the amazing smell of the grease- I mean, sausage, coupled with the fact that I was just on my way home from the practice labs after 4 and a half hours of practice - which seriously makes you hungry - resulted in a very famished me consuming the hot dog with such vigour that my entire face was contorted. 

It looked as if the hot dog was attacking me, but it truth I was attacking it! Ha ha! Touche! En Garde! Whatever else that sounds cool at the end of this sentence!

That's that then. I have officially completed one of my missions on my 'To do list' aka 'THE GREAT AMERICAN ADVENTURE" - eat a street hot dog. 

Next update at the end of the week - finals week is coming 

DUN DUN DUN!!!!

(Sorry, I had to put that in.)

Chapter PQRS - *UPDATED*

I literally just got to the computer from the KODAK THEATRE where I just watched an awesome Jazz concert with MARVIN 'SMITTY' SMITH on DRUMS!

How amazingly awesomely fantastically cool is that?

I promise I'll update with pics the moment I hook up my camera. Stay tuned to this post.

*UPDATE*UPDATE*UPDATE*UPDATE*UPDATE*UPDATE*UPDATE*

Ok, I'm gonna update on a couple of stuff.. so hang tight for the great big Kodak Surprise.

Firstly, this last weekend we had a purge of the apartment. Literally every corner of the apartment was cleared and cleaned and thoroughly gone over with all sorts of cloth, soap and suction machines. The end result is a splendidly clean room. 

But also, along the way, we managed to purge the place of a whole lot of uninvited guests. These unfriendlies were giving us hard times every night. So we decided to purge them from the apartment as well. The operation is still underway, but the enemy did sustain many casualties that day. If you are squeamish, the following image is not for you.

I did warn you. That was the main enemy base camp that was eradicated from the kitchen table fortress.

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As some of you might have seen in my latest practice video, it's a lot of hard work to actually go through each night. Let's be honest, pad practice isn't fun. All the drummer people out there will tell you that. And it makes it worse when your teacher gives you these incredible devastating clubs to use.

These are what my normal sticks look like.

And this is the monster that I use for my pad practice.

Will you look at how much fatter and bigger they are. And they are ridiculously heavy as well. If anyone is interested, go to a drum shop and see if you can find the Pro Mark DC10 sticks. Get a feel for them and you'll know exactly what I mean. Otherwise, take my word for it that I could literally beat you to death with them. 

They should arm the police force with those.

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As some of you know, the USA has officially declared it summer. The universities are on holiday and most students will be returning home. 

Whoever these Official Summer Declarers are, it's clear they need to be fired. This was the scene that greeted me on the 1st of June - clearly a summer month. A month that you'd take to enjoy the warm air and the beautiful sun and catch some waves at the beach or dip into the pool or just lie in the sun with a pack of cold beer. 

REALITY CHECK!

That's what it looks like in summer. Someone somewhere has screwed up the four season calender here in LA.

It's been cold, windy, cloudy, rainy and pretty much miserable for the past week or so. I mean, I kinda like the rain - when I heard thunder today for the first time I actually grinned and laughed to myself. The people around me must have thought I was an evil scientist waiting for lightning to bring my monster made from several different body parts ... wait.. that sounds familiar. Anyway... Like I was saying, I love the rain. But not when it's 20 degrees celcius outside and the wind howling like... a howling wind. 

GIVE ME BACK MY SUNLIGHT YOU UNITED STATES OF AMERICA! GIVE ME MY SUMMER BACK!

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And now the update you've all been waiting for. I know it's a lot to get through, but I haven't had the chance to blog in a while, and I've only been twittering (If you don't already know, my twitter is on the sidebar) so I've go a whole lot of stuff to write now.

KODAK THEATRE!!! WOOT!!! 

Ok fine... I wasn't IN the Kodak Theatre. I never said I was did I? I was AT the Kodak Theatre. This took place in the Courtyard of the Kodak Theatre.

Look at that crowd! It was amazing! 

And did you also notice my amazingly awesome BACKSTAGE spot! 

...

Truth be told again, that's not really backstage. I mean, it was just behind the band. Anyone could stand there. 

See.. there's the band and the bunch of MI students hanging out at the back. We weren't watching the show. We were watching the Drummer. XD

And there he is, none other than the great Marvin Smitty Smith. He was awesome. Didn't get to meet him and shake his hand and take a picture this time. He was too busy entertaining all the other famous people that turned up. But I will the next time. When I appear on the Tonight Show.

And a thought occurred to me. He's another great drummer who's incredibly short. And I mean... REALLY short. I wonder what that means.... I need to shrink a couple of inches I suppose.

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That's it for now folks. Till next time.