To Hell With That Dick: Patrick

Hmm.

I'm not going to care what Patrick thinks anymore, I'm going ahead and making my clock before I take too long and realise that he is just trying to make me waste my time.

Anyhow, my most recent concepts 'had a Pop Art feel to them', or so Patrick says so, to which I'm not complaining, but sometimes I wished I had got here earlier.

Another thing which irks me is why he just can't set down proper guidelines and then adjust to individual situations? I suppose he may be a good designer (or irrelevant products), who idolises designers (who also design irrelevant products e.g. phillip starck), but he sure is a rotten teacher who should take a brain-washer course in Communication Skills and English Spelling.

For example, he tried to spell 'tongs', something which we all know about, as 'thongs'. The latter is a word either representing an exotic form of lingerie, or simply 'ropes'. His past tense is similarly corrupted.

I decided that my clock will be highly colourful, with bright, bold streaks of colour and the theme: guitars (what else???). The Fender Strat is the guitar of choice.

Just for your information, I hope you realise that I only hate Patrick when he is in the classroom and talking about design work, where he is a very irritating dick. Other than that, he's still a dick (I often assume he doesn't have one, though).


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Pop Tart III (Stuck In a Rut)

Hmm.

Patrick's clock project (which, incidentally, is supposed to be handed up week after next) is really bogging me down. apart from V.I. which is due on monday, Patrick's project is the only one in which I'm desperately trying to pull thoughts together. However, due to my rejection of modern-day society, I'm unable to come up with a design of a clock which might suggest it oozes the essense of 'Pop Art'.

I've tried all I could: talking to Patrick, Garry, Jie Hong, and reading all the damn books in the school library concerning 'Pop Art'. I'm just unsure what is the mass media raving all about.

Should I design something which follows in the style of a particular pop artist? Should i design something which causes emotions common to that caused by pop art? Or should I just interpret Pop Art in my own way and come up with something altogether different? Patrick's silence on this area is severely hampering my progress.

And I'm absolutely certain he should give me an answer regarding how I should go about deriving my concepts.

Sigh... i gotta get a way to solve this problem. Maybe I should give Joon Kiat a call?


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

The Murky Waters Of Songwriting XIII

Hmm.

Last Friday, Alvin and I managed to come up with a new song, unofficially named 'It's All Joon Kiat's Fault'.

Just some background info, Joon Kiat is a Part-time Arts Lecturer in NYP, and he specialises in sadistically giving out copious amounts of homework, which are often done within wierd datelines, to his already shacked and sleep-deprived students.

So since Alvin and his classmates are suffering under Joon Kiat this semester (I just thank God he went through my class last semester), we both felt that it was partially in the spirit of the Fuzzy Green Grass to come up with something special to remember our happy times at NYP.

Based upon a widely-varied rock n' roll riff, we created a song which blamed Joon Kiat for various problems in life (whether relevant to his doing or not), and of course, we do it in our typical sense of humour. The high point of this song for me is the humour and also the opportunity for me to wing out a solo on electric. What's more it's only the second song in which I've managed to produce a solo of my own.

Just yesterday, I was fiddling around with my wah-wah pedal (no Alvin, it didn't electrocute me) and I managed to create the sound of whales and dolphins underwater! The secret to this is: harmonics.

I've just gotten up simply because i worked last night from 5pm till 4am, but i managed to makan some Nasi Lemak before heading home. Accompanying the Nasi Lemak was a 'Gin Sprite'.

The 'Gin Sprite' was just something I asked my colleague who worked behind the bar to mix for me, just so I could keep awake. I asked her for the the drink at 11pm, and i only got it at 3:45am. Nevermind that she passed it to me so 'early' but I can't blame her because the pub was full prior to 3:30am, and there would have been no time for her to fix it for me.

Anyhow, the drink was stronger than I had imagined; the first sip caused me to wince in surprise. I do believe I was feeling that floating sensation of drunkedness after I had only made it halfway. Goodness knows how much gin she put inside. I suppose I managed to hold my own even though the floating feeling just kept trying to take me off my feet in order for me to take a cab to the MRT station near my place and cycle home.

I think i might want to try sprite with vodka next time.


Cheers (most appropriately),

Crawldaddy

Wah

Hmm.

Today passed without much incidence, simply because I was in school for 9:10 in the morning until about 5:30 in the evening, and I had finished my packaging by 11am.

I had spent the rest of the day talking and chilling out with my classmates. After I had finished my packaging, i managed to have lunch with my lecturer, Garry Tan.

The lunch with Garry was fun, yet insightful since i was looking to him to provide some way to crack the Patrick problem... I need to focus more on what I can do, instead of what i can't do I suppose. Garry said that he wasn't particularly impressed with Patrick's teaching methods because 'good designers do not necessarily make good design teachers', and sometimes i can't blame myself (especially during Patrick's projects) for being confused because Patrick's method of communication was perpetual silence when it comes to feedback.

Argh. Then when I asked Ayob about submission for the packaging and the presentation board, he gave a me his typical vague reply about the submisson date, time and venue: 'Ahh, don't worry about it'. I'm not taking my chances.

Then Alvin and I went over to Bras Basah and I splurged $225.00 on a wah-wah pedal, which anybody may know will cause my guitar to go 'wah-wah'. i bought it because I wanted to recreate Jimmy Page's effects set-up which consists of a distortion pedal, a wah-wah and an echo pedal. All that remains for me is the echo pedal, but I deem that will only be purchased maybe next year.

Alvin wasn't amused when i turned on the overdrive on the amplifier, but soon reminiscised about the Ocean's Eleven soundtrack when I did a Jimmy Page lick with the amp cleaned up. But I think the wah-wah is only effective on certain moods and songs, and really isn't necessary for most songs.

After buying my wah-wah pedal, we went into Artfriend to buy Alvin's very important item: a single styrofoam rod no longer than 24 cm. After buying his styrofoam rod, we went into another guitar shop and there were two secondary school kids trying their best to play like some kind of hybrid between hendrix and rubbish.

There is a fine line between improvisation and crap. that fine line includes knowledge of what you are doing. those two secondary school kids (presumably 14 years old only) knew their licks, but they couldn't even tune the damn guitar properly. It (the guitar) was outfitted with a floyd rose bridge that was designed to enable tuning on the bridge itself, and those buggers were trying to tune the guitar with the tuning keys even though the string clamps were tightened.

What's worse is that those kids sure didn't know the difference between a proper distortion sound and pure noise. I suppose they only knew how to bend the strings and hit the guitar really hard. After pummeling the first guitar, they substituted it for another one, and failed at tuning it. Alvin and I were playing acoustics next to them, and I surprised me when they tried to play with us even though their guitar was so distorted and de-tuned the only reason I knew that they were playing with us was the fact they kept looking at us. And also because Alvin told me so after we left the shop.

Seriously, if you can't play the guitar properly, don't bother even trying an electric guitar and trying to sound like Angus Young but in the end play like God-knows what.

What really gave me the kicks was that at least when Alvin and I played on acoustics, we definitely rocked more than the two kids ever will on the heaviest guitars availible on the planet.

I went back and had some more fun with my wah-wah pedal, but I'm going to hide it for a while because i know it'll be the topic of another grilling by Mother Dearest when she comes back from Beijing tomorrow.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Late Nite Meanderings V

Hmm.

Ok, I've just come back from school, where I have (surprisingly) stayed back to play basketball with my classmates. This impromptu gesture of friendliness on my part was partially due to me having no dinner waiting for me at home, and I wanted to have a meal with the remaining classmates who stayed back in school after our marketing test today, and wanted to slack off the stress which had the tendency of sticking to your head even though its presence is no longer appreciated.

Anyhow, my marketing test went fairly well today, even though I only feel 75% positive about the whole thing. it was over quickly, I finished it in about 40 minutes, just slightly slower than the person who finished it first.

V.I. this morning was particularly pleasant because I managed to confirm that my presentation board graphics were up to mark, but Ayob just didn't like my packaging graphics, which were applied unto a piece of paper stuck onto the box's top itself. Ayob said that my workmanship on the graphics wasn't entirely up to mark, but it was almost there.

The bombshell came when I finally saw what Melissa had produced: utter crap. We had agreed beforehand that the seat would be made out of a plastics sheet, but she was determined to use a rattan sheet which i do believe was more suited to being a blind rather than being used as a seat. In the end, Ayob condemned Melissa's effort, and told her to re-do the entire thing.

In typical fashion, she remained silent, and after probing her slightly, I realised she had no intention to continue working on this project.

What can I say? Melissa's always been a lazy bum, and she'll remain one until someone really jolts her out of her zone of indifference. After Ayob had slammed her, she proceeded to chat with her friends and then ended the session posing 'cute' facial expressions and taking shots of herself with her classmate's brand new Nokia handphone. I just couldn't believe someone could be less concerned with her academic progress.

The least she could do was be more professional about her work, or at least in this working relationship with myself. Damn, I'm done with her anyway.

Basketball after the marketing test was fun, but I soon realised that in future I would require a change of clothes for such an activity. But it was fun all the same even though i only managed to put the ball through the hoop ONCE, but can you blame me when the last time I ever involved myself in an active sport was Secondary Two? Guitar finger exercises/crazy solos not included.

By the end of the day, I am proud to say I've connected with my classmates much more than I ever did since the start of my poly year. Wow. I've decided to commit my wednesday afternoons and evenings for this activity partially to bond more with my classmates, and also to become more healthy.

But I'm getting to school early tomorrow to finish off my V.I. packaging so that I can focus on Patrick's stuff more... maybe I'll ask my other lecturers for some help!


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Do I have A Disease?

Hmm.

It seems even though it's only the second semester, I notice that it's always Alvin and his classmates having a hard time trying to patch up with their schoolwork, while it seems I'm somewhat more eng than they are. I dunno... why aren't I busy with something?

Some of my classmates recently commented that they never saw me do my project work in school, nor see me use the workshop facilities alongside them. Maybe I was just doing my work while they had their meal breaks, or maybe it was just that I was too shy of them and did my work discreetly, and in different places (while they were in the workshop, I was in the studio and vice versa).

I also notice that for Ayob's matrial, form and perspective I tend to use simple, readily availible materials, and my design was uncomplicated and straight-shootin'. Can I justify that claim? My project is completely black (yes, everything is completely black) from the board to the little bits sticking out, and the sand texture covering all of it. All of my classmates didn't get why i always associated myself with black, and why couldn't I just use some 'common colours' such as orange, red, blue or green.

The answer? I'm colour-blind, people! What's more simpler and fool-proof than just using a colour that's elusive, exclusive and effective against colour-blind people such as yours truly? Also, i find that the sand texture of my project stands out remarkably when a spotlight is shined upon it. So I'm just using black to mask the hidden secret.

So this afternoon, some of my classmates were still struggling to finish their stuff whilst i had already finished all of it last friday, and I had polished off my V.I. presentation board by 6 pm.

Back to the subject of my mysterious freedom, i just wonder why it is that Alvin always has to hit a road block, and he's just having the bad luck of running into it this semester and the one before. We both agree that Patrick's one stuck-up little doot, and he's also insidiously crazy about going his way, and not respecting our point of view regarding our own projects. We both also agree that Melissa's another stuck-up little dootess who deserves to fail since she can't even curb her singing and gambling cravings to finish her project duties on time.

Yet again, I really can't give half a rotten dick why these people want to get me down... I'm just going to study for my marketing test now!


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

So Long Beeyatches...II

Hmm.

Whilst Melissa is still struggling with her model-making, I have finally finished my graphics presentation board! Yeah! Feels so good just to have that hurdle gone away, and all that stands between me and tomorrow is the preperation for my marketing test which, alas, is just too meagre to define.

I'm actually quite nervous about my marketing test... given that I haven't sat for a test in a long while, I'm not sure whether I can sit still and get down to concentrating on my paper tomorrow, but I will pray hard tonight. And study hard of course.

Just in case you were wondering why I am so happy about this graphics presentation board, let me just fill you in on the amount of effort spent on this darn piece of paper.

If I'm not wrong, the total amount of time spent on it will amount up to fifteen hours: I first came up with a motif for my board, to give it an arty-oriental feel. Then I drew out the design, coloured the motif in black before cutting it out and pasting it on a piece of A4 paper. I also drew out a logo design for the product unto the paper as well.

This same A4 paper was then sent for photo-copying, producing an enlarged, equal-sized and shrunken version of the image. The photo-copyed images were then cut out, before being pasted unto a piece of A3 paper, which became the prototype graphics presentation board.

The prototype was then shrunken into an A4 sized paper, scanned into a computer and then transferred to my home (I scanned it at Alvin's place) via a Zip drive. The image was downloaded into my computer, and i used photoshop and microsoft paint to edit the picture into three different prototypes.

This morning, the chosen prototype was then printed out into full A3 sized paper (in school), before being shown to Melissa for approval. Melissa said it was too bland, fine, since my image was having a white background, but i then used the school's computer to invert the image, thereby causing the white to turn into black and black into white. i now had a black background.
The motif sections were still grey after inversion, so with the help of one of my seniors, I managed to turn the motif sections from grey to bright, solid, Chinese New Year red. The effect was quite spectacular, and after applying on some text and editing my logo (it turned messy after the scanning), I sent it for colour printing.

Indeed it was spectacular... i had also drawn out two images of the product, along with full colour rendering (not that spectacular), and cut those images out, before pasting them unto them colour prototype.

The whole thing was colour-photocopyed and now I'm the proud owner/designer of a smashingly chic Presentation board cum poster.


Cheers,
Crawldaddy

The Murky Waters Of Songwriting XII

Hmm.

Once again, I've somehow proven to myself that I'm not a guy stuck in his little world of blues licks, repeating themselves on my electric guitar, and maybe I can still learn a new song or two. Provided it's on acoustic.

Couple of days back, I remembered that I wanted to learn how to play 'Blackbird' by the Beatles, but one thing which surprised me was how easy the song is to learn, but I'm still working on mastering it.

The song's only sounds are: Paul McCartney's voice, his acoustic guitar, a metronome, and a bird chirping.

It's interesting how McCartney composed this song, it's based entirely upon harmonised two-stringed chords with an added drone string to bring about a flowing effect. On top of the acoustic guitar is the click of the metronome, and McCartney's gentle voice. Think of 'Yesterday', but simpler, and without the silly string ensemble.

Did I mention this song was rated one of 'Guitar World Acoustic's 25 Greatest Acoustic Moments'? Yeah, I just love learning songs from that list... already I've covered about four or five of them.

Anyhow, I feel that my hectic project deadlines (note to self: kill patrick and melissa) is hampering my songwriting mojo... I can't concentrate, and put down lyrics even though I have the melody all worked out.

I've lost my mojo, baby! Hmm. I dunno.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Blast From The Past I: Common Sense

Hmm.

I'm starting this new 'Blast From The Past' to replace the fledging 'Legends Of Zelda', just to keep you guys entertained because that's what you all deserve when you come to my blog.

So, in this new issue, I hereby present to you...

How To Open A Cupboard Door

It was the year when I was in Secondary Three, and I was the class cheh-maire (chairman, but this means blind in hokkien) and in each class there was a metal cupboard for all of us to lock up our items and effects securly before going home.

This metal cupboard was approximately six foot high, and on top of the twin doors and highly sophisticated locking mechanisms, there was a metal bar, about four foot long and weighing approximately 5-7 kilos, to secure the doors and simultaneously prevent any alien captured alive and locked inside from breaking out.

Since I was the class cheh-maire, I naturally had the keys to the cupboard, and possession of the metal bar as well (in the event of a riot, this metal bar will prove to be very, very useful). And of course, as always the case involving anything more complicated than a post-it note, there will always be a point in time when stupid things will happen.

The handle to the cupboard doors was a simple twist-type of handle, where you just twist it clockwise and hear a loud click sound (yes, very important psychological ergonomics) you will be able to open the door without much hassle.

Similarly when closing, just twist the handle counter-clockwise, and hear the click sound again, you will know that the doors have been locked. Using the key, one will insert it into the lock right in the middle of the handle, and twist the key counter-clockwise to lock the whole thing up.

Unlocking it is just twisting the key clockwise.

One day, after the end of the day, I decided to lock up the cupboard and I had already left when I realised that i had forgotten to take one of my books, which was left inside the cupboard. I went back to class, and saw that some of my classmates had still remained behind.

I went up to the cupboard, and inserted the key and turned it clockwise. Then I tried to twist the handle clockwise, but the handle refused to budge. i tried to manhandle the thing, but it wouldn't budge. Thinking it must be crazy, I inserted the key and twisted it to the left, before twisting it to the right once more. It still refused to budge.

Thinking things couldn't get more demanding, I took up the 5-7 kilo metal bar and started bashing the handle from the left in an attempt to make the handle turn clockwise, which of course caught the attention of my classmates. You would notice your chairman trying to break open your class cupboard by bashing it with a four-foot long metal bar right? I was also cursing at it while I was bashing it, by the way.

One of them decided that bashing the thing wouldn't work as well, so he asked me to stop the bashing, and asked for the keys.

After fiddling around with it for ten seconds, he finally got it open.

Oh, and by the way, I had gotten the directions for opening the door all wrong that day, and that's why, even though I thought it was clockwise, I had done it the opposite way round.

The bloke who opened the cupboard then couldn't stop kidding me about that incident for a month or so.

Yeah, that was when i was lame before I knew I was lame.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Out for blood...

Hmm.

I'm just having the most anxietious day ever (if there is such a word as anxietious). Ok, put it as mildly kan cheong, and throw in a dash of stress and disgust.

Had Patrick's class this morning, and as usual, as when concerned with his point of view on things, he refuses to let me pass the door to completing my project.

Pop art, the perpetual pain-in-the-arse for me, has risen its butt-ugly head to bite me again, and it's like an elusive piece of jigsaw puzzle. whenever I come close to completing the picture, something just manages to misplace itself, and I can't get it all together.

What's worse is that no matter how hard I try to find that piece of jigsaw (metaphorically speaking), it will refuse to emerge, and I fear that this project will be going to the dogs if I can't find a solution quick.

After annoying and irritating me with his silence, Patrick then insulted the whole class by snidely implying that all of us are irrelevant dorks who can't even comprehend a 'simple art movement', and he will only accept our 'mediocre work' when he realises that our 'potential is limited to the extent of such immature boundaries'.

That dude refuses to hint to me what Pop art is all about, and all he knows what it isn't, thereby providing me with information that's worth less than half a rotten dick. i mean, as a teacher, it's right not to spoon-feed, but at least put us on the right track instead of doping around with us and then put us down simply because we don't know what we can do, and how we are going to do it. It's all his focking fault.

Then comes good o'l Melissa. That woman will never answer her phone or reply any sms, much less apply her efforts (expended presumably mostly on karaoke and mahjong) and try and finish our V.I. project artefact on time. It's making both of us look bad, not just herself, and I'm doing all I can to communicate.

Hee Kiah said we lack any form of teamwork. How can I achieve any teamwork with Melissa when I can't even get a reply sms from her, or when I tried to call her 5 times since yesterday, or when i leave three messages with her classmates. True, it takes two hands to clap, and I've done my fair share of attempting to break down the communication barriers with her by calling her, messaging her and even praying for her. I'm just stumped how much I'm going to take before I really give her a piece of my mind. If Hee Kiah demands teamwork from us, then all i can say is that Melissa can't give a damn to other people's expectations of her, and she is simply unability to shoulder responsibility.

She is one person who will be the bringer of the eventual downfall of today's society if we aren't too careful.

Sigh, I 'm just so darn annoyed with Melissa, Patrick and my inability to progress with my work becasue of these two characters. Why can't things be simpler? Does complication negate the quality of work in result? I often find the simplest things work best, and all this complication just doesn't do it for me... and i'm just praying I can find a way out.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Clutch that matey!

Hmm.

Last night at the pub was so freaky... I suppose some women (local and foregin included) were off having a night on the town, and they were all clad in party clothes (fake, plastic bowler hats, sequined dresses etc) and they came in (presumably) because there were lots of guys in there and they wanted to try somethign fun.

They asked a guy to lift up his shirt, thereby allowing them to apply spray-cheese his name on his chest... before one woman licked it all off in full, spectacular view of the whole pub.

right.

Also managed to try a Bloody Mary (illegally because I was at work), and it was just damn spicy. i thought I tasted like spaghetti sauce. Maybe one of these days I'll dare Alvin to down that for his birthday (muahahaha.....).

I'm starting to really enjoy work at the pub, maybe becasue yesterday wasn't so rushed, and maybe because the tips are quite cool to receive at the end of the day (they can even sum up to half of what I'd earn in a whole day at Banquet, at times). However, the cigarette smoke's a killer, and i wish I'd make the stink of it be gone from my shirt at the end of the day.

Oh, and I managed to learn hwo to play John Mayer's 'Daughters', another good song, that:

'Daughters'

I know a girl
She puts the color inside of my world
and she's just like a maze
Where all of the walls all continually change
And I've done all I can
To stand on the steps with my heart in my hand
Now I'm starting to see
Maybe it's got nothing to do with me

Fathers be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers be good to your daughters, too

Ooh, you see that skin
It's the same she's been standing in
Since the day she saw him walking away
Now she's left cleaning up the mess he made

So fathers be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers be good to your daughters, too

Boys you can break
You find out how much they can take
Boys will be strong and boys soldier on
But boys would be gone without warmth from a woman's good, good heart

On behalf of every man, looking out for every girl
You are the god and the weight of her world

So fathers be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers be good to your daughters, too
So mothers be good to your daughters, too
So mothers be good to your daughters, too

Yeah... good song, that.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Into a Grey Sky Morning...

Hmm.

I'm listening to Vertical Horizon's 'Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning)', what a great song... I first learnt to play it when I was 14, and I could never sing it right. I feel so galvanised to this song because the acoustic guitar that runs throughout the songs just completes the picture so brilliantly, and I think the lyrics are simply awe-inspiring:

Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning)

So you sailed away
Into a grey sky morning
Now I'm here to stay
Love can be so boring

Nothing's quite the same now
I just say your name now

Chorus
But it's not so bad
You're only the best I ever had
You don't want me back
You're just the best I ever had

So you stole my world
Now I'm just a phony
Remembering the girl
Leaves me down and lonely

Send it in a letter
Make yourself feel better

ChorusBut it's not so bad
You're only the best I ever had
You don't need me back
You're just the best I ever had

And it may take some time to
Patch me up inside
But I can't take it so I
Run away and hide
And I may find in time that
You were always right
You're always right

So you sailed away
Into a grey sky morning
Now I'm here to stay
Love can be so boring

What was it you wanted
Could it be I'm haunted

Chorus
But it's not so bad
You're only the best I ever had
I don't want you back
You're just the best I ever had

The best I ever had
The best I ever

Well, at an early point in my guitar-playing life, I wondered to myself if i could ever write a song like that.. with such a great mood and lyrical integrity. I wonder if I'll ever get down to covering this song with Alvin... the guitars are tuned half a step down, so that means the song's in A-sharp.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Merdeka!!!

Hmm.

My mum is leaving for Beijing this evening, while I'll be slogging it out at the Irish Pub, running up and down the stairs (according to my aunt, such exercise is supposed to help 'firm up your rear-end', but I pay no such attention) and hoping I can last till the end of the day.

Anyhow, mum won't be home till thursday, so I'll be pretty much free to do whatever i wish, yes... indeed: when the cat is away, the mice come out to play.

I dunno. Working at the pub seems like fun, but I think the main reason why they pay me 50 cents more than banquet is because I have to put up with the darn cigarette smoke, which causes lung cancer. But as it is always the case, I deem myself already numb to the cigarette smoke, however that does not mean I will not be making any efforts to minimise 'exposure'.

Jammed a little bit this morning on my electric after breakfast, and it felt good: turning up the volume and blasting out every note which reverberates the emotion and joy felt while playing blues, rock or prog.

Essentially, I find myself having the tendency to gravitate towards the bluesier side of things whenever I strap on an electric, and then I just go ahead to proceed with two-hand tapping and trying to play as fast as possible, a la Randy Rhoads / Eddie Van Halen, before turning down the volume and just strumming something simple.

I'm also starting to really like my guitar (not that I had previously been hating it), because I'm starting to get the sounds I want out of it much more easily, and also because I can get the right effects I want much more readily.

I also tried out some AC/DC, and I finally managed to wing out a solo for Led Zeppelin's 'Rock And Roll' because I was too lazy to figure out the original solo. But the best feeling was when I fiddled around with the solo to Deep Purple's 'Smoke On The Water', which is the only thing from that song, apart from the intro riff, that I can play.

Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Happy Birthday, Chin Yee!

Hmm.

Today is the birthday of my classmate Chin Yee, and what a fun time we had yesterday celebrating his birthday early.

The class had bought some things for him, and some fun 'Activities' for him to participate in... so the girls brought him into an unused classroom, made the guys hold him down (he was trying to get away in case he was required to do something embarassing... he had no idea), while they presented him with three presents.

He was apprehensive about the three packages, all of which were soft and cushiony to feel. Then he picked the first one, and it turned out to be a wonderful, amazing... lady's sanitary napkin.

Laughing along with the rest of us, he was presented with the 'first task' to accompany his gift, and we all laughed as the girls urged him to fulfill the ballet-dance required of him.

The second package was more, umm, controversial. He unwrapped it, and to all our utter amazement and wonder, he actually liked the 'butt-less' briefs, which came in a tasteful yellow colour. It was like a normal pair of briefs, except that there wasn't a bit of clothe where the butt is covered and there were only two strings going down the side, presumably this design is meant to improve air-flow to and from the rear end.

I dunno about you guys, but I've never seen any type of lingerie as exotic as that 'butt-less' pair of briefs. He even put them on (again urged to do so by the collective class), on top of his clothes and posed for the many cameras snapping at him. Then some of us (including yours truly) took turns to 'present' the briefs to him, a la a soccer player being presented his jersey when joining a club.

Anyhow, it would all have been really fun if Ayob hadn't butted in (pun intended), but the final package (a packet of three-ply facial tissue) was accompanied by the task to kiss one of my classmates. Who it was and whether it was carried out i would not say... hahahaha, but it was a girl, by the way.

Anyhow, since Chin Yee does read my blog once in a while, I'm just want to wish him a happy birthday, and hope he'll enjoy wearing his briefs and experience the full advantage of them etc. i just pray his mum doesn't ask any awkward questions regarding his laundry.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Sigh..

Hmm.

My recent foray into the world of romance has left me with a very interesting question: What do women really look for in a guy?

Of course the answer is subjective, considering the fact that there are so many different women out there, but I'm starting to get worried with the growing trend of people (*cough* Melissa!) who are just looking for the materialistic aspects of a relationship.

What has happened to pure love? Why are so many people just looking forward to that huge big ceremony, lovely big-rock-on-a-finger and life of pure comfort and enjoyment? ok, maybe the last one is quite understandable, but what about the '5 Cs'? Where does the natural feeling come in?

As a person who tries to look at things from various angles, I can't help but notice that 'love' in a relationship is starting to diminish in status compared to 'fast car' and 'diamond ring'. Could it be the fault of over-commercialising diamond rings, fancy handbags and spunky shoes that is driving love out of a relationship? Is money all there is to it?

Love to me is a very important thing. On previous occassions where I have felt that jolt of emotion surging through my veins, the only things which are apparent to me are: the person's heart, and how much that is important to me. I suppose that's the reason why i can never be successful in this area... I'm an overtly-passionate person.

Why not live with a person, and wish you could tell them you loved them everyday, and they'd never get tired of you saying it? Why not hold that special somone by the hand, look them in the eyes, and let them know how you feel without saying any words? Why not sit right by their side, and let them pour out their hearts to you while you listen, and know that the more you listen, the more connected you feel with that special someone?

Why the love for cold, hard cash? Why the love for updated fashion accessories, hairstyles? Why the love for fast cars and flashy handbags? Are these things going to accompany us when we leave this world? Will that Prada handbag, once pawned, be able to buy you that stairway to heaven?

I believe that loving someone does not require anything more than devotion, understanding, and compromise. If you believe that money is essential to having a good relationship, you are right to a certain extent, but where would a couple be without love? Where would this world be without compassion, without care, without sympathy.. emotions connected to love?

And all I'm doing is waiting here, sometimes looking out myself, for a certain someone who'll realise that the only conditions I have set for her, is to let me love her with all my heart, and let me hold her by the hand, and look her in the eyes and not be afraid to tell her I love her. Of course I'll give her small gifts from time to time.

And the more I think about it, the more I feel I could have hit the mark, but I'm just too nervy to do such a thing.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Out with thee, self-anxiety!

Hmm.

Ok, maybe I've found the right song to exorcise my innate self-disgust/whatever... it was actually the theme song to 'That 70's Show', by Cheap Trick. Funny, I suppose the 'big kick' intro helped jolt me out of my (previously) at present state.

Anyhow, I just want to focus on the stupid things I did today. Stupid but fun, by the way. I thought there was debate after school today, and when Alvin and I went to Block L, we discovered (once again, for the second time in a row) that there wasn't anybody in the debate room even though people passed the message around that there would be debate today. What could have gone wrong?

Anyhow, Block L is just outside the basketball courts, and I remembered that some of my classmates were having a healthy dose of exercise (and showing off their legs etc), and I decided to ji-xiao them...

I decided to shout out the name of one of my classmates whom I knew was playing basketball:

Crawldaddy: 'KERI!!!'

C: 'KERI!!!'

On the third time, they looked up, while I quickly ducked down behind the parapet, laughing like a mad-arse.. while Alvin swore he didn't know who I was.

Then we went back to block R, and it was kinda funny cuz Ayob was making people arrange tables and stuff in the studio, and it was wierd seeing Alvin trying to carry a table and shift it across the room with me.. while I encouraged him to try harder.

then came the need to shift all the huge cardboard items which Alvin and his classmates made last semester... We 'toyed' around with Jia Xiong's large cardboard 'pen-knife', involving me marching aroung and pretending the thing was a rifle, a la national day MPs, and twirling the rifles around etc.

Ok, fine, there wasn't any twirling, but it was just stupid carrying the huge cardboard thing around.

We decided to move on to Block M, level six, and as we proceeded along the way I loudly proclaimed to all that could hear:

C: 'Yes, it's very big isn't it?'

yes, I'm back and lame again.

When Alvin and I dumped off the hugantic cardboard penknife on the 6th floor, we took the lift down again, meeting the remnants of Alvin's classmates, who were themselves, carrying large cardboard blow-ups of various items.

After loading them into the lift, Alvin got it into his head that maybe it would be fun to run to the 6th floor, via the stairs, and try and beat the lift.

Being his very good friend, I decided to follow, and I soon discovered that I severely needed a good session at the gym, because I'm sure i couldn't have run up that flight of stairs 6 storeys high in under one minute. of course I soon felt like a fool running up six storeys for no real reason.

Going back, we amused ourselves as we walked out of NYP by talking all about the stupid things we did, and generally agreeing that Alvin was dumber than I was.. so there!


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Is honesty truly the best policy? III

Hmm.

Regarding Monday's 'stunt', I seriously need to get over it whenever I see her in school... I asked Jace for her opinion on the whole thing, and she said maybe two flowers was something that easy to turn down, whereas I could have maybe given her a whole bunch... yeah.. true but I've got a limited budget for love ventures (sorry ladies).

Anyhow, call me stupid but I emailed her yesterday, and I'm not sure if she actually read it or thought I was just being an irritating twat. I just apologised for (maybe) making her embarassed by the whole thing, and (just in case) I also apologised if I've been rude or discourteous to her.

Ok, ok, maybe that was an even stupider thing to do, but come to think of it, whenever I've done something, anything for that matter, I've always wound up apologising just in case I've offended the other party (which you can't say may never happen). Anyhow, I noticed that she just doesn't seem to give a damn, so maybe i should take up from her lead, and go on with life, and take into consideration what steffo tagged earlier.

It's true, there're more fish in the sea, but I somehow take my chances whenever I feel I know someone better, instead of getting a lovely big shock that somehow or another a person whom I thought was ok turned out otherwise.

Maybe it was just the same for her: she wouldn't want to get involved until she's pretty sure I'm an ok guy (maybe the definition of 'an ok guy' is required). But I'm sure you can say that I'm an ok guy, depending on your sense of humour, by the way.

An Ok Guy: someone who appreciates another person's efforts, relatively independent, has own sense of opinion, is generally ok in everything he does, not too brilliant, not too dumb.

Ok! Poll time, judging by what you know of me... comment whether you think I'm an ok guy. Tag or comment anoynomous.. anything!


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Melissa, Melissa, Melissa.....II

Hmm.

I think my tenure as a guy proficient in studio projects is starting to fall apart, no thanks to Melissa of course.

I just don't geddit why, why, why, why, why? Why do I have to be partnered with this unmotivated, vain, materialistic, lazy, powder-puffed daisy? We're the only group whose artefact is still being snaded down and cut inot pieces for joining.

While other groups have literally finished the mile, our finish line is still nowhere within sight, although I have made some progress with my presentation board/poster and packaging. yet again, Melissa is one person who doesn't seem afraid to fail, since her devil-may-care attitude regarding this whole project has been in existent since day one.

The whole thing hangs in the delicate balance of her finishing the item by next week (hello! utterly Impossible with her attitude!), along with my poster board and packaging to accompany it.

It also boils down to the damn lecturer, while Ayob thinks my presentation board graphics is 'Excellent!', Hee Kiah thinks it is 'Too bold and distracting'. This conflict of opinions and the lack of a definite dateline for the project is cutting off my steam, and making Melissa less motivated/kan cheong. In fact I don't think she is in the slightest perturbed by the fact our dateline is next week.

I want to do well for this course, so help me God, if the day comes and she doesn't have it finished, I will really rip her focking head off. And more so if she dares to try and put the blame on me.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Top of The Pops again...

Hmm.

Have you ever pictured a crowd of screaming girls right in front of you (a la 'Hey Ya!' video of Outkast), except those screaming women aren't exactly estatic with you standing there and trying to be yourself? They're out there for your blood.

Well I've been feeling kind of like that lately, and I still can't seem to get that stone out of my shoe.

I don't understand why this sense of hyper-insecurity just will not go away. I've tried to exorcise it out of me with various forms of music ('Crazy Train' by Ozzy Osbourne, 'Stairway to Heaven' by Led Zeppelin, 'I Believe In A Thing Called Love' by The Darkness to name a few), and judging by the wide variety of music I listen to, you would not be surprised that I have probably tried any form of music possible apart from the kind of mainstream crap i detest.

This feeling has intensified so much sometimes I just feel like I'm gonna be sick, and it reminds of the time when i was Primary Six, when I profaned my form teacher. I nearly got expelled for that stunt. Yep, no crapping, I profaned my primary six form teacher, and that's when I gotten myself a sack of guts a million times too big for me to comprehend. Don't get all crappy with me... back then all of us (me and my classmates) hated her with every particle of our minds.

And that's probably why this feeling won't go away. I've gotten myself into such a huge mess before, and after getting away from it, it has come back in a brand new shape to haunt my very existence. I pray night and day for a peace of mind, but somehow I just can't forgive myself and let it all go away... when I listen to a really calming song, it would disppear, but then it comes back whenever I lose concentration. Argh.

I just wish I'd get my life back on track and wehre I want it to go.. I've never felt so hopeless.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Is honesty truly the best policy? II

Hmm.

Just a taster for you guys the ability of the Crawldaddy... i composed this song during mechanics lecture..

Paper Flowers (That Sense of Deja Vu)

It was only a momento which I wanted to give to you
However I didn't realise how it'd be giving not one but two
Why was it you didn't even look me in the eye?
Was it you hated me, or was it you were just too shy?

Maybe it was just not right for me to do so
yet again how could I possibly be right there in the know?
The hullabaloo that ensued, the waves which rose and crashed
and only in the end the reality of it did flash

Paper Flowers, on a special day; breaking towers in your gentle way
Paper Flowers, anytime of the day; bringing reality in such a brutal way.

There is so much I can say, but I'm simply numb too soon
It probably isn't right to spoil the afternoon
Memories and promises I could have given you
Was it possible to be so gentle and yet cruel too?

I have no idea why it's wrong to be the first
yet I suppose i was wrong to love and quench my thirst
right or wrong it doesn't matter one way or another
and only with the toll of time you'd find yet another

Paper Flowers, in your gentle way; breaking towers on a special day
Paper Flowers, in such a brutal way; bringing reality anytime of the day.


Ok, it ain't much but it sure fits the situation, or rather the passing feeling of self-decaprivation. While one side of me tells me that giving her two flowers was rather clever, the other side brings me to the fact she probably hates my guts anyhow. Why can't people just appreciate the good intentions by others?

Writing songs for people has been something I've been doing for a while, and maybe this will go unnoticed by the intended party simply because I suck at direct conversations. I have a disease.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

In The Flesh?

Hmm.

Thanks to those who have responded to my 'situation' so far.. i dunno. i guess life just can't work out the way we all want it to be..

Maybe some of you haven't realised that I'm kinda thick-skinned (I'm writing about this in plain view of the whole world), kinda hard-nosed (look what I've gotten myself into huh?), and kinda crazy as well (most obviously).

I suppose it just ain't my time yet.. I still have alot to live for... failure is the process of success (izzit?).

I dunno, but one thing is for sure, I have a life, and I'm gonna live it, and I'm definitely not ruining it for a bump in the road.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Messin' With My Blues II

Hmm.

I'm still dreadfully reminding myself not to do what I ever did earlier in the day (buying a flower for each girl in class and giving the girl whom I fancy two flowers, and unfortunately causing her to become even more awkward and cold), and hopefully I can try and make things better tomorrow.

Sigh... I keep thinking that of all the things to have done this year, this is one 'funtastic' thing to have screwed up, not to mention that good ol' Murphy's Law (Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong) has focked me up the rear end again.

Yeah... I tried to learn 'Across The Universe' by the Beatles today (filled with sitars and wah-wahs), and i suppose it's ok to say that I ripped off the chord sequence to make a new song (about what just happened today). It's a bittersweet song kinda thing going on.

I simply cannot get it: I try to be a nice guy to my classmates, I try my best to fit in, I let them torture me with their horrigible music, I do their every bidding, I try and try and try and try... to no focking avail. What's happenin' (Use Gail's accent here)?

I dunno... maybe I'm just not one guy to try and approach women, or maybe I'm just taking failure too hard... but I simply cannot admit defeat so easily. Would a guy who's willing to do anything to get that gal just drop everything and hang himself? Fock no, I'm pretty sure any person wouldn't give up on themselves so easily.

Maybe it's bad karma? Could it be that I'm just barking up the same old wrong tree at the wrong time? At times it just seems so hard a dispairing when you got what it takes and it turns around and hits smack on the nose.

Did I mention she's actually older than me? Go ahead and stare... I'm barely 18, and people whom I've worked with, studied under, think I'm 25. She's already 18, but I thought she was 16 when I first clapped eyes on her. I suppose the trick with looking older is in the clothes... I seldom act my age anyway;)

I dunno, does she think since I'm younger than her therefore I'm not eligible? Or is it maybe I just hang out with folk like Alvin and play our funky brand of country... use profound humour... and simply play lame at any opportunity?

I gotta find a way to make myself more connected with this world or I'll just explode folks...


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Crikes

Hmm.

Man, what a Valentine's Day it has been for me. I've been aiming at a girl in my class, but of course i suppose I should have known better not to have bought those darn stupid paper flowers being sold by my seniors.

Ok. Here's the story: I decided to maybe ask this girl, whom I'm aiming, out maybe next week or something, but I soon became aware that my seniors were selling paper flowers to commemorate Valentine's Day. So I decided to buy a flower for every girl in my class, but just give her two to make a small impression upon her.

Of course I winded up buying some for a few of Alvin's classmates, and gave them the flowers during lunch.

After lunch, I decided to give out the flowers, and as soon as i passed her two flowers, everyone literally jumped up and started asking me why I gave her two flowers..

Gosh.

In the end, I didn't manage to give every girl in my class the flower because they were out for lunch and for some odd reason or another just didn't decided to turn up for afternoon class. I ended up giving her the remaining flowers... and she just said she didn't know what she'd do with the flowers.

Man, I'm literally kicking myself for being so darn stupid... I'm such a disgrace to guys everywhere, I can't even put a simple message that I fancy her across. Damn.

And what's more, she became so awkward I didn't dare look her in the eyes, and I can't bear to think that maybe she'll detest me forever because she thinks I'm just a damn prick trying to pick her up (definitely not true).

Is giving her one flower more than the other girls a bad thing? I dunno... I'm always told that it's the little things that count, and maybe I over-played my hand today... i dunno. It's bad enough I've never really even had a proper conversation with her lasting more than three sentences, andt hen I spring this on her on Valentine's day. A classmate of mine even commented that at least I had the consideration to buy all the girls a flower each, and one senior even said it was 'sweet'.

But I suppose Alvin's comment that it was just a bunch of paper stuck onto a piece of wire that made my day.

Ok... question: what should I do if I want to date a girl...? what can I do as a first step? was what I did a bad or ok thing. Was it terrible? please help the Crawldaddy out here.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Which, which, please?

Hmm.

Ok, totally out of the point, but for those who do know what I'm talking about... pick your favourite electric guitar solo in a song, along with the guitarist which played it:

1. Stairway To Heaven (Jimmy Page)
2. Crazy Train (Randy Rhoads)
3. Sweet Child O' Mine (Slash)
4. Smooth (Carlos Santana)
5. Comfortably Numb (David Gilmour)
6. Eruption (Eddie Van Halen)
7. Highway To Hell (Angus Young)
8. Beautiful Day (The Edge)
9. Little Wing (Jimi Hendrix)
10. Hotel California (Joe Walsh)

Also... not to mention the coolest riff (main guitar part)

1. Stairway To Heaven (Jimmy Page)
2. Crazy Train (Randy Rhoads)
3. Highway To Hell (Malcolm Young)
4. I Believe In A Thing Called Love (Dan Hawkins)
5. Fire (Jimi Hendrix)
6. Sweet Child O' Mine (Izzy Stradlin)
7. Smells Like Teen Spirit (Kurt Cobain)
8. Pinball Wizard (Pete Townshend)
9. Black Magic Woman (Carlos Santana)
10. Jumpin' Jack Flash (Keith Richards)


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Pop Tart II

Hmm.

It's the third day of CNY, and guess what? I'm stuck doing prototype clocks for Patrick... racking my brains wondering what Pop Art is all about.

Then I looked at the world around me, and thought very hard hard about the term itself: 'Pop Art'. Popular Art... popular culture... popular tastes... popular syndromes... just what I've been shying away from: popular things.

I suppose I'm the one guy who is the least able to research this whole pop thing because I'm one guy who's absolutely willing to stay out of touch with modern day culture because I could really give flying fock.

Anyhow, I suppose I have to drag my unwilling self into exploring this world we all live in today, and try and juice something interesting out of it and dunk it into my Studio project. So what the pancakes is Pop art all about?

It essentially centering around popular culture... it is transcient (short-term soluble), expendible (easily forgotten), low cost, Mass produced, Young, Witty, Sexy, Gimmicky, Glamourous and BIG business.... according to a library book I borrowed.

Then it hit me (ever so slightly) that popular culture and pop art reflect each other... like the infamous debate as to whether life reflects art or vice versa, and in actual fact, I'm able to apply much of what I like and disdain about pop culture past and present into my project.

I suppose it's a well known fact that the one main vehicle of Popular Culture is MTV (which I absolutely abhorr), and pop singers across the years follow a general rule of: introduction, exposure, usage (by the consumers), struggle to survive, and eventual disposal. This 'curve' can be observed in people (in order of age) such as: Marilyn Monroe, Cher, Madonna, Britney Spears and eventually, Lindsay Lohan and maybe even Jo Jo.

Notice folks, this is not my typical shoot-and-spit-on-'em post... I'm serious, every one of these people have acted, sang and danced. The previous three have effectively been disposed of by the mainstream population, and I foresee Lindsay Lohan being pop culture's latest infatuation and eventual ragged doll.

It is also followed with rock stars: Jimi Hendrix, Elvis, John Lennon, Freddie Mercury, Kurt Cobain (in order of death dates). They are brought into this entertainment industry only to depart either by drub abuse or being shot or being ravaged by AIDS. After being left alone to deal with the spotlight, somehow they just realise that Popular Culture just seems too much, and they are simply sucked into the black hole of a vicious cycle... seems sad, yet true.

I dunno, Pop Culture seems like a bad thing to me... you can look at the bright lights and fame and be dazzled, but that about pressure? what about the drugs and booze? Don't tell me those people out there haven't, at one point in their life, been tempted to take drugs or booze it all night long?

Thin about it in the modelling industry as well... the sacrifices or dirty deeds people do just to get that five minutes of fame and glamour... being a whore for attention is some of people's greatest problems. We can even see it within our very own social circles.


Anyhow, that's why i blatantly remove myself from all of this and just let them go and fool themselves... and buy good records.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

yes..indeed it is moi. 

Nitemare

Hmm.

Last night (or should I say this morning) from the time spanning 2am to 9am in the morning I managed to kill 10 mosquitoes.

Yep, that's right. How I often long for the days when I lived up on the 11st floor of a HDB block and the only damn things which bothered us were the occasional monster cockroach.. at least that's only an occasional thing.. these buggers bleeping bother me every focking night.

The thing is, my home was designed by my dad to be exceptionally ventilated, those who have had the opportunity to visit my place would notice it (hopefully). So that means about 30 percent of wall space has been taken up by doors, windows, louvres, shutters etc. That means UCK-ME (Ultimate Clean-Freak Mother for Eternity) will be pestering me to turn off my fan at night (in focking Singapore? WTF?!!!) and urging me to open my louvres to entice those damn bloodsuckers to come in and have a ball.

As you would realise (as would any person with a brain and common sense), having NO FAN, and TONNES OF MOSQUITOES isn't exactly the recipe for a 'good night's sleep'. In actual fact, it's pure torture having to have literally no air-flow (no fan, remember?), and simultaneously trying to prevent irritating bite-marks the next day by covering myself in a blanket I've used since Primary one.

Naturally I've grown since primary one, and the damn blanket can't even cover me from feet to shoulders, meaning I have to persevere the whining sounds of mosquitoes in my ears every night.

Four times i got up last night, turned on my bed lamp and went on a killing spree. I managed to personally extinguish six mosquitoes with my own two hands, and the remaining four got killed as a result of me killing them subconsciously with my feet while i slept. They love my legs.

If I were a scientist, I'd dedicate my whole life to exterminating every damn one of those buggers off the face of this planet, but that means less food for guppies and fighting fish. Also that means no malaria, no yellow fever, and of course, no waking up at 2am in the morning cursing mother nature and spilling blood on my hands.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Man...

Hmm.

Another reason why we love those 911 lines...


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Another relief effort?

Hmm.

Ever since the jan 26 tsunamis, there has been an outpouring of relief from all over the world, and I even met some of the helicopter pilots who flew over Meluaboh and Banda Aceh in the Irish Pub. As I was wearing a t-shirt having the words 'Contribute to the tidal wave funds', I suppose that drew a few people's attentions.

Anyhow, I suppose I'd better put one of the latest efforts for tsunami relief into the light. Some might sya it's exposing a thing or two. Just click on the most obvious video clip.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

That bloody little guy

Hmm.

There is this one cousin of mine simply gets on everyone's nerves.. not to mention he is really the jewel of my grandmother's eyes.

The youngest son of my fourth uncle, this little bloke can make you want to twist his focking neck off, but since it's the new year, and such occasions arouse a passion to create mischief, i let him go away unscathed.

I brought my guitar to Gramp's today, and all that little twit ever wanted to do was de-tune my guitar. After telling him to stay away from my guitar, I caught him fondling my acoustic at least five times, until I told him to 'stay away from my bloody guitar'.

The good news is, he knows when to take people seriously, but I'm sure his mischief can be fully exorcised out of him in due time, and if he ever dares to raise cain anywhere near yours truly.

Truth to tell, I never really liked him that much, because he is such a pain in the rear end, but somehow i just can't bring myself to support anyone whenever they complain about him, but rather try and make a positive impression of him. The reason for my dual-sided behaviour still remains a mystery.

I just hope my own kid will never arise to such devilishness, and hopefully his (my kid's) passion for guitars will exceed mine.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Day One of CNY

Hmm.

The visiting of relatives or congregation of all of them at Gramp's is one sure-fire way to get you annual harvest going right. I suppose the day went without much event, except that i managed to really connect with one of my cousins, whom i suppose didn't pay much attention to me previously.

I brought my guitar to gramp's, and suddenly everyone thought I was going to play for the whole family. Of course I didn't. Really.

I just sat in a room with my cousin, who is a law undergraduate, and the both of us just bounced off songs which she thought I might know how to play including The Red Hot Chili Peppers' 'Under The Bridge' and 'Californication'. Robbie William's 'Eternity' and Alison Krauss / Ronan Keating's 'When You Say Nothing At All'. She managed to capture me playing my guitar on her digi cam in video.

I suppose it's fine to say that this cousin of mine will be a guy magnet. She's really very pretty. I pray she'll find a good guy who'll treat her right because she is one good gal, and breaking her heart will be an unbearable thought.

It was kinda surreal when I just strummed my guitar and she sang along, which is something that has never really happened... and when all of us left, I was singing U2's 'Stuck In A Moment You Can't Get Out Of' to myself, and to my utter surprise she was singing along as well.

Wow.

Anyhow, for those who are disappointed by their haul this year, you might want to take a leaf out of these guy's books. Don't say I told you to do it arh...


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Mother's Love XII

Hmm.

Ok, well the reunion dinner's over, I managed to play four songs for my relatives, three yielded applause for what ever resaon I do not know. At the end of it came the big clean-up.

Little did I know my innocent uncles, aunties and relatives could leave behind so much rubbish on my house floor... I suppose the wine must have did them in.

Anyhow, when it comes to cleaning, not many can hold a torch to my mother in the areas of consistency, rigidity and obsessiveness. I have to wipe a window with water marks, spending at least ten minutes to make sure that the water marks were gone and were invisible when a light shone through the glass. Also, the glass dinenr and coffee tables were also wiped to a sheen by yours truly under the eagle-like gaze of UCK-ME (Ultimate Clean-Freak Mother for Eternity).

So since I have played the role of SUCK-ME (Son of Ultimate Clean-Freak Mother for Eternity) to its fullest, I can now blog in peace, whilst UCK-ME is still contemplating the stubborn dirt left behind by one of my relatives.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Stop Beating About The Damn Bush!

Hmm.


Something to keep you guys happy for a while...


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Ouch

Hmm.

Everytime you feel that something is bothering your neck, try not to think of this.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Mother's Love XI

Hmm.

We all luuurrrvvve our parents don't we? Whenever we do something, even though it ain't our bloddy fault it will come back and haunt you, culminating with your old people lurking at you behind and chomping down on it with one false turn.

Anyhow, the crack's on the wall, and you can't escape the annual (dreaded) reunion dinner, and of course if there are family politics, you'll notice a few people missing because they didn't polish up their memory of family member's names.

My mother sure knows how to get the ball rolling... being endowed with the title of 'Ultimate Clean-freak Mother For Eternity' or UCK-ME, she is severely determined to eradicate any form of sirt and untidyness in the house. Since the reunion dinner is at my place, that means only one thing of course:

Mother: 'New Year coming arh, better clean up your room and cupboard ok? Today clear out all your cupboards arh.'

Crawldaddy: 'Argh'

M: 'See your table! Soooooo messy! what the relatives will say when they come for reunion dinner arh. I want to see everything cleared by lunch time. Start Now!'

C: 'Argh.'

But of course, that doesn't end there, especially when your mother is the UCK-ME, and you are the 'Absolute Slacker Son' or ASS. Then she'll be coming to you while you are (hopefully) silently playing your unplugged electric guitar and stop short.

M: 'Ah! See! Still play guitar! Start clearing your things!'

C: 'Argh.'

So the Uck-Me will then fire off another string of chores for you to commit to and complete by lunch such as:

M: 'Fertilise the garden!'

C: 'Err... How?' I'm sure she didn't want any controversy regarding us amongst the neighbours.

M: 'Fertiliser lah!' pointing to a huge bag and a kong (hand pail).

Ok, so that means dumping a whole load of Australian Balck Bone powder on the under-nourished buggers.

The previous days also involved me re-varnishing the patio, screen doors and listening to AC/DC while at it. I suppose the neighbours would have preferred me not bellowing out the chorus of 'Big Balls'.

Cheers, Jool.

I just hope that one-son-of-a-gun cousin of mine behaves himself when he comes over. He's a chip off the block as the saying goes.. his dad, my fourth uncle, is one Bruce Lee fanatic, and whenever his little man goes off tangent, you'd hear stuff like:

Cousin: 'I want to kill you and drink your blood so that I'm strong'

WTF?

Of course he's improved over the years, so that means he'll say less and kick more, Bruce Lee style incorporated. Just let him stay too close to my amplifier and he'll be in for a shock of his life.

Just hope UCK-ME let's me off for the next few hours or so, so that I can have some peace.

Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Dinner, Anyone?

Hmm.

Well, here's one guy with Big Balls.

(Thanks to www.mrbrown.com)


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Clutch that matey!

Hmm.

Yesterday, one of the pub customers came with a very beautiful woman, but that isn't justifiable why he just couldn't keep his bloody hands off her.

His hands first went from just holding her round the waist, to the effect he was literally throttling his girlfriend's rear end just before he left the pub.

I just don't know why he'd do that, but I'm sure he'd learn a thing or two from this guy.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Happy Chinese New Year, Laddies/Lasses!

Hmm.

ALright, since I'm now working in an Irish Pub, I suppose the influence of Irish culture has rubbed onto me within two days of wroking there.

Last night was really interesting... i worked from 6pm till 4am in the morning! By the end of it all, I had watched three EPL matches and England vs Wales in an IRB match.

I also smelled strongly of beer and cigarette smoke, and my senses were numbed from the high exposure. So I reached home and conked out at about 4:30 am before waking up at 1pm.

Oh, and I'm workin later at 5pm, so wish me luck.

I suppose the 'highlight of the night' was witnessing my first drunken brawl outside the pub itself last night. There were two guys fighting it out, and kicking at each other, with their girlfriends screaming for them to stop, and trying to prevent the two guys from hitting each other by hugging them, but that only made one of the guys kick a girl even when she was on the ground, and that caused the caucasians in the pub to rush out and try to stop the girl from being hurt. I suppose witnessing such things were part and parcel with working in the pubs... but thank God no-one was seriously hurt, and the guy who hit the girl got a well-deserved kick in the face by the other guy.


ANyhow, I wish all of you a Happy chinese New Year, and if you wish to catch a drink, feel free (only if you're 18 and above) to come around to Molly Malone's behind boat quay, and you might see me tonight.

Gong Xi Fa Chai!



Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Crappo

Hmm.


Here's another one to rule to gossip mags for another year or so.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Them ridiculous Russians...

Hmm.

I've heard some weird stuff regarding musicians, but is this justified?


I think I'd better start revising them parodies.



Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Fly me to the moon....

Hmm.

Be Warned... this is severely disturbing.... do not click here if you have a sensitive sense of humour.

Sorry, Alvin.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Happy Chinese New Year!

Hmm.

Here's something for you to wear for New Year Eve!


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Something to take you mind off things...

Hmm.

Can't take your mind off Idol Fever?


Why not try this as well?


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Ooh Yearrhhhh....

Hmm.

Five days after getting suspended from the convention centre, I've managed to do something I though was previously unimaginable:

I found a new job.

Oh yes... it was kinda interesting.. I was wandering around Boat Quay, looking at the fronts of those restaurants and hoping that they'd be looking for part-time staff. Sad to say, there was only ONE restaurant but they were looking for FEMALE staff waitresses.

I suppose I'd look ridiculous in a skirt etc. I decided to check out the road behind Boat Quay itself... and voila, there it was the Mollie's Irish Traditional Pub.

I always wanted to work in an Irish Pub, the image of those drunken sluggards sloshing around throwing peanuts at each other was just something I though was really funny, yet entertaining at the same time. Of course I'd be the one serving them, and most possibly be their target for peanut throwing.. but the thing about it was the fatc that the tips are spread out amongst the workers, not individual tip-taking etc.

So I walked around, looking for a sign that suggested that they wanted staff: non whatsoever. I'm one guy who's all for the thrill, so I decided to pick up my balls from the floor and just walk in to inquire whether they might have employment space.

The lady I spoke to looked at me, and then went to the phone to give someone a call. After a while, she inquired my age before going away and coming back with an application form.

Amazing isn't it?!!! I just sat there, filled up the employment form and passed it back to her. She went away and soon after, came back with a middle-age Chinese bloke called Don.

Don was a nice guy, he asked me about my working background etc. At the end of about half-an-hour, I managed to confirm that I'm working THIS FRIDAY!!!!


Oh, they pay higher per hour than focking banquet, what's more I only need to dress in non-faded jeans and their polo tee, and make sure I'm there by 6pm on working nites.

Not bad eh? Kiss my furry arse, Banquet buggers!


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

PS: my arse actually isn't furry.

Is honesty truly the best policy?

Hmm.

I just went onto a 'discussion forum' set up by my Comm Skills lecturer, Paul Tan, who decided to make us go online and finally do something useful such as....

talking about a time when communication broke down/there was a miscommunication between myself and another person.

Oh, and I suppose he'd think that we'd be going into the darn forum to really discuss things. It was really filled up with crapping by my other classmates, and punctuated by some real talk by my (notably) female classmates.

In the end, I suppose the only way I was going to exit was to put down a note down myself, just to make sure I don't fail in this portion of the module.

In the end, I put down a time I really did encounter a breakdown/miscommunication, and let it rip. I also just crapped about how communication within the class was really good... and (i really didn't want to do this, but I felt I owed them an explanation) i jsut told the other people that I was stressed in my life, and the music I listened to (which wasn't really to their taste) was part of a self-therapy thing going on, and also due to the fact that I liekd the music.

Truth to tell, part of what I said was really true, but I suppose the true parts will only be known to myself... I like to keep a sense of impenetrability.

I'm quite stressed, though i don't really show it... stressed by my mum cuz she keeps putting all this academic pressure, making sure I don't spend the cash I earn from work etc, making sure my bank account is in check.


Haven't you ever felt that by just letting things rip would make it all much better? I hope my mum will stop breathing down my focking neck, and let me have some peace. And maybe even let me play my guitar while she is in the house... I'm currently having to play hide-and-seek with her.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

The thing about (Singaporean) guys..

Hmm.

Being a person who spent his secondary education in a boy's school, I've noticed that you can meet all of life's wierd and interesting males... basically people we simply love to hate.

Let's list them all down:

1. The Prude
2. The Priss
3. The Pussy
4. The Punk
5. The Poser
6. The Pillager
7. The Person


The Prude

What's a prude..? he's basically the person who's so rigidly adhereing to whatever system.. we know he's job has been secured within the Civil Service. He's the guy who says this and that can't be done because it's not according to the rules....

Existence factor: @@000 because simply all of us stamp these dudes out by exposing him to extreme rule-breaking and then breaking him in.. seriously, who takes rules seriously?


The Priss

The Priss is the guy who is very nit-picky, very fickle and extremely fiddly with whatever requires his attention. The Priss is someone who'll spend an hour arranging his notes or even combing his hair.

Existence factor: @@@00 because there seems to a rise in perfectionists... who waste time unnecessarily. But we're working on stamping them out as well.. they simply waste too much time.


The Pussy

as his call-sign tells you.. the pussy is an effiminate male, who's someone you'd know may spend the rest of his life as a drag queen if he doesn't make it into the second round of Singapore Idol.
Apparently, pussies are the ones who tend to spend a lot of extra time with teachers.. and are often viewed as sucking up to teachers.

Existence factor: @@000 because they exist in the 'upper echelon' of our education pyramid who somehow managed to juggle perfectly the delicate balance of maintaining their perfect nails and mugging.


The Punk

Essentially a rocker-cum-troublemaker due to his ability to live out the rock 'n roll lifestyle while managing to cause your chemistry teacher to have a nervous breakdown. Also the main shtick in stripping episodes and birthday bashes (literally).

Existence factor: @@@00 because everybody wants to be the main troublemaker anyhow, anytime, anywhere.


The Poser

Just the guy who tries very hard to be The Punk, but somehow falls short due to the fact that he is a false-front kind of idiot. Very good example: Ernest Teo.

Existence factor: @0000 because nobody wants to be a poser, only the one who can't help being one.


The Pillager

Somehow this guy manages to get away with everything he does.. cheating... lying... stealing... ripping off.... everything! I really hate these people... but they are oh so unrare..

Existence factor: @@@@0 because nobody in their right mind steals from each other.. Yeah Right! Most of the guys are like this anyhow.


The Person

Just your average guy... very cooperative, funny when desired, serious when required and very sociable. Just someone you'd meet and say hello to.

Existence factor: @@@00 because they're all dying in comparison to the Punks and Prisses.


Ok, I've just about covered the main areas which guys can fall into... I'm not one of these people... maybe 70% The Person, and 30% The Punk. I dunno... judge me?


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Success!

Hmm.

Today's ergo powerpoint presentation was a real blast! I was supposed to spend only 15 minutes doing my stuff, but in the end, I spent like half an hour from start to finish, including the asking of questions and feedback from my lecturer.

It was fun, doing the presentation.. just exercising my 'Improvisational-Crapping' skills... and showing my classmates the crazy-assed photos including me and Alvin having a meal at McDonald's in NYP (the topic of my ergonomics presentation). I suppose it helped that they laughed at the appropriate times.

I managed to skim through most of my mechanics test today.. though I'm only 60 percent sure of what i put down on paper. I was actually the first person to leave the class, after handing in the paper... I'm sure I'm going down in flames for this one.

Anyhow, marketing was a very interesting episode of quirky humour, which I'm not going to go into details of.

After marketing, I skipped off back to the studio to make a box for containing my piece of work intended for my 'Material, Form and Perspective' module, which consists of a single piece of MDF board.

It was quite fast, making the box, it only took about 40 minutes, and throughout making the box, I had the nagging feeling that someone was talking about me behind my back.. maybe it's nothing. I managed to finish off the box, shove my board in and tie it up with some left-over plastic string lying around.

Then as I was leaving, Jool managed to catch sight of me carrying my board inside the box, when he asked me

J: 'Hey, who you giving that to?' he noticed that I had tied a small bowtie with the excess string, causing the box to look like an early valentine's day present.

C: 'for nobody.. it's just containing my MDF board.. see you mate'


Then as I was walking out of Block R, I met one of my classmate, who wasted no time in speaking her mind to me:

Classmate: '(my name), why you everytime spend so much time with the other class?'

C: '...'

Classmate: 'You can spend more time with us you know... don't worry lah..'

when she said that last sentence I had that fleeting emotion like i was a lamb invited for dinner with the wolves.

Once again, I can only say this to my dear classmates: It's nothing wrong with you guys, it's just that I feel out of place hanging out with you guys... can you blame me? We feel a sense of distaste regarding each others' music, I speak mainly in English, and you guys converse in mandarin... and that's just basics... I feel like I'm intruding with something that's none of my business whenever I step into class. What more can I say?


Also, I tend to be a loner. So I suppose I give out this 'aura' of being supremely unconcerned sometimes... but I'm a passionate dude.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy