YMCA dinner

Hmm.

Just came back from an End-Of-Year dinner at Excelsior hotel.. it was alright and the MC and the games and jokes were incredibly funny. Was pretty full though.

Looking forward to a performance by The Oslo Castaways at Marine Cove tomorrow evening at around 7pm. I will be performing myself on New Year's Eve around 9pm.

If you wish to have a listen, just PM me on the exact location.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Head, mind and brain

Hmm.

I woke up this morning with a definite task in mind to accomplish: clean up and re-string my Fender Telecaster which has been in need of a long-overdue maintenance spree.

So this is what I did:

1. Polished the frets, tuning knobs and stamp-steel bridge assembly including the saddles.
2. Lemon-oiled and scrubbed the fretboard to a nice dark lustre.
3. Buffed away any scratches or scuffs in the finish.
4. Polished the finish as a whole.

After I had completed the job, I was completely satisfied, particularly in the areas which I had polished the metal portions to an incredible shine. However, there was a spot of trouble with the bridge pickup; apparently when I had removed some bits of foam, I had disturbed the pickup, and it was not supposed to touch the brass plate beneath.

Being the curious individual that I am, I sourced the root of the problem and solved it by folding a cardboard namecard and slotted it underneath the pickup. Then it was back to business: the full-blown telecaster twang!

Right.

Just in case I didn't fill you guys in, I went to KL on Sunday morning and came back on Tuesday evening. Sunday evening I had this incredibly huge dinner, after which I effectively lost control of my digestive system, crapped out several times and culminated in a 10-min merlion session.

Only thing was that the merlion effect involved somewhat solid particles.

I spent the whole of Monday delirious with fever and nausea, and I spent the most of Tuesday feeling somewhat better after visiting a local clinic at about 11:30 on Monday evening and receiving some medicine to relieve myself of the nausea and dizzyness.

I tell you one thing: my 2nd uncle's home in KL is seriously one heck of a horrible place to be even if you're not sick. Here's why:

1. It is the living area of 8 adults and 2 small children under the age of 4. My granddad, my 2nd uncle and aunt, and my 3 cousins. Add that figure to my folks, my brother and myself, my 1st aunt and uncle, my 2nd cousin and his wife and you have 16 people.

2. Now, 16 people co-existing within the same house means one thing: noise. And lots of it.

So while I was delirious with fever and trying to get some sleep, I was severely distracted by the noise of all 15 individuals making some kind of noise at the same time. There was the baby screaming, my nephew crying and the older folks chatting, scolding or pacifying the kids and basically making a whole lotta fucking noise.

I couldn't stand it. Half the time I was wishing I would just die there lying with my churning innards and my brain making weird dreams as I lay there hugging the pillow and hoping the noise would go away.

Somehow or another I had pretty much slept almost 30 hours by the time Tuesday rolled along, but I guess it was making up for the lack of sleep I had on Monday evening due to a bad feeling in the gut. Only after the merlion session did I feel any better.

So now I'm still feeling the after-effects of my trip to Malaysia. It seems that 1 out of 5 times I go back north I would return with some sort of ailment. It sucks big time but that's the reality of not existing with a cast-iron stomach and a mental capacity to withstand the noise of 12 people all making some kind of noise at the same time.

I seriously wanted to tell them to shut the fuck up.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Ho Ho Ho

Hmm.

Merry Christmas to y'all and wishing all your dreams come true.

Keep smiling always.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Definitely in the wrong section

Hmm.

People ask me how my project is coming along... and I guess it's coming along fine. I just finalised the brief with Mr Sannie and he's pretty happy with what I came up with: general, not too specific, but still giving a generous amount of direction and creative freedom.

I spent a fair amount of money today... early Christmas present for myself.

Spoke to Superdel earlier in the day, and I explained to her how an electric guitarist functions in a band. Essentially, the guitarist plays about with his tone, his guitar sound and he uses guitar effects to make this possible.

As for me (begging your pardon if you're not sure about the technical jargons) I plug my guitar into my wah pedal, followed by a booster pedal, an Overdrive, a Chorus an EQ pedal followed by an A/B switch pedal.

The pedal in perspective which I purchased today is the booster pedal, which incidentally costs $72 after Yamaha's festive discount. I had sold off an old pedal of mine for $90 because it wasn't serving my needs in the way in which I needed it to, so I got rid of it, and got this one instead.

So far, I'm very happy with it. I can get really crazy sounds out of it.

Now to my misery.

I just can't stand being in the same area of the studio with Barney. I mean.. her voice, every word she utters sounds like a 7-year-old child whining. GROW UP, and for your own sake, STOP TALKING AS THOUGH YOU'RE ON TELEVISION AND YOU'RE EMBARASSED. IT'S ALL AN ACT AND WE ALL KNOW YOU'RE JUST ACTING CUTE.

How old are you? Do you even take this course seriously? I told myself I would never ever mention you on this blog, but this is way beyond human tolerance. And I have to resort to turning up my music just so I can shut out your finger-nails-on-chalk-board kind of voice.

SHEESH.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Back by popular demand

Hmm.

So what has Crawldaddy been up to in terms of recording his original material?

I do recall many of you telling me how much you enjoyed 'Healing of Time', and I personally felt it was a song that was hard to beat.

So after many late-night sessions trying to come up with a decent enough song to take over it, I've decided that this is one song that is seriously hard to beat. Therefore, I have decided to re-record 'Healing of Time', and here it is on this blog in all it's lovey-dovey, mushy glory.

I have added a shaker track and an additional rhythm guitar track to make the song sound much more fuller than its previous incarnate.

So folks and fellow bloggers... enjoy


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Bent out of shape again

Hmm.

Gig: boring

Mood: Indifferent

Monetary status: stunted

Hands: tired

Throat: ulcer-infected

Verdict: It was a very long, drawn out, mother-screaming-at-you-for-spending-too-much-money, nobody-wants-to-hear-you-play-country-music, oh-fuck-em-all day.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

The Gig is Here!!!

Hmm.

Hello folks! Quick update now: I will be playing at Marina Cove on this saturday 16th of December 7pm so please come and give your support if you have the time, or if you simply want to have a listen at what my live solo acoustic act is all about.

I would say that this gig opportunity is pretty cool, and I was on tenterhooks for 2 days since Wednesday when I had replied the organiser's email and hoped for his reply.

Guess I've got my wish come true :)

So what will be on the playlist, you ask? I can't say much now... but I can safely say that it will be an evening of folk, country, pop and originals by yours truly. If you feel that the recorded nes don't quite make an impression upon you, I daresay my live performance would out-do those recordings any day.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

3 New CDs, ramblings

Hmm.

To take a break away from playing too much guitar, today I made the decision to buy 3 classic rock and roll CDs:


The Beatles: Let It Be (famous tracks: Across The Universe, Let It Be, Get Back)

Guns N' Roses: Appetite For Destruction (famous tracks: Welcome to The Jungle, Paradise City, Sweet Child O' Mine)

ZZ Top: Eliminator (famous tracks: Sharp Dressed Man, Legs)

I've been dying to get these 3 albums for a very long time, and I suppose I made a very good decision because I've listened to all of them and they have not disappointed me. Haha, good old hard rock roots still run deep in my soul.

Christmas this year is going to be a very long car ride up to KL to visit my relatives, and hopefully catch up with them regarding the recent events. I'm thinking my nephew and niece have both grown alot in my absence and with the presence of their immensely doting Grandparents (my 2nd maternal uncle and aunt).

I can almost imagine their chubby faces when I see them next.

Oh yes, I might have a gig on Saturday evening (see this blog for any further updates) and it would definitely be me by myself along with my trusty acoustic, harmonica and some new gadgetry to spice up my live sound.

So please watch out and hopefully drop by to gimme some lurrveee. Kidding.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

so it's back to bikes

Hmm.

Well I'm back to bicycles again for my studio project. I guess it's only right since I designed a bicycle stand last semester before my attachment to DX.

The only issue is: innovation.

I need to find a way which no one has thought of regarding how people ride bicycles. However, maybe I could focus on a bicycle which is designed in such a way that it is very difficult to steal?

What about 'relevant' issues, such as carrying loads, rider safety etc?

Would cyclists need to save space when parking in the future? Why not have a bicycle which has a low centre of gravity such that loads can be carried and loaded much easily?

I'll stew on it for the time being, and thanks for the company.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy

Hmm.

As we all know... Christmas is just around the corner, and I'm sure many of us have plans, or can foresee what we would be doing for Christmas. I'm sure most of you guys have interesting things to do during Christmas... having a meal or spending time with your folks and family.

I wonder what I'll be doing during Christmas... I'm not getting emo or anything, but I guess it's the downside of living in an aethist household and being single. I don't even want to talk to her anymore so please cancel that thought... although it is a very tempting thought. Ok, confusion and contradiction here.

Maybe for Christmas I should just go down to the pub, have a pint or two and have a nice chat with Gerry and Mags.. see how they're holding up and maybe get completely pissed for the very first time. Then again, they're better off spending time with themselves instead of having a hanger-on being a lamp post to their activities.

Do I feel inadequate? Maybe. Do I feel lonely? I don't know. Self-inflicted isolation does has its drawbacks and I made the decision, no one else.. so I can hardly start complaining now can I? Maybe I should start learning from Two-Headed-Snake's pet parrot and start gossip-whoring for the sake of gaining some popularity brownie points. Nah... not my style.

I also want to give a shout out to my bro Jool. Just let him be and rock on mate.. nothing beats self-determination.

I really need a time-out... the adjustment period between ending attachment and starting P6 is pretty much over.. and I have yet to rest my mind and just chill. Maybe that time will only come when Christmas rolls along.. so maybe I can use Christmas to chill out?

Cool.


Cheers,

Crawldaddy