Yes thats right you heard me. The The Juggernaut has been stopped dead... (ironic innit? ;P) But fear not my darlings for i shan't abandon thee so easily... Just to occupy u guys in the meantime check this out! Here are some songs that i currently like/am listening to/are on my playlists... ;D

Enjoy! ;p

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Date: 8th of June 2007
Time: 0134 hours
Task completed: Composed a new piece
Current emotion: (Hint: Listen to the piece)

I'm finally home, where I belong. In case all of you still don't know, I have moved into a new house. And as there were some complications with my Internet connection, that explains why I haven't been able to post in RANDTS and in my own blog as well. In fact, I've only got back my Internet connection like five hours ago?

Lots of unpleasant things have happened lately but I'm taking it cool and calmly. They aren't issues that are easy to handle but nevertheless everything should be (I'll use the very word) settled within a couple of weeks. Don't worry, everything will be fine. Of course, I'm quite worried about some of my other friends who aren't really fine.

Anyway, to rant about my denial of access to the Internet, I lodged a complaint to TMNet on the 26th of May and it wasn't until 30th that I finally made an official report to their technicians because the support team couldn't help me. On the 1st of June I received a call saying that my Internet connection is restored but upon inspection, I still couldn't get into the Internet. On the 2nd of June I made a second report, in which I kept calling them daily, complaining to the TMNet officers on how sluggish they are to just reset the port at the server near my housing area. It wasn't until one week later, that is yesterday (7th of June) that they finally arrested the problem. Talk of efficiency!

I've been in the mood to compose new pieces now. All the pieces that come into my head were played spontaneously on the piano before I write them out on black and white. I find it is a far better way for me to express my feelings rather than following books and music scores. I don't need music scores to help me express my emotions! *laughs*

Anyway, this is the first piece that I'm posting in public for people to listen. Be forewarned! It is a classical piece, not rock, not pop. I've included three instruments, namely the piano, violin (string ensemble) and the double bass. I can't really ask you to "Enjoy!" because it isn't such a happy or joyful piece after all. As it is in MIDI format, it is not able to "perform" very expressively and it is meant to be expressive the "Henry style". Ask Joe and he would know. He's listened to me playing it before. *beams* It sort of reflects my January 2007 semester where almost nothing went right.

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I am a huge fan of Indie Rock. For your information, Indie Rock is a genre of alternative rock that primarily exists in the independent underground music scene. "Indie rock" is shorthand for "independent rock", for many of its artists are or were unsigned or signed to independent record labels, rather than major record labels. It is not strictly a genre of music (although the term is often used to reference the sound of specific bands and the bands they have influenced), but is often used as an umbrella term covering a wide range of artists and styles, connected by some degree of allegiance to the values of underground culture, and (usually) describable as rock music. You can find more Indie bands from mypace coz you can host your own band page where you upload your music on it and people stream it at the end of the day.

I'm always listening to... bands like Dashboard Confessional, The New Amsterdams, Nada Surf, The Honorary Title and etc..

I stream Indie music from HERE weekly to know more incredible music from the underground that rocks my socks off. Most of the songs here are from One Tree Hill. And i do love songs from The O.C. I'm crazy over these 2 drama series. Haha.. That made me visit these sites to check out MORE Indie music from each and every episode.

• oth-music
• musicfromtheoc

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I figured I have been absent from this blog for quite a while, finding something to write about. Since I have been very much into jazz drumming nowadays, I guess I would write a little bit on a few of the world's greatest drummers. Starting with my favorite of all time, Buddy Rich.

Buddy Rich a.k.a Bernard Rich is arguably the best jazz drummer of all time. With a remarkable career which spanned seven decades, beginning from the time when he was 18 months old, you can say that he was a child prodigy even in his early days.

Name: Bernard Rich
Born: 30th September 1917
Died: 2nd April 1987
Honors: The Downbeat Magazine Hall of Fame, Modern Drummer Magazine Hall of Fame, Jazz Unlimited Immortals of Jazz Award

Being a kid with a natural sense of rhythm, Buddy Rich became a regular act on Broadway even at the age four. He was known as "Traps The Drum Wonder" and was the 2nd most highest paid child entertainer in the early days of his career. Rich was well known for his immense speed and dexterity in play despite never receiving any formal training. It is said that he never and refuses to practice outside of his performances.

Buddy Rich began his jazz career in 1937 when he started playing with Joe Marsala at New York's Hickory House. Two years later he was invited to join Tom Dorsey's band and he soon played alongside the jazz legends like Gene Krupa, Charlie Ventura and Louis Armstrong. His fame brought him to feature in several Hollywood movies, namely Symphony of Swing, Ships Ahoy and How's About It. Being a legend in his own right, he even had the honor of performing in front of the king of Thailand, the queen of England, Franklin Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and King Hussein of Jordan.

Rich continued to remain active in drumming even towards the end of his career and he was known for having a rather eccentric nature. Word has it that he once got mad over the issue of one of his band members wearing a fake beard and gave him a tongue-lashing for it. But I guess that eccentricity of his makes him a brilliant musician in a certain sense.

Buddy Rich died of heart failure in 1987 and it was none other than a good friend of his, Frank Sinatra who read out his eulogy at his funeral. A legend truly, Rich can only be described as the greatest drummer to have ever lived.

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Recently I have been really stressed out and going mad with all the things going around me. Things seem to be moving so fast that I'm starting to act very weirdly. Must be the influence of all the crazy things going around. *pauses to think*

So weird is my mood nowadays that I have began to develop new obsessions. Besides my crazy stint with jazz lately. Despite the busy weeks and killer deadlines I have to meet weekly, I was happy that I got to play drums for an annual event lately. *grins* and for the first time in my life, I tried my hand at jazz drumming... It was such a cooooool experience!!! *grinning to the point of insanity* Anyways, I'd better get to the point soon before you guys start yelling "Enough about the damn jazz already!" that is, if you are not interested in jazz.

Alright, about my weird obsession. Believe it or not, I have been going online daily to download something weird, and I have a pretty huge collection of it now. I guess this revelation would probably draw some form of persecution from certain parties who think they know me well. Honestly, I don't know since when I turned to this "obsession" or why. Perhaps it is because it provides me some form of... erm... satisfaction (in want of a better word). But I guess it's not wrong to have such interests, even older people still do. Well, do tell me what you think about my new obsession...

Well, actually I go online everyday just to download...




























Oldies (yeah, those really old songs)... and I seem to really love listening to them that it seems freaky to me. Maybe I'm just going crazy or I'm just missing someone way too much *sobs*

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I confess,
I have a weird obsession with music.
I crave for the sound waves that
vibrate my eardrums and breaks my heart, or just makes my heart pumps faster than normal when i see those hot singers..

and here are my


Top Five Favorite Male Artists in Music!

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I've actually used this title before to write on a similar topic, but never mind, I'll use it again for a different purpose. Actually this post sparked off when I heard that Joe got invited into a jazz band, which he has always wanted to join.

I've always wanted to form or join a local chamber orchestra since I've started learning the piano. To be very honest, I never had the opportunity to do a classical music performance with a chamber orchestra. No, although I had performed in a small orchestra before during my school dramas, they don't count.

I always have problems trying to find people who know how to play different instruments, such as the violin, flute, trumpet, cello etc. However, I have no luck, or when I could find a talent, that particular individual is not so passionate about playing anymore due to studies and the like.

Now that I'm in university, I noticed that there is this girl from church who knows how to play the violin, and she has a diploma qualification, too! I've heard her playing and even got to play with her during worship in church. I could see that she is really good and I have always wanted to at least duet a classical piece with her. Still, because I don't really know her well and neither does she to me, I cannot be sure if classical pieces are really to her liking now. You know how people's tastes change.

Two of my goals in the field of music are to make a public performance next year (at the same time sitting for my Diploma in Public Performance examination) and to form or join a chamber orchestra. The former goal can be achieved easily. It's the second goal that needs work.

Seeing people play in an orchestra always thrills me, which is why I join the Chinese orchestra. However, I want to duet or trio with my piano, which is my major instrument. I never seemed to have that luck and it is so difficult to find people of the same sort of interest with me, that is being interested in classical music.

Seriously, playing a duet or trio (or better still, a quartet) has always been my dream, and it's yet to be realised. To Joe, if you have the chance to go or a jazz band and you like it, I say go for it. When it's not to your liking then you can decide otherwise. Opportunities like this don't come often, and mine has yet to present itself.

Therefore, are there any musicians out there who can play any instrument besides the piano? Anyone interested to duet or trio with me? If there are, I'd gladly arrange a day when we can all meet and do a "chamber".

Music has all this while been my passion, and my orthodox sort of training has brought me up to have a strong liking for classical music alone. My passion for classical music is such that I never got myself exposed to Pop, Rock, Heavy Metal, R&B etc. until just very recently. There are the pros and cons of such orthodox training.

The advantage is that you get to train your technique properly and use your technical abilities to produce a great performance. However, such orthodox training may hinder creativity especially when you have to play a modern piece, which require improvisation, knowledge of certain chords and so on. Also, musicians that are trained like this can play very well according to the score, but may find it hard to play by ear, unless you have the gift of perfect pitch.

I'm really looking forward to the day when I can perform with a small group of musicians, those who share the same interest as me. It would really be a memorable one for me.

Will my dream remain just as a dream? I've waited for ten years already.

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Linkin Park's new video is out. 'What I've Done' will be their first single for their upcoming album 'Minutes To Midnight' to be released next month. Too bad I'm not going to wait as the leaked album being downloaded via µTorrent now on my PC.



The song and video is about guilt after wronging the world. Watch the historic footages of the video very closely.

If you're are having low bandwidth there is streaming audio below for 'What I've Done'.



~multum in parvo~

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» I find [music] more desirable than awkward silences or thunderous cacophonies.

It’s almost 5am Saturday morning, and Joe’s serenading me with his guitar. He’s playing a medley of melodies ranging from the melancholic to the mellow. He seems engrossed in being totally random about it all.

I wonder what’s going through his mind as I type this. I wonder if he’s been trying to tell me something all this while. Maybe I’m just too tired - or thick - to notice. Or maybe he’s just playing coy; jual mahal, they call it in Malay. Who knows for sure? For now, at least, I’m just content to listen to him play, sitting by his side.

I wish I’d been more musically-inclined when I was young. I envy the way he strums on his guitar almost nonchalantly, digits flying across the chords. I can only imagine my own hands do the same. “I used to practice three hours a day,” Joe says, reading my draft awhile before lying back on his bed, plucking the strings and making wonderful music again.

How different would I be if I had learned to play some sort of instrument back then? Right now I can only appreciate music in the commonest, simplest sense - the most I can do is interpret the underlying themes and meanings from song lyrics. I don’t really have an ear for music: I can’t read notes, can barely tell one tune apart from another, can’t carry a tune of my own (with instruments), and can’t compose works of my own.

But I love music nonetheless. I find it more desirable than awkward silences or thunderous cacophonies, and I definitely wouldn’t enjoy life as much as I do today without some form of music or other.

Speaking of which, I’ve not heard Buddhist scriptures for a long time. I miss the soothing contemplative sounds of scripture music…

Anyway, I’ve always thought - and still do - that music is food for the soul. ‘You are what you eat’, they say; hence those who listen to music are more likely to ‘get in the mood’ of the particular song they’re listening to at the time. Christian music is upbeat and catchy, glorifying the good of the Almighty, and their immense faith in His grace. Emo music draws you into the storms of your soul and spirit.

But some of my favorites are Maksim Mrvica’s orchestral tunes: they always convey many, many emotions, from joy and sorrow, to anger and calm. Strange how his music reconciles seemingly opposite emotions then intertwines them to create deep, moving songs. His works never fail to stir me, and I listen to them every chance I get.

If music is really food for the soul - some people I know are very, very hungry indeed. They probably have never eaten for the whole of their lives. I wonder how I could reach out to these friends of mine. Music helps quite a bit, I find. Maybe they could use a little help of their own.

~verus rara avis~

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The song 'Breath' by Breaking Benjamin my current favourite song. I can really feel the pain in the song. It's dark theme for some reason helps me cope with my physical ailments. It's a great song in my opinion. Listen to it.

Play song



Enjoy! Don't blame me if you don't like it.

~multum in parvo~

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i love avril lavigne's GIRLFRIEND.
its a fun song.
something you can jump and dance to.
totally addictive.
and the music video is like, soooo adorable.

play song.

for those of you who had never heard of this song,
or even came accross it, well, you should.
if you're feeling down or lumpy (haha.lumpy?),
then listen to the song.


have fun listening people ;)

mwaaaaxx,
jasmine

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So I've been having a number of light bulb moments considering education lately. Maybe its the influence of the education majors I'm around, maybe its the influence of living 24/7 for 7 months in an institution of higher learning. Whatever it is, I seem to have a lot to say about education recently. Today, what is bothering me is the absence of music in education.

If you had Malaysian public education like I did, then the only music education you ever got was probably something like mine. 6 primary school years of being taught songs by my piano-playing music teacher; songs that talked about telephones, fruits, patents, playgrounds and the like. Also, a couple of lessons on how to hit different notes on a recorder. Other than that, I pretty much had to take all my music lessons privately.

What boggles me is that our country seems so indifferent and unenthusiastic about teaching kids music. Music was the 'waste' time period during my days at La Salle primary which often got replaced with English and Science come the weeks leading up to UPSR. Music is still seen by many as something we should know just in case we can't get a "real" job. Worse case senario: be a music teacher LAH.

What a load of crap man. If I were to ask, how many people don't listen to music, and I mean any kind of music, be it classical music like Bach or Mozart, or oldies like Sinatra and Nat King Cole, or cheesy pop music by Britney and Paris Hilton, or the talking thing, "rap" that they call music, or the bling bling crap that I never get, if I were to ask how many people didn't listen to music, no one would put up their hands. If I were to ask how many people were unmoved by music or had never found a song inspirational or emotionally heart robbing, again, no one would put up their hand. We all hate "My Heart will go on" from Titanic, but you have to admit, as sloppy and cheesy as it is, in the moment (the I jump, you jump moment and the Jack I'm flying moment) the song did move and stir up emotion.

Maybe I'm a romanticist and a greater proponent of the humanist and emotional side of life. But somehow, I think that there is no emotional depth or passion in our education system. All that is important seems to be our ability to memorize and puke. What has happened to the humanist side of it all. Where is the love for school, the thirst for education, the passion for life? Why aren't we teaching our kids about the things that move us. Things like music. Isn't emotional self expression just as important as the sciences. Or do we really think that it is a par below everything else. On a side note, no one has ever thought of music in math?!? Or math in music. There is a 'science' of music too. Why don't we explore all that.

So, my proposition is this: bring music back to schools. We don't need to make it compulsory or anything, at least not at first. I admit the cost of implementing music is pretty high taking into account the cost of instruments and all. However, if we start by offering it as an elective, allowing our kids the option of studying something that at least they have interest in, like pop culture, the basics of music, the wisdom of Bono, anything that involves and evokes the passion that comes forth from music, if we can do that, then I think we're are giving kids a REAL sense of education.

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