unhappy

Not happy right now.

Practice today was... never mind. I though going through all the old songs would be easy and fun.

Fat hope. Me and Wen Jie were switched to 1st Clar for all the songs except Ocean and Midsummer. THEN, we were supposed to SIGHT-READ all of them. "Spanish Fever" was fine, because 1st, 2nd, 3rd Clar are all the same. "Bandwagon"... now I've got running notes instead of melody. Could sight-read about a quarter of it at the fast tempo that our SL decided to put it at. "A Midsummer's Night Dream" was terrible. I KNOW we've played it before, BUT it still has 5 flats/6 sharps!!! I couldn't remember the fingering at all, and got scolded. "Princess Mononokoe" was a nice song, but I still couldn't sight-read it. "Gershwin!" (now I remember) is a fun song! But still could only sight-read about half of it.

Because of that, the seniors were very unhappy.

HELLO. This is the FIRST day that we've recieved all these scores. WHY can't you let us practice it instead of judging us on our FIRST, SIGHT-READ performance!!! I mean, the whole purpose of sight-reading is to let us get a feel to the song, not to learn the song after running it a few times through. And you've played them before, you know how it sounds like, but we don't.

Another thing.

---

SL: "Do you know whose Gershwin?"

Everyone except Sec 4s: "No."

*SL looks incredulously at BM*

BM: "He's the guy who composed Rhapsody Blue!"

*everyone except Sec 4s looks confused*

*SL and BM buries heads in scores*

---

Ok, maybe that was a little exaggerated.

But I honestly feel that that was quite unfair. How are we supposed to know who is Gershwin. Do YOU know who is Gershwin?

Maybe its just me again, not playing well. Maybe I'm being stupid criticizing others when I play so lousily.

But still.

And our clarinet tutor is SOOOOO nice! He bought us PIZZA!!! TWO WHOLE PIZZAS!!! From Canadian Pizza 2 (two) 4 (for) 1 (one). Wow.

But still.

"Spanish Fever". "Bandwagon". "A Midsummer's Night Dream". "Princess Mononoke". "Gershwin!".

That's a lot to practice before Wednesday.

Hey that reminds me, no school on Monday because RI sports/musical (and uniformed? not sure) groups did so well (well at least we/they think so) in their competitions/SYFs that the Headmaster declared Monday a school holiday!

YAY!

And Tuesday's a public holiday (Labour Day)!

YAY!

And Wednesday's back to school!

...

Never mind.

I think I'll start a interesting quote section.

Whoever I quote, if you have any objections please inform me and I shall delete that quote.

...

I AM SO RANDOM!!!


--- interesting quotes ---

"Dialogue Obeservation Test & Assessment; DOTA"

Rating: Ahahaha! (3 stars)

new songs

Our conductor shortlisted some songs for our July concert. Some of them are old (to the Sec 3s/4s) songs like "Spanish Fever" and "The Bandwagon", but there's this new song that starts with "G" and ends with "!" and its a very nice jazz/rag piece. Must work hard to master it.

"Midsummer's Night Dream"... would be acceptable if it wasn't in a key with 5 flats, then a key with 6 sharps. O.o... nightmare to learn, hard to play anyway.

No mention of SYF from our conductor yet.

Also another funny incident today. The loudspeakers suddenly blared to life in the middle of Physics, and somebody announced: "Good morning school! I am pleased to announce that the badminton team got Gold!"

Class claps and cheers.

*expectant silence*

*...*

*...*

Physics teacher: "Was that all?"

Class laughs.

It was funny for the moment.

RV & RISE SYF

Today's results...

Raffles Voices (Choir): Gold

Raffles Institution String Ensemble: Gold with Honours

All musical groups in RI have got Gold for the first time... to different degrees that is.

Final tally:

Raffles Voices: Gold
Raffles Institution Chinese Orchestra: Gold
Raffles Institution Military Band: Gold
Raffles Institution Guitar Ensemble: Gold with Honours
Raffles Insitution String Ensemble: Gold with Honours

Arrgh. Overpowered.

And RV is (really very) good! How come they didn't get GwH?

And I didn't know RIGE was so good. But I guess they are.

On another note, I found out today that my tution partner (Sec 3, in RV) is actually the Soprano SL!!!

O.o

I though all Sec 3s and 4s broke their voices and couldn't sing alto/soprano. And Sec 3 already SL...

All for today.

progess report one

Ending my last post on the subject of marks, I forgot that I got my first progress report back (Term 1). Its not too bad... but not exactly what I hoped for either.


Subjects counted in GPA:

English Language: --------------- 75% --- 3.6
Higher Chinese Language: ------- 62% --- 2.8
Social Studies: ------------------- 74% --- 3.6
History: ------------------------- 80% --- 4.0
Mathematics: ------------------- 62% --- 2.8
Physics: ------------------------- 70% --- 3.6
Chemistry: ---------------------- 60% --- 2.8
Biology: ------------------------- 77% --- 3.6


Other subjects:

Physical Education: -------------- 80% --- A+
Philosophy: ---------------------- 73% --- A


If you total up the GPA, considering Maths is DOUBLE weightage...

... you get...

... *presses calculator*...

... 3.29.

Not bad, not good. But last year my total GPA was 3.34.

However there is hope. Chemistry is set to rise with the recent test having a solid 4.0. Chinese... ok lah no hope of improving, even maintaining will be exceptionally hard. Maths MUST DO BETTER (IT'S DOUBLE WEIGHTAGE!!! Physics and Bio are fine, BUT can be raised to a 4.0 each. English and SS are also fine. History must maintain this borderline 4.0.

So, basically, I must pull up Maths and Chem (forget Chinese, impossible). At least to a respectable 3.2 each.

And don't ask me how I got 80 for PE. I either bronze or fail NAPHA every year. It's just that this module was swimming/water polo.

And all my teacher comments basically say that...

I:

1. Am a serious learner (I am?)
2. Am a respectful pupil (that I know)
3. Pay attention in class (definitely more than most)

However, I also:

1. Need to be more assertive (ok, ya i do)
2. Read more Chinese books (... zuo meng)

I could have told myself that.

RIGE SYF

Am in partial shock.

Raffles Institution Guitar Ensemble. Gold with Honours.

Sincerely, good job.

But I still feel a bit disappointed.

Also, all the SYF Sec Sch Band results are out.

Grand total, out of 150 bands:

03 x Gold with Honours

16 x Gold
67 x Silver
58 x Bronze
06 x Certificate of Participation

For full results, click here.

That makes RIMB in the top 98% - 87%. No chance of getting into Presentation.

Why am I calculating this? SYF is over. We shouldn't be disappointed or anything.

I still feel a little disappointed. But mostly relieved. This aftermath will become interesting on Monday when Mr Oura speaks to us. I think. I hope he isn't too disappointed with us.

Realized today that our Maths teacher is very hardworking. Its too bad our class does neither see nor appreciate that.

Another happy set of marks back, the Chemistry CCT we did in Term 2 Week 2:

Chemistry: 28/33
Percentage: 84.8%
GPA: 4.0

Yes!!! At last, a clean and solid 4.0, nearly GwH (haha)! MCQ full marks (including bonus), the rest was fine. Still unable to beat Haran (31/33), but whatever, 4.0 rocks! Especially seeing that Chem was my WEAKEST subject last term (60% only).

ouch my foot

I nearly sprained my foot walking down the stairs in the library today. Ow, it still hurts.

Volleyball rocks! Our newest PE module seems to be the most fun (besides water polo) so far in RI. Must learn how to deflect the ball properly; always goes into the net/onto the floor.

I have also heard rumors that the Sec 4s will not come to concert practice anymore to prepare us (Sec 3s) for leadership posts. Clarinets will DIE. So will trumpets i think. And flutes (not counting piccolo and oboe).

No band practice was weird today. I never thought I'd go home so early on a Wednesday (my longest day).

SYF

Band number one hundred and twenty four.

.....................................................................................................................................................................................

Raffles Institution Military Band.

.....................................................................................................................................................................................

Gold.

*polite applause*

.....................................................................................................................................................................................



Gold. GOLD.

On the 16th of April, 2007, RIMB achieved a Gold in the Singapore Conference Hall, continuing its traditional streak of Golds, clinching its 17th consecutive gold in 34 years. It was a moment of extreme emotional conflict, as when the announcer read, "Raffles Institution Military Band... Gold...", there was polite clapping from the audience, but there were no loud cheers or exclamations from the group of RIMB banders in the front left cluster of seats, yet nobody broke down, nobody looked disappointed.

It took me a while to sort out my feelings then, because I was obsessing over how I SHOULD feel, or how OTHERS would feel if we didn't get at least a Gold. I was trying to calm myself enough to push these thoughts aside, and observe what emotion welled up first when the results were announced.

Of course, if we had gotten a GwH, we would be jumping up and down in joy. But even when we played, we knew it was nearly impossible for that to happen, we knew our standard. So it was interesting to see what happened after that. When "Gold" was announced, I felt immense relief; we did not break the Golden streak set before us by our seniors, we did not do worse than RICO, we did not get Silver.

So it has passed. The storm has gone in a flash. All the buildups, the darkening of the clouds over us, the heated lightning flashing between us sometimes, the blood, sweat, and tears, has climaxed in the 10+ minutes when we played our hearts out. Now, everything is back to normal.

Yet it wasn't our best. We TRIED our best. But we didn't DO our best; the song wasn't played to the best that we could, and everyone knew that in the end.

Yet that is life. We can practice for ages in a homely, familiar environment, then when the real day comes, anything can happen. Life is unpredictable. And that is the factor which alters our showmanship; it all comes down to one single flash point, then the chance is lost forever.

But hey, we did it. We may not have been able to make every crescendo, every octave jump, every emo part, but its the EFFORT that counts. As long as we know we did it, we did it.

On a seperate note, congrats to all our soloists today! You all were great. Sunrise starting was fantastic. Saxaphone soli was good (except for the starting perhaps). Flute/clar harmonic solo was good too. Ocean; piccolo/flutes were on time. Even second flutes, you managed to come in exactly on time and perfectly together. Forgive me if I have neglected anyone.

And also, congrats to everyone else. Soloists may have the greatest pressure and responsibility, but you all played a great part too today. OK, we may not have made all the harmony and all the tempo. But we tried.

As for me... I squeaked FOUR times throughout the whole thing. And played too soft; I was nervous... even though I thought I wasn't going to be. My mouth sort of dried up halfway. Well, I tried too.

Some other interesting little things that happened:

• I met the Balesteir Hill Secondary School Band Drum Major whom I know from church (is it Alvin?), but he didn't see me.
• Our dedicated alumni from just one batch back to twenty batches back came down to support us. Wow.
• My SL gave out the encouraging message cards (which a lot of effort seemed to be put in printing) after SYF... they were supposed to be given before... lolz... but anyway they were touching...
• We did the band cheer twice, unusual, but it was full of spirit. Even the Sec 2s and some shyer Sec 3s joined in the second time. I nearly sprained my wrist.

SYF is over!!! Let's look to tomorrow!!!

On another note, no band for a week... deserved more, but we can't let our standard drop.

deep breath before the plunge

I can't resist posting. Its my only source of comfort now. But I have nothing to post... wait a minute.

Lets see what everyone has to say about SYF. Hope you all don't mind we copying your messages (I'll credit you!).

By Brian Cheung, RIMB Percussion'06:

---

It must be very pressurising, knowing that RIMB has a tally of sixteen consecutive SYF Gold awards.

It's a tradition of excellence that all of you must believe you are continuing. Strive for anything less, and you'll stumble. Whether or not the band gets the Honours, all of you must give your best. Aim for the best. If you don't think you'll get the Honours, then you won't. Don't let it be a pleasant, added surprise if you get it.

I know it must be confusing with all these different and seemingly contradictory messages from different people about what you should really do, whether to enjoy your music, to aim to beat the other bands or what have you.

I believe that, first and foremost, a band should always be making good music. Once you've achieved that, you will know that you deserve the Honours.

I'm beginning to sound a little abstract ><. I have no doubts at all that all of you will play well tomorrow! All of you sounded very good together the last time I heard. Remember that you're giving a performance, not competing. Play with pride, not nervousness. Always tell yourselves that you've practised for months; you won't screw up. You won't screw up. Look confident, sound confident. Be confident. You're a performer. You're performing to entertain the judges and audience. You're performing because all of you have put in so much time and effort, and you don't want to let any of your bandmates down. You're performing to show Mr Oura that the band cares about making music. You're performing to tell us, your seniors, that you've built on everything we taught you.

And at the end of your performance, give yourself a little smile (like what Mr Oura does sometimes at the end of a piece), because you've played well.

Do us proud!

Love, Brian

---

By Benjamin Ni, RIMB Percussion'08:

---

This is it.

100,000s of litres of tears, sweat and blood shed.

10,000s of scoldings, remarks, and lessons learnt.

1,000s of hours spent worrying about this day.

100s of hard, hard practices.

10+ minutes: the time taken to play both pieces.

1 SYF. It all comes down to this.

But whether we clinch the pivotal GwH or not, we don't care. For it is not our main priority. As Aaron has once said to me: it's not about the medal. It's about enjoying your stage time. Because we enjoy making music, because we want to pass this joy on to the audience. To show the time and effort we have put in. Like RGS, our goal is to be happy with what we have played, not to aim for the Gold.

This is it.

---

By Jerald Han, RIMB Percussion'08:

---

Hey guys,our only SYF with RIMB is less than 48 hours away. i juz wanted to remind ourselves about... well, ourselves.

2 years ago, Melvyn said we were the revolutionary batch to be.Honestly, I couldn't care less about that comment at that time. Then we went on to sec2, where most of us found ourselves closely attached to the sec4s at that time.

They made band a home for us. They spent time teaching us, passing on skills that have been here for many years, and many years to come. At the same time, they pinned their hopes on us, every single one of us. in case you haven't realised, as much as we were dependent on the current J1s, they too depended on us to keep the RIMB spirit alive. Don't think that you are just a minor share of the band, because you aren't.

I enjoy the company with you guys, and i hope you enjoyed your company with me. SYF is a festival celebrating youth, the vibrancy of youth (and adolescence?). No matter what we do, just go on the stage and have no regrets. Don't forget whatever Mr. Oura said during practice, whatever our seniors have left us with, and don't forget we have each other. it's all in that 1 chance, to show the raffles in us, to show the RIMB in us.

to ryan, hips, yingzhe, samuel, lucas, austin, eric, david, alastair, benjamin, russell, joel, wenjie, jiahui, bryan, leonard, i wish you guys a happy SYF.

Jerald

jayyh

---

By Samuel Cheah, RIMB Saxophones'08:

---

now its less den 23 hrs away.

in 23 hours, we could be emoing alot

or we could be jumping around in ecstacy.

it's our choice.

---

By David Zhao, RIMB Trombones'08:

---

HEY GUYS...this is our one and only syf for RIMB, so lets make it amemorable one...lets prove to our seniors, esp the J1s whom we have feltvery very close to, in fact more close than any other batch, that ourstandards have not dropped at all...that they have not been a failure intheir handling of the band...think abt it...wad do we want to leave thesec2s and sec1s with when we leave?wad farewell gift do we want to presentto the sec4s when they leave?WAD MEMORIES AND INSPIRATION DO WE WANT TOLEAVE OURSELVES WITH AS WE SEEK TO PRODUCE A FANTASTIC CONCERT NEXTYEAR???...do you want our juniors to have this pressure of pulling the bandback to its glory years juz bcuz someone played an off-tune note tmr?or juzbcuz someone cant be bothered to look at mr oura but at the goddamn scoreinstead??...do you want the sec4s to be remembered as the batch who has forthe first time in dunno-wad-number-of-years fail to lead RIMB to gold(letsnot talk abt highest attainable award first kay) juz bcuz some guy cant bebothered to play music???or juz bcuz some guy cant be bothered to rmb hisnotes???...LASTLY,wad inspiration do we want??A victorious memory of usgetting gold??or a sad scene where we have failed to live up to ourexpectations by getting silver, or worse??if we get that, how are we goingto motivate ourselves for next year's prometheum??Think abt it seriously guys...wad we do tmr...wad the band achievestmr...will have drastic impact on OUR band next year...HOWEVER, the ironyhere is not abt whether we get gold with honours or COP..its abt the way weproduce our music tmr...if we have done our best, do everything Mr Oura toldus to and still get a COP, its OKAY, its perfectly alright...BUT, if we havenot done so...if we play music like doing our chinese paper(to some), andget a COP, then too bad, we only have ourselves to blame....What mr oura istrying to do is to let us give it our all, so that we will not regretanything when the results are out...look at rgssb for example, even thoughthey got a gold(which is like a damn damn damn damn damn high gold), mr ourawas still happy, even ecstatic, at the achievement cuz they have tried theirbest to produce music,which is the WHOLE POINT of SYF...So guys, tmr when we walk up onto the stage, we shall walk up onto it withno fear and no pain...when we leave we must leave with our heads held...wecan produce great music, and we will do so tmr for mr oura...TMR, letsproduce music, not win the award, for mr oura, for our seniors, for ourjuniors, for somebody special, for ourselves, and for the bandWE SHOULD WE MUST WE CAN WE WILLMiracles must happen, so why wunt it happen on us?

---

By me, RIMB Clarinets'08:

---

Everyone's giving encouraging messages.

=)

I would never have thought that of our batch some time ago. I thought only people like David (Lee) could try to give inspiring (close enough) speeches and lead the band.

To be honest, most of us are nowhere as good as our seniors. Imagine, next year Prometheum (or even this year Investiture?), us leading the band, being the seniors who the rest look up to, playing all the solos, creating the correct harmony, mastering the technicals and teaching our juniors. A few of us are already proficient enough. Some others have already taken up the stressful role of a soloist. Some of us will have responsible EXCO positions next year, while others will have become SLs. We will be the backbone and support of the band (look at the Sec 4s now; then look at the rest of us). If we fail, who is there to push us? Who is there to punish us? Who is there to inspire us? We have to inspire each other, or ourselves. After SYF, we will have to intensively train ourselves to match up to even the Sec 4s this year, not to mention the J1s and J2s.

But the proness isn't everything. Even though we aren't the best, even though we may not be the proest band (to be proven tomorrow), we still will have tried our best. Even if the announcer reads "Raffles Institution Military Band... ***enter lousy results here*** ", we won't feel too bad, we won't break down and cry (too much) and we won't regret. Obviously we want a GwH. Or some might be content with a Gold. But all this is immaterial in the end, so long as we try our best, and do our seniors, Mr Oura, and alumni proud.

This has been said many times, by many people, on many blogs. Therefore I just want to wish everyone a contented SYF without regret. That's all we need.

Most if not all of you won't be awake to read this (after taking Mr Oura's advice that is). Some might read it after SYF. You might be full of ecstacy, or full of contentment, or full of fulfillment. Never mind what we got. We know we did our best.

---

I feel slightly better now.

Take a deep breath.

And go to sleep. Need rest for tomorrow.

We should! We must! We can!

For better or for worse... in 17 hours, 14 minutes, 34 seconds.

calm before the storm

Literally. And figuratively. Haha. But really, SYF is just... there. Here.

The calm before the storm... will our ocean glow? Will it be our sunrise or a sunset?

Its just less than a day to SYF. No matter how I try to be calm, I have butterflies in my stomach. (no really!) I was never so nervous before.

Today was our last practice. Even the Percussion SL'88 (which is almost 20 years ago!!!) came down to give an inspiring boost to our morale. What he said actually brought a lump to my throat: (this is the gist of it)

---

This year SYF...

We Should: Because we love making music. Because we are passionate towards RIMB. Because we deeply appreciate our conductor.

We Must: Because we owe it to our seniors. Because we owe it to our conductor. Because we owe it to the 32/33 years worth of seniors who have got Gold/GwH before us.

We Can: Because we have given all we have. Because we have put in our blood sweat and tears. Because we know that we have practiced, and we know we can do it.

We Will: Because we will. Because we know we will. Because we know that we should, must, can, and therefore will do our best, and walk off the stage with pride and without regrets.

---

For those who don't know, this is our band motto: "We should! We must! We can! We will!" It encapsulates the approach of the Rafflesian Bandsmen to every endeavour with the desire, the sense of duty, the belief in our ability and the determination. It is the rallying cry that motivates and spurs the Band to give the very best in every undertaking.

We have put in the effort. We know we can. Now, its boils down to our showmanship, whether we can duplicate the results in the band room to the stage.

Whether we can get our GwH or even Gold is attributed to this. No matter how much we practice, we still have to prove that we did on the stage. But the more we practice, the better our chances of duplicating it. Everyone, just remember your crescendos, your phrasing, your slurs, your emotion, your tone, and everything else... and we'll be fine.

Thanks to...

1) RIMB banders.
2) RIMB alumni.
3) Parents, friends, teachers.
4) My dedicated and sole tagger ahbander/thetagger/passerby.

...for your support and guidance.

So now...

Singapore Sunrise.

And Then The Ocean Glows.

We should! We must! We can! We will!

For better or for worse... in 22 hours, 44 minutes, 47 seconds.

friday the 13th

I'm only posting because its Friday the 13th. Not that I'm superstitious or anything.

Full morning concert practice, which was supposed to be accompanied by full afternoon sectionals/concert but I had to go to some stupid Parliment House visit. What's the point when Parliment isn't in a sitting? Last year's courthouse visit was better. Then we were told that we would be dismissed at the House (why couldn't you tell us earlier?), and since I don't take MRT often I had to agar-agar my way back home.

Now, we're one of four remaining two-years-ago GwH bands who hasn't performed yet. No GwH band has mantained GwH so far, all dropping to Gold or Silver. Let's be the first!

Piano exam results out 101/150 yay I passed!!!

Doomsday in 70 hours, 40 minutes, 41 seconds.

a nice quote

"Gold with Honours is just a cake with a cherry on top. Sure, maybe its more exciting, but the cake itself is nice as well."

Someone quoted this. Not sure who.

True. GwH isn't everything. It's the spirit behind the playing that counts. Even if we don't get the cherry, if we really played our hearts out that day who cares?

On the other hand, GwH is still a nice thing to get. And we still should not aim any lower that that.

Doomsday in 90 hours, 54 minutes, 32 seconds.

improvement

My 25th post.

Our ever-fluctuating trend of standard has picked up again. I can only hope it peaks at SYF.

Band practice was good, no matter what the BM says. The atmosphere was there, most of the notes were in time etc. but still some section troubles. I still suck at running notes though.

Tomorrow's a holiday (staff-traning day lolz) but still there's practice tomorrow, 8 am - 1 pm. Then I have a Parliment House visit, 1:45 pm onwards. No more holiday.

*sighs*

Another Gold with Honours band today. Ang Mo Kio Secondary School Band.

Even River Valley got Gold.

... ... ...

Doomsday in 93 hours, 2 minutes, 42 seconds.

SYF approaches

Actually, SYF approaches isn't the best title ever; SYF was always approaching.

But 5 days to D-Day, it seems alot closer than ever.

I find that I worry too much about other people screwing up than me screwing up. If a soloist screws up, I have this internal wince, but if I screw up, I don't feel anything.

That's not a good sign.

RGSSB got Gold. Saint Patricks got Gold with Honours... the ONLY band out of 50 bands so far to get it.

So... out of 63 secondary school bands so far...

1 got Gold with Honours.
7 got Gold.
55 got the rest.

Please, please, if not Gold with Honours, then at least Gold.

Please, may we turn the latent hope inside each of us into a rushing flow of energy that will course through our limbs, up our diaphragm, into our instruments, and move all listening. Even though not many of us openly express it, many of us do have the passion and the fire needed to melt the hearts of the audience and judges, and make sure that, no matter what we get, we don't regret it. We're almost there, one final push and miracle is all that's left to give, all that's left to hope, and all that's left to expect.

Thats a bit dramatic, but never mind.

Practice today was... not bad. Although we were given a lecture at the start about how RGSSB > RIMB... which is probably true... and also about how some of us had the audacity to go and watch RGSSB SYF performance instead of staying in RI to practice (instigated by our BM)... the rest of the practice was OK. But everyone, watch you crescendos. Brandon, Jia Hui, PLAY LOUDER. AND IN TUNE. For me, I need to stay in timing and train stamina.

Thursday practice, Firday practice, Saturday practice, tentative Sunday practice... then ggxx.

AAAAAAAAAARGHHHHH!!!

Time flies! I'm a band senior, about to take part in SYF. What happened to good old drills in Sec 1??? To the irresponsibility, the skipping, the learning to play, the fun?

Doomsday in 115 hours, 39 minutes, 8 seconds.

slackest day ever

Today was so slack. I don't know how the teachers all managed it... but today was super-slack.

1st period: English. Not the most intensive subject ever.
2nd period: Physics. Teacher didn't come.
3rd period: CLE. PDI for 4 ppl in the class, rest slack. Luckily, I wasn't chosen.
--- RECESS ---
4th period: HMT. Teacher arrived nearly 30 mins late.
5th period: Chemistry. Dismissed early.

--- LUNCH ---

6th period: Biology. Nearly fell asleep... not because of the lesson, just because I was super-sleepy.

All in all, over two and a half hours of slacking. Plus the early dismissal and the non-intensive subjects. Then, if you count those in my class who don't do Biology... they got a long lunch. Then the Indian scholars who don't do HMT...

This is a lucky day.

Well, band seems to have made up for the disappointing Saturday practice. Although clarinet sectionals weren't as good as they could be, the combined sectionals with the other woodwinds was OK. I thought my tone was quite good today. Even David didn't scold Xu Ke too much today.

Speaking of that, I notice our BM sometimes can be a bit unreasonable towards Xu Ke. As everyone in my section knows, I have a stamina problem. When my lips become too tired, I start becoming airy and making a air-blowing-through-saliva sound. As a result, I often lower the clarinet from my lips for a few seconds while everyone else is playing, and then start again. This happens quite often after 2-3 hours of intensive sectionals. On Saturday, Xu Ke did the same and our BM then arrowed him, because he didn't make any air-blowing-through-saliva sound like me.

Not everyone gives such an obvious indication to being tired, you know.

Also noticed that sometimes, after sitting down and playing for 20 mins or more, then getting up, I have a sudden dizziness and flickering in the head. Could be oxygen deprivation. But, its only momentary, and fades away after three seconds or so.

Hmm... also realized that Andy/Xu Ke/Brandon have solved (mostly) their tuning problems. Just in time for SYF.

Anyway, no homework today! Yay!

Note to self: Even if I cannot recover for the next day's band practice, must still try to practice more at home. So far last week only like half and hour at home?

bad practice

Today was horrible.

Tempers running high throughout the band. Tuning took half an hour, then when we played we were not in tune anymore. I somehow wasn't at my best today, and fumbled the easy running notes. Tone also way off. BM and SC not happy with each other.

Now, I've got chinese tution.

Today is horrible.

some marks back

Physics: 22/30
Percentage: 73.3%
GPA: 3.6

Not too bad. But if not for my ridiculous 7/10 for the MCQ section and my fumbling the bonus question, I might have got higher. Class average is 19. At least I got a "Well Done" on my paper.

Maths: 12/13
Percentage: 92.3%
GPA: 4.0

If only this was a CCT!!! Instead, its just a normal TA on Statistics... but I'm putting it up here because it looks nice. Don't ask me how on earth (260/350 x 100%) managed to become 80.6% instead of 74.3%. All I can conclude is that my calculator hated me that day. But 12/13 for a TA is quite good. Only one full marks in my class... Arthur, or Ah De. A few got 12.5/13 (too bad) and more got 12/13. Someone got 1/13. Thats proness.

I can see that my grades are slowly improving... except for Chinese. Well, if my Chemistry CCT comes back with a 3.6 or higher, I'll jump for joy.

And I thought that my studies weren't good. OK, they're not that GOOD but ABOVE AVERAGE. At least.

One more thing must vent about. Who ever heard of band practice on Good Friday???

RICO SYF

Well, RICO got Gold.

Now there's no reason we shouldn't get Gold with Honours, seeing the CO got Silver two years back and we got Gold with Honours.

Nothing much to post now... just came back from band practice. What I'm most worried about are:

1) I squeak during the performance.
2) We play off tune. (especially Xu Ke & Andy)
3) Soloists screw up.
4) My timing during Storm goes haywire.
5) Other people's timing during Storm goes haywire.

Sigh.

What a life we live. If there's no CCTs there's CCA. No CCA then there's lots of homework. No homework... there's CCTs.

After SYF, we'd better have a few months of break.

inspiring message

Message I found on the percussion section blog, by a former RIMB percussionist:

---

It's a shame how contrived that concept of an "ownage" concert is. I'm sure that after four years under Mr Oura's guidance all of us know perfectly well that, as a band, music always comes first. Our objective is to entertain with our music. Sure, the gimmicks and "creative ideas" add to the degree of fun and entertainment, but ultimately it is our music that must determine how successful our band is. Which is why it is encouraging that most of us know SYF should be our main priority, and that practice is the only way we can play well.

And there's the competition. It is very much agreed upon that competition can only push players to strive for better results, but as musicians who are we competing against? While each band (and each musician) can and should learn from one another, should our aim be to "own" all the other bands? Such an ostentatious approach to making music -- surely it's not what we seek?

I hope we are not in this band to beat all the other bands, win cash prizes or gain fame and reputation, but because we love making music and wish to perfect our music so as to provide entertainment of the highest quality.

So, practise for that SYF Gold with Honours and aim for the top -- not for the bragging rights, but to prove that we're good musicians and have entertained.

---

Shame I can't write stuff like that. Still, he has a point. Deeply wrapped in rhetoric and hyperbole, but a point nonetheless. But huh, I can see that some of our band members are working towards this.

MUST... GET... GwH!!!

track and field meet

Bayley won the Track & Field Championships 3rd time running oh yeah!!!

T & F standings:

1) Bayley
2) Morrison
3) Buckley
4) Hullett
5) Moor

This event is held annually, and is a inter-house event, which means that the five school houses (namely Bayley: yellow, Hullett: black, Moor: red, Morrison: blue, and Buckley: green) compete against each other to win. Bayley (my house) won hands down, coming in 1st for U14 and U17, and 2nd and 3rd (wait not too sure) for U13 and U15. Bayley rocks!!!

An interesting event happened at Bishan Stadium halfway through the meet. A football team came on the field to practice, and we didn't know who they were, until someone recognized one of the goalkeepers as LIONEL LEWIS (!!!), goalkeeper for Singapore Lions, the national football team. And the as soon as THAT happened, I spotted one RI boy run down to the pitch and ask for his autograph. LOL.

However, I, being completely ignorant about anything happening on the soccer stage anywhere, even more ignorant about how to play it, kept asking who on earth was Lionel Lewis until I got an answer. Pardon my naivety.

Got back our Bio papers again, and they added one mark to mine cause of that marking error so ole!!! 36/45 = 80% = 4.0!!!

Nothing much more to say today, just reminder to recommend to the next year Bayley House Captain either to make nicer cheers or just stick with "let's go bayley, let's go" because a long wordy cheer isn't exactly what cheering is all about. Not saying there wasn't effort put into it.

Also, good luck to RICO, the Raffles Institution Chinese Orchestra, for your SYF tomorrow!!! Bring back for us a Gold With Honours!!! Especially after skipping the T & F meet to practice the whole day!!!

GOOD LUCK RICO!!!

If they get GwH and we don't, the RICO guy in my class is going to kill me.
If we get GwH and they don't... I'll be too happy to kill him back.