Raid at the bucksy coffee-house!

Raids, ahoy! Just gotten back from a charity jamming session at Taipan’s Starbucks where the ever-vigilant MPSJ personnel barged in halfway through Altered Frequency’s turn. Followed Joanne and apparently what seams to be my twin, Rowen (he doesn’t like to be called Rory for some reason… heh heh!). She had orders to cover the event by our slave-handler from Star’s R.AGE. I tagged along as witty companion/advisory personnel.

Hosted by a couple of Taylor’s CPU students, the Nite Gig was in aid to raise donations for the SPCA. Several amateur bands and Altered Frequency were nice enough to perform on the veranda of Starbucks.

I’m not really a big fan of heavy metal music but that seams to be the local trend these days. The loud electric riffs, incoherent screams… uggghh… not really my cup of tea. The bands that were a hit with the ladies (ie: screaming girls!) however did more ‘contemporary’ songs. Guess heavy metal (albeit a more famous trend for Malaysia’s indie music scene) has more of a niche following rather than mainstream.

There was this sweet looking bass-guitar wielding girl in a band called Creedy Jane. They were pretty good in my opinion with their very own original song entitled Smile. They have the kind of poppy-acoustic tune that I am drawn to. Well, ok maybe the girl bassist has something to do with it too. :P

Hey, in the topic about girls… Wow, groupie girls are kinda hot. Well, some were too gothic for my liking but there were some lookers hanging about with the bands. Actually, the Starbucks cashier was kinda cute too. Nicole, I think her name was. She was the one who recommended some Tazo tea for my hearing problem (I sat next to the speakers for the better duration of the gig).

Don’t hate the player, hate the game, ok? Peace! :P

So anyway, all the bands managed to perform, leaving Altered Frequency as the last performance. They played several of their album songs plus a few… pimped-up classics before MPSJ came in and shut them down. Many of the audiences gave an audible “F**k you MPSJ!” and other rebellious profanities before quietly moving off.

It kind of reminds me of the incident at Paul’s Place last New Year’s Eve during my internship with The Star. Of course, everyone there was arrested (including people eating at nearby restaurants) and had to celebrate 2006 at the Breakfields Police Station. That could explain why many of the audiences just now disappeared really fast.

Of course in the end it wasn’t that serious. Apparently, the cover excuse for shutting down the gig was due to “licensing issues”. Starbucks did not have the proper permit to host a gig. Sounds like bull to me… My guesses are probably:

a) They had a quota of raids to fill in for the month.
b) The most likely scenario, other businesses/residents made complains. This was what actually really happened at Paul’s Place. The Chinese shop owners around Paul’s Place made a complain cause they did not like too many… of certain individualitys hanging about their premises, if you know what I mean.
c) Getting some "claimage charge" for all the equipment they confiscated. Well, they only took the drumset, sound and lighting systems. At least everyone who performed tonight didn't get thier own personal equipment taken.

So anyway, the thing was at its final performance anyway before being shut down by The Man so no big deal I suppose. A bit of embarrassment for Altered Frequency and the CPU organizers but hey… like what one of the band members quipped during the raid: “Any publicity is GOOD publicity!”

Thanks again, Jo, for the invite. Hope the article goes well. EVERYONE, BE SURE TO LOOK OUT FOR IT IN THE STAR R.AGE!

It was also good to finally meet my evil twin. What? Of course I am the good one! DUh!

PS: All photo credit goes to Jo. Go to her blog from my links (ashkenne's journal) for more story! See, I do advertising for my frens too! :)

“You won’t find bin Laden in there.”

Neo: Jujitsu? I am going to learn... Jujitsu?

Would you believe that these are just our warm-ups!
And me mom always wonders why I come home every Wednesday nights limping like an old man. Feels like one too I might add.

We end each Jujitsu class with a healthy dose of “friendly” sparing matches.
However, instead of the conventional standing spars, we usually grapple one another from a starting kneeling position. To win, we must employ techniques such as hand-locks, arm-bars, throws, strangulations and many other limb bending (and potentially bone snapping) maneuvers to make our opponent yield.

Close/ground combat is heavily emphasized in our training. This is probably what differs Jujitsu from other martial arts.

After taking the classes for nearly 2 years, I find myself fascinated by the changes that I am going through. The confidence that it gives is empowering. I have always been a non-confrontational kind of guy. Preferring to settle things with words and reasoning. I am still that kind of person (I hope!) but this time when things get ugly, at least I have some form of effective protection that I can provide for myself and for my love ones.

It is also amazing what one can learn from a physical fight with another. Its not only just brute strength or skills but also mental powers. At many times, I’ve been up against a stronger opponent but just the stubbornness on not giving up not matter how little air is left in your brain (yeah, he got me in a strangulations position. Everything was turning darker around me at that time!) is a victory in it self. I have actually seen my opponent slacking off just because I persevere long enough in an obvious death hold. That few microseconds of inattention gave me enough time to roll out of his hold and attempt a counter-strike.

Yeah well, I still gotten my ass kicked in the end… But I won a moral victory for myself! I never really pictured myself a physical fighter before. And I kind of like the challenge of grappling especially if you know that he is much stronger than you. The excitement and anticipation…. Sometimes intoxicating!



But to be clear on one thing. Jujitsu teaches one to “get out of a sticky situation”, not start one. That is the first doctrine we learn from sensei besides learning how to fall down without getting hurt. Ha ha… Kinda poetic that the first physical skill we learned in Jujitsu is how to fall down properly.

Anyway, sensei is always looking out for new students (fresh fish fresh fish fresh fish, eh Sean?) and he sometimes conducts street survival workshops and weapons disarming courses during the year. Just give me a buzz if you are interested! I am after all the class’s unofficial PR Manager. Hahahah…. And I thought the Jujitsu article I’ve wrote for The Star’s R-AGE section (with its spelling mistakes and horrible grammar) will not come back to haunt me. Sensei put copies of it all over Taylor’s College! With my full name on it! Waaaaah!

At least the check for the article came via mail already! About time too! 2 months late! And yes, Jo, yours is much more than mine!

“Steve Martin Laurence Fishburne.”

Kari-OK with Movie

If yesterday’s thunderstorm was any indication, I’m really a horrible singer. Good god, do I really sound that off? It is amazing what a mike with accompanying music can do to erode one’s self-confidence. And I always sounded so good in the shower.

Went to Red Box @ The Curve with a couple of me uni mates. I never really pictured Jia Qi, Kaff, Bee and KC as songbirds. They are really good especially with Chinese songs. Crystal has the tendency to make spontaneous announcements and comments on the mikes but she can carry a tune too. Ryan was like some male Hongky pop star and he can’t even read the Chinese characters. He sang them all by ear! Eugene… well, at least I can’t be ALL to blame for yesterday’s thunderstorm. Heh heh! Darien who is a friend brought by Crystal could give Ryan a run for his money though. Btw, an all guy version of ‘Don’t Cha’ is unlikely to top any charts. We know… we tried. :)

Karaoke at the Red Box did not kill me off financially as I previously feared. It only cost each one of us about RM 8 each for 2-3 hours of unlimited songs plus a measly meal. Hahaha! Fried mee with expired X.O was the best! They even threw in a bottled Pokka green tea for every one of us after we ‘log-out’. Tasted like overcooked water… if there is such a thing.

After that we headed over to One U for a movie. Watched The Wild, a sort of Madagascar rip-off but with one saving grace. A very grumpy British and perpetually drunken-like koala bear! HAVE A NICE DAY HAVE A NICE DAY HAVE A NICE DAAAAAY! Ok, never mind just watch the show on DVD or something. Noticed one thing though. During the trailers, there are TONS of new animations coming out this season! Over the Hedge, Open Season, Ice Age 2, Cars, Happy Feet, The Ant Bully. I really do like computer animated cartoons but I fear a saturation point coming up.

Dinner was at New Paris SS2. Basically behind my house. Darien on his bike got lost on the way from BU even though our 3 car convoy went slowly to lead the way. Apparently, as I gather from his logically explanation, a motorcycle cannot go slow because they need a certain speed to maintain their balance.

Minimum speed must be at least 90km/h.

Joker… No wonder later when the gang came over to my house to play with Freddy, he got lost… AGAIN! Go straight to the end of the road and turn left. I don’t think that was too complicated! Ai yo yo…

PS: Freddy = Girl magnet.

"I am god, u are n00b!"

I get to pick a new perk!

So my gentle readers are getting kinda restless of me being so coy lately in my blog, eh? Heh heh heh…

Well, truth be told I’m not really weighted down by Monash’s infamous assignment load. Guess being a final year business student, the words, skill and journal hunting comes naturally to us already. That or we just learned how to bullshit better.

Nah, its just that my sleeping patterns are kinda out of whack. My bioclock is currently set to North American timing without taking into consideration daylight savings. Plus that with my slight on-again off-again flu, things aren’t too shiny.

But in accordance to my new policy of looking at things in the ‘glass half-full’ mentality, I’ll like to think that all the time I’ve spent sleeping soundly wrapped inside my blanket as a metaphoric cocoon. When I come into a realization of either a new outlook in life or discovering something new about myself, I usually like to sleep on it… literally.

I think I’ve discovered a gift or a knack in counseling. Not necessary in a professional capacity but more on an informal basis. If I’m not mistaken, I think it is also one of the spiritual gifts mentioned in the Bible besides serving, preaching and prophecy. Well, sure as heck not picturing myself being called Senior Pastor Tan nor prophesying over someone and declaring that his sprit man is dead!

But yeah, although it’s still a diamond in the rough, counseling may just be something I’m actually good at. Hell, I’ve always been kind of frustrated on why all these unfair joo joos keep occurring to me. Like God wanted a good laugh at my expense. Maybe, just maybe He let me through all these experiences (and of course many more and worst joo joos to come) so I can use it to help somebody somewhere. I’ll like to think something noble can come out of all these crap I’ve been through.

Anyway, I got to run to school now. So sleepy, want to go back and hibernate more! The bed always looks so warm and cozy in the morning during a week day on one of you busiest timetable.

“I’m proud of my humility!”