Wasted Youth
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
06:16 p.m.
It seems that another dilemma has arisen. Last night I was searching for Edguy videos and found this. Needless to say I was delighted to watch an interview (of sorts) with one of my favourite power metal bands. However when it came to the point of them announcing how old they were, I was quite taken aback by what they said. 3 out of the 5 members were 21 years old at the time of the interview. Now since Tobias Sammet is 29 this year, that would mean that this interview was filmed about 8 years ago. 8 years ago, when I was still 15 and in secondary school, still niave of such powerful and moving music. If only I had known of bands like Iron Maiden, Blind Guardian and Edguy earlier, I probably might not be the same person I am now. For better or for worse, the early inspiration of such bands would probably have made me more driven to learn music and work on my vocals.. and I probably would not be the complete disaster that I am now.
I'm still questioning if I have what it takes to carry on, to live the life of dreams and to fulfill them one step at a time. I wonder how it must have been for bands such as them.. to succeed after struggling so hard. Well at least its sort of easier in their country. Needless to say that where the band is located also plays a part in their success too.. Being in a place like Singapore, one can't expect that much recognition, especially if you're playing hard rock or heavy metal. That's the cold hard truth of how screwed up and how tight the media control is over here. Well moping around isn't gonna help that much.. guess I need some time to take another breather before I continue fighting on. JoJo Valentino, signing out.
Wasted Time
Saturday, February 25, 2006
05:57 p.m.
Looks like i had better get back to updating.. *clears away giant cobwebs* §^^||
After spending 2 nights at Ngee Ann Poly, we have finally finished our recording session. Special thanks to alfe who helped us lay down the drum parts and guided us during the recording process. Not forgetting the students doing the project: Lifang, Asuka and Weiqiang, who were quite friendly and fun to work with. Now that the recording is done we just have to wait till the mix down is complete. *twiddles thumbs*
On a personal note, I've been thinking about the state of affairs in my life and I think its time I made some changes to certain things.. it will be for the better, I guess. I guess i'd better start working on maintaining my websites and my room too. I've been neglecting them for too long liao §-___-|| Lessons will also be in order but I need to plan ahead first.. yare yare.. Looks like I've got my work cut out for me. JoJo Valentino.. signing out.
Sick of the Jive
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
03:18 p.m.
Been sick for the past few days. Feeling damn fucked up but I'm on the way to recovery now. Anywayz while I was slacking around at home today, I managed to catch this movie on HBO called Honey starring Jessica Alba. The movie is about this girl called Honey Daniels who runs a hip hop dance class and hopes to make it big as a dance choreographer. When Honey finally gets that chance, she finds its not such a great thing after all. What really interested me about this movie was that it showed the true essence of hip hop music: an art form, not some fad that some stupid wannabe kids try to follow. All in all, its about the same as Rock n Roll.. the passion for the art itself rather than the bright lights and free booty. If you really want to know what i'm talking about, go watch the movie.
On another note, I felt kinda dumb about saying some of the things on a certian somewhere and didn't realise it till one of my friends posted a question there that made me think about it. FUCK. The phrase "tio snook" comes to mind. Anyway, first things first.. gotta work on recovering from this damn sickness. JoJo Valentino signing off.
A Ride on Heaven's Drive
Thursday, January 19, 2006
09:27 p.m.
Hey guys, I'm back again. Yeah yeah, I know its been a long while and I didn't update before the gig.. so sue me =p Anyhowz, I'm glad to say that I was happy with the set that we played (altho not too satisfied.. hey, i'm hard to please XD) at the NUS gig. There were minor screw ups here and there but we played on till the end and it was really fun, especially during Stay Away XD I guess I still need to work on my stage presence. I find it kinda hard to do stuff on stage when I'm playing Jrock songs but I'll probably have to work my way around that obstacle §>__<
Kudos to Marionette, Lucify, Requim and Myidarre for playing their hearts out =) I must say that it was a tiring but fun day.
Happy Birthday to hide
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
05:55 p.m.
Ok, I'm back from another long period of not blogging. Came back from Tekong and found that nothing much had changed back home. Unfortunately, I lost my Fist of the North Star Season 1 thanks to my idiot brother.. and to top it off, spammers are running rampant on my tagboard. Just great §-__-
The J-Rock BBQ chalet was quite alright.. talked to most of the guys that came down. Pity that not many "new" people stayed over (or mingled much, rather). Oh well.. *shrugs* at least i managed to complete Resident Evil 4 in one night XD Needless to say that it took me a few days to recover from the fatigue of (literally) soldiering through and completing the game. We had alot of leftover food even after BBQ-ing the remaining food the next day and had to split the remainder among ourselves to prevent wastage. EOY cosplay was quite fun too.. saw lots of people whom i hadn't seen in a while. Heard that Kilvear was cosplaying Jyuji Kabane from Gungrave but alas, i missed him. Band activities are gonna pick up again.. which means I'm gonna be spending lots of time on sleeping, energy on practicing and money on jamming. With a gig coming up on 18th Jan and a recording session following shortly after that, I just hope I can pull it off without overworking my brain and stressing myself out. For more details on the gig and recording, stay tuned...
It was good to see you again after so long & the surprise was indeed a pleasant one. For a moment, I had almost lost myself. After being captivated once again by you, I have found that rejuvenating spring of emotion that, for some time, I thought I had lost. It was none other than your smile and after seeing it, I feel that I'm able to carry on once more =)
Back from the Jungle
Sunday, October 30, 2005
09:34 a.m.
Yep, i'm "Back in Black" XD Tekong wasn't too hard to survive due to my medical status =p Will be hanging around on mainland till this thursday, when I have to go back there again §T_T
Been back a few days and I just realised how much stuff I have been missing when I was away. Its kinda like a 2-way thing.. on one hand I'm away and I'm not kept up to date with matters surrounding my friends, family, work, etc. On the other hand, its like taking a break.. to look back and reflect on certain things, certain aspects of life, etc. No, I'm not becoming a monk but its quite good to have such breaks in life (although its quite hard to resist calling everyone up and chatting with them for hours, curse the internet addiction for that). Will be adding a new section to my blog which will be called "Reflections". Basically I'll be musing about the finer points in life in that section like "Why does a donut have a circular hole in the centre instead of a square or triangle one?" or "Why is Naruto the most overrated anime next to Dragonball?" or "Why do condoms come in packs of 3 or 12? Why not 2 or 5?" =p Will be working on it over the next few days.
Went to Wenjie's house last week to play Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks. Damn, the last time I remember that I had so much fun was when i was playing Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance with him and Ed XD For those of you who are wondering if its good.. let's just say that if you like to go around beating up goons and throwing them at traps or just plain killing them with fatalities (with your friend doing the same thing with you, of course) then you should really get this game. Its a boat load of fun in more ways than one. Damn, that rhymes XD Will be heading over to his place later to play Shaolin Monks again as well as to check out Resident Evil 4. Damn sore throat been bugging me since last week.. looks like I'll have to be careful of the stuff that I eat from now on. Ridz has mentioned that we got a gig next year in January so I'll have to start jamming with them right after I come out of Tekong. I am so gonna be fucking broke. Time for me to get some breakfast and talk cock with a few people =p JoJo Valentino, signing off.
It's been a while since I heard your voice, seen your face and brought a smile to your lips eh? I wonder if the feeling's mutual. Then again I might not coz I dunno if I'm strong enough to go through with it. But everytime i see your eyes, I'm caught in that spell that you so enchantingly lay on me. What can I say? I believe it's self explanatory.
Photoshoot @ Marina Park
Wednesday, October 5, 2005
06:23 p.m.
Went for Kyoist's photoshoot yesterday. Met Dan, Kyoka, Yukina and SK at Marina Bay mrt station. Hung around
there and chatted for a while before deciding to go over to Marina Park. Changed into my outfit once we got
there and met up with the photographers: Shiro, Ash and Vince. Kyoist and Akane Jojo came out, fully changed
and we started preparing for the shoot. My wig was a bit problematic coz I didn't comb it (nor did I have one
at hand to straighten it) but Dan helped me to adjust it a little. Took a few shots at the uh.. area with a
bunch of rocks. Proposed to do a group shot with me on top of the rocks aiming at Akane Jojo and Kyoist (who were Kuro Ky and Ky respectively) but it ended up sapping my strength as we had to maintain our positions for almost 5 - 10 minutes while the photographers took shots from different angles. My arm was shaking quite badly after a while and both Akane Jojo and Kyoist had blisters on their feet (me and my bright ideas §^^||). After a short break, we decided to change the location to a pagoda at a hilltop. The scenery was quite nice but I think it didn't quite match with my character so I kinda looked out of place. Ran out of poses to shoot too.. damn I knew I should have brought the photobook along. Anyway, we decided to split up and do our poses with individual photographers. Kyoka took a few shots of me tat I quite liked. Had some wierd chicken action with us aiming our weapons at a poor defenseless chick plushie XD. Dan had to leave early to return her comics so we bid her farewell =( We moved on to the rocky shore where Ash took a few shots of me and then they proceeded to take shots of Kyoist and Akane Jojo while I took a break. Masa arrived just as we were finishing up with a group shot. We decided to head over to Heeran coz Kyoist and Akane Jojo wanted to take some puris so I quickly changed out of my costume and followed them back to Vince's car. We took quite a while coz we ended up walking in circles but we finally reached his car.
Vince drove us down to Heeran where we met up with Shiro, Ash, SK, David and Helena. Akane Jojo and Kyoist went off to take puris so I discussed band stuff with Shiro while waiting. Happened to hear L'arc~en~Ciel's Awake album being played in that jpop shop nearby (too bad it wasn't playing Twinkle Twinkle §X__X) After they had finished taking puris, we went to Burger King to have our dinner. I was so damn hungry that I bought a mushroom swiss meal (only to lament the next day on spending so much money for dinner §$__$) Celest dropped by and joined us midway. Masa and Vince went out for a while.. only to return with some cakes for the birthday kids, Shiro and Kyoist §^__^ Had a small birthday celebration (the usual.. singing the birthday song, blowing out candles, Shiro snapping photos). We left around 10 plus.. vince dropped me off at YCK after which I took a bus to get back home.
Seems like my post is lacking the usual fluidity that I write with. Its probably coz of the fact that I only got 5 MORE DAYS till I go to the Tekong Resort. Feel damn fed up but looks like I don't have much of a choice. Hope I will make it back in one piece.
Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Friday, September 23, 2005
03:34 p.m.
Ipod Shuffle playin: KISS - Hotter Than Hell
Its kinda funny that this song starts playing just when I'm blogging. After the past few days of regular rainfall in the afternoons & evenings (and curses and swearing coming from me, shivering and complaining about the cold), who would have thought that it would be such a hot afternoon today?
Ipod Shuffle playin: KISS - Detroit Rock City
Hmm.. maybe I'll turn on the shuffle option for a while *click*. Life is starting to slow down a little and its not helping that I have to go to Tekong in a few more weeks... damn! Looks like I might have to take a break from jamming and gigging till I finish my recourse. That aside, I went over to Wenjie's place last week to catch Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children. Although Wenjie didn't know the story for FF7, we still managed to enjoy the show thanks to the english subtitles (and to me for trying to briefly explain to him what went down in the previous installment). Wenjie kinda gave me an idea of a character to cosplay while we were watching the show.. but that's a discussion for another time =Þ The show was pretty damn good if you ask me. The CG was top notch and the fight scenes were action packed (even thought it was kinda exaggerated but hey, most anime fight scenes are anyway) The only gripe that I had was that I got to see my fav character, Cid Highwind, for only a short while >__< Overall, its a must see for fans of FF7. Next thing i'm lookin forward to will be the game Final Fantasy 7: Dirge of Cerberus (starring my "brother", Vincent Valentine) which continues the story on the PS2.
Ipod Shuffle playin: Steel Dragons - We All Die Young
Love the progression and guitar parts on this song. Zakk Wylde juz kicks ass playing the solos with that crazy tone of his. Managed to get in touch with my cuz Jess after a long time of having lost contact with her ^__^ Nothin much to rant about so I'll be ending this post with a quiz that was slapped on me by nabei tabe -___-
[tagged by tabe]
List three random facts about yourself that your friends might not know. And then tag five other friends to do it.
1. My favourite game/cartoon character of all time was (and still is) Sonic the Hedgehog.
2. I really really really hate to be humiliated and/or lose face, especially in public.
3. I wouldn't be alive and well a long time ago, if it wasn't for the music that I love. (Jrock being the biggest life saver of them all)
tag 5 others:
Faiz, Jojo Akane, Dan, Jess, Auji
Holy Smokes!
Wednesday, September 7, 2005
09:35 a.m.
Holy Smoke
by Iron Maiden
Believe in me - send us money
Died on the cross and that ain't funny
But my so called friends are making me a joke
They missed out what I said like I never spoke
They choose what they wanna hear - they don't tell a lie
They just leave out the truth as they're watching you die
Saving your soul by taking your money
Flies round shit, bees around honey.
Holy Smoke, Holy Smoke,
Plenty bad preachers for the Devil to stoke
Feed'em in feet first this is no joke
This is thirsty work making Holy Smoke
Jimmy Reptile and all his friends
Say they gonna be with you at the end
Burning record burning books
Holy soldiers Nazi looks
Crocodile smiles just wait a while
Till the TV Queen gets her make up clean
I've lived in filth I've lived in sin
And I still smell cleaner than the shit you're in
Holy Smoke, Holy Smoke,
Plenty bad preachers for the Devil to stoke
Feed'em in feet first this is no joke
This is thirsty work making Holy Smoke
They ain't religious but they ain't no fools
When Noah built his Cadillac it was cool
Two by two they're still going down
And the satellite circus just left town
I think they're strange and when they're dead
They can have a Lincoln for their bed
Friend of the President - trick of the tail
Now they ain't got a prayer - 100 years in jail
Holy Smoke, Holy Smoke,
Plenty bad preachers for the Devil to stoke
Feed'em in feet first this is no joke
This is thirsty work making Holy Smoke
If you guys are wondering what made me put up the lyrics of the above song.. then take a look at this. In the words of Southpark's Mr. Slave.. "ooh~ Jesus Christ~"
