Friday, May 30, 2008

acjc concert band presents...

ACJC Concert Band presents again!!!

Muse ~ a night to remember ~

When: 6 July Sunday
Time: 5.00pm
Where: Singapore Conference Hall
Tickets: $10 n $15

Pieces played:
Symphonic Metamorphosis ~ on the theme of Saint-Saens' Third "Organ" Symphony ~
Armenian Dances
Charming Asia
and lots more!

Catch us before we fly to Switzerland for Competition!

Edusaveable for ACJC students.

ACJC Concert Band presents again again!!

Special ACJC Band CD!

~ A Legacy of Musical Excellence ~

Always wondered why recording is not allowed in the concert hall?
Always wanted ACJC’s recordings though recording not allowed?
Always thought your recording is of low quality?

Fret not!
Here’s you chance to get the recordings at the very worth it price of 2 CDs for only $20!
It’s your one and only chance to purchase these CDs!
Not sold in public, but through ACJC’s band members only!

Disc 1:
1. Carmina Burana Mvmt. 13 Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi ~ by Carl Orff
2. Hunchback of the Notre Dame ~ Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz arr. Calvin Custer
3. Fantasy Variations ~ Niccolo Paganini arr. James Barnes
4. October ~ Eric Whiteacre
5. Turandot ~ Giacomo Puccini arr. Toshio Mashima
6. A Movement for Rosa ~ Mark Camphouse
7. Symphonic Overture ~ James Barnes

Disc 2:
Star Wars Trilogy ~ John Williams arr. Donald Hunsberger
1. i. The Imperial March
2. ii. Princess Leia’s Theme
3. iii. The Battle in the Forest
4. iv. Yoda’s Theme
v. Star Wars (Main Theme)
5. Highlights from “Chess” ~ Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson arr. Johan de Meij
6. The Phantom of th Opera ~ Andrew Lloyd Webber arr. Johan de Meij
7. Festive Overture ~ Dmitri Shostakovich trans. Donald Hunsberger
8. Overture 1812 ~ Peter Ilych Tchaikovsky trans. Mayhew L. Lake

Remastered by Rolton Productions


Alright, I koped this from Gerdine's blog, who koped from Enjia's blog.

h3 exam

NTU H3 Contemporary Physics. The worst ever H3 course ever, has ended. YAY! (note the two "ever"s.)

I've suffered much; I've went through lectures to recover hours of sleep, I've been taught somebody's PhD thesis, I've went out of tutorials with nothing gained, I've been through the depths of tunneling, I've seen the potential of a brain cell, I've witnessed a resonated particle, I've been pressured by a beam of light, I've resisted the lure of magnetization, I've oriented my state of spin en pointe.

Passons à l'examen H3.

Prof. AS: Welcome to hell. Prof. WL and I have come to make hell for you in this pathetic lecture theatre in NJC. WL says that all you pathetique people are going to fail. He also told me to tell all of you, "Do you understand?"

Shaun: YES! (enthusiastically)

On the paper, there was printed at the back in big bold letters: Do Not Turn Over The Paper Until You Are Told To Do So. But who cares? I flipped it over anyway. I looked at the questions, horror of horrors. MRI, K+ ion cell potential!!!one1! X.X I saw death in the eye. It stared at me for a long while. I turned away and looked at Shaun on the left. He was petrified, and I knocked him hard, but he remained a stone, a far cry from his enthusiasm just seconds ago.

Prof. AS: You are given 3 hours. You may begin (your journey through hell).

I scanned through the paper. 2nd page: p-n junction for rectification and tunneling diode, JFET. 3rd page: RKKY interactions (huh? what? X.X) 4th page: Energies of particles and bond energies. 5th page: Electron in a nanowire, fabricate it. 6th page: SET.

Me: 3 hours! Are you kidding, Prof. AS?! I looked at the paper and I know that I can't finish all 8 questions in 3 hours! And what the hell is this RKKY?!

Prof. AS: You noob. Choose 2 from the last 3 questions! Anyway 3 hours is nothing. I've seen my average student finishing his honours year paper in 2 hours. RKKY? What the hell is that?

Prof. AS came over to my seat and took my paper to see what is RKKY all about.

Prof. AS: Ah! So it is about the GMR. It won last year's Nobel prize you tard. RKKY? Oh, it's simply one minute part of Prof. WL's PhD thesis. If you don't get it, why are you here?

I thought Prof. WL was merely showing us his amazing 200 page thesis in the lecture theatre the other day. It turned out that he was testing us on it. Me stoned and gave Prof. AS a -.- .

Prof. AS: Well, this is hell. So live with it.

Shaun: Hey Prof. AS, what in the world is this? I've never seen it before. (shouting)

Prof AS walks towards him and takes his paper to examine.

Prof. AS: Of course you've never seen it, because you never asked what in the hell is this.

Shaun thought that it was lame and gaves him a wtf face.

Prof. AS: You are asking me about how to use an electron beam lithography system? I thought that you have used it before, haven't you? You two-time silver medalist at the SSEF who co- invented the gecko tape surely know what is this?

Shaun: Are you trying to mock me?

Prof. AS sniffed at Shaun and walked away briskly.

Finally, I finished my first question. The second one seemed horrible. K+ concentrations inside a cell and outside a cell? Huh? Some weird potential difference? Ah, I can use the Nernst equation, the equation I've never used before in my entire life. What was it again? V= ln(Noutside/Ninside)kT/q. Or was it ln(Ninside/Noutside)? Omg. Disaster. Where is the coin? I need to flip! I grabbed my bag and took out my wallet to take a coin.

Prof. AS: Ah yes, you, the RKKY noob. Cheating huh? There! I see your notes sticking out for your bag. Looking through your notes huh?

Me: No lah. I'm just getting a coin to flip.

Prof. AS: Lies. All lies! There isn't any multiple choice question around here. Don't think I don't know what you are thinking, you cunning noob! Well, this is hell after all, so as your punishment, I shall call a banshee to administer 250 whips on your butt. Muhahaha. You got pwned!

Prof. AS accompanied me the stage of the lecture theatre and called a banshee which wielded a bewildering whip with 9 thorny tails. I almost collapsed at the sight. Then, the first whip came in. I cried in pain. The next 248 whips were exponentially more painful. Before the last whip, the banshee set the whip ablaze, then it came down hard on me. Shards of pain went through my butt, and then it felt as if my butt was on fire. Omg, it was literally on fire! My pants were burning! I dropped on the floor and rolled on my butt and that stopped the fire, but the pain became more excruciating. Prof. AS ordered me back to my seat immediately, but I couldn't even get up from the ground.

Prof. AS: You are really asking for it, aren't you? 250 more whips! Thereafter, a taste of a collision with a proton in my particle accelerator. I've never done that on a person before.

250 more whips came. And then Prof. AS's helicopter transported a huge particle accelerator that came crashing through the roof and onto the stage. It was magnificent, just like an oversized donut.

Prof. AS: Ah, yes, my sychrotron, it's tiny but it packs a heavier punch then the colossal ones you see in Europe. I invite you to step into the ring 1 minute after I've turned it on.

Prof. AS turned the particle accelerator on and the machine purred. After a minute, I mustered all my remaining strength and opened a hatch and stepped into the ring.

What happened after that was history.

Disclaimer: Well, you may choose to believe the above story. Or NOT!

On a serious note of B-flat, I thought that the H3 exam turned out quite ok, because I attempted to study and memorise. For those who did not study properly, hmm... gg.

Thursday, May 29, 2008

h3 exam is tomorrow

I am studying physics now. So wish me all the best if you are my friend.

Here we go... JFET, MOSFET, SET, RTD, RAWR!!! (ok, the last one is my creation)

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

science is fun and band

It was a fun morning, walking/running around the botanic gardens with a bunch of retarded kids with boundless energy. Tim Woodcutter ran in front of the pack like a mad dog. The rest simply lagged behind while I had to catch up with the wild boy. When Sofia unexpectedly climbed a gate, I was amazed, because I thought that she was one of the better behaved ones.

The hyper boy in a red shirt called Joe or Jack the Ripper or whatever you call him was leading the group around. He was arrogant, much worst than myself last time. He seemed to know everything. Until he got pwned.. muahhaha. retard. He thought he knew the house with a lot of plants as the Green Pavilion, and which part of green pavilion can you find either of the words Plant House?

Those kids obviously have the most corrupted minds in the world. They said that have watched like all the Final Destination movies and they could describe each gory scene in its full glory. Not to mention, they've probably heard more of the word "fuck" and its derivatives more than me when I was their age. For your information, I didn't know that such a word actually existed until about their age.

When I asked a girl where the other team leaders were when we got back to school, she hesitantly said that they were in the college. After this, I thought, omg, the world is simply falling apart. I kept wondering if the girl met that 'lame' fat boy alone in the rain or my chem teacher before I spoke to her.

Well, we walked round the botanic gardens, but it was just too easy. Whoever who designed the course the amazing race was uber noob at it. After that experience, you know what, I actually preferred last year's gruelling amazing race. That rocked because you could get really lost to the point that you felt so frustrated, that you could feel all the other groups overtaking you. But that time, my team clinched a rather good position in the end. During this time, omg, we were like just below the average in our ranking. Seriously, the waiting time to do the activities at each station were like really long. Obviously, the solution is to make people really get lost. Another point of criticism to make is that the activities the children did at each station aren't really that beneficial in that they don't learn science. Where were the long worksheets that last year's little people did at each station? Where were the scientific explanations for certain phenomenon that they could have highlighted? Were we having an amazing race for the sake of doing one, but in doing so, leaving out the quintessential component of the camp?

I left those hyperactive kids after lunch in school to the 2 other team leaders from 1sc7, sheng hui and zhenxuan (whatever her name), so as to attend band (I didn't mention band to them cos I knew 1sc7 has quite a few band ppl, in case they go talk crap of me to those ppl lol). Both of them were a far cry for who I had last year as a team leader partner because their children handling skills were like low level, and so they left me in charge of caring for the children and giving instructions for most of the time, which was so unlike last year when I was the opposite.

Anyway band practice was better than the norm, in which I define the norm as a practice in which dr lee is super pissed with us. What's wrong with us? I think mel and pb properly identified the problem. xy? She was indirectly bitching around with other people and talking ill of them at some point, so I rather not listen to some of her crap.

Moving on, I think the band relatively sucks as compared to last time because I know that some of us are always lying to dr lee that we have our intonation charts. Another thing is that we aren't making much progress because a handful of us fail to remember the subtle corrections from the previous practice (in which I emphasize the importance of writing down, in which I know that I am guilty of). Another thing is that some sections are seriously wasting our time in rehearsals, so I advise them to practise more. And if the person next to you is playing the wrong stuff or some solo could be better, please point them out as good music in band is a collective effort. I also don't think everyone knows the meaning of the the five finger ending thingy, because all the time I hear late flutes and late random instruments. Furthermore, everyone should watch dr lee closely because I know it sucks for a conductor to feel as if the band is slipping away from his control and we can all see that he gives a lot of visual cues.

What I thought was amazing about today was that practically everyone stopped playing immediately after dr lee stopped. As I didn't go for the talk at 12pm by the ex-co, so I didn't know anything. But I think it means bigger and better results will be appearing, somehow, after a series of talks, I hope.

Sunday, May 25, 2008

struck down update

Alright, rmd did get struck down. aka: was hospitalized.

On Thursday, the last day of school, he came back to class after missing 7 days of school, without caring about his condition in which the doctor gave him a MC that lasts till I think end of the June holidays. His condition: asthma; but he said he doesn't believe it as he never had a hint of an asthma attack before until that fateful day. I thought it was an allergic reaction to something but his story told me otherwise.

That day he was playing soccer in his house (he claims his hdb flat is big enough.. lol). Suddenly, he couldn't breathe, and every breath he tried to take required a lot of effort. He was wheezing, choking, as if someone was strangling him while he was having a bad bout of phlegm (Alright, I'm exaggerating too much -.- , but I ever experienced something similar when I was 10 due to a food allergy.). Immediately, he was admitted to the A&E of some hospital and he was attached to this oxygen mask and probably medicine added to clear his airways. From my previous experience, I was also attached to something like that and so that time, I held my breath and realised that I could hold it much longer... duh!... haha. Rmd was then told to stay in the hospital under observation for 3 days after the attack. After 3 days, he went home and was diagnosed with asthma (he still doesn't believe but that's not important). He was given a long long long mc (for weak lungs) and he stayed at home until Wednesday. He said he did go out to some crowded place and he almost died, owing to his weak lungs. So sad.

Don't worry, he's back in action, and he attended the SMC's Spuntik camp and stayed with everyone else for dinner at sushi tei at holland v. :D

I think last Wednesday, my class' form teacher told that our class was having some bout of bad luck, having people being away from school for long periods of time + a teacher too. He doesn't want it to continue. It eerily reminded me of my previous post. Yeah, I know it sucks for it to continue. But are we sure that we can decide when to stop the Russian Roulette? I highly doubt so.

Friday, May 16, 2008

struck down

Apparently, a dreadful disease has struck my class and a teacher who teaches my class in the last 2 months. Why is it so depressing? Well, everyone out there affected has been hospitalized. Nah, disease doesn't mean some weird infection. It means a coincidence of unfortunate events.

First came SLow. She was hospitalized twice already this year. Both times were real ordeals. The first one was something lah during the term exam period. Then the doctor gave her a medicine or antibiotic that she was allergic to and she went into a really bad situation. x.x The second one, she had a gastric problem or something like that and she went missing from school for like damn long. Well, anyway, she's alive and well now so that everyone can continue to make fun of her. :D

Then Yap the teacher got struck down weeks ago by an auto-immune disease. omg. Needless to say, he almost died. When he was gone, dk took over his lectures and my class was treated to a dk style tutorial (really sucks, but at least you learn) and we also had combined tutorials with sb4 :D . Back to Yap; let's go on to his story. Well, he started feeling unwell one day and he went to the hospital A&E. The doctors thought it was some normal disease (wrong diagnosis!!!) and gave him antibiotics and he went home. His condition became worst and he went to the A&E a second time and they gave him more treatment. His condition got worst. Apparently, I think it's something dealing with the skin and he went to see his friend dermatologist at the National Skin Centre. Somehow, his friend knew that it was a rare autoimmune disease. Thank God, if not, I dunno what could have happened to him. His actions said he felt so weak that he was like collapsing throughout that time. So he was warded again and put on steroids (to pump muscles! NOT!). So 1 week later, he was back in school and I heard all these from him. Shaun and I were like shocked and amused at the same time. There he was, standing alive and talking to us, a complete difference from a week ago at that time. Totally unbelievable but a really tough ordeal. He was still on steroids then. So Shaun told him to head to the gym. But that's another story. lol.

Shawn got struck down recently. Anyway, he went to hospital over something probably to do with his leg getting hurt and him needing surgery, so he's carrying some crutches now. It isn't that serious though, with him crapping around in class as usual. haha.

Now, rmd. Where is he? He didn't come to school since Tuesday this week. Certainly, he was struck down too.

Someone tell me what's happening to 2SA1? And who will be next? Certainly not me! I still got a Swiss trip and my H3 exam soon! Anyway, tune in next ____ (fill in yourself) to find out.

Saturday, May 10, 2008

nodame

Great. This place became a cemetery. Whatever lah. I'm back.

Yesterday, I watched the nodame drama special at night like after school. 4 hours of non-stop nodame! Nice. Chiaki and Nodame is a nice couple, and exactly like opposites... so they attract. So there are 2 specials. The first one concentrates on Chiaki winning a conducting competition. After having to see him conduct, I must say that he can conduct well, even though he's really acting and he's not a conductor in real life. One nice part is the part where the conductor has to spot mistakes deliberately made in the orchestra, which is exactly like what dr lee says in band. In another part, the chiaki realises the orchestra slipping away from him and also not looking at him. I think this draws similarities in band where we only sometimes look at dr lee even though he's giving a lot of visual cues to help us express our musicality. The second one concentrates on Nodame and why does she play the piano. In the end, everyone went to some church in Europe and Nodame gave a recital. She was lol cute in the Mozart costume. When she played Mozart's twinkle twinkle little star, I knew I had to get my hands on the score cos it sounds nice. Then, at some salon party later on, Chiaki and Nodame finally... kissed haha. Like so shocking.

By the way, the Nodame in the show does not really play the piano. But they happened to cheorograph it so well that Nodame actually lifts her hands at the right places after hitting a loud chord (they keep her hands hidden behind the piano). I think Son Rui also can't actually play too, and she played one of Lizst's Transcendental Etudes, which is like one of the most insane stuff in piano music. I'm suprised Nodame's ear is so darn good that with just several hearings, she can master that insane piece. If only I could do that... haha.

Then today in band, we played all the japanese arranged stuff. Lol my rhapsody in blue solo screwed up big time and in kenneth's version, everyone laughed at at weird trill he made. I think I should take out all my recordings of the solo and let everyone listen because everyone isn't playing properly at all (me included), and I think dr lee went darn fast for the solo (which means less enjoyment of it). Hmm... for people playing the ad libitum parts, gg man, cos like no one today played a pro-ed version of swing style improvisation.

What dr lee said after my "audition" really stuck me cos it reminded me of chiaki's part of the nodame special. Adding on to what he said about conducting in which everyone can make sushi, not everyone makes good ones, he said something like that one must be different from the rest and input some sort of invidual characteristics in his music. He also said that the conductor moulds the music, which really gave me the the impression that conductors really differentiate what different bands sound like and how important they really are.

That's it. I'm tired. Now all I want is to perhaps learn the piano part of the real rhapsody in blue for fun (could take millions of years) and twinkle twinkle little star.