Friday, April 24, 2009

Entrapment

Now this is cruel, to be done to a dog that is, but to a CAT? "Here kitty, kitty! Faster kitty, kitty! :)

Sometimes in life, you come across people who have nothing better to do than to make things difficult for others. Am not talking about the uncooperativeness nor the unresponsiveness of some, but more so the ones who seek to do damage to others purely for the fun of it. Such malice is unfortunately found in some, and whilst talking to my insurance agent the other day, it made me think back to some ex-colleagues who are now working for the insurance agent's company (my competitor). Never had I come across such political manipulation until casualties were strewn all across the department. In essence, "if you are not with me, you are my enemy".

I count my blessings now that the present working environment is relatively healthy, with good camaraderie and teamwork. Hopefully it remains that way, with no casualties such as poor ol' Fifi.

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Recitative

Recitative, defined as a vocal passage of narrative text that a singer delivers with natural rhythms of speech, is actually quite hard to do.

It's a fine line between singing in a narrative way for the recitation, and doing an actual cantabile on it. The previous Easter Sunday Sequence was one such example, where the singing became too much, and lost some of the recitative form. Instead of like telling the story in a singing style, it became like singing the story.

Hard to describe, but the only analogy I can think of is the walking marathon. Where if you walk too fast, and legs somehow get lifted too much, a person can be automatically disqualified. It's not a running marathon per se, but more like a walking marathon. The question then becomes, to what degree is the fast pace walking considered running?


Monday, April 13, 2009

Of one Kopi-peng and another

Seriously, I miss the taste of a good Kopi-peng (ice coffee). It has been a while, especially considering my bout of coughing for the past one month plus. Stayed away from any cold drinks at all to prevent aggravation, and now, after my singing activities for Easter, I am back to full swing!

Finally had my first taste of Kopi-peng last Easter sunday during lunch. Nice, aromatic senses-inflating thrill! Actually, kopi-peng has been a recent "habit". When I was young, I used to frequent my neighbour's coffee shop, for the Kopi-O-Peng (ice coffee without milk), and a nice bowl of Kon Lo (dry) Kwei Teow with extra tomato sauce, all for about RM2.00!!! They had char siu as toppings. Strangely, have never been a fan of Sarawak's famous Kon Lo Mee (dry noodles). I guess the novelty is in the texture of the noodles, and the secret sauce many keep as their family secret.

Now with the likes of Starbucks, Coffee Bean, Gloria Jeans and other coffee outlets, selling those premium cups of coffee, it is sometimes wonderful just to go back to the small coffee shops for that specially brewed cup of coffee! Cheaper too!

Of course, it would also go very well with some special toast bread with Kaya or Peanut Butter. Yummy! Anyone for a good cup of coffee? :)