IsAIaH 55:9

"As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."

Quote

"If the truth doesn't save us, what does that say about us?"

LOIS MCMASTER BUJOLD

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Dianne O'Hara

it was one of those days that you'll never forget for the rest of your life. Went to the hotel with eu nise and eu wayne (that nut) and denise and dinah for their violin exams-- i was accompanying them you see. it was really a wonderful day cos we met at the music school to do last minute rehearsals and then the whole bunch went makan.. and gosh this eu wayne!! u either feel like killing him or just dying of laughter yourself.. he's so mischievious and yet manages to find a way to execute it in a way that makes it so hard to get angry... argh..

anyway the interesting part was when the exam ended, at which point the examiner, Dianne O'Hara came out to take pictures with the whole bunch of us. Cos eu nise was the last candidate for the day, and she was really sporting and all. (aside from the fact that she wrote her autograph for me in very kiddy handwriting-- she obviously didn't think we asians can read cursive). And what just made my day was the stream of comments she made about my playing which really got me on cloud 9(to use mabel's own words). I won't mention precisely what they were.. because i was pretty baffled myself by them! But to hear such words from an accomplished concert pianist and professor... WHAT AN ENCOURAGEMENT!!

so yeah.. i thank God for little blessings like this family of musicians that has blessed my life so much, and of course Dianne O'Hara who gave me probably one of the most meaningful compliments of my life. And in all this it is only right to say that all things-- gifts, talents, abilities come from the Father and to Him i say to God be the Glory.

James 1:17

17Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.




Monday, July 28, 2008

the need to settle

i'm sure almost everyone has gone through one of those periods of feeling UNSETTLED. the kind of experience or sensation or whatever-you-wanna-call-it that makes you think that everything is amiss. and you just simply can't make a zero in on the main cause of this insecurity.. the basis for it is like not even discreet that you could make a clear list of what is on your mind. I mean, i can't even say something like.. "oh, it's cos of this.. and this.. and this.. and this is what's bugging me".. pretty confusing.

my only explanation is that there's so many of it that i can't identify any one or even a few... just like how if you make enough dots in a certain pattern, it starts to look like a line rather than many dots, if u get whadda mean..

but then... in the picture.. amidst all the lines and dots, there's GOD. and i THANK GOD that he's GOD! cos that makes it all okay.. not a good result, or winning a lottery, or an ice cream or anything like that.
was listening to the new chorus workshop and a line in the song "Jesus what a beautiful name" really blessed me.. goes like this

"Grace, that blows ALL fears away"

and it reminded me of 2 CORINTHIANS 12:9

"And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

what would i be without God.. no wait.. think about it! just think.. seriously. what WOULD i be without GOD.. AND you realise that when you look at yourself and see your filth and incapacity it is HIS strength made perfect. i mean... WOW!!.... don't just take my word for it.. THINk... just stop and think about it.. when you realise that all you have is not your own... quite an amazing feeling. it's all about HIM

"you are the Everlasting God
the Everlasting God
You do NOT fail you won't grow weary
Your'e the Defender of the weak
You comfort those in need
You lift us up on wings like EAGLES"



he alone gives life

Friday, July 25, 2008

phreakish names

yesterday i read a funny article on yahoo of this poor girl who was taken into custody by a judge in new zealand. (michelle, i wonder if you've heard about it) The reason-- her parents had given her a bad name. her name was Talula Does the Hula. i mean, seriously! as much as my name is karl, hers was talula does the hula... crazy rite? couldn't decide how to respond when i saw the article.. and really, she looked like such a nice little girl..Wonder what her friends call her..

ANyways.. been so busy lately.. here's what i have left outstanding which i am failing to figure out how i am going to accomplish even if i had 36 hour days.

1. design assignment 1
2. 3 minus ones and arrangements for the WTE
3. meetings wit a few different bunches
4. Brass parts for the church orchestra
5. a schedule for sanctuary auditions
6. 3 replacements of my piano class
7. calculations FOR the water dunking machine (this one must get ben to do it when he's back)
8.meet denise, dinah, eu nise and eu wayne to run thru their violin exams
9. a timetable for the auditions or new musicians

and a whole bunch of other stuff.. and i've got like 4 days more to get all this done.. sobz... what to do man.

but, busy as i am.. time must be taken to pay homage to a great master whose work i had the priviledge of listening to last night. watched a portion of the ressurrection from the Mass in B minor by Johann sebastian bach. one word... Monumental... It's insane. How in the world can a guy write music with four or five DISTINCT melodies running in different parts all at the same time and maintain harmonic fluency and without jeopardising the artistic depth of the music.. it's mind-boggling. i mean u listen to every single strand of each instrumental and vocal part and how each one blends in perfectly with everything else.. and you're just in dumbfounded awe. the music would never sound the same with ONe part less of even ONe part more.. it's architectured to perfection... Go BACH!

"a robust contrapuntal technique, an unrivalled control of harmonic and motivic organisation in composition for diverse musical forces, and the adaptation of rhythms and textures from abroad"

and here's a little bit of his handwriting


gloria in excelsis deo
cum sancto spirito
Domine deus
Et ressurexit

Thursday, July 24, 2008

the exam


months and months of preparation. and at last the day has come. i tried. i really did, i tell you.. and u can bet on it that it was never once even the tiniest bit easy. In fact there were times when i thought i had run out of the solutions.. the waves of issues to be settled just kept coming. We worked out the articulation, and then the dynamics went wrong.. we worked out the tone colour and then the timing went wrong. and bit by bit the tideous process continued. And there were those days when no progress was made... but somehow in the end.. huffing and panting, we pulled through

today's the day.. they're going for their exam. i pray that God be with them. they've made me proud. that in spite of all those "remember to practice" lines of mine that they could inarguably recite in anticipation of my own mouthing and yet completely ignore when they went home.. they made it. Now i can just sit and (hopefully) relax while they do their thing. "God let the examiner be kind"

I never understood how my teachers felt when i went for my exams.. but now i know the worry and struggle a teacher goes through.. and it makes me appreciate what they've done for me. thank you miss chan, miss onn, miss cherie.

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

shakespeare

I was reading roberta's blog yesterday. Or more like checking out the photos of the baby. Gosh! she looks like so much like daddy!! congratulations, roberta! anyway, the point is, i happened to notice some stuff that damien Lim had left in her cbox.. which, as a result got me reminiscing about that one fine morning of four years past. in our english class in form 4 (or form 5). it was a debate.. here's how it went

........
Damien:"...... to be or not to be"

Teacher:"excellent damien! i see that you're quoting hamlet"


Damien: "but puan kamlesh, i thought it was shakespeare??"


the reaction was one of epic proportions...

and here's a tribute to a person who has inspired me lately altho it may not be equally the same foe those of you reading this.. but still since i now have a blog..

I study in MONASH. And recently i've noticed that one of our ( i think business) students has a muscular disorder which makes her unable to walk properly and she has to carry this pretty complex looking pair of crutches. She is so slow that the distance i can cover in 1 minute would take her 5.. also i think she is very slightly autistic but that's just a guess which i derived from her manner of speech..

But the person who inspired me is not so much this girl but rather her mum-- probably 55 years old or something like that, neither very posh nor overly simply dressed.. drives a red wira.. short curly hair, dyed.. usually wears the "aunty" kinda blouse and a pants and a pair of sandals. i've observed that each time her daughter attends a class, there would be mum. I think she got like a special vehicle pass so that she can drive into and park in the uni grounds. A number of times i have spotted this lady just sitting around outside the classroom area, or the lounge for hours on end--- flipping a news paper, toying with her phone or just staring into space. And i wondered, what on earth would this aunty be doing here and what could drive her to just sit around waiting for her daughter to finish class and following that help escort her to the next one.

then i realised that it's what we call love. i fought back tears that day when i stood there waiting for the lift and watching this aunty, fighting boredom and idleness to do whatever she could to see her daughter do well in her studies despite her handicap.. and it really doesn't matter to her, even if she has nothing better to do, of if people stare at her weirdly.. her will is focused on one thing.. and i pray with all my heart, that God in HIS mercy and love would see them and touch their lives.
(this is not fable nor fiction, this account is for real... and i'm sure emmy knows who i'm talking about, don't you?)

MERCI



Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Dr TTT and beethoven

Dr TTT, that's what we called him.. tee tiam ting.. this is no joke. My thermodynamics lecturer. We sorta likened his style to that of a youtube video when you are using a reli sloww connection.. i mean he'd be talking for 2 sentences and then there'll be a 30 second pause.. and then another few phrases and a 2 minute pause during which he'd be intensely studying the slides which he's obviously never seen before.. i mean i'm on scholarship, what about the poor dude's who are paying their tuition fees.. we certainly never bargained for this... i wonder if Ben Ong's heard of him... eh ben??? got ah?? dr tee tiam ting..

anyways, as always... my music.. here's a beethoven script taken upside down with the moonlight sonata in print.. somehow certain comments made at a specific annual general meeting made me think of this stunning work during that painful night of long ago.. LOL.. it's just sad that it's become so popular that people just dismiss it as another famous classical piece when they hear it. only recently when i actually picked it up and tried playing it again it did i realise that there's so much to it. in fact, (and this is no joke) i read somewhere that if correctly played it can reduce the listener to tears but more often than not.. people just fall asleep.. such is the power of beethoven that despite the immense simplicity of his music, his understanding of the deepest longings of our soul has been so clearly translated into probably some of the finest music ever (or at least as far as i'm concerned)!!

and to top it off... there's this painting of the guy when he was in his twenties... tania actually said he looked cute..

"Brüder, über'm Sternenzelt
Muß ein lieber Vater wohnen.
Ihr stürzt nieder, Millionen?
Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt?
Such' ihn über'm Sternenzelt!
Über Sternen muß er wohnen." (from the Ode to Joy, symphony no 9 in d minor)

"Brothers, beyond the star-canopy
Must a loving Father dwell.
Do you bow down, you millions?
Do you sense the Creator, world?
Seek Him beyond the star-canopy!
Beyond the stars must He dwell."

no 1 from the MOozz

So.. i have a blog. I can only think of two responses when you fellas find out

1. "finally, karl! what took you so long!?"
2. "gosh, are you serious??!! since when did you even bother?!"

guess i won't ave to wait long to know which one will be more carried. So yah.. since it's my first ever post, HI everyone! and happy reading.. And honestly, the only reason i'm even doing this is cos i simply couldn't think of anything to do today waiting for my lecture to start.. Really don't feel like studying.

and yesss since we're on that.. to all those of you who think i study like crazy... here's the undeniable truth.. I'm phreakin lazy.. i mean seriously. i hate to study and i wait until like days before my exams (at least i've been doing such lately) and if u wanna argue that i'm smart u can find out from my closest friends that i'm really pretty stupid.. and to be real, i'm just BLESSED OF GOD!!! isn't that just awesome..

anyways.. once again... i have a blog