start using hydrogen!!

lately people have been complaining so much about the price of petrol. (and i include myself.. gosh!! i could have an extra meal if i skipped driving to college one day man!) and i think it's great that our government is trying to subsidise the cost for the people. But truth is that's not the answer. we're gonna run outta crude oil within the next 15 years. Or at least Malaysia will. And that means we're gonna havta start importing. It's obviously time for all the BILLIONS that we have been splashing around on random stuff like the twin towers and the F1 circuit and this and that stop getting wasted and used to develop and alternative! build new fuel stations.. get the national car company to start producing affordable options ad hybrids.. whatever!~!

and this is where i state my suggestion.. hehe


the hydrogen fuel cell car. what on earth is a fuel cell? it's basically a battery, except.. you can refill the chemical in the battery and you don't have to replace or recharge the battery simply because it operates on FUEL!! how incredibly cool is that.. (imagine if our mobile's had a fuel cell, we'd just have to carry this bottle of.. stuff.. around and refill it every few hours or smth and never have to charge!!.. ok but that's off topic)...



so yeah.. hydrogen fuel cell cars is the way because aside from the required energy.. the only other waste product is... hehe.. brace youself.. WATER!! seriously man.. no carbon dioxide!! no lead!! no sulphur.. just phreaking WATER VAPOUR!! .. only thing is. it'll cost billions to refit cars with this technology. and billions to rennovate fuel stations to accommodate hydrogen fuel on a large scale basis. And i think that's an investment our government should look into rather than these MEGA projects to make our country LOOK good.. better BE good than just Look good.

chen

"The sensational Malaysian pianist BOBBY CHEN burst onto the musical scene in 1996 with a stunning series on concerts which included a tour of Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with Yehudi Menuhin (no less) and a recital at the Royal Festival Hall. Since then he has gone on to regular appearances in the main UK concert halls and to win many awards and scholarships. He also plays regularly in the Far East. His early studies were at the Yehudi Menuhin School, hotbed of some of the most prodigious musical talent anywhere; hence his selection by Lord Menuhin to join him in the Beethoven concerto. He has now played twice at the Wigmore Hall, a supreme accolade for a still young artist. Locally he has played for the Leighton Buzzard Music Club and with the Milton Keynes Chamber Orchestra."

“Chen is an armour-clad player of complete technique, a thinking musician, a natural Romantic…his arsenal of gran espressione phrases, thunderbolt octaves and basaltic chords is imperial, his ability to suggest colour and image through touch, timing and dynamic voicing already masterly.” International Piano Magazine



Met this amazing pianist on monday for a masterclass which lasted about an hour and a half. Sadly i didn't get a photograph wit him cos there were students before and after me. but anyways. He's stunning! i tell you.. i'm always wondering why some pianists get nervous when i'm around and now i understand why. But he's such a nice guy. SO softspoken and humble for all his incredible accomplishments.

PLayed the Pathetique by Beethoven for him. And i received some very very helpful tips from him. the most encouraging thing that he told me was that i know what I want from the music and i understand the direction of how to produce that sound and to just carry on practicing as i have been.. and if i do that it would help me to continue improving and refining my technique.. how cool is that??? hehe.. :) :)

and then there were parts i hadn't practiced properly.. and he was like "THAT"S VERY BAD".. haha.. but somehow even when he said that it was not like hurtful... so yeah.. bobby chen rawks!!! got a cert with his autograph too..

mpyo

i'm reading a book that i think i should've picked up a long time ago. but then of course it's never too late. To kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Lives up to it's reputation and outdoes so many others for sheer simplicity of thought and yet such a powerful satire of our outlook and perspective on life as humans. Amazingly heartwarming, probably the best feature of it is the fact that Lee has managed to capture life and growing up in such a way that never once seems remotely monotonous but rather the beautiful gift of learning and maturing that God has given us. oddly the main character of the story, jean louise finch.. or scout.. this super cute little girl reminds me of someone i know. hehe.. so yeah. all in all, a solid read!!

Anyways, saturday night was mabel's concert. the whole bunch of us.. umm let's see.. RUTH, tab, sheryl chong, brian, nicole, jan, and sarah and pastor chris and family went to support mae who was doing her final performance with the MPYO for this semester. As far as the music was concerned i ws pretty disappointed with the winds last night but could tell that the poor guys were tired out.. they were just not there. but still i'm so proud of you mabel though!!! you did so well.. :) here's some pics..

MUST put the one of ruth first.. hehe..
here's the STAR of the evening.. our violinist doink.. heheh.. ;p check out tab in the background
and nicole.. :)

anyways as for amazing RACE.. it was awesome.. if not for the fact that BARRY.. yes BARRY... i hope you're reading this.. gave our team the wrong route number which sent us all over the place.. which really didn't matter cos we still had fun.. minus the getting wet and the enormous bruise on my left knee (julia you wait!! "mind my step ehh.. "). but a big thank you to all the organisers and we appreciate your hard work.. :)

bruckner

one of the most lovely symphonies ever written-- the Simphonie no 7 in E-Dur by anton bruckner. I just completed a quick study of the score while listening to it at the same time... and gosh.. i just have to WRITE something about it. probably the most amazing thing about the symphony is the unity of the movements which were in some way or another linked whether by melodic motifs of rhythmic similarities.. and his understanding and grasp of music as an emotional force is probably second only to that of beethoven himself. In fact, anton bruckner's symphonies are widely recognised to be the epitome of the romantic tradition of symphonic writing.. building on the edifice constructed by beethoven during his time. so immense is the scale and magnitude of this work that i had to restart the first movement alone about 3 times after entering the first few bars because it was so difficult to understand the harmonic movement of the first few bars.. a stunning display of the power of a simple but well crafted melodic line (bruckner as known to.. very much like the legendary beethoven, tirelessly reshape and revise his symphonies till they resumed the shape that he liked).

and for those who might even bother trying to listen to it.. here's a video of the first part of the first movement conducted by Jochum with the netherlands philharmonic.. i think. seriously, even you rockers reading this (which i highly doubt.. just watch a minute or two of it you'll understand.) please just click on it..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpvvzwbcSPo

11 hours

spent 11 hours in church yesterday. If i had stayed in church until the end of 3rd service it would have been over half my day. Didn't have time to even grab lunch cos right after second service was the NCW rehearsal for the musicians and then a meeting with all the kids worship team immediately after.. when it ended at 3 smth i was too tired to go anywhere.. so yeah.. one long tiring day.

and here's a testimony. I always say that when you take care of the work of God He will take care of you. Last week and this morning i had a total of 3 tests and i can only thank God for what He's done to keep me going because i did very well indeed. and this is testament to His blessing on my life. and indeed. when you make the sacrifices for Him out of a heart of LOVE and ONLY that, he sees it and watches over you..

parents invited ruth to have dinner wit the family on saturday.. had makan at this THAI place somewhere in bukit damansara called "SILOM". (one of those shops there). was quite a nice place... lighting was a bit dim tho.. but the food was AWESOME man. but what really caught my attention was the drink i had.. which was called.. uhh.. syrup bandung soda.. which is really what it is.. it's that "gu leng peng" drink that we have in penang except it's with SODA.. so it's got the fizzy mouth biting thing.. which was cool.. if not for the fact that they didn't kill me with the sheer THICKNESS of the drink.. had to get a glass of water after that..

syrup bandung SODAAA!!

ruth

in need of rest

was just checking my email.. and noticed this photograph. Not in a state to write or do anything today.. another sleepless night and another bout of cold. this really sucks. and to add more salt i have two tests tomorrow and this miserable feeling of helplessness.. being sick ain't an awesome experience. but i'll be ok.. just thought this photo was a good laugh..


Tomorrow's the EGM.. May God's will prevail. and when it does.. all will be well.. because he is PErFecT and nothing he orchestrates will EVER go wrong.. Jesus never fails.

the danger of complacency

confusion

I realised last night more clearly than ever that it's impossible to grade every situation in your life in black and white. You can never be certain that some things are like this and some things are like that. More often than not we tend to make assumptions based on our past experiences to try and explain what is happening to us right now. For instance, if we have realised that it is a NORM for people in this situation to never act in a certain way because of their condition, we automatically assume that when we are in the same condition, we need not worry about having to cope with problems related to that..

This is where i am so badly mistaken. TRUTH is it is when you're most unprepared or not expecting something to happen that it does. when you think that you're not vulnerable to a certain feeling or attitude, that you end up experiencing it. when you hold on to your belief so strongly that something could never happen to you and it does.. what happens?? you end up CONFUSED.. not knowing what to hold on to. it's quite scary really.. when your beliefs are challenged. And michelle, i have mentioned this to you before, only GOD is absolute.. when all that you think IS is NOT anymore.. you can rest assured that He never changes.

And as for you who knows what i speak of.. there IS nothing to worry about. i was just so shocked because i thought such a state would never be arrived at in our relationship.. but thank GOD it's okay... i'll sort it out with Him.. i promise.. :) because.. in the midst of the confusion..

the paintbrush of GOD

solid edge

ok rachel hoo eng hui.. i know you're gonna be looking at this and thinking like "gosh, karl.. what sorta modelling is that?" .. this is the part where i stress that while your emphasis is design, mine is detail.. i tell you, just trying to figure and calculate the correct pitch diameter for the power screw was bad enough man. so yeah. don't get me started on the rest..

so.. ANYWAY.. here's a model of a structure which is gonna be tested for breaking 2mr.. they built the real thing and we're supposed to calculate the breaking mode and failure torque and all that crap. i'm just so proud of my model cos it took me like almost 3 hours to do it.. and gosh it's IRRITATING!! u've gotta make this protrusion, then that hexagon, then this nut and washer and the correct threading.. and make the assmebly.. weld type and what not.. argh.. but when finished.. it's pretty cool.. saved it as this image, so you guys can see my hard work. haha. go SOLID EDGE!

plug the leak

those of you who know me well enough would be well aware of the fact that i've never been an advocate of busyness. (if there's such a word... busyness. business..) and ironically it's an extremely weird feeling when you find yourself committing a crime against which you have always been preaching.

It's these last two months or so. i've been getting this never ending flow of things to DO! note that i said FLOW.. and not just bursts, or waves... its like continuous. The bulk of it is of course my uni stuff but then the sum of all the other small things is sufficient to challenge the time demands of uni. it's crazy that i hardly have time to catch up on my grey's.. (emmy don't kill me yet.. i WILL watch it).

the main thought that's on my mind is that it's time to put a stop to it. (actually this has been here for at least 2 weeks) and i've decided that once this whole series of yet to be completed tasks gets done, there will be a break. i don't want to end up in a state where i don't wanna continue for good simply because i've bitten off more than i can chew. so i'm gonna plug the leak.. and once it's stopped, i'm gonna give the tank time to fill up again. time to FOCUS on STUDIES and MUSIC MINISTRY. that's it.. my two most important ministries to God. he doesn't need me to do everything.. i'm NOT INDISPENSABLE and best of all.. He only wants my heart to be for HIm. All he wants is that i be willing to sit at his feet and be HIS CHILd..

Psalm 27:4

One thing I have desired of the LORD,
That will I seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the LORD
All the days of my life,
To behold the beauty of the LORD,
And to inquire in His temple.

that i may dwell in your house forever

AND HERE'S A MESSAGE TO A CERTAIN BARNEY OUT THERE:

"GET WELL SOON!!!" *grins*

for the FAME of JESUS

there was a statement that was made by louie (or lewie or however you wish to spell it--- i don't know how) on sunday night at the Passion concert and that is that our lives should be all about making Jesus famous and he took his thought and the THEME of Passion from Isaiah 26:8

Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws,
we wait for you;
your name and renown
are the desire of our hearts.

It's uplifting to know that we christians have something to live for and that is the renown of our Lord. i mean.. seriously.. is that a PURPOSE or what?!! it' s a priviledge, an HONOUR, a blessing that we can be called children of God. He IS our FATHER!! and we have the irrevocable position of being sons and daughters of the King. And i pray that my life would be one worthy of being a child of God.

I think the best part of the experience for me was that it wasn't an emotional and overly fired-up event, in that the thoughts and feelings i had were not a one-time thing which would dissipate over time and what not. In was one of a refreshing and an ITERATING experience that simply reminded me of who i am on this earth and i appreciate Passion and the team for the effort they are making to encourage young people around the world. Something else i want to thank them for is the FIRM stand they made right from the beginning that that whole evening was going to be about Jesus and not chris tomlin or passion and for that i respect and love this bunch of guys who love God and wanna WORSHIP HIM!

Psalm 103:1
"Bless the Lord, o my soul; And all that is within me bless His HOLY Name"