Rightyo, I have officially used up all slivers of credible excuses for not blogging, now that I've completed 1st year of uni. ^^;; This also means that I need to get used to the free time I have on my hands again, hmm...
Has anybody ever had severe, chronic writers' block before? My holidays began last week, but until now I haven't been able to write all the emails, messages, testimonials, comments, cards, letters et cetera (or blog) because each time I sit down and try writing, I end up in agony. I find it strange, and possibly abnormal...
This is despite the fact that I have gotten over my need to produce The Perfect Essay In fact, I managed to churn out 3 essays -- with ~5 major topics each -- in 2 hours, for my IPE* exam. (This is a major accomplishment; I failed to complete any of my high school English papers on time!) The same doesn't seem to apply to my personal communiques though.
Help.
*IPE - Introduction to Professional Engineering - The most despised unit for UWA engineers
You know you're a teenager when you greet your high school teacher with... "Wassup?"
Well, I really wasn't expecting Mr Strack to ring me on my mobile while I was on the bus to uni, so I was caught completely off-guard and the greeting unwittingly tumbled out of my mouth. Maybe he didn't find it as hilariously ridiculous as I did, since he simply went on to ask me what he wanted to ask about the Titration Stakes.
Good ol' Mr Strack... ^_^ I liked his chemistry classes. He wasn't one of the popular "cool" teachers who knew how to engage with even the toughest of rebels, but rather he was the more soft-spoken and serious type who always seems to know what he was teaching. He was also willing to take extra time to come in early in the mornings to train students in the art of titration. (That used to be the role of Mr Hammond -- the other great chem teacher of mine -- but Mr Strack took over one year and decided not to give the job back)
Anyway, Carine SHS is sending 2 teams to the nationals this time. Good work, guys! =)
Alas, not all titrations go well. This morning's lab was the most horrendous one in my entire life. Somehow, I wasn't upset though. I remember feeling highly restless last semester when I my demonstrator snatched my lab notebook out of my slow hands. Have I learnt to stop caring...?
Drugs help you by doing funny things inside your body, which is why I'm generally wary of them. Especially antibiotics. And yet, I've decided to major in Pharmacology (ah, the irony). I'd rather let my body fight the bugs without sending in chemical reinforcements, unless I become immobilized and feel utterly crap lah, in which case I'd guai guai visit our medicine box.
One thing we need to consider though, is that being a stubborn git and shunning the doctor results in longer periods of contagiousness. Infecting others is NOT a cool thing to do, so that means... we have the obligation to pump our bodies with medicinal concoctions to protect those around us. It's off to the doc for me, I guess! *cough cough cough*
A few weeks ago, I delved into my ancient Pentium II and fished out some old songs which had entered my life many years ago. Among the beneficiaries of this rescue mission are songs from the Pokémon world.
The Pokémon tunes happened to be among the first which I started really learning by myself. (Except for the occasional other TV theme I found catchy, like Speed Racer and the Gummi Bears.) Just imagine a primary school-aged Sze Howe in front of his computer, belting out tunes at the top of his lungs to out-sing the voices from the speakers. Using one of the songs in my Primary 6 music class assessment got me decent marks too!
Somewhere along the way, Pokémon gradually faded from my playlists, and the songs were never transferred into my new laptop. Hearing them again brings back fun memories of the cartoon, Game Boy and trading card craze!
At this point, I'd like to say that I could listen to the orchestral soundtracks of the movies forever. They were just that brilliant in evoking different atmospheres -- dark, bright, enigmatic, fun... It's been incredibly hard to find out who the composer for each track is, but I think most of them are the works of John Loeffler, who also wrote many of the songs for the albums below. The man's a musical genius. The rest of my post will focus on the vocalized songs, though.
My Pokésong collection slowly grew over the next few years, but it was mostly limited to the above two albums: 2.B.A. Master and Totally Pokémon. Not that it was a real limitation, as there was a remarkable level of variety in style and content within each album alone.
The fun songs Being Pokémon, the repertoire unsurprisingly contains good ol' sing-alongs which don't have much meaning, but are just for laughs. The Song of Jigglypuff is an energetic example, and is cute too! ^_^ Go on, have a listen. It won't send you to sleep, don't worry.
For the benefit of those unfamiliar to the Pokémon world (gasp!), Mt. Moon is the home of Jigglypuff, and the song's bridge is a list of the attacks the little fella is capable of using.
I was even vigilant enough to memorize some of the Japanese lyrics, without the slightest clue to what the words meant. One of them was Meowth's Song, a ballad with a melody and accompaniment that was greatly likable, despite Meowth's scratchy I-have-a-cold-and-laryngitis-at-the-same-time voice. Can't expect a virtuoso from a cat, I suppose.
I eventually looked up a translation of the song and burst out laughing. Mixed in with the humour though, is a dose of loneliness which does plague people in real life.
The above picture and below translation belongs to tsrockin.com
Meowth's Song (Nyasu No Uta) In a blue, blue, quiet night All alone, I philosophize
The crickets are in the bushes Time and time again But tonight I won't be eating them
The moon is like an authority With its circular pattern How round, so round....
No matter what happens in the world, the night goes on No matter what happens in the world, the night goes on
Somewhere in the wide, wide universe There exists another me
Do I also sit by the grass village Raggedy-raggedy Strumming a guitar, I wonder? Am I also singing Meowth's Song, I wonder?
That I'm this lonely This lonely Lonely...
I wonder what everyone is doing right now I wonder what everyone is doing right now
I feel like calling up someone
Whilst unrelated to my problem, I remember using Meowth's song to make myself feel better after getting backstabbed by a friend. It's interesting, really. I'm an advocate for lyrics in the Importance Of Lyrics vs. Importance Of Music debate, but in this case, I looked for comfort in the calming guitar part.
More about the debate in a future post.
The romantic songs You'd be surprised/alarmed at the sheer number of fiction matchmakers out there ("Ash and Misty belong together!" "No way, it's Ash and May!!!"). Well guess what, I was in the bandwagon too! ^_^ There are 3 Ash-Misty songs that I know of. They aren't in this post, but all 3 songs can be found in in a story I wrote, which is very creatively titled The Songfic Trilogy. (Click on the name if you wish to read it -- You can navigate the chapters using a drop-down menu on the top-right and bottom-right of the page)
Etymology:
"Fan fiction": Produced when a fan of a TV series/novel/etc. writes their own story based on the original characters/settings
"Songfic": A piece of fan fiction which incorporates songs
Yes, I wrote a romance story back when I was 14. So sue me.
Alright kids, I want you to form two groups. Group One, you should all roll on the floor and laugh as loud as you can. Group Two, cup your face in your hands and repeat after me: "Awww..."
The third romance song comes from the Christmas album which unsurprisingly does not contain the core of Christmas as we know it. Well, the commercialized and fun-centric version of the Christmas holidays is here to stay.
The music does not live up to the earlier albums either. I didn't listen to most of the songs, but the ones I did hear had a very poor sense of rhythm in relation to the lyrics. Not something you want stuck in your head! It's still upbeat nonetheless, and the accompaniment rescued the songs somewhat.
The friend songs I really wonder, why are there so many songs about physical intimacy on today's popular radio, but next to none about friendship? Why is it that the topic of friendship comes across as corny?
Pokémon has plenty of dedications to this bond that most of us cherish though, due to the young age of the target audience. Perhaps the kids have the right idea.
Together Forever (chorus) Together forever, no matter how long From now until the end of time We'll be together and you can be sure That forever and a day That's how long we'll stay Together and forever more
Never Too Far From Home (chorus) Whatever you want, whatever you need You know you can always count on me There'll always be someone waiting 'Cause you're never too far from home
Wherever you go, whatever you do You know we'll be there to pull you through You know there'll be someone waiting 'Cause you're never too far from home
"Together Forever" is an upbeat one, while "Never Too Far" is more contemplative. Nonetheless, both contain the same optimism. It's sadly come to light that the optimism is for the minority... Humans aren't too efficient at maintaining friendships over the gap of space and time, huh?
The last song of the day has been with me for a long while. I've sung it for entertainment, I've cried to it when I had to leave the friend I was in love with as I left Kuching. Presenting, "The Time Has Come" from Episode 39.
The Time Has Come (Pikachu's Goodbye) I close my eyes And I can see The day we met Just one moment and I knew You're my best friend Do anything for you
We've gone so far And done so much And I feel Like we've always been together Right by my side Through thick and thin You're the part of my life I'll always remember
The time has come It's for the best I know it Who could've guessed that you and I Somehow, someday We'd have to say goodbye
You've helped me find The strength inside And the courage To make all my dreams come true How will I find Another friend like you?
Two of a kind That's what we are And it seemed Like we were always winning But as our team Is torn apart I wish we could go back To the beginning
The time has come It's for the best I know it Who could've guessed that you and I Somehow, someday We'd have to say goodbye
Somehow today, we have to say goodbye...
I can think of many people who can relate to this song at this moment. I don't think the words describe any of the situations accurately though... More often than not, songs at most only represent something QUITE similar. But the point is, we find ourselves here more often than we like. I seem to be here again, too... but it's my own fault.
I miss you so much, my friend... but I'll remember you always...... >_<
If we miss a lecture, we might miss an announcement that informs us that there are no lectures next week. If that happens, we will find ourselves sitting in a relatively-empty lecture hall, and the only other people around will be those who also missed the last lecture like we did.
Oh wow... we've finished all chemistry lectures this semester... @_@ Exams in 2 weeks, eek!
Y'know, there are times when the lamentations of the older generation, describing safe neighbourhoods where kids do not vanish due to sinister hooded figures, are really appealing. All who think that encouraging kids to "Go outside and play!" is a stupid and irresponsible thing to do, say 'aye'!
Well, Longford Place is still alright... my neighbours are out on the road all the time, playing cricket, footy, and other things that boys do, without their parents worrying about abduction. But then, kids like Madeleine McCann aren't as fortunate. What are we to do...?
What are you supposed to think when come home, expecting your brother to be glued to the TV, but are instead greeted by an empty, eerily quiet house? Trying to convince my friend that her brother was safe didn't work when I wasn't convinced myself. :-/ The fact that both of us were familiar with the way horror movies worked was of no help either. Mental images of bloodied bodies stuffed under beds or limp corpses plopping out of cupboards suddenly became scarily realistic.
Anyone ever felt helpless panic? Or hysterical relief? I think both of us did today. The latter came when a father's reprimanding voice was heard in the background, demanding to know where his son had been hiding. It soon became harder to continue our phone conversation as the air was filled with the sounds of a blissfully-ignorant boy banging away on the drum set.
Little brothers.
Gah.
Update - 28/5/07, 10.37am For those who don't like cryptic writings, head to Zaneta's blog for a more direct narrative.
Words can be my friends. Words can be my enemies. Whichever the case is, I tread carefully. Sometimes though, I'd like to think that I have transcended the boundaries of my lexicon...
My Pokésong collection slowly grew over the next few years, but it was mostly limited to the above two albums: 2.B.A. Master and Totally Pokémon. Not that it was a real limitation, as there was a remarkable level of 
Yes, I wrote a romance story back when I was 14. So sue me.
The music does not live up to the earlier albums either. I didn't listen to most of the songs, but the ones I did hear had a very poor sense of rhythm in relation to the lyrics. Not something you want stuck in your head! It's still upbeat nonetheless, and the accompaniment rescued the songs somewhat.