"Welcome back to the jungle" That's what's running through my mind this morning. After having been out on my own with Oops! Asia & Four Forty Records it'll be strange and a BIG BIG adjustment to going back to working for someone.

Juwita & I have been mulling over the finances of Four Forty Records and how to alleviate the financial strain on our "baby". Being a young start-up we've gone far but the industry is a difficult one. On a personal note it's been a struggle to manage with the small salary that Juwita & I decided on but God has been good and I survived 2007 intact. It's been a year of sacrfices and now that I've tried things out full-time for a year I realise that the reality is that there is still a need for us personally to have day jobs while we continue to grow the business.

The music industry is an exciting one but with world-wide shrinkage on music sales it is a challenging one. The English market is a niche one in Malaysia and in a country of 26 million people the numbers are really small. After much deliberation & prayer PLUS numerous discussions with my mentor Ps Mike I made active effort to look for part-time work at the start of 2008 so here I am at the start of something new.

Everything happened so fast. I called my new employers a few times to follow-up on the job opportunity for almost a month plus and finally got called in for an interview this week. Met up with one of the directors on Tuesday and arrangements were made for a 2nd meet-up with the team I'd be working with. I met them yesterday over lunch and in the evening I was told that my appointment letter would be drafted out and I'd be picking it up today. I'll be starting April 1st!
It's gonna be a challenge to continue with Four Forty Records on the side and for the first few months I'll have to concentrate on my new job to adjust to the work culture. It's both exciting and scary at the same time. It'll be a BIG change and after 3 years of managing my own schedule and being so flexible, structure is something that is most welcome now. And with all the experiences I've had in the past few years I know that I'm a much more valuable person to have in the workplace compared to before. It's been a tough 3 years and hopefully the next 3 would be easier.

Till next time! Wish me luck! Lots of prayer would be great too!

Blog Clean-up And Easter Sunday Happenings

Mua ha ha ha ha! I spent the past 1 or 2 hours cleaning up all the posts on my Multiply account and tagging everything more cleanly. Everything's spick & span now. As you can see from the tags on the homepage; the blog's gonna be more streamlined now for easy access to topics of interest. A blessed Easter to everyone of the Christian faith as we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus today.

It's been a long day today, I got up at 5am to go help out at DUMC's Easter Sunrise Celebration. Didn't do much there but help arrange some chairs and directed traffic a little. We had a good turnout today and it was nice to be at a sunrise service that is so very Methodist. I didn't realise how much I missed Easter sunrise services until today.

Dawn of War: Winter Assault

When we were done I spent the better part of the morning with my best bud J-son at a cyber-cafe! Ha ha! I know it's Easter but since I had time to kill till my 2pm lunch appointment I just hung out with him. It was nice to just hang back and chat while playing video games. J-son was playing Dawn of War: Winter Assault while I played Hellgate: London. The cool thing about cyber-cafes these days is that you can actually save your games states with this nifty piece of software. Very cool ... maybe I'll go back again to TBun in Aman Suria to continue from where I left off. Hellgate: London was pretty fun cos' it reminded me of my Diablo II obsession back in 2001 or was it 2002?

The NEW Diablo!

I'm looking forward to catching 27 Dresses in the next two weeks or so. Katherine Heigl is such a bombshell and I am SO up for a romantic comedy. I'm not a fan of Grey's Anatomy and the first time I saw her was in Knocked Up which surprisingly I kinda enjoyed. Anyone up for 27 Dresses? I'll go get the tickets!

27 Dresses Anyone?

Till next time ... Cheers!

Tony DiTerlizzi

Oh my!

Tony DiTerlizzi is one of my favourite fantasy illustrators. I have quite a few 3rd Edition D&D manuals that I bought 4 or 5 years ago that have quite a fair bit of his artwork in there. I love great art and DiTerlizzi's style is phenomenal. There's a magical & whimsical quality to his pieces and it's a shame that I had almost forgotten about him till I watched the credits at the end of "The Spiderwick Chronicles" last night.

Deep in thought ...

I did not know that DiTerlizzi was the creator of "The Spiderwick Chronicles" but once I found out that he was involved in the movie; that explained why I loved the creature designs. I'm definitely gonna pick up the books now because I'm such a big fan of his illustrations. The story in the movie was pretty good too and I've always been fascinated by faeries and such (the result of too much Enid Blyton as a child maybe).

A warrior in repose

For more DiTerlizzi goodness check out his official website here. One of the wallpapers adorns my iBook desktop now. Nice! I'm sure we'll be hearing more about Tony DiTerlizzi as they make more movies out of his books. Way to go Mr. DiTerlizzi!

Anger Management

I've been thinking a lot about anger and in my own experience of it not much good comes out of it. When I'm angry I get riled up and for the most part unable to think straight or see reason. The worst part I guess is how prolonged anger & bitterness can affect one's health.

Forgiving someone for hurting us is tough. It's taken me 3 years to work through my issues and at times it felt so very unfair that I was the one burdened with the hurt. It's not an experience that I would wish on anyone but it does make me question the benefits of loving someone especially when there are unsaid expectations. Unconditional love isn't something that comes natural for people.

Having said all that ... I've come to learn that anger management is all about turning the other cheek and forgiving the parties who wronged us. Better that than to hold a grudge cos' sometimes hurt can come through misunderstandings too. It's difficult but I'm doing the best I can to give people the benefit of the doubt. It's tough though cos' I find it a little difficult to trust people and right now it's more natural for me to view things negatively rather than positively.

At the end of the day I really want to be settled in myself. There's just so much to take on in life and I truly just want to be content. Being less angry certainly is something worthwhile to have in life. Wouldn't all of you agree?

Indiana Jones is Back!

I am so stoked. I just checked out the trailer for the upcoming Indiana Jones movie and just hearing the strains of the theme song & seeing the fedora in the opening few seconds got me going. Indiana Jones certainly brings back a lot of fond childhood memories and the whole high adventure magic of movies. Harrison Ford looks really good ... I must say that when I heard of the new movie I wasn't too sure but my fears are laid to rest by the trailer.

May 22nd folks. That's when Indy's gonna be swinging into cinemas. I am so thinking of getting the Indiana Jones boxed set now. Ha ha! The trailer certainly made me feel better even with this headache pounding on my skull now. Check out the trailer here.

Magic's come back to cinema. Transformers' Shia LaBeouf's in it too I believe! Hooray! That kid's certainly going places.

The BIG Three OH

Ha ha! I can't believe I've been sitting down here all afternoon just watching Kyle XY after getting back from Bentong after voting. It's my birthday today and yes I turn 30 today. I celebrated it some last night with my parents and we had dinner which was really nice.

Today is quiet; nothing special but I will be having friends over to just kick back and play video games. Um ... that and getting some dinner as well. The video games don't matter and just having people that have been friends and there for me around on my birthday. That's what matters the most and for once I don't care that I'm single; I'm contented having good friends around even though it's gonna be something juvenile as video games. It's gonna be a good day. It already is.

Thanks everyone for all your birthday wishes! Every SMS and call has been great. Cheers and have a great day ya'll!

One Life REVOLUTION

Doorway to Awareness

I was at an AIDS awareness campaign today organised by World Vision called One Life Revolution that was very unique. It's different in sense that it doesn't just talk about symptoms or how you get AIDS but it's a sort of sensory experience that walks you through the life of a victim. Pretty powerful stuff. The One Life Revolution experience is on from today till 8th March in Monash University before it moves on to Midvalley. For more about the whole thing check out the official site here.

And for all you Juwita fans out there here's Ju showing her support for the campaign at the front entrance.

Ju giving her "thumb-print" of approval

Go check it out cos' it's an eye-opening experience. It was especially special for me because I walked through the life of a Cambodian girl as I went through the exhibits. Having been to Cambodia three times in the past two years the whole thing really struck my heart. There was a point when I actually teared a little. Again I'm reminded how easy it is for us to forget the suffering of others when faced with our own urban challenges.

One Life, One Revolution. Check it out ya'll!

The Top 5 Thank List (5th Mar 08)

Here's this week's Top 5 Thank List:

1. Thank God for all the strength that I had to do all that had to be done for my best friend's wedding on the 1st of March. It was an awesome wedding and I had loads of fun despite all the things that I helped manage that day. The dance & the speech was super fun ... thank God we looked cool during the opening dance during the dinner even though we couldn't make out the music at all!
   
2. Thank God for Nic my fellow best man ... for being such a support too! And to my MAG members who were sporting and made the Cip San Leong & wedding dinner an absolute blast.
3. Thank God for the gorgeous bridesmaids Tans & Keongs! You guys totally rock and the same goes for all the chee muis for J-son & Esther's wedding.
4. Thank God for Paul's wedding! It was a beautiful ceremony even though I was super tired & zombied.
5. Thank God for being able to start on work after resting some yesterday. It's been a productive day today!

And guess what?! I've just been asked to be best man at another wedding happening in April! What an honour. I hope I can do as good a job as I did for J's wedding. Ha ha ... more speeches! What fun!

Caught Up

I've been reading the Bible a lot daily since 2008 started and it's been refreshing to be able to delve again into God's Word without feeling angry at Him or sullen. I was just reading Mark 4 and verses 18 & 19 stood out to me. It goes exactly like this ...

Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word;
but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth
and the desires for other things come in and choke
the word, making it unfruitful.

It's true; it can be so easy to be caught up by the cares of this life. I've had to grapple very much with finances, thinking about the future and also the materialism that I've afflicted myself with. Everything from wanting a nicer car to clothes and even my expensive hobby of video games & comic books. It's so easy to just want more and more.

I realise that the the desire to want more & more never ends. There will always be something new out there that we'd want ... something cool that catches our eye or something beautiful that we must own. I use the word WANT here because it often feels like we MUST have it. Whether it's a girlfriend or wife (something I want very much by the way) or a 40-inch LCD TV. That's why it struck me that I need to be content in my life. Sure I'm working hard at making things better for the future but isn't it better to live within my means? That's something that I'm working towards and it is challenging cos' the human heart is inclined towards being greedy rather than being content.

But godliness with contentment is great gain.

1 Timothy 6:6 is sort of a motto of mine these days and it helps also to consciously be thankful about the things that I already have in my life. I'm working on both ... there's learning how to be more Godly plus there's the bit about being content. Learning to be content is why I have a Top 5 Thank List that reminds me I am already blessed with many good things. It is such a privilege to be able to bless others too and I begin to appreciate the freedom of time I have that allows me to help people out. Sure I may not be able to always afford nice gifts to give away but I can give people the gift of time and that sometimes can be more precious than an expensive item.

And the Winner is ...

It's official! The replacement format to current gen DVDs is ... Wait for it ... *drum roll please*

Sony's Blu-ray media! Announcements have been flooding the internet and my first news of it just came in over CNET. Boy! Am I glad I got me a PlayStation3 cos' there is a huge difference in terms of picture quality over DVD. But then again not every movie deserves a Blu-ray purchase I suppose. DVD is a great format for movies in itself.

So for all you movie junkies and AV-philes. You don't have to stay on the fence anymore cos' Blu-ray's the new King of the Hill. For more about the closing chapters of the format war click here or check out www.blu-ray.com.

My Dog Rose

I haven't yet introduced all of ya'll to my doggy Rose! My family got her as a puppy when I was in my 2nd year in varsity. When she first came to us she looked adorably like a small polar bear. Her fur was not as speckled with black as she is now and it was pure white with just the black patch on her left eye.

Anyways, we didn't get to name her cos' my cousins already named her Rose after the character in Titanic. So she came to us named Rose and we affectionately call her Rosie. She's a cute and slightly greedy dog but very well behaved. She never snatches food away from us but just waits there at the dinner table whenever we're having a meal ... she especially likes to wait around my mom cos' my mom has a soft spot for her these days and always feeds her scraps from the table; more so compared to my brother and me.

I'm proud to say that I'm Rosie's favourite. He he ... I guess cos' maybe I spoil her and in general I'm the gentlest to her. All the disciplining comes from my dad & brother and rarely from me plus I suppose I'm the one who picks her up and hugs her the most. Ha ha! Not a very manly thing to do but Rose is just so adorable.

I have no idea why I'm writing about my dog back home. I guess maybe I'm inspired by that cute picture I took. Hmm ... alright back to my preparations for my best friend's bachelor's weekend that starts tomorrow. It's been a crazy busy January & February and I think it'll be this way for the whole of 2008.

Cheers!

The Top 5 Thank List (11th Feb 08)

My friend Raz keeps this regular list of things to be thankful of that she updates on a regular basis. I was just thinking about it this morning as I was meditating on what I read in my daily devotional reading and I guess now's a good a time as any to learn how to be grateful for the good things I've been blessed with.

It's so easy to look at other things and to covet what others have. It's even easier to be trapped by past hurts and the funny thing is that Misery loves company. And so Misery welcomes us back again & again. I don't believe that God would want any of us to live in this manner and if I really were to think about the good things in my life; well there are many so here goes the first of many that are to come.Thanks Raz for reminding me that that we need to be thankful all the time.

Here's this week's Top 5 Thank List:

1. Thank God that I have Four Forty Records and that my pursuit of the vision laid on me puts food on the table & clothes on my back.
2. Thank God for more quiet mornings in my soul & heart where I can sit with Him.
3. Thank God for my buddy Paul Sebastian; for all the good things in his life ... and most of all for his wedding on March 2nd.
4. Thank God for my best bud J-son, for the time he spends with me and for the calls that encourage me and also for his wedding on March 1st.
   
5. Thank God for the 4 days back home where I had not a care in the world over the Chinese New Year break.

And here's a bonus for everyone ... Thank YOU for reading!

Vote for Altered Frequency on Fly FM's Campur Chart!!!

Hey guys,

Altered Frequency's new single "Beyond Now" has just been released on Fly FM and we need all your help to spread the word to get it climbing on the their weekly Campur Chart! At the same time it'd be great if you made the effort to request for the song at as many radio stations as you can to help us get the song into rotation (that includes Fly FM as well).

I'll be making the rounds to drop the single off at some of the key radio stations so do keep your fingers crossed.

In the meantime do vote for AF via SMS by typing "Campur AF" and sending the message to 33399.

Check out the Campur Chart online at http://www.flyfm.com.my/campurchart.asp or email them at campurchart@flyfm.com.my.

Oh! And Gong Xi Fa Chai everybody!

The SWITCHFOOT Experience

That blur right there is Mr Jon Foreman ... of Switchfoot!

The Switchfoot concert that just ended an hour ago was an awesome one. The band had a full sound and their keyboardist Jerome added a lot to the music. I never thought much of keyboards but now that I'm older I see the error of my ways. Ha ha!

In case you guys don't know (I didn't at first), Switchfoot is made up of (drum roll please) ...

• Jon Foreman on vocals & guitars (plus he writes the songs)
• Tim Foreman on bass & backing vocals
• Jerome Fontamillas on guitar, keys & backing vocals
• Drew Shirley on guitars
• Chad Butler on the drums

I loved the songs. It's so refreshing to hear songs about change and these things resonate in my soul. I guess that's why I do it. That's why I've given up living a normal every day life to try to build something in music. Nights like these remind me that it's all worth while and God knows I need reminder frequently so that I don't give up.

It's kinda tough though when I find myself doing daily mundane stuff like accounts but there are days when it's exciting ... to be at a radio station, a press conference or a gig itself. What I love most is the music and I should take a listen to what my label mates have done so far more often to force myself to remember that I do believe in their music ... each one of them; Juwita, Altered Frequency & Liang! The challenges of the market get to me sometimes but looking at Switchfoot ... well, the dream burns in me still and I hope that we make it somewhere further in time to come. It'd be so awesome to tour the country and the region ... and hopefully one day someplace far away like the States.

I had a great time at Switchfoot. Met quite a few industry contacts (Shaz ... this one's for you! Radio mention of the blog would be really nice! Ha ha!) which was great. I loved the music. I loved the awesome, awesome sound that was just so big & full. The band sang so much for us and you could hear the conviction in Jon's lyrics. Most of all I loved the fact that I got to hear one of the best & most refreshing bands to come out of the US of A in recent years LIVE!

For more on Switchfoot check out their official site here and more pix from the concert here. I must run out and get a copy of all their albums tomorrow (what an impulse to have?!). Till then adios amigos!

Switchfoot Live in KL!!!

It really is an exciting time to be in Four Forty Records. A whole bunch of things are happening this year, and in a sense we start off with a bang cos' Altered Frequency the rockers in our family will be opening in a couple of hours for Switchfoot!!!

The boys were asked to attend a press conference over at Sri Pentas and I came along to make contacts and at the same time see what I could do to help them. There wasn't much to be done because they were just expected to take part in the group shots. It was pretty cool and I befriended Andy (one of the guys traveling with Switchfoot) and talked to him a bit. He videos the band's activities and makes PODCASTS!!! Pretty cool! It's something to think about but there's just so much to do at Four Forty that really sometimes I just get so overwhelmed that I don't know where to start. Even with all my web expertise and experience we don't even have a proper website. That totally sucks. Sigh ...

Anyways, enjoy the pix below I took at the press con. Here's one of Switchfoot as they just settled down in front of all the reporters. The guys were rushed to Sri Pentas without even having gotten a bite to eat after touching down at KLIA. But that's what life on tour is like ...

Switchfoot!!!

And here's a group shoot of Andy, Agnel & Daniel together with the band their opening for. The guys in Switchfoot are really chilled out and it was a very enjoyable press conference. It was good to hear them talk about their music in such a positive manner and really digging the fact that their music makes a difference in the lives of their listeners PLUS to hear about the different causes that they support in the States. One day ... I hope we can be like that while at the same time not having to struggle as much as we do now in our start-up period.

AF & Switchfoot (duh!)

Anyways. the concert starts 18-and-a-half hours from now and I am pretty excited about it. I don't know all of their songs but I certainly will enjoy it. Tickets are going for RM140++ at the entrance so if you haven't gotten your tix yet tomorrow's still very much a go for all you last minute music goers. I got mine already and saved RM20 but no sense rubbing it in. Switchfoot is gonna be a once-a-lifetime experience and so far I think I've really been blessed with so much good music over the past 3 years (and also a lot of pain but then again that's past right?).

Here's to Switchfoot. And here's to good music compadres!

Hap ... hap ... Happy Birthday Raz!

Today's blog entry is dedicated to my friend Razlin (check out her Multiply page here).

Raz, is a good friend and it's great that not all my friends are Chinese. It's kinda uncool that most of the time most Malaysians hang out mostly with our own ethnic groups rather than having a mixed group of friends.

Razlin is one of the prettiest, sweetest and gentlest persons I know. She's got a great zest for the outdoors and life. I think what I like best about her is her laidback attitude, she knows how to take a step back and enjoy life instead of being caught up in the endless pursuit of things. She's on of the few people from my days in UM that I do catch up with. Unfortunately we don't catch up as often as we should even though we do enjoy each other's company.

Raz, I am so happy for you that you're doing so great after going through so much over the past 2 years especially. Here's wishing you an excellent year this year. Yeah, yeah I know we both hit a milestone in terms of age this year but I pray that all the wisdom that you need will be granted you by God. And here's to living life more fully and to enjoy all that He has given us ya? So much blessings to you Raz and don't forget that I owe you a birthday treat like I said over SMS last week.

Thanks for being a good friend and for listening & identifying with me when my heart was in such a bad shape. Have a great time with all your friends and loved ones today. I know you've got a packed birthday schedule.

God bless you on this your special day & beyond of course!

Living Below One's Means

Money, money, money

Money. Don't we all just love money? I for one know that I do love it to an extent. Money affords us a lot of things but today I learnt that money is meant to build up our families (especially when you're the head of one) and also to build up others.

Not that it's wrong to buy nice things for ourselves but if that's all is we're doing with our money then I guess perhaps there's an imbalance there. In my last post I was mentioning some of the things I wanted to get for myself this year and today I realised that I've just been thinking about self, self, self! *gack*

I'll be bold and make this statement: we tend to be selfish when it comes to money and lately I've been very much less generous compared to before. To a certain extent I'm guilty of trying to keep up with the lifestyles of my friends and I've grown more accustomed to more upmarket things. My choice of eateries especially can be very extravagant. It's gonna take some time to really learn how to stick to a monthly budget but I guess now's a good a time as any to start.

The challenge would be to live below my means I guess. That means living life and putting aside a whole lot more that would allow me to invest into other people's lives and also to save for the future. Right now I know that I really don't make a whole lot due to the nature of Four Forty Records being new and all but I know that it is do-able to live in a more simple manner. It's just gonna take time to adjust to things. Since I started driving my monthly expenditure has gone up tremendously and I realise now that my riding a bike all these years really allowed me to enjoy life a whole lot more, hence why I've gotten so accustomed to spending so much on myself and on food!

Gosh! I've been telling myself to draft up a proper monthly schedule for myself so I can measure how much time I spend on myself, on work, on church and on catching up with other people but I STILL HAVEN'T done it! Procrastination is such a terrible thing. That's my challenge for this year really ... to order my life while living room in it for a lot of spontaneity. Order is good. And I know that I need to balance it just right cos' I'm very much a creature of spontaneity. Some people really get annoyed with me for that cos' I can just up and go for a movie and be perfectly satisfied with even front row seats. But that's what exactly allows me to be spontaneous cos' I don't fret over getting the best all the time. More so when it's an impulse thing.

Lotsa food for thought in this post. Stay tuned for more!

P.S. If you're interested to find out more about what I mean about money drop me a line and I'll gladly start a discourse with you OR just comment on Multiply and let's start a running thread for everyone to chip in.

Perspective

I was thinking about writing about this yesterday and filed the idea away in my brain so here it is ... I got up pretty early on Tuesday and was getting ready to settle into my daily routine of reading the Bible & writing in my journal when my mom calls me to let me know that she & dad are on the way to my apartment and they wanna have breakfast together.

Anyways, to cut a long story short ... I was having breakfast with my mom & dad at the market when this little Standard 2 boy walks up to us to sell nasi lemak. My parents have bought nasi lemak from him before many times and as I observed this exchange a thought struck me that us young adults can be very selfishly stuck in our own wants, desires & petty problems. Here I have in front of me a very young boy going from table to table, person to person to help his parents make ends meet. Sigh ... It's all about lifestyle really ... all of us are caught in a trap where we want to look good, have the latest things ... have luxuries. I know I'm caught ... I have an expensive hobby in comic books, video games & movies and when it comes to food, gosh I find it hard to resist a nice meal at Chilli's or some other eatery that has a price tag of at least RM10 above for a bite to eat.

What really is need & what really is want? A lot of the things in my life are wants rather than needs. A real need is to have food on the table & clothes on our back. A need is having electricity & running water. A need is having the means to get from point A to point B in whatever form of transport that we're using. A need is being loved. Wants are all those shiny new things that eventually we get tired with. How do we stay contented? The answer to that eludes me right now and I'm still trying my best to be more sensible with my money. After spending the whole of 2007 going crazy on purchases I'm in a better place now although I still have to clear things off with my mom for my lack of self-control.

That little boy gave me a sense of perspective. Are we looking around us to get a little perspective or are we all stuck with our eyes fixed on our own problems & selfish desires? Just some food for thought. I've been telling myself that I need to order my life more and also work on keeping those expensive purchases in check. This is my wishlist of stuff for this year.

Number 1
A pair of Levi's jeans. The one pair I have now just doesn't cut it. Actually any other pair of comfortable jeans would do ... it's just that I don't know any other brand other than Levi's that are actually very comfy. You do pay for what you get I suppose.

Number 2
A couple of new shirts. I don't really buy clothes for some reason. Heh heh!

Number 3
Some ties ... Again ... the reason why I'll have to pick some up is cos' I don't have any nice ties at all! Ha ha!

Number 4 (the FUN stuff - clothes aren't FUN!)
Video games of course! In alphabetical order:

Fallout 3 (PS3)

Final Fantasy XIII (PS3)

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of The Patriots (PS3)

Resident Evil 5 (PS3)

Super Smash Brothers Brawl (Nintendo Wii)

As you can see the list of things to buy never really ends. But I think I shall keep it to these few items this year and these will really cost a bomb. At the end of the day I guess I really want to be wise with what little I have. I do realise that money & material possessions aren't everything and so these items will remain as wants rather than needs. It's really hard right now cos' I know I want a nice lifestyle as much as the guy next door and perhaps God is teaching me to simplify the way I live. I always figured myself to be an anything goes kinda person but that's increasingly becoming not true.

I guess by putting down all those things above I hope to really keep my frivolous purchases to a set of items this year and learn how to save for them or work a freelance job or two extra to afford them. After all I do get my reality escape fixes at the movies already don't I? No more comic books this year I guess ...

Perspective & contentment. These are 2 good principles to live by don't you think?

Crazee, Crazee 2008

It's been a crazy few weeks and January is already half-way through. I've been super busy juggling freelance work while at the same thing doing my utmost to make things work for Four Forty Records. 3 major things are happening right now ... getting more publicity for Liang, Juwita's upcoming participation in a major singing competition and Altered Frequency opening for Switchfoot. There's just so much to do and at the same time I've been figuring out whether or not I should take up a part-time position to bring some order into my work-life. Things are looking up this year but I've not been handling the stress that well and there are days when I just feel so drained. Gosh! Is this what it's gonna be like for the whole of this year?!

Agnel & Andy of Altered Frequency

That's a pic of Andy & Agnel of Altered Frequency doing a promo over at FlyFM last Monday. I really had to rush things out for this and all lot of things happened all of a sudden. The band will be featured on FlyFM's Campur Chart this Sunday so do tune in from 7pm - 8pm to catch the debut of their brand new single 'Beyond Now'. Vote for the band if you like the song at the official FlyFM site by clicking on this link.

That's all from me folks! I hope I can find more time to sit down and write like this. It has been awhile. It'd be good to hear from some of you so do drop my a line to let me know that this blog is being read.

Cheers!

End-Year 07 Movie Mania

I've been going crazy on movies for a bit over the end year season and I haven't had time to write about any of em' due to a busy schedule with Children's Church in DUMC. The kids did an awesome job with the play and 13 of em' even appeared on the 8TV Quickie Christmas eve special. I've got some pix but my iBook sorta gave problems and now I don't have iPhoto anymore. Bummer. Anyways here are my quick thoughts on the 7 movies I caught as 2007 drew to a close.

The Golden Compass
It's a little draggy and after a run of good movies I didn't think much of it. I didn't read the novels and again it's one of those movies like Harry Potter that sorta lead you into next one. It had cool polar bear warriors though and I thought Nicole Kidmas was beautiful (as usual) although her character was a little psycho. (2 Stars)

The Heartbreak Kid
Dumb stuff but there were sweet moments too. The movie wasn't terribly funny but it wasn't terribly bad either. Michelle Monaghan's sweet but I found Ben Stiller's character a little wishy-washy cos' for all he felt for her he still ended up messing up even at the end of the movie. (2 Stars)

I Am Legend
Will Smith was strong in this one. Loved his acting and the plot was somewhat interesting although in the end I don't think it was as good as the original pulp novel it was based on. I Wiki-ed it and found out about the book and the plot which was brilliant. The movie didn't use much of what the book was about I think - except for the basic premise of Will Smith being the last man on earth and the vampire-like creatures. (3 Stars)

National Treasure: Book of Secrets
I loved this one. Nicolas Cage is one of my favourite actors. National Treasure is like a modern-take on the whole adventure genre (much like Indiana Jones). I loved the way the writers take urban legends and other modern myths; spinning it all into one delightful story. (5 Stars)

Alvin & The Chipmunks
A fun watch but I think that's cos' I went with 2 kids from Children's Church. Sorta had to mind them for a bit while the parents went Christmas shopping. But that wasn't the main reason-lah ... since my involvement with Children's Church it's nice being in the company of kids. The movie was cute on the whole and I quite liked it. Definitely a better watch compared to The Golden Compass & The Heartbreak Kid. (3 Stars)

Aliens Vs. Predator: Requiem
Gory. Bloody. That's all I can say. I liked it a lot more than the first movie. And the Predator is a much stronger one in this one. The idea of a roving Queen-like Pred Alien's pretty cool though. Freaky. (3 Stars)

Atonement
A Kiera Knightley flick. I went with my ex-cellie Daphne & her cell member Michelle. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a bit of a depressing movie but the plot was really good and it just demonstrated how life can be sometimes and how things can't be fixed. We suffer the consequences of our actions. A moving & thought-provoking movie. (5 Stars)

2008's here! And there's just so much to sort out in my life. Happy New Year everyone. Hoepfully I can post a bit more instead of being so sucked into working out personal issues and vegetating on my PS3. Cheers!