Twelfth Month

And so the summer term has finally come to a close, and with it my first year at Guildhall is over. Unbelievably quickly, might I add. IPEs for both first and second years are all over, and they've all been a great success. The first year's IPEs were especially satisfying, and I've had a great time workshopping each piece including my own. Hopefully I can get a recording of it up sometime soon!

So, lots of people have been wondering (or at least silently questioning) what my Leadership course is really all about. Recently, Guildhall CONNECT just finished a massive concert featuring all its different ensembles under its wing. I was, of course, a part of the concert -- it was really inspiring to work with every single participant and ensemble. Chigusa Fukato, a writer for the Piano Teachers' National Association of Japan, covered this project starting from ensemble workshops and rehearsals all the way to the big concert, and came up with a few brilliant online articles which can be found here and here.

Here are a couple videos that would perhaps explain better. Enjoy!

Interview with Paul and Sigrun Griffiths

Urban Sounds In Action

I'll be headed over to Singapore on 2 Aug, arriving on the 3rd. Guildhall is sending the first years to Southeast Asia for projects throughout the entire month of August, so I'll be in Singapore for two weeks, KL for one and than Bali for the last week. I'm hoping to squeeze in another week back in Singapore before heading back to London, just in time for Min-joo's birthday!

The Ghost Date

Here's an article spotted on thelondonpaper's Love column about a month ago which I particularly enjoyed, written by Andy Jones.

Boys, look out for that spooky feeling

There is an enemy out there to all men. It is called the "ghost date". If you're a man or woman who doesn't think you've been on one, you are lying to yourself.

The ghost date occurs because of ignorance of one basic fact. In a man's mind, "drinks" with any woman never just means consuming alcohol. It's an innuendo-laden proposal which simply states: "I'm working out if you fancy me, and if you do, we're getting smashed until you agree to come back to mine."

Because women don't always understand this, ghost dates occur. That is, one of you thinks it's a date, but it's not. As a guy, you'll know you've been on a ghost date because at the end, you'll get a dry kiss on the cheek and spend your journey home dumbly staring at your phone wondering whether or not to send a text.

We foolish men can even go on several of these ghost dates with the same person. Drinking, chatting, saying good night, not even kissing, yet never being any the wiser as to whether the girl even likes you.

My mate Alessio has been "dating" the same girl every week for the last three weeks. His "date" probably thinks she has the best new mate in the world -- he takes her to bars, gigs and listens to all her problems. All she has to do is look pretty. But does she know he is taking her out only to get her in the sack?

Honestly, girls, tell us. Because you don't help the situation. Plenty of my girl mates meet guys "just for a drink". I pity their dates -- I bet the poor bloke spent ages getting ready only to be sat opposite them scarcely able to get a word in, wondering when me might turn the conversation to something more flirtatious.

Any girl who thinks she has suddenly got a new platonic man friend, you haven't. You've just got a guy dangling on a line, who is hoping at some point you'll lean in and snog his face off. Truly, we don't care about your crappy work problems, your ex-boyfriends or your dodgy femme plumbing. Just show us your pants!

If you're a man going on constant "ghost dates" with no return, I recommend the following -- after you've just bought your sixth round of the night, sit there and say: "Your round, love." If she's interested, she'll buy. If she looks horrified, you know you're being played. It's hard on your heart, but easier on your wallet.

The Last Quarter

Ah, the joys of self-resourced home entertainment! Movie-watching is a pretty indispensible part of my life, as you can tell -- whether it be in a cinema theatre or from the comforts of my own home. That's just about all the movies I've watched in the past three months, not including a couple more unremarkable ones which I didn't care to include. Star Trek was exceptionally good, it's a must-watch for anyone who dares to utter the phrase "I like sci-fi."

The big Lambergo + Guildhall Folk Ensemble gig is tomorrow, and it looks set to be foot-tappingly and hip-swayingly good and enjoyable! For those who don't mind a spot of Friday night fun, come to down to the Basement at Guildhall's Sundial Court at 7:30pm! Memories of last Wednesday's recording at Abbey Road Studios with the Folk Ensemble are still echoing in my head -- I can't believe how lucky and priveliged I am to have been given an opportunity this golden. Checking out Studio 2 was such an exhilirating experience! Photos of the recording session can be found on my Facebook album here.

It's going to take awhile before the final product is ready, but I'll be sure to post the tracks up when I get the chance! Meanwhile, the Bath International Music Festival is up next -- a few of us from Guildhall and RCA will be heading down in the first week of June to showcase our works as a culmination of the MAP/making project. Can't wait (for it to be all over)!

A Pictorial Easter

And here we have it -- my travel photos from the two trips I made over Easter break! First stop was good old Amsterdam which I revisited, this time with Dong Young. To put it short, it was a fantastic, fruitful and fun-filled four-day (lot's of 'f's there) trip filled with adventure. It was really nice to have Dong Young along too, considering this would be the last amounts of "quality time" we would get to spend together before he returned to Korea.

My second trip was to Prague, and my god was it beautiful! Prague really exceeded all my expectations -- stunning architecture, breathtaking city views, pulsating nightlife, rich culture, Prague has it all! I accompanied Jinn & Robyn on this trip, and it was really wonderful to travel with them. Robyn is the best navigator I've seen in awhile, for sure! Jinn? He's just the same old talk-cock buddy I got know 11 years ago. Lovely.

Anyway, here are my photos which I've linked from Facebook -- one album for Amsterdam and two for Prague. Jinn brought his kick-ass Nikon D80 with him, of which I hijacked for quite a considerable amount of time to fulfill my photo-taking craze. The Prague pictures are really beautiful, you can see what an amazing city it really is.

I AMsterdam
Amsterdam, Netherlands

Photos from my four-day break to Amsterdam with Dong
Young during Spring '09. From museums to coffeeshops
and churches to brothels, Amsterdam is certainly
always a fantastic place to just visit, chill out and
have plenty of fun!


Zátiší do Praha
Prague, Czech Republic

Amazing photos detailing the breathtaking sights in
Prague, the city of a hundred spires. Just grab a bench
(or grassy patch), sit yourself down and watch life go
by in this quaint little Central European city beloved
of highbrow cultural tourists!


Praha chtivý turista
Prague, Czech Republic

Watch as Jinn, Robyn & myself traverse this
beguiling, beautiful-looking city in plenty of style as
we push the curtain back on the intoxicating maze
of winding cobblestone alleyways and soak up the beer
and absinthe!

Intervallo

Time for a contact update: my new number is now +44 (0)7882 716 733. As bad luck (or a cruel twist of fate) would have it, I have been desperately harvesting for contacts, no thanks to a careless course of action where I misplaced my beloved old N6300.

Anyway, the past week have been taken up with me trying to figure out the mind-boggling array of functions on my new E71, shootin' up more Manjini in RE5 as well as jetting over to Amsterdam for a short trip to fill up my Easter break. (Photos here!)

The search for sunrise never ends.

Lovestruck?

Tonight, I did something completely unprecedented. I sent in an entry to thelondonpaper's Lovestruck column. Yep, I did it. I actually did it. Half of me hopes it gets published tomorrow, and another half of that half hopes I get a response from her. Okay, scratch that -- in my perfect world, it would get published, she'll respond and we'll be meeting up for drinks before the weekend arrives.

Okay, just not to further confuse those who don't have the (mis)fortune to read thelondonpaper every day on the way home, Lovestruck is column where you can send in a short paragraph telling the entire city of London you saw some cute or attractive guy or girl, but didn't stop to do anything about it. So it could be anywhere: on the Tube, in a Starbucks outlet or whilst crossing the road. Then you pray hard and hope the other party reads that, call the paper and identify themselves and hope she (or he) looks better face to face than she does when she's 3 arms' length away in a packed Tube carriage. Anyway, check this out and you'll know what I mean.

So, yes indeed. I shall be sure to pick a copy up of thelondonpaper tomorrow and hope my fate takes a turn for the better. Oh my god, what am I doing??

Spider-Plant Man

So, Comic Relief fever has recently just swept through UK, and I got caught along with it. Yes indeed, I contributed money to a fund to get my Director of Music's legs shaved. Or was it his hair? Well, in any case, in light of all these Comic Relief-related ongoings, here's a hilarious parody of Spider-Man that was made back in 2005 (for that year's Comic Relief). It features Rowan Atkinson as Peter Piper/Spider-Plant Man (yes, you get the idea now) and the oh-so-hot-now-but-wasn't-too-hot-back-in-S-Club-7 Rachel Stevens.

Oh, you gotta love London. Poor Jade Goody, it's almost unbearable to read about her in the news now -- everyone's all waiting for the inevitable.

Part 1

Part 2

"Two men high above London in lewd costumes. It can only mean one thing -- another Fathers 4 Justice demonstration." Oh god, that really cracked me up so much!