Sunday, September 28, 2008

Rollin'



Glenn decided to roll down a hill near Sydney's Acer Arena, where they had the Hillsong Conference. This video cracked me up...and it still continues to crack me up. I think pple should roll down hills more. It's classic entertainment!:)

[This video was posted with permission from my awesome fwen, Glenn Chan.]

The Requirements of Sonship

I confess, there are many times, I whine to God in the privacy of my room about how some frens around me have it so good, (they live sheltered lives, and things just come to them really easily)....and I have to come from some dysfunctional family (look beneath the surface my fren), and deal with my load of past hurts and disappointments etc.

Just when I was about to embrace the ancient lie that God is holding back from me....I read this devotional by Oswald Chambers, and it totally transforms my perspective. I love how he uses the phrases, "God will not shield us from the requirements of sonship" and God's grace producing "a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ." Feels very...Narnia to me, if you get what I mean. :)

There's a journey we all have to take, a very necessary one.....so muster your courage, and rise up to the test with a dauntless spirit.

====================================================================

"Enter by the narrow gate....Because narrow is the gate
and difficult is the way which leads to life..." (Matthew 7:13-14).


"If we are going to live as disciples of Jesus, we have to remember that all efforts of worth and excellence are difficult. The Christian life is gloriously difficult, but its difficulty does not make us faint and cave in- it stirs us up to overcome....

Thank God that He does give us difficult things to do! His salvation is a joyous thing, but it is also something that requires bravery, courage, and holiness. It tests us for all we are worth. Jesus is "bringing many sons to glory" (Hebrews 2:10), and God will not shield us from the requirements of sonship. God's grace produces men and women with a strong family likeness to Jesus Christ, not pampered, spoiled weaklings. It takes a tremendous amount of discipline to live the worthy and excellent life of a disciple of Jesus in the realities of life. And it is always necessary for us to make an effort to live a life or worth and excellence. " Oswald Chambers

My Little Corner of the World

I have a feeling that I'm gonna retreat into "hermit mode" for a while...
So don't take it personally if I'm a little grouchy, or withdrawn.
I haven't had enough "me time" this week, and I doubt I will get much next week either.
Am I trying to do too much with the time that I have?

It seems like it's a bit impossible for me to meet up with frens these days.
Case in point, Eunice n I wanted to arrange for a Dim Sum lunch.
After poring through my planner, I told her, "No free squares in Oct. We talk again in Nov?"
Then I added, "I pencil you in for Nov 8?"
To which she laughed, cos it seemed like we're talking about some super serious matter, but its just lunch.

Dehui says that I'm a workaholic cos when he asked, "If you had a million dollars, would you still do what you do?"
I thought about it...and I replied, "Yes."
So apparently that was supposed to be some revealing, acid test.
But seriously, how can one bum around for too long?
And yes, I want to change to the world....I can't seem to leave it alone.
So yeah, guilty as charged.

I'm very random tonite...cos I'm super tired after an intense recording session. But I really thank God for this amazing opportunity to work with one of the best producers/musicians in S'pore. I was in the presence of musical genius.

On a final note, before I go immerse myself in the addictive world of "24" (the TV show lah), I seriously don't understand this F1 madness. They're just super fast cars right? Aren't horses more interesting? haha!

A Bird in Hand

I read this little article on Corrinne May's Facebook page, and was quite moved....think I can really identify with the little bird that she was writing about. On a separate note, don't you think Corrinne May is such a beautiful soul? What she did with the bird was like something out of an old-school Disney movie!! She's like some modern day Snow White or Cinderella! Gosh!

===================================================================
"A funny thing happened the other day...
I was sitting at Peets having my soy steamed drink
(with a white chocolate flavour shot. I've been trying
to cut down on caffeine. It's tough!)
when a bird flew in and tried to fly out, but kept on banging onto the
clear glass window pane, it did this one or two times, and
finally landed up on the floor dazed. I tried to pick it up,
but it flew off again and hit a wall, then it just sat on the bench,
looking very stunned and sad.

So I went over, and picked the bird up in my hand.
It's heart was beating so fast. Poor thing.
I brought it outside and stroked it's little head for a while,
hoping to calm it down and hoping that it hadn't injured itself.
Well, after a while, I opened my hand and it still didn't fly off,
but after a minute, it quickly took off.

I thought about the incident later in the evening,
and it seems to me that sometimes, we're like that bird,
hitting walls and hitting glass windows, thinking we're heading
in the right direction and wondering why we can't go out.
Then perhaps, God comes along, when we're down and out,
and picks us up, and carries us outside so we can fly :)"- Corrinne May, 3rd April 2008

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Lifehouse in Concert

Muffin, Abi, Shenna, Glenn & I are going to watch Lifehouse in concert on the 4th Oct, Sat, at St James Powerhouse!!!! We got our tix oredi, so we're all set. haha! It was utter madness since 10.30am when Shenna n Muffin called me to tell me the news that Lifehouse is coming. We've been waiting for this for a looooong time. :) So you can imagine, smses and phonecalls (accompanied by stunned silences, and/or a lot of excited screams) were exchanged in a heated groupie frenzy.

Well, as Muffin says, its time to put Lifehouse songs on loop in our iTunes library from now until the big day. :)

Tix details here if you're keen to go too.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Fa La La La

It's term break....but it's been really busy actually, mainly cos of church work which is coming in like an avalanche. Last nite, I felt so proud of myself for clearing one urgent project at 1am. This afternoon, I went in to BMI to lead a vocal dept meeting, which went pretty well, then I came out to read an email that told me of the pile of other projects that were awaiting me. *faintz*

Looks like I'm not gonna get much rest this term break. A part of me is wondering if I'm unproductive/not working fast enough to handle the workload, or is it simply too much for a part-timer to handle with her limited hours of availability. I dunno...I just wanna escape to Hawaii and bum.

Feeling a little heavy hearted, I met Dehui for dinner before heading for the "Jack & Rai" concert which is part of the Timbre MusicFest. They had 3 sets- acoustic, acoustic with string quartet, full band (I think they were imitating John Mayer). The first 2 sets were seriously a bit boring and not up to standard with pitchy singing and salah notes on the guitar.....but they got it together with the full band set. The band was very tight, (rhythm section was particularly solid!) and they showcased quite a few impressive solos (ahem, I loved the bass and drum solos...but then again, i'm biased towards low frequencies.) The music that nite comprised of songs by John Mayer, Dave Matthews Band, Coldplay, U2, Queen etc and some original songs by Jack & Rai.

Why am I doing a concert review? haha! Anyway...I started to feel better after i had a couple of drinks (whoa-oh-oh, beer be the solution!), great conversation with Dehui, and exchanged a series of smses with Abi, Muffin and Dawnie. :) Oh my fwens, you make such a diffce in my life!

See what I typed to Dawnie:
========================
Mich: "How far do I have to go to get to you? Many the miles, many the miles!"
Dawnie: "Send me the miles!" [those are Sara Bareilles lyrics]
Mich: Oh, you complete me!! *hugz*

Ok...lots of random crap from me tonight (i have alcohol in my bloodstream). Just had to let it out. I'm going to prepare for bed now, and hopefully face my avalanche of work bravely in the face tmrw!

Monday, September 22, 2008

Bob Sorge @ RiverLife

Had fun serving for service again this weekend. I realize that it was almost the whole cell group on stage. How cool is that to serve with your cell mbers? haha! Was a bit stressed out over a solo....but it turned out decently enough. Bob Sorge also came down to preach and delivered a really powerful sermon. I think it gave us a whole new perspective on who our God is. :)

Here are some pics taken by Jerry, our sound guy, over the weekend. :)

The band/vocalists were trying to look 'stressed' for Jerry. But hmm, it didn't really work out eh haha!
L-R: Arun looking stoned, Jeremy shocked, Dawnie scared, Me grossed out, Jerome surprised.

Happy faces!!

Bob Sorge


Bob Sorge and Senior Pastor Vincent Lun sharing a moment

The big surprise that Cheryl and Dawnie got me running to see. haha! Senior Pastor surprised his wife with a bouquet of 20 red roses and 200 yellow roses, to celebrate their 20th anniversary. He got down on his knees to present it to her...so sweet right?

Elder Freddy Boey praying for Senior Pastor and wife, Jenny Lun.

Sunday, September 21, 2008

SMV- "The Thunder Tour"

SMV packing a powerful punch!
(L-R: Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, Victor Wooten)

Now I know why they call it the "Thunder Tour"....once the 3 legendary bass titans took the stage, you could literally feel the whole Esplanade theatre vibrating strongly from the low bass frequencies! haha! I've never felt it in that magnitude before and it was amazingly hot! *rumble* Truly, it was a historic night for the music world as Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller and Victor Wooten united in a rare, collaborative concert.

Considering their limited tour schedule, I think we were really privileged to have witnessed the explosive SMV magic in S'pore! I never knew that one could play with so many creative effects/techniques on the bass. Genius lah! And even with 3 bassists coming together, they didn't step on each other...somehow they intuitively found their own range and even carved out creative space for each other to shine. You could tell there was a lot of mutual respect and admiration among the trio.

The crowd was really pumped that night with generous cheers, spontaneous shouts of approval, claps and standing ovations. I know many fellow muso frens were floored, blown away, inspired, excited etc. The tix were quite pricey, but I'm so glad I went! :) It was an incredible night for music I tell you!

Here are some photos which I shamelessly grabbed from Jason W.....somehow the sneaky (and clever) boy managed to take quite a lot of good shots, which captured the exciting musical chemistry the trio shared.

[To view Jason's full SMV album, click here]

Stanley Clarke and Marcus Miller enjoying the groove

Miller with Victor Wooten now

Stanley Clarke on double bass and the versatile Marcus Miller on bass clarinet

Stanley Clarke with his 'electric guit power stance'. haha! Everyone laughed at that little inside joke. Later he received a standing ovation for his brilliant solo.


3 generations of bass titans.

SMV ended the night with the classic bass anthem, "School Days," as their encore at the request of the enthusiastic audience.

Friday, September 19, 2008

Gravity

Sara Bareilles is my new chanteuse-love! I was introduced to her by Andie and Dawnie....and now her songs are constant rotation in my iTunes. :) She's an American singer-songwriter with a folksy-acoustic vibe (think vox + keys) that really appeals to me. Her sound is like a cross between Jonatha Brooke, Natalie Merchant and Sarah McLachlan...all of whom I love!

Check out her live, acoustic video of "Gravity"....my fav song by her thus far. Beautiful, poignant ballad this one...it's taken from her latest album, "Little Voice."

Gravity
============
Something always brings me back to you.
It never takes too long.
No matter what I say or do, I still feel you here 'till the moment I'm gone.

You hold me without touch.
You keep me without chains.
I never wanted anything so much than to drown in your love and not feel your rain.

CHORUS
Set me free, leave me be. I don't want to fall another moment into your gravity.
Here I am and I stand so tall, just the way I'm supposed to be.
But you're on to me and all over me.

You loved me 'cause I'm fragile.
When I thought that I was strong.
But you touch me for a little while and all my fragile strength is gone.

I live here on my knees as I
Try to make you see that you're
Everything I think I need here on the ground.
But you're neither friend nor foe though I
Can't seem to let you go.
The one thing that I still know is that you're keeping me down
You're keeping me down, yeah, yeah, yeah
You're onto me, onto me and all over

Something always brings me back to you
It never takes too long

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Coming Up To Breathe...

It's been a difficult week...I haven't found the time to rest and blog until now. Some of you know that my paternal grandfather was hospitalised on Weds due to low haemoglobbin levels. The docs have done a series of tests and a scope on him but they haven't found out the cause yet. They wanted to do a colonoscopy on him on Fri....but couldn't do it. So they discharged him on Sat, and have scheduled him for an X-ray 2 weeks from now. To make it more difficult, my grandma got a fever/flu cos she was so tired from all ths hospital stuff. She's ok now....doc says she just needs to get some rest.

Thanks for all who prayed along with me, and showed your concern. I'm very grateful. (At this point, I'm really appreciative of the community at RiverLife...pple who journey and pray with you despite walking through trying situations themselves.) I think it was also quite divine that I reached the hospital earlier than expected on Thur....before my aunt and parents arrived. It gave me an opportunity to pray for my grandfather. He was quite taken back that I asked to pray for him, but he allowed me to in the end...which I think is quite a big deal. Please keep praying for him frens.

On a lighter note.....I've shifted workstations at BMI, and am now sitting next to Abi. haha!
The crazy gal sent me an msn msg that said "I can't believe you're sitting next to me!!", while I was sitting next to her! Of course that led to an uproar of laughter...and those random outbursts continue daily, as predicted by the boss. haha! God help us to remain productive with this new arrangement.

I've also gotten a copy of Chris Tomlin's new album, "Hello Love". Yes, it's out in stores now. GO OUT AND GET A COPY! :)

Alright, that's all for tonight. I need to crash.
Another crazy week begins again....

Scofield is back!!!

Season 4 of Prison Break is airing now!!! Finally, it's been waaaayyy too long a wait.
I just finished watching Ep 1 and 2....and am absolutely dying to watch Ep 3 and 4 now.
(Abiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!!!! Hurry up and download and then pass to me before I die!)

Episodes 1 & 2 were just fantastic....I thought Season 3 was a bit lack-lustre with its lack of tight pacing, but Season 4 shows great potential with its "hit-the-ground-running-story telling,"
and the return of Dr Sara Tancredi, who's really the heart of the show! C'mon, Scofield is just lost without her!!

Very clever thematic reference to Homer's Odyssey too in this season. *impressed* PB fans....this line's gonna haunt you throughout Season 4, "all that avails is flight." Quite poignant when you think about all that Scofield has been through. *meltz* Ok, I better stop here, before I give away any spoilers in my excitement. hee!

Check out what Abi wrote in her blog about our lives as "drama queens". haha! If you recognise all the names...then you're our good fwen! And yes, I really can't wait for Heroes 3 and House 4.

"mich and i are soon going to be “getting our lives back” cos its september and all the series are coming back. hahah i know we are such drama queens. scofield, peter, booth, house, morgan, spencer, justin, kevin, pete, sawyer, jack so on so forth. hahhas. can’t wait, i can’t wait."

Monday, September 08, 2008

Sentimental Freak

"I'm just a sentimental freak
Standing at the crossroad of hello and goodbye..."- LawnLines

Those lines of Dawn's song, "I belong," became very real to me today as it was Berno's last day of work at BMI. We've been colleagues, and really really close frens for 5 years now. I'm happy for her that she's moving on, and enjoying her new job. Yet, we both feel a little sad cos it means we won't get to see each other regularly. As it is, seeing her only once a week has been really rough. Sigh. This is a girl who has been taking care of my heart for years..she means a lot to me lah.

Today, I thought it wld be nice to get her a bouquet of sunflowers for her last week...so I got all the gals to share in the cost. The funny thing was, about an hour later...Berno walked up with a single rose stalk for me, bought from the same florist downstairs. haha! We so think alike lah. So sweet lah that girl!

I'M GONNA MISS HER!!!!! Oh man...feeling a bit weepy now.
Abi says she doesn't do hugs and flowers,
Steph (Abi's sis) doesn't do conflict,
And I don't do farewells. Not very well at least.
Yes, I'm just a sentimental freak.

Sunday, September 07, 2008

I Couldn't Help Myself....

Chris Tomlin & band with Mickey and Minnie Mouse!! As Chris wrote in his blog, "Need I say more?" haha! Isn't this photo precious? *meltz*

Friday, September 05, 2008

Billy

If you know me well enough...you should know that I have a not-so-secret love affair with bookshelves. When I shifted into my new Sengkang flat, I spent days just staring adoringly at my brand new Billy/Benno bookcase combination from Ikea, which allowed me to organise my books and cds alphabetically, and according to genre. haha! I was in geek heaven.

Imagine my excitement when this conversation unfolded with Glenn:
===============================================================

Glenn: Sorry...I'm clearing my room to make way for Billy. He's coming tmrw.
Mich: Who's Billy??
Glenn: Billy=bookcase from Ikea.
Mich: OOH!! I love Billy!
Glenn: Yeah, he's quite a looker. And he's pretty useful to have around the house.
Mich: He comes in diff shades too. Awesome fella!
Glenn: Yeah yeah...sometimes with those nice glass doors which protect the deep riches within him!
Mich: Huh? You got the doors? Sucker lah u!
Glenn: They're also windows to the depths of his soul. I really liked them glass doors.
Mich: Dude, you're talking about a bookshelf like he's your fren! [pause] I totally heart you now!
Glenn: haha! Who knew I had it in me right?

"And it's a bittersweet symphony..."

"Is life a confusion of choices, or a story of grace?"
[Taken from the Hillsong Conference 2007 Opening]


Desert Song


Last night I fell into one of my emo spells.....think it was partly due to me feeling tired and spent from an immensely heavy work week. Its Friday (technically my off day) but I'm still working away on a pile of undone reports and grading. When I'm unproductive, I feel lousy about myself; when I can't spend enough time with close frens and family, I feel rather guilty; and when I'm unable to carve out time to create music, or work on my writing, I can get quite depressed. I'm not being indulgent or egoistic....it's just an innate need, a neccessary release. I think some of you fellow musos/artists will get what I mean.

I like how Brooke Fraser describes it.
"I write songs because I love to, but I mainly write songs because I can’t not. There is a fire in my belly and a word in my mouth that I didn’t put there, therefore I can’t take it away, no matter how much it hurts sometimes. God’s Word says that His gifts and call are irrevocable."

As I walk through this 'desert place'...I'm constantly looking towards God to renew my strength and hope in Him. This song by Brooke Fraser really expresses my heart's cry in this season.


This is my prayer in the desert
When all that's within me feels dry
This is my prayer in my hunger and need
My God is the God who provides

This is my prayer in the fire
In weakness or trial or pain
There is a faith proved of more worth than gold
So refine me Lord through the flame

Chorus:
I will bring praise, I will bring praise
No weapon formed against me shall remain
I will rejoice, I will declare
God is my victory and He is here

Bridge:
All of my life in every season
You are still God
I have a reason to sing
I have a reason to worship

Thursday, September 04, 2008

HELLO LOVE!!!

I love Chris Tomlin. :) Oh...look at him in that pic, so cute so happy!! haha! Anyway, Abi and I pre-ordered his new album, "Hello Love," from Trumpetpraise cos you get it at a discounted price. Now we're just waiting for the cds to arrive!!! It's already out in the U.S and sounds like its doing really well (he's so happy about it btw! I know cos I read his blog. haha!) Apparently he's going on tour with Israel and New Breed in the U.S soon! Arghhhh!!! I wish I could go! It's gonna be phenomenal.

I can't believe Abi was gushing about Chris and shamelessly plugging his album in my vocal class lor (yeah, she's my WD2 student). I remember looking at her in shock when she said "It's THE cd to get!" OMG rite? In class leh. haha!

Chris with Louie Giglio and some other pple I dunno. I can't wait to sing his new song, "Jesus Messiah," in church!!! Ok...I shall stop gushing now. Cos Dawnie says I'm 1) very high (esp at 1am) and 2) very cheong hay (but Eric Ng is way more cheong hay than me).

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

I Heart Dawn!!!

The super cool, silhouettey "publicity shot".

Last Sat...Muffin & I braved the storm and waded through mud to support the RiverLife songwriters at "The Genesis Project", a Christian songwriting festival at Paya Lebar Methodist Church. (i dunno why it always rains when we go groupie acts) Yes, all for you Dawnie! See how much we heart you! Anyway, it was a worthwhile trip. :) Felt really really proud of the RiverLife team. They did such an awesome job...thought they really raised the bar when they took the stage to perform the 3 original songs by Dawn, Eliz and Ernie. And it wasn't just a performance thingy...they really worshipped God up there. :) I love you guys lah! :)

And we had a whole entourage too....a team of vocalists, accompanied by a full band, a video guy, AND of cos.....not forgetting us groupies. haha! Steady lah! Here are some pics of that day...grabbed from Dawnie n Andrea's cameras. :) Its funny how the camaraderie of The Genesis Project has spawned this whole I Heart Revolution. haha! Everyone is riding the wave and going "I heart (insert name)", and thumping their chest. Yes yes, Dawn I know you started it...you will get all the credit. hee!

You can watch a video of Dawn's song, "I Belong" below. It's a beautiful number...which has been stuck in my head for days. :)

The last I heard....they were considering "Nigel, where are you?" as their band name. haha! Cos Nigel the guitarist, slept through his alarm and missed the soundcheck.

The rhythm section. Jem on drums, Reg on bass. Fierce ah this shot!

Happy faces!

The guys: L-R: Nigel, Samuel, Josh, Reg

The pretty gals- L-R: Andrea, Dawnie, Eliz

Reg's psycho facebook profile pic

Taking the stage!!

Dawnie and her stand...which blocked our view of her! haha!

The vocalists

A video recording of Dawn's song, "I Belong."