Songwriting Tips with Fee

I got this from Carlos Whittaker's blog. Funny stuff! Heh! Somebody sure is jealous of them Aussies. (Steve Fee's the one with the blue speech bubble, Carlos' is in grey)


Reckon they have it made mate.
Los

"Love Will Keep Us Alive" by Alarice

Alarice and Nigel performing a cover of The Eagles' "Love Will Keep Us Alive" at No Black Tie, Kuala Lumpur on June 1 2009.

Abi and I had this discussion the other day. We asked each other, "Bright & shiny" or "dark & twisty"? (For those who don't watch Grey's Anatomy, it's a reference that's often used in the show to refer to the core of your heart, who you are. I.e. cheery optimist vs. moody emo type)

Interestingly, Abi, who is like all energetic and zany, decided that she was "dark & twisty"....and I, who may appear very reflective & emo, concluded that I was "bright & shiny." haha! Its funny how who are deep inside, doesn't always match up to how the world perceives us. :) Anywayz...I really love this cover of "Love will keep us alive" by Alarice, because it reveals my Disney, "bright & shiny" heart..and got me all teary. I feel like 'life has meaning' once again. haha! Enjoy! It's a beautiful one.

Let Worship Rock & Justice Roll

I was watching a sermon by Glenn Packiam from New Life Worship's teaching series, "Re:verb/// Conversations on biblical worship." His message was titled, "Let worship rock and justice roll." It sounds quite cool and groovy right? But once you dig in....the msg gets really sobering (in a good way). Glenn referred to The Message's version of Amos 5....and it was so close to home that it made my heart go "ouch!" I think we've all been guilty of a 'feel good' brand of Christianity which traps us in our kingdom of comfort. I know I have. And it makes me sick to think that we've offered up empty worship unto God.

"I can't stand your religious meetings.
I'm fed up with your conferences and conventions.
I want nothing to do with your religion projects,
your pretentious slogans and goals.
I'm sick of your fund-raising schemes,
your public relations and image making.
I've had all I can take of your noisy ego-music.
When was the last time you sang to me?
Do you know what I want?
I want justice—oceans of it. I want fairness—rivers of it.
That's what I want. That's all I want."- Amos 5:21-24 (The Message)

Glenn concluded with this profound point, "Worship was designed to wake us up to the world, not insulate us from it." Wow....now that's something to chew on, and to live out.

Cell Group Antics (Featuring Jeremy & Ivan)

Jeremy had us cracking up in laughter as Morris hooked him up to this Osim massage device, which caused his arm/shoulders to twitch as regularly as a metronome. Watch Jeremy attempt to drink his iced coffee as Ivan increases the intensity of the massager. The things those 2 do to entertain themselves. haha! Wah...laugh until stomach pain!

Alarice @ Esplanade Pics

Here are some of the pics that Abi took for Alarice at the Esplanade Concourse gig. Nice? Contact her if you want to engage her services. haha!

Alarice & Nigel

My fav shot...it's such a 'singer' shot. I like!

View the rest of Abi's photos here

Fields of Grace

1) I'm amazed by my Grandma's spiritual hunger. I've been buying her a lot of literature for new Christians, because she's been reading through her daily devotionals so quickly. She's so happy to have new books to learn from, and is just taking it all in so readily. It's super cool hearing her tell me how much she liked a book, or a certain passage she read. :)

2) I am looking forward to the reunion of the Acoustikers United (Dawnie and Nigel Old Soul) for our jamming/recording session. :) We were 'scattered' cos of Nigel's exams, and then Dawnie's Tokyo trip. I NEED MUSIC!!!! Quick guys, give me my fix!!! haha!

3) Scotland in August....India in Dec. Yay!! :) I still can't believe I'm headed to the Bonnie land of Nessie, Macbeth, William Wallace, Ewan McGregor etc.

4) I'm amazed at how wonderfully encouraging our RiverLife youths are. Every now and then, they surprise me with random affirming comments and it just melts my heart to see them growing up so beautifully. I heart you guys! :)

5) Just over the past week or so....a good friend's dad was diagnosed with brain cancer. It looks pretty bad and she's very shaken up. Then another close fren messaged me about her personal medical condition, which I cannot divulge here. Life is so fragile. We can't take anything for granted. I'm learning to pray harder than ever for my frens n loved ones.

Mad Church Disease??

I think I've got it bad. All I can think of when I'm going for my personal holiday is which churches I can visit/worship conferences I can attend. haha! As some of you know...I'm headed to London/Scotland from 21 Aug-29 Aug. And I really hope to visit Holy Trinity Brompton (Tim Hughes' church) and Hillsong London. (Technically, I can visit both on one Sun because both churches have morning and evening svces! Yay!)

I just found out that JUDAH SMITH, who used to be the Youth Pastor of Generation Church, the thriving youth ministry of The City Church, Seattle, is going to be the guest speaker on 23 Aug at Hillsong London. (He's now the Preaching Pastor of The City Church.) WOOHOO!!! I'm so glad I'll be in town to hear him. (sorry, i know i sound very geeky) It's not just going to be personal holiday, but a time for spiritual refuel. YAY!!

Abi, we are so going to Hillsong London!! Nigel has already assigned me to buy him Hillsong souvenirs. haha! :)

Here's a funny dialogue I had with May about my upcoming Scottish adventure:
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May: When are you going Scotland?
Mich: 21 Aug-29 Aug. It's during the Edinburgh Festival!
May: COOL!! HAPPENING!!
Mich: I will say hi to Nessie for you! :)
May: Nah, Nessie shy!
Mich: Hahahha! I almost peed in my PJs!!
May: I email Nessie. Tell him don't so shy! Hibernation for 50 years already. Not good to be so isolated.

Disney Wonderland

This is the 2nd blog post from my very special guest blogger, Dawnieeeee, who just got back from Tokyo. :) I personally think its the best blog post I've read in ages, because it just clicked with the very dreamy, idealistic side of me (my heart is Disney at the core), and it made my world all bright, shiny and hopeful again. :) As Dawnie said, "I think i'm now world weary, and Disney made me feel like life has meaning." haha!

Another plus is that Gabe Bondoc (videos below) sang the very song that sparked my love for music & singing in the first place, "Part of your world," from the Little Mermaid. I used to sing all the songs by heart as a wee little girl, and I even have the DVD now. :) The Gabe videos are so fun! Try singing along with him ok? Enjoy!

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By Dawn Wong

I never thought I'd say this, but I love Disney. Disney is neither tacky nor childish, it is just wonderful. The happiest day in Tokyo for me was spent at Tokyo DisneySEA, the water-themed park just next to Tokyo Disneyland. The moment I stepped into the Disney Resort Line (aka train) bringing us into the theme park, and saw the Mickey Mouse-shaped windows and handles in the train, I just felt my heart kick back and relax. It was pure bliss catching all the musicals, on land and on water, and waving non-stop to Mickey, Minnie, Donald Duck, Daisy, Chip & Dale, Goofy and Pinocchio. Even though most of it was in Japanese, I still sorta understood what was going on, because it was Disney. I know Ariel in The Little Mermaid... I know the Genie in Aladdin... I know the songs, the sounds, the stories...you tell it in a different language, I still know them. Because I grew up with them, starting with the Ladybird books that I used to read as a child. And therein lies the beauty of Disney's animated stories and universal themes of love, play and beauty. Or so I would like to think. Well, anyways, it so happened when I returned that youtube celeb Gabe Bondoc has been recording his Disney covers too! Oh my...they are veryveryvery lovely. He is the second person I know to choke over songs (the first is Mich, you cry), and he chokes over Disney's songs. Awww...

The first is Part Of Your World, originally sung by Ariel in The Little Mermaid. The second is really fun - A Whole New World - where Gabe sings only one part and lets you, the audience, sing the other half of the duet. I had a blast singing along with him, though the range is totally out for me - I either need to screech or sing damn low. Haha. Enjoy :)

"God of This City" by Kris Allen

Andie showed me this video last nite and I just thought it was sooooo amazing! It's just pretty wonderful that a worship leader won American Idol. :) (And another worship leader, Danny Gokey, was in the Top 3) And here he is, singing a song that we sing in church. Wow!! Ok...am I being a bit duh? haha! But well, this is not something that happens often in American Idol world. I think it'd be so cool if Kris Allen sang a duet thingy with Chris Tomlin. Kris and Chris! haha!

Alarice @ Esplanade Concourse

Here are the other Alarice videos that I recorded from the night. Wah, not easy man...hold my hand steady for 3-4 mins. The whole gig was really nice...Abi got her opportunity to be Alarice's official photographer; met up with many frens like Nigel Old Soul, Jon (Kuching Boy), Crazy Steph, Muffin....and we even bumped into cool Jet!!! Jet got totally traumatised by Steph, although it was only the 2nd time he met her. I had to stop the conversation before she invited herself to his house for a free dinner. haha!

Jet and I got to swop copywriting horror stories...which was therapeutic. I think he's probably the only fren I have right now who fully comprehends and empathises with my copywriting woes. haha! Ok anyway...back to the videos. Dawnie enjoy! I'm sorry my finger was too slow to record her cute medley of "Somewhere over the rainbow" with Jason Mraz's "I'm Yours."

"Man in the Mirror" originally by Michael Jackson, covered by Alarice. The closing song to her 2nd set. This one was quite the crowd favourite....not easy to sing Michael Jackson songs man.


Another original new song by Alarice, "First Dance."