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Joshua Hoong
06.09.92
Audiophile
Self-Proclaimed-Certified-iPod-Evangelist

Friday, June 13, 2008

Playground Hustle

Again I was distracted shortly after my earlier distraction of afternoon toast.

I hope these distractions will stop, I really do...

Those little toddlers in uniformed green and white gathered in anticipation, looking everywhere but in front, ready to sprint as the Childcare-teacher led them with a 15-second verbal countdown before setting them free to explore the wonders of the little playground, with all its glory restored by the vivid imagination of those lil' souls.

The ululations of nostalgic screaming and patter of colourful Crocs and squeaky-squeak shoes rang through the air as they challenged the balancing pole and attempted to climb the steps to an adjacent slide, only to be rewarded with the thrill of spiraling down the smooth surface giggling with sheer joy.

I would have taken pictures(now this makes me sound like a complete Paedophile) to capture the gist of the moment, of images emerging where nothing had been, only to find out it's over. But then again, what was I to do with them?

I admire the carefree lives of Children; how they can laugh and smile like every moment was a climax of their life;how they can be contented with what we so easily pass off as a dull horizontal bar three-feet off the ground to the extent that it is laughable; how easily it is for them to look at Danger and to smile right back at the face of Death; how a wail for Mummy takes away all the sadness of the world.

Sadly, we outgrow this stage, as Time robs it under our breath and put us on a conveyor belt leading towards a certain place, where Sadness and his cronies hold your hand.

We live in a sad, sad world; where the only source of comfort lies in the fact that we were all children before. The memories captured forever in our mind's eye, of images emerging where nothing had been, only to find out it's over.

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

The Kills are an Anglo-American post-punk indie-rock band comprising of American lead-vocalist Alison "W" Mosshart and British guitarist Jamie "Hotel".

Personally, I came across this duo through the March issue of JUICE, an indie fashion magazine. JUICE tastefully described the music as "dangerous and cute, at the same time", which is quite hard to do, you know. And which is why it's pretty cool. An apt band name at that as well.

With the instruments comprising of mainly an acoustic guitar, an occasional electric, and mellow drumming, The Kills show that they place vocals as the main pushing force in all their songs. And by that, I mean that vocals are used liberally and so intricately, carving and molding each song into a masterpiece, rendering the instruments aforementioned, unnecessary. Even with that, they do not compromise the instruments. Alison's lazy voice quickly puts you in a trance, saturated with emotion as it was like in "Black Balloon" where the drumming followed the clapping by establishing the rhythm of the piece right from the start, which lead the melancholic song.

Conversely in tone, in "What New York Used To Be", Alison hardly sang, rather, she simply enunciated the words, letting her voice rise and fall to the crescendos and innuendos. Pure Genius.

So if ever you're in search of something to take your mind off, to simply enjoy great vocals, to appreciate and unravel the hidden meanings behind the honest lyrics, I will see you in Music haven with The Kills.

P.S. They were labeled as the style icons for indie-wear so join me for some shopping as i try to emulate Jamie. HEEHEE.

Good night, not a bad morning.

Rocks like:The Duke Spirit, Metric, Stars, Architecture In Helsinki



A Start To Something New: Music Blogging.

Thanks, Jared for indirectly inspiring me to start a music blog.

Dear Readers, please bear with me as I experiment with a few posts with everything revolving around music.

I shall begin in the next post.



Tuesday, June 3, 2008 Musically Bummed

Never would I have thought that I would ever be so bummed and never this bad. You might think this is all very trivial and laugh at me for this. So be it.

I was catching the early bus to school today and have you ever seen those poor lads untangling their earpieces? Well I was one today. I guess it's the price to pay for the ticket to Music nirvana as I tried negotiating a bud through the mess of wire, stomping my feet in frustration whenever I got it mixed up, having the intention of writing a complaint letter to Sennheiser for depriving me of my daily dose of tunes. A retard takes an average of 2 songs to untangle the earpiece, an average Joe;1 song, a skilled professional such as I; the chorus of a Chorus Of Angels by Haste the Day, no pun intended.

Fitting the buds snugly into my ear and experiencing premature-ear orgasms already, I reached my hand into my pocket, expecting to grasp the cool metal finish of my iPod when I freaking realised it was not there! Checking myself, panic arising I blurted out,"Oh FUCK!"

Receiving several approving nods and thumb-ups from the fellow commuters around me, I totally froze on the spot and stared into oblivion letting my eyes skim over the minute details of life as the bus moved along. Unblinking. Hearing the drone of the engine rev up, the hissing doors opening to squeeze more sardines into the can. the littlest snort, cough, breath and mindless phone conversation. Personally, to my horror, I felt 2 butt-cheeks on me and was greeted by the cold stare an old wizard and I heard him thinking,"Why are your butt-cheeks touching my butt-cheeks?!", and I thought back, "well, lucky you!"

The rest of the day wisped by without any significance. No iPod.

I'll walk next time.

With my iPod.


Monday, June 2, 2008

Stress-induced Blabbering

I've waited long for this moment, when the words shimmered senselessly on the bright white pages.

Tossing the dog-eared Physics books aside, I weighed my head in my palms:Heavy. Must be from all the long hours of cramming concepts and formulae in my head. Or is it the remaining dense-ness left to clear before D-day. No wonder it felt a tad lighter, although the bulk was mainly made up of the "I should be studying" guilt.

I just had about enough of the intermittent clashing of metal against metal from the construction site behind me and was about to fire a Jericho missile at them when I noticed those black workers in their outstanding yellow helmets going about their work. The devil on my shoulder whispered into my ear, "Joshua, Joshua if you don't work hard, you're gonna be like them, licking mud every day of your sorry life."

Stress la.


Sunday, June 1, 2008
Acne 101

As He is in heaven, so am I in this world.
Jesus didn't have acne so by right faith, I shouldn't as well.
but this faith of mine hangs precariously over the edge as reality tries to nudge it off over and over again. "Boy ah..How big is your God?"

I've been suffering from a bout of Acne Vulgaris since the start of sec 4, shortly after CNY. maybe it was from the delumptious pineapple tarts or koropok. How i yearn for them now. or maybe it was because I got to keep my Hong Bao money this year but this makes no sense.

Widening my perspectives, maybe it was the interlude after sec 3 and the shit I underwent at the start of sec 4. or maybe it's because my hair follicles and sebaceous glands are on strike. now that's more believable.
either way, this sucks cause it's still there and it's bad.

On top of that, I'm used to starting the day with a new greeting, "walao why your face like that!"
Lovely huh?

Augustine: you look like shit
Me: thanks a lot. you too.
Augustine: What did the doctor say?
Me: oh he said i'm suffering from acne vulgaris and almost killed me by prescribing erythromycin, which i'm allergic to. that asshole.
Augustine: ahaha vulgar acne. VERY NICE!

maybe God works in another way. the long waiting list to visit the Dermatologist has been supernaturally shortened down to this coming Tuesday. Praise God! (: