stuff talk.

stuff!i'm a sucker for stuff.what IS stuff?

Google says stuff is "the tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object"; "senseless talk";"information in some unspecified form".blahblah.

But no i don't think that quite explains what stuff is all about. Stuff is every lil nitty grit on earth that sucks you in and allows you to forget, momentarily, that your life isn't pathetic.

hooray!i stumbled upon some stuff a while ago n did some stuff n now im a really blessed soul.

The source of stuff lies here:
http://www.readymech.com/

courtesy of the dude over at geekspeak to your right >>>
(thanks!)

Check it out. pretty interesting stuff they got there. i shan't spoil the surprise.

And no points for guessing which one i've selected. (besides, my printer only dus black n white.)



"meowwwwwwwww"

A lil mix for a friend

This lil something goes out to J (you know who you are!), who's been going thru a rough patch lately. Doubt I'll have much time to indulge in such jobless endeavors in the future, boohoo, so while i still can...



And to X as well. Some of the songs prolly sound random to u, but hope the list cheers u up a lil nonetheless.

And to the non-J's & X's, you're most welcome to be a Lemon Friend. Have a happy life .

Blast these right now!!

As promised. Now I just hope the links work.

Mae- Brink of Disaster

The Rocket Summer - Brat Pack

The Rocket Summer- So Much Love (you don't need anti-depressants now!)

Whee.

(As i'm typing away, it might also be worthwhile to add that i've just added some 5 chinese songs -5!!!!- to my audio collection. You rock, David Tao. But don't take that as the green light to spam me with Cantonese songs, Jack Nightmare. DUSNT WORK THAT WAY!*puts up right palm and swishes hair to side for an awesome pose*)

Squashed! #4 - Blast these!

i love to explore.i love travelling to the unknown and getting lost amidst the beauty.i love the sea and its surfs.

but when you are broke, surfing the internet and exploring new musical landscapes from the comfort of your wooden chair would prolly be the next best thing.

Apart from some really crappy indie stuff that i've innocently sampled along the way (read: a conglomeration of all the lousiest noises in the world that don't make sense individually, and create a disharmonoius din together. take a listen when you wanna experience (a) the explosion of a rocket gone wrong in outerspace b) 92138 migraines simultaneously), I've come across some really blog-worthy/mind-blowing/soul-infused music that can't seem to find their way out of my player.

Some honorable mentions (other than -of course- Secondhand Serenade):
1. Jimmy Eat World
http://www.myspace.com/jimmyeatworld


This song from some time back has got me melting in the past couple of days. Check out the lyrics, and i hope you'll be left mesmerised, too.

And start cherishing your friends today.

2. Umbrellas
http://www.myspace.com/umbrellas

To be frank, I've never heard of this band till now, but i was pleasantly greeted by the material in their self-titled album released in 2005. Vocals are mellow and sometimes verge on melancholic, sort of like a band version of Lene Marlin, or a more upbeat Thirteen Senses. The brooding touch makes for a really good bedtime lull, or just something to lounge to. Not when you're depressed, though.

3. Mae -->highly recommended!!



This album is The Bomb (kinda looks like one, dusnt it?). I couldn't get my ears off "Brink of Disaster" (esp. the first 12 secs of it), and the rest of the album proved to be as superb!i love the way they sound. i love the texture, i love the vocals, i love the twists within songs. oh geez i wish i were better equipped with the ability to comment more persuasively, but really, if there's just one song you have time for, it has to be "Brink of Disaster"*. And THEN you'll know what i mean amidst my gibberish. Hear how Mae makes a car crash disaster unfold so seamlessly. 12913 stars!

4. The Rocket Summer --> greatest respect for!
http://www.myspace.com/therocketsummer

I think blogger is getting impatient cos i believe it's gonna start hanging on me the 4th time today. So to keep it short, The Rocket Summer is another one-man band, fronted by talented Bryce Avary who, with superb power-vocals and amazing musical skills, produces uplifting, meaningful, inspiring, highly infectious music that would never fail to brighten your day. (Unless of course you hate the likes of Hanson. But even if you do, you HAVE TO give this dude a listen.) I dedicate "Brat Pack"* to all my lovely bratty friends.

And I'm gonna be buying his latest CD. 'Nuff said.

*Due to seriously shitty internet connection and uncooperative blogger.com, the 2 songs highlighted would be put up in the next post!cheers. (While trying to get this post published, IE shat on me, like, yet another time.)

sweet dreams.

Flu is a very terrible thing.It makes sleep so annoyingly undesirable.

but oh, how can you not want to sleep when you could have such wonderful, wonderful dreams?

Presenting: The Impossible Romance of Tommy the Cat, & Squishy Squishy Bug.

"Here without you, baby
But you're still on my lonely mind

I think abt you baby

And i dream about you all the time"- 3 Doors Down, "Here without you".

Aww..

have a good sleep.

Squashed! #3 - Music that slaps them in the face without you dirtying your hands.

Ever felt like the screws in your jaws came loose & made you spend a good minute staring blankly ahead with your mouth wide open in disbelief?

Of course screws don't unscrew by themselves. We call the catalysts arseholes.

You get all excited telling them the one good thing that has happened to you in centuries and they go "uhhhhh..ok, it's not a big deal". Familiar?

Or the worst day in your life and they go "Oh. Your life sucks"

AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!

But no. We all need a modicum of peace.

Take it out with grace. Breathe. We don't need to get our hands dirty to tell these blocks that we would live a better life, thank you very much.

Really, some music says it all.

1.Band of Horses - No One's Gonna Love You

2.Linkin Park - Bleed It Out

3.My Chemical Romance - I'm Not Okay (I Promise) ->>lurrrrve it!

4.My Chemical Romance - Dead!

5.Alicia Keys - Karma

6.Jason Mraz - The Remedy (I Won't Worry) (Yes finally!Think Imeem's exactly what I've been looking for. Can't wait to share more music guilt-free woooooot!)



& 7. My Chemical Romance (again!) - I Don't Love You.

Random musings

"Sometimes the last person on earth you want to be with
is the one person you can't be without." - Pride & Prejudice (2005)

And that brings me to the old adage: Marry not the person you can live with, but you can't live without.

(Actually I'm not even sure we can consider that an adage, since we live in such a practical society devoid of age-old romance & love today. It would perhaps be more apt to call love a fable. But that's just the cynic in me speaking.)

The hopeless romantic in me is, however, utterly relentless in the pursuit of this love i can't live without, love that could withstand the erosion of time, the gravity of bad days & moods, the distance that stretches across wherever you are in the world. Love that hails from way back in the history, love that was carved on stones, inked on secret love-letter stashes; love that caused anguish & pain as much as happiness & excitement. Love that is celebrated. Love that is depicted in motion pictures that make you bawl your eyes out.

Just like I'm a cynic/romantic, good old love is really love/hate. I've caught Pride & Prejudice a few days back on cable, but it left some serious trails in my head/heart that i have yet to shake off. And of course there's the lush greenery featured all over the show to gush about, but no, not today. I'm sparing you my incessant daydreams.

But how good it would be to be trodding around the countryside with a long skirt in the 19th C, with butterflies & flowers all around, and love in the air. Oh how I love the greens! It laces everything you do with love & purity.

Now back to the real world. Sad to say,cynic/romantic came to a consensus & the only love that is practically satisfying to both is (what else!?) awesome music.

And so, it's soundtrack day for me today. With titles as irresistable as "stars & butterflies" (exactly!), "the secret life of daydreams", "another dance", it isn't hard to imagine why i could see myself fitting in perfectly into Jane Austen's world. See you soon, Mr Darcy.

Sunday blues; Squashed! #2

Yet another blahhh sunday.i guess u could assume i was pretty much doing nothing. Seemingly. But really, i was very deep thought. (Ha, u say.) I've been looking high and low for a neat lil widget to fit into my lil blog for your listening purposes, but to no avail. Call me fussy, call me lazy - i prefer practical- but really, why dun they have those easy drag-n-drop things that allow u to put your music up for others to listen to hassle-free without

a) hassle for the owner (me)

b) lousy loading

c) people being able to (easily) rip the music off (oh sheesh those copyrighting laws. bummer.)

So,i've decided to stick to the methods of sharing music i know best. (Actually, they are all i know!) Youtube vids & Myspace's. & perhaps the occasional mp3 sharing once i've figured out a no-frills way to do so.

As with any other good old day, my ears had a craving. And the winner of OMG-I-Love-It-&-It-Actually-Made-Me-Feel-Good-For-A-While-On-A-Sunday Award goes to:

Queen -Bohemian Rhapsody

And believe me,it's worth at least 100 listens!It's one of those never-die classics of all time. Thanks to Michael Johns from this season's American Idol (appreciate your enthusiasm Jack ha!) who sang it so well, I find myself going back in time to unearth this and other gems from previous decades. Holy! My poor laptop is almost crumbling under its fever.

Squashed! #1

i've got TONS of fave songs/bands, but a lifetime is divided into years, n years into months, n months into days, blah... n so it's necessary to dedicate a nano-segment of your life to each and every of these songs/bands, one at a time. explore it. breathe it. live in it. and then walk out of it, knowing that you have truly loved it, and then revisit it in the future and relive the experience.

it is alot like love.first love,perhaps?but love nonetheless.

the best songs sometimes do not strike u on 1st listen, but they make damn sure that u put them on nonstop replay once u'r hooked the 2nd time round. 2nd time rounds are usually by accident, at least for me, if love doesn't come on first listen.

and most of the time, these are the songs that haunt you for life.

What moves u?the lyrics?the music?

For me right now : lyrics, music, and one-man bands. my utmost respect to these talented, exceptional musicians.

Which brings me to the song of the week (that's been on replay ever since second listen):



That's secondhand serenade for you, or rather, John Vesely. The vid is nothing fancy, but its simplicity complements the raw emotions he sings with - splendid!

"Best thing about tonight's that we're not fighting
Could it be that we have been this way before
I know you don't think that I am trying
I know you're wearing thin down to the core.."

I'm in love with you already, and no, i promise i would never fight with you over the tv remote again - ever!you rock,John!

and this goes into my "evergreen" list.

it's time!!

Yes it is!It's time to bring it on!

Thanks to the fanatic urges of close budds,i'm gonna be spicing up my lil page. 'what with?' you ask. what else??

if you're a friend and ur asking me this, you may like to contact me personally for a very special conference on the subject of the dubious existence of our acquaintance.

(!)

well let's see.there's music, there's travel, there are good books, there are random atoms crashing into one another in the air. i'll write about whatever, whenever, as long as i think it's worth sharing (actually, isn't everything!?), and worth my efforts (now hmm...)

so let's get it rolling with my Squashed! entries - music-driven knickknacks & whatnots. this is gonna be tough to keep up with, but i'm gonna try to get into a habit of doing this! after all, music is (the love of!) my life - what better than to indulge in it?yummy.

n of course my ramblings aren't gonna stop.geez, so many things to talk abt; so lil time!

i am a music sloth

it never fails to amaze me, how my cat could waste away afternoons bumming around, lazing around, staring into space. it is an art, really, being able to indulge in the different cat-atonic (is that how the word came abt?!) positions that he so fancies, without fidgeting, with not a care in the world.

but in fact, i am just the same.

it's weird how i never find myself running out of things to do when i'm home. gone were the days when i would frantically butt myself outta home before the walls started closing in on me. these days i could glue myself to my seat for hours straight just listening to music, or exploring the new ones out there.

which is just as well that im jobless right now. Musica-spiritually speaking,i'm at an all-time high. i am complete.im completely empowered by my obsession with great music n awesome bands.

whee.

and so my index finger clicks away, with my ears wide open. i find joy,exhilaration. Rock music rocks!I bounce along, naturally, to the eclectic rhythms. even to the melancholic ones. time whizzes by.

im a music sloth, and i do not have a care in the world. Slothing is an art.

'jamber' days

wherever you are, I hope you are well.
because you've changed my life.

You're still my favorite stranger.

the iced lemon tea effect

Yes perhaps I should briefly mention my obsession with tea - iced, hot, lemon, peppermint, jasmine, green.. whatever!

I'm sipping combi 1+3 right now.

Never fails to jazz me up. brrrrr.i feel slightly better already.

Good teas must always be enjoyed with good music.

Down on my luck

So here we go, yet another new blog that sees its future floating around somewhere in cyber wasteland.I never had a knack for religiously updating my blogs; perhaps this would start a new record.

But yes, it has to.

I'm writing this first post amidst one of the darkest periods in my life. If Darth V. would just kindly excuse me please. I find a recent lack of energy in conveying my thoughts to thoughtful chums & family members through my mouth,so i guess my fingers could do the trick. It works, actually. The words come easier cos you're really talkin to no one and everyone at the same time. Writing is probably the next best thing to say,umm,psychic transmitting waves?

i have this plan,see. i have had shit loads of bad luck since -i'm tempted to say forever, but oh, why overglorify badluck- ...forever. You know what they say: when you're at the lowest,there's no other way but up. But guess what I've discovered?

It's total bull. When you're at your lowest, you could actually remain there forever.

Realise that I'm using "forever" very liberally. Depressed souls have no acute sense of time. There's no hurry in each day. The only hurry is in digging a hole in your own grave. The more literate call it 'wallowing in self-pity'; those in denial call it 'reminiscing'.

I'm kinda a little of both. My mood these days verges on hypo- hyper-, depending on the music that's blasting.

So like those people on MTV's "I want a famous face", i'm gonna document my journey of tremendous (mood) uplifting, enhancement and optimism injections. Well really it depends. It could end up being a blog better titled "Don't jump!!"

But since bad luck isn't gonna budge anytime soon, we'll just have to settle for excerpts of my shitty life right now.