Monday, February 21, 2005

Chinese New Year Open House @ Julian's

Ahhhh... just did an open house dinner at my place today. Or rather, YESTERDAY, on Sunday. Invited a few of my friends, musicians and non-musicians, my brother's friends, my parents' friends, neighbours, etc. It was fun. Chinese feng-shui says that it's good to do open house, 'cos it'll bring more luck to the household! Not to mention fun... I had fun helping out my mum with prepping the food... had fun entertaining people... had fun gambling... had fun la, generally!

Thanks for coming, guys (and gals)! I really had fun with those of you who managed to come! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did! Thanks....

Anyway, some minor updates on the last couple of days:

...Talk about not training properly. Everyone else really pia themselves to train to run KLIM, increasing mileage and everything. Myself? It's like not training at all, man! Sigh. In that case, looks like it's confirmed a 10k for me at KLIM. Well, did a run on Friday morning near my place, and I found I couldn't go more than 6km that day (I didn't run since the Friday the week before!). On Saturday, I went to Lake Gardens, and did about 10k... 3 rounds around the Gardens leading up to the Bkt Aman car park. I think that's about 3.5km a lap. So I managed to cover almost 10.5km in 1 hr 17 minutes. Felt pretty good too, did 2 rounds non-stop (even without carrying my water bottle, which I usually do!)... then stopped for a few minutes to refuel with iso drinks, then went the opposite direction for one round. Well, maybe I can still train a little bit for 10k la. Better try than not.

... on Friday, I did a show with the JJ Jazz Ensemble at Sri Cempaka school in Cheras. It was a fairly nice gig, get to show some Form 1 to Form 5 kids a bit about playing jazz. Played some jazz standards like Take The A-Train, Green Dolphin Street, as well as some original tunes from the band, and even some Malay tunes (Pok Pok Bujang Lapok jazz style!) and cartoons (Flintstones, Old MacDonald's)!!! It was pretty fun. Lotsa young girls screaming (but most of the band suspects it's because of our good-looking drummer Martin.. everytime he solos, screams aloud!).

... after that I watched Constantine, at Times Square. Damn kau nice movie! Based on the Vertigo Comics' Hellblazer, it's about this bloke called John Constantine (Keanu Reeves), who's a anti-hero in the battle of good and evil. His role in the world, is a very convoluted one. And the world he LIVES in, is as well. Apparently, he's like a demon buster, who does what he does to try to "buy" his way back into heaven... although he's not a great believer in God. In the movie, he's discovered some leads that may seem that demons from the netherworld are trying to break into human realm (they can't, and they aren't supposed to), and his path locks with a female cop (Rachel Weisz...wah liao, she's hot!), whose twin sister was found commiting suicide in mysterious circumstances. Well, I ain't gonna spoil it for ya... go watch it yourself.

REVIEW: Well, I think they did some justice to the spirit of the comics. I think Keanu's role wasn't "anti-hero" enough. Although I think he did a good job anyway. Rachel Weisz.. wah... she's awesome. The effects aren't as great as some of its peers, but unlike some of them, the film-makers definitely know that effects are only tools used to make a story better, not as a main factor in making them good. Some people may find that the storyline, or the progression of the movie rather slow, save the last part. But I think that the momentum was done just well for the movie. It moves not TOO quickly, but not un-interestingly as well. The portions of the movie which is "slow", reveals interesting bits about the character and the storyline, so to keep it interesting still. Well, I really liked how the whole story reveals itself. Keeps you guessing on some things. Overall rating: B

That's it for now.. stay tuned.

Will be going for a rehearsal tomorrow with my sifu Greg Lyons, to prepare for his next album recording. He'll start recording on Tuesday, and I'll be involved too! My first involvement in a serious jazz album! Cool! Anything more, I'll update later!

Stay tuned...

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