Nyanko's Basket

After a hiatus of a few months, I decided to play some old rags which I'd neglected for a while: Kitten on the Keys, Peacherine Rag and Ragtime Nightingale.

It was somewhat harder than I thought, and my fingers were at first unused to some of the jumps required. But after the first time, it got better and I was able to play them almost at the same level/standard as before.

And amazingly enough, playing Kitten on the Keys no longer makes my elbows ache tremendously! Perhaps that's a side effect of learning the Seabiscuits and Graceful Ghost rags, or maybe all the arm manipulation involved in practicing Bamboula, but it means that I can now play the piece faster without having to suffer for it afterwards. ^_^;;

I don't feel comfortable enough with any of them to make any public recordings yet (and since my piano's unlikely to get tuned unless I pay for it, who knows?) but perhaps in the future I may.

It's that time of year again!

Karaoke Competition VI organized by AnimeSuki forums

The deadline this time is midnight on the 29th of November (EST or GMT-5), which means the actual deadline for me will be around 1 pm on the same day. There must be something good about being in a weird time zone, after all. :P

This may also be the last karaoke competition I take part in for a while. We'll see about that though.

Now, it's time to get on with the singing and piano playing~~

Edit (03 Jan 2007): For those who didn't download the entries, I've uploaded my entries.

Wasurenaide
Wind's Nocturne

Many thanks to relsqui for these lyrics:

( Lyrics to Take Five - which I didn't know existed )

In other news, I received my itinerary this morning via e-mail. I'll be leaving Singapore for Hong Kong on the 22nd of October (a Sunday) at 4:05 pm and landing there at 7:55 pm (without any change in time zone), and leaving Hong Kong for Singapore on the 24th of October (a Tuesday) at 10:40 am and landing in Singapore at 2:20 pm.

That doesn't give me much time to do anything, but it certainly is better than what I originally thought would happen, where I would fly in just in time for the interview and leave immediately after. While I'm in Hong Kong, I might visit the famous Peak and do some shopping. I may even take some pictures to share, though that depends on whether my camera wants to cooperate. :P

I'm still waiting to hear just which group I will be interviewing for, though. But I'm hopeful that things will go well. :)

I don't know why I did it now, but I bought this CD, as well as Britney Spears' then-new album ("Oops, I Did It Again"), Shaggy's "Hot Shot" album (featuring "Angel" and "It Wasn't Me", among other tracks) and Nelly Furtado's "Whoa, Nelly!" album about 6 years ago. I also bought Michael Learns to Rock's "19 Love Ballads" album (basically a compilation of their previous hits including a new single "The Ghost of You") the following year. I find "25 Minutes" and "The Ghost of You" two of the most poignant songs on that album, and perhaps I will post their lyrics at a later date...

Incidentally, this is the song that I like the most on the 7 CD (S Club 7's first album?), and quite possibly the only one I listen to semi-regularly. :P

( Lyrics for Reach )

I can sympathize with el_espada and how he feels. :P

Right now I'm trying (Gottschalk's Bamboula, Danse de Negres, op. 2 (tempo allegro, 1 crotchet = 112 beats) for fun and it's a very nice piece to listen to (and I hope to be able to find a recording), even if playing it makes my arms feel like they no longer exist. :P

More information about the Bamboula can be found here.

( The source of the pain, part 1 )

( The source of the pain, part 2 )

( The source of the pain, part 3 )

Fortunately, I'm not playing them this time. :P

Unfortunately, I still don't like them a lot... although I do like this piece in general (Hesitation Tango).

( Did I mention I don't like triplets? )
( Double the trouble... )

I spent a few hours at my piano this morning with my laptop recording some pieces that I intend to play. While all of them are at the "first draft" stage, I'm not very reluctant to share some of them with people who ask. So if you're interested, leave a comment and let me know. :)

My Touch 2006 concert recording, that is. :-)

If you want it, leave a comment here with your e-mail address (replies will be screened) or contact me some other way.

Omar and the Chocolate Factory

It's amazing. :)

The concert went off quite well, and I felt that I performed the best I could, even if it was a little strange towards the end. However, I don't have a lot of time to bask in the warm glow, because it's back to work now...

For the concert, since I wasn't able to find two original copies of the score (only one), we were using photocopies all this time during coaching, practice and peer review. Well, now that the concert is a week away, we had to switch to binding our scores as the lighting in the concert venue reflects off the plastic.

So I used the opportunity to photocopy some other pieces that I've been playing on but have been too lazy to photocopy individually: Bamboula - Fantasie & Danse de Negres, Le Bananier, Chanson Negre, "Union", Paraphrase de Concert on the National Airs, Danza, Souvenir de Porto Rico - Marche des Gibaros, Berceuse - Cradle Song, The Dying Poet and Tournament Galop.

I don't think I have (yet) the technical proficiency to master all of them, and I'm still rather bad at turning pages quickly. :P But already I've been able to play Bamboula (op. 2, composed in France) from beginning to end, though at a much slower tempo than indicated (the score suggests crotchet beat = 112 and I think I'm playing about 74).

However, if you can listen to a recording of it, I would strongly recommend it. To quote George W. Cable ("The Dance in Place Congo", 1886): the dance involved "the booming of African drums and blast of huge wooden horns, the use of triangles, Jew's harps, rattles, banjo, and the slap of bare feet on earth". I believe it has even been performed using such actual instruments, though I don't have a source for that.

And finally, sleeping on a wet pillow is always an interesting experience... So is being told by your own sister that your playing is "abysmal".