There are days that I need inspiration, not only to continue studying for my graduate exams but also to fuel my goal of some day influencing the music industry. Today, I found one – Mayday- Forgotten Lyrics
I am content now, but is that enough? October 9, 2007
As I post this from my apartment, I feel content. I feel fulfilled by a life that has given much to remember by. I can’t help to think about the Indian belief of karma. What was I before this life? Who was I before this life? Was I good a person? Did I do anything to change the world? Am I still remembered?
As I read a Time’s commentary on the Burma situation and the pressure the small communist enclave is receiving from international governments, I wonder what is happening there, in reality, and what are the people facing. The military elite lives in grandeur, while more than 80% of the population lives in poverty. How can they live in a reality that is so striking? Then I think of myself and compare my conditions with those of others living in other countries. How have I remained silent, remained impervious to reality, while I lived my life of luxury? How can I continue living like this? How can we all continue living like this while others don’t even live a day at all.
Mayday Concert Review October 8, 2007
Ashin and Ming looking cute. Photo copyright of Ashin.
Thank you Mayday for a memorable concert in Tokyo.
Mayday’s concert was held in Zepp Tokyo (Odaiba) on October 7th. The concert was sponsored by both Disk Garage and Pro Max, and were sold at the Zepp Tokyo venue and at Lawson’s convenient store. Unbeknown to me, the tickets had a Group A and a Group B classification. Although it was a “free-standing” concert, those who got their tickets earlier (Group A) got to sit/stand front row, where there were about 18 rows of roughly 20 chairs. Group B was stuck in the back (I was unfortunately B). Moreover, never have I been to a concert that was organized so meticulously like this one. Crew members from Zepp Tokyo had a flippable pad, and they would flip the numbers as another crew member announced the numbers over the megaphone. As the numbers were called, the ticket holders of that number would then go in. Give credit to the Japanese for thinking of order and calm ahead of time.
There were (rough estimate) about a 1,500 people in attendance, with Japanese and Chinese supporters alike (as well as other nationalities. I represented three nationalities right there, so I’ll give my identities an acknowledgment). The acoustics in the venue were poor. Not only that, but accompanying TV screens that were built for concert-goers in the back were small, with one of them being dysfunctional. The sound system was good, though there was a faint buzzing at certain times (and one time static). A crew member kept running back and forth on the stage while the band was playing, and at one point, Ming beckoned the crew member over (wonder what did he tell him. Fix the amps? Get rid of the buzzing? Quit running around?).
Despite the venue conditions, Mayday put out a great performance. They showcased their guitar, bass, vocal and drum skills throughout the show. Halfway through the concert, all band members, including their accompanying pianist, performed impromptu short solos. Masa, the bassist, also performed a short piano and vocal solo while the rest of the band was off-stage.
They also interacted with the audience, with Ashin, Masa, Monster and Stone frequently asking concert-goers to clap, sing and jump along the songs. At one point during their songs (Luen Ai-ing), all the band members and supporting musicians left the stage, one by one, eventually prompting clapping and chanting from the crowd. The pause heightened the expectation, and when all musicians came back on stage, it was a jumping frenzy.
The theme of the concert centered around a short movie clip acted by all the members of Mayday. The clip was about a distant future, with the members of Mayday living on a hypothetical destroyed Earth. Just at the end of the concert, when the members took a brief rest before the encore, the ending of the movie was revealed.
Most of their songs were from their latest album, Born to Love, but they also played a sizable number of their Taiwanese hits (Garbage Truck, Good or not good, among others).
The band ended their repertoire by playfully dancing around to their latest XBox promotional song, throwing towels and guitar picks at the crowd. It was a great performance, and I hope they come back to Tokyo next year, as they promised.
I’ve dreamed it but I can’t get there October 2, 2007
I dream vividly. In my dreams, part of my inhibitions overcome barriers and enact themselves. They unfold like water, cascading smoothly and soundly as a waterfall. I also dream about my fears. These fears tug at me in real life, and although they resolve themselves in my dreams, they never do while I’m awake. I don’t know why these fears are so difficult to dissolve. They smell and feel like small cubes of brown sugar, painstakingly dissolving in a cup of tea until a spoon taps solidly against the cube and breaks it into tiny fragments. Yet they remain, these fragments, clusters of tiny granules glued together. Those are my fears, a fear of not knowing where I’ll end up 10 years from now, a fear of not knowing love, a fear of having to children to love, a fear of living life in a void, a fear of drifting in and off a dream.
Places I want to go to within ten years. September 27, 2007
1. Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Thailand
2. Angkor Wat, Cambodia
3. Taipei, Taiwan
4. Iguazu Falls and Bariloche, Argentina
5. Macchu Picchu and Cuzco, Peru
6. Galicia and Madrid, Spain
7. Porto and Lisboa, Portugal
8. Tikal, Guatemala
10. Sydney, Australia
11. Iditarod Race, Alaska
12. Vancouver, Canada
