Ego Boost

We had a conference today so that pretty much took away most of the Saturday. Someone up there, not the heavens, but lower, decided that we needed a rehearsal. For a conference. Yes, please roll your eyes. It was a complete waste of 2 hours. To my chagrin, we were given advice on how to present and how to carry ourselves in front of an audience. I sat there, stupefied, at a complete loss for words. I had never felt so insulted in my entire life but there was nothing that I could do about it.

We were spoken to like we were children or first-time presenters. I mean, we're teachers! That basically means we make presentations on a daily basis! The advice included where to position ourselves when speaking and how often to refer to the slides. The irony is, the parents loved me! They noted on the feedback form that they

• Feel that Ms Parveen is able to speak fluently and present well. She’s able to convey what she wants to relate to audience.

I believe I am allowed to gloat. Hah. In your face!

I Can't Exist W/O Drama

Throughout my schooling years, I have always been involved with acting or public speaking. I tend to shy away from debate, mainly because I am not a team player. I take pride in achieving glory / fame based on my own feats. At least I am honest about it.

When I was first posted to a school, it would but only be natural for me to be in a CCA which had inclinations to either public speaking or drama. Unfortunately, the school did not have either. So I was tasked to start up my own CCA - English Speech and Drama.

Fast forward a couple of years. I have a relatively strong membership of 15. What pains me is that I cannot do much with my CCA as I have neither the necessary nor sufficient support needed to sustain the CCA and allow it to prosper. I run the show. I audition the boys. I write the script. I conduct the rehearsals. It's all me. It's exhausting but it's what I do best. It's almost effortless for me as it's all second nature and I know exactly what I need to put up a good performance.

I know that the time has come for it to be closed down. The school's direction is geared towards the niche areas and the boys have to be in a real CCA before they can join mine. The dates clash obviously and I am losing my members. It pains me but it is inevitable.

My boys were brilliant today. I was tough on them, even by my standards but they were fantastic on stage :)

Love what you do and do what you love.

Withdrawal Symptoms

I have yet to get over BNO... yet to get over Muse, to be exact. I'm listening to Paramore everyday to get ready for March 7th but I have this crazy urge to switch albums from Brand New Eyes to The Resistance each time. Eurgh. How like this? I've been YouTube-ing for videos on BNO in Singapore just to relive the concert. I am indeed a sad case.

Green Day had endurance but Muse had presence. It was truly an epic performance and an unforgettable experience. I still get goosebumps when I listen to the tracks. GOOSEBUMPS! Plus, I have caught myself on too many occasions humming their songs to myself. I need professional help.

I found this video. I am so making my kid learn to sing the song too! True story. CLICK. I love that little jiggle she does when the rift gets heavier at the beginning. And she says she wants to pee but still sings anyway. And and the pout she does when she goes "oooh-oooh". I need to be sedated.

I'm Probably Being Selfish

I probably am, but it is a natural human disposition to be selfish is it not?

I come home late from school. Most days at 5pm but recently it has been later. And all I want to do is to plant my butt in front of the tv for a few moments. Just for some mindless entertainment. My dad will come out from his room at around 10pm and ask me, "Are you watching the tv now?" I obviously am and I answer, "Yes." He then proceeds to tell me that he wants to watch his programme.

He's my father. So fine. I let him watch. It used to be at 10pm. Now he comes out at 9pm. I think it's getting ridiculous. He's home the whole day! The tv in his room is switched on the whole day! I hardly watch tv and I'm working hard all day long and he can't even be considerate enough to let me de-stress once in a while. It gets me so frustrated! Once he even told me to record what I'm watching so I can watch it later. I had to bite my tongue! I'm happy to be able to find 15 mins to watch tv! It'd be ages before I would be able to find the time to watch what I recorded. Why can't he record his programmes and watch them the next day?!

I am so pissed. Plus, my mum questions me all the time, why I stay locked up in my room? BECAUSE THERE IS NOTHING ELSE FOR ME TO DO IF THE TWO OF YOU ARE HOGGING THE TV OUTSIDE!! My father would be watching SunTv while my mother would be watching ZeeTv. They take turns. I have no interest in either channels so why would I be outside in the living room watching those channels with them? Eurgh.

They've told me multiple times to install a tv in my room but I told them that if I were to do that, then I would never leave my room. It is a pretty self-sufficient room. This is so aggravating! The only time I get to watch tv is when I come home from school. But even that is taken away from me.

I've been pretty selfless my whole life, I deserve to have some selfish moments, don't I?

Big Night Out - Muse... Saosin & Rise Against

Woo hoo! Muse came down again and this time I managed to catch them. Went with the best friend, of course.

Saosin and Rise Against opened for them. I like Saosin and have always wanted to see them live. The drummer's fantastic! In my tone deaf opinion. I've never heard of Rise Against (sue me) but 3 bands in one night... it was surely a Big Night Out!

Tickets said 7pm but Muse only came on stage at 10pm. WTF, right? Saosin opened first and it took 30 minutes to set up for Rise Against and it took another 30 mins to set up for Muse. It was aggravating and the both of us were getting sleepy.

Saosin was LOUD! It was crazy loud! I don't think it was even legal to be that loud. But the quintet didn't seem to be interested at all with the gig. They came. They sang. They left. That sums up their performance. It was not memorable at all. They played my favourites: Voices, Come Close and You're Not Alone but there was no soul in them. At one point, the lead even sat on a speaker and sang. Terrible, really.

Rise Against came on and they received a rather thunderous applause from the audience. Yea, I felt like I was living under a rock all this while. The lead could not sing. He was so off and the drummer had the easiest job ever. There was no creativity at all and everything he played was so simple. They had more energy than Saosin, I have to admit but they were dreadful live. Absolutely dreadful.

10pm already. Muse better play for a good 2 hours else it would have been a bloody waste of time and money. They played for under an hour and a half. I was disappointed with 2 songs: Starlight and Undisclosed Desires. On the album, those 2 tracks are fantastic. Mind-blowing. The former being my 2nd favourite-est song ever. Yes, I said favourite-est. And the latter being my favourite song on their current album. They paled in comparison to the album when played live. They played a good mix of tracks from their current album and from their old albums. I have to put this on record... I have never seen our local audience that revved up at a concert before!! Plus, Muse didn't even have to do any gimmicks to get the crowd going!

They had awesome psychedelic light displays and cool special effects / music videos being played on the screen behind the band. It was truly an experience. Muse is hardcore. That said, I think Green Day is still better live than Muse is, however. They had more energy and lasted longer. 2 and a half hours... no breaks! Plus, Green Day had a drunk bunny open for them and they had fireworks! FIREWORKS! Muse only had smoke blowing.

I've about a month to learn songs from Paramore. Wish me well!