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20/11/2005

Memory Lane Revisited

I was busy uploading some stuff into my client’s website and cursing at the snail-speed upload when my phone rang. Someone from the past…it’s been 7 years since we’ve promised each other that we will keep in touch. Apart from the splattering of 2-minute phone calls here and there, we’ve not kept our promises to each other.


One phone call and I am back revisiting my singing days. The days of being a singer is not as glamorous as some might think it is. I’d even call it ‘strenuous’ and ‘punishing’ too. The industry is unforgiving and demands a lot from you. If you decide to become and entertainer or singer or actress/actor…whatever, you’ll have to give nothing but everything. EVERYTHING. Every other aspect of your life as a ‘person’ has to take a backseat.  Everything else, apart from singing, comes to a deafening, grinding halt.


These Guys, Ji Yu Jin, were the guys that I around almost 24 hours a day. They were the people who became my world during my year-plus stint. Imagine, for that period of time, I saw nothing else, no one else and did nothing else but sing.


One friend’s comment surprised me about how little people know about being a singer. My friend commented, “Wow, it must be so easy earning that money, Marsha. I mean, you only have to work for 2 hours, three times a week. That’s easy money!”


But wait, what about waking up early in the morning for exercise (I don’t but some of the MEATIER group members had to do that) and then breakfast, practice, find new songs to sing, or compose a new ballad. What about spending time memorizing the lyrics, translating Chinese songs into English so that I (the banana in the group) can understand the song better and deliver appropriate expressions on stage. We have to go out for outfits, find matching ones, try out and buy them. We have find musical instruments or accessories that can help make our life on stage an easier one. And if you think there are no meetings as a singer, you’re way off mark!


The only difference between a singer/band’s meeting and the corporate world meeting is that the latter have their meetings when there’s sunshine, in a nice air-conditioned conference room and a large table. The former have their meetings right before sunup, in a dinghy little mamak stall (Indian Muslim stalls popular for selling their unique brand of breakfast, lunch, dinner and everything else in between) with a table so small you’re each fighting for space under the table.
I made some really great friends during those days…all of them as consumed with performing as I was. They all enjoyed performing and some of them just loved to be involved in something creative. And I miss them sorely. All of them.


The guys (Ji Yu Jin) are still going strong and have just released their fourth album about 4 months ago and I congratulate them and am so happy for them. Their journey has been long and hard. They fought for it, remained committed, did everything they could, quit smoking, exercised and lost a lot of weight (couldn’t even recognized them one time I met them at the mall!!) just to be in the game. They deserve everything they can get from the industry. The last I heard, they received a nomination for being the best Malaysian Band/Group. That was in 2003...and I have no idea if they took the award home or not.


The only reason why I am out of the game is because I just don’t think I want to give up the rest of my life chasing this….hobby. I love to sing and BOY, I love to hear applause and get a standing ovation. But I am not sure if I would want to give up everything just to enjoy that. I sing now and my kids STILL give me a standing ovation…but I guess it’s not the same thing. It never will.


Do I miss it? Yes, terribly. Will I do it again? Nope. I don’t want to have to argue with make-up artists AGAIN about putting a question mark above my right eyebrow (a Hong-Kong Sammi-Cheng fad thinghy I cannot understand and will not accept!), I don’t want people telling me that I have to change the way I walk and talk, speak Chinese when I want to speak English, be forced to dress in clothes made of less cloth than a cloth diaper…etc. I guess I WON’T do it again.


But like I told Joe, the band member who called me tonight, I will but only for a short period of time. I am not ready to give up EVERYTHING just for applause. I can still go to an open karaoke, whip up the mic and still get thunderous applause. Maybe that’s all I’m good for.


But I’m happy.

Marsha
www.marshamaung.com

19:35 Posted in Blog , Music | Permalink | Comments (3) | Email this

15/11/2005

My sister is so stupid:: Jessica Simpson

I am no fan of Jessica Simpson…in fact, far far FAR from it. I don’t even like her wailing on the radio. I think her singing stinks and she looks more like man than a woman. Her cleavage, well….a side benefit of good genes, I guess. But what the heck…all this news about her calling her own younger sister, Ashlee Simpson, stupid has gotten out of hand.


Ashlee, 20, has been going out, getting drunk, caught snogging with other strangers and hanging ‘loose’ among Hollywood celebrities and celebrity-wannabes. And what is wrong with a sister chastising her own younger sister in front of her own mother? Nothing, absolutely nothing.

If I knew my own sister (pardon me, Karen) was partying like that, being flung around the bed so many times because stardom couldn’t keep her feet on the ground, I would call her stupid too! In front of many other people than just our mother. But the fact remains is that Jessica’s seen more (in the entertainment circle, at least) than Ashlee has and she deserves the chance to correct her own sister.

They may not see eye to eye…siblings sometimes do these kind of stupid things to each other….but the fact remains, we care about each other. This is a fact. We fight but we love each other. This is what family is all about. Isn’t it? I think so.

Jessica Simpson said, “"Mum, Ashlee is so stupid. She left the popcorn in the microwave and almost burned the house down."….and the way I see it, there’s absolutely NOTHING wrong with saying that. so what? The popcorn in the oven? They burn? And when they do, the house may too? And sometimes we all call our siblings stupid. Like Karen is so stupid and Damien is so stupid. I won’t go as far as calling my own father or mother stupid but yeah….I think I can safely call my own siblings stupid….older or younger than me.

So what Jessica’s marriage to Nick Lachey is on the rocks. It’s got nothing to do with anything! The paparazzis’ got a way of worming things into things that aren’t there? I hope it doesn’t spoil their sisterly relationship just because Jessica called Ashlee stupid. Ashlee IS stupid for leaving the oven on with the popcorn in it. And she’s STUPID for fucking around with her own life. She’s stupid. If I were her, I would pull my socks up and start with apologizing to her elder sister, mother and the REST OF THE WORLD for being so F****D up!


And even though I think Jessica herself is a bitch and she can’t sing (she can scream, though) for nuts, she’s right in calling her younger sister stupid. Stupid can sometimes be a very kind and loving verb. Like….”I love that stupid woman”.

See?
Marsha
The stupid woman
http://www.marshamaung.com

20:05 Posted in Film , Music , Ramblings | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this

14/11/2005

Trace

Trace
The storyline
Kay Scarpetta is no longer the big shot that she used to be anymore. No one actually khow-tow to her anymore, other than those who used to work for her, knows the way she works and understands her principles. But I suppose that’s what makes Scarpetta a little bit more believable in Trace.


Sadly, this is about the only thing that’s believable in the book. The entire plot about Pogue (the villain) going zany over Lucy’s (Scarpetta’s genius niece) careless bang-up on him when Scarpetta was still ruling her office doesn’t make much sense. Perhaps, that’s because there wasn’t much explained about the feelings and the thoughts for Pogue. Much of the time when she described Pogue or was on to Pogue’s part of the story, it felt like she was merely putting it into the book in passing. Like…oh, you know, make him murder another girl or something…yeah, that would make him really hedious. Naw, it doesn’t make Pogue seem hedious or cruel to me. It makes him pitiful. And you don’t punish someone (in this case some THING) just because he’s pitiful and was unfortunate.


Character Development
A lot of characters are underdeveloped. For instance, Henrietta (referred to as Henri in the book). Up till now, I am not totally clear about her character and what she’s really in to. She was on to Benton one moment and then she’s on to Lucy next. And then she’s totally not on to anyone. She’s scared and then she’s stupid. I don’t know. Lots of hasty decisions and the storyline jumped around a bit without effort being put into the characters.


Style & Language
Well, what do you expect from a medical-related suspense novel? Lots of medical jargon, of course. But thankfully, Cornwell spends quite a bit of time explaining the meanings of those terms through dialogue. So, I am cool with that.


The flow
Strictly speaking, the flow is just about anything that’s perfect for me in this book! It’s speedy and trudges on regardless of whether you understand every bit of the book or not. It is almost heady…and I love that! why else would I buy and read a suspense novel anyway if it rattles on about the weather, right?


Recommended for
Trace is recommended for ardent fans and followers of Kay Scarpetta. It’s cool for people who have read the rest of her books like ‘PostMortem’, ‘Body of Evidence’, ‘All that Remains’, ‘Cruel and Unusual’, ‘The Body Farm’…..up till ‘Blow Fly’. But for newbies who just picked up this book by mistake, you’re going to have to backtrack a little in order to FEEL the book and the characters. Otherwise, you’re just going to go through it like you’re reading ‘Little Red Riding Hood’.

18:10 Posted in Books | Permalink | Comments (0) | Email this