2008 IS COMING!
That means new juniors, more performances, NYCO Concert (18/7/08!) and new opportunities for YQP!
Sec 3s will be leading the section to greater heights and even greater achievements!
Sec 2s will be in upper secondary! It's time to shine (not forgetting studies of course)!
Sec 1s will have juniors and learn to be a good senior!
The coming year will be an eventful one, and I'm sure YQP will shine in many ways, as individuals and as one united section. 加油! Practice hard and show everyone what we can do! :D
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Hi people! just want to share a story with you guys.
The time was the roaring twenties. The place was Oklahoma. John Griffith was in his early twenties - newly married, and full of optimism. Along with his lovely wife, he had been blessed with a beautiful blue eyed baby.
John wanted to be a traveller. He imagined what it would be like to visit faraway places with strange sounding names. He would read about them and research them. His hopes and dreams were so vivid that at times they seemed more real than reality itself. But then came 1929 and the great stock market crash. With the shattering of the economy came the devastation of John's dreams. Brokenhearted, he, like so many others, packed up his few possessions and with his wife and little son, Greg, headed east in an old Model-A Ford. They made their way toward Missouri, to the edge of the Mississippi River, and there John found a job tending one of the great railroad bridges that spanned the massive river.
Day after day John would sit in a control room and direct the enormous gears of that immense bridge over the river. He would look out wistfully as bulky barges and splendid ships glided gracefully under his elevated bridge. Then, mechanically, he would lower the massive structure and stare pensively into the distance as great trains roared by and became little more than specks on the horizon. Each day he looked on sadly as they carried with them his shattered dreams and his visions of far-off places and exotic destinations.
It wasn't until 1937 that a new dream began to be born in his heart. His young son was now eight years old, and John had begun to catch a vision for a new life - a life in which Greg would work shoulder-to-shoulder with him, a life of intimate fellowship and friendship. The first day of this new life dawned and brought with it new hope and a new fresh purpose. Excitedly father and son packed their lunches and,arm in arm, headed off toward the immense bridge.
Greg looked on with wide-eyed amazement as his dad pressed down the huge lever that raised and lowered the vast bridge. As he watched, he thought that his father must surely be the greatest man alive. He marvelled that his father could single-handedly control the movements of such a stupendous structure.
Before they knew it, noontime had arrived. John had just elevated the bridge and allowed some scheduled ships to pass through. Then, taking his son by the hand, they headed off for lunch. Hand in hand, they inched their way down a narrow catwalk and out onto an observation deck that projected some 50 feet over the majestic Mississippi. There they sat and watched spellbound as the ships passed by below. As they ate, John told his son, in vivid detail, stories about the marvellous destinations of the ships that glided below. Enveloped in a world of thought, he related story after story, his son hanging on every word.
Suddenly John and his son were startled back to reality by the shrieking whistle of a distant train. Looking at his watch in disbelief, John saw that the bridge was still raised and that the Memphis Express would be by in just minutes.
Not wanting to alarm his son, he suppressed his panic. In the calmest tone he could muster, he instructed his son to stay put. Leaping to his feet he jumped onto the catwalk and ran at full tilt to the steelladder leading into the control house. Once in, he searched the river to make sure that no ships were in sight. And then, as he had been trained to do, he looked straight down beneath the bridge to make certain nothing was below. As his eyes moved downward, he saw something so horrifying that his heart froze in his chest. For there, below him in the massive gearbox that housed the colossal gears that moved the gigantic bridge, was his beloved son.
Apparently Greg had tried to follow his Dad but had fallen off the catwalk. Even now he was wedged between the teeth of two main cogs in the gearbox. Although he appeared to be conscious, John could see that his son's leg had already begun to bleed profusely. Immediately, an even more horrifying thought flashed in his mind. For in that instant John knew that lowering the bridge meant killing the apple of his eye.
Panicked, his mind probed in every direction, frantically searching for solutions. Suddenly a plan emerged. In his mind's eye he saw himself grabbing a coiled rope, climbing down the ladder, running down the catwalk, securing the rope, sliding down toward his son and pulling him back up to safety. Then in an instant he would move back to the control room and grab the control lever and thrust it down just in time for the oncoming train.
As soon as these thoughts appeared, he realized the futility of his plan. There just wouldn't be enough time. Perspiration began to bead on John's brow., terror written over every inch of his face. His mind darted here and there, vainly searching for yet another solution. What would he do? What could he do?
His thoughts rushed in anguish to the oncoming train. In a state of panic, his agonized mind considered the 400 or so people moving inexorably closer toward the bridge. Soon the train would come roaring out of the trees with tremendous speed. But this - this was his son - his only child - his pride - his joy.
His mother - he could see her tear stained face now. This was their child, their beloved son.
He knew in a moment there was only one thing he could do. He knew he would have to do it. And so, burying his face under his left arm, he plunged down the lever. The cries of his son were quickly drowned out by the relentless sound of the bridge as it ground into position. With only seconds to spare, the Memphis Express - with its 400passengers - roared out of the trees and across the mighty bridge.
John Griffith lifted his tear stained face and looked into the windows of the passing train. A businessman was reading the morning paper. A uniformed conductor was glancing nonchalantly at his large vest pocketwatch. Ladies were already sipping their afternoon tea in the dining car. A small boy, looking strangely like his own son, pushed a long thin spoon into a dish of ice-cream. Many of the passengers seemed to be engaged in either idle conversation or careless laughter.
But no one looked his way. No one even cast a glance at the giant gearbox that housed the mangled remains of his hopes and dreams.
In anguish he pounded the glass in the control room and cried out,"What's the matter with you people? Don't you care? Don't you know I've sacrificed my son for you? What's wrong with you?"
No one answered; no one heard. No one even looked. Not one of them seemed to care. And then, as suddenly as it had happened, it was over. The train disappeared, moving rapidly across the bridge and out over the horizon.
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I JUST WATCHED A MOVIE ON THE PLANE!
Hello my dearest association members! I am currently on a plane now and I am extremely bored... It's only two hours into my flight and I have probably about sixteen more to go. Wakaka! T_T And I cannot sleep because the old ang moh infront of me is snoring really loudly. Bless him.
You might have noticed that there are quite a number of missing blog posts, approximately about ten. Well, if you would bother to log into the account, you would realise that all of these posts are about a certain person... better not to be named. I had saved these posts as drafts instead of publishing them out in public, as suggested by Xin Yi as well, because of some very good reasons, and all of this is for the better of YQP!
Well... the journey ahead for YQP will take a great leap into the future of 2008. There will definitely be changes, some good some bad, but we must overcome them quite peacefully. Let me take a good example. Having experienced the transition of our percussion instructors from Guo Lao to ET currently, from how we had depended on Guo Lao so much and (truthfully) detested ET quite a lot, we had learnt to be independent from Guo Lao now and actually communicate with ET much better than before. This is a call for celebration! We have actually... matured, much like wine. Haha.
Concert year will be busy but surely exciting. I remember a year ago, concert period was when we bonded the most and had the most fun! Ahaha, I will never forget how we played GU SHI!!! How Xin Yi broke her super new bass drum mallets during the performance, how we put powder on our drums and even how we swayed to our drums quite comically during Fang Kuai 5. Let us discuss some possibilities to ease our lives next year.
Other than coming for all practices and practising well at home, which are rather of essentials... we can:
1) Start acting cool and shuai like me. I know you hate to admit this, but my suave mannerisms charm you all, all the time and if we all ever apply this in the songs we play, we are clear to win the crowd over and make them percussion lovers forever and ever and ever. Muahaha.
2) Be more serious and attentive during xiaozu and dazu. This is a call for the Secondary One juniors, not saying that you guys are doing badly, but we sure can all cut down on our buzz (and unnervering mouths) and perhaps spot some obscure moles on faces of Mrs Ee, Qu Lao and ET, when bored.
3) Show the WHYKILLPEE spirit! This encompasses enthusiasm, kindness, wit, coolness and last but not least eecentricity = the perfect YQP member. How we all achieve this together, is through all the bonding and experiences we go through. Be rest assured I will plan all the parties and weird surprises you need for the more relaxing aspects.
Oh why... you can also start loving Qu Lao and ET. However mood-swinging Qu Lao is and poker-faced ET is, they are humaaaaaan afterall and they need the care. Ahahaha. I feel like I had said something rather controversial but oh well, let's be nice people. For once.
I need to go to the toilet to poo poo! See you people.
YOUR SHUAI COCKROACH
- I love my tonglei. Don't squash them when you see them in toilets. Rarrh.
PS: Please post and tag here as frequently as you can! These include people like Sylvia, Jocelyn, Wei Shan, Yuka and Yun Ge! You all never blogged before! Rachel if I am not wrong you only blogged once. -.- Cass and Wendy you all blog a lot last time but these days it's hardly! Nowadays only me and Xin Yi and Shawn blog... So please blog!
*Nags*
PSS: I will do something about the photos soon! Don't worry, for everyone's convenience I think I would simply set up a YQP photobucket account! Check it sooooon. :)
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I had been on a perpetual high for a long time since camp ended this noon. I guess this is what you call annihilation... For various reasons of course, but it will be nice to do a recap of NYCO camp in particular for our very own dearest section! The following information will be presented in list formats...
MOST FORMIDABLE MOMENTS
1. First night of camp, working towards a common goal together.
2. The morning on the second day of camp, achieved the goal but striving not to be discovered.
3. The noon on the second day of camp, everybody chipping on the ridiculous but of course fortunate situation encountered.
4. Surviving the bare essentials of camp food... but definitely supplemented by quite a lot of Marmee, hot chocolate, instant noodles and other assorted food. Thank you Wendy and Shawn.
5. Getting by with probably the least sleep in the entire orchestra (even more so for some of us) but probably playing instruments requiring the most energy.
MOST UNCOMPREHENSIBLE MOMENTS
1. Yun Ge starts to become strangely, bizarrely energetic on the second day of camp. Were you possessed?!
2. Yuka looking unprepared in most of the photo shots... You must be extremely unlucky. But it looks candid and nice enough though! (:
3. A record number of people exhausting the world of even more tissue supplies due to a assorted number of reasons. For one, I exhuasted my entire supply of tissue. Sniffing cockroach. -.-
4. Practising on melismatic, mesmerizing condemned yangqins from ten thousand years ago on huibao day.
5. Well people must be wondering why sleeping on the first night and second night seemed slightly different? That's for them to figure.
MOST TOUCHING MOMENTS
1. Seniors coming during grand dinner. Seeing them all brings them all the memories... good, bad, all contained in one night. Played card games at one side of the table!
2. Seeing our (ugly, shuai and wacky) pictures on the presentation slideshow. We cheered loudly for every picture! Mind you I was thinking they took all of them from my Friendster profile.
3. Sneering about a certain DUMBASS together... So touching it makes me cry. Wahaha. =)
4. Lying together in danger zone on the first night awaiting doom together. Strangely, it never quite came.
5. All of us surviving huibao... All is over and the best is to come!
Yours Shuai-ly,
Canned Cockroach
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Once upon in a faraway land, there lived a group of little girls from Nanyang Chinese Orchestra. These girls come in a range of short to long hair, puny to towering height, perfect sight to perfectly blind... BUT... They are all so different in character and personality, and yet some day they had fate to come together to become YQP (or you can call it Yang Qin and Percussion aka Yang Ching Dah Chee Association).
These girls are special because they can play both the Yangqin and the Percussion, both being vastly different instruments in spite of the commonly shared "hitting" technique used widely in the two's pieces and songs. Alright, let's not go further into the technical aspects of such differences. Afterall, who cares?! (:
Tomorrow, these girls will attend NYCO camp, an adventure all of them will embark on for three days and three nights. Alright, it is really quite a relaxing adventure isnt' it! However, to enjoy the camp to their utmost, they must take note of certain things...
1) To remember to adhere by their packing lists! If you'd forgotten about your undergarments, me the cockroach I am not going to help you in that aspect!
2) To remember to bring a personal mug for your teethbrushing... and even drinks!
3) To be requested to bring a spreader for your... ahem delicious breakfast! Rachel Tan the black has kindly volunteered to bring this for us! Thanks a lot. (Per section)
4) To be requested to bring a pail and a scoop to enhance your bathing facilities! If you don't mind my cockroach scent all over my stuff, I will bring mine! (Per section)
5) To bring an open mind to the camp! It will be fun if you tide over the tough parts. Example, hui bao. But don't worry about it too much, it will pass!
And so that's about all for these girls... After the camp, when all of them will become high and happy and bonded together most hopefully, how about some post camp entertainment! On the 14th of December after breaking camp, RICO will be holding their concert (refer below).
RICO @ Singapore Conference Hall, 14th December Friday
Matinee - 3pm, $6
Night - 8pm, $10
Have you had any friends there? Do you think you can lend them your support! If so, please inform me as soon as possible, probably by tonight! For the juniors, it will be quite an eye opener to watch other orchestras play! And of course, to scoop on their standards as well. ((:
Back to NYCO Camp. Please bring whatever leisure activities/ games you think might make the camp even better! Or extra food, etc. I will be contesting for us to sleep in our dearest cockroach-infested YQ room as a section! (Sleep with my tong lei, interesting lerh.) Alright see you bye! It had been a long time I last posted here. Now suffering from a massive backache and bruised arms. See you! :D
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COMPETITION OF THE HIGHEST PITCH
Think you have a voice higher than the highest note on the liuqin?
Think you can be the next all-rounder percussionist, the loud and the "high"?
Amaze the world with your shrill voice (ears, beware!)
Make your audience gasp in awe.
Come join the Competition Of The Highest Pitch!
Date: 13 December 2o07
Venue: Nanyang Girls' High School
Current participants: Yuka and Yinghui (it's compulsory for both of you, ok).
Interested? Call 9^###@%(
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NYCO ALUMNI HOMECOMING DINNER
Date: 13 December 2007, Thursday
Time: 7.30 pm
Venue: Quadrangle
All seniors are invited!
Note for those who weren't present on Thursday:
1) Current YQP members are to bring $10 to camp for CO fund.
2) Remember to bring SLIPPERS/sandals (not listed in the packing list).
3) For pants, only straight-cut FBTs and anything longer is allowed.
4) Out of the 6 shirts, at least 3 must be school-related (though by right even Sec 1s should have at least 5: (9tee, class tee, LSC tee, PE shirt, YQP tee).
5) Be early for the first day of camp because it starts off with 大组!
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