Here I am. After a VERY, VERY, VERY long time. Blogging. It ain't easy. When you are OUT there. Doing it. In the action itself. That after you're done, you're just too damn tired, although you have the thoughts, the words, the feelings. Yes, it's the bad habit again.

Anyway, below is a post I just added on the Three blog. Though I'd put it up here too...

Ok. Back to life...

THE END OF THE BEGINNING OF THE END

Hey all. It's the funny Monday. The one after a long run, and a long process, of creation, with a group of people. People whom, whether you like it or not, have somehow, become a part of your life. You had the love, the hate, the annoyance, the laughter, the tears... and whatever other emotions you could think of, that it's like family. Yup Nick, corny, and emo. But that IS the deal.

This is the Monday after.

It was a great party. You fellas who left early, ah, sit and wonder la what you all missed :P

I am just sitting here, in the office. Coping. I have been at this point so many times, having done so many shows. And it never has become easier.

You know it's the end. But at the same time, it's only the end if you allow it to be. Keeping the friends you found. That is the challenge. A hard one.

So. This is it.

Life finds a way. To weave the ones that matter (you guys know who you are, right?), into your own life. Of course, You yourself can help it, but there is also a higher being, an unseen force, at work, to help you weave them in.

Ok la enough. I think I have gone on too much. Just my random thoughts for today, the first day of the end.

Habis.

Biatch!

THE ENSEMBLE THEATRE of KUALA LUMPUR
Presents

8 Short Plays by SAMUEL BECKETT
In

“A Bucketful of Beckett: 8 Shots”

Directed by CHRISTOPHER JACOBS


Watch your subconscious take centre stage.
Forget about looking at life from your daily eyes.
But catch a glimpse from that corner of your mind.
That nook where your thoughts take shape,
however perverse or popular they may be.
Where your dreams live, be they funny or frightening.
Where your secrets, dark or delightful, seek refuge.


Fresh from raising the curtain with “The Stronger” (written by August Strindberg, featuring Nicole-Ann Thomas & Kay Chin, directed by Christopher Jacobs) for Masakini’s “In The Name of Love” (written by Ramli Ibrahim, starring Sabera Shaik, directed by Christopher Jacobs) in April, the KL Ensemble continues to fulfill its calendar of events with A BUCKETFUL OF BECKETT: 8 SHOTS. Call it a Beckett marathon, if you like. The first of its kind in the local theatre scene, this production in May marks KL Ensemble’s maiden effort since its official inception in 2006.

From the same company who performed in Alan Bennett’s Habeas Corpus and Moliere’s Tartuffe, A BUCKETFUL OF BECKETT will feature a collection of eight short plays by the Irish playwright Samuel Beckett, better known for his well crafted yet ambiguous qualities of writing for theatre, television and even radio. A Nobel Prize winner, his works are often likened to an orchestral score, without the orchestra.

This anthology will feature some of his most challenging works for every human facet. Expect a night of visually arresting images and thought provoking dialogue, from a mouth on stage to humans in urns.

Come surrender yourself to an “out-of-the-ordinary” theatrical experience, Beckett style, this May!


o May 2 – 6, 2007
o Stor Theatre DBP, Bangunan Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka, KL
o Wed – Sat: 8.30pm / Sat & Sun: 3pm
o RM25 (adults) & RM15 (students and disabled)
o Enquiries: 019-266 1257 or 012-976 3012
o For more information, visit: www.klensemble.com

MASAKINI THEATRE COMPANY
presents

The Ensemble Theatre of Kuala Lumpur
in

August Strindberg’s
THE STRONGER

Directed by CHRISTOPHER JACOBS
Featuring NICOLE-ANN THOMAS & KAY CHIN
Sponsored by HSBC


“You can never keep a man’s love with your tulips and your passions …. but I can keep it.”

Two women meet each other in a café on Christmas Eve. At face value, they are friends who go back a long way, having started out as peers in the theatre industry. With nothing more than a single conversation between them, this supposedly simple scene explores the brutal power struggle between two different characters who are as different as they are similar.

As they string each other along on an emotional roller-coaster ride, the audience is soon drawn into a psychological tug-of-war, where the lines between victim and predator are distorted. A short play that is rich in allegory and steeped in its many layers of interpretation, “The Stronger” gets the audience up close and personal with the politics of the heart.

o Pentas 2, KLPac, Sentul Park, Jln Strachan, Off Jln Ipoh, KL
o Apr 26 – 29 (8.30pm nightly, except for Sunday at 3pm)
o RM35 (adults) & RM20 (students & the disabled)
o Box Office KLPac: 03- 4047 9000 / The Actors Studio Bangsar: 03- 2094 0400/1400
o Website: www.klensemble.com
o Enquiries: 012-976 3012 / 019-266 1257

Yup, back.

So, December was of course hectic, as usual. And this time, I did not have any one to help me with the company annual lunch. Except for Mala, and Sam, to help me in the occasional desperate situation to complete the task for the day. 2006's annual lunch was, for one, a lunch, we usually have dinner. And secondly, it was kept simple and fuss free, without a Lucky Draw, but instead a wish list for the staff, where everyone gets what they wished for. The have to tell me and I shall try to be Santarina. Of couse, with a budget tagged to it la. I got my long awaited digital camera, finally! A Kodak. Hope it proves its worth.

Then there was the pleasant surprise of a last minute drop out situation, where Llew needed singers for his place, The Attic. Janet, Vivian and I performed there, with another guy called Ben Chew, on Dec 17th. It was part of the Open Mic Series Llew has on certain Wednesday nights at Attic. It was my first pure solo showcase la, with me singing songs THAT I WANTED TO SING, not what other people thought I should, or wanted me to, sing. Sang Summertime, Big Spender, Santa Baby (to keep up with the season; LOVE this song!) and You Learn (Alanis). All in all, I think it was not thaaat bad la. I hope I did not screw up the classics so much. I was just myself. And people responded, positively, so good. Recorded the show on my digital camera... hehehe... and also on my new MP3 player (my attempt at moving up in the techno department). Janet and Vivian did well too. Janet had the balls to go on first, Vivian was 3rd after Ben, and I had the balls to go on last. So I guess we both have balls la Janet. Go read

her blog

on the concert. We rounded up the night with Viv and me doing Bugle Boy with Llew standing in as the third 'Sister Andrew' on piano and harmonies. It was a fun and refreshing change from our acappella version.

Then of course, in all the flurry, Fancy Poultry were in the midst of rehearsals for our Christmas eve show at Bangkok Jazz. Yes. We did 2 45 minute sets. The crowd got boisterous as the night wore on, and by the time we had to count Christmas down, we were battling between the crowd shouting, Vivian shouting, the band playing, the stupid party blowers they were blowing, and that gadget that makes a cricket-like sound when you turn it round. And B'kok Jazz is a small place. So... it was a challenge, but they listened to us, and responded, positively too. Especially after Vivian did her "Who can shout louder? Me or you?" contest between herself and the audience... I think we managed good banter between them and us. I reminded all to try and keep it as informal as possible. No need to be so rigid and kayu. Be relaxed so that people will relax with us, and enjoy. Of course at the same time mantain focus la. So I think it worked, my little 'talk' before we went on.

The show was a good learning experience, for some more than others. The band, Gruvavenue, consisting of Jason on piano, Vincent on bass and Martin on drums, was good. Thank God. So we had good support. We sang mostly Christmas songs, like It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year, Little Drummer Boy (our beatbox acappella version), Frosty The Snowman with a 'minor' twist, among others, with some Fancy Poultry standards like our Bugle Boy and Chattanooga Choo Choo. Only four of us did this show. James (his comeback gig), Wei Na, Viv and me. Sun Sun, the one who got us the gig, gave us all a gift after. Maybe she will collaborate with us again in the future... just maybe. Now if only I can get some feedback from her... Will post up pics and maybe a recording of the show on the

Fancy Poultry blog

soon. Ya I know, already January ya ya...

Only then could I begin to relax... a little. The rest of December was me rescuing cats and dogs, and fostering two of them. Simone the little kitty is still with me. Then there is Crusty. Will update on

The Animal Ark

on this one.

Now it's back to concentrating on Ensemble, Ensemble and more Ensemble. Throwing ourselves into it with all our energy. In the midst of sourcing and discussing the plan for the year, what productions, plays to choose, etc. So have to do a lot of reading. A LOT. Watch our space at

www.klensemble.com

for our programmes for the year. Also, we will be opening up our Saturday Theatrical Biomechanics sessions to the public. Theatre practitioners, students, or anyone interested in challenging your body, mind, focus, and pushing your boundaries of awareness, can come and pay for a drop-in class. The class lasts 4 hours, 2pm to 6pm every Saturday. Tomorrow, our Commedia Dell Arte workshop begins. 3 days of training by this guy Marco Luly from Luigi Dell Arte in Italy, one of the few specialists around. We are lucky to have him drop by KL to conduct this workshop. This kind of theatre is closely related to what we train in terms of physical theatre, mime, usage of masks and so on. Details on the website too. Now to do more reading...

Later now.

Amnesty International's 16 days of activism for violence against women

Go to this page to find out more about the real and ugly truth, and browse the many ways you can help, whether you are a woman, or a man who opposes acts of violence and discrimination against the women around you.

Also, watch videos and advertisements that will make you tick. There is even an interactive game you can play to show your support!

It began on Nov 25th which is International Day Against Violence Against Women and will end on Dec 10th, which is Human Rights Day.

GET OFF my back!!

You see, in life you are stuck with the high possibility of having three kinds of people around you, the ones who GET it, the ones who JUST DON"T GET it, and the ones who COULDN'T CARE LESS.

Now between these three, ALL of them can prove to be toxic to your well being and survival as a sane human being.

The ones who GET it can annoy the hell out of you by being IN your face TELLING you time and again that they GET it, although they have told you that a freakin thousand times before. Just go gargle or something. PLEASE!

The ones who DON"T GET it can annoy the hell out of you by asking the same damn questions again and again as to why they ARE NOT GETTING it. Instead of moving on and asking questions on why they SHOULD have GOTTEN it by now. They should also ask the morons who GOT it (the get-its) so that they can go bother these idiots (the don't-get-its) instead of sticking their halitosis ridden symptoms in my face.

And the ones who couldn't give a freakin rat's ass (lucky rat though) just annoy the hell out of you by simply existing, and living and breathing the same air you do, when in actual fact they should be just buried alive, or better still, burnt alive... oh, but that would contribute to global warming, so no... buried alive better... and make way for more deserving creatures to inherit the earth. Maybe a tree might even grow from the spot they were buried at... until of course it's cut down, to make way for the next mall. Or the flyover to GET to the next mall.

Me? I'm just GETTING it all, which is too much of everything, that really amounts up to nothing in the end.

This published on http://www.fancypoultry.blogspot.com just now... thought I'll paste it here too...

-Beginning-
The Thriving A Cappella Scene, and then some.

It's nice to see other a cappella groups grow and evolve. Especially when they are all your friends which you have sung with at some point, thanks to being a member of The Phil all these years.

Just got back from The Wicked Pitches' Mostly We Moon concert at KLPac. Am proud of them, they did a tremendous job, lots of hard work was prevalent in all areas, and they pulled it off well. Thanks also to Michael Voon, another dear friend, choreographer/staging director extraodinaire and fellow theatre practitioner, they had their moves and grooves polished just right, of course, after taking into account the few who do have rhythm problems. And as a friend, I will not try to be all forgiving and just say nice things for the sake of it. Rather I would like to tell them to their faces, what did work and what did not (which I already did btw), be objective about it and allow them to grow even more and learn from the whole experience- if they actually think I am talking sense lah. Take the negative and make it positive the next time round...

A healthy and thriving scene, be it in theatre, musical theatre, a cappella or dance, should be strived at all times. Unfortunately this is easier said than done. Of course when I say healthy, I mean, maintaining good competition, keeping the environment an educational one, where all parties aim to better each other because they know they want to, because they love what they do, because the only way is up. NOT because they want to be better than that group, or because they THINK they deserve better than the others. There is no room for sour grapes if you want to move forward and cultivate positively. At least, that's what I have learnt.

Will look forward to seeing familiar faces at our Christmas eve gig at Bangkok Jazz. In the meantime, it's rehearsals and more rehearsals.

The funky chicken head
-End-

Well... basically, with all the stuff going on in the performing arts scene, I am sure we all want to be as good as we can be, and get better as we do it. I just wished all of us would take our strengths more seriously and grow together. After all, there is no right or wrong, only good or bad theatre.

It's when you do not think you need to still learn, or do not respect your fellow actor's/singer's/dancer's background in theatre training or the like, is when silly thoughts are conjured up, or unnecessary conclusions are drawn. And we all subconciously stop ourselves from moving forward.

Theatre is a living organism. It needs healthy algae, not old energy sucking moss.

Sleepy Biatch

No use for lengthy explanations

It's just unfortunate. I can't post from the office because of some stupid firewall. I don't spend enough time at home long enough to be able to blog. I am either too tired when I do reach home, or I have other things to see to within the tiredness. And it's usually 12am by the time I do get home after completing an ordinary day.

So that's why this page, and my other page, has been dormant for these few months.

I had like about four or five topics to blog about, made mental notes, even knew what I was going to type... but all that has dissipated to mere fragments of jumbled up thoughts. I don't even remember where the hell to start. Or what those subjects were in the first place.

I guess I'll make this post about quick updates then, since, God knows when I will be actually posting again [*recites mantra* "Have to make it a point to blog, have to make it a point to blog"].

The KL Ensemble space had its first rental job about two weeks ago, and now it has its second one. The Ryzers, thanks to BB have booked our space for their dance lessons for all Tuesdays in November. Some minor income will be generated from that.

Yes we are still training three times a week. I must say the variations in training on all three days are tough, but exciting at the same time, mentally and physically. No productions lined up yet, only towards the first quater to the first half of next year probably.

Also, the first official Theatrical Biomechanics Course for KL Ensemble as a company, began in September. It will end at the end of this month. We had 5 candidates, but one dropped out. Assisting Chris in this course is definitely a good thing. He also makes me do more, allows me to instruct/teach more variations on how to feel the body, which in turn helps the candidates understand their bodies better when they apply biomechanics. I only have seven years of training under Mew Chang Tsing to thank for that. Must catch up with my first Si Fu. Wonder how she is...

Fancy Poultry had a wedding gig in August. It went ok, apart from one or two songs sounding like crap, the rest were ok, and Kay got quite a number of good comments from the guests and her relatives. So, PHEW! It was Fai's, Hazlin's and Kayli's debut with the group, so thy were pretty frazzled by the end of the months of rehearsing. But thank God for Fai. What a difference one guy made. Another PHEW!

Habeas Corpus in JB. Yes. The edition where I played Mrs. Wicksteed, the character Sabera played in the KL run. It was, well, totally unadulterated, daunting, groping fun! I wish I had a few shows to do, as opposed to just one. This was in August too, so you can imagine the mayhem it was to memorise lines, blocking, organising rehearsals between this AND the FP gig... geez. PHEW! Again.

Since then, it's been just training. With watching the latest plays or musicals, learning what to do and what NOT to do. Well, more the latter than the former.

FP have a confirmed gig on Christmas Eve. At Bangkok Jazz some more. I am surprised we even got the gig, given certain past experiences. James, ye old singing partner and friend, will be joining FP for this gig. I can't say much except that I am thrilled to be working with him again. They only needed four singers, and we will be backed by a jazz trio. So am looking forward to this.

My capoeira academy's Batizado, or festival will be happening on the 20th to the 26th of this month. I have to kind of get myself in order for this if I want to get corded (the term they use equivalent to the belt system in karate). We are given cords by the Masters, of course in various colour codings, IF we do well during the rodas. I doubt I'll get corded this year, still suck at certain techniques and timings. But will take part nevertheless. Check out www.bantus.com.my for more details.

These are the updates The Juggler can think of for now. It's already 2.43am. I shall blog again briefly tomorrow, probably around the same time. Now I better say something on pawesome... ta!

Sleepy Biatch