William Chong

Holidays! This is what I’ve been waiting to finish for awhile. Tell me how it sounds! This one’s called “Head Over Heels”, you can probably tell it’s one of my most overtly soppy songs, written in an optimistic era. Don’t lose that!

 

 Head Over Heels [4:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Head over Heels – WILLIAM CHONG
Lyrics:

I sit on the edge of my seat
Wrapped round the winding streets
I’ll take in the sights
And just like the silver screen
You say how cliched this could be
Well maybe this is just one hell of a dream
I know it’s a long road, but I also know we can make it if we try

I stepped onto the roof, it was a starry starry night
How did you paint the sky so bright? (Can’t you see it?)
While I was thinking what should I say
A shooting star sailed right by me
I wondered what I could wish on a comet in full flight
It could be a rough ride, but then I think we can make it

I think I found the silver lining hiding from me
I could be imagining cos I’m starting to see
There’s a feeling inside of me that’s close to insanity
Either way, I may be head over heels for you

We soared hand-in-hand on the winds
The night sky I remember the sight of the stars
And the moon was quite night that night
You said it was beautiful
And I think I believe you cos the moon in that case
is exactly the same as you
I know I could stumble, but you could make it right all right all right

Thanks to Dennis and Henry for feedback re: song, and you can hear the elusive voice of Ethan Waters as he says many profound things in the course of the song! (oohs and waahs)

Please give some feedback, will do more soon, have a great day!

I know that right now, most of you are on holiday.  I’m annoyed at that, but I’ll take comfort in the fact that I’m fairly confident I’ve reached my target grades in both 301 and 303, the two important core papers I’ve been taking this semester.  Tomorrow’s exam is a sociology Singspiel that is worth just 30% of my final grade, whereas Monday’s Chinese110 final exam is within the A+ range if I’m up for it!

In between that I’ve got a busy Saturday – informal class concerts (with reports attached), Academy open rehearsal, and work as well means I’ll have to practise my vocab and essay-writing amongst all that.

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I think I need another pad to to-do note paper things.  My iCal is fantastic but I couldn’t possibly carry my Mac to do groceries… or to buy clothes, pay bills, etc etc.  Here’s a couple of things I’m looking forward to working on during the break:

• more songs – writing and recording existing ones.  Keep checking!
• shopping for clothes, especially winter ones for Kim.  Got a couple of gift vouchers to help with that.
• sorting out presents for RB, Nathan, Brendan
• Yea, gotta flex some Sibelius muscles from time to time
• really hard work on my ATCL pieces for violin.
• dine and review a couple of other restaurants, maybe concerts
• keep working on Chinese!

I’d say taking 110 has been a really crucial paper in that learning Chinese was something I’ve always put off until it was too late.  I’m happy to say that I can start writing letters to my mum again, if not just to feel more at ease but also to express how much life has changed over the past year or two.

The saddest memories regarding my mum passing away – they’re vivid for months, but then somehow, it’s like snow that slowly melts when spring is here at last.  You won’t forget, since there are tell-tale signs that something immense happened in your life: empty fields where the snow used to lie.  Though I must say that sometimes you have pictures of really specific things – like the first look on your brother’s face, or the sound of the rain fording across the mortuary rooftop, or a floral guard of honour for such an immense service to your family.

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Other recipients of my vastly improved Mandarin (albeit half-Simplified) literacy include: my dad, Linda and her family, my godgrandmother, and essentially half my bloodline living in Taipei City!  You have to realise that this post is in part a procrastinatory attempt, since who wants to study sociology?  So when I -

I am hiding in my bed.

??!

Today, aside from preparing for my exercise physiology exam,

As some of you may know, I like to think of myself as a struggler in terms of finance.  I enjoy living on the subsistence offered by my doctor-investor father (he’s recently been awarded a Malaysian National Honour, much like the New Zealand Order of Merit, or the British Knighthood System).  However, I also enjoy making my own ends meet (especially with violin lessons, petrol, food costs and amenities), so I recently tried my hand in the share-market too.  Wise investments are hard to call unless you can see the future – but my dad’s recommendation of Auckland International Airport shares are pretty good so far.

So yeah, I’m happy about how God planned it out, serving up a big market increase to offset my previous faux pas share-trading story.  Basically in that instance I invested in a company on the down, and I pulled out to cut my losses (hence the loss of value), but then took a risk in re-buying at a lower Auckland International price at the time.

Bla bla long story short I made my money back (brokerage taken into account).  Plus $14.12!  Yay that’s like, what most part-timers earn in an hour!

Anyways, hope all your studies are going well.  I know some of you are on holiday, you guys suck.

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My first exam isn’t till the 20th, which is next Wednesday. I’m finding it a bit annoying to study for 4 different exams simultaneously… but I’m sure it will work out fine. Not much to say really… I’ve got a silver-bar ballroom latin medal test this weekend, so that should be interesting too.

Have a good day!

(Photo: Thomas Scheuzger and Kelly Schaub)

It was a night of back-to-back-to-back works at New Zealand’s foremost biennial violin virtuoso round-up, fast becoming the most prestigious international violin competition in Australasia. MHIVC 2007′s final round featured 3 finalists who all chose Brahm’s Violin Concerto in D Major, giving the audience a rare opportunity to compare apples with apples in a professional virtuoso competition.

The big apple of the evening was undoubtedly Bulgarian Bella Hristova, whose fierce and also primitive-like sound in the first movement was matched only by her immense dexterity and musical presence that nearly defied acoustic logic. Perhaps it was her 1655 Amati once owned by the famous violinist Louis Krashner, or her playful yet determined cadenza different from her fellow finalists – but Hristova’s style was summed up effectively by the way she ruthlessly yanked at offending strands of loose bow-hair following the first A Section.

It pays to note that the final round featuring Christan Knapp conducting the APO, comprised only a segment of the entire judging process that spanned a week in Queenstown previously. Nevertheless, Berliner Stefan Hempel faced the unenviable task of performing first, his allegro non troppo assured but decidedly ordinary. Both his and Hristova’s adagios failed to rise to any great level of expressiveness, yet one could argue that Brahms would have preferred neither chose to make it a window-sill serenade. The folk-like third movement was riddled with very uncertain runs by Hempel. In contrast, the more fierce and in-touch with her Eastern European stylistics Hristova was, the more it made Hempel sound bland.

Any exciting competition needs a good dark horse, and Singapore-born Yuuki Wong made sure of that: his intense expressiveness convinced everyone in the Town Hall that he was playing from the heart and made for a very deserved 2nd placing (though the APO’s 3rd run-through of Brahms harmonies sounded just that: a run-through).

Ferocity was not Wong’s strategy – that was Hristova’s tactic, yet one almost wished that he chose the Sibelius or Shostakovich No1 instead to showcase his passionate lyricism (rather than the heavy romantic nature of Brahms).  An embarrassingly sharp note in the 2nd movement gave a comic demonstration of Kuleshov’s effect (his constantly fixed expression instantly changed its meaning from “I’m being lyrical” to “I made a mistake”), yet one felt that Wong gave the most depth and warmth to the normally flaccid adagio.  His allegro giocoso simmered with good intentions, but it wasn’t raw and ethnographic enough to appease the judging panel of nine.

In any case, Hristova’s grand prize of $40000, a Naxos recording and a winner’s tour means that there’s more to come from this rising star next year.

- W Chong

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I lost money by putting shares in a low-priced stock, where a 20-cent fall meant a 10% loss in value. Yep. I think I might stick to term deposits or something… once I recoup my losses of course. If the market value of my share holdings drop a full 10%, I think I’ll cut my losses.

Explained as follows:

$10 worth of shares. If their market value drops down to $9, I’ll sell it all and consider it a loss. I’ll take that money and put it somewhere else instead. But why did it not rise to $11, or $12? Such is the mystery of life.

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Part of the reason why I’m in a panicky mood about finances is because I’m realising that I’ll have completed my degree at the end of this year, and will need to find a job and start working. To get a foot in the property market, you’ll need a deposit lump sum as well as a regular income. Is it possible? Of course. Oh yeah, didn’t help that a sea of red arrows greeted me this morning on the NZX page. It was like, man, Alan Bollard why’d you raise the OCR? That’s not gonna stop stupid people spending. Stupid people buy huge DVD-players and flat-screen TVs and cases of alcohol with benefit money.

Maybe that’s where all our spending is coming from, the government-funded benefits. Yerr… in a roundabout way the government gives me a student loan, and I buy food. So the government is paying for my food. Except I have to pay them back.

Dammit, bring back the barter system. Seven cows for a bag of lollies, anyone?

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I’m excited.  Just finished an essay, now have 3 weeks to study for 4 exams.  I caught my brother’s cold, which knocked me out of action for a couple of days last week.  On Saturday I DM’ed a slow night whilst Verne watched the rugby with glee.  And on Thursday one of our inebriated middle-aged male customers dragged a middle-aged female customer into the toilets.  Me and the other staff member that saw it just shook our heads, and she got to clean up the toilets at the end of the night.

In other news, we have a poker table!  I can say that it’s a decent investment for social lubrication.  Here’s a cool picture of a random room:

Going to hang out with Linda’s family tonight.  Hope you’re all happy celebratin’ the Queen and her birthday, etc!

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