Categories
Everyday News

We’ll Vote for Earth Hour, And You?

A farewell lunch, couple of days ago.  We dined at an Indian restaurant, next to the Singapore River.  Delicious buffet.  And we chatted, on the topic of parenthood.  With no real experience from my end, I often find the topic far and distant.  Maybe my mind was preoccupied with the drafting of this blog entry.  That day, I found the conversation on raising children from a father’s perspective interesting.  The challenges and hardship involved.  And hence, I am dedicating this entry to my parents.  For they have provided me an environment, grow and nurture me to what I am today.  I turn out OK, I think.  So thank you mom and dad.

For a billion years, Planet Earth has provided life form an environment to grow and to evolve.  Couple of years ago, I read an interesting article from the magazine Scientific American.  It said that Milky Way is a darn harsh environment.  Having any possibility of a sustainable life form is close to zero.  But here we are, living and breathing in Planet Earth.  Miracles.

I too want to save the polar bears and the penguins, Himalaya and the ice cap.  Reality is, climate change is happening, right here, right now.  Maybe nothing would drastically change in the near decades or centuries.  Maybe weather would indeed go chaotic as predicated.  Maybe coastal countries and cities would disappear.  Maybe for years to come, we would still be arguing on the connection between the way we consume resources and the climate change.  Just like today, we still do not agree firmly that smoking kills and get rid of those harmful products for good.

What does switching off the light at 8.30pm local time this Saturday for an hour mean to you?  To me, it means more than a message sent to the world leaders that we care.  And to that extend – no disrespect to those who are planning to have a good time and party – I find it hard to reconcile taking a drive down to the city center (to join the roadshow) with the action of turning off non-essential lights and electrical appliances for one hour.

I think this Earth Hour can be a rewarding experience to break our routine.  I will be staying at home, with candle lights, maybe play some music with my guitar, maybe play some card games, may be read some Shakespeare with Cynthia, maybe crack our brains on the topic of “10 Things I Hate Love About You” (I probably need more than an hour for the last item!).  In the movie “The Day The Earth Stood Still”, the character played by Keanu Reeves said that he was there to save the Earth.  By that he meant to eliminate all mankind from this planet.  A pretty profound thought, I think.

Categories
Blu-ray / DVD Review

Symphony: Live in Vienna – Sarah Brightman – Beautiful Voice, Beautiful Cathedral, Beautiful Recording

Sarah Brightman's Symphony: Live in Vienna

This is one of those recordings that when you listen to the audio format, you feel so-so.  But when you watch the video format, you would go: Wow, this is really great!  Like that Within Temptation concert DVD I’ve watched lately.  Maybe it is the beautiful acoustic nature of a Cathedral (in the old days, Churches were built to amplify acoustic sound naturally through the design of the domes and etc.) now that I have downloaded Sarah Brightman’s “Symphony” album from you-know-where, I certainly prefer the recording inside the Cathedral in Vienna to the studio recording.  Such perfection.  The musical notes, the instruments, the vocals, and if you see how creative Sarah Brightman’s team covered the entire Cathedral from the entrance, to the altar, all the way to the top of the organ pipes singing “The Phantom Of The Opera” with her guest, you will be as impressed as me.  Those high notes, live.  Such emotion.  Standing ovation.  Inside the Cathedral Stephensdom.

Can anyone see what’s wrong with this picture?

Cynthia and I didn’t expect this concert to be held inside a Cathedral.  Not just any Cathedral.  One that visited by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven.  Imagine an orchestra, a choir, audience sitting on wooden benches, videographers running along the marble alleys walked by millions in the past, Sarah Brightman, her guests, and a rock band.  A rock band?!  Yes, drums and guitars – both electric and acoustic – near the altar.  We can’t say we are comfortable with this picture, being Catholics ourselves.  Churches to me are places for worship, to have a dialog with the divine ones.  But I suppose if “Ave Maria” is in the program list among with others what appear as God inspired songs such as “Pie Jesu”, we shall accept that music as beautiful as this can only be … divine in some ways?

Those who have watched the concert either live or on recording format should agree with me that the guest vocalists are just as great.  Powerful tender voice of Alessandro Safina (such chemistry between him and Sarah!), beautiful voice of Fernando Lima, and the contemporary, emotional voice of Chris Thompson.  Such a treat, even if you may not be familiar with the album “Symphony” like us.

I have no clue how the soprano-classical-meets-pop-arrangement Sarah Brightman can sustain those high notes.  It is so out-of-the-world.  Goose bumps all over listening to the recording.  Such control.  Besides the video recording of the concert, there are exclusive interviews with Sarah Brightman, Father Anthony Faber, and historian Elisabeth Lloyd-Davis to give the home audience a holistic picture on the concert.  “Symphony” may not be my favorite album of hers.  But this DVD/CD has won my heart.  Oh, what lovely dresses she wore that evening.  Below is the video for “The Phantom Of  The Opera”.  Check out the end note.

PS. Yes, you hear right.  The next song is the oh-so-famous “Time To Say Goodbye” soloed by her.

Categories
Diary I See I Write

Day 1 of Unlimited Music Download – So I Surprised Cynthia with a Nokia 5800 XpressMusic

The new Nokia XpressMusic 5800 with "Come With Music"

Edit: I have received reliable responses to the questions I raised in this entry and I have edited this post accordingly for sharing!

Words cannot describe the sense of liberation as we spent the entire Sunday downloading music, legally.  Free or not free, it’s arguable.  But for what I pay for, I don’t know which one is a bonus – the entire catalog of music at the Nokia store or the touchscreen phone itself.

I like to surprise Cynthia every now and then, just to put a smile on her face.  Ever since I have attended the official launch of “Comes With Music”, ever since she has read the advertisement of these new Nokia phones the next day, I know she’d love the possibility of unlimited downloading any number of music tracks – even for just a year.

Yesterday, out of nowhere, I asked her to synchronize her personal info from the Nokia N95 that I passed to her, to the Ovi.com Nokia server.  After I’ve backed up her media files, I told her that we were going for phone shopping.  She was shocked, and so was the shop assistance when I handed him the N95 for trade in.  “You don’t want this phone?” he asked.  It was either that or the Motorola that Cynthia wanted last February.  Doesn’t matter to me, either way.

This is not a sponsored post.  Not even for the yearly S$120 phone voucher from the phone operator that I couldn’t use because after the trade-in, the balance is less than that.  This is a little personal journal of mine on day 1 of the free music download service and my 3rd impression of the XpressMusic 5800.

Comes With Music – 12 hours of download, 60 albums, 904 tracks, a play time total of 2 days and 13 hours!

Click here for a screenshot of day 1 achievement!  The Nokia software is pretty neat, as you can see.  I was playing music to my Hi-fi, downloading albums from Nokia Store, uploading albums into Cynthia’s new phone at the same time.

OK, to be frank, the Nokia Music Store doesn’t have everything.  There are tracks I couldn’t find.  But interestingly, there are versions of the albums I wouldn’t be able to find in Singapore either.  Some versions have bonus tracks, some versions have a lot more tracks than others.  Some are digitally remastered.  All of them come with album artworks, encoded in a decent sound quality (192 kbps, mp3).  Yes, you can download as many tracks as you want.  No, you can only play them in your computer or from your phone.  It’s not big a deal to me really.  For what it’s worth, 60 albums would have cost me quite a bit.  And it is only day 1.  My on-board sound card handles mp3 format pretty well (with X-Fi Crytalizer).  I have a very decent cable to connect either my computer or the phone to my Hi-fi.  I am a happy man; Cynthia is a happy girl; we are a happy couple.

So we downloaded albums that are on our to-buy list, albums that we couldn’t get in Singapore, imported albums that are usually too steep in price, old and new albums that worth the listen but may not worth the cost, albums that are digitally remastered, and albums that satisfy our curious minds.  A download speed of half a minute per song seems reasonable.  But all things in moderation, it takes much longer to consume an album than the time it takes to download for sure.

I know there are people who are not entirely happy with the digital rights management (DRM) that restricts how we play the downloaded music from Nokia Store.  I certain have tons of questions in my mind such as what would happen if I too shall buy a “Comes With Music” phone and would Cynthia and I be able to share the same library since we share the same computer at home?  Is the yearly subscription model of “Comes With Music” as simple as upgrade my Nokia phone every year?  How easy it is for me to move the contents when I eventually upgrade my computer?

Reliable responses received as follows:

  • Tracks and playlists can be shared between registered Comes With Music users (subject to confirmation that the user hold an active Comes With Music license)
  • For now, access to the Comes With Music service after a subscription ends is only available with the purchase of a new Comes With Music device.
  • You can de-register your old PC and transfer your Comes With Music membership to a new PC every three months. Following which, you can transfer your entire Comes With Music collection to the new PC via the Nokia Music Store as all your account information is stored there.

Looking at the way we collect and consume music on vinyl to today, I personally wouldn’t think too hard on DRM.  Today, I am a happy man.  That’s all that matter.  You could be too.

Nokia 5800 XpressMusic – Still loving it

The phone is a beauty.  Before long, Cynthia was showing me how to switch on the predictive messaging in her native language Bahasa Indonesia.  OK, it did take a a good couple of minutes for me to figure out how to download Cynthia’s personal info such as contacts, notes, calendar items from the Ovi.com Nokia server into her new phone.  But the rest of the functionalities are pretty easy to be figured out.  Like tapping onto the clock to set the alarm.  Tapping on a little icon on top that opens up a quick application access bar.  Tapping onto a video on YouTube opens it up in full screen mode.  And etc.  Punching in text messages is a breeze.  I like the alpha-numeric mode with vibration feedback.  Cynthia seems to like the QWERTY keyboard or the handwriting mode.

To those of you who approached me for opinion be it as you have not owned a touchscreen phone before or you are not entirely satisfied with the Apple iPhone or others, I am putting my money to where my mouth is.  Go get one.  You won’t regret it.  If you have the budget and touchscreen is not a must, the N96 Comes With Music is a very good option.  Otherwise, you could also wait for the new touchscreen N97.

Related Posts:

Categories
Music Reviews Pop Rock & Alternative

Kelly Clarkson – All I Ever Wanted – Now, Give That Girl Some Love

Kelly Clarkson's All I Ever Wanted

In a way, I am not surprised to read that Kelly Clarkson’s latest single “My Life Would Suck Without You” made the biggest jump from 97 to 1 in the US Chart.  After her last effort “My December”, I am reminded that big stars don’t necessarily make great albums all the time.  Look at Leona Lewis’s “Best Kept Secret”.  I want some “Bleeding Love”.  The blessing and curse of such successful titles, all eyes are on our American Idol’s very first “Because of You”.

“My Life Would Suck Without You” has all the elements of being a chart topper.  The beat, the tune, and it’s catchy.  I watched her on TV performing that song on this season’s American Idol.  She had so much fun on the stage, that confidence.  Unlike her last album, she put more effort in collaborating with other songwriters and producers, which is good.  I think she is a greater singer than a songwriter.  And like her last album, and the one before, and before, her lyrics seem to continue to revolve around her past failed relationship.  I really wish someone give that girl some love and perhaps, she may make a happier album next time.  Although, of all people, I shall be able to understand why some artists are more attracted to certain emotions.

The album “All I Ever Wanted” has its hits and misses, in my book.  I bought the deluxe edition that comes with a DVD and an extra two bonus tracks.  It was a good decision because the bonus tracks are really good.  Looking at all the 16 tracks of pop / rock / dance genres, there are 5 I absolutely love, 4 I absolutely don’t get it, 5 I am lukewarm towards, the remaining 2 are so-so-ok-ish.  Of those the hits, most are written not by Kelly Clarkson.  For the misses, it is a split.  So what does that say?  Collaboration with other producers seems to pay off.  There is still room to work on song choices.

Hits and misses aside, Kelly Clarkson has such a God gifted voice.  And she can sing almost any genre, fast and slow.  She reminds me of the early days of Mariah Carey, whom I admire a lot.  I wish that “All I Ever Wanted” has a stronger song collection.  OK, Kelly Clarkson has established the fact that she likes to create a different album each time.  Kelly, you’ve just brought me back into the fan base and I am looking forward to what your next album would be like.  Country music please.

Below is the single “My Life Would Suck Without You”.  And I have found a really funky remixed version too.

Categories
Whacky Thoughts

Crash! A “Retired” Cyclist Perching At A Flyover Overlooking The Streets Of Singapore

I looked at the road outside my home and I remembered one past event

“You really should relive your days of glory, pick up a bicycle, and cycle with us,” said my good old friend Rob time and time again when we meet up for lunch.  And as always, I laughed it off and changed the topic.  His determined eyes do pierce through my heart, though I am not showing it at all.  Ah, the fire of passion and what remains as pride and ego on what I have humbly achieved as a cyclist, a long time ago back in UK.  Maybe those eyes of determination in getting me back on a bicycle are now mixed with a tint of doubt, on what I claim I have achieved.  Alas!  My passion has taken me further than being a recreational cyclist.  But Singapore is not a conducive environment for anything more than that.

In my humble opinion, that is.

My friend TK shared with me an accident he witnessed, at the exact location as we emerged from the Raffle City car park.  It was heavy pour, on the last day of the IT Show, and I was dropping him off to another building, where he parked his car.  “There were cars parked right here, not moving, aligning passengers, holding up traffic” he began the story.  One car behind grew impatient, honking and prompting the cars in front to move.  Still, the road was blocked.  The driver from behind managed to go over the divider, slowly passing the stationary cars in front, staring fiercely at the people inside.  As the car inched towards the main road, while we presume the driver was still staring at the culprits of the holdup, in anger, a bus went by from the left and smashed onto the car whose driver was too busy staring at other drivers, not looking at the main road ahead.

Bam!

As TK finished the story, he screamed, “Watch out!”  I too was inching towards the main road while listening to the story attentively.

I love to cycle, back in the UK.  It is the climate, the long distance, and the hills.  Here in Singapore, it is humid, a city, and is mostly flat.  Back then when I was in UK, the government has law and infrastructure that supports the cycling community.  In the town of Oxford, there were (most likely still are) cycling lanes alongside with the main roads.  Cycling on the pedestrian pavement was not allowed, neither was cycling in the dark with no light.  Cyclists must observe all traffic rules.  They gave hand signals when changing lanes or even to indicate going straight.  The drivers took care of the cyclists and gave a much wider space when overtake.  In short, my vision of a conducive environment for cyclists – recreational and enthusiast alike – should be as such.  The government, the motorists, and the cyclists all play a part.

My friend Rob and I talked crazy ideas evolving about cycling all the time.  From automatic tyre pressure adjustment based on terrain condition (and the how), to real time injection of glucose solution into our blood stream as our bodies take the toll of intensive cycling (and more).  Then one day, he shared with me one accident that involved one of our common friends.

Three cyclists, at the East Coast Park service road, formed a line, one after another.  A car tried to overtake, impatiently, as it followed the cyclists from behind.  When the opportunity aroused, the car sped away, swung in front of the cyclists, and jam braked.  Our common friend couldn’t stop in time, smashed onto the back of the car, thrown into the air, landed onto the ground with a dislocated shoulder and scratches.  He was hospitalized, out of work for one month.  It was a hit and run.

Bam!

It is always good to wrap up a writeup with a more positive picture.  So picture this with me.  I was in UK, with my partner, and we cycled from Oxford to Edinburgh, with our camping gear.  One hill, must have been somewhere near Scotland, looked pretty majestic from a distance, but it induced fear.  It was a long and steep slope.  20 kg at my back, in bright daylight, I challenged both the limitation of my physical and mental strength.  Halfway through the slope, one huge farming tractor, the kind of big wheeler, trailed behind me, not overtaking me.  Just trailed behind me.

My body were aching, but my will was strong.  My partner he gave up halfway and had decided to push the bicycle up.  I pressed on.  And towards the top of the hill, the huge tractor overtook me, with a wide margin away from me.  The driver gave me a huge thumb-up and drove away, disappeared into the horizon.  At the top of the slope, I collapsed onto the grassy ground by the side of the road, I looked back, waiting for my partner.  That, was the scene that has been with me, will be with me for the rest of my life.  That thumb-up, the back of the driver, the support, that tractor, and my bicycle.  That, is what I want to relive.

Categories
For the Geeks

Beyond Saving My Life And Into The World Of ReadyNAS!

My New Netgear ReadyNAS!

A Vision at the IT Show

I had a vision last Sunday.

As I inched my way through a huge crowd inside the air-conditioned subterranean shopping mall connecting the IT Show to where I had parked my car, I could see the grey sky and heavy rain through the large glass windows. We were travelling at point zero zero zero zero one kilometer per hour, breathing in the humidity of sweat and rain.

At one vantage point—on top of an escalator, about four meters above the crowd—I saw faces.

Lots of faces.

So many faces looking in my direction.

At that moment, I had a vision.

I want to be a rock star. And these are my audience, their faces full of anticipation.

My friends and I looked at each other, shook our heads, and said: They have no idea what they are getting themselves into.

But such is the price of attending an IT Show.

I have never seen that many people in our convention and exhibition center. Not even during the Motor Show, when there are usually plenty of hot babes around. I was actually scared coming down the escalators. What if there was—touch wood—a pile-up at the bottom? Sardines heading into cans on a non-stop production line.

Where is that bloody emergency stop button?

None.

When Hard Disks Attack

Sunday morning I woke up relatively early, planning to pay Azeroth a visit.

Bam!

My hard disk crashed.

And of course it crashed on the last day of the IT Show.

Panic.

I called my friends at the last minute to see who could accompany me. Phew. Those Maxtor hot backup devices really did save my life, just as advertised. All my data was safe.

I only wish Bill Gates had the brain size of Steve Jobs and gave PC users a Time Machine like Apple did.

Now it was time to replace my crashed 500GB hard disk and reinstall the operating system.

Fun time.

Not.

The NAS Idea

Maybe this was a sign.

Maybe I should go beyond merely saving my life. Maybe I needed my own home network storage—with industrial-grade reliability—so I could pull out or jam in any hard disk anytime and my data would still be intact.

Fortunately for me, TK and my photography buddy Mat could make it.

Time for shopping.

Except it wasn’t really shopping for them. They knew exactly what they wanted, knew the strike price, and only needed to locate the right booth, buy the item, and leave.

I, on the other hand, had no idea what exactly to buy.

Exactly.

I only had a concept—like most things in my life.

That’s all.

Mat has been using the Netgear ReadyNAS NV+ for years and loves it. TK was planning to get the smaller version. He told me, “Since you have tons of CDs like me, you’ll need a Squeezebox and this.”

OK, sold.

If I got stuck figuring out how to use the device, at least I had a few numbers to call.

Wait…

What the heck is a Squeezebox?!

Digitising 800 CDs

Imagine this: all 800 of my CDs digitized into the free lossless audio codec format (a.k.a. FLAC), ready to be streamed into a Squeezebox that connects directly to my hi-fi.

Any song from my CD collection available with a touch of the remote control.

Hi-fi sound quality.

My new toy (pictured above) can hold up to four hard disks. Right now I have installed three 1TB Western Digital GreenPower drives. With the built-in data redundancy, I have about 1.8TB of space accessible from within my home network.

Gadgets these days are going green.

So is the new D-Link switch I bought that day.

The Price of ReadyNAS

I could have bought two of the latest Nikon 50mm lenses with the money I spent.

Oh well.

There is a price to pay for entering the world of ReadyNAS.

TK and Mat told me I could do a lot more with it.

We shall see.

Categories
Fantasy & Sci-fi Movie Reviews

Watchmen – Oh I Like

Watchmen

I should feel blessed that I have yet to unwrap the comic book “Watchmen” I bought years ago.  As strongly recommended by our friend TK, I bought that comic book; and since he is keen to watch the movie – though I have heard split reviews on this film – we went ahead with it.

It is the time of the month again and Cynthia just has to have her facial done at Vivocity.  And hence, all three of us just have to watch “Watchmen” at Golden Village.  Why would anyone wish to watch a movie at Golden Village, I have no clue.  We pay for the movie ticket and we have to take in 20 minutes of advertisement, on top of the 161 minutes “Watchmen”.  As your friend, I strongly recommend Cathay cineplexes that often start the shows on time, with better systems.  Especially for a film that go beyond the two-and-a-half hours mark.

For some strange reasons, I really like the film “Watchmen”.  I like the idea of an alternative history, a bizarre team of retired masked heroes (can’t really call them superheroes) trying to save the world (gasp!), a script that reads like poetry at times, humanity with a debatable means that don’t quite justify the ends, a well crafted storyline that has lots of character development opportunities, and a great soundtrack to go along with.  One scene kind of reminds me of “The Day The Earth Stood Still“.  Well, the reason of saving the world is certainly more compelling in “Watchmen”.  And that one scene of the duo masked heroes fighting their way into the prison reminds me of the show “Matrix”.  The kind of class and style, full of fascinating moves.  It’s been a while since I’ve felt that way.  At the end of the show, I turned to TK and asked if in the comic book, these masked heroes are so powerful, he said no.  Interesting.  I was told though the film is a pretty faithful adaptation of the comic book.

So I asked TK why he is not jumping off the chair.  I like his reply.  He said that the feel is different.  It’s like looking at two photos taken at the same subject.    I am looking forward to reading the comic book and see the difference myself.

PS. I have a strange feeling that I did dream of writing this review years ago.

Categories
Music Reviews Pop Rock & Alternative

No Line On The Horizon – An U2 Album that Splits Audience and Rewards Those with Patience

U2's No Line On The Horizon

Q Magazine wrote, “Good Lord, it’s a masterpiece”.  Oh well.  For all that’s worth, for better or worse, this 12th U2 studio album has offered the audience a listening journey that is rarely seen these days – from the music and lyrics to the visual experience.  What would this album be if U2 was to stick with producer Rick Rubin’s back to basics approach, I could only imagine.  I in especially love Rubin’s recent work with Metallica’s “Death Magnetic”, Dixie Chicks’s “Taking The Long Way”, and Red Hot Chili Peppers’s “Stadium Arcadium” – just to name a few.  These are major success, beyond commercial.  And if U2 has decided to abandon the collaboration with Rick Rubin, one could only expect this album to be nothing but greatness.
 
But is it?
 
Some are quick to love it; some love it not.  Some are not impressed with the lyrics; some spend much time deciphering the theme – song by song – and even theorize how the last song takes us back to the first.  Some don’t get the film “Linear” by Anton Corbijn that features all the songs from the album and more; some do.  Some think this is an original piece of work; some disagree.  Some say that it is a far cry from being experimental; some swear by it.  To be frank, even for the not-as-good U2 albums, they are still way better than the majority of records in the market, past and present.  I doubt if the fans could ever agree on the best U2 albums ever made.  Or for those who like this new album, we debate on which track works and which doesn’t.
 
Why this diverse reception from the fan base?
 
It has got to be a testimony of the artwork diversity U2 produces over the year.  Here is my personal listening journey with “No Line On The Horizon”.  Like any of my “tier 1 artists”, I bought the album when it’s out, without sampling the songs.

At first listen, yes, it’s good old Bono’s characteristic over-the-top-passion-filled vocals.  Then I noticed the prominent bass line played by Adam Clayton, something I haven’t quite noticed since the days of “With Or Without You”.  Nice!  By the third song, I noticed The Edge playing solo.  That’s a surprise because I don’t recall to hear him plays in that style often.  By the time I have completed a first listen, I was much impressed by the drums variation Larry Mullen Jr. has poured in each and every song.  I think our drummer would like this album based on the fact that each song is presented differently.

But something seemed missing.  I wished that the choruses were more memorable than the verses.  Somehow the less-than-impressive kind of rhyming lyrics like “submarine” and “gasoline”, “restart” and “re-boot” got stuck in my head.  Yes, there are outstanding tracks such as “Magnificent” and “Moment of Surrender”, “Get On Your Boots” and “Cedars of Lebanon” that I would listen to them again and again.  But no, not every song I could fall head over heels with immediately.

After a couple of days of trying to comprehend U2’s latest work, I started to examine the printed lyrics (very nice booklet that comes with the CD by the way).  Very impressive piece of work.  Subtle reference to religion, little or no reference to politics, and much on humanity.  Words like “This shitty world sometimes produces a rose” or “[Your enemy] gonna last with you longer than your friend” talk to me.  And then I spent 3 hours downloading the film that comes with the album.  Very artistic film.  It’s not your usual MTV nor Hollywood production.  Simple, yes.  But if my band could make videos like these, I would be more than happy.

My initial impression on what’s missing remains, though much diminished the more I listen to it.  Could this be a masterpiece?  It is certainly an outstanding piece of artwork.  I tried listening to other albums at HMV today and the rest seem so bland.   I tend to agree with Q Magazine and Rolling Stone, “No Line On The Horizon” is their best album since “Achtung Baby”.

Related Post: U2! Down the Memory Lane on a Nostalgic Hazy Friday

Categories
Experience Sharing

So I Conduct Global Training Over The Internet And I Look Inside My Stomach Hard for The Butterflies

WebEx Screenshot

I am not trained as a trainer but the training opportunities find their ways to me, over the years, since I have started my humble career.  It’s always a full circle, from one end to another, from another end to the same one I have started from.  You strategize, you design a new business process, you put in place a piece of technology, you create a communication and marketing pack, and then you train.  It is because ultimately it is human who is going to be trained on how to use that shinny new piece of technology to enable a new business process that is aligned to a strategy.  That pretty much summarize what I do for a living.

Over the years, I have learned much on the art of training, from my peers, the people below and above me, and my audience.  Over the years, I have trained a small classroom of people to a crowd that filled a hotel ballroom.  I love to train.  Especially those that have a dose of uncertainties like the breakout groups.  Time and time again, people pull me aside and ask if I find talking about the same topic boring.

Not at all.

Each group is different.  The rapport and the effort put in to build the rapport is different.  Each group has its own challenge.  And in as much as my objective is to impart knowledge, my personal goal is to learn from my audience, through group sharing, through the questions they ask, and through the observation on what works for them.  I love the accumulation of war stories and confidence and success as I maneuver from one group to another.

One good friend of mine used to tell me that if we can feel the butterflies on our stomachs, it is a good sign.  It shows that success matters.  It keeps us on our toes.  She told me that each of us has a personal ritual to go through prior to the conduct of the training.  I have not shared mine with her.  I used to pray in the toilet prior to showtime.  Yes, I too used to feel the butterflies.  It’s a feeling that can be unsettling.  What if I couldn’t deliver the speech that has been written and rewritten a thousand times?  What if I couldn’t connect to the audience?  What if they see what I don’t know instead of what I do know?  What if …

Though I dreaded the butterflies, thank God most of the sessions I came out OK (some with good recognition).  These days, I am at that one end of the cycle again: It’s training time.  What is different today from the past is that due to the duration and depth of this global initiative that I have been working on, I am very comfortable in conducting the training.  And after all the local classroom training I helped to conduct, the next step is to reach out to the rest of the world.

Since I am not that keen to travel – love Singapore too much! – I am happy to conduct training over the Internet (we use WebEx just in case some of you may be able to relate).  It is a whole new experience.  At my laptop, I can see who have dialed in, I can punch in a telephone number inside the software and it will make the necessary call to the participants who can’t get connected, I can mute individual phone lines (you’ll be amazed at how many people accidentally put their phones on hold and all of a sudden, everyone logged in hear some music played), I can present a document, share an application, see the Q&A window gets populated, chat room that keeps the private and public messages popping.  Wow … very funky!

Initial excitement aside, it can be hard.  At times I feel like I was a DJ talking to myself.  Imagine this: you are in a meeting room, alone, in front of you a laptop and a speaker phone.  Everyone is on mute.  And you keep talking, no faces to be seen, no responses to be heard, just you and your voice hoping that someone is awake on the other side of the telephone line.  Do they like the pace?  Can they understand me?  Do they get my lighthearted comments?  Are there VIPs in the call?  No idea.  Silence.  Just me and my voice and the speaker phone.  All the way from “Welcome to our today’s training session” to “Thank you for your time and you may disconnect now”, do people get fired for delivering a lousy training over the Internet?

No idea.

At times I wish there were a few butterflies in my stomach, to get me in the mood with heightened alert.  Sessions after sessions, I look forward to the online Q&A the most.  Because that is the only variation I encounter.  Oh gosh, wouldn’t that become really … boring?

Well, you know me, I can’t stand boredom.  So, each web training I conduct, I always tried to crack a totally different set of jokes (like instead of meeting Bill Gate for lunch, for the same scenario, I golf with Steve Jobs … and then, I drop this scenario altogether and crack another joke on a different situation), share a different set of stories, deliver the same message in a slightly different way, rearrange things just a little bit – do something that keep my sanity.

I am not trained as a trainer but I love to train.  And no, I am not a full time trainer.  I just step into a role available while having another role to play.

Categories
Memorable Events Photography

My Sister’s Wedding in Singapore – Thank You For Your Warm Wishes

We wrapped up the night with a group photo

It is amazing how pressure can propel us to do the seemingly impossible.  I woke up this morning barely 8 hours after I shot the last photo of the evening and my parents were already pacing around my living room hinting or rather strongly hinting that they wished to take all the photos I have shot for my sister’s wedding as they are.  As they are?!  It is hard to explain to them why they can do that for point-and-shoot photos and not for the 500 pictures I took with my dSLR camera.  I find it hard to believe that too.  It has got to be my skill, or the lack of it.

And because it breaks my heart to see my parents fly back to Hong Kong disappointed, not only have I done the necessary photo shortlisting and touch up in record time, but also have them published online with a less than 24 hours turnaround time.  I am happy with the results.  Some of the shots I really like.  I suppose Benny and Lora may have passed this blog entry to you for viewing.  Maybe you were there, maybe you couldn’t make it.  As a proud brother of Lora and a good old friend of Benny, I thank you for your warm wishes to the wedding couple.  I am pretty sure in time to come Benny and Lora will share the professionally done up photos of the event with you.  Meanwhile, here are some of the candid shots I have taken to complement the event, arranged chronologically in three albums.

PS. Stay tuned for a little write-up on how the day went.  Thank you for viewing the pictures and as always, feedback is welcome.