FOB - yeah you know it!!!!

Damn forgot to put the actual pic up - here it is boys and girls.

Here is the in house Edge blogger Jonathan Riley's review about the night - cool cat and best be giving him a $20 when I see him next.

http://kissmyarts.posterous.com/tag/jonathan

Funky Oriental Beats

Ok ok - I have been told off by a bunch of people to "Hurry up and write on your blog!!!" and I see a new follower since everyone just likes running through here and having a look. Congrats to you - I expect to hear the same rant in a month or so - but I will try to keep it up. Need to start writing more now.

Well given that here is something cool to blog about. Funky Oriental Beats. I remember Renee telling me about FOB about 9 months ago and I thought 'oh hell no she is going to get me in that - she is just being nice!!" How wrong was I.

So let me just say to Renee (and to David Tsai - the dragon DVRDCT) that was truly an honour - and this is why. Not only was it a cool experience to perform (which I have not done since....man courage Day in November I think) but the best part was the great people that I met and performed with. Oh that was the joy of the past week. What English assignment the devil on my right shoulder kept telling me!!!!!

I rocked up thinking "Man I am too fresh for this jazz" but the freshness of everyone else was grand. It is always cool to meet up and perform with Renee and Jamie Banks. Renee had me with her Granddad's poem and Jamie always cracks me up - "I could do with a back stretch myself..."


The music was grand. Here I am sitting with the boys and the first act was JJ Fong. She and I attended the FOB performance workshop last Saturday and she had to jet but I think we hit it off ok. This girl has a single and video clip - WTF?? So with the boys nudging me the whole time while JJ dances with her (do I say) burlesque dancers, I got down to her jams - especially her single 'Drive Me Crazy'. The beat for that is crazy. Look out for this one boys - she is hot like fire!!!


Then we had the classical piano people. Mr. 'neo-soul' Eli Moore - brother is bad!! I liked this guy straight away when we started talking about Erykah Badu and Maxwell - I promise to talk more about it bro when I see you next. Plus the guy can do a mean piano piece as well. Jess Tsai was amazing. Not only with her own contemporary pieces but playing that Chinese cello/violin thing - I know I am going to get in trouble for saying that.....but that was great. Then my man Hong, and his rendition of Barbie Girl and his skill playing "Let's Go Bobby!" was the catchphrase going home in our car.....the boy really can melt and destroy piano keys. We got to get the PussyCat Dolls rap down.


Leigh Fitzjames - just amazing with her Nina Simone recital. I actually was blown away in the rehearsal more - most likely cos my nerves took it away during the show. But girl has presence and can tear up any mic....plus she is the bomb theatre organising producing jack-of-all-trades. Keep an eye out and let's do something!!!!!


Now the rapper boys. David Tsai - Mr. Dragon Cry!!! I was all "Man is Prince going to turn in his grave" - joking brother but that was a brave set of raps man. Another Steiny for you - and I felt bad when he got me one and I said I didn't drink!! Need to hook up and those beats were absolute fire. Julian Sammy aka Threat1 - boy rocked the mic. the bonus impromptu freestyle mash up at the end was absolute classic on Thursday night. Friday night? Maybe not so LOL.


And Erik and David. This guys were out of this world. One on the sax and the other on paint barrels ala Talib Kweli and Tamia. Friday night with these guys jamming with Hong and how I thought someone was yelling out they had to brush their teeth....personal joke I guess with Erik and David. That was a highlight and I was too worried I had to follow their act - so instead I had to follow Hong...so I was screwed either way!!!!

To all that came - I think they had a good night. I had absolute mad fun and made some great friends doing it. Here to another year before FOB blows up again next year!!!!

The Phoenix

Hey all my many readers (all two of you!!). I am so slack - I guess my poem a day up to Christmas did not work successfully. But here to a new year, new thoughts and new experiences.

I had an experience in where i flipped out at work. Stress overload and I let everyone know how I was feeling. I learnt afterwards that may have not been the best thing to do. I had a meeting with one of the bosses and she was so good and understanding to me. I felt stink from the meeting even though i triumphed. So I wrote her a poem after seeing the stresses she already had - and I may have added to it with my little fit.

The Phoenix

A lady once crossed paths with me/she had a fire in her eyes
The sort of flame that could burn a person
A spark to ignite joy in one’s heart and bring people warmly together
A heat that could react to re kindle or gently simmer an explosive conversation
She spat flames when she spoke and intensely listened
But she did not see who she was


A lady once crossed paths with me/she had a sensation in her soul
She walked when she should have flew
To rise above all the errors of life’s ways and the constant fires she believed kept growing
Life was crumbling and the temperature kept rising
Fuel was adding to her fire
And it rose out of control
But she did not know where she was


A lady once crossed paths with me/she had a burden on her shoulders
That kept her wings down and flapped awkwardly
She was tied down from grief
Her hatchlings were still learning to fly and shortened her wick quickly
The chemistry of past relationships caused her to hide behind her wings
She did not use what she already had


A lady once crossed paths with me/she cried burnt out sorrows and extinguished strengths to stresses
And I wanted to tell her....
Burdens are myths and you are a legend
You do not fly, you soar and many of us on earth look up to you
Let your light so shine as you beam ferociously across an afflicted sky
Carry your trials in twigs and build a nest to rest them on
Ignite these into a blaze and renew yourself to the Phoenix that you should best be known
A rebirth of old to a purified new
The chilling winds of past colds to a brighter day using the light within you


A lady once crossed paths with me/she told me she was a Phoenix
One that rose from the ashes
Constantly
And I believed
She knew exactly what she was

Happiness

Just a few thoughts thrown onto paper:

Did I ever tell you people that I’m rich/Wealthy as anyone could dream/living in a state of luxury and ludicrous nirvana/

I am rich from happiness/don’t go to sleep on me now no, this is no cheesy proclamation/let me explain/
I had prepared for happiness/it is not easy at first to become rich with happiness/I mean I had to go to school to receive the wages I am on now/

I remember my favourite subject – Science/well we only learnt one topic in the class/Chemistry/oooh that proved to be the catalyst when I met happiness/we sure did meet with a spark/and experiment as much as we could/Mathematics I was not that good at/I could not subtract when to stop being someone else and to add up my personality to multiply me/but happiness divided that quickly and equalled whatever personality happiness fell in love with/and foreign languages/I was a bit slower than happiness was in that language of love/but happiness taught me with a flurry and now I speak love in all its dialects/

I graduated from school but that is only half of my success story/don’t get me wrong I was not a straight A student/I think I graduated with Honours at least/and now in my post grad it is happiness I am learning how to master/

Stepping into the work force was hard/did you know you have to work for happiness/man I thought you just learn about it and then you receive it in the end/but you have to actually look for happiness/and where do you start/I could not find the happiness classifieds/trade me does not even have a listing for happiness so I was screwed from the get go/

And who would of known that happiness had opposition/who could hate on happiness/are we not all looking for happiness/ Some people even had the nerve to tell me I didn’t even know what happiness looked like/that I was naive and blind to the fact/but yes even I went down the track of thinking happiness was for all and she would fall into our laps/

I searched the netherworlds/distant lands and unexplored territories for happiness/and believe me I was not left dry/Happiness tried to come to me with different names/I had a long relationship with money/man she was hot/she made me look so damn good until she gave more of herself to others and only a little to me/I soon realised that she was in every man’s pockets/but I still make contact with money maybe once a week or fortnightly/but she was not my happiness/

I went to her friend food/she was nice and good to me/I still see her often/but she was too much of a temptation/I used to explore food so much I thought she was true happiness/but then she started messing with my health/started making me lazy and not want to do anything/so I had to cut her slowly out of my life/I still can’t live without food and she still gives me some on the side/but she was not my true happiness/

And then I met her/she was like me/but she was beautiful/when I saw her my inner spirit jumped for joy/gladness filled my soul and I knew I found happiness/my wife pays me happiness in minute wages/sometimes she forgets and has to recalculate my pay/sometimes it is hourly wages of happiness and at times she also takes leave/she tells me she is sick of me at times/so I tell her if she can provide me with a medical certificate cos I still need my happiness/but those are times I think I must be ripping her off/I try to give happiness back to her for all the happiness she brings to me every day/but every month she gets a bit unhappy/and I would too cos her happiness salary changes from month to month and if I get a little worried from missing a little happiness pay each day/I can understand why she is pissed off once a month with her pay dates changing/

But she provides more happiness than money, food or any of these mimicking forms of happiness try to bring me/if these cousins of happiness are your bosses/you are getting ripped off because happiness comes it much more better ways than those/you just got to keep searching for it/just like me everyday/

Regardless (A Father's Poem)

My many fans (well one of them) has been on my case for not writing so I thought I would just put some poems on everyday until Xmas. I thought I would just put some that I have done this year and prepare for a new year of development!!!!!

This one I did for my boss as his father passed away and was a bit down (as you would). One of our managers decided to frame this and jack my poem as his secret Santa present to my boss.....well anything to treat a good boss well.

Regardless

Crafted to be a guardian to the angels that birthed us
A hero without the cape
But with all the powers of a superman
The hard yards of life’s bearings led by you at the forefront
A stern hand to lay down a law that only a father can fulfil
And silent words that bring about the loud actions of discipline
This is a young fatherly love regardless


Life is short but the memories created live forever
From the ball you first passed to the comfort of knowing you are home
The protector of our family
The caretaker of our spirits
The cradle in your arms when we fail and need help
Or the pleasure of your eyes when we succeed
This is mid- fatherly love regardless


The extra push to conquer any obstacle
The catch when obstacles make me fall
The advice to succeed, the words to comfort, the lessons to teach
The one that protects
The one that serves
The one that taught me what fatherly love is
The one that loves me and I love him whether in this world or the next
This is fatherly love forever
Regardless

Why I Write

I needed a poem for the Courage Day event that I performed at today. Sue Gee (the organiser) had emailed all the performers a list of who's who of the poetic art world as well as the program for the evening. With exams, school, work and family life, time was not my friend over the past few weeks. I needed something fresh and special for such an important event and cause. While studying for my final exam (Global Lit) and falling asleep on the 4th floor of the Commons building, the powers of inspiration decided that this was the time and surroundings to commune with me. I wrote the following piece that I delivered today at Courage Day...thank you for all that supported and inspired me today......

I write to express/to suppress my inner thoughts and outwardly address them

I undress words/

I write to satisfy/any ambition with thoughts wayward they fly/

I write to graffiti mulched trees and bust semen like ink from the spear of a pen giving birth to words/

I write when I am on point/turned on in a machine type way

I write to teach/greedily I learn and portions I give to others/

I write selfishly/

I write with empathy and charity/I write love with hate and hate with love/love with hate and hate with love/ love with hate and hate with love/I write in annoyance

I write to get rid of the voices/

I write to allow the voices to be heard/

I write to see if meaning disappears into air and becomes magic/

I write to correct/to solve the world’s problems in my secluded universe/

I write to challenge/and to ignore any intellect to imagine what new words I can fathom/

I write to rhyme/I write to envision a stadium of 70,000 or a bookstore of ten score/

I write to paint pictures/to illustrate and to captivate/

I write with goals in mind/to have you listen/to speculate and penetrate/to join forces/to meditate

I write to critique/to have an opinion/I write to think like you/

I write for hope/I write for my seed/to implore a reaction to love words like me/

I write to have validity/I write to find truth

I write to be emotively-charged and to breakdown on paper

I write to improve/I write to prove and to make room/

I write with a grammar that damage my nana to disprove it and punish my work with hardened words like a hammer/

I write to stay behind bars when I'm handing out sentences/

I write to act/to bring maybe a Shakespearian influence with a ghetto background and make Act 1 damn straight stupendous

I write to get girls and good grades/I write to show love to my wife/

I write to show off/I write to show weakness/

I write to share and testify/

I write to have an impact/to break down doors and to spray-paint walls of confusion and to blow the damn roof off/

I write for my review and your enjoyment/I write to make you think/I write for your opinion

I write to make me question/for the lesson of it’s meaning/

I write for my culture and my experience/

I write for purpose/I write to be honest/

I write for the kids who trip and stumble to make way/ who slip through the cracks of life and speak as if the world is their oyster/

I write for this miracle/I write for you

For the experience to see why I write/And I thank God I do

Manny Pacquiao

Finally exams are over and I get to have one of the greatest weekends - well even better the greatest Sundays. First to the closure of such a great Sunday - Manny Pacquiao is the Filipino that every Filipino wants to be. I am probably one of the most plastic pinoys in the world - and to find an ethnicity to cling onto has been difficult these past 27 years. But with a sport that I have been heavily involved in, I cannot do anything else but embrace my Mum's culture and the blood that runs in my veins. It is probably borderline wrong to do so and argubly cheeky but this 'cousin' just wrote history tonight.

I know nobody (and let's face it - if someone was to say to me that a Filipino boxer will be the greatest fighter in his generation I would probably laugh at you) would have thought that Pacman would be where he would be:
- 7 titles in 7 weight classes
- Beating the odds and critisicms that all his fighter were not good enough or not big enogh (the usual banter)
- Number 1 Pound for pound
- settling himself next to the greats such as Ali, Leonard, De La Hoya
the list carries on. But if I could I would just say - Good on you Manny Pacquiao - you made your country men proud. You are my "David Tua".