the2ndrule Issue 49
the2ndrule
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July/August 2004 email edition
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web edition: http://the2ndrule.com
Contents
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0. Edit
1. The Supathugz, Hong Kong [Gorgeous Productions]
2. Instant Cafe Radio Episode 26 [Selection and Mix by Koh Beng Liang]
3. Standard Obstacle Course [Daren Shiau]
4. Welcome to lmac.tv [lmac.tv]
5. Ghazals of the Three Muses [Alfian Bin Sa'at]
6. Shanghai [Gorgeous Productions]
7. Pipe Dreams [Interview by Joselyn Sim]
8. Untitled [Douglas Teo]
9. On A Bento Lunch Shared With Family One Afternoon In April [Nicholas Liu]
10. TGV 2.0: Beauty and Sadness [the2ndrule feat. Adelina Ong]
Edit
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01
Bumi mana yang tidak ditimpa hujan? (Where can you find earth untouched by rain?) A nation is not defined by its mistakes but by how it overcomes them. The fevers will subside. The gaping holes will be filled. The light will return. The fire station will stop burning. And from adversity we will learn. But only if we are mature in admitting that we are fallible.
02
Asian cities. Where it's happening.
Please send your comments, suggestions and contributions to: editor@the2ndrule.com
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2ndrule team : Koh Beng Liang, Shannon Low, Benety Goh, Russell Chan, Jason Tong, Alfian Bin Sa'at, Adelina Ong
Contributors : Gorgeous Productions, Daren Shiau, lmac.tv, Joselyn Sim, Douglas Teo, Nicholas Liu
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The Supathugz, Hong Kong
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The Supathugz, a self-produced soul collective of musicians, direct from Hong Kong and brought to you by Gorgeous Productions.
http://the2ndrule.com/issues/issue49/supathugz.html
(Movie takes a while to load. Please be patient, it's well worth the wait.)
Music by The Supathugz; http://www.j-sonic.net
Check out http://www.gorgeous-productions.com
- Damien Brachet/Gorgeous Productions
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HOOKED CLOTHINGS New Store Now Open!
http://the2ndrule.com/issues/issue49/hooked.jpg
14 Scotts Road, Far East Plaza #04-66, Singapore 228213
http://www.hookedclothings.com
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Instant Cafe Radio Episode 26
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World Population 2003
1. China 1,286,975,468
2. India 1,049,700,118
3. United States 290,342,554
4. Indonesia 234,893,453
5. Brazil 182,032,60
http://the2ndrule.com/issues/issue49/instantcafe.html
Playlist:
National Anthems - Philippines
[sheep baaing]
Lamb - Fly
Omar Faruk Tekbilek - Shaskin (Hefner Remix)
Jolly Mukherjee With The Madras Cinematic Orchestra - Bhatyali
Nitin Sawhney - Nadia
Mathar - Indian Vibes
The Beatles - Strawberry Fields Forever
[talkingpanda excerpt]
DJ Yoshio (Pizzicato Five) - Yoshio and the Guitar
Frances Yip - Green is the mountain
Li Xiang Lan - Three Years
Wilson Simonal - Nem ven que nao tem
[SAF military band salute]
Huang Pin Yuen - Ni Ze Me She De Wo Nan Guo (Theme from Lan Yu)
The Bots - Bushwack 2 (www.thebots.com)
Mihaly - Brains
- Selection and mix by Koh Beng Liang
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"I don't see any god up here."
- Yuri Gagarin, first human to travel into space, 12 Apr 1961
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Standard Obstacle Course
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"I really hate the feeling just before SOC," Maideen declared to no-one in particular.
The guys were spread throughout the bunk preparing for the most strenuous ten minutes of their training. Yap, the driver, had his camouflage tunic open like he was offering his tattoos to the ceiling fan.
"Yah," Sheng added. "Feel like reporting sick now, man. See if I got fever or not."
"I don't mean now lah, deh," Maideen said. "I mean when we are at the start line and PC is counting down. And full waterbottle damn heavy, legs damn soft. The first seven hundred metres is the worst."
John, the quiet one spoke. "Actually the Jacob's Ladder is the hardest. Hard to balance."
"That's because you are tall," Sheng said, nudging him vehemently. "For katik one like me, low wall is the hardest."
Maideen slumped himself into a chair. "Actually, deh. I think all the stations are hard. There's nothing worse in the whole fucking world than this. What is worse?"
"No girlfriend," Sheng joked. "Or confined for one month."
"One of my JC classmates," John added. "Said that she would rather die if she was forced to eat a house lizard."
"Must be rich girl," Yap interjected. "For me, eat eat lor. Pay me how much first?"
"Eh Yap, what is harder than SOC you think?" Maideen asked.
"You ask me or ask your father?" Yap scratched his skinny chest. "Some people feel that living together worse than dying."
The fan whirled noisily. In the distance was the sound of a three-tonner reversing.
Yap grabbed his water bottle and clumped heavily towards the toilet.
Author's note: The anthology From Boys to Men published, with my blessings, an excerpt from my novel Heartland. If I had been asked to write a short piece instead, I would have contributed this.
- Daren Shiau
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"Classified as a sugarfree therapeutic gum, Wrigley's Orbit Sugarfree Dental Gum is available in Singapore at leading pharmacies upon registration. You just need to put down your name and hand over your identity card.
With dental gum chewing power comes responsibility. Remember that and we can all enjoy."
- Advertorial on Wrigley's Orbit Sugarfree Dental Gum by JUICE Magazine, Singapore, August 2004
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Welcome to lmac.tv
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Online Showcase/Exhibition September 2004 by DEFUNKTION.NET (UK) and lmac.tv: Music and art for your grandkids.
The "Welcome to lmac.tv" online showcase is an introduction to the
warped out world of le messie (Music Producer & Creative Director at LMAC.TV) and his beloved LMAC (les minimal autistic children). Introducing the music, the artists, the characters, their artworks, the clothing and toys inspired by le messie's music and warped out lmac.tv world.
Catch live performance INTRO animation by Pixelmunky, listen to all the tracks played at le messie's live performance, view artworks made for the show by Flying Fortress (Germany), Projekt Alpha (UK), Freaklub (Spain) and many more,
Limited Edition replica prints of the artworks will also be up for sale as well as select lmac.tv merchandise especially for the exhibition.
Catch the show in SEPTEMBER at WWW.DEFUNKTION.NET
http://the2ndrule.com/issues/issue49/wtl_event_banner.gif
Check out http://www.lmac.tv/wtl.htm
- lmac.tv
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New Bathing Ape test commercial: Check it out!
http://www.bendawkins.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/bape.html
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Ghazals of the Three Muses
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Ghazal of Dreaming
(For Brian)
I have dreamt of someone's death; also the deceased returning.
On waking, one confirms the present, the other serves to condemn it.
Last night it was a scene of running in the rain.
And when the skies cleared a boy offered me a feather.
No witnesses to the crimes I commit in my sleep.
I enter with no motives and exit without alibis.
Teach me to distinguish the foreground from the background.
These three black horses or that sobbing in the grass?
Long shadows are sketched by a low-hanging moon.
A stone lantern beckons in a garden of toads.
'We awaken to the real, which discards emotions for the image.'
In this manner, Alfian, all art is the dissolving of a dream.
Ghazal of Absence
(For Adam)
The function of clocks is not to tell the time.
But to court it, always ticking a second behind.
At the station all eyes were fixed at the vanishing-point.
A train pulled in suddenly, painted with the word: 'memory'.
'That was his room, and these were her clothes.'
And she said this with a voice she had lost a moment ago.
What about the planets then, each one a monument to the abyss?
Well, what has an orbit can never really be alone.
Even at night the leaves salute the sun.
And a hidden moon's heartbeat commands the ocean's pulse.
Alfian, you know he will return; this abandonment will not last.
So why fix your eyes on the door as if it has only one side?
Ghazal of Drifting
(for Yaokang)
A woman's wailing in the middle of the night.
A pair of insomniac ears perfecting her anguish.
It is false to say I was born without roots.
The truth, my love, is that they are lighter than air.
Why don't we give a few coins to the beggar at the door?
We've given away more to those who've stared in from the windows.
In your final letter to me you wrote 'I like how you use words'.
But the words are using me, each seeking its birth in a sentence.
To be dapples of light, which touch but never cling!
Instead of this smoke in my hair; water in my wrinkled fingertips.
He passes over your body, Alfian, as a cloud on a burning afternoon.
And when your shadow returned it was not the same one as before.
- Alfian Bin Sa'at
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Check out the neighbours
http://wholiveshere.org/apt-earth/home.html
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Shanghai
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A take on Shanghai, brought to you by Gorgeous Productions.
http://the2ndrule.com/issues/issue49/sh.html
Music by Tadi; http://www.tadi.cn
Check out http://www.gorgeous-productions.com
- Damien Brachet/Gorgeous Productions
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A record of the world in biro
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/p.blackman/biromash.html
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Pipe Dreams
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10 questions to Australian Born Chinese Jason Tsui, a 25 year-old bagpipe player currently living in Edinburgh, Scotland. Interviewed by Joselyn Sim at his pad in Goldenacre, Edinburgh City, June 2004
http://the2ndrule.com/issues/issue49/jason1.jpg
http://the2ndrule.com/issues/issue49/jason2.jpg
How long have you been playing the pipes?
JT: 4 years.
What drove you to learn something like bagpiping in the first place?
JT: I was in the army and liked the sound, so transferred to the band after 2 years as a rifleman.
What was your passion for the instrument ?
JT: The unique sound, you cannot mistake the skirl of a bagpipe - its a powerful ancient instrument, and I don't just mean its volume, though that is part of the magic. It is the ancient scale, often misinterpreted by western musicians as out of tune, that tends to elicit emotions and imagery which are unlike any western instrument. It's an instrument which has three main purposes in the military, all of which it is perfectly capable. Insighting men to battle, where they can lose themselves in the martial music, mourning the dead, and entertainment.
Where did that passion come from?
JT: Music is very important in my life, it always has been. But in particular, playing this instrument, can at times feel like you are connecting to something greater than yourself, almost a religious experience! The sound at times can be all incompassing, spiritually and physically. For me it's a great way to relax and playing music with and for the enjoyment of others is always a highlight. I love entertaining.
Did you face any cultural issues e.g. racism? Or have the Scottish been gregarious?
JT: No, scottish people and Australians have been very welcoming and generous with "their" music and instrument. Many a scot has been ashamed at their own disconnection with their roots, and told me that they wish they could play the pipes. Many have been happy for me to be an ambassador for their culture. I think people enjoy the fact that others find an interest in their culture rather than are protective of it. But certainly I get alot of smiles!
It is really quite quirky to have a chinese boy learn bagpipes - what is your take on this?
JT: Indeed its rare, but each to his own. Whatever makes you happy as the saying goes. I still find it hard to wear a kilt and take myself seriously though, it's just fun!
Tell us about playing here in Scotland with your band?
JT: I've played with two bands, the 71st Engineer Regt and Stockbridge Pipe Band. One is a military competition band and the other is a community band. Playing bagpipes at the home of the great highland bagpipe has been a great experience, the Scottish people have been wonderful and welcoming to me.
Events that you may have participated in?
JT: I've recently played for the Leith Pageant (http://edinburghnews.scotsman.com/whatson.cfm?id=632622004), Edinburgh Marathon (http://www.edinburgh-marathon.co.uk/uk/), and next year possibly the Edinburgh Military Tattoo (http://www.edinburgh-tattoo.co.uk/) and Murrayfield Rubgy ground (Scottish Rugby Union).
What does your family & friends think?
JT: They are very supportive, my family and neighbours have had to put up with my spontaneous practise sessions at 10.30pm some nights, and my ex-girlfriend hated it!
What's really under the Klit?
JT: How clean are your hands?
- Interview by Joselyn Sim
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http://www.looptracks.net
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Untitled
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Little white cookie girl baking in your oven
Your spices are making me roll my tongue
As I smell your cinnamon ginger tang
Dance it's tantalising tango in my lung
Now I watch you brown in your little world
Cream to sticky toffee dark edges
I look at you when you're ready
Shovel you into your new jar
Hear the clink of hot dough on cold glass
Lick the brown crumbs and chocolate tar
Perfect look and perfect smell perfect taste
In my mouth and I wonder if and whether
I'll still feel the same for you
Especially when I'm full and through
- Douglas Teo
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Vector and pixel illustration
http://www.zedonline.com.br/
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On A Bento Lunch Shared With Family One Afternoon In April
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Legs crossed in lazy lemniscates
as we compare the size of our tempura prawn
I can almost picture the stone-faced shock of the Japanese
and wonder what Freud would have made of the whole affair.
- Nicholas Liu
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Japanese phrasebook on your iPod!
Is very cool!
http://www.talkingpanda.com/index.html
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TGV 2.0: Beauty and Sadness
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A TGV performance by Adelina Ong for the opening of the Singapore Arts Festival 2004 at the Old Parliament House on 28th May 2004.
http://the2ndrule.com/issues/issue49/tgv_artshouse.html
TGV is an interactive installation based on the ideas of movement and translation - translating visual movements into audio movements. Developed by the2ndrule, and based on proprietary technologies for video-reactive sound, the installation is manifested as an interactive space in which movements are translated into live soundscapes, allowing performers and the audience to create audio works through the movement that they produce.
"She stares over her painted toenails at the sea below and follows the line of reflected light to the horizon where sky kisses sea and a setting sun sears her deep brown eyes."
Beauty and Sadness is a five-minute theatrical monologue performed by Adelina Ong using the TGV interactive installation. The interactive space is customised to allow the performer to control the live soundscape generated through her own movements to accompany monologue and choreography, creating an interactive performance that crosses over between theatrical performance and interactive technology.
- the2ndrule feat. Adelina Ong
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"Every town has its focal point, a place where revolutions begin and end."
- Prophet of Dreams #1
See you again soon!
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* 2ndrule t-shirts *
Non-uniform of the guerilla army. Now available at S$20 each.
Sizes: Girls (28,30), Boys (40,42)
http://the2ndrule.com/issues/issue24/2rtshirt.html
Please send your orders to editor@the2ndrule.com
The Supathugz, Hong Kong (c) 2004 Gorgeous Productions
Instant Cafe Radio Episode 26 (c) 2004 Selection and Mix by Koh Beng Liang
Standard Obstacle Course (c) 2004 Daren Shiau
Welcome to lmac.tv (c) 2004 lmac.tv
Ghazals of the Three Muses (c) 2003 Alfian Bin Sa'at
Shanghai (c) 2004 Gorgeous Productions
Pipe Dreams (c) 2004 Interview by Joselyn Sim
Untitled (c) 2004 Douglas Teo
On A Bento Lunch Shared With Family One Afternoon In April (c) 2003 Nicholas Liu
TGV 2.0: Beauty and Sadness (c) 2004 the2ndrule
