Sense Makes Cents

The way music gets to consumers has changed so much, reshaping the music industry to a large extent. Techonology has presented many ways for us to obtain music through copying, sharing and downloading - among other means. Record stores have dwindled significantly. Artists face new challenges in order to survive in the business. Independent artists are emerging stronger than before and competing head-on with artists who have labels.

To recapture the market, companies have had the sense to venture into online sales, even making songs available individually and earning by the cent. In Singapore however, the laws governing music distribution are slightly complicated. We aren't able to download from iTunes or Amazon.com. I hadn't even noticed until recently. Because if I wanted to listen to a song, I would simply hop on to YouTube, even if I had it on CD. YouTube is just that much more convenient.

In some form or other, I'm sure we're all aware of these changes. They've actually prompted me into some action. I recently walked by a CD shop and thought how sad it would be if none existed anymore. To me, browsing in a store is a much richer experience than browsing online. Five CDs caught my eye (Glee volumes 1 and 2, Adam Lambert, Kris Allen, Beyonce). I had been entertained by their music but hadn't paid a cent in show of support. It was time. I also picked up Madonna's latest compilation even though I already had most of her music on CD. I paid for the music knowing I was keeping my favourite artists alive and ensuring that one music store would last that much longer.

One Way of Looking At It

The frantic me described in the previous entry has settled. The new year has approached. Some important people in my life have taken a back seat. Other friendships have hit new levels. I'm learning how to sing almost all over again. And at work, preparations for the opening of the park (Universal Studios Singapore) has been challenging. I almost want to say I'm a different person now, but I believe an evolved person is the right term.

So far, I'm proud to learn that I'm a lot stronger than I thought I was and yet, I haven't lost my sensitive side. I like the evolved me and I'm looking forward to this year.

I am excited for the many more things to learn. I am nervous for the challenges coming up in some of my friends' lives. I am hopeful for some of my dreams. I am eager to meet "me" at the end of the year. I am open. And I am thankful for life.

Obstacles Are Opportunities And A Magic Carpet Ride

What is stressing me out most now is that in every situation I automatically aim towards making the most of it by preparing for it sometimes and thinking hard through it as I react to it and make quick good choices. This only happened to me recently. I'm sure it's because of improvisational workshops with my co-actors. It has helped me to think on my feet, articulate and also receive (listen) better.

I'm the kind of guy who has MANY ideas. Before, I wasn't able to manage them. But now that I have this new ability, it's actually proving to be quite taxing on the brain. Plus I'm type A personality and also obsessive compulsive. What I need to learn now is to decide when I should switch off. I've also come up with this new philosophy which I personally believe is the key to my happiness and fulfillment - which is to turn obstacles into opportunities. And this has worked fairly well.

Take a recent event at the Esplanade Concert Hall. From attending Lea Salonga's concert in New York and missing out on a chance to live my dream and sing A Whole New World with her, I made it happen for myself when she finally came to Singapore to perform. I urge everyone to do the same. I've been interviewed by a fellow blogger and will post the link in comments when the article/interview is out.

Animation Asia Conference 2009

Thanks to an invite from my friend "Al", I was able to be at the first Animation Asia Conference ever! This precedes the Animation Festival Asia on Nov 21st and 22nd. The delegates (it was an honour to be considered one) attended a full day of speeches, presentations, panel discussions, interviews, great food and networking. It was an definite eye opener for me.

Japanese animation came up a lot because that's huge in the animation market. Some of the presentations were even in Japanese. I saw snippets of some of the series that I voiced and thought to myself, "Hey! I guess I have played a small part in the industry" - though I really do hope to play a bigger part with the animated feature I wrote. I was inspired by some of the success stories and wanted to meet some of the speakers. It was all rather intimidating for me because I'm more an actor than a businessman. But I figured it takes a certain amount of courage to be an actor right? And courage is courage, so I eventually mustered enough to collect and give out some business cards. Did I mention I went out and printed business cards for the event?

If nothing else, it was an inspiring day and I learnt a lot about consumer trends, the animation market and the business perspective on animation. Thank you "Al"!

An Online Presence

I've been behaving like it's the end of the world. That's not the same as the end of my freelancing career, is it? I mean, I'll just never have a three month break again that's all - one week if I'm lucky! And why would I want to spring-clean my room during any of these upcoming breaks? Exactly! Which leaves only now to do it. So you can imagine how much my room looks like a warzone at the moment.

Oh no! What other things should I start doing now? Convert all those VHS tapes and cassette tapes digitally? Scan all the paper I have so that I can free up more space? But wait! Would it be too late to learn something new? Brushing up on my French or learning how to paint or draw better would be cool, right? Or cook! No, no... I need to finish editing my novel 'cos I won't have the luxury to write anymore. Why don't I just try do EVERYTHING then? Hang on! I'm not going to be in different plays and musicals anymore. Will I fade into oblivion?

Okay, deep breath! Here's what I managed to achieve. I cleaned up most of my room and made some space. I scanned a good portion of paper. I watched some French movies. I didn't get to painting/drawing or digitizing music/videos. But I finished editing my novel! I'm going to pay some money to get it professionally formatted and edited, then I'll publish it! Meanwhile click here for sample chapters. I also learnt how to produce my own YouTube videos! Who says I'm fading into oblivion. It's the perfect way to express myself creatively.

Reason For Life

I had been feeling listless the past few weeks. I never understood how people got bored. "There's so much to do and no time for it!" I'd always tell them. But yet I managed to slip into boredom and I couldn't shake it off for the longest time or figure it out. I couldn't find any fault with my life. I was occupied acting in a play. I also had enough free time to do whatever I pleased, like reading or watching movies. I had many jobs offers for the following year. But somehow I wasn't motivated to do anything. I had a few suspicions on why this was so. Perhaps life wasn't challenging anymore. There was nothing left to fight for. Perhaps I felt lonely.

Then a few things happened at once that jolted me out of my jaded stupor. On the last night of my play, I saw how everyone had genuinely connected to each other and were also trying to tell me how much they had enjoyed working with me. That touched me. Their sincerity shattered the spell. Suddenly I felt strangely alive again.


I chanced upon a video on YouTube (see above) and it also allowed me to step out of my small bubble and realize a bigger picture. The video was the final piece in a jigsaw that answered how I should live a huge part of my life. Now I have a different philosophy towards how I spend, what I choose to spend on, what I really want to keep, where I put what I don't want, what organisations I will support... This has in turn made me happier living with the informed choices I can make.

I'm still not exactly sure how everything that has happened has directly caused my switch in attitude. My guess is that it has to do with seeing examples of people who are sincerely passionate about something. Now I can go back to being passionate about the things that I'm usually passionate about again.

Manhood

It has been such a self-discovery working on my current play. I enjoy working on productions like this, but they don't come often. This particular one is about Manhood. It's the latest offering from Action Theatre to be staged from Sept 9-19 this year. It examines the definitions of a man from all perspectives... well, as many as we could put into a show.

We have such a great team of people - only four actors, Lim Yu Beng, Claude Girardi, Josephine Tan and myself. Our brilliant director Samantha Scott-Blackhall has allowed for very open discussions in rehearsals and Desmond Sim, the writer, has been very generous with script changes as well.







All in all, I expect it to be a very entertaining evening for everyone. I've learnt so much about myself and my own attitudes about men. About how different and yet similar we actually are. Okay, I'm starting to get philosophical. Just come watch the show for yourself and let us provoke and entertain you with penis jokes, what we think about women, being gay in a straight world, being a father and everything else that men have trouble talking about openly.