Holiday debuggery

We know there were a few kinks with the holiday promotion. We've been working very hard to get them ironed out. If you have a paid/permanent account, keep on sending those coupons. Here's an update:

• If you were unable to send out multiple coupons at a time, please perform a hard refresh, and you should be good to go.
• If you redeemed a coupon to upgrade your account and the balance at checkout was $0 instead of $9.95 or $15, this means your upgrade did not go through (nor were you charged). We've straightened this out, so you can now apply your holiday coupon toward the purchase of an annual paid account.
• If you tried to redeem a holiday coupon and had trouble using a gift certificate to cover the balance of an annual paid account, we identified the root problem. If this happened to you, you can now use your holiday coupon together with your gift certificate.
• If the number of holiday coupons you have available suddenly goes up (instead of down), this might be due to recipients declining the coupons, at which point your pool of available coupons will be replenished and, therefore, increase.
• If you need assistance with holiday coupons or pretty much anything else (well, LiveJournal related), please open a support request and we'll be more than happy to help!

Tweaks

• There were some initial glitches displaying results on My Guests, but we've worked them out. We hope you'll check out who's been checking you out!
• Some of you reported formatting issues using the Rich Text Editor (i.e., line breaks were being removed incorrectly). We've implemented a fix! Thanks so much for your patience.

Give a little extra!

We're pleased to report that we've already sold over 100 virtual red ribbons in honor of National AIDS Awareness month. Remember, for each charitable vgift you purchase for $2.99, we'll donate 100 percent of gross proceeds to IAVI.org (the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative) to fund the development of an HIV vaccine. Once again, we thank you for your generosity.

Celebrate with holiday vGifts!

Stop by the Virtual Gift Shop and share some holiday magic with your LiveJournal friends.

Photos of the week

We're back with more dazzling pictures from around the world. Congrats to marlenemcc, who has been awarded a virtual blue ribbon as the winner of our fourth photo contest. We hope you'll click over to LJ_Photophile poll and tell us your picks in pics!

For more fantastic user content, we'll meet you under the cut. ( Read more... )

Curtains

Thanks, again, for reading. Here's wishing you the very merriest of holidays. We'll see you next year!

i painted my room light cocoa. all by myself for 7 hours straight. and my mother got so much comments about it. wtf pls.
come la, you power go paint yourself la. i sleep also not you sleep. zzz

while i was blog hopping. many things caught my attention........

and then i think i ought to do something about it.

anw, today very tired. yes la

i_hope_that
For many of us, the holidays can be kind of rough. If you're searching for a network of understanding friends, this ultra-nurturing community encourages you to express your heartfelt wishes and offer other members encouragement and acceptance. Not for the terminally snarky or emotionally-challenged, this is a good-spirited place to lend comfort and support.

diygifts
Feeling crafty? If you've got a few last folks on your holiday gift list, this is a great place to seed your creativity and generosity. You'll also discover wonderful DIY tips to decorate your home and entertain guests. Offering a no-frills-no-skills attitude that welcomes the cash-challenged and arts-phobic, you're sure to get ideas and make friends in the process.

cooking_club
A fun and friendly community dedicated to those who love to cook, whether you're a meat-and-potatoes type, an aspiring gourmand, and/or a vegan. In search of a brilliant dish to use up those weekly leftovers? Post your ingredients and you'll be whipping up a feast by dinner. You can also share favorite recipes. For Type A chefs, you can spice up your culinary repertoire with exciting cooking challenges.

hihi. i finally bought my very own shoe bag, plus plus plus MUJI pencil case!! although a bit not what i've expected. but still its so cute and simple. had a long time deciding which to get, in the end i got the white and rectangle one instead of the round one. so glad. although i spent the whole afternoon with myself.

next would be sims expansion pack. cost around 40 plus. hmm plus new bag and other stuff.. ahhh

i'm thinking if i should blog back in my blogger. haha cause lj has lots of restriction, plus my nuffnang at blogger can cash out very soon alr!! maybe if i got the 50 bucks after dk how many years i would delete that blog. hehehe too much memories that should just stay in my head alone.

having trg tmr. i would love to have mac breakfast in the morning. tsktsk and i feel like wearing sch u. gl abit hehehe

and stupid wd everytime disturb my holiday mood with chem question. zzzz

yes, leave. don't come back

hihi. i'm finally tired of being so grumpy nowadays. so much of those complains and yanking, which obviously doesn't help the situation a tad bit.. and i should have swallow down everything that were thrown on me, bottling up every feelings that i chose to express it out the other time. maybe it would help just that little more. im wrong, im at fault. yelling life is unfair is only an excuse. fuck, sometimes things just got over me.

i scream into my pillow. i hit and bite patrick. i kick the wall. i threw my fist on the bed.



chill..
holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it someone;i'm the one who gets burned


kk i'm letting all my troubles go.
i'm a happy kid now (:

so much for those crap.

stepstomarrow
When granddaughter, Jada, was born with leukemia, a donor-match was located and Jada made a miraculous recovery. In honor of her grandaughter's health, Jeanna has decided to walk across the country (in the dead of winter) to raise awareness and build support for the bone marrow registry (all that's required is a cheek swab). Follow Jeanna's remarkable journey as she travels the United States by foot.

anyone tell me where can i get this!! its by muji!!

Reblogged: happythings

BEST?

hi friend, you disgust me.

joke. lne uu|ll l~eg|~e+

fml

Get to know My Guests. Want to know who's checking you out? You can now view the 100 most recent, logged-in users who visited your journal during the past 30-day period with My Guests. For those who prefer to fly under the radar, you can update your My Guests privacy setting here.

Introducing My Stats. If you have a Paid or Permanent account, you can now see detailed reports on how many people are visiting your journal, friends pages, and entries (wherever they're posted on LiveJournal). You can also view data on comments and RSS requests. My Stats is only available to Paid and Permanent account holders, but you can upgrade anytime. (FYI, an annual subscription costs less than a large pizza with everything on it, PLUS it's rumored to make you lose weight in your sleep!) For additional details on this feature, read this article in paidmembers.

Get ready to check your vital statistics!. To begin, mouse over Journal in the upper nav bar and select My Stats from the dropdown menu (Horizon) or select My Stats under Journal in the side bar (Vertigo). If you're using another design scheme, you can visit My Stats directly. You'll find My Guests on the My Stats tool bar.

Happy holiday promotion!

We're delighted to tell you about our holiday coupons, which will help you share the love with your LiveJournal friends! If you have a Paid or Permanent account, you can send up to 10 LiveJournal Basic/Plus users a $10 coupon for an annual paid subscription now through January 15th, 2010. Recipients can upgrade for $9.95 (instead of $19.95) for one year by enrolling in our automatic payment plan or make a manual payment of $15 (instead of $25). Please note that these coupons are not transferable and cannot be used to renew existing paid accounts. If you're a Paid/Permanent user, you can send out your holiday coupons now!

Tweaks and Enhancements

1. The search is on: We've replaced our default search tool with one from Yandex, a leader in search engine technology. This means you'll get smarter, more granular results! To get started, enter your search terms and click the Go button to the left of the Find box on the upper right of the LiveJournal header. This will take you to the search landing page where you can further refine by Entries, Comments, People & communities, and FAQs. You can also access the search page directly.
2. Whitelisting: We've released a new option to help you moderate your busy communities more efficiently. If an entry contains a link to a whitelisted (i.e., trusted) site, it will be posted automatically without need for moderator approval. If a post contains a link that is not on the whitelist, you'll be prompted to approve. To access this option, please visit settings for any community you maintain and select the third option in the Community Moderation box (located in the lower left-hand corner). Click the enable link to custom-edit your community's whitelist, which has been prepopulated with trusted domains. You can manually add or delete URLs in the text box. Please note: If you're the maintainer of an unmoderated community, you may see the radio button for this setting checked, even though it's not active. This is a known issue. Please select whichever option you prefer and click Save Changes at the bottom of the page. If you're happy with your current settings, then no need to do anything!
3. TMI, dude: We've added some fun FREE sponsored vgifts! You can send up to 50 TMI vgifts to mutual friends (btw, you cannot send free vgifts to communities). If you're a Paid/Permanent user and you want to view sponsored gifts, click Show sponsored gifts on your homepage or visit the sponsored gift page. These vgifts will only be available through Wednesday, December 23rd.

You can view more awesome user content after the jump!

( Read more... )

Curtains

Thanks, again, for joining us. Until next time, stay snug!

Yeah, nowadays I just don't feel the urge to update my journal anymore, but tonight's an exception though.

The past few months have been busy but good, fair share of performances and teaching (especially this month of December where I get to see my students both in the morning and afternoon) and that short getaway back to the wonderful city of Tokyo a few weeks back. I suppose there won't be any more photos in here unless I'm dying for them to be put in here, otherwise I'll make it simple and just paste it in Facebook. If you're reading this and am not on Facebook and want to keep yourself updated on my usual nonsense, you know where to find me.

And I can't be bothered about the new changes to Facebook privacy settings really, much of the information about myself that I put online is intended for public consumption, so I'll leave it as such. Of course there is stuff in my life in which I would want to keep private, but I know better than to put them online in the first place (like duhhh...*slap forehead*)

-----------------------------------------

Hmmm so two weekends ago I finished the Standard Chartered Marathon in 4hrs and 50mins. Finally after being through four previous marathons, I can actually WALK properly after the whole thing. I remember that first one in 2006 - it was okay at first but the next two or three days were excruciating...I could barely even get up to go to the toilet... and then there was that stupid oversized pair of Adidas shoes I bought from KL that was comfortable to wear... but gave me really bad calf cramps two years in a row halfway through the marathon. But I must say some strength training for the legs will also help - I don't have a regular regime for that but for me it's just a combination of some Bodypump and overdose of Step and dance classes I guess. Oh of course you've got to run regularly... I'm quite happy to have developed enough strength in my legs such that they're not even sore after the usual 10km run....

Yeah I must say it's quite a torture that so many of us put ourselves through, but for those who do, all that 42.195km is just worth it. Especially really enduring that last 10km for me...all the way to the finish line, the part where every step we take seems to get slower and slower but the mind in particular is the one that tells us to keep going. Oh I had additional help of course, from the trusty Creative Zen, most probably I finished the marathon two weeks back while Dana Wilson's "Piece of Mind" for Wind Ensemble was blasting in my ears.

If I have a goal, it's to beat that freak timing of 4hrs 20mins I did for that first marathon in 2006, which I still have no idea how I managed to achieve... but nowadays I'd just be happy to complete the marathon and live to tell the tale. Here's to more marathons...

------------------------------------

With the freelance work that I do now, it leaves me with quite a bit of time to pursue what has become a hobby of sorts, an art, a practice, whatever you wish to see it as - arranging music for the symphonic band. I have been doing it for as long as I have been involved in bands - perhaps my first band arrangement that actually got performed in public was the Selamat Hari Raya song, something I did for NJC band way back in 1993 - for... morning assembly! I don't think the scores to that arrangement are around anymore... it was all painstakingly hand-written...

..but computer software changed all that. Yes I know it's a computer making the music... but that's where the study of orchestration helps - you need to know how each instrument is like.. its strengths...weaknesses... instrument range... playability... am still always learning new things everytime I'm in a new project. Best thing about computer software is... it gives me instant feedback... I would know if I had entered a wrong note or two just by clicking on the playback button. These past few years I've been churning out arrangements and arrangements and it doesn't look as if this factory is gonna stop production anytime soon.

Subject? Nowadays it does tend to depend on the possibility of the arrangement being performed - I just have had too many which are left sitting in the library cupboards because... some people don't like... or conductor don't like... or this..or that... or cannot program in concert cos not suitable...

sigh.

But I'm kinda in a different position now, so I'm a bit more happy about that. The symphonic band's versatility in presenting music is really under-rated, no thanks to the elitist and exclusivist tendencies of the orchestra (of which I am still a part of... dot dot dot)... quite easy to see that the orchestras in SG (even the professional ones) are not interested to venture into anything away than classical music (unless forced to lah... like... Play! A Video Game Symphony). At least symphonic bands have a wider variety of repertoire to tap from.

And that's where I come in.
Obviously I would arrange something which I doubt already exists in a band version...unless I wanna do a different version of a song / piece...yah..have some instances. It is like making your own cover, but you have to do more than just deal with a voice and a guitar, and make sure that all 20 to 30 different parts of a symphonic band is covered.

There are different ideas on what a good arrangement is, but if I'm at the helm conducting it, my job is to produce the best possible performance of that arrangement (either mine or others actually). I know quite a bit of stuff I've done over the years could be improved further just by redoing it again... that is... if I'm not that lazy ;p But like I said... I'll rather move on to a new arrangement than rework something that might not even get performed in future. In arrangement also I kinda try to stick to my erm purist tendencies... preserving tempos (especially of pop songs!), voicing, but sometimes add in a bit of my own touches if I feel like it.

With this recent encounter with music from anime (and I don't mean those of Jo Hisaishi....) I am inspired and have quite a number of ideas! Of course, it all depends on whether I can get it performed in future.

Here comes the big but though. I realise that sometimes I just want things to go certain ways, and I do have my reasons - just as much as we would like to complain that certain composers make their music a bit unfriendly for the player, we should still try our best to fulfil the composer's intentions. So imagine what I would have felt if someone had asked me to modify one of my arrangements because he/she thought that part wasn't good enough or something. Like I said... I do have my reasons.

And then there's control. Or the lack of it. With the culture of borrowing scores all around bands in Singapore (heck...not only SG but everywhere else), and that evil machine we so adore...the photocopier, it is quite easy to lose track of where my work (although not for sale/commercial release) lands up in. I do feel a bit unsettled if I find out that my work has been performed somewhere else, without my prior permission. Of course I haven't gone into copyright issues yet...

So I guess it means that whatever I'll churn out in future will be for my own use only, be it as a conductor or a player. Funny how much I would like to play my own arrangements but end up conducting them instead. Maybe one of these days I'll take out the clarinet score to Final Fantasy Xtravaganza and practice it and see if I can actually play that thing properly...

--------------------------------------------

Hmmm... the wonders of anonymity. I have already have had my fair share from comments on my Youtube pages... so this latest one was some kind of erm... "direct attack" on a recent performance I participated in. As far as criticism is concerned, even the Straits Times correspondents do put their real names in print (well they have to cos it's their job), but whatever we got from this nobody (pun intended?) was really bordered on hate.

My thoughts?
In general, such people provoke you because they want and will expect a certain response from you (which is to retaliate). Sure...I'll go ahead and give them a response... a NO response. (See my hand? Talk to it instead.) I think I have other more important things to worry about.

More thoughts?
I don't see any music industry professionals (and I mean those established ones) going around commenting on their peers' performance. I'm sure Galway has stuff to say about Rampal's flute playing and vice versa but at least they don't make an issue about it to the public. One thing I notice about the kind of comments I get from my Youtube videos is that they do tend to be one-sided i.e. stuff that most probably their teachers tell them...i.e. don't do this..don't do that... you're doing this wrong... bla bla. Good teachers do not blind their students, but open their eyes and ears to the real world, and I'm glad to have had good teachers for the most part of my life.

I've been told by Kai Yi that only two people currently in SG have obtained the LRSM in flute performance (okay not counting those who studied flute performance overseas), one being Cheryl and the other is me. So if you wanna make comments on my lousy flute playing... go pass your LRSM first can? LTCL not counted... I heard that's easier.

:)

yesterday was an awful day.

i've been having consecutive hilarious and horrible dreams. i remember one dream was hmm.. ya in china playing roller coaster. hahaha joke, i think i'm too desperate to go overseas. zzz better than nothing, at least i got 200 bucks as comfort.

taste_buds
Holidays provide a built-in excuse for indulgent entertaining. This all-purpose foodie community covers everything from homemade hangover cures to dinner party menus. Need quick advice? Get five-minute snack suggestions, low-fat ingredient substitutes, and even measurement conversions. Delicious recipes garnished with humorous advice. Yum.

naturesbeauty
Always on the lookout for compelling images, we were delighted to discover this flourishing community of artists who share a love of nature. Honoring the subject with photographs, paintings, sketches, prose, poetry, and other creative works, you'll be simultaneously riveted to your monitor and inspired to run helter skelter towards the nearest wooded dale.