It's Day 10 already!

Wow! 10 days already since my last entry. Time has really, really flown very fast this time. It sure doesn't feel like 10 days! My last entry was a major entry so I guess that's why I don't have too much to say. But if I think back, once again, a heck of a lot has happened.

First, I had a killer set at Champs on 29 Feb 2008 doing Chinese stand-up comedy! The whole night was a good show in general with a full house and very interactive people in the audience. Some of the ladies sitting near the stage were really nice and played along to our jokes. It's really quite a challenge to make sure you as the comedian try your best to always stay one step ahead of the person you're talking to in everything you say. In many ways it's like you need to outsmart and outwit them while staying funny and not offensive. I've found sometimes I need to really take care and not cross the line of being rude. But I guess in the end, it's still fun and people come with a laughing mind and so whatever may seem rude comes out as just being a joke. Also, after every show I make it a point to go back to those who played along and thank them because after all, if it wasn't for their sense of humor, the show wouldn't be as fun. I very much like interacting with the audience because it brings a fresh feel to the whole show even if a lot of my material is my old stuff. It's tough writing new material for every show and so I try to make sure people who return don't see a completely identical show. Then again, there are people who come just to re-hear some of my bits and even "sing-along" at times ;) It's quite encouraging.

So that's my comedy update for this entry. Now on to my drumming......*drum roll* I got a new snare drum! Check it out, and yes, even I was shocked when I finally chose this one because anyone who knows me knows that I really, really, really, really don't like getting signature models of anything (ie. stuff that was designed for someone else) but this snare was just perfect in price, in sound, in power, in look, in everything. I went to the store and tried out snare after snare after snare without letting budget limit me, but in the end, this one was the one. And the funny thing was, this was supposed to be the first snare I would try but I didn't because I told myself "It's a signature model, I don't want to get a signature snare!" So here you go, I'm the proud owner of a brand new Joey Jordison JJ1355 Snare drum:

Mwahaha!! Yesterday we went jamming and I finally got to put this lovely snare drum to the test. It definitely fits my drumset and my band's sound and while playing it, even I feel more empowered! It's kind of like shedding the extra bucks for a better guitar and in the end, with the better sound you're inspired to play differently and realize a lot of things that you felt didn't sound right now do. Like a lot of my drumming that I felt just didn't have the power to go with the angry guitar riffs now seems to be able to keep up. Again, as I'll always say, I still have a long, long way to go with my drumming, I'm much happier now! :D Speaking of drumming, I've gone berserk with practice lately, like suddenly I've got this new motivation to really work out my technique, like you'll see me playing quarter notes on the bass drum at 50bpm! That's like less than 1 beat per second, imagine doing that for over a minute, it sounds boring, but it sure let's me make sure my technique is proper. I need to find the perfect relaxed technique so when I go to higher tempos I'm not wasting any energy because when you're hitting 200bpm at 16th notes, we're talking making clean 13.3 beats per second! Sounds impressive eh? Ahaha that's my dream to hit that number :) I can do a very clean 140bpm now (ie. 9.3 beats per second) and the fastest I've clocked is 165bpm (ie. 11 beats per second) so there's still a long, long way to go. I don't even want to imagine people who are hitting like 225bpm (ie. 15 beats per second!).. yikes got a bunch of phone calls... got distracted.
Wow, I need to practice some drums today before I go for my comedy gig tonight :)...

So it's 10 days since my last entry, a lot has happened, my life's getting more and more focused and more and more broad in the sense a lot of going on once again and it's a matter of me keeping track of everything.. well not really keeping track, but more like trying to manage and not get overwhelmed by everything. My fitness routine's improving, I'm really noticing some jumps in my strength now because I've finally gone past the initial beginner phase of going to the gym where you're still searching to balance all your muscles so you can be optimally coordinated when doing any exercises. I have to admit, I've been spending more time on the weights than I do for aerobics but at least it's still a fair trade because the time I'd spend doing aerobics, it goes to my drum practice which really is quite tiring to all my limbs :) Not to mention all the concentration sure drains my brain out, but I love it.

So here's today's words of wisdom. Stick to it. Much like any habit, the hardest part is sticking to it in the beginning, breaking through the initial inertia and finding your momentum in what you're doing. Once you've found it, you'll just flow, much like when I'm standing in the greenroom before any comedy gig, I'm nervous no matter how prepared I am, but once I'm on stage, I let it flow, flow and flow some more :) The point is to be like any great manager, get the parts moving, and step aside and let them do their thing. I had to manage myself, and yes at times I had to intervene to make sure all the parts were moving properly, but once they have, I just step aside and enjoy the ride :) It's a lovely experience.