I am le tired. And am not liking Christmas very much. It's like fighting a losing battle here at Angus and Robertson. For every box of books we receive in and sticker and put away, another five come in. It never ends and it never will i think. Not even AFTER xmas. And I am pretty drained.

I guess I shld blog of the events past. I've been MIA for so long now, almost forgot my password, which is Megumisuxcox btw. Very ingenious if i dun mind saying so myself.

Friday night... was Elton John night. At 730, family ended up at Rod Laver Arena with the other 29358230592823098 people to listen to this player of the ivory keys live and jive. He played the old, he played the new and man, did he get us moving. My dad had so much fun, he started blaring which I think, annoyed the people around him a tad. I must admit to swaying and braying at times as well.
After about 2 hours of swinging tunes, we headed home... or tried to. Stuck in the carpark for 30 minutes is not fun. NOT FUN at all.

So on sat, after another hard days work, went down to the city to meet up with Stef, Ah Sam, LY and Vale for Passion, the new concert by the Eminence people. Eminence is a group that plays anime and game music. They are usually a small band, though they host large orchestral undertakings at times as well.
Anywaes, their past forays haven't performed as well as expected, so I was planning to give this a miss.
Until I saw their special guest.
Yasunori Mitsuda.
One of the Gods of Gaming Music.
He is the genius behind the music of Chrono Trigger, Chrono Cross, Xenogears and Xenosaga. He is one of my idols and I dare one of the inspirations in my musical taste and style.
And he was coming to Melbourne. You can imagine my excitement. Especially right before it began, with us seated in Malthouse theatre.
I must say though, Passion wasn't very impressive.
The entire ensemble consisted of a pianist, two violinists, a guitarist and a percussionist. And while they did play some brilliant songs at times, most of them were unremarkable (not becos of song composition hell no!), and some even collapsed into mere atrocity.
The main reason can be attributed to the violinists. They seem to be more of soloists than anything else. When they play, they tend to keep pushing the ensemble faster and faster. They end up rushing, and destroy the piece if the ensemble can't keep up. The poor guitarist and drummer had to keep speeding up as the violins kept pushing.
Though, many songs were still fantastic. Most apparent being the Chrono Cross opening tune, in which Mitsuda played in as well!!!! The first attempt was a major failure however, violinist rushed too much, ending up half a beat faster than the rest of the instruments! The song became a disaster. But take 2! During the encore, they replayed the song, and then it worked. And when it did, it was simply electric.
And wat of Mitsuda?
Well, we went to line up to get stuff signed. I bought a cd of Mitsuda's called Sailing to the New World, which is quite inspiration I must admit. Very good cd. When it was time to meet him, amidst trembling and bubbling joy, we took pics with the God of Gaming Music, and the other musicians; talked and received autographs from the God of Gaming Music, and the other musicians too.

It was good.

I give you pictures.



Stef (from left), LY and Ah Sam with Violinist Ayako and Guitarist Zane Banks. Ayako performed a magnificent solo piece called Dance Macabre and left me and Vale stunned at its end. Kudos to that. Zane did remarkably well in his role. Very stable and dependable.



Me and Vale.





Joshua Hill the Drummer, Mitsuda the God of Gaming Music, and Violinist Hiroaki. Joshua was the core of the ensemble, keeping it together when it could have failed spectacularly. For Hiroaki, no doubt he has talent, but his tendancy to keep FUCKING RUSHING caused so many songs to be... we... crap.
And of course, the God of Gaming Music. He is quite unassuming, and rather young looking. Am guessing his age to be late 30s. Very polite and quiet as well.



The people.


Sunday arvo was 42 degrees celcius. In Layman's... VERY HOT. Got Derek and Stef bowls for Xmas and had Soba.

Monday evening went to Bennett's Lane to see my sis perform. She's a trumpetor in her school jazz band and also in a 'Superband', where talented musicians join forces to form an intense group of jazz cats with much razzmatazz. They scorched the floor and my sister's solo was pretty darn good too. Am oddly proud. Got home at 12ish, slept at 1. Got up at 7+ to go for another fun-filled (sarcasm) day of work.
Went out again at 8ish to see another performance at Bennett's Lane. This time, it was my sis that wanted to go. She wanted to see her teacher perform. Piano and Trumpet plus bass and drums. Very serene, sublime music that spoke of landscapes and peace. Enjoyable but sleepy.
But this other pianist came by, Deanna Djuric, and she was really really intense! Good classic jazz formats but with a vibrant sound that made the pieces she rearranged very nice indeed. I very much enjoyed her pieces!

Got home at 12, slept 1ish 2. Work at 9 next day.

You can see the pattern. I was quite tuckered out the next few days cause of lack of sleep. But I suppose it was all worth it.

Anywaes, my fingers ache from arthritis. Or laziness. Whichever.