It's been so long!

Hey Everyone!

So it has been a while since I have posted, but there has been so much that is going on in my life! I am truly a time of my life this summer.  It usually would be filled with trips and adventures outside of the WI, but everything this year is all in my hometown.

 Here are some updates since I have last posted.

I have not yet accomplished my goal of making different types of bread.  My financial situation has restricted me from even buying ingredients to make bread.

I have also found a second job working in retail. I am currently working both jobs, and it's really awesome! It takes a lot of my time away, but I don't mind. If I wasn't working, i'll probably just be at home doing nothing.  This keeps me active and alive.  Working a second also means that I will have money to pay all a good amount of bills off.  I've been running a little behind on a few things, and now there is finally light at the end of the tunnel.  If I didn't find a second job, I seriously would be wondering where I will be living this next month.  Luckily, that won't happen anymore, unless I lose my second, but let's not think about that.

In addition to a second, I'm essentially working a third job. These past two weeks, plus this sunday, I have been leading and directing the choir at my church. It has been a wonderful experience and it is a job/career potential in my field of study.  So working these three jobs has been keeping me running, but I knew what I was getting myself into. I told myself, that I'm not going to quit, that I will make it to the end. On the otherhand, I would not be able to do this music directing without the help of a

In the midst of all this working, I have also had some fun awesome free time.  Now anyone who knows me, knows that I usually don't like to sit around and do nothing. Unless it's the end of the summer, and school is about to start up.  So here is a list of things that I have done with some wonderful friends!

In no particular order:

Got a behind the scenes tour of the Zoo, with Dancer in Crime.

I saw a drag show with Godiglocks, Reggie, and Family!

I went to pride fest this year

Had a impromptu Photo shoot with my friend, JapTalk.

Went to the Anaba Tea with Asian Persuasion and Jap Talk.
Went to a meet and great, with a few missionaries from Thailand.
Celebrated Father's day at my dad's resting place. so sad :(......
Attended a Graduation Party in Wausau
Discovered that my new car eats oil, and had to take that in for a trade.
Hung out with SSTeacher at the ale house, and had a day of relaxation the next day.
Hung out with the Fabulous PRican, before she leaves Miltown for the Twin Cities. I'm very proud of her tho.
Am buying a bike from PRican, to help support her in all her endeavors.
Went to the Dick's bar on Milwaukee Street, with MAI. Had a fun time!
Hung out with "SAYURI", as she bartended me some wonderful drinks!
Had breakfest with my Bro Vanganator.
Went Inline skating at the Lakefront many times
Went running at the Lakefront Many times
Eating a bunch of food, that's not making my exercise benefit me.


There are probably a whole bunch of things that I have forgotten to but down on this list. All I know is that I am keeping myself busy. This summer has finally kicked in and I'm finally doing some fun things with it.
What have you done so far in your summer? or on the other side of the world, Winter? Post up a few things you have done, and maybe that will inspire me to do something similar. 

I Hope everyone's summer is going well!  I will try to update a little more again.Thanks for reading!

Don't forget to check out my other blog posts. Click "The VaiKang Journal" at the top and scroll down to see previous post. If at the main page, just scroll down to the previous post. 

Please feel free to comment.

Thanks to those who have visited my blog and keep doing so! Thanks to those who have decided to follow!

There are now "reaction" buttons at the end of each blog, so just quickly select one if you wouldn't mind.

VaiKang

End of the semester! and adventures.

Hey Everyone!!!!!

Hope you all are doing well!! I am finally able to write on this blog again. The semester has finally ended and it has been a good tough one.  I would have to say that this semester, my exams went much better than I had expected.  I am not getting all the grades I want, but thus is life.

So as of this month, I am officially a published writer!  Thanks to the wonderful works of a friend of mine, named Rachel, I was able to submit an article about Accepting a Global and Diverse Church.  The article talks about my struggles and trying to do a balancing act between the different worlds I live in.  As a connection to pastoral musicianship, I talked about how we could better accept a global world. Creating a balancing act between different cultures and religion. I think it was a great article!  In addition to my article, there were plenty of other articles addressing youth and young adult concerns and topics.  These articles were written from some of the greatest people and friends I met in my Detroit trip this past summer! It's such a great experience.  I have to say, it was great to see a magazine that I wrote in, sitting on the counters of the periodicals in the Library. If you would like to read it, let me know, or see if it's at your local Library.  It's the National Pastoral Musicians May 2011 Magazine. It's great!!!

So thanks to Mountain Flower and Geek Squad, I have been introduced into Death Note. Death Note is a really good, awesome, intriguing, anime about a "Death Notebook". I know it might sound lame, but it's really not! It's the opposite of lameness. It's filled with wittiness, and suspense. I am really surprised that there was not more created. If I told you too much about this anime, it'll kill the story, so go and watch it. It's on instant queue on netflix too. I have also begun to watch Avatar, the Last Airbender. Already on third season, and it's been my first night. hahahah

The roommates and I have decided to a whole house spring cleaning. Well at least in the commons.  It felt so nice to have a everything cleaned up again! It's like the Feng Shui being aligned up again, and the goodness just flows through our lives and house. After cleaning the house and my room, a lot of positive things have been happening in our lives. Starry Night, found out that she was accepted into the college that she wanted! I just recently bought an amazing car!!! (Thanks Dad!!! I love you! and Still miss you very much!!!) and purple was finally able to go shopping for new pairs of jeans!!! hahahah

For the Summer I have put together a list of things to accomplish. Have you? One of my main goals this summer, is to find a second job. A second job that I will be able to save money with. I really need to save, save, save. If anyone of you know where they are hiring, please pass it along to me. I am always willing to try something new, learn a new skill, and get paid. hahaha. Some other goals this summer is to learn how to make bread from scratch! So any suggestions on some good easy bread that I can make, pass the recipies my way! I also plan to work out at least three times a week, and lose some stomach weight. On the music side of things, I plan to practice piano everyday, and compose instrumental pieces this summer. I hope to get a lot done this semester, and I hope it goes well.

So to end off this very ADD blog post, hahaha, I would like to share this video. It was a video that I was introduced to long time ago and completly forgot about it until now. It will probably the story of my life in the future. hahaha It is called "Peking Turkey". I hope you enjoy it

Don't forget to check out my other blog posts. Click "The VaiKang Journal" at the top and scroll down to see previous post. If at the main page, just scroll down to the previous post. 

Please feel free to comment.

Thanks to those who have visited my blog and keep doing so! Thanks to those who have decided to follow!

There are now "reaction" buttons at the end of each blog, so just quickly select one if you wouldn't mind.

 

VaiKang

Finals week!

Hey Everyone!

So my apologies for not posting much lately. It's finals week at school and I'm loaded with things to do.  I'll certainly write up and update after finals! Thanks!

VaiKang

Father's Birthday and Video Update.

Hey Everyone,

Recently I wrote on my facebook.

"Kuv Leej Txiv, Cas hnub kuv los tsev los nrog koj ua kev zoo siab rau koj hnub yug es, tsis pom koj? Cas mam li mus txog tom tojntxa es, thiaj li tau hu nkauj "Happy Birthday" rau koj os. Kuv nco koj os!!! I miss you Dad, Happy Birthday!!!!"

It translates to, "My dearest father, I come to celebrate your birthday at the house, but why were you not there? why did I have to go the grave side to finally be able to sing "Happy Birthday" to you. I miss you!"

May 7th was the brithday of my Father, he would have been 51 if he was able to celebrate with us today. As my brother, Bear, said "You were always a man of few words", my dad was. Every year, when it was his birthday, he would never mention it to anyone. My father did not expect to receive any gifts or official celebration for his birthday. So there has been a few years where we have not celebrated. It's sad for me to realize that finally when are able to celebrate his birthday, it's when he passed away. 


Part of my family was able to visit him the day before his birthday, due to their obligations. The other part of my family, and I was able to visit him on the day of.  It really was the saddest thing. To see again the burial ground. To see that everything is still very true. To see and understand that, that is him in the ground. My tears came down like an endless heavy rain storm. I still to this day, feel like he has never left. I can't believe it has been 5 months since his passing. Time flies, and it flies quick. For me, school really distracted me and took me away from all of this sorrow.  But my dreams and memories of those final days with him, are still very bright.


I surely do miss my dad. There is so much that words cannot describe, and only the ones who have experienced this before, will know. 


I am very grateful for all his years! Through all the troubles, struggles, pain, and ventures to get us where we are today, I surely thank him. For all the happiness, joy, laughter, and support, I immensely thank him! With out him, I wouldn't be where I am today. When I needed him the most he was there, but now, I'll have to take matters into my own hands. He has taught our family well. He has brought us up to work hard, and to understand that life is hard, but have fun with it. He never let anything hold him back. 


I especially love my generation of parents, because they have so much history and life to them. They are full of experiences that I personally think should be captured. I was intending to start a project with my parents this summer where I record as much as their life story as possible. Their travels to America, and where they lived in Thailand.  This was the summer I was going to do that. Unfortunately, I will only be able to get what my mom remembers for both my mom and dad. I am for sure, going to record my mom's story on how she got to America and her travels and adventure here. My parents might be hard to change, but they all have a reason for what they do, and why they do it. So in addition, I challenge first generation kids to record their parent's story. I challenge kids who have immigrated to the America, to record their story. These are stories that we have never experienced, and hopefully will not. These are the stories, that make us who we are. These are the stories that make people like my dad, gave so much more meaning and purpose to life.


SO I LOVE YOU DAD! Happy Birthday! SAUM NTUJ NTSUAB XIAB LOS HAUV KUV SIAB, kuv yuav nco nstoov koj. (up in the clear sky/heaven or in my Heart, I will always remeber you)

So to lighten up this kind of depressing blog post, here is a video update from Ryan James Yezak's Music video remaking adventures. He is the same producer of the "California Girl/gays" parody video, which I posted earlier. They just get better and better.

VaiKang

Don't forget to check out my other blog posts. Click "The VaiKang Journal" at the top and scroll down to see previous post. If at the main page, just scroll down to the previous post. 

Please feel free to comment.

Thanks to those who have visited my blog and keep doing so! Thanks to those who have decided to follow!

There are now "reaction" buttons at the end of each blog, so just quickly select one if you wouldn't mind. 

My Pet Betta "Gayden"

So for my 22nd Birthday, I received a Betta, AKA Siamese Fighting Fish. It started with a little joke that my brother's friend posted on facebook, on my birthday.  He said that he was going to have my Oldest brother, Vanganator, give me a fish, in a joking way. Well, in the end it was no longer a joke.  I really received a betta for my birthday.  The is a pretty, colorful and wonderful Betta.  I grew up in a family that loved to take care of pets and animals. So I knew what I was getting myself into.  I was also afraid because I've never really had to take care of my own fish.  My brother always took care of my fish for me. So I finally have my own, and I'm so glad that it hasn't died on me. hahah. That's always a relief.

My brother was also very kind enough to give me a tank and advice on how to take care of a fish. So I received a Betta, some fish food, a Fish scooper especially designed for bettas, and tips on how to take care of a fish.  There was a lot of things that I didn't know, and I'm glad he told me. I would have been that kid who killed the fish in two days.  hahah.  My brother also went with me to the store to go buy just a few more things for the tank, like decoration and gravel.  At a later date, we also bought a plant to help the ammonia level in the water. This way, I can ensure that my fish is less likely to die. I am so thankful for his help on everything.

Now everything is all set up, the tank looks wonderful, and I think my betta is happy.  With the help of my wonderful friend, Goldiglocks, I have decided to name him "Gayden".  So here are pictures of my pet Betta, Gayden.

The final full set up of the tank

 

If you would like to support my brother in his Betta Selling endeavors, please visit http://www.vangsplakat.com/ . He sells high quality and beautiful Bettas. You won't be disappointed. He will be more than willing to help you start your fish tank, and fish adventures. 

Thanks!

VaiKang

Don't forget to check out my other blog posts. Click "The VaiKang Journal" at the top and scroll down to see previous post. If at the main page, just scroll down to the previous post. 

Please feel free to comment.

Thanks to those who have visited my blog and keep doing so! Thanks to those who have decided to follow!

There are now "reaction" buttons at the end of each blog, so just quickly select one if you wouldn't mind. 

Les Miserables

So recently Les Miserables came to Milwaukee and it was amazing!!!!! It was music heaven for me. So many of the singers on stage were awesome, and so many good actors.  If you have not had a chance to read the story of Les Miserables, I would highly recommend doing so before the seeing the Musical. There are two versions of the book. The abridged version, which has just the main story, There is also the unabridged, (which I read) which has a lot of detail and history about the times and the facts, when the book was written. The musical is very close to the book and some people say it is the book. This is one reason why the musical is such a popular version of the story.  There is a movie that has been  couple of movies made about the book, but when we analyzed it in my high school class, it does not go with book at all. So I would not promote seeing the movie versions at all.

Okay, so enough promotional things about the book. The Musical is very phenomenal!  The first time I saw a production of it, was at Pius XI High School.  At that time, I didn't know what was going on.  I was in grade school and my choir decided to go to support some of our singers in the production.  So I saw the musical even before I realized what it was. I really enjoyed it at that time too. We were very lucky this year for Les Miserables to come to Milwaukee and perform here.  In the busy-ness of my work schedule and school, I did get a chance to watch the performance. I was impressed from the beginning. One thing you will notice right away too, is how dark the stage is, and this will carry through the entire musical. The amount of staging they put on, was amazing. Lots of set changes and well usage of space. They had a very big sets that covered up the stage up and down. They had some very cool special effects especially with the backdrop.  It seemed to be a projection onto a screen, and it was full of detail. They used this back drop with the Sewer and the Battle scenes. It made for great effects.

The voices of this cast was awesome too. To sing in Les Miserables, you have to have a full wide range and a very good control of it.  They did a great selecting the singers for this cast. I really like the voices of actors who played Jean Valjean, Javert and Marius.  The three, sang and controlled their voices really well. I am unfortunately a critic of voice at times, but I did not have one complaint about their voices at all.

So in the end if you ever have Les Miserables come to your city, please don't hesitate to buy a ticket and read up on the story. It's worth every cent of your money. It is also a production that sells out quickly, so buy your tickets fast.  For a listing of the Tour dates and time, go to http://www.lesmis.com/tickets/tour-dates-and-venues/.

If you happen to not a chance to see the actual productions, Look on youtube for the 10th and 25th Anniversary celebration and performances of Les Miserables.  They are also very great experiences of the movies. 

I also forgot to mention that while celebrating Box Office Lady #1's birthday on tuesday, the opening night of Les Miserable in Milwaukee, she had tickets the cast party. So I got a chance to go and meet the cast and enjoy some time with them. It was great!


VaiKang

Don't forget to check out my other blog posts. Click "The VaiKang Journal" at the top and scroll down to see previous post. If at the main page, just scroll down to the previous post. 

Please feel free to comment.

Thanks to those who have visited my blog and keep doing so! Thanks to those who have decided to follow!

Sunny Choi and other great pianist

Hey everyone!

Lately, I've been listening to a lot of piano music. The piano is one of my favorite instruments for it's flexibility, it's color, and complexity. Now there are many great pianist out there, and I like too many to name. But some recent great pianist I have come across is: Sunny Choi and Emmanuel Axe.

Sunny Choi is a great innovator of interpreting modern pop songs into piano pieces. She also does a lot of her works on youtube. That was were I originally found her too. Many artist, of the original works, have seen Sunny choi reinterpret their songs, and really fall in love with them.  I have also fallen in love with some of her interpretations too!  (If you would like to get a little more about her, here is a link to her webage. http://www.sunnychoimusic.com/ hahah)

Just to name a few,

Impossible by Shontelle:

Hold it against me by Briney Spears:

Waka Waka by Shakira

 California Girls by Katy Perry

Only Girl by Rihanna

If you would like to hear the rest of her works on youtube, click on this link. http://www.youtube.com/user/SunnyChoiMusic You'll be surprised at what songs she has done.

Another great Pianist is Emanuel Ax. Emanuel is a Phenomenal Pianist. I have heard him play with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and I am so blown away. Before his concert with them, he played, Debussy's Estampes- Pagodes from memory. He control of his hand and fingers to be able to play in multiple dynamics at one time is so good. I wish to someday be able to play like him someday. If he ever has a concert by you, I would highly recommend that you attend one of this performances. Emanuel has also done a lot of recordings so if you find a piece that you like, you should see if he recorded it. Here is his website to find out more about him. He has a very good history. http://www.emanuelax.com/

J. Brahms/ Intermezzo in A - opus 118 

Chopin Scherzo 1 Opus 20

 Emanuel also does a lot of collaberations with Yo-Yo-Ma.

Schubert Arpeggione Sonata D821

Hope you enjoyed some of these pieces. Let me know who is your great pianist. 

As a final piece for this post, I have always liked this. It's by Jon Schmidt. 

Love Story meets Viva La Vida

Hope you enjoy it!

VaiKang

Don't forget to check out my other blog posts. Click "The VaiKang Journal" at the top and scroll down to see previous post. If at the main page, just scroll down to the previous post. 

Please feel free to comment.

Thanks to those who have visited my blog and keep doing so! Thanks to those who have decided to follow!

Birthday!

Wow!!! What a birthday Celebration! The ending of my 21st year, and the celebration of my 22nd year to look forward to.

I have to say, it was a great birthday celebration this year! I feel so loved with all the birthday messages I received on facebook. And that was only the beginning of the birthday appreciations. So let's started at the beginning of my birthday celebrations.

My birthday was officially on Thursday, so I had to somewhat celebrate on the actual date.  I started off the morning by dressing up and looking real nice. I wore my famous vest, that usually indicates that I'm having a great day! I love to wear vest, and especially this one that I bought from H&M. Sometimes a lot of vest doesn't fit the build of a person's body, but this vest has fitted me so well. I went through my classes which ended about 5:00p.m. As I get ready to drive home and just hanging out at my place for the night, my friend SSTeacher gives me a call. She asked me what I was planning on doing tonight and I was not fully sure. I was invited to hang out with Purple and her bf, Matt Smith, but I had not made a decision on which bar to go to.  So SSTeacher suggested that we go over to Art bar to play Beer Bong Bingo. So I agreed. I invited Purple to join us, so this would be a great chance to celebrate together too. Before SSTeacher and I actually went to the Art bar, I was hoping to grab some food to eat,so I don't get to wasted.  We had initially planned to BW3, but they were packed watching a basketball game. My next thought was that we go over to Rosie's on water, where you get to drink for free on your birthday. She agree and we when to Rosie's. We were there for just a little bit to kill some time before the Art bar. I was able to get in two drinks and a Free Mug.

After going to Rosie's, we proceeded over to the Art bar. There, SSTeacher was kind enough to purchase my favorite cider drink, Strongbow, and I got my Birthday shot. We also got a pizza to help with the alcohol. As we are waiting for the game to start, some of SSTeacher's friends joined up with us. An old friend happened to be there with a different group and so it was nice catching up with him.

Beer bong bingo starts! I believe I won the first game of the night. The prizes were usually to choose a bunny, and get alcoholic beverage. The first drink prize tonight was a beer bong. I was being considerate and was trying to moderate the amount of alcohol consumption. So I gave my beer bong to Pizza Shuttle Boy. The rest of the night was more of the "lower floor" team, which was our group, winning more drinks and selecting prizes. Before the end of the night, Purple and her BF joined.  I won one more game and gave my bunny choice to Purple to keep. (edited) This final win was also a beer bong prize. So I finally gave it a try, and did my first beer bong. It was a very unique experience, and omg, that beer just rushes down. So I broke my beer bong virginity at the art bar on my 22nd birthday! hahaha. After that Purple and BF then drove me home for the rest of the night.

The next day was the official planned birthday celebration.  I had school that morning and that was that. haha. After school I had nothing planned but to get some rest because the night was going to be full of fun.  At about 6p.m. I get a call from Goldiglocks.  We were planning our schedule together so she could ride together for dinner. I went over to her place and she helped me pick my outfit, while we waited for the time to get dinner.  I wore a really cute black polo shirt, dark jeans, and my black puma shoes. For dinner we went over to Izumi's where I met up with 3 other friends who joined us for dinner.  Izumi's is a sushi restaurant. It was so great to see them there! For an appetizer I ordered these scallop covered bacon. They were good.  For my actual meal, I ordered a Spicy Tuna roll, Shrimp Tempura, and a Philadelphia roll. They were so good!!!!!

At the end of my meal, the group and I decided that I should have some Fried Ice Cream. So we order some and to my surprise, our waitress had brought out an extra Green Tea Ice Cream. It was a special gift for my Birthday! It was so yummy. They also sang happy birthday for me too.

I am very grateful for all who came for dinner! It made my experience and bday Dinner so much more special!

After dinner, we attempted to go bowling somewhere. We tried to go to the UWMilwaukee bowling lanes but they were packed with people. That did not work out too well. As it was getting closer to the scheduled time of the second part of my birthday Celebration, I proceeded over to La Cage. I had to drop Godiglocks off at home, before I could get over to the Club.  Unfortunately some people have to work on saturdays, and she had to wake up before GOD does. So it was good for her to get home.

I drive over to La Cage and am getting very excited to dance the night away. When I got there, proceeded to the downstairs bar where I met the rest of the birthday gang for the night. I immediately started to receive my drinks for the night, and they would not allow my hand to be without a drink. On top of drink plenty of people bought me shots, and I also got my free shots from the bartenders. After a little wait time in the bottom bar, we proceeded to the top bar. This bar, known as Montage, was holding a drag show. They usually do so every Wednesday and Friday night. These drag shows were fierce and enjoyable! After that was done, we immediately rushed to go get more drink and went to dance on the main floor. There was lots of dancing, more friends came later, booty shaken, druken dancing, and LOADS OF FUN!!!!! As with every year, I always accomplish breaking at least one glass cup on my birthday, and I did. hahah, Sorry, Ticket Lady #2. hahaha

Towards the end of the night, my friend Smokahontas shows up with her friend and we dance the rest of the night away.  After the club closed, Smokahontas, her friend, and I went over to the infamous Denny's.  It was so much fun getting food after a completely fun night! I got my usual nachos for appetizers and for my birthday, I was able to get a free Grand Slam Meal. So go to Denny's if you are craving a free Grand Slamm Meal on your birthday!!! haha.

I want to THANK everyone who came and the ones who were there in spirit! This truly has been an emotional year, and I am so grateful for all my friends. Without you guys, I really would not be where I am today. I LOVE YOU ALL. YOU ALL ARE THE BEST. THIS WAS A BLAST.

VaiKang

P.s. Writing about this does not do justice to how both nights went.  ;)

Don't forget to check out my other blog posts. Click "The VaiKang Journal" at the top and scroll down to see previous post. If at the main page, just scroll down to the previous post. 

Please feel free to comment.

Thanks to those who have visited my blog and keep doing so! Thanks to those who have decided to follow!

Vocal Rest

Hey Everyone!

 Today I was on my very first vocal rest and it seems like I will have to be for another day. My glands seem to be swollen and they feel like two clumps of bodily muscle on the side of my tongue and throat. I have been avoiding to talk as much as I can today. It has been a challenge for me today to really keep quiet.  You who know me, knows that I can be a social butterfly. I sometimes like to talk people's heads off, and my apologies for that. If so, these two days will probably be the best days to hang with someone who will not reply back.  As a friend in choir today said, "Now I have someone who I can tell the most ridiculous things to and he can't comment back". Hahaha. It thought that was pretty funny. She did proceed to tell me about things, and I did not comment back.

Being on vocal rest made me realize how important it is to have a voice or to be able to speak. The ability to communicate through vocal vibrations has allowed a universally easy way of communication.  What I mean is that we are blessed to have a very easy way of communication, through simple vibrations in the voice. Through out my day, I was asked questions by many friends, like Godiglocks, just to see if I would talk, and sometimes a simple yes and no nodd would be sufficient. On other occasions if a question of explanation was asked, then it was harder for me to attempt to signal with my hands. Today I was fortunate to have carried a sign around, that I found under Princess's page.

I had Photoshop the yellow out and it was simply a black and white.  This sign is funny in nature but it also allowed me to communicate that I won't be responding back as much.  Even with this sign people still attempted to talk with me, which was fine. I also know tried to make odd gestures as much as I can, and it was sometimes hard to convey a message. Some people also did not understand what I was trying to convey, like Violin Boy. But Violin boy, you play violin well, so there is no complaints there. haha.
Violin Boy this is for you, (fast forward to 1:16, that is when the song comes in for my funny point)

What I missed most about this day was not being able to sing. Not being able to sing notes or create music was really hard for me vocally. On the other hand, today I was emphasizing playing piano. I really worked on the scales, exercises and pieces for my piano lessons. I would not know what to do if my entire life was without singing. It has become such a huge part of my life, that I would feel so empty without it. Today I only got a glimpse of what the mute has to go through. I wish to learn ASL someday, so I can communicate even when I don't know how to speak. Communication is a huge thing in life. So God bless I am gifted with somewhat of a voice! haha.

Don't forget to check out my other blog posts. Click "The VaiKang Journal" at the top and scroll down to see previous post. If at the main page, just scroll down to the previous post. 

Please feel free to comment.

Thanks to those who have visited my blog and keep doing so! Thanks to those who have decided to follow!
VaiKang

April Fools!

Hey Everyone!!

So I know it's late, but I'm posting a thing about April Fools. So what is your favorite April Fools experience?
Before we start, I just want to link a history of April Fools.  http://www.sdentertainer.com/news/april-fools-day-history/
 
My favorite memory deals with my cousin text-ing me and calling about a favorite Hmong singer of mine. She would say that the singer was going to be having a concert in town, and that I should go buy tickets.  I would invite her, and really fall for her joke. I had set my hopes up so High when I had heard my cousin say that, and I knew I was going to be dedicated to see her. Eventually after having set my mind to getting these tickets, she finally said april fools. I was very heart broken and disappointed when I finally realized it was April fools too. But I laughed about it, and let it go. About a year later, my cousin decided to do the same fools joke again. Not realizing that it was april fools again, I fell completely into it. She of course said "April Fools" and from then on I made it a point to remember that she should not trick me again next year. So this year, on April fools, I decided to text her and let her know that I will not fall for joke.
 

So April Fools is full of pranks and jokes. Here is a video of a lot of funny little things that could be used for Pranks or jokes. I think a few of these things could be fun to have.

Being a Music geek as I am, here is a really funny april fools joke that was done at a High School. I thought this one was pretty sweet.

 

Hahaha

Here is a video clip of some Japanese pranks

Hope you all had a wonderful April Fools day!

Don't forget to check out my other blog posts. Click "The VaiKang Journal" at the top and scroll down to see previous post. If at the main page, just scroll down to the previous post. 

Please feel free to comment.

Thanks to those who have visited my blog and keep doing so! Thanks to those who have decided to follow!

VaiKang

Karaoke Tuesday!!!!

Tonight was a fun night! I was invited to go to MONA's tonight for a karaoke gathering, and ended up to be a blast. Not saying that I wasn't intending to have a fun night, but it turned out better than what I was thinking. This is always a plus. Before I even went to MONA's I was starting to get a Headache, which was quickly remedied by Purple's Ibuprofens. Thanks Purple!!! I than proceeded over to MONA's and immediately ordered my default drinks. You know, the drinks that you order when you don't have anything else in mind or anything interesting you want to try. So I first order a Long Island, followed by two Amaretto Sours. Now if you have not had either, you should. They are great! Very sweet, and filled with alcohol. hahah, but no, I was not drunk. So I hang out with the crew and each person is signing up to sing. I was really debating what song I wanted to do. I immediately of selections from "Glee". Hahahah. When I asked the lady, she had said that she doesn't have any of the Glee covers, but plan to in the future. I didn't stop thinking there though, I thought of some originals that glee did do and was highly considering, "Take a Bow" by Rhianna. After much contemplation, I finally decided to do "Any Dream Will Do" from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream coat. I know right? I couldn't be any gayer(in it's literal form)! hahaha.

So when I went up to sing I was a little nervous, but I knew I got this song. My High School had performed it when I was a Senior and I was in it. So I knew the music well. As I was performing it, a lot of other people knew it to, so they joined along. This other Asian boy, also decided to join a long and we rocked the karaoke night with "Any Dream Will Do". We even harmonized, it was a great pick!

This also was the first time I have ever done anything like this. Meaning, went to a bar and did karaoke. I've been singing and living this long and have never done any karaoke at a bar. It might be because I really don't know a lot of main stream songs, so I don't have confidence to sing them. I also sometimes don't have the voice for them. I'm more of a "Church" "Hmong" or "Classical"(at times) singer. So singing pop-ish songs are not my forte, but I will certainly try to do best with each song.

So March 30th marks when my karaoke virginity at a bars was broken. hahaha. It was great!

This is a funny recording

As a side note, what would you think if I did a Video Blog post once in awhile? Give me your ideas, or thoughts on that?

Don't forget to check out my other blog posts. Click "The VaiKang Journal" at the top and scroll down to see previous post. If at the main page, just scroll down to the previous post. 

Please feel free to comment.

Thanks to those who have visited my blog and keep doing so! Thanks to those who have decided to follow! 

VaiKang

Dancing for Gender equality, The Peking Acrobats, and Spring break is Over

First of all, I would like to share these wonderful video that were made to show gender equality for dancing! I think it's a great project that this person has started! Hope you enjoy it! hahah. I think it's pretty cool and it makes it's point very clearly.

This is the very first video he did, as a response to a video post he initially did. 

This is the Second Video

Here is his third and this one could be a little disturbing. hahaha

This is his most recent, "Exercising for Gender Equality"

And on that note....

Today, I saw a very amazing performance by "The Peking Acrobats". You can Visit their website be going here! http://www.iaipresentations.com/pa.php This is a must see for anyone, and everyone! There are many thinsg you will should see in life, and this is one of them. "They defy gravity with amazing displays of contortion, flexibility, and control."-iaipresentations.com. They were flying and hanging in the air, bending backwards, jumping from poll to poll, and anything you can imagine. These people have skills and they have been training for many number of years to be able to do what they do. When I first stepped in to see the performance, I was blown away immediately with what they were doing. Balancing on plate, each other, chairs, on bicycles or spinning Chinese "yo-yo's", Chinese Pots, and many more.  There is so much to describe and they offered such a variety of things. On top of their ability, the music that they selected were very well done also. They used a lot more traditional instruments, and played traditional Chinese melodies. My favorite scene of all, was when this man had to do first balance about 5-6 wooden chairs, on a four "wine" bottles, on a table. After doing so, he is really high up. Next he has have to do some hand stances on top of those chairs. He does this about two times and then tilts the top chair. He continues to do about another or two hand stances perfectly and finally progresses back down. Description of the performance, does not do justice to how intense and how it was on stage. 

Here is a clip of out that scene looked like. 

If you would like to see more clips like this, I would recommend Youtube-ing, "The Peking Acrobats". 

If it ever comes by your city, I would highly recommend buying a ticket and seeing it. It is worth every cent of the ticket you purchase and you will certainly not be disappointed. 

So that's the end of my spring break, along with hanging with Goldiglocks. 

Back to school, exams, and rehearsals for our choral performances. 
Spring break was filled with helping my mom with a few things, resting when I can, and taking time for myself. haha It was long needed. I also got a chance to clean my room. (which is now messy again) Hope you all had a fantastic break, being in Florida, or cloistered in your own home. Good luck with the rest of the year. Goldiglocks has drawn my attention to that, we only have about two months for the rest of our semester.  So good luck everyone! Succeed!!! Just tell people who block your from successes this semester, "GET OUT OF MY WAY". hahaah. ( I know that was such a bad lead into my final video clip)

Get out of my way by Kylie Minogue

Okay I lied, this is my final clip for this post. I also just found this one. It was pretty interesting and fun too. 

Don't forget to check out my other blog posts. Click "The VaiKang Journal" at the top and scroll down to see previous post. If at the main page, just scroll down to the previous post. 

Please feel free to comment.

Thanks to those who have visited my blog and keep doing so! Thanks to those who have decided to follow! 

VaiKang

4n6 (Forensics) judging

Forensics, is the art of public Speaking. Students prepare pieces for categories with specific rules. There are two different types of competitions in Forensics. Tournaments are when students are in competition with another. Festivals are "against yourself". They will perform their pieces in front of judges, in hopes to better their speaking skills, and beat the other competitors.

I wake up before God does, on some Saturday mornings and get dressed. I typically wear a black dress pant, a button up dress shirt, a sweater to stay warm, put on a belt, dress shoes, and a tie on occasions. I'm half awake and half asleep, and probably still very tired from last night's party/fun. To the kitchen, when possible, I heat up a pot of warm water to make some tea, to start a warm day. As I continue to get ready, I look at my watch and notices that I'm running a little late, and needs to hurry up to be there on time. I grab my essentials: a Stop watch, Two pencils or pens, a book to read, my keys, my coat and a bottle of water. I make sure to use the bathroom before I leave, because it sometimes it is a long trip. Out the door, I go to my car and I realize, I'm missing my glasses. Back in the house, I'm running late, and I scurry to find my glasses. I finally find them and now I can go pick up my friend to go.

As I step outside in the early morning, I notice the fresh and cold air as it touches my skin. It makes me feel cold and is like a coffee wake up rush. I walk to my car, shivering a little here and there as my body attempts to warm up.  I get in my car and starts it up. The key turns, and the car starts. Thank goodness my car is running today. I turn up the heat, and get my car to warm up as fast as it can.  As I drive, my attention is focused to my next location, picking up my friend. It's like an auto pilot at times. As I'm driving, I set my GPS to my final location on where I'll be Judging.(I know I'm not suppose to operate it while driving) After I pick up my friend, we get on my way to my final destination for the meet. It varies from location to location each time I'm chosen to judge. 

On the road, on the Highway, I go to judge these forensics meets. I catch up with my friend, about things in life. How is school going? How's the love life? Seen any old classmates? What ever topic that comes up. This helps me stay awake and focused to drive. 

As we get to our location, we find parking. We get inside the school building and I usually compare their High School with my High School. Majority of the High Schools we judge at are huge public schools, so they tend to have a lot more "equipment" in their building. 

I go to the judges lounge and see if my High School has arrived. If they have, we grab these manila folders from our head coach and see which categories we would like to judge today. Depending on which folder we pick, we are assigned a judge code. When we are ready, we receive the rounds and the codes of the students who are competing in our rounds. I also start to filling out the critique sheets. Of course, the portion that I fill out is my information such as, what my judge code is, school I am judging for, what round number, and my signature. There is a sheet for each student participating in our round. On these sheets of paper, we will write out things that are good and areas for improvement. We are also handed a map, with the outline of the school's rooms, to easily find our rooms. When I am ready and it is time, usually 9:00a.m., I head to my first round to judge. (As a side note, since we are not able to judge any students of our school code, we sometimes never judge a certain category. This depends on the number of entries into each category, from our school. This causes us to consistently be selected to judge certain categories such as, Solo serious, Demo, Extemp, Prose, 4 mins, and Duo interp. This is necessary not a bad thing)  The first rounds usually are when the students are most nervous, and they are getting their first run of the piece for the day. The next round starts at 10:15a.m., and then usually 11:00a.m.

When judging, I can usually notice when a student is prepared, and when they are not. Things I look for first, are the performance techniques. How is the pacing? Enunciations? Hand Gestures? Facial expressions? Body Language? Vocal inflections or changes? Energy? interest and interpretation of piece? Eye contact? Distinction between characters? and many more. Of course it varies from category to category, on what is emphasized. If the performance is bad, it will usually distract me from getting to know the content of interpretation.  If the performance of the piece is good, then the content is looked at next. It sometimes just comes down to if it is an interesting topic or not. At the end, I also look at the timing of the piece, and how close it is to the limit of the category. 

There are three preliminary rounds for each tournament, except state. These rounds gives the student three tries to be the top in each round. If they have received a high enough rank in each round, they proceed onto the "Power" round. These rounds can be very intense. They usually contain the best of the best from that meet. I usually like to judge these if I have a "standby" in an earlier round. In these power rounds, they deliver their speech one more time for the day. This round is done once with three judges, and does not contain any feed back. Just a ranking of who each believe deserves first, second, third, and so on. If not selected to judge a power round, once all them are posted, we get to leave. And back to Milwaukee/Home I go. 

The ride back is usually tiresome. A lot of energy is used up because of mental focus, but I drive safely back home to rest. At times, the ride back is tougher than the ride to. At the end of these trips, I'm just glad to be home, napping in bed till I have to wake up two hours later to head into work. Boy my Saturdays never quits. hahaha

Some people may ask:

Why is forensics so important to me?

It is important to me because it helps the development of  life skills. In general, it's known as public speaking. In specific, public speaking deals with speaking skills, presentations, self-esteem, courage, speaking in front of a group, performance, and public display of self. These are all things of life that we have to get used to and develop, so we can get through life. 

Forensics was the way I was able to develop my performance/people skills. It helped me break out of my shell, of how I used to be before High School. Many of you knew me then, and can probably testify to how different I am now. I did sing and perform a lot before, but it was a very sheltered me. I have opened up, and become more expressive. I have progressed to be where I am today because of my development and experience in forensics. Being in forensics for three years, really helped me understand things about life, and things that I will have never learned or experienced. So I give Forensics a HUGE HUGE thanks! Also a thanks to those who have helped me get this far. So to give back, I judge to help other students develop in their life skills. 

VaiKang

Don't forget to check out my other blog posts. Click "The VaiKang Journal" at the top to see previous post. If at the main page, scroll down to the previous post. 

Please feel free to comment.

Let me know of things to improve on. Or topics you would like me to write about. 

You'll never figure it out Bro.

Oh Bro, you'll never figure it out.
Coming home late, yelling at the one who loves you most or not so.
Whistle? No, she ain't your dog. She's right there, just ask her. She won't bite.
Snap? OMG, you think she will work faster?

Dumb-ass her? or dumb-ass you? You are a donkey's ass, and shame on you
The screams, the moans, the outcomes from your wraths.
The slams, the sores, when will it ever be the last?
Your rage and pain, are making a dark, dark, dark, wretchedness.

You sit on your couch, and expect her to bow.
You laugh at the T.V., even the deaf can hear you now.
Back into your room, you ask "What are you good for?"
Sometimes you need to listen to your own heart.

Yay, you started to work, after 4-5 years of being a slum.
Don't rub in her face, what she has already done.
She is a person too, she does get tired.
She is not a prostitute or a maid you hired.

You say your child is sick, and we blame it on you.
For sure we do, because you are lazy and don't clean a dish or two.
Germs grow, as fast as your anger.
If you eat it, she'll get sick sooner or later.

Repeat, rewind, replay, everyday.
You'll never figure it out, Bro, you'll never figure it out.
You'll never change, you'll always be the same.
So get with the game, it's already the third quarter.
Shoot your gun, it'll only kill what is left.
but remember your actions have consequences, so own up to it.

VaiKang

I know I have no career in poetry writing, but I just thought i give it a try.

My Choir adventures!!!

For those of you who are a member of a choir, here is a prayer that our conductor shared with us as we left to our spring break. It has some musical humor that not all of you who read this might get, but just think about it. hahaha

Prayer of Confession for Choir Members

"Almighty and most merciful Conductor,
We have erred and strayed from thy beat like lost sheep;
We have followed too much the intonations and tempi of our own hearts;
We have offended against thy dynamic marking;
We have left unsung those notes that we ought to have sung,
And we have sung those notes that we ought not to have sung.
And there is no support in us.

But thou, O Conductor, have mercy upon us, miserable singers.
Succor the chorally challenged;
Restore them that need sectionals;
Spare them that have no pencils;
Pardon our mistakes, and have faith that hereafter we will follow
Thy directions and sing together in perfect harmony.
Amen"

My choir adventures this semester has been an interesting one. To get to where I am today, I will start at the beginning. I have been singing in choirs my entire life, or let say ever since second grade. I started with a children's choir, where I started to find my love for music. I remember singing with this choir at the Domes, at a retirement condo, Sunday mass, the cousin's center, at our cathedral, and many more places. A few songs that I remember singing and loved, were: Hashivenu, Siyahamba, and Sing a new Church. As I grew older into my teen years, my voice had "drop". Many who know me, my voice is still in it's upper range, and has not really dropped to the bass. hahaha. This meant that my voice would no longer really fit the "children's choir".  I was then introduced into another wonderful choir for youth and young adults. This choir was called the Central City Catholic Youth Choir. Through this choir, I adventured into the Gospel and African Spirituals, side of music. Singing music from the soul really shook my heart, and made me love music even more. There are many songs that I remember from this group. Some of my favorites were, Order my Steps, We fall down, He's Blessing me, For every Mountain, God is, Pass Me Not, Gospel Version of Awesome God, I love the Lord, Total praise, Come over here, We offer you praise, and many more. With the Central City Youth Choir, one of my fondest memories with them is traveling to Spain in 2003. What an experience and a privilege to share gospel music in another country. Right after the Spain trip, I had continued on in Highschool, at a boarding school. So I could not continue with the CCCYC. The choir unfortunately did not continue a few month after that trip.  I continued in my High school choir, also being a cantor, and singing in the Wisconsin School Music Association (WSMA) competitions. My two most memorable performances in my high school career, is soloing "O Holy Night" at our Christmas concert, and the "Star Spangled Banner" at the Bradley Center, for our High school Basketball game there. It was immediately followed by watching the bucks games as a free perk.  The entire High School days were an awesome time! I would love to be at those moments again.  My junior year of High School was also the first time where I received my first class in Music theory.  Of coarse through out all my years of singing, I learned little things here and there about music, but I did not know much going into college. I learned a lot by repetition and memorizing what I had to sing. When I came back to Milwaukee for College, I continued in the Adult choir at my church. Which is where I normally sing, besides at school.

Call To Action in 2009

For first year of college, I went to school for Psychology. After a year, I figured it out that it was not for me. So I transfered over to the music school and have enjoyed it ever since. As they say, I went from "Helping the psycho, to becoming a psycho". hahaha. Majoring in music was probably the best move for me. I was a little afraid of not getting into the program because I had no big music education, and I'm not classically trained. I do know that I am a hard worker, when I am. The next few years really showed that music was the right path for me. My grades really showed how much I enjoyed working with music. Of coarse my parent's were not to happy about it, but I had already transferred over before they even knew it. From there on, I joined the University choir. There, we sung more classically orientated music. Music that I was not really familiar with, but was certainly willing to try. I was in the choir for about two years, and now I'm in the Concert Chorale. This semester has been the most challenging yet for me, but it's for the better. We are doing all German pieces by, Bach, Mendelssohn, Brahms, and Herzogenberg. First of all, I have never sung German in my entire life! hahahaha. I certainly am learning the diction of the German language quick.  Second of all, I have not performed pure Classical/Romantic choral pieces. They can be very demanding on our own independence, and usage of chromaticism. All of this is great and challenging, but I like it. It is certainly helping me grow as a singer and as a person. In the roughest times of life, it makes it much easier if you make it a growing experience. Some of you may say, well this is not hard at all. To me it was. With my background and struggles that were happening through my life, I'm so happy to be where I am today! I also could not do it with out the support of all my beloved friends. You know who you are!

Thanks!

VaiKang


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