Not Far from Heart.

Recently I find myself grinning or laughing alone when I read posts on Facebook written in the very localised Malay slang. I know slangs are bad for any types of languages and as much as acronyms are bad as well! I have a few very close Malay friends and so I could "decipher" the special language that most people; even Malaysians couldn't. I've been trying my best to infect a friend with the slang for this two months. I know most people were not familiar with the slang because they didn't grow up listening or speaking it.

I find it amusing because firstly, it is widely spoken and written. Though not contained in the ever-expanding Kamus Dewan (most of you would've owned one, but not me); the slang is widely used and developed its own acronyms no thanks to the creation of SMS. Secondly, the seemingly rude words became tame with the slang. Shockingly true. Lastly, speaking these words make me feel multi-cultured. Most people expect me to pick up British slang once I study in the UK but no. You may develop a new slang over time and choose to stick with it; but I prefer to speak American English and continue to develop my local slang.

Being abroad now, I feel homely whenever I came across these slangs. I reminisce the times when me and my good friends would converse in Bahasa and English depending on the situation. Sometimes you have to switch to the correct type of language to add the drama to your gossips. How I miss them... and I'm glad one of them is going to join me in the UK this September.

Dreaming.

I'm still filled with excitement since yesterday's conversation with some friends. First, my old high school mate made me so jubilant because of the little details that she spotted in the videos that I showed her. I was talking to her about the old telenovelas that we watched on television during high school especially the ones by Gabriela Spanic with twin roles evil sister-innocent sister acts. My friend spotted that the same third party aka. husband-stealer for both telenovelas was the same WOMAN. Oh the stereotypes they played in soap operas. Great spot there, and your ability to hum through the song nonchalantly made me laughed my head off!

Then my client came online and told me about her good news. Just read her blog and saw it posted there... basically all I could think at that moment of time was asking her to make the trip to UK this winter. Excitement built up and I got lost in the conversations forgetting my role as her manager. Dear me, wake up!

I got a little too excited, so I went to bed early. But I forgot to eat proper dinner thus waking up at weird hours eating and chatting again. Stalked Facebook for awhile and saw my friend praising 24Herbs' music and she commented that she never thought HK produces this kind of music. Was happy for awhile until I read some other comments on YouTube comparing 24Herbs to FAR EAST MOVEMENT. What the heck? Oh those ignorant comments and nobody cared to shut them up. 24Herbs is a group of artists with calibre and previous success. It's just that Conroy with his crazy ideas decided to start producing music with Mr. Ghoststyle and other rappers. Anyways, thank goodness for this following video which made me laugh because of that silly Conroy again.

Boxes of Fun.

So someone gave me an idea to blog about the number of checkered shirts that I own. Cross-referenced with Stephysiology's Flannel X Plaid: Men’s Clothes Defined. Well I have to say it doesn't just apply to MEN; ladies have their fair share of awesome plaid clothings as well. I have a total of 9 plaids. Not that many.


And here are two of the aliens in my collection of alienated clothings... one very high school prefect-like blue shirt which I got at a very low price at GAP in Cheshire Oak. The baby blue shirt was only £8 from H&M sales.


It's a good thing to own these if you live in country with cold climate like the UK. I usually wear them with a sweater during winter and during spring/summer I can just roll up the sleeves or wear them unbuttoned with plain singlet on the inside. I don't suppose I have to justify myself in the vertical relationship of CMSCE.

You Jump, I Jump. We All Jump Together.

Gone were the days when we just want the time to go faster and we can fast forward through school days. Now, most of us wish that the clock can tick slower and let us take a breather in the very last days of youth. Yes, I'm not that young anymore. Look at this picture. 3 out of the 4 PTS girls. When we took this picture, it was our 10th year after taking a leap year together. Now, it's been 12 years. See, I still don the short hairdo then.

So the next time we're going to take a picture would be the 20th year reunion? I hope not.

The Ringing Bliss.

Oh it's Mother's Day already in Malaysia! Of course in the UK we celebrate two separate dates for Mother's Day. While Hallmark Cards rule the US; in the UK it's Clinton Cards so I have a theory that it is all but a scam to sell more cards. Of course, I meant that as a joke. Mother's Day is always the day I'll shower my mummy dearest with a gift and treat her to a meal outside. Interesting enough, I only start celebrating Mother's Day for real after high school. That's when I really appreciated her effort and what she had sacrificed for her children.

Being the eldest, priority is put on me. I remember my mum making sure that she could fetch me from school and so my brother had to switch to afternoon class; taking the bus to school. Then the tuition timings and everything, my mum will definitely be there 10 minutes before the class started and 10 minutes before class end. Then she had always objected us eating from outside and always cook for us even though it's very hard to cook for a party of 3. When I said I want to go to any restaurant in town to eat she'd object to the idea and scold me. She wouldn't let me join any friends to hang out in the town and though I was not for one who likes loitering around... she was really strict to me.

The amount of strictness went on and on... no magazines (smuggled for 3 years), no VCD/DVDs (till I bought them with my own money), no internet till Form 4, no late night TV (except for Thursday night) and definitely no truancy. Naturally, I rebelled against her commands but not in the extreme manner. Just enough to make her get angry with me daily.

As I grew past the high school years, I realized what she did was for my own good but at the same time I learned although some of her methods were wrong (tyranny); I must learn to appreciate and forgive for she is my only mother. I begin to learn not to argue with her so much as to communicate and explain to her my predicaments in certain issues.



This year is one of the most challenging year yet for me... she was always there to support my decisions and everything I do. I miss talking to her daily and let her nag on. One more week till she goes home and I hope all is good for them there in Indonesia now.

Progressive Loving.

TUESDAY (correction), the final night of Kylie Minogue's concert tour in Manchester. Guess who'll be attending? Of course, YOURS TRULY -again! This time, I'll be in the Splash Zone!

Kylie, what a dance pop icon. Always true to her music and style. I have been listening to her music since young. I can still remember the first song I heard; "Before the Devil You Know" and the music video with upbeat aerobic routines (trademark dance music videos of that era). Then she made me hooked to the music video channel for this wonderfully directed music video of "On A Night Like This":

Her 2011 tour is aptly titled the Aphrodite Les Folies Tour meaning the progression of love tour. It's her love for the music and entertaining the fans that kept her performing over the years. Gosh it's already been 6 years since she battled cancer. Many speculated that this might be her last tour (taking a hiatus afterwards) as the theme for her concert ground is Ancient Greek. The direction of the concert mimicked the last days of a great empire. I hope not.

Guess how much you have to pay to be in the "Splash Zone"?
Freaking £250!!!

I will be sitting right at the back of the standing area; seated. As a big supporter of hers over the years, I cannot believe that I am reaching my 10th concert milestone with hers on Monday. Truly unbelievable. I shall upload the pictures of the concert once I return from it!

As You Poison Me.

I had just realized that the colour on my blog is quite soothing. Must be the excessive football matches that I have watched today caused severe after-effects to my vision. Hence, no gaming tonight!

I am currently hooked on the KCRW YouTube page... they have really good clips of musicians performing on air for the radio station. One of my favorite:

Jenny & Johnny - My Pet Snakes



Oh the cute couple and their great chemistry when performing together.
As usual the shy bassist remained unseen!

Life has been not good lately. I am deeply affected by the chaos in Libya and the sad natural disasters which struck Japan. I'm glad that my friends in Japan are okay! What a stark contrast of sufferings seen in these 2 countries; one caused by human and another caused by the nature. Haven't we been blessed enough? And the suffering never ends.

CMSCE: Sorry Note.

Guess what? Converse Lady All Star *gasp*

Now someone will have a good excuse to get herself a pair of Converse. CMSCE: Think Alike.

Indie Mission.

I've always had a dream of meeting the my favorite musicians. I have my batch of rockstars-dreamy-husbands namely Our Lady Peace and Three Days Grace. I've always joked that Raine Maida and Adam Gontier are my husbands (even though they're married)... That is how crazy I am. However, it is next to impossible for me to meet both of them because Canadian bands rarely tour UK and Europe... and I don't know why!

So never mind that, I have my own set of favorite indie musicians. Death Cab for Cutie; a band I first start listening to back in 2002. Ben Gibbard is simply a genius and their music influenced the whole US indie rock music scene. Their music are heavily featured in TV series likewise of their band of friends. Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley collaborated with him on his side project, The Postal Service. Jenny's boyfriend, Johnathan Rice was featured as a frequent collaborator for Ben's concert tours. Ben's own wife, Zooey Deschanel is part of the indie folk revival in the US and one-half of She & Him.

When I first came UK... She & Him had one performance in London for their second album. It was my first concert and I had to go alone. I didn't even know I was that brave!!! I travelled to London by noon and returned to Leeds past midnight. It was such an unforgettable experience. Zooey Deschanel and Matt Ward are two amazing musicians!!! And of course, most people who saw my pictures (and know their music) were angry and very jealous at the same time.

I didn't have high hopes of meeting Jenny Lewis -EVER. Rilo Kiley took a hiatus in 2005 and she went solo. She had two very awesome albums but none came out in 2009. Moreover I was already on a high after meeting Tegan & Sara in London... I am so satisfied, I cannot ask for more. I never expected that I would meet the Queen of Indie (in my heart) and front row within 2 metres from her -and her boyfriend, Johnathan Rice of course. It was snowing so heavily in Manchester that night but I braved the storm of snow to attend the gig. I could barely hold my breath after the gig; she's such a rocker! She's such an inspirational person and I really hope to see Rilo Kiley reunite for a new album!

So, I posted this photo on Facebook. My Indie Mission... meeting this bunch of great indie musicians that I have adored over the years. I found out that Death Cab for Cutie is producing a new album due this year but I've never thought that they'd tour with Foo Fighters and thus... COMING TO MANCHESTER!!!

From left: Zooey Deschanel, Jenny Lewis, Matthew Caws, Ben Gibbard and Johnathan Rice.

Death Cab for Cutie: Nick, Ben, Jason and Chris.

Chris Walla is probably the most prominent member of the group besides Ben. He's a producer, music engineer and mixer... not forgetting his role as the lead guitarist in DCFC. He had produced two successful albums for Tegan & Sara; namely The Con and Sainthood. He is also a frequent collaborator with Nada Surf and The Decemberists. All the bands I listen to!!! Isn't it so incredible how they know each other so well and create beautiful music together???

Oh Death Cab for Cutie; I've changed my flight ticket back to Malaysia just for you... I really cannot wait for 4th of July!!!

Post-CNY.

Oh Sara Bareilles, Maroon 5 and Lifehouse next week!!! I'm so excited! I will do a dedications post for both Sara and Lifehouse but only a short one for Maroon 5. My love for the band kind of died after Ryan left the band. And sorry I didn't mean to cause more heartache for you dear CMSC Client #1 who's currently in Bangkok. A spam album will be up soon to welcome you back into Malaysia's soil.

I've been contemplating on returning to Malaysia earlier than July because of the cheaper flight ticket in June. Which means, work harder and accept more article assignments for a promising summer holiday! However, I've been working all week just so I can take the next week off. I'm quite the irregular employee but heck, freelancers are supposed to be carefree and work at your own pace right? My friend from Bristol will be visiting next week and oh heck rumor mills will start working overtime again. I don't know how many times I have to insist this but he is really just a friend; my papa!

Oh yes, before I forget, Happy Birthday to you Client #2 aka. Miss Zookeeper.

Cross-Referenced: The Mike Fever.

In reference to my Client's blog post: Big Boy X Little Lover: Suddenly Mike Fever; I have created a post purposely to highlight the missing captions in her post.

For those of you who feel lost while reading this post, Mike is actually a character from the Ann Hui directed lesbian/bisexual Hong Kong movie called All About Love. Mike is played by William Chan from the now-defunct boyband New Boy'z. So here are the extras to the dedicated-post by Stephysiology:


Started stalking the cougar of his dream and purposely showed her the box with heart shapes on his shoulder.


Anita, the cougar; clearly rebuffed by his gestures while he kept his boyish smile on.


After hearing Anita's story about Macy, he went blur for a second...
and said: "But Macy's a female name..."

To which Anita replied with: "When did I say Macy's a guy?" and thus the expression above.


The stalking continued with him working as a waiter/chef at a sandwich stall; to the extent of preparing heart-shaped sandwiches for her while her other cougar co-workers looked on.


Trying to act smart by guessing (correctly) that Eleanor's a lesbian
with Anita looking on cynically because the bomb has yet to be dropped...


He thought of chasing after Anita and Macy on the overheard bridge but stopped when Eleanor offered to treat him a drink... SEX ON THE BEACH cocktail.


I wouldn't say that this is a really good movie but the issues discussed in the movie are worth pondering upon especially in the typically conservative Asian culture. Moreover, there are a lot of surprising cameos and the script is really engaging. If these factors still fail to attract you... well there is William Chan (for the ladies) and Vivian Chow (for the guys)...

No Haste.

I had quite a bad sleep last night despite the fact that I dozed off very early; at 11pm. Highly unusual and I bet those of you who know me well would agree to that. My right arm was aching badly and I finally "cracked" it back in place at 6am in the morning.

I experience this strange phenomenon; whenever I wake up and I go back into sleep; my brain doesn't rest and dreams haunt me. I will either sleep through the alarm clock or wake up even more tired! So, I had a great dream (sort of) this morning. A great idea for my short story. A little shocking that I had this dream from a third person's view but heck, I will need to check my facts before start writing! I suppose it is also quite controversial but let me just do the draft first and the see how the story fares.

Oh yes, let me introduce you to my new collection:


I hail Virginia Woolf as the Queen of Short Stories. I remember reading Mrs. Dalloway in high school but now, I can stop reading the ebook and flip the pages of her works for real. Too bad they didn't include The Voyage Out in this collection of works. This book is a little too thick to travel with but I am quite sure that I wouldn't need to bring it around. Bet I'll be finished with this before I travel to Bristol. I've had this for like 4 days? And I'm already halfway through A Room of One's Own.

Should be Untitled.

It is great to be called a hypocrite because then you can act like a total hypocrite. I have engaged myself in a love-hate relationship with the word hypocrite because I do care what others say of me and I know how I can be too assertive sometimes. I prefer the word hate rather than dislike or disdain. Kind of a strong signal and hard to retract most of the times. However, looking at this again, I realized it's not a good thing because then, people will not trust my judgment calls! Oh what a dilemma. Best bet, really think thrice before speaking.

So, when I voice my opinions; sometimes without thinking twice... it is really hard to swallow my pride and go in the opposite direction. Another good reason to be misunderstood as a bigoted hypocrite. I can now take back my words and act like nothing happened. Truth is, sometimes I really don't care how others view me. It's like a social nirvana to me as I seriously cannot give a damn about what people think about me. The key is, tend not to think too much and overlook menial things in life. This is how misunderstandings grow deeper and I can only pray that they will be resolved over time. If not, oh well... it's just not meant to be.

What I'm trying to say is, try to place weight on the things that matter in your life and what should worry you more. People love you for who you are and if they don't, why bother changing for them when it only cause you to suffer? I hope less drama arises in life because I love my life in solitude.

Rollin' the Ball into 2011.

Maybe I was a little too passive about 2011. God has His own ways of making me open my eyes and be more open-minded. I really don't expect much from this year but now I have reasons to welcome it.


This is the first surprise of the year. Three UK although bashed and crudely remarked by many; I found it highly reliable and they offer very competitive pricing. Best of all, their customer service is so helpful. Unlike Vodafone which even charge customers for calling customer service and thanks to their major screw up I paid £4 for the last phone call!!!

So, Three offered me a new Samsung netbook for being a loyal customer and hoped that I'll continue their mobile broadband service for a year. What a steal! This is a really powerful netbook; the Samsung N145 Plus. The battery life awed me... 7 freaking hours!

My January paycheck was spent on this. The Diana F+ with Edelweiß lens. I named it Melia; something German to commemorate the limited edition lens. My last analog camera was like 11 years ago? During the big flood in estate on my BIRTHDAY. Will try to dig up the pictures when I get home.

I have always been fascinated with Lomography but I simply had no time to indulge in it. Now, at a very fair price I got my baby Melia to chronicle my year. You have to start loving and stop hating now, Carly Yap. Embrace the world.





Peace out.

The Debacle Continues...

I told myself not to divulge too much in political topics. They are simply too stressful and the debate goes on and on... so I made a conclusion 2 years ago; politics is simply too dirty and I'm not going near it. That to say, many court cases are politicized back in Malaysia and the recent one includes the coroner's decision in Teoh Beng Hock's accidental death inquest. Everyone kept echoing the words:

OPEN VERDICT

It means that the court could not decide what caused the deceased death and left the case open as it once was; like 2 years ago. Legally, blame could not be placed on either party and left it inconclusive. As many would know, public interest plays a key part in legal proceedings. The power of the public could even influence the Parliament decisions in making legislation. This is called democracy as well.

So the decision is a controversial one you see; the public interest in this case is simply too vast. Global news have been reporting on this case and once OPEN VERDICT was given; public outcry ensued and the video of Teoh's sister sobbing uncontrollably outside the court accompanied by Gobind Singh quickly circulated the internet. This led to even bigger exposure of the case and our Prime Minister to react to the decision personally. A Royal Commission of Inquiry is set to take place.

It has always been a problem with Malaysia to politicize everything. Teoh was a political figure; MACC is a government body and the rest is left for you to ponder. But, if you think about this case, it's not Teoh's unexplained death that only matter; what about the misconduct of the MACC officers in Teoh's wrongful questioning?

MACC could've created a code of conduct or fire those officers in question but they don't because these actions would place the "blame" on them in regards to Teoh's death. But come on, seriously, we're all living in a civilized world... as if we cannot think better?



EDIT: As new information surfaced regarding to our Prime Minister's reply that the Royal Commission is going to look into whether Teoh Beng Hock's basic human rights have been infringed by MACC. THIS IS TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE. Wait for the public outrage. Just wait.

Abundance.

3rd of January has always been the day I dread the most. First of all, it's always the first day of school and it marks the beginning of another horrific learning year. Secondly, I get old on this day. Lastly, my dad is always not around to celebrate the special day with me. Hence, I'm used to postponing my birthday celebrations.

Growing up, I realized that I'm not a big fan of celebrations and presents. However, I love to be rewarded when I achieve something. Say, good exam results and I get what I wish for; often my mum would cringe while my dad kept giving. Thank God I achieve good results if not I'll never get presents.

Okay, so I wouldn't want to celebrate my birthday this year mostly because I'M STILL SICK! Thought that I'd get better and maybe go out for dinner but no thanks to some unforeseen circumstances; I didn't recuperate in time. I had to write anyways so... forget it. Well, most of my birthday wishes came from Facebook (of course, right) and well, most came with nicknames. Then I began reminiscing my years when all the nicknames popped out. Contributors (culprits) won't be named though.

NICKNAMES OVER THE YEARS:

1994-2005

• Fui Fui (the infamous nickname was created during recess in school and often imitated with crunchy cookies while pronouncing it)
  
• nen nen (this is also another infamous nickname due to the fact I drink fresh milk everyday and some claimed that it contributed to my fair skin)
• curry (everybody should know why)
  

2006-2011

• carlill carbolic (this is reference to Carlill v Carbolic Smoke Ball Co.; the first case we studied in Contract Law during A-Level)
• infant (Contract Law again; Minors Act 1970)
• mojojo (reference to MoJo Jojo; the villain in Powerpuff Girls)
• carly fries carly junior (no thanks to Dr. Rick in Fired Up!)
  
• curry curly fries (basically hybrid of two)
• CMSC (Carly Manager; me and the misbehaving S the Client)
  
• Carly Spongebob Kerrigan Yap (this is the latest; due to the fact I'm a StarCraft II and SpongeBob addict)
  

The "Awww..." Factor

I've been a big fan of Tegan & Sara for a very long time... And they've never been much cuter than their appearances in Margaret Cho's latest song, "Intervention". Sara, my favorite half of the twins had always been quiet and grumpy as compared to the noisy and outspoken Tegan. Though they're both lesbians, you don't see Sara at the parades while Tegan joined the rally against Prop 8 by the California government even though she's CANADIAN. Tegan's a LGBT rights advocate all right.

On to the cute pictures:

SARA IS SO CUTE WITH HER NEW HAIRSTYLE!!!

Tegan had stopped straightening her hair it seemed
and CHECK OUT SARA'S CRAZY GOOGLY EYES!

Shoving the finger back at Margaret. This scene is epic...
look at Margaret's parents at the back and the American flag.

They had one of the best onstage banters -EVER. If you ask any fans: "What do you enjoy most during T&S's concert?" they'd reply: "Their onstage banters."

Sara is always the sarcastic one while Tegan is the joker. Dissing Justin Bieber and also Sara... And if you happen to listen to their songs, you would know that both had very different styles of making music. Tegan, self-professed rockstar and while Sara is just making "weird" music.

The Great Jenny Lewis and Johnathan Rice

I'd never thought that I could realize my dream of meeting my favorite indie artists in the UK. When I first arrived here, I missed out on Uh Huh Her and Tegan & Sara. I was especially sad about the Tegan & Sara one because being a big fan for so many years and knowing how impossible it is for them to ever perform on a stage in Malaysia; I didn't manage to get a ticket to see them in Manchester.

I was lucky to stumble upon the opportunity to see She & Him live in London. Not many people heard about them and I wasn't about to advertise Indie in front of my friends and asking them to fork out money for a band that they don't even know. So, I went alone. That's when I started loving traveling and attending concerts alone. Especially the indie ones because bringing a non-fanatic friend would mean B-O-R-E-D-O-M.

This evening, I'm going to meet one of the pioneers of indie music. Her indie history spanned from indie rock, indie alternative, indie folk and indie country. She's been making good indie music for more than 10 years. Now, she's partnered up with Johnathan Rice; another cult indie singer.


Together, they're Jenny & Johnny. Many of you wouldn't know (as in you really don't know him at all!) Johnathan Rice but he's actually British. His music once appeared in The O.C. and The O.C. is the pioneer of indie music in teen TV shows. Not even One Tree Hill can top The O.C.'s mix tapes. They introduced me to Death Cab for Cutie, Johnathan Rice, Nada Surf and a lot more. Johnathan's "Further North" album was so hauntingly good. I'd always say that his voice is haunting. The album was made possible with collaborations from Jenny's Rilo Kiley and other indie big guns such as Bright Eyes and Johnathan Wilson. He even inspired Ben Gibbard to write "Little Bribes" for the Death Cab for Cutie's EP, Open Door.



When Jenny was a solo artist, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie didn't get a chance to collaborate with her but his then-girlfriend, Zooey Deschanel did. He once collaborated with her for The Postal Service's "We Will Become Silhouettes". So he wanted to hear her new music so badly and when she finally let him listen to her album, he was really fascinated with the title song. Matt Ward said this is the best album that Jenny had ever made. It might be overproduced a little but she really had a fun time collaborating with many other indie artists such as Johnathan Rice, Zooey Deschanel, Matt Ward, Elvis Costello, her old bandmate Jason Boesel and many others.



Her debut not-so-solo album was with The Watson Twins, "Rabbit Fur Coat". If you're a Rilo Kiley fan, you'd be thrown away by this album. The songs are mostly indie country and folk. They're so easy on the ears and you'd be swayed far and deep before realizing the album had finished playing.


The Watson Twins are creepy in some way but they performed so well in complimenting Jenny's voice in the album.

And who would forget the great indie band Rilo Kiley. I was hooked on "The Frug" when I heard it on that old teen movie Desert Blue. Then for some reason TV started infusing indie music into their shows and the culprit here is Grey's Anatomy. They loved putting in Tegan & Sara songs and also Rilo Kiley's most famous song; "Portions for Foxes". Their follow up album and their last was also so amazing. Fans were wondering what they're doing with the new album because it was no longer indie rock; more to indie alternative. The fact of the matter, they're just so good in what they do and anything that Jenny touches turn to gold.

She had contributed her voice to many other artists' songs and the recent was Brandon Flower's "Hard Enough". There is no end to my admiration for her... and I still remember Michelle Branch's twitter update:

Michelle Branch: Jenny Lewis is on my flight to Vegas. I'll try not to fan girl her. Sigh.

Dedications Part 2

The concert was A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!! For the very first time I didn't behave like a groupie; I simply took my own sweet time to get to the MEN Arena; even getting a box of chips with cheese en route! Because for the very first time, I've got seated tickets and boy I didn't regret that. The crowd was massive and a bunch of troublemakers kept reserving a circle for themselves (within the crowd), and pushed everybody aside while they did some really rough horseplay. And I don't forget to mention, they do serve alcohols at concerts here so... no thanks but I don't want to get injured and all.

I didn't really get to enjoy the first act so I cannot comment on them. B.O.B. was quite good. I hate gangsta rap so his type of music totally music to my ears. I was really shocked when he pulled on the electric guitar and started belting out MGMT's "Kids". That's when I stood up and started rocking. He ended his performance with Airplanes... and guess who came on stage? ZAC! The stage was dark so everybody thought it was Hayley though she's hiding at the lower stage singing her part. Once the stage lighted up... everybody was laughing their heads off looking at the comical Zac.

Hayley with her hair tied up and wearing this really thick winter jacket jumped onto the main stage. People told me that she'd been wearing those for every part of her UK tour while singing "Airplanes".

Once their performance started, it was nonstop rock frenzy. Everybody was so energetic and fun! The stage was really cool and Taylor certainly enjoyed running around the stage!

I love this part when the spotlight stayed on Hayley for like 30 seconds.

For more pictures, visit: Paramore Live in Manchester

Dedications Part 1

I've been a fan of Paramore since I saw the music video of the song "Pressure" and how it relates to my life in college. At that particular time, Hayley still donned the red hair. Then I heard "Emergency" which had a cool music video by the way. I had their first album but didn't really indulge in it... I was more into Our Lady Peace and Death Cab for Cutie at that moment.

I remember a friend of mine suggesting that Paramore is high school rock-esque because their songs are radio friendly and high school students LOVE them. I totally disagreed because their debut album suggested otherwise. I didn't know who sang "crushcrushcrush" at the beginning, it's because I wasn't really into radio hits as I was in the early stages of converting myself into an Indie fan. My brother told me it was Paramore and I was shocked at first considering the cheekiness they'd infused into their punk rock music. And "Misery Business" was like so cute and not to mention, "That's What You Get". But I kind of noticed the chemistry between Josh and Hayley sort of faded and by that time they had a new member and the guitarist ranting about Hayley's popularity. Not many people knew this but they're Christians and if you had their The Final Riot DVD, you'd notice them praying before concerts.

Brand New Eyes album, in my opinion, is their "reversion" album. Sort of reintroducing the fans into their debut album type of music and lyrics. It's like now that they're famous, let them re-establish artistic control and do what we want. Sounds like what Indie bands do, right?

Tours with Tegan & Sara and New Found Glory in the US; only a fan like me would crave and hope to attend. Hayley admitted about her girl crush on Tegan and well, Paramore and New Found Glory goes back a long time in history and the fact that Hayley is dating Chad certainly does help a little. Together, they'd released this EP:



I am excited about the concert tomorrow night but that means ditching my friend who's coming over... oh well, she wouldn't mind I'm sure. HAHA!