If there's a most enjoyable weekend for 2004, this one's got to be it.
Having to clear my leave, I took leave for Friday. The joy of being able to play basketball in the afternoon! Had good games under the the lunch-hour hot sun. In the late afternoon was my spa appointment. It's nice just to be able to be all alone by myself at the jaccuzi pool (with spa jet!). A little time for me to recollect and introspect. After rejuvenating myself, I had good old Nasi Lemak from Adam Road Food Centre. Simple joys.
I was there to watch our own Singaporean turntablists slug it out with each other for Technics DMC Championship. Watching such competitions always bring back the same old feeling - how I can never be up there. I was happy for the fact that someone I knew won it by sheer merit. His set was well-timed, well practised and most importantly - it rocked the crowd. There has been this long standing argument about turntablism on the balance of technical deck skills versus rocking the crowd. The purist turntablist will always stress technical skills over every other thing. So DJ Rattle would be on his way to London for the DMC World Championship. It's quite worrying that a huge gulf exists between the two best turntablists (i.e DJ Rattle and last year's winner DJ Koflow) and the rest of the pack. That means that the average standard of turntablist DJs hasn't increase over the years. One guy who used to enjoy this actually sold off all his equipment and vinyls, citing 'no time for practice'. Reality as it is, we would never have our very own A-trak (boy who won the DMC at age of 15) who clocks in twelve hours on decks everyday before he became the champion.
I still remember how I actually got to know the winner. I was shopping at Queensway Shopping Centre and I stumbled upon this shop and the people running the shop were actually watching a video on battling DJs. Though I didn't buy anything, we started a conversation about our favourite turntablist DJs and that's how we became friends. There is actually a pair of decks in the shop and he clocks in his hours on the decks everyday at times when there are no customers or after shopping hours. I think it's a blessing for him that the owner of the shop (his boss) actually supports him by allowing him to hone his skills while he works for him. Occasionally, I will find myself chatting with the both of them for hours when I do drop by Queensway. I am glad that all the hours of practice has brought him something in return.
Having to clear my leave, I took leave for Friday. The joy of being able to play basketball in the afternoon! Had good games under the the lunch-hour hot sun. In the late afternoon was my spa appointment. It's nice just to be able to be all alone by myself at the jaccuzi pool (with spa jet!). A little time for me to recollect and introspect. After rejuvenating myself, I had good old Nasi Lemak from Adam Road Food Centre. Simple joys.
I was there to watch our own Singaporean turntablists slug it out with each other for Technics DMC Championship. Watching such competitions always bring back the same old feeling - how I can never be up there. I was happy for the fact that someone I knew won it by sheer merit. His set was well-timed, well practised and most importantly - it rocked the crowd. There has been this long standing argument about turntablism on the balance of technical deck skills versus rocking the crowd. The purist turntablist will always stress technical skills over every other thing. So DJ Rattle would be on his way to London for the DMC World Championship. It's quite worrying that a huge gulf exists between the two best turntablists (i.e DJ Rattle and last year's winner DJ Koflow) and the rest of the pack. That means that the average standard of turntablist DJs hasn't increase over the years. One guy who used to enjoy this actually sold off all his equipment and vinyls, citing 'no time for practice'. Reality as it is, we would never have our very own A-trak (boy who won the DMC at age of 15) who clocks in twelve hours on decks everyday before he became the champion.
I still remember how I actually got to know the winner. I was shopping at Queensway Shopping Centre and I stumbled upon this shop and the people running the shop were actually watching a video on battling DJs. Though I didn't buy anything, we started a conversation about our favourite turntablist DJs and that's how we became friends. There is actually a pair of decks in the shop and he clocks in his hours on the decks everyday at times when there are no customers or after shopping hours. I think it's a blessing for him that the owner of the shop (his boss) actually supports him by allowing him to hone his skills while he works for him. Occasionally, I will find myself chatting with the both of them for hours when I do drop by Queensway. I am glad that all the hours of practice has brought him something in return.
