I was just thinking how awesome an Everything But The Girl vs Maroon 5 mash-up would be like, specifically, one that combined “Missing” and “Moves Like Jagger”.

Well, with the internet being what it is, someone has already beaten me to it!

Presenting to you, ladies and gentlemen, “Missing Jagger” by mashdoctor:

It’s not quite what I had in mind – the focus seems to be on the melancholy of “Missing”, whereas the version I can hear in my head is a bit more upbeat, because it places more emphasis on the whistling of “Moves Like Jagger”.

But I’m starting to like it, especially the intermingling of the “And I miss you” and “Moo-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooves like Jagger” bits.

Go listen!

I think my, er, advice worked – I received enough Ferrero Rocher to set up my own distribution centre.

Jokes aside, one present which stood out was the Teachers’ Day video done by 10A04.

Initially, when they bounded up to me to give me the DVD, I was like, “Wow! Mix-tape for me?”

I was genuinely elated; I remember thinking: Wow, these piglets have grown! They put their PW skills to use and realised that a mix-tape would be a great gift for me because:

• I like music,
• Mix-tapes have symbolic value, in that they hearken back to an era that I often romanticise, and
• Mix-tapes have artistic value, in that the choice of songs are not arbitrary but curated in order to achieve a certain effect on/send a certain message to the listener e.g. I’ve chosen these songs that I know you like because I want you to know I care, or I’ve chosen 12 of my favourite songs because I want to share my music with you (a deeply personal gesture, IMO).

Sadly, my happiness lasted for a while, because I soon found out that:

1. It wasn’t a mix-tape, but a video, and
2. ALL THE OTHER TEACHERS THAT TAUGHT 10A04 ALSO RECEIVED THE SAME VIDEO.

Wah lao eh! Felt somewhat cheated lor. LOL… Kidding, ya.

I really like the video; in fact, I like it so much that I want to share it with all of you here:

Click on this link in case you can’t see the embedded video.

Nice right? (BTW if you want to watch more stuff by Ansen Goh and Co., check out “A Measured Distance Away” and ObscuRed.sg .)

I’m so glad they came together to do this, not only because the video shows how much they’ve grown as a class, but also because receiving the gift has made me re-evaluate my ‘preferred present list’ – I’ve just included a section called ‘Digital Art’.

So thanks, kiddos, for all the love. I’m proud of all of you.

However, the phrase (“you have stolen my heart”) niggled at the back of my mind the whole day and when I woke up this morning as well.

So I did what I should have done earlier: I Googled the phrase and added in “lyrics” as a search term. I was so happy when I chanced upon this video again!

(Click on this link if you can’t see the embedded video.)

BTW I strongly urge everyone to record and upload videos of themselves making the following sound effects:

• Lion.
• Car starting.
• Rocket launching.
• Sheep.
• Cow.
• Robot.

Who knows? You could have your 15 minutes of fame and even become the next Miss Universe!

I found this especially funny, because it riffs on the chorus of one of my favourite songs – “500 Miles (I’m Gonna Be)” by The Proclaimers.

More Song Lyrics as Google Maps here.

(via)

Join me in exploring our cetacean heritage.

BONUS: this joke.

Robbie Williams’s take on Human by The Killers. The link here if you can’t see the embedded video.

You can find them here. Just click on the link on the right-hand side of each row.

P.S. I know you might think this ultra-nerdy, and I make no bones about the bookishness of this exercise.

From past experience, however, ‘mugging’ for concerts does have its payoffs. If you can remember the lyrics to all the songs, you can sing along/mosh while the band plays. It’s a heightened experience, and it gives you more bang for your buck. And with ticket prices in the three-digit range for this particular gig, I’m sure you’ll want as much bang for your buck as you can get.

1. The Cure.
2. “In Between Days” by The Cure.
3. Ukeleles.

Imagine my surprise + adulation when I saw this video:

(Link here for those who can’t see embedded videos.)

Amanda Palmer rocks. Why didn’t anyone tell me about her? Nevertheless, I totally want a ukelele EVEN MORE now.

From: Victor Chen
Date: November 3, 2009 1:19:14 PM SST
Subject: Blues in November

Hi folks,

It gives me great pleasure to inform all of you about the latest development in the blues scene. Louis and myself, together with Danny Loong and Francis Chan of Ublues as well as Crazy Elephant veteran Ray Aziz, are now playing at Timbre Mobile @ East Coast Park from 5pm – 8.30pm every Sunday.

Keeping in line with our dear leader’s policy of grooming the next generation of leaders, we are now working on grooming the next generation of blues musicians. The Sunday gig will also be a jam session where upcoming blues players, hobbyists and old birds (lao jiao) alike will be featured. Any of you who are keen to take the stage to jam are most welcome to do so, especially if you already have a full band line-up. Above all, this is the perfect excuse to have a beer on a Sunday evening and the meet the folks in our little blues scene.

In other news:

• Shameless plug #1: Double-bill at the Esplanade.
  DATE: Fri, 6 Nov 2009
  TIME: Evening
  VENUE: Esplanade
  TICKETS: $25 from the Esplanade or 4 for $20 each.

  I have been roped in to play with the Stray Dogs for their upcoming reunion gig at the Esplanade on Nov 6, a double-bill with Pest Infested. These 2 bands were the pioneers in Singapore’s nascent blues and rock and roll scene back in the 60s and our setlist includes some John Mayall, CSNY, Deep Purple and Cream among others and of course, a Stray Dogs original recorded back in the 70s.

• Shameless plug #2: Gigs at the Old Brown Shoe.
  1. Sat, 21 Nov will herald the inaugural edition of The Black Room Sessions at The Old Brown Shoe, where I will be singing (*gulp*) and playing solo for 2 sets of acoustic blues. The setlist will draw from some of the Malted Milk and Medium Rare repertoire, but will include more slide guitar on songs from Robert Johnson, Tampa Red and the like. I will also be playing some of my own songs, since no one else wants to play them. (Ed: LOL!)
  2. Sat, 14 Nov and Sat, 28th Nov will feature Medium Rare.
  3. These 3 gigs will start at 8.30pm.

As always, do check the gig listings for any changes.

Cheers,
Victor

1. There is imperfect knowledge in the world,
2. The Internet is a gigantic brain, and
3. The Internet helps to smooth out the imperfections in knowledge,

I decided to pose the above-mentioned question to the almighty Facebook-verse and Twitter-verse. These are the findings on Facebook:

And on Twitter:

People generally seem to think that Jaben Network is the best. Funan Centre comes in second and Epicentre and City Music are tied for third. Brands recommended are V-mode, Sennheiser and Bose.

The conclusion? Well, if you really want to know… ask your own Internet brain!