Subjectif…

I’m a huge fan of Google Documents— it works (almost) like Microsoft Office, with more perks. For the poor unenlightened souls, it allows you to share your documents- be it Word documents or spreadsheets with anyone you choose to. So you type your essay or project outline or whatever into Google Docs, save it and hit ‘Invite people’ and then voila, these lucky people can access what you’ve typed and make edits that can be viewed amongst themselves!
So we can pretty much say goodbye to the forwarded PBLs/ GPPs with the message ‘Please edit and send it back to us’ because really, you just need to provide everyone with that one link to that convenient platform! I’ve even used it more innovatively once— I held a discussion on Google Docs for a project. My whole group got on the same document and started throwing out all our ideas while commenting on each other’s ideas, resulting in a really fruitful discussion.
But as they always say, technology can help… and harm. Take the recent use of Google Spreadsheets for the registration of events like Arts Day and Feeling Fab. The teachers in charge obviously created these spreadsheets with clear intentions in mind—to increase the efficiency of registration and make the whole process more convenient for all of us.
But what happened? Some dark sheep among us began to vandalise the spreadsheets. Bear in mind that everything we input can be seen by others and while the vandals might have amused some students who logged onto the spreadsheets, it was still… vandalism. Even worse, some people selfishly and thoughtlessly removed the names of other people to get into the activity they wanted. Or just for the fun of it.
Come on, how old are we? The basic assumption (and not an unreasonable one) that the teachers made was that we’d be civilised enough to be able to click on the link, put down your name in an available and desired slot, press ‘save’ and leave. I don’t know if it’s more disappointing for them or for ourselves that we can’t do something as simple as that. For them, because they’ve poured in so much effort into helping us arrange these activities so that we can take a break from the tedium of lessons and have some fun for a change… and then we break their trust in us even before the event started. Plus, they have to put in even more effort trying to solve The Cases Of The Missing Entries. Even though Google Docs has a revision history, try ploughing through that for a spreadsheet sent out to 1800 students. And the last time I checked, Google Docs only gives you an approximation of the time that a change was made, making the poor teachers’ lives even more difficult.
And it’s really unfair for those who got a place first, only to discover later that they were no longer in that activity they wanted. I mean, could you imagine how you’d feel if that happened? Especially since they made the effort to rush onto the spreadsheet to indicate their interest before you did. Queen of Convenience, another blogger, wanted to go for the Pixar exhibition for Arts Day really, really badly. And then someone took her place in the spreadsheet and she ended up going for an event that she didn’t really enjoy. Come on, Victorians, we’ve got to play fair! Don’t steal (and yes, it’s stealing) a spot that isn’t rightfully yours!
So Victorians, the next time we use a Google spreadsheet, just follow this golden rule. Type (your name in an empty slot), Save, Leave. You’ll be doing everyone around you a favour.

How odd. My surroundings currently smell like fart. Sorry, I am trying to be truthful. Look, fellow lit-ters, an allusion! xD Hmm, have you finished your Duffy assignment yet? xP

On to the real topic of this post: 23.4FM.

It was so good, you could even compare it to one of SCPA’s talent competitions from MTV’s Taking The Stage.

Firstly, a disclaimer: I won’t be going into too much detail about the actual performances, because did you know that you can actually watch these on YouTube? Not all the videos are up yet, but hopefully they will be eventually, and those of you who weren’t lucky enough to be there on the actual night can check this out! You can also check out Flickr! Credits go to Infocomm Club for the footage and Photosoc for the very clear photos!

So.

If I were to pick one word to describe Musicfest, it would be… (actually, it’s more of an expression?) whoa.

I had no idea. How was I to know (being a J1) that it was such a huge event? That we would have a guest of honour from the School of Music & The Arts? That the booklet would be so official-looking and so, so pretty? That we would have sponsors like NEWURBANMALE and CATHAY??

I’d heard of how big a night it was going to be, and I’d heard that people would dress up for it. (I came in school uniform, by the way.) Plus, the fact that we had to ballot to get tickets was a major clue.

But in the end, it was the whole sponsors thing that really had me going, whoa.

Musicfest opened with a guest performance by Thomas Yeo and David Ho, resident VJCSB percussionists, who are both extremely pro/imba drummers and funny:

Thomas: Can you play what I play?
David: No no no, can you play what I play?
(This goes on for some time, until, in conclusion..)
Thomas: Let’s play.

(I heard there were girls who were disappointed when they found out that one of them was rumoured to be attached. xD )

Anyway, the night looked promising, really it did.

Hold on. Are you waiting for a “But..” ?

There is no but.

It was pretty AWESOME. Fullstop.

After the guest performance by the two afore-mentioned drummers, it was on to the actual competition, beginning with the Vocal Solo category – Natalie, Eugene and Peijia in that order. (Endy, a fourth competitor, was unwell and therefore unable to make it. ) All three were amazing singers, of course, but in the end there is only one official winner, and that was Eugene, who played guitar and sang at the same time (FYI, not that easy).

If you constantly watch this abbrieviation, you’ll love this next part: SYTYCD. Being unable to dance myself No, you know what? Even if I could dance, I’d still be awed. All three performances were mind-blowing. Like, seriously. Fan of Michael Jackson? Catch O.M.G. Want to see super-cool dancers mirroring each other’s moves? Watch Mirage. And are you a fan of love stories (I am! xD)? Be blown away by the super, super, super sweet performance by M.A.D.

So, more singing: Vocal Group. If you like Phantom of the Opera-esque songs, you’ll like Arioso. If you like more mainstream music like Chris Brown and Britney Spears, you’ll like His Excuse. And if you like Backstreet Boys (I know people regard them as their guilty pleasure. Go on, don’t deny it!), then you’ll like OMG! We ate dinosaurs. But in the end you know you can’t deny that all three groups have got talent.
 
Intermission. Cue the toilet rush-hour.
 
We return to our seats, all relieved and contented. xD And need I mention how funny the emcees, Andrea and Rish, were? Anyone who went will tell you that they were.
 
Andrea: Can Justin Bieber sing?
Rish: Huh? How is that possible?
Andrea: Are we gonna get a full day?
Rish: HUH? HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE??

In between the hilarious music videos by HouseComm ’09 (Accidentally In Love! ), GEEnius (SNSD!) and ODAC (JUSTIN BIEBER! Sorry, that was just to annoy anyone who dislikes him. I personally have nothing against him.), with HouseComm retaining the first-place title they won last year, was the highly-anticipated bands segment.
 
Bands opened with Sandy’s An Actress!, who sang Billie Jean + Mercy (and eventually won first place!), followed by The Zebra Joy Ride, who did Paramore’s Misery Business, followed by Defying Gravity, who sang Flyleaf’s All Around Me. To be honest, I thought all 3 bands were pretty darn amazing. Do you know how hard it is to coordinate with so many other members, while playing difficult songs??
Okay, there were sliiiight problems with the sound, but you still have to give it to the PA crew – I mean, come on, look at all the work they did! Just to give us audience members a rocking night!
 
And then the competition was over. But the night wasn’t!
 
We were graced by two more guest performances – the teachers, who sang Hey Soul Sister by Train, and the extremely mysterious group of ninjas. I can’t stop thinking about their very amusing headgear.
 
Finally, it came to the prize presentation ceremony.
 
Everyone won something, because in case I didn’t make it clear enough, everyone was awesome and everyone was a winner. To get into the finals is already a big deal, because only 3 or 4 groups/people are selected for each category, and frankly, I didn’t know VJ could produce so many and such talented people. GO VJC! (*chants: FULL-DAY-FULL-DAY-FULL-DAY…*)
 
One can only hope to have the courage to try out next year.