Songs that are significant to me

For some reason I decided to think about songs that represent me. Maybe it's because I'm studying songs in English. Anyway, this is probably going to be a long post with a lot of videos. Here goes:

1. I Still Call Australia Home and The Aeroplane Song

Surprise surprise, these two are first.

If that actually did come as a surprise to you, let me tell you this: I conquered my phobia of loud noises to the tune of The Aeroplane Song (featured at the end of my video in my post The Journey: Live Another Day with additions) followed by I Still Call Australia Home. The Journey, a 15-page Word document I wrote detailing how I conquered my phobia, mentions this.

And so, after locating the flush button I walked into the cubicle and began to sing the aeroplane song that I made up when I was about 10- the one with only two lines.

“Aeroplane, flying high
Aeroplane, in the sky”

Even though that song now enters my head at a much higher pitch than it used to, I hit that first note, a high E flat, pretty nicely. That song sounded the best I’d ever heard it in that tiny cubicle since everything resonated in there quite well.

It calmed me down until I actually had to flush the toilet. Ever since my first encounter with an aeroplane toilet I have not been able to stay in the cubicle while flushing it. I wanted this time to be different, but I was petrified.

So I compromised. I washed my hands and unlocked the door and started singing I Still Call Australia Home again and only when my hand was on the handle for me to make a quick escape, I flushed it.

Although the sudden noise made me jump I found that one emotion that I would normally expect to be there was not. Fear. I was not afraid of the aeroplane toilet.

2. Eleanor Rigby, Help!, Viva la Vida, Final Countdown and Fireflies

(Videos removed due to blog post being too slow to load. I'll provide links instead.)
Eleanor Rigby- The Beatles
Help!- The Beatles
Viva la Vida- Coldplay (note: for some reason, this link sometimes takes me to the login page of Youtube).
The Final Countdown- Europe
Fireflies- Owl City

These are all grouped together because I believe that all of these songs encouraged me to listen to different genres of music, not just classical.

School was the main reason I began paying attention to these songs (with the exception of maybe Viva la Vida). We looked at Eleanor Rigby and Help! in Music Literature and we're playing Fireflies and The Final Countdown in band.

Also this line from Eleanor Rigby caught my attention:

Waits at the window, wearing a mask that she keeps in a jar by the door,
Who is it for?

3. Soundtrack from The Legend of Spyro

I think the soundtrack (well some of the tracks anyway) got me interested in choral music and gave me a different perspective on orchestral music. In addition, This Broken Soul (The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night which will be referred to hereafter as TEN) and Guide You Home (The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon which will be referred to hereafter as DotD) also encouraged me to listen to other genres of music.

Some of the other more significant tracks include (names are taken from the composers' website):

1. Cinematic (The Legend of Spyro: A New Beginning which will be referred to hereafter as ANB, DotD)
2. Cynder Boss Convexity (ANB)
3. The credits music from ANB (which is also used in one level in DotD)
4. Dragon Temple (ANB) to some extent
5. Black Powers (TEN)
6. Dragon Temple (TEN)
7. Grove Action (TEN)
8. Well of Souls (TEN)
9. Burned Lands (DotD)
10. Dragon City Golem Encounters (DotD)
11. Small Valley Action (DotD)
12. Small Valley (DotD)

All of these tracks can be heard at http://kneubuhlmann.com/music.html.

4. Saint-Saëns' Sonata for Clarinet and Piano

I can't play the middle bit.

Anyway... sometimes, when I'm upset, I think "let the river flow" and this song comes into my head.

5. Bohemian Rhapsody

Again, this one helped me to listen to a wider variety of music. My first experience with it was playing it on my clarinet at Health Camp.

Sometimes, when I'm really upset, the line "any way the wind blows doesn't really matter to me" comes into my head.

This one probably relates more to the imaginary me (whose title and first name are in this blog's URL) though. She was protesting against something violently. Thank goodness true magicals can use resurrection abilities depending on the situation, or she would be even more beside herself than she is now.

6. The Pi Song



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I'll have to round it off there- this post is getting long and is making my computer slow, plus I have to go and play clarinet now. There will be more later though!

Two stories and some more bits and pieces

So much about a storm. It lasted for about 10 minutes.

I found these stories (or, to be more accurate, my mum found these stories) in our house dating from when I was 5! Reading them, I thought, "Damnit, I could write better then than I can now!" (However, my mum and I think that at least one might have been a retell or copy of another story.)

Original spelling and punctuation has been retained- however, it's not always obvious whether I've used a capital letter or not, especially with the letters P and S, so in these cases I'll use whatever makes sense. Also, anything in square brackets are things that I've added while typing the stories up.

A Big Mistake [note: this one rhymes, which is why my mum and I think that I've copied something.]

I was painting a line when my Brush leaked a blob. What a mistake! I started to sob. I was so mad, I shook though and though. So I splased on more Paint... Some Yellow, Some blue. I Studied the PaPer and looked uPside down. I blew on the Paint and created a Clown! I Painted Some heads, Some arms, and then legs... and made some new SPlats that looked like fried eggs! What fun! What a blast! I would make this fun last creatures from circus burst into sight... from dreams and from nighttime, from Bright morning light. When my friends saw this art, they asked what it takes. So I told them my seacret... just make some mistakes.

MINE! [I think this one is either a rehash or a copy of another story, given the plotline and my age at that time.]

Isabel went to play with Claudia.
She climbed onto Claudia's rocking horse.
Mine! Shrieked claudia and pushed her off.

Isabel picked up Claudia's Carrot top doll.
Mine! Screamed claudia and Snactched it away.

Isabel saw Claudia's Wooden animals piled up in an old shoebox She took them out and set them up on the Carpet.
"No, no, no!" Cried Claudia "My moo cows. My baa lambs!"

Claudia's mother put on their hats and coats and gloves and scarves.
"What we need is some fresh air." She said

Isabel and Claudia and Claudia's mother walked to the park. Claudia's mother pushed Claudia's new tricycle.
When they got to the park Isabel climed onto the tricycle.
"No no no!" yelled claudia My bike my bike. Me! Me! Me!" She pushed Isabel of the tricycle. "Now Claudia, let Izzie have a turn." Said Claudia's Mother
"No Izzie! no Izzie!" Screamed Claudia.

They Watched the bell fly off and land into a bird's Nest.
"Mine! Mine! Mine!" And she pushed it [I assume the tricycle, not the bell] out of Isabel's reach. It ran down the hill. It ran faster and faster. It ran over and over.
They Watched the handle bars fly off and land in a tree.
They watched the [yes, this was seriously underlined- the makings of The-a, I guess] of and land in the bandstand and the saddle bag in a baby's pram [saddle bag?!]
They watched the Wheels come off and roll one by one, into the road, into the pond and into the park-keepers hut.
They Watched nuts and bolts and Screws and Chains Spray into the air and across the grass and dissapear forever into piles of leaves.
They ran down the hill and stood ["stared" may have been what I was trying to say here] at the battered broken new tricycle frame...

"Yours." said Isabel and went to feed the ducks.

[Blurb]

Isabel went to play with Claudia. She climed on Claudia's rocking horse. Mine! shrieked Claudia and Pushed her off.

Poor Isabel has a hard time, trying to play with her friend. But in the end, it is Isabel who gets the last laugh.

A witty and origanal picture book for the very young.

Isbn 0-340-56698
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978034056695

The next thing I want to write about is an exercise book I had written in at about that age (possibly younger as the first story makes almost no sense, especially when compared with the two above). It has a lot of story titles, but not a lot of stories. Here are all of the titles, plus the stories, if there are any. There are also a lot of pictures in the middle of the book, which aren't related to the stories, so I won't describe them here.

Betty Who Does Not want to lean the alphebet
Betty Never Leaned the Alphebet. She said she Didn't. That was really Boring. Clara's Sister, Phobia [!!!] Made an Alphebet Chart out of Coragated Cardbord. Betty Didn't Lik it. Clara said she had to read Alphebet At School, Betty's teacher made Everyone (even Betty) To Make an Alphebet book. Alpha mind wasn't on. Potter Marcus hated it. So didn't Betty Dawan. She came from Holland School and wore clogs. She saw some leased English shoes yesterday But now All Leased [sold?] out. They Couldn't Buy it for her best piese summer song. [At about that time I had to play a piano piece called "Dance of the Wooden Shoes" and my mum wanted me to wear clogs and a dress she had made with a tulip pattern. Unfortunately we couldn't find any clogs.] Then they leased Size 12. That was Betty's size. Hopefully She had English Shoes!
The End

Hamilton's Box
Mummy Ummy Ummy Ummy ummy
Stephanie's Naughty Babies (Real story) [For some reason I had this thing about my piano teacher, Miss Stephanie, having really naughty babies. The first story I wrote when I was 3, titled "Oh No No but Where is my Baby" was entirely about these naughty babies. I don't know if she even has children.]
Hattie's great show
The Laybour [The Layabout?]
The Game [I JUST LOST THE GAME!]
Delaby (An Australian Story)
Children Brad Stephanie and Folk
Taller Kyte
Tettie Brutionationafras [it has "nation" in it!]
Liffie Style [it's hard to tell whether it's "Liffie" or "Iffie" because there's so much scribbling out]
No Neat hair
My Grandma
My Mom [so I've just suddenly turned American now, have I?]
Phobia Is Sad [GOOD]
Dear Newly Read Children,

Here are some more excerpts from a few other exercise books I've found.

Special Space [this is dated- I was 6 at the time I wrote this one]

When we were learning about Space, we thought Space was special. So we called Space 'special Space' It is so nice there.

Well Miss Jones said
Space was special
Space was Cool
Space was Shiny
Space was dark
Space was firm
[my goodness, you can make so many innuendos out of this!]

I read a book about...
space
planets
It was special!
It was cool!
It was Shiny!
It was Dark!
IT WAS FIRM!
[and in come the innuendos...]

[Also in this book is a list of languages, or should I say "languases?" The three languages listed are Malay, English and French. If this book is anything to judge by, I must have thought that those were the only languages which existed in the world. I was wrong.]

[A list of games]

No looking
Memary game
Singing
Plays
lego
musical Bobs
word game
Scruffy Millie and Bonkers [where we all pretended to be dogs]
Dancing
troble [the board game "Trouble"]
Raceing
Bogie junior
woof up woof Down
Blue's Clues
Musical Stachuses
Make UP game
Digeridoo
Pretendtoswim [the words are written really close together]
Music
1B-2B-3B-4B
tori animal Boot
Hippopotamas
Furby Phases
Hide and seeks
Netball
Pelloest [I don't know what this is meant to mean]
title your play

Last but not least, there is a page stating that the deputy principal at my primary school can "reed" all writing.

Started a new blog

Today I started a new blog called "Xiniyan's Orb of Happiness" which is to hold our happy moments and anything else that makes us happy. It's at http://orbofxiniyan.blogspot.com/. If you wish to contribute, you can post a comment and I'll add it as a blog post or you can ask to become an author of the blog and I'll send you an invitation which you should hopefully receive via email.

The reason I created such a blog is because sometimes, when you're really down, you forget all the good parts of life and so the blog is to remind you of them.