I am Annette Singh. Committed Roman Catholic Christian, Legal Practice Course student at the University of Hertfordshire and solicitor in the making, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, avid blogger, videojournalist and photographer, casual gamer. Also one of the founding members of pop-rock group Kingdom of Herts. I have strong passions for the Faith, my friends, drums -- especially those with deep tones, sacred music, swordplay, tradition, language and literature.
Online, I go by my stage name, Troisnyx, or by my longer username, TroisNyxEtienne.
This blog compiles memories and thoughts of things I have been through, visuals or even drafts of things yet to come.
If you are watching this video on YouTube, the download links are in the description. But for now, I'd love for you to give these previews a listen. Hope you enjoy it!
P.S. And given the description and the name of the team for Dropping Loads in a Cave, no, I do not believe the Internet is for that sort of smut. We were supposed to rename it Team Venture, but goodness knows what happened and our bid to rename the team fell through instead.
I had made it a point to pick up, once more, the habit of lectio divina (Scripture study). Like a lot of people who do not know which book to begin with when they have a copy of the Bible before them, I pick a book at random, hoping it may speak to me in a way it speaks to no other.
Yesterday's lectio divina was a bit frightening.
A very close friend of mine suggested, in light of everything that I was going through, that I meditate on Psalm 23 (the one that begins with "The Lord is my shepherd"...). When I came back home after tending to my assignment, I thought of relishing in the entire book of Psalms instead. Instead of starting with 23, I thought, why not start at 1.
Throughout that time, I heard a single, deep war drum pounding inside my heart. I tried to get it out, because I wanted to concentrate on the actual text. Then, as if that was not enough, I heard, in my heart, the grinding of swords -- as if they were being sharpened. The sound of the drum and the grinding swords was just so loud and clear, I didn't know what to make of it at all.
Then, at the end of Psalm 3, it all stopped.
I knew that Psalms 2 and 3 made references to battle and defence against one's enemies, but this was scary as heck. Otherwise, throughout that time I was doing my best to make this lectio a good and fruitful one...
The Newgrounds Game Jam is a competition that takes place either quarterly or twice yearly. In essence, we have programmers, authors, artists, musicians and voice actors getting into teams and working to come up with a fully-functional game in 48 hours. Yes, 48 hours.
Each Game Jam has a core theme which all participants must stick to. Game Jam 8 ended at midnight today, and the theme for this one was 'Cabin in the Woods'. The theme was inspired by the film 'The Cabin in the Woods', but the games should not be about the film in itself.
This is the second Game Jam I have ever taken part in. The first Game Jam for me was Game Jam 7, which took place over the end of June/early July this year. Back then, there were five of us: TharosTheDragon, a programmer; FlowersCheers and SirHenryStudios, both artists; Saminat, a writer and voice actor; and myself. As you can guess, I did the game's music. Now everyone can admit that the game itself wasn't much to write home about. Back then, each team was given a core mechanic with which to develop their game, and our team had "Lighten/Load". The game turned out to be a modification of the 8-bit Helicopter game, with added sandbags to throw off the balloon to keep it aloft. Still, we had the consolation of knowing that our game was known for being bug-free, a quality which many other Game Jam entries lacked. We had no regrets.
I had no regrets especially, since that was the first ever game I had directly contributed to. While there was this one user who mocked me for having a game with lower-quality-than-expected graphics, I retorted and said, the fact still remains that this is my first game, and I am proud of it.
______________________________________
Fast-forward to October this year and we now have Cabin Jam. I was eager to contribute to a dev team -- I wanted to be involved in music production once again. Now tracks for Game Jams aren't the longest, especially because they have to all be done within 48 hours, and you have issues with computer processors and time taken to render the files under a certain format (WAV, MP3, what have you). The Game Jam was about to begin, and I was looking for a programmer. Soon, I sought out Squidly, the man behind Second Wind, one of the most addictive games of the year. When I sought him out, it all started with these lines:
If you're able, and willing to get on a boat that might already be sinking, then I'll be happy to have you aboard! Hey, if good music (among others) can help salvage a sinking ship, let's do stuff!
I chose not to leave; I wanted to have faith.
I thought I would seek out FlowersCheers again, but she had circumstances which made it such that she didn't have enough battery power to contribute to this Game Jam.
So up till 12 p.m. on Saturday we were searching for an artist. I posted on the Game Jam forum thread, I put the request for an artist on the front page, and I made a news post asking for an artist. We were so desperate that any artist who had knowledge in animation would've been enough. At that point, Squidly decided to make some pixel art in the same vein as Second Wind... some pixel art of the main character. He was literally preparing himself for the worst.
After a while, guess who stepped in.
Hyptosis, the artist behind the AliceisDead series. Just the amount of trophies he'd received for his games speaks volumes. My jaw dropped wide open, to say the least. So in effect, the team had two award-winners and one neophyte. I worked on the soundtrack within a day, and the other two were working hard with artwork and programming. Hyptosis did quite a lot of reskinning, so that helped us.
When it was time to make the project file, I wanted Squidly to do it, but he insisted that someone else do it. After quite a bit of persuasion, I started the project file. There were some bugs which couldn't be resolved within such a short time; the deadline was Monday 15 October, 12:00 a.m. BST (or by Newgrounds time, Sunday 14 October, 7:00 p.m. EST). We were cutting it really close; we put the game in just one minute before time was up.
After 36 hours of hair tearing apart, stress, late hours and fun, excitement and anticipation, prayers for patience and Skype chats, this is the fruit of our efforts.
In all this, I have God to thank. Yes, I gathered the team together, but like Squidly, I was desperate. I wasn't even expecting to have a glitzy dev team. We weren't sure if we would finish it on time, what with all the finer details that were popping up at us during the last few hours.
And now, I leave this in the best of hands, that He may do as He wills.
There is a hymn I used to ponder upon when I was a child, and my mother and I often sang it. The lyrics go like this:
Lord, make me an instrument An instrument of worship I lift up my hands in Your name (x2) Lord, tune me, your instrument Your instrument of worship I lift up my hands in Your name (x2) Lord, play now, a love song A love song of worship I lift up my hands in Your name (x2)
Over the last few months I returned to the significance of that hymn. I cherish the fact that the passage through life, the desire to serve the Lord, is analogous to finding a good instrument, tuning it and finally playing it. And so I thought (as far as the analogy is concerned, of course) -- if our Lord were walking into an instrument shop looking for something that would match me, He would pick a drum -- a deep-toned one. A floor tom would probably qualify for the analogy I'm trying to make, but He knows better.
In order for the lay reader to understand the analogy: video explanation to how drum tuning works. This is one of quite a few ways to tune the instrument, but you may get a general idea.
If you've watched the video, let's recapitulate what happened -- the drummer gets a new batter head (or he may use his old one if he so desires). He unscrews the lugs -- those little screw things on the rim of the drum -- carefully and slowly, and he takes the rim off. The head is fixed in, and the rim is placed back in and secured. Then comes the beating. First, the centre of the head is struck to see whether the head has any unpleasant-sounding undertones. If the drum sounds like a bass line from dubstep music where it slides from a higher note to a lower note, that's bad. The rim is then made tighter. Once the centre of the head gives out one single note when struck, the drummer proceeds to the sides of the skin.
At each lug, the skin is struck a few times. This is to see if all sides of the skin produce the same sound. If they don't, the lugs are tightened or loosened accordingly. Finally, after the painstaking process of tightening, loosening and pitch-checking, the drum is ready to be played once more.
End of factual background.
The analogy I am at least trying to make is this -- the way the Lord prepares a person for his vocation, a mission that is specific to him and him alone, is somewhat like tuning an instrument. It is not a perfect analogy, because many instruments these days are mass-produced. There are some which are custom-made, and they fit the analogy somewhat better, I guess? I imagine the best visual picture would be an instrument maker from, say, two centuries ago (or more), where every single instrument was hand-made. Back then, no two instruments were 100% similar -- at every age, no two people are 100% similar.
When I am given an instrument which I take to readily -- a drum, for instance -- I want to use it to make people's hearts race, to give them a sense of being alive. So the Lord calls me. He takes delight in me, and wants to let beautiful things come into the world through me. I take readily to Him, but because of my imperfections, and because He wants to be sure that I am tough enough for this mission, He tunes me. A number of challenges just pop up -- spiritual darkness, bad things which happen beyond my control, anger issues, to name a few. These things are not His doing, but He lets me fall and suffer the battering, so that at the end of it all, I can rise as a person who is truly strong in faith and virtue. It is very much like the necessary battering a drum head goes through when tuned.
And finally, with all the battering finished -- perhaps even during the necessary battering -- our Lord draws me to the place where I can play His love song for all the world to hear.
P.S. A little bit about the context of this post: There was Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament earlier today and I attended it as usual. If I missed Saturday morning Mass, I still made sure I made it to Adoration. It was a time of complete silence, adoration and contemplation of the Real Presence of Christ, it was a time of prayer and in some cases, discernment. Confessions were also heard during this time. Now I always delight in the thought of going for Adoration, even though sometimes, I am not in the best of humours to kneel (or sit) and pray. Sometimes, it has proven to be difficult for me to remain still, especially when I have the heart of a drummer and rhythms and music enter my mind. At the recent Faith Summer Conference, I was encouraged by a dear friend of mine to try to ask little from God, and to let Him do the talking. And ever since then, I did my best to contemplate and pray. Where I felt I needed to, I would dialogue with Him. Otherwise, I would stare into the Blessed Sacrament and imagine Him lovingly staring me in the eye and smiling. I had been getting a few messages -- very strong ones -- during the last few Adorations, but I still need to pray about those. However, the message I received today was essentially the content of this post. I soon realised: how beautiful this is! How beautiful it is that we, in our vast imperfection, can be sent forth to tell the world what true beauty is, what true love and joy are. I made sure to write this post and share it.
Some of you may know that I got myself a pair of Vic Firth (Steve Gadd) signatures for my birthday. These are the same drumsticks my mom wanted to give to me four years ago, but did not because she died before she could do so. I was thrilled to see these sticks on the shelf, to say the least, and I did not hesitate to get them. Trusting that I would put them to good use one day, I did a little wrist training with them whenever I could.
Then, rather unexpectedly, it came to pass that a parish friend and I got to talking — he's in a blues band, and he wondered if I could be of help, mainly as a vocalist. I couldn't remember a single song, unfortunately, because my PC kept on shutting off in that oven-like weather we had over the last few days. However, yesterday, when I went with him to that studio in Greater London, I went as a drummer.
As you can see, the first signs of visible use have finally shown on these drumsticks. I was to accompany two others — the parish friend in question was on rhythm guitar, and his friend was on lead. There was no bassist among us, unfortunately. There was another guitarist in the studio, but he could not play because the guitar he was holding was tuned to G (and had to be left in that tuning for another piece).
It was the first time that I had ever properly accompanied someone. My last drum practice before this was September 2010.
During the rehearsals leading up to Musical Explosion earlier this year, I had the opportunity of playing the drums a little bit, and that was my actual first time accompanying anyone. Another friend was on keys, and I was to drum to praise and worship songs that I was familiar with. But given that his style of playing and my style of playing are different... it was difficult to make the piece sound nice. The way I play Lord, I Lift Your Name on High on keys is very soul-like, as some people have told me... and hence my drumming did not fit. I honestly thought I could've done better, and I felt so small.
This time... I came into the studio, still feeling small. I felt I was the worst among the three of us. The lead guitarist was by far the most skilled of us three. I had informed my friends beforehand that I had not had proper practice for two years. I was also not very familiar with the songs they were singing. It took me fifteen minutes, just about... and three pieces before I finally played something on the drums that night.
The two friends who were with me had booked the studio for three hours. This was what came out of me over the latter half of our practice.
I'll be honest: this is not something I could've done on my own. I was very, very, very scared. I remember even muttering a short prayer, 'oh Lord, please help me to find my rhythm!' Towards the end, I was beginning to improvise.
When I was dropped off at the university gates, I uttered a string of thank-yous to the Man Up There. I was brimming with excitement and joy, I could hear the drums still pounding in my heart.
In moments like these I do want to thank God for the gift of rhythm. Even from the age of 15, I was certain I could play even when a lot of people doubted my ability to play. Still, even though I am self-taught (for the drums at least), I do realise that what I have is but a part of God's immense creativity, and I would love to use it well. I'm not the best drummer there is around, but I do certainly want to play for Him with all my heart, with the innocence of a child.
After I had returned I showed Christo the chip marks on those sticks. He was pleased! :D
NB: If ever I am a contributor to this band, I would definitely make it part-time. I do bear in mind that I am a student, I am regularly contributing to the Catholic Society and Kingdom of Herts, and I might soon have a part-time job.
I was asked whether this was a secular band. I'll be blunt: it is. Here's the thing though: all the band members respect the fact that I am 21, a student, a defender of the Faith and very much against parental advisory content. That is a very good thing. If anything, I'm seeing this as an opportunity to train up on the drums so that when I finally am able to contribute to Kingdom of Herts live, I will be very much ready.
And the pounding in my heart still goes on, and on, and on.
Other pictures—
Two out of three guitars used. The one on the right was tuned to G for one of the pieces, which involves the use of a bottleneck (slider) down the strings.
The drum kit. One of the bandmates was fixing the double bass pedals and cymbals onto the kit. The kit had a (single) bass pedal and cymbals to go with it, but the cymbals we had with us sounded far better. The amount of muffling it had on it (tape, sponges etc.) made it sound a lot softer than it normally would be.
A friend of mine described the use of media as a form of attention-seeking. If such is the case, then our legal system is a form of lying, our banking is a form of thievery, our shopping a form of cheating, our eating and earning wages a form of gluttony, and our enjoyment a form of hedonism, and love nothing more than meaningless emotions. Music would be nothing but a stream of noise and repetitive chords. Wouldn't it therefore be unfair to put these labels on the things that help us function in this world?
In every aspect of life is a good and holy purpose, however tainted it is. Our job is to unearth that purpose and to live it out to the full. Wherever we work, be it in the priesthood or religious life, be it in the media or in the legal system, be it in the government or in the working class, we are here to do as we can so as to bring Christ to others. In our own capacity, we tell people our stories. We tell people of things that have happened, we show people the atmosphere of prayer and the smiles and singing we have managed to capture. We show people the amount of young and old gathered together just because they want to meet Our Lord in a deep manner. To be Catholic is to be all-encompassing, and we would therefore be doing an injustice to God and to ourselves if we don't use what is at our disposal. We have been known to assimilate what is good in every aspect of human culture, and we still do so today.
The evil one lurks in every aspect of our life. Heck, where he is not welcome, he lurks around too — in church, waiting to prey upon the weakest soul; in work, hoping to lure people undertaking contracts into greed; at home, separating families; in the media, spreading junk. Once we have an understanding that we as God's people have to combat this, then any medium is necessary and imperative to do so.
The rationale is that we have to understand a particular means before using it. However, the interpretation of this rationale went completely wrong. As an analogy to this, I can provide a real-life example:
I had an incident last Thursday when I had a friend over at mine. He went on a complete despair rant, saying that politics and law would always remain dirty. And as such, politicians and lawyers were awful people. His understanding was that Saul, David and Solomon were all rotten kings. I lashed out against him, as I considered it a blatant insult against all the good people who were in politics and law. I gave him two good examples of such people: Saint Sir Thomas More and William Wilberforce (the man who abolished slavery). Even my university chaplain was once a practising solicitor, and that profession by no means made him a horrible person. ...I trembled and cried explaining myself to him because this is a situation that every person will find himself in: the eye would call itself more important than the ear, the hand would call itself more important than the foot.
The good messenger of God would use the means at his disposal to bring people to the Faith. I am a media person, and it is therefore an insult to my faith if I were to be labelled an attention-seeker simply because I want to spread that Love through music, art and status updates, however imperfect the means. And so the politician would want to do everything that he can in his capability to draw people to the side of Life, like God would want us to do. And so the mother would want to do everything that she can to draw her family to God by being the best mother that she can be. And so the charity-worker would want to do everything to draw people to God by serving the poorest of the poor in this world. God has brought good out of seemingly evil situations, would we therefore want to doubt His ability to bring good out of the many means of spreading God's Love in this tainted world?
To each a purpose in life, and to each his suffering. To each his own sins and weaknesses, and if we don't do our best to overcome them with God's help, what good are we? I find that when The Rolling Stones sang "I don't want to talk about Jesus, I just want to see His face" in 'Exile on Main Street', they failed to recognise one thing: Christ's face is present in every suffering person. It takes us to recognise that face. We are the bringers of Christ into the world — laity and clergy alike — and the only way we're going to successfully do this is not by condemning the means, but by looking at ourselves.
The people who have stood up for Christ in the media have not drawn very much good attention to themselves — if ever they got positive attention, it was from the faithful; otherwise, they were pelted at with tomatoes and eggs. Still today I am pelted with tomatoes and eggs for standing up for Christ. Mainstream media shows what it wants to show. But to say that supplying information is no more than a fig leaf is non sequitur, because that is our calling — our faith is not to be a lamp hidden under a bowl, but to shine out for all the world to see, whatever the means. At the end of the day, spreading the Faith is supplying information — and a higher information at that.
It has been suggested, in many different times and by many different people, that the Church not be adjusted to the media, but create a new reality. What kind of new reality can we create, at the end of the day? Everything that we can think of creating comes from what has already been created. The Church is God's creation, and thus cannot create ex nihilo like He can. As an artist, I can wholeheartedly relate: I use sound waves, which are already existent. What I can do is manipulate what is already there. And so it is with colours and crafts. We turn to materials that already exist in the world. Yet God intervenes in human creativity, because all our creativity comes from God. With His help, we can create a far better reality than what we have now, with whatever we have at our disposal. At the end of the day, the crux of the matter is this: our imagination, however wild and however beautiful, is finite, and we have to turn to Christ for help in doing His divine work.
Hey guys, what was your first song? Some of us forgot our first, others will cherish it forever. And for some, it is still our best song to date! What did you write it for? Did it kick off your song writing career? And for those of you who aren't big into writing music, did you ever write a song just for fun?
Pretty much everybody's' first song is a giant piece of s***. Not much more to it then that.
WRONG! :P
I will have to say, on a very personal level, the recording quality for the first song may have not been much, but the song itself was something far more substantial than what a 13-year-old taking music lessons would be expected to write. Even now when I look back at the song..... actually, I'll be glad to remake it and then have people judge for themselves.
Not wrong. Even if your composition was good, there is no doubt in my mind that your first song had the production quality of a small brown soap dish.
So if the composition was good, there's no point in saying 'not much more to it than that', right?
Where there is a good composer, I do listen to the first song submitted here, if I can't find anything else -- because at least I know what kind of beginnings they have, and a lot of them have good beginnings. No way am I going to dismiss their songs as naught but crap just because the production was substandard. I pay attention to musical technicality, followed by expression -- if those two can be heard, that's enough for me to be satisfied in a first work.
Saying that a piece is crap only means that you are not willing to revisit it at all, and that's awful attitude, in my humble, honest opinion. As musicians, we all learn things and move forward, but we also do well by seeing where we began, and how far we've come. What if the first song had more interesting twists and turns than our later pieces? If we're going to dismiss our first songs as nothing but absolute crap, we're not going to go very far.
That's too bad. You're an awesome composer. I would love to hear what you have to say about your earliest music, even if you think it sucks.
Is the concept behind this post a giant piece of s*** because you used the word "then" when you really meant "than"? The answer is no. I know what you were trying to say. Even if the presentation of your idea wouldn't bear the scrutiny of some uptight grammarian, does that make it any less meaningful?
It's important to make every effort to attain the highest production values, but maybe this thread could be about early composition and the inspiration behind it.
Personally, I think too much emphasis is placed on technical stuff these days.
Don't be silly. Saying that a piece you made is crap is just that, and who wants to revisit crap anyway? Nothing I made for the first 2 years I was making music is something that I would ever want to remix, remake or even repair. I can't even look at it for inspiration or ideas - to me that's like collecting your own spit in a glass and then drinking it.
How far could you have possibly come if your first song is still better than anything you made long after it? Eventually you just need to forget about your old work. That's what it means to move forward.
Dear person who thinks your first piece is crap: You are the imbecile here, not me.
Each one of us is blessed with a talent. Our first pieces are not the best, but there is always something that can be drawn from it: a beat, an ambience, a chord progression, even a melodical motif.
I can say for myself: I have moved forward. I have moved from songs with few parts to fully orchestrated songs. I have moved from single-tempo pieces to using tempo and volume envelopes. I have gone from fully centre-panned music to properly mixed and mastered pieces. Moving on does not mean forgetting who we are or what we've started with, or what has happened to us. Moving on means growing, and sometimes growing can be painful. But look at the beautiful fruits of facing your own demons: this was my first submission to Newgrounds. This is what is sounds like right now.
I'm going to say it bluntly: are you lot just scared of facing your own work? I know there are lots of people who don't work as I do, but only when a piece is truly complete, then I move on from it. I wouldn't want to remake Westminster Tune in any other way unless it's going to be used for some other thematic purpose, in which case, a remake will be necessary.
If we don't face our own past pieces, draw what is good from them and/or make them better, we'd be putting our talents to waste. God would only weep at our pride or our ungratefulness. The world is constantly being perfected — so too, should we take the initiative to perfect at least some of our own works, and not leave them as they are if they are badly produced.
I spoke to God the other day. I told him I wanted to surpass him, and he said Yes.
One day, I plan on proving myself in some way.
Youll see. When the world ends, itll be ME standing up on that stage!
And in response, I wrote:
'I spoke to God the other day, and I told Him I want to make people cry, move people's hearts... and make it so that people will never forget.
He gave me these sufferings, trials and tribulations.
And from these, I make music that I hope has touched many a hardened heart.'
It has been more than a year since Version I of Westminster Tune was finished. I have learnt a lot in a year, and I really do hope this piece is something to look forward to. The regular users on Newgrounds' Audio Portal have been ever so helpful to me, giving me pointers I otherwise wouldn't have learnt. Some of them quickly picked up my ideas. Through our conversations I learned how to mix and master, how to vary tempos, even how to pick good sounds for a piece. Now, I do these things naturally.
If anyone were to ask me what I stand for, and what my music stands for... I stand for the Faith. I stand for joy, and outpouring of emotion. I stand for Love, even though sometimes, it can be painful. I am not here for commercially-successful music, because I would be compromising myself in order to gain profit. I am here, hoping to write songs that touch the very depths of the soul. God has given me a talent, and wants me to build on it. That, I will gladly do.
____________________________________
Today I had a mini-adventure at De Havilland Campus.
When I found out the lecturer I wanted to see had gone for a meeting, I wanted to go to the LRC without leaving the building much, but then realised much of it was blocked due to construction work. I spent about twenty minutes climbing flights upon flights of stairs, navigating the corridors, going into empty classrooms by mistake.... and finally finding an exit close to the LRC. I spent much of my time on the first floor looking for fire exits that actually could be used, and when I finally found one, I was relieved. Better still: the emergency exit to the LRC was open, so I didn't have to walk around the building to get in!
Navigating through unknown corridors just for the fun of it makes me feel very much like a little child again. ♥ I was tired at the end of it all, but it was well worth the walk.
This remix was prompted by Episode 50 of Chuggaaconroy's LP of Super Paper Mario, and in it, he brought our attention to the Overthere Shrine theme, saying that this theme deserved remixes, orchestral arrangements....... Because I was moved by how beautiful the song was, and the context in which it played, I decided to make this remix. And so I sat down to FL 10 and finished this in about half an hour.
I was influenced by--
1) Grambi's sadness upon losing Luvbi.
2) My own sadness upon finding out about how some people dear to me had lost their faiths.
3) The awe and wonder I had whenever I thought of Heaven.
4) The longing to come to my heavenly home and put everything back the way it once was, or perhaps better.
5) Meeting Him face-to-face.
I'm sorry, I'm about to cry.....
The Overthere Shrine theme plays in Chapter 7-4 of Super Paper Mario, from the second visit onwards, if you're curious to know where this theme comes from.
After finishing this piece, I started work on the montage, making captures of the quotes and gathering them together with the artwork of the people who said these words: Grambi, Jaydes, Bonechill and Luvbi. Well... here it is. People were searching for remixes of the Overthere Shrine; it's my humble input.
I write this post not to say that I am worse off than everyone else — because each person has his struggles, and sometimes, he'd have no one to turn to. I write this post so that I can relate to the people who are in the same situation as I am, and that they can relate to me too, in future. For us Faith-keeping musicians, our art is purified by suffering. It is through suffering that we ultimately get to the meaning behind what we do: to show people what is good, right, true and beautiful.
I hold this post very close to my heart, especially as a Catholic Christian and as a drummer.
For a long time, even up to this point, I've been lost in wonder as to how to share with people what is good, right, true and beautiful. I say so particularly about my favourite instrument — the drum.
Now, no virtuoso performance has managed to touch me to this point. I have only watched one or two of Dame Evelyn Glennie's videos yet (I will watch a lot more when I have the chance). I have watched quite a bit of Kodo, Ondekoza, Tao... they are good groups, and I have linked videos from each group, but none come close to the drums I heard in last year's World Youth Day, Station 11 of the Way of the Cross.
What I have is the less-powerful version, captured with my Lumix camera.
Several posts back, I had spoken about this video and what it moved me to do. All fine and dandy. The only thing was... what I had captured didn't have the same power the original had. So, this morning, curious to see whether that same video was captured by the Vatican and posted on YouTube, I decided to go and search for it.
The simplicity of it at the beginning captured me. Then the progression, as it got louder and more complex. More importantly, the drums were deep, and each beat pierced me right through the heart. That was not a drumming style intended to touch anyone's heart. Those were the stereotypical 'execution drums' — those patterns played when someone is approaching the block (to be beheaded) or the scaffold (to be hanged). Yet, they were given a new meaning when played at that particular station where Jesus was to die after the excruciating pain from hanging on the cross for three hours. I wanted to cry.
I returned home from Madrid....... and wept. That was the effect they had on me. The music team successfully drew me to the meaning behind the Way of the Cross.
I look at my hands and wonder, what are they capable of?......I've had the passion for that instrument ever since I was three. And I now grapple around in the dark, all alone without any guidance, and without a drum kit I can access. Thank God for the drumsticks! I am often lost in wonder at the passion I have, and why I have it. Only God can tell, in His time, what these hands will be capable of. And I am confident about that.
I will not cry over mutilated bodies of babies, even though I know the killings are horrifying and they have to stop. I have been acquainted with such abhorrence that I am blank-faced when it comes to pictures of aborted babies.
BUT: I will cry over the fact that someone shares, with so much joy and love, that every human person is special, even from the moment of conception. When someone expresses it in song, in art, or even in his line of work, that is when I cry.
This is the musician in me speaking, and I know for certain that there are people like me. Going ahead with graphic images of abortions is not the only way — it is effective, don't get me wrong, but we must be able to tackle our issue at hand from all fronts. The Beatific Vision of Heaven is that every soul desires what is good, and true, and beautiful. The celebration of life is good, and true and beautiful! People must not only see the horrors of the pro-choice side. They must see that, because it is the truth, but that is not all there is to the truth. The truth is that life itself is something to celebrate!
I was asked recently to go see AbortionNO.org, and I did go and see it. I did see the video at the homepage. Every second of it. I couldn't react. Then, I saw the Pro-Life Ballet. I did not cry on the first site viewing... but within just a few minutes of the Pro-Life Ballet, I wept.
I FREAKIN' WEPT.
I don't know how many people there are out there who think like I do, but there are. And I know there are people who can stare for hours on end at a beautiful painting or stained-glass window. I know Fr Robert Barron, the speaker in the Catholicism Project, stared at the North Rose Window of the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris for twenty whole minutes each day. I know those who can listen to a beautiful piece of music on loop for several hours (I do that a lot!).
Having said thus, I have confidence that there are those who will be deeply moved by the fact that we can never judge what a person's life will be within the span of nine months (or less). Through music, through song, through dance, through art, through very good filmwork, I want to share the fact that every life is precious from the moment of conception. I'm sure Christo Tracey, my bandmate, would want to do the same.
This is my sharing with everyone for today, and I hope to God that this may touch many a hardened heart.
Friends, presenting an orchestral remix which I hold dear to me for the amount of life it exudes. This is a medley of all the themes in Epic Battle Fantasy 3.3 Bullet Heaven, all written by Phyrnna. This was written as my audio contribution to the Epic Battle Fantasy collaboration currently going on on Newgrounds.
This is the first time I've ever done anything of this magnitude, in terms of size, orchestration and emotion. I cannot claim to have done anything but pour myself into this piece and imagine it being performed live. Truly, if anyone were to ask me where I got my mojo back (or even how), I'd say it all comes from the good Lord.
I did a bit of thinking before coming to the College Lane LRC today and this is what I've thought about: assembling existing tracks/writing new songs and compiling my very first album.
I bear in mind that the first album ever conceived is the OST for the National Service Journal, but that one isn't finished. The album that I'm thinking of at this point might be the first to ever be released.
The full songs I have which can be put in now are:
There is also my unfinished English song from 2006, which might be put in some time later. Probably not in this compilation, unless it's diverse enough. I'm also making a lyrical version of Récupération d'espoir (with English lyrics), and it's going to have a John Denver-ish feel, somewhat similar to Annie's Song. That one will go into to the compilation as track #5.
I've also thought of another song idea, and the idea stems from this line:
I am finally home
I want this song to reflect my thoughts about being in Britain. I don't know... I feel as if I was born and raised to live in exile, and then I come here... and many things about this place welcome me whilst my place of birth repelled me all the more, and truly, I feel I'm home.
So right now, this album idea has at least six songs to back it up. I'm thinking of twelve tracks in total... I guess that sounds like a reasonable number.
The second thing I'd like to talk about is the Mario Paint Composer community collaborations we did over the summer. They have finally been released!
Collaboration 6. In case you're wondering why this is Collab 6, the previous five collaborations have been done in previous years. This is the collaboration I took part in (catch my username [Troisnyx] in the MPC arranger box). This is also my favourite of the three, and the general favourite of the Mario Paint Hangout... mainly because this piece sounds like it was done entirely by one person, but it involved the minds of eight people.
Collaboration 7.
Collaboration 8. This is probably the most chaotic of the three.
I'm glad the collaborations worked out well, and I'm looking forward to more, especially in the occasion when I'm able to work together with everyone else on Mario Paint and create another (hopefully) stunning piece.
Music aside, term's begun. The schedule for Year 3 lectures has finally been released, and... well...... I'm not quite looking forward to Year 3 LLB. But I guess it's time to dive deep and do well. Three out of four modules this year (Intellectual Property, Company and Employment) are entirely based on coursework. Only Equity and Trust is largely exam-based. So I'm called to be consistent.
Let me make it clear that this is by no means a sob story, but something I have been thinking about, especially after the events of World Youth Day.
YouCat (the Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church) states that when you do something passionately, it is a virtue, but when you do something because of your passions, it turns into vice. Different wording has different implications — one implies that the passion comes from within, and flows naturally; the other implies that the passion controls the person who has it. That reasoning can apply to many things, and there is that line between exercising one’s passion and turning it into an obsession, if you wish.
Now I suppose this can go almost without saying, but I’ve had a passion for the drums for years — and I do yearn to play passionately.
What got me thinking was that I had that passion for rhythm ever since I was three years old, and I was moved even then; but when drums were used in a very prayerful, very Catholic setting, they moved me even more. I had that great longing to play when I heard the drums used in praise and worship sessions, or (only sometimes) in mass, and more recently, Station 11 of Via Crucis (Way of the Cross) in WYD 2011.
I now know my focus, if I ever get to play the drums again.
I must mention that whilst some songs can sound good without drums, a lot of songs have a rhythm in the background, either as a staple for that genre, or for emphasis of the message that needs to be spread. The drummer is not there for show. If he were, he would be at the front with everyone else. The drummer is not only placed at the back because his instrument is loud — he is placed at the back because he is, rightly, the technical mainstay of the band. His beat keeps everyone and everything together. And that is the main focus of the drummer. When used in the right context, his beat can call out to the depths of someone’s heart. And in life, it is the same. A lot of good works are done in the background. The onus is on me not to stand out all the time (standing out is sometimes necessary, but not always), but to be willing to sink into the background and still do what the Lord wants me to do. With that in mind, I may be more ready to do things passionately, to let them flow from within.
When I was walking home today I imagined myself going for my first drum lesson in more than a year (how long more that will be, I do not yet know). Here’s what played in my mind:
In a subsequent lesson…
Teacher: I don’t know if this is a very personal question, but how is it that the way you play just moves me? I mean, I’m a hard person…
Student: I presume that in asking me this question, you’re prepared for whatever answer that comes.
Teacher: Go on.
Student: You know how I told you I wanted to play the drums ever since I was three? Well, as I grew, I noticed that the drums moved me the most when played prayerfully, in a Catholic setting. I won’t oblige you to believe me, but that was when my longing to play grew deeper and deeper. At first, I thought it was simply my passion calling out to me, but after several years, and after giving it much thought, I found my focus.
And so, every week, before I come in to meet you, I pray… I pray that I may learn something, I pray that each lesson may be fruitful, and I pray that I may play from my heart, with God at the centre of everything.
If the Lord does indeed will it, may I then have another opportunity to play, now that I understand my longing to drum at a deeper level.
World Youth Day. I shall be writing about that soon, because I have a lot to write, a lot of stories to share, a lot of heavenly joy to spread. ^_^
Getting enough rest after returning to Britain.
Handling the finale of Round 17 of the Mario Paint Original Composition Contest (videos below).
Trying to get my mind geared for i) the new translation of the missal, ii) Damian leaving for Allen Hall, iii) the beginning of term and Freshers' Fair (I may have to be at the chaplaincy booth), iv) whatever else comes my way.
In the same fashion as I wrote the Stonyhurst post, I begin my musings on my time in Surrey with an exuberant Warudingamu desu!*. I looked forward to those five days and four nights that I would spend in Woldingham School, especially because it was my first Faith Summer Conference ever. The Faith Conference is held twice each year, once during the summer and once in winter. The focus of the Faith Movement is to point out how scientific discovery has indeed gone in line with, and not against, faith. And thus far, they're succeeding. I must point out that a number of the chaplains who attended this conference are or were science graduates and/or teachers.
This story shall be told in visuals from several points of view, including those of Fr Tim Finigan, Emma Findlay-Wilson and myself. I hope that the little that I have gathered together may give you a glimpse of what I've been through over those five days.
The theme of this conference was "The Vocation to Love". I found the need to go and listen for myself, because I knew of a number of friends who had mentioned to me that they were devoid of love, and I could not find the right words to address them, even with what I felt deep inside. And I will reflect on these as I go along.
This was the picture to begin it all: a humble minibus. Twelve of us were to depart from Hatfield, and so the bus was borrowed from St Bartholomew's. Our chaplain, Fr Mark Vickers, drove. All the luggage had to be placed at the back, and there was just about enough legroom for us all.
The journey took us some two hours — Surrey isn't as far from Hertfordshire as Lancashire is.
One of my friends, who saw this video upon my return, worded it perfectly: trips always have to wear you out when you've just begun. And true enough, it did wear me out. My PC bag was quite heavy, my clothes weren't too heavy, but I felt beaten down by the sun. And worse, we had a long walk to the Millenium Centre in the school, where we were going to be registered.
Since I was the only girl above the age of 18 in the group which departed from Hatfield, I was separated from the rest. They got the cool-looking Mansion, where the lights came on without people having to turn on switches — YOU CAN JUST WALK IN THE CORRIDORS AND THE LIGHTS WILL COME ON AUTOMATICALLY. Seriously. How cool is that? I got the Marian Wing, which was the "normal"-looking wing. But now that I think about it, the Marian Wing reminds me of my room in Stonyhurst to an extent. I will soon show you why.
You probably would be able to see the room in Stonyhurst if you clicked on that link at the very top of the article — this room reminds me a lot of my previous room.
One of the priests, whose name I do not remember, getting to know the attendees of the conference.
The auditorium, where all the talks were to take place. With the lights off, it was still pretty.
The first of our sessions was about to begin. We had the organisers introduced and the rules spoken out to us that afternoon, shortly after our arrival. After dinner, we had our first talk, "Human Beings and their Vocation to Love", given by Fr Kevin Douglas.
The Marian anthem, Salve Regina, sung at the end of night prayer.
A picture taken during social time at night, from outside the Main Building.
Reflexions
That we truly want to feel encouraged and appreciated, and that we truly want to bring out the best in others, at least sometimes, even though it hurts, is a sign that we are capable of loving and being loved. But the word "love" itself is difficult to describe on its own.
That we had to abide by a set of rules in order to maintain decorum and the sanity of others only goes to show that love follows a set of rules. Go past these rules and it isn't love anymore. Screaming and kicking up a fuss in the corridors at crazy o'clock in the morning during the conference period, for example, would be akin to hitting below the belt in boxing — you're putting others in a position where you wouldn't want to be. I wouldn't want to be rolling about on the bed in disgust when someone kicks up a fuss in the wee hours of the morning. And love is about taking the extra mile for the other, caring for the other unconditionally, treating him as you would treat yourself, making sure he does the right thing, making sure he brings out the best in himself.
Just like in the Winter Conference, mass and prayer sessions were at the heart of our activity during the conference. Tired though I was, I looked forward to them. I especially find night prayer with many friends in the chapel at sundown, before either going for social time or calling it a day, to be one of the most rewarding experiences ever. For, as I thought, not only would the day find its beginning and its climax in God — the day would find its perfect end in God, and that thought is simply beautiful.
—————————————————————————————
Day 2
Tuesday, 2 August was our first full day out of three in Woldingham School. I woke up really early — at about 6:15 in the morning, freshened up and sat on the PC to work on a little project on FL Studio 10. At 7:45, I went down to breakfast. And so began my day.
This picture, which I captured that morning, has a prototype logo for the university's chaplaincy, which I designed. I will have to make a separate post for this soon. I ultimately showed this to Fr Mark on Wednesday night.
Morning prayer (lauds) being celebrated in the chapel.
The second talk began in the morning after our prayers, and was given by Fr Dominic Rolls. It was centred on Jesus Christ, the Template of Love.
Mass was celebrated at noon.
After mass was lunch and leisure time. We had a good three hours before the next talk.
Some went to the sports centre, either to swim, play football or toy around with the foosball table.
Some simply went to bed.
I, however, wound up in the recital room. This pic has the computer on with Audacity on it; for the most part, I would either use the sequencer (FL Studio 10) or record myself playing the piano. But here's something...
I had some access to drums, even though they were just snares and toms. (Yes, people in the CathSoc whom I have not told at all, I am an aspiring drummer. T_T) I really needed a full drum kit to be able to express myself, though. I don't know... at that point I just didn't feel at all confident. I remember when I first came into the recital room and saw I could use the drums, I went about searching in cardboard boxes and shelves for a pair of drumsticks I could use, but to no avail. I tapped using my fingers for the most part, and I'll admit, I wanted to go further than that. I wanted to learn a lot more. It only went to show how vulnerable, how insecure I was without almost a single ounce of guidance.
But back to the timeline we go.
Our second talk was on the Christian vision of love and sex, by probably one of the most vibrant speakers around.............. whose name I forgot. -__-" OTL. As usual. But seriously, he spoke with so much fervour that we could either laugh or be struck by the words he used, by the gestures he made. (We did laugh when Fr Mark attempted to imitate the way this man spoke!)
After the talk, we were sorted into discussion groups. Each pack (I'm talking about the pack we were given on Day 1) contained a huge letter, which indicated our discussion group. There were Discussion Groups A to L, and the last two of these discussion groups were for seminarians (people on their way to the priesthood); I was put into Discussion Group I, and leading that group was Fr Michael John Galbraith. Discussion groups helped where we needed to ask questions but were either intimidated by the crowd, or hesitant to ask in front of everyone else. They also encouraged quite a lot of discussion, especially when people brought up events and issues happening in recent times.
The licensed bar for people over the age of 18. Oftentimes the best of discussions were held there, and not in a purely social context.
It was never like in a pub. People whom I met at the bar during our social time wanted to be challenged. It was awesome, to say the least.
Reflexions
My thoughts turn back to the talk on the Christian vision of love and sex.
Oftentimes, I have come across people doing some serious lawyerly picking apart of the spirit of love. Yes, love has several types. But attraction would definitely not mean sex. The meaning of "love" is profound. In Greek, "love" is often split into types. Philia would indicate strong brotherly love, eros would point to erotic love, whilst agape would mean unconditional love, even to strangers. Christ Jesus himself used the words agape and philia when he asked St Peter what would be translated into English as "Simon, son of John, do you love me...?" (John 21:15-17)
In English and nearly every surviving modern language, there is only one word to describe it all — "love". The English word thus takes on a more profound meaning: no matter who we are in relation with, the onus is on us to care, to comfort, to correct and to condition, to advise and to treat the other the way we ourselves would want to be treated, without self-gratification, and without necessarily having the "feeling" of love. The universal word "love", therefore, hints to me that we are called to treat everyone with great respect and dignity. Yes, everyone, including our own enemies. Everyone, including our families, our friends, our boyfriends and girlfriends, our colleagues, our compatriots, even the poor man on the street trying his hardest to earn a meal for the day.
Wikipedia and lots of other sites and musings have described love as a "feeling". If love were no more than just a feeling, then it'd undermine the things people do in love for others. It is sad that our own society has misinterpreted love as all sunshine and roses. Some of my friends have taken the same approach, much to my dismay. As the speaker for that day put it: waking up at crazy o'clock in the morning to change a child's diaper and feed him does not entail happy feelings. Cleaning out a blocked toilet does not entail anything sunshiney. Reprimanding someone over his behaviour definitely is not a happy thing. A husband taking a senile wife to the bathroom and looking after her every need is, without a doubt, not something to be happy about. There is absolutely no self-gratification involved here. And love has to endure even the worst of feelings just for the sake of what is good, right and true for it to be really called love.
Which brings me to the thoughts I've had on sex — there are two mutually inseparable functions for it: bonding and procreation. Separate one from the other and it becomes an act of self-gratification. Many people have been going down this line without even realising it, and it partly boils down to the notion that love is merely a "feeling". It's disheartening, when I think upon this.
It would take, perhaps, a separate post to explain how love is never for self-gratification. Otherwise, I wouldn't know what I can do in my own capacity to get this across, except pray and hope.
———————————————————————————————————
Day 3
Some new friends — Lawrie (the guy in the blue shirt) and his friends — at the play park. I joined them that morning before lauds. I felt like a little child again. ^_^
The first talk was largely related to the last one we had the previous night — it was on loving chastely, and the speaker was Fr Michael John — my discussion group leader. Then came mass, lunch and leisure time.
Fr Mark and one of the seminarians, Guillaume (oui, il est français !) having a conversation together.
The Main Building during the day, probably taken during our free time.
The second talk that evening (I didn't take pictures for that either) was on contemplative prayer — how it was important to call upon the Holy Spirit to lead us into a relationship with God. Prayer is, after all, talking to God, and talking is part of the exercise of a relationship.
A lot of us were weary from the past few days, with the fatigue from our respective journeys to Surrey catching up with us. I asked my friends if I had missed much, but I didn't really.
After night prayer, we had our quiz night in the Main Building.
The quiz was one on general knowledge, and considering how little TV I actually watch these days, I wasn't much help to the team. But anyway. Catherine initially tried gathering the people from Hertfordshire into one single team, but that evening, we were all scattered into different teams. Ultimately, our team comprised Maryfrances, Tilly, Michael, Pascal, Catherine, Stanlee, some U-18 girls from Hatfield whose names I'm not entirely sure of, Fr Mark and myself.
Our team name? Quizzy Rascals.
It all started when Pascal and Stanlee sent paper planes with the letters STA written on them (apparently STA seems to stand for St Albans). And then, Stanlee was like, "I have an idea! Let's name our team STA!" We got tired of the STA meme after a short while. My idea was "Kingdom Herts" (Herts being an obvious play on Hearts and Hertfordshire), but we couldn't use the name because the Hertfordshire people were all scattered. Then Pascal wrote on a piece of paper, "Team Pascal." Michael then added one stroke, and it became "Team Rascal." From that moment, a few others thought of the name "Quizzy Rascals", and we all decided to stay with that name.
Deliberation.
Kirby. Just because I can. And those multiple STAs were done either by Pascal or by Stanlee.
The snacks were on Fr Mark and some of the younger members of our team. There were plenty to go around, and I ended up bringing back a bar of chocolate with me.
NEVER HAVE TROISNYX IN A GENERAL KNOWLEDGE QUIZ TEAM. THE GROUP IS DOOMED TO FAIL OTHERWISE. This is evidence. All these were summaries of questions to which the answers seemed too difficult for us to find.
Oh, and would you like to know what's next, now that nearly everyone is laughing.
There was a team led by Canon Luiz, better known as Fr Luiz (whom I have affectionately, but not derogatarily, nicknamed Fr Super Mario because of the reference to Luigi), and they were winning that night. Fr Luiz celebrated in the most eye-catching manner possible.
Oh, and a Hetalia drawing. Just because I can.
And I digress:
I discovered that at least a group of students from Woldingham School have actually been to Sabah. ^_^ I recognised Sungai Kinabatangan and the Sepilok Rehabilitation Centre.
Reflexions
Loving chastely isn't something the world does. But it's something we do.
The tendency of the world to reduce people to mere sexual objects without even realising it is disturbing. And it's one of the many temptations people often fall into. The few of us who are constantly bugged by such thoughts try to repress them.
I remember in our discussion group the day before (I think), when Fr Michael John was with us, we remembered how clear the connection was between contraception and the mass killing of unborn children. Before contraception was made publicly available, Blessed John Paul II (then Pope John Paul II) forewarned about the resulting "culture of death". People who defended contraception spoke out blatantly in the papers saying that it would "eliminate the need for abortions". And contraception was made publicly available. And now, we can see that the converse has happened — it was after contraception being made publicly available that abortion laws were passed (especially true for the United Kingdom), and the statistics rose sky-high, enough said.
We've been blessed to have two nuns from the Sisters of the Gospel of Life, an order recently set up in Scotland and spreading all over to Britain at this point. One of them, Sister Roxanne, who visited us in Hatfield last year, told us that when she had people visiting her and asking her what to do about the children in their wombs which were unintentionally conceived, the most common thing these young girls said was "I'm pregnant and I don't know how it happened!" And she and Fr Michael John both retorted saying, "I'm single and I can tell you how it even happened!" Where earlier, people would take responsibility over their bodies, today, we don't see much of it happening. With contraception, the ultimate disaster is having a child, and when the girl does indeed become impregnated....... the stock answer comes out — "I'm pregnant and I don't know how it happened!"
Loving chastely is about treating others with dignity and respect. It is about taking responsibility for oneself, and not merely at a superficial level. Fr Michael John put it bluntly, just like the speaker the day before him: "sex does not make love". And indeed it doesn't. There are so many people whom we can love deeply without even considering sex. And even if we are attracted to someone, we have our pretty obvious limits which people tend to miss — there is a line we draw on how far we can even go, and there is the fact that bonding and procreation in sex are not mutually exclusive, and therefore knowing its function, stay away from it if we're single, or engage in it in marriage with the acceptance of children as gifts. It's saddenning that the opposite is happening in the world around us, but heck — they've always been obstinate, and we've always been different, and we've been silenced for it. Countless times.
The culture of death can be likened to that of slavery — once human beings become a commodity, it is difficult to reverse the process. Slavery was the one evil that was abolished in the rest of the British Empire first before America. And though we all know slavery is wrong, back then, THERE WERE UNIVERSITY PAPERS ACTUALLY JUSTIFYING THE ACT. It doesn't matter whether a human being is in his prenatal or antenatal stages of life — once his body is used, traded or destroyed for whatever purpose, it is being used as an object. Let us call a spade a spade: the culture of death is indeed very much alike to slavery. We are indeed falling into decadence. The same can be said especially for us at the Home Isles. God bless the United Kingdom.
Day 4
We were a bit sad about this day because it was going to be our last full day in Woldingham School. Naturally, we all wanted to make the most of it.
So it was morning prayer, breakfast and then our first talk.
The first talk for the day was by Professor Tom Pink, once a skeptic, now a convert to the Catholic Christian faith. He's a psychologist and I'm not sure what else (drat, I have a very short memory for these things!) and in his talk, 'Love and Life', he attacked points from a philosophical point of view. In this talk, the term "culture of death" was mentioned a lot. It was the term I spoke of in my reflexions for Day 3.
Immediately after that talk, group pictures were taken by Fr Tim Finigan. I took some from my point of view too.
Team London and Southeast (a.k.a. Team Westminster). Spot me!
Team Scotland. Naturally, Tony, who hails from Scotland, joined Team Scotland after taking a photo with Team Westminster.
Drat, Fr Luiz, drat! XD
Team Chaplaincy. Or rather, the group of priests who turned up. I don't know why part of the second picture looks like it's been cropped off... I can't help but laugh at the fact that Fr Mark remained at the back row! XD
Um........... yeah. That's Team Leeds. Again, the last image looks like it's been cropped.
Damian, smile.
Team Seminarians. Yep, the whole lot of them are training for the priesthood. Damian (third from left, front row) is going to seminary next month. We haven't got long with him...... Guillaume (second from left, back row) came with us on a visit, but left on his own soon after.
Team Southwest.
Team Northwest.
Team International. I didn't even know that photo was for international participants, so that's why I'm not there. Wanting to reside in Britain much? XD
The two nuns from the Sisters of the Gospel of Life — Sisters Roxanne and Andrea.
Everyone taking a picture together. Aaaah, the memories. Wonder if the gestures we made spoke volumes as to what kind of people we were...
Then came mass, lunch and free time.
The second talk for the day, right before we gathered into discussion groups, was 'States of Loving', delivered by three people in different routes: Tilly handled that for single people, and there was one for married people, and there was one for seminarians. It was a great seminar, although probably one of the biggest we ever attended......... 200 people??
Our afternoon ended with the evening prayer in the chapel, and right after that was....
Ar céilidh
For the uninitiated, céilidh is pronounced kay-lee and NOT say-lid. If you've seen the post from my time in Stonyhurst, you'd already know that a céilidh is a Scottish/Irish dance gathering. If not... you've learnt something new, yay!
In this section I include pictures from Emma (Findlay-Wilson) and myself.
That guy brought a kilt. How awesome is that?
Pictures with friends — including Veronica, Lawrie, Halinka, Peter (Taylor), Mary-Jane and myself.
Waiting in line for the next dance to begin.
STRIP THE. DARNED. WILLOW.
Strip the Willow is the climax of all our céilidh nights. AND IT WAS TIRING. Whilst the dance went on only for two rounds in the Winter Conference last year, it went on for FOUR COMPLETE ROUNDS in the Summer Conference. When it came to Round 3, I decided to take part. And I couldn't even last half a round. My sides were aching!
The epic dance-off between Fr Dominic and Fr Kevin. I made a mistake in the video description saying they're both English; Fr Dominic is English whilst Fr Kevin is Scottish. Not that this is disallowed — it's obviously allowed (during the last céilidh, Damian was my dance partner!), but 1) we don't often see priests jumping around like kawaii animé characters, 2) the English are said to be a lot more subdued than the Scotsmen. Turned out to be the other way round that night, since Fr Dominic won! 3) That being the case, they really should've done the MikuMikuDance steps to Love and Joy.
The Last Day
We had breakfast, morning prayer, our final talk by Fr Luiz, 'Mary, Mother of Love'; mass, lunch and off we went. It was the day of goodbyes and "Add me on Facebook, please!"
Oh, Fr Luiz. You never cease to impress us, do you? I wondered if I had to go down the pipe... XD
Entering the Millenium Centre for the last time after mass to take our luggage and get ready to leave.
