farewell, my wife...More conclusive proof that the parents fucked it up again...
Today I finally threw away my first cello. A simple decision to throw it away actually took years to process when they involved themselves. Thank God neither of them are CEO's, eh?
The simple facts are:
- The cello is quite condemned. In addition to the neck being severely warped, the knob on my endpin screw is also broken. The cost to repair it is more than the price of a new instrument.
- I can forget about selling it because no one would want it even if I gave it away free. Cash Converters wouldn't want it because, well, it isn't in a playable state.
For the longest time now, these have been their responses:
Dad: Whatever. Just try to sell it for a token sum.
(Not listening)Mum: Keep it first, don't make rash decisions. If you repair it, next time you can use it for teaching.
(Avoiding the issue + a bit of not listening)All this while, the cello has just been gathering mould in my cupboard, and damn I need the space. I started to make noise about it. After all, since I was adamant that it could not even be sold for a penny (except to the
karung guni, but there are no
karung guni men around our area), if they really want to sell it, they should be responsible for it not me. If they are sooo stingy they want to recoup as much of their initial money... It's only $600 for goodness sake, and any string player will tell you a cheap instrument is no investment, it depreciates rapidly with unuse...
Anyway, mum promised that she would move the cello out of the cupboard. That was months ago, and on Sunday I got really pissed off and smsed her 'I want the cello out of the cupboard today'. She replied 'Today not free. Tuesday'. Well, today is Thursday and as expected, nothing's been done so I smsed her my final, non-negotiable decision, stripped the cello down, and threw it away (left it at the bulky refuse area). I kept the tuning pegs, bridge, endpin, and of course, the case.
It sucks that instead of feeling emotional that I have to let it go, I instead feel angry and full of hatred that I actually have to fight to let it go. Why must they fuck everything up? Why can't they just listen to me?
surreal.Just back from a totally surreal weekend, in which I was in JB for a string orchestra performance with FUSED on Friday, and then freelancing with the metal band
Abyssal on Saturday.
Foon Yew High School Auditorium. Check out the tiny stage.
That idiot in the centre looks a bit like me... I'm actually playing the Finale from the C major cello concerto by Haydn. Stage is so tiny that my endpin is actually backed up against the stairs, and I didn't need a stopper at all.
This photo was taken with Zhe Khai, who if I remember correctly is an alumnus of Foon Yew High School like Maestros Yik Ki and Pheck Chuan. It's nice to know some of the audience think I was great, even though the truth was that I was underprepared and had wrong notes by the barrelful...
The very next day, I would be going from classical to metal. From solo to solo. Talk about psycho. Or rather, psycho 180-degree changes.
Ever wondered what a demon looks like?
That's Zahid, our drummer.
Camera flash eliminated most of the effect on this one. The makeup was done by Carmen, our keyboardist (above). She's a very professional, Cosmoprof-certified makeup artist, and she's more than willing to make you pretty or monstrous as the occasion demands, for very reasonable prices too. Check out
her blog here.
The gig itself. Damn it was hot in there.
Move aside, Apocalyptica.
In all, the gig was a tremendous success, despite the extreme setbacks we faced, right up to the last minute of it all. I sure look forward to the next one. Whenever that may be...
