The show that went flop

To be honest, I was not very happy with the Concert at all. There were two main things which made me very angry for the rest of the day

1) Seating
The seating at the Hall was quite alright. It reminds me of the old cinemas as they have the lower and upper seats. As my parents were seated at the lower level, I decided to try the upper levels since there were not many people there. However, when the concert was about 10 miutes away, it was announced that "we" could seat at the upper levels. Well, how about that. It was because 1/3 of the seats at the lower levels were reserved for graduating kids and their parents. And so, the usual "I want to be at the front" crap started with almost everyone crowding around me since I chose the balcony seat. And not only that, because of the 2 feet gap between my seat and the balcony, a lot of people just NEED to pass behind me. Some were apologetic and most just kicked me in the butt.

But there was one which took the cake. Some Indian guy argued with me saying I was blocking him and refused to move. I countered that it was not my fault as there was a Malay girl sitting on my seat which blocked him. I was ready to stand up and argue with the bastard and maybe throw him off the ledge since we're that close. Then there was one fat ass bastard who took my Wife's seat after she took Kaelynn to the toilet. Despite me saying someone took her seat very loudly to him, he did not budge. And my Wife had to shush me. So, after repeating this three times, I was seriously very pissed. And so, I used my legs every now and then to "accidentally" kick him when he was taking photos. Finally, he got the message and left in a very black face. Had this happened while Kristine's slot was on, I would not be so subtle. There and then, I should have taken a photo of him but it was hard to focus in the dark.

2) Shooting under dim light This is my weakness. And I blame myself for it. One, I should have learn more about photography and two, maybe sold my Satria for a 2.8 VR Zoom lens. The reason was that the hall was quite dim and we were not allowed to go up close to the stage. And so, I could say, more than 75% of my shots for that day was wasted. I was so used to sitting still and taking shots with longer exposure but here, in the concert, this is different. Even panning was difficult.

There were a lot of candid shots from where I was
sitting but this one was the best of the lot.

Somehow, I envy him as not only does he get paid,
he gets to go everywhere. But what does he do? He
goes around taking photos of the balloons, stage, the
VIPs and so on. But nothing about the kids who were
running here and there, peeping from the curtains
and so on. But I do like his lens belt; left for Zoom
and right for wide.

Kids walk fast and because of that, it was hard
to take pictures. Even panning did not help as
the lens was quite heavy (heh). Yeah, I should
have bought another tripod.

In the end, either you have a clear shot of one
or two random people or none at all. One thing
I learnt is that with kids, there are never any
"right" moment. You just shoot and then shoot
somemore.

3) Short time slots.
The Concert consist of all schools from Bangsar, Gasing, Subang and Klang area. But Klang had the longest time-slot. In fact, their part lasted up to half an hour. I know this because my Nokia 5800's batteries were almost exhausted. And the rest were only six minutes long on average. I am not sure why it was done that way but there are some theories.

a) The VIPs are all there
OK, so she wants to impress the VIPs showcasing how good the school is. I have been down this road before and usually, the end result is that you really end up looking like a shoe-licking clown. I am sure she took charge of all things in the concert and made sure everything runs well. I am very sure because by the time she came on, she was tired and her voice shows. It was the worst half an hour of crap I have ever listened to. Comparing her with those blind singers on the road shoulders was like comparing a dying seal with Stevie Wonder. Then again, she must be someone important because non of the teachers intervened. Either that or they got fed-up of her.

b) Showing off
OK, so she wants to show how well the Klang school fared. "The Sound of Music" is a musical and not a farcical. There were a lot of songs in there and they are beyond the kid's abilities. The proof was that she ended up singing all the songs by herself while the kinds sang a bit and most of the time, looked clueless. Almost at the end, where they bid Goodnight, the kids were by now, very bored and started their own mischief. In the middle was one accelerated growth Maria singing herself hoarse, while on one end, the kids were playing on the floor. I am now seriously reconsidering about enrolling Kaelynn to this school. I really need to talk to my Wife about this. I mean, what is so special about this part? The slot took half an hour which I suspect, affected other school's slot. If I knew about this and if the second rehearsal had this on, I would have protested very very strongly.

I began to suspect because while Kristine was practising her song at home, there was one part which she did not sing, even during the rehearsal. I asked her why and she replied that the teacher told them not to. If my two theories are correct, then I am very angry. This is not fair. Not to the kids, not to the parents and in the end, not fair to everyone just because of one stupid moron.

And so, we have this Maria dancing on the stage for
minutes. The dance was so well choreographed
that to the untrained eye, she looked as if she was
running and swaying about on the stage, stalling
for time. Maybe she was SOMEONE special,
or chosen for some reasons unknown.
Some VIP kid?

"Stop flapping around! You're not a butterfly,
you twat!", "Nun of your business, OK?"

So the story is, she is Maria and has been
causing a lot of problems with the Nuns. She
is sent to Baron Von Trapp's as a teacher.

Bla bla bla bla and the story goes that Maria,
who is now mysteriously all grown up, met
the children during one stormy night. Look at
how productive Baron Von Trapp is. One also
wonders the kind of growth hormone Maria is
taking as well. It sure beats those formula milk.
But having those kids surround you like that is
not cute. It won't even protect you from Julie
Andrew's shotgun.

And now, after more than 25 minutes of boring songs,
it was time to say Goodnight. Note that the Baron is
still very productive as the number of children has
grown almost threefold. Unfortunately, the growth
hormone did nothing to Maria's tired and boring
voice. And unfortunately for us too, none of us
were advise to bring ear plugs.

Maria's voice was so boring that even the kids
fell asleep. How I wished Julie Andrews was
here, so that she can end the misery with
a shotgun.

And the production was so bad, even this kid refused
to go back to his family for fear of being made fun of
from the friendly garbage man right up to some fat
smelly blogger.

"Hey! Hey! The mic's dead!"
No, this is not a spot quiz for teachers.
You don't even need to bang to drums
to get attention; Just wave your hand.
But truthfully, this one is very nice
compared to "Growth Hormone Maria
and the Productive Baron" show. Ok, Ok.
I was cruel. Let's call it, "The Sound of
the Clones"

"Dear Parents, please stop coming up to the
front of the frigging stage as you're blocking
the frigging camera man. Don't blame us
when you buy the expensive DVDs that has
shots of your butts or balding hair or your
hairy armpits."