The Iceberg Illusion

Got bored at work.

Took a few minutes to ogle Elliott Koon photography works when I saw a facebook post of him talking about his early influences by buddy and master 忠洋 and ultimately about his photography grandmaster, Vig. 

Elliott Koon: Jack of All Trades

It amazes me how one can influence unimaginable generations of awesome street photographers. Very much like how Cobain can power the grunge movement and made it his own. An entire generation of rockers bred just because of one man's passion. Just like how i am vastly inspired by this multi talented and blessed brother of mine.

Angelic shot of Cobain, a legend lost too soon.

Many dreams of doing things they are passionate about. Such as traveling photographer, touring musician or just be a very successful businessman. What we see is the result but what we don't? The amount of dedication and hardworking resolution is enough to beat your dreams into submission. 

Are you ready to rummmmmmbleeeeeeeee????

Things that don't happen: sitting around and suddenly, BOOM! i'm a genius songwriter!

Dreams are just dreams when you don't put efforts into making a reality. There are people who are born naturally talented. Yes, you may argue that those with naturally gifted ones can create a better masterpiece. But how uplifting and motivating it is by that? 

My best example? Batman in the Knightfall saga. Batman is bruised (or Bruce-d..haha ha ha...i need to go out more) and burning out by taking on too much and was ultimately paralyzed by Bane (gasp!). Forget about how miraculously his broken spine was healed but his fight against all odds is a much better viewing value compared to say, Batman single-handedly bombed the whole Gotham to next kingdom come with his newly engineered nuclear bomb that only affects those with criminal DNAs programmed into the bomb. (wait..what?)

Somebody gotta hurt reaaallll Bat.....(yeah, i definately need to go out more).

So, there you go. Efforts and dreams do go hand in hand. In short:

The very same thing that struck down THE Titanic (P/S: not my artwork)

Legends are made by those who grind those dreams into diamonds. 

Dreams are for dreamers

So here i am, sitting in Starbucks. With nothing to do (yet), i've decided to post something on my blog. Oh yeah, i just saw Jason Lo in Jaya 1 about 30minutes ago.

That got me thinking. When i was a small kid, i used to think that "celebrities", people on tv, singers, actors, musician...you get my drift, used to have a hard time living out of their professions. But i was soooooo wrong. Well, that is unless you are really big in other parts of the world. But not in Malaysia.

Everyone can just walk here and there without a bother. I guess they do get to go and buy ayam percik in pasar malam without people asking them for photographs and/or autographs! LOL!!!! Thinking about that, i feel like i've cheated myself all this time! LOL!!

That is what we grownups think. But not to a kid. Even those in their early 20s still thinks that being an entertainer, performer is something to shout about. The fact is, no.

I've been performing in public for the past 3-4 years. And i can tell you, it is nothing to shout about. So what if you have a single out in the market? So what if you are a regular performing entertainer? So what if you've recorded some tracks for other artists? Its not such a big deal. We can still all sit down and chug down a cold beer at German Bier Houz without people come and disturb. LOL!! (Yes, i DO know such people...so what?! LOL!!)

But there are some cases where they think they are on the road to superstardom. They talk differently, they walk differently. WAKE UP AND SMELL THE ROSES!! You will never be as big as you hope to be. Not with just dresses and hairsprays! I'm not saying that it is not achievable in Malaysia. You can but everything comes at a price.

Can you spend the rest of your waking days just practising the same old basic techniques? Can you sleep and dream of the same old techniques? Can you forgo the freedom of hanging out with your friends at the local cinema? Can you forgo the dream of having a nice car, a smartphone (if you still don't have one...like me.)? Even if you could, without having the right connections, you'll just end up wasting your life. Its better if you just go and get yourself a REAL job...just like everyone else. Do you have the X-Factor?

I am a entertainer by night and i still need to look for a job out there. Just like the rest of you. I dream of making it in this industry and oh God, i do pray so hard. But it still boils down to the same thing. DREAMS are for DREAMERS without WORK! You have to work really hard for your dreams or you'll just end up with that. Just a dream.

Nothing is too late and nothing is impossible. Take a look at a lot of great artists. A lot of them started with nothing. But they work super-power hard to achieve their dreams and in the end, they became what they are. Some work so damn hard that they lose focus of why they are doing it in the first place. And some get so caught up in their fame that they lose what made them so good in the beginning.

To sum it all up in 6 words: DREAM, BELIEVE, WORK HARD, HUMBLE and REALISTIC!

Love,

JL

P/S: picture was "snatched" from www.johntaglieri.com LOL!!!

Dreams, anyone?

Lately i'm having a lot of "themed" dreams. hahaha~~~you must be asking what the heck is that. Well, the reason i said it was themed is because it seems that everynight i get up from bed somewhere 2-3am everytime, breaking sweat and feeling thirsty, i realised i've been dreaming again. Not the same dream everynight like in the movies tho'..it would've been so cool, innit?!! I don't know why i was always dating someone in my dreams. Lately i dreamed that i was dating with Nanako Matsushima!!! (damn, that lucky Sorimachi Takashi!) The other day was some other random people and even some i can't name it here. Am i in a kind of state of psychological need?

Wow...i just realised how hard it is to blog about your own problems when you are listening to Brian McKnight's acoustic version of Cherish. I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy inside now...mmmm. hehehe~~~~

So, if you guys are reading this, leave me a comment and tell me what are your dreams lately and what do you think of it. Till then...ciao!

dreamy stickman,
JL