Mom, This is Panic! At The Disco (This Post is not a Fanfiction)

Last Sunday, I told my mom about that song cover overload with Dika. I said, "Dika liked Bohemian Rhapsody but he didn't want to open its version by Panic! At The Disco because he knew it's my favourite. Then he shared a cover on facebook and his friend gave him link to Panic! At The Disco's version. So, he opened it." My mom laughed.

I added more stories, "I like Panic! At The Disco. Their songs are great and the so are the lyrics. Some of the lyrics sound more like short story to me. There is this song called 'Build God then We'll Talk' which is about a motel with a hint of asbestos and formaldehyde. In that motel there is a lawyer and his wife. The lawyer has an affair but his wife chose to stay with him because she needs his money. See, mom? That sounds like a story. A novel, maybe."

Don't ask me why of all the songs by P!ATD, I chose to tell my mother about that one.

On Monday, I showed P!ATD's cover of Bohemian Rhapsody to my mom. She said, "This is great. His voice. It's like the original. Wait, I'm curious about the reffrain." Then the reffrain played and my mother liked it, "Wow, the guitarist is also good." In my mind, I was like: yes, mom!

I then remembered that I had showed my mom the video of P!ATD perform "Build God then We'll Talk" live in Denver. I told my mom, "This is that band who once used circus as their theme. Now the vocalist is shirtless (yes, I said this)." She answered, "Some artists like to perform shirtless on stage. You know Kaka, the vocalist of Slank? He's almost always shirtless on stage, if I'm not mistaken."

I thought to myself, "How do you even know that, Mom?" Then I remembered that my mom was the one who passed the genes of music preference to me.

Song Cover Overload: the (Almost) Full Story

In my previous post, I talked about Dika who shared a cover of Bohemian Rhapsody. Here is the full story (whoa, it sounds important).

My friend Dika is interested in various things. Usually, when he's interested in something, he share anything related to it on facebook. 

Last Sunday he liked Bohemian Rhapsody and he shared some (correction: plenty of) covers on facebook. He told me, "There is a cover of Bohemian Rhapsody by Panic! At The Disco on my YouTube recommendation. I don't open it." I tried to convince him but he didn't want to (duh).

Then he shared an ukulele cover by Jake Shimabukuro and one of his friends commented, "Good cover. Here is another good cover" with a link to Panic! At The Disco's Bohemian Rhapsody cover. I admit I was excited reading that comment. It turned out that Dika's friend also listened to Panic! At The Disco. Yeay! So, finally Dika is convinced to open the video.

After he opened the video, Dika is amused/annoyed/bothered by the comment section. Hahaha... I will talk about it in my next "Talking about Fandom" post.

Song Cover Overload

This is a quick post. I just want to write something but my mind doesn't focus well right now.

My friend Dika shared a cover of Bohemian Rhapsody on facebook then his friend and I commented. They ended up sharing a lot of covers and I ended up watching all of those.

I'll write again after my mind can focus better. 

Talking about Fandom: Definition

Out of nowhere, I want to talk about fandom.

According to Wikipedia, fandom is a term used to refer to a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of empathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest. Note the keywords: fan, empathy, camaraderie, and common interest.

We all know what fan means. Oxford dictionary defines fan as a person who has a strong interest in or admiration for a particular person or thing. I myself am a fan of Harry Potter, My Chemical Romance, etc. More on this later.

Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another. It's different from sympathy. Sympathy means feeling of pity and sorrow for someone else's misfortune. However, I was a bit confused with the second definition of sympathy. It is said that sympathy means understanding between people; common feeling. I then remember a lecturer said, "With your patient, you have to show empathy but you aren't allowed to show sympathy. You should understand their feeling but you can't, for example, hug them or cry with them."

In fandom, we can still find different opinions but, with that definition from Wikipedia, a fan is supposed to understand the feeling of other fans.

Camaraderie means mutual trust and friendship among people who spend a lot of time together. I'm surprised. I myself understand that we can find friends in fandom but I'm not sure with mutual trust. Is it just me?

I feel the camaraderie with my close friends. However, in the topic of fandom, camaraderie is strong with Lady Slytherin. We both like Harry Potter and discuss about it almost everyday.

Common interest is common interest. I don't even need to explain it, do I? 

To be continued ...

The Day after My Thesis Exam

On Thursday, March 17, I had thesis exam again with my other two examiners. It went fine. 

After the exam, I accompanied Miss Perfume to wait for her scientific journal editor, her counsellor. We then had a nice conversation with our senior student.

That afternoon, Miss Perfume, Elsa, and I went to karaoke. Miss Perfume chose some Indian songs and when she sang, Elsa and I commented on the videos (the videos are from movie scenes). She also chose "I Want It That Way" by Backstreet Boys and three of us had this "lovely boyband moment" (is that even real?).

Elsa sang some anime soundtracks and Japanese songs which Miss Perfume and I didn't know so we just watched her "perform." She really looked like she was performing on stage while singing in karaoke. Whoa, that girl. 

My choice of songs include "Nine in the Afternoon" by Panic! At The Disco, "Famous Last Words" by My Chemical Romance, "My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark" by Fall Out Boy, "Love is on the Radio" by McFly, and "Di Sayidan" by Shaggy Dog. 

I found out that "Nine in the Afternoon" sounded hollow without Brendon Urie's voice. Hahaha... I just couldn't replace his voice (of course!). The song was happy and it was one of the few songs I dared to play before my thesis exam.

"Famous Last Words" was great. I felt relieved to sing, shout, and scream during that song. It was like my mental "burden" during the process of thesis making was lifted when I sang it. The song allowed me to feel angry, frustrated, and sad, but powerful at the same time. Strange, isn't it? Plus, I had microphone to sing, so the effect was better.

"My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark" was another memory. There was a time during the process of thesis writing when I had this big problem (I can’t talk about it, sorry) and I listened to this song over and over again to make myself feel better. It turned out that some parts of that song were a bit too fast for me to sing. I will practice!

To reduce "tension", I sang "Love is on the Radio" by McFly. Elsa and Miss Perfume laughed at the line, "We'll have a son and we'll give him a sister." That line was cute but strange when I sang it, hahaha...

I didn't know why I chose "Di Sayidan". The last time I had listened to it was in high school. I just thought that song was catchy and would be nice to sing and listen to with my friends.

Later that night, I was happy and content. I still had to change some part of my thesis and scientific article, though. 

At this point, I've just realised that my three posts about thesis exam are more like song related posts. Maybe later I will write more scientific posts.

The Day of My Thesis Exam

I realise that I've procrastinated too long to write this story. 

On March, 16th I presented my thesis in front of my examiners but there are more to recall.

In the morning, I checked my presentation slide and I thought it was inappropriate. It only consisted of 10 slides and it would have taken about 5 minutes to present. Too short. I then contacted Miss Perfume and she told me what to add. I ended up with 15 slides. Thanks, Miss Perfume.

I went by a car with my father and my cousin. My dad accompanied me to the meeting room. My cousin parked the car and went somewhere else. 

Now let me talk about the meeting room. So, every department in hospital has a meeting room. I had to present my thesis in meeting room of psychiatry department and, to be honest, I didn't really  like the place. The place was small and there were many people. 

By the time I arrived in front of the meeting room, there was a lecture so I had to wait. I was a little excited and nervous so I put my headphones and played "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin in my phone. That song never fails to calm me down.

Then Lady Slytherin came. She had some conversation with my dad and gave me some tips. After that Miss Perfume came. So, four of us waited outside the meeting room. I couldn't keep myself still so I danced to "Ready to Go" that was played in my head. Elsa came a little later after I started my presentation.

Then my exam started. I had 5 examiners but only 3 attend my presentation that day. My presentation went well. However, I couldn't answer the question about molecular biology from my first examiner. Why??!! I need to work it out, I think. I also need to pay more attention to the "rules", like word choice and font. I forgot to make some foreign words italic, duh.

Talking about word choice, my first counsellor told me to use the word "writer" instead of "we", and "study" instead of "research". He also told me to use my own words instead of rewrite someone's words. I did use my own words. Well, I admit, I rewrote at some parts. All right, I'll change that.

My second counsellor responded, "I'm sure that (my name) can write in her own words. She writes a lot in campus magazine and blog." I couldn't help but grin at his comment. My second counsellor was a friendly lecturer and he knew about this blog. I just didn't expect him to mention this blog in a thesis exam. Thankfully, he didn't share my blog address to the other two examiners.

Minutes later, my exam was over. I was relieved.

I still had to have exam with the other two examiners. I contacted them and they could examine me one day later.

In the night, I played "Mad as Rabbits" and "Behind the Sea" by Panic! At The Disco for a little celebration.

The Day Before Thesis Exam

On Wednesday, March 16th, I had thesis examination. It means that I presented my thesis in front of my counsellors and examiners. 

I stated in this blog that I didn't really like public speaking. However, the day before my exam, I felt okay. In fact, I was excited to present my thesis, which was a surprising fact considering that 1) I would talk in front of people, 2) I would be asked questions about my thesis, 3) I would present my thesis in a meeting room in the hospital, a place that never made me comfortable.

That day, I made power point presentation and read my thesis again. Yes, I know it was late. I procrastinated too much. 

Also, my dad caught me watching Brendon Urie video again. He said, "Prepare for your presentation. Stop playing around!" Why does my dad always catch me watching Brendon Urie?

Talking about Brendon Urie, I was careful to choose what songs I listened to that day. I didn't listen to "Build God, then We'll Talk" no matter how tempting it was. I didn't listen to "Northern Downpour" either because I could get strange feeling from it. I even held myself from listening to My Chemical Romance because their songs might evoke various emotion and hit me right in the "feel". 

So I decided to listen to Nine in the Afternoon, Ready to Go, and Always. All by Panic! At the Disco. Duh.

I also had a chat with Dika and he said, "Good luck. You can read fanfics first!" And strangely, I did. I read some fanfics that day. 

My state of being not nervous worried me. I started to think that I might take it too easy. I told another friend that I didn't feel nervous and I didn't really care if I couldn't answer the question. I told him that I didn't know whether it was good or bad sign. He said, "It may be a good sign but you not caring somehow sounds badass." I laughed at his response.

I slept well that night. Still not worried about my exam.