May I know whether your Company sells Saws which are 26 inches or longer?

Today I went looking for saws. 26 inches or longer. Out of 9 companies I enquired, only two sold anything like what I asked for. One did have 26-inch saws. They had a Stanley 26" one priced at $12.30. That was all. No longer? None, the woman said. So I continued down the list and found SCA Industries. The uncle who answered the phone was enthusiastic enough to invite me over to his establishment to see for myself the range of saws he had. So I did.

The company was located at Ubi Road 1, quite some distance from my house in Bukit Batok. I was of the type who didn't bat an eyelid at having to traverse the whole island to find what I wanted, so I went there, by MRT and bus. It took me about an hour and 15 minutes to reach the place.

Upon arrival, an auntie asked, "Are you here for the interview?" I replied negatively, and enquired what interview was it. The auntie did not give any intelligible answer, so I went into the office. There was a Dravidian man there, on the phone. When I asked him about saws, he promptly put down the phone. He also thought I came for the interview. It was for the position of Operator, whatever that was.

But the company didn't have 26" saws. They only had 24 inches maximum. The boss himself then came out and asked what I was looking for. To cut a long story short, he then instructed the Dravidian man to lead me to the back of the premises, where a machine to cut teeth into sheet metal was. I was supposed to test out the different lengths of saw that came out of the machine, but I remembered what the boss said earlier, "We can cut for you a 26" or whatever length you want, but usually, if customers request only one or two pieces, we won't entertain."

Well, if there wouldn't be any chance of getting a custom-made saw, then I shan't waste my time. So I left amiably.

As for the company that had a 26" Stanley saw, they had closed for the day. Oh well.

I think I shall continue my search in Malaysia, since my family would be holidaying there next week. There certainly should be greater variety there.

Oh yes, I haven't properly said why I need 26-inch saws (or longer). I need them to make music. Just bend them properly, and know where to hit or bow them.

Muzikarama 2006 - Les Musiciens

Muzikarama 2006 was quite strange! If I were the audience, I would find it okay as a whole, except for a few parts, which would be quite memorable.

In this event, I played the role of musician, along with four or five other SSP mates: Jad, Shamil, Jeff, Didi, and to a lesser extent, Efin. He sang most of the time. (I didn't remember hearing auxiliary percussion, which he was supposed to play.) [Didi, Efin and Jeff are not visible in the picture.]

I had to contend with the piano, accordion, melodion, musical saw and whistle. Usually the piano was used, which I was most familiar with.

Muzikarama's scene changes were quite long for the audiences' comfort, so we musicians had to play something to ease the tension. Some were remarkable improvisations by Shamil, whilst some were early starts of scenes from me. I began playing the song for Act 3 a tad too quick, intending it to fill the silence, but i forgot that three people depended on this cue!

Thus the Lighting Woman, the Singer and the Actress started the scene. It must have been a bit distressing for them. Luckily Act 3 didn't have so many props.

The main thing about Muzikarama 2006 that wasn't so good was the tempo (no pun intended). It was quite slow.