Making a statement

Howdy! It's a lovely Monday afternoon and this weather is absolutely fantastic! Not hot but not cold enough to make your body stiff.

The last few days have been hectic but a good hectic. First of all, for those of you who haven't seen this, go check out the last part of Obama's victory speech. I'm not all pro-USA or big on politics but I love a good speech when it moves me. I watched this whole speech but it was the end that got me to the point I found myself putting it in a loop with my ears plugged in. I transcribed the words and realized it's not about the wording, it's about the delivery, the way Obama said what he said at the end that got to me. It's speeches like these that can get you fired up even if it doesn't directly relate to you (I have no relation to the US except for their TV shows and accent when I speak).

I've recently been doing , yes actually finding ways to train myself as a comedian and one of the tasks is for me to take my favorite comedy bits and transcribe them so I can really break down the wording, the stuttering and delivery of a great joke to see what factors played an important part to the joke's success in making me laugh. Yes, very geeky and seemingly unnecessary, but do this enough and it becomes a habit and you automatically start deconstructing speeches and see what it is that  was the essence of what you heard.

Speaking of deconstructing speeches, I recently was at the 59th Macau Grand Prix this weekend helping out in the Media Centre to translate during press conferences. Let me just say, not only did I learn a tonne of stuff about these races (I did a whole bunch of homework beforehand) but I learned how hard it is to translate on-the-spot. Poof! Translating normal conversations is one thing, translating drivers' talk is another! It was an awesome experience and one I wouldn't give up for anything but I'm going to be honest, it was tough! My extra respect to the press team who would then have to transcribe interviews, race results, commentary, announcements, etc. into multiple languages! I had never experienced a motor sport event up close like this and it's blown my mind as to how this whole thing really is! 59 years into this, it's a big deal! I'm looking forward to the 60th Macau Grand Prix and I'd love to be back at the Media Centre catching the excitement from literally the heart of the venue. I even had to wake up at 5:30am daily and man, it's a weird feeling looking at your watch thinking it's time for a tea time snack and realizing it's only 10am! Ahaha

Speaking of time flying, I can't believe it's almost a week and a half since I was in Macau catching the UFC there! I got to witness the master Bruce Buffer in action! This is a clip of him creating magic with his voice in Brazil:

I wanted to get a picture with him at the after-party but the almost 5 hour long event proved to be a crazy drain on me (ok I had the flu and didn't realize it until the next day) and I had to give up and head home asap. When I heard him start with him " " catch phrase I had goosebumps because prior to my announcement work with Legend Fighting Championship, I'd been studying this man and I have to say, I still have a long way to go but hey, it was an honor to see him work. I learnt a lot just watching him before and during events. I have to say, he is at what he does. Either he controls his nerves very, very well or he is really calm and smooth.

I guess that's what time and experience gives you, calmness and smoothness. I was talking to a friend one night while in Macau because my nerves started getting the best of me as I knew I had a big press conference to take care of the next day and I really didn't want to mess up and he reminded me that it always happens to me, I'm always super duper nervous the first time and as long as I power through, I always survive and by the time I do it for the second time, I'm muuuuuuch better already. The same goes for my comedy career, for my ring announcing career (don't even ask how crazy nervous I was when I did Legend Fighting Championship 1) and now for my Grand Prix career.

And even if I fail, I can at least look back and go "well, at least I survived"...

So let's see how I the next 10 days!