alive not dead...

This past week had been a real roller coaster ride indeed...

Firstly, it has seen me taken ill with severe food poisoning (the culprit was  Fried Char Kway Teow ) to the point where I was so weak I thought I was already floating in Heaven (or wished I was... although it actually felt more like Hell), and then slowly nursed myself back to health on my own...

Only to find that my laptop had succumbed to the Trojan virus and some other annoying installation errors that kept throwing the Blue Screen of Death back in my face. Thankfully I managed to find the IBM Rescue and Repair thinggy that allowed me to use their default Opera browser to find solutions on the Net, and was actually able to post a plea for help on my blog. So now it is back in working condition, although I have a feeling its lifespan is nearing the end pretty soon (touchwood)...

So Phew! I survived yet again, and am glad I emerged from these stressful ordeals alive!

Which brings me to a whole new point...

In the midst of it all (with perhaps a tinge of symbolism in the process), I had been granted an " Official Artist " profile at the  Alive Not Dead website!

Anyone, and everyone, in the show business or creative and performing arts, or have any remote interest in them, should really check this site out:

About alivenotdead.com

alivenotdead.com is an online community dedicated to helping artists. Our goal is to strengthen artist communities worldwide and to help connect these communities together. Through our website, artists can connect with and grow their audience, share their creative works, and meet and collaborate with other artists.

The alivenotdead.com Promise To Artists

We will help all artists, regardless of whether you are just starting out or already well established.

We will always strive to do what is best for the artist, even at the expense of time, money, or traffic. 

We will always act fairly and try to give back at least as much benefit as we are getting.

We will never restrict an artist by forcing them to work with us exclusively.

We will never charge an artist for our services.

We will always keep things positive, and will never be dragged down into celebrity gossip or rumors.

We will do our utmost to respect and protect artists' privacy.

We will help connect artists together and help artists find relevant sponsors who support the alivenotdead.com artist ethos.

We do these things because we truly believe that this is the right way to do things: It's the right way to run a company and the right way to be as a person.

The alivenotdead.com Story

alivenotdead.com unites the combined talents of the members of Alive and the founders of Rotten Tomatoes , the leading movie reviews and news web site. 

Members Conroy Chan , Andrew Lin , Daniel Wu and Terence Yin created Alive and the original alivenotdead.com website to support and promote the movie, " The Heavenly Kings ". A mockmentary following the rise and fall of the fictitious Hong Kong boyband Alive , the film provided a behind-the-scenes look at the challenges facing artists in Hong Kong. It also provided Hong Kong musicians with a platform to speak their minds about the state of the Hong Kong music scene, many issues of which apply to artists everywhere.

While making and promoting " The Heavenly Kings ," Alive came to realize that it was not enough to make a statement regarding the industry if you did not work to address the issues raised. Rotten Tomatoes co-founder Patrick Lee served as the film's executive producer and, with Alive , developed the idea to create an online community that would be able to help artists in Hong Kong. A team (which included a number of former Rotten Tomatoes team members) was formed in Hong Kong in January 2007 and the new web site was launched in April 2007. Since the launch, the community has grown rapidly to encompass artists and fans around-the-world with the single-minded purpose of helping to support the arts and artists worldwide.

Pretty cool, ain't it?

I'm still rather new to the site, but many local performers and celebrities have already signed up and joined the international network - and hopefully, eventually it will be a living and breathing database of entertainers and artistes and the working opportunities that might be generated within the community...

Even if you are not in the entertainment line, you could just join in as an ordinary member and find out more about your favourite actors, singers, musicians, directors, designers and many many others!

Yeah I know, some might feel there are already too many personal profiles going on with the popularity of Facebook and Friendster etc, but this one is different and with a more specific intent...

In any case, it is more fun to know the ins and outs of the local and international entertainment scene from the people who are  directly involved, rather than depending on the tabloids and magazines for fodder!

And you know? It's getting real warm in here. I need more fans... ;-)