It's 2006!

Happy New Year everyone!!!

New year resolution time, which we all know pretty well from experience, never really works. Still let's hope for the best!

website's up

Heavenly Pigsty

Thaumatrope

Thaumatrope

earliest idea of animation? possible...

update on the site

I did both the Chinese and English versions. Major work is done and for Christmas I'm going to Hamilton to visit my dad's friends. I've never seen them before and hopefully it'll be fun!

MERRY CHRSITMAS EVERYONE! & Thanks for your support again!

letter from a very supportive fan^^

其实不太想写这个短消息了，不过看过了你GARNET CROW Fansite ~ 7 Seas ~的网站，真的很感动，所以还是写了这个长篇大论，希望您可以读完她。网站虽然东西不多，应该也付出了不少的时间和心血，而且真的很温馨，很舒服的感觉。已经被我加入收藏了^^

还有，希望不要误解我上次短消息的意思。其实虽然知道GC比较早，但还是通过你的google邮箱里的东西使我真正喜欢GC的，也从那里下载到了很多好东西，所以还是很感激你的。20岁之前，对音乐几乎不是很感兴趣，可以说是ZARD把我领进了音乐的海洋，GC使我真正爱上了音乐。虽然读书成绩一直还可以，但真的感觉自己精神上又上了一个层次，追求的境界更高了，我为人类能发出这样天籁般的声音而感动！

也许是我记错了，不过我记得您上次好像给我留了一些类似QQ,MSN，邮箱之类的联系方式。因为上次回短消息时说了类似“嗯，好的，您的信息我记住了”之类的话，做人守信是我第一原则，信息丢了我很抱歉，所以申请QQ后很快就来告知您。其实由于学业的关系，上网都很少，使用QQ的机会也就更少了，MSN根本没有，好友们也许一个月都不见得碰得上，所以真的没有任何关系：）特此说明，希望您不要误会了^^

关于网站的一些建议。网站节点好像放在了加拿大的多伦多，但是这边访问速度还是很快的^^主背景颜色是白的，可能有助于加强与黑色字体的对比度，使文字看上去更加明显，但是浏览时间长了，会有刺眼的感觉，使眼睛很不舒服，所以建议可以加一些元素进去，就像是主页上的雪花之类的，会让人有很温馨的感觉:)英文的字体我并没有感觉到有什么怪异，大一些看的更清楚。底下的小图是各个板块的入口，虽然在鼠标悬停时可以看到板块名称，但是这样做对于第一次进来看的朋友并不是很明显，而且也显得空荡了一些，建议可以把板块名称写清楚。如果您会做flash的话，就更好了，这个部分用flash做的话，会相当精彩的。资源方面再多加入一些介绍性的文字吧，因为绝大多数人都知道www.jmp3.net提供近乎所有日文歌曲的下载的。其实，我虽然是软件工程师，但是什么也不懂，说的不对的地方，请不要在意^^

关于宣传网站的事情。GC的网站真的不多，这么好的网站，您想要多多宣传也是可以理解的。刚才在QQ上见到了两个料理店的斑竹，已经让他们看了看，大加赞赏呀，呵呵，也让他们宣传了。

第一，可以在一些论坛申请一下链接。在水区或者类似咨询台的地方发帖子，或者直接给管理员发短消息。一些大的论坛希望不大了，推荐几个吧!料理店可以试试，http://www.wezardcn.com/bbs/index.asp 这里也不错，关于ZARD的论坛，管理员是shuhchan 可以给她发消息，人不错的。申请链接可能得有双向性，相关性吧，你的网站上也得链接别人的呀^^其他的可能您知道的比我多，我就不在这里班门弄斧了。

第二，直接在您所知道的各类论坛水区发帖子，不嫌麻烦的话，拼命发吧^^

第三，百度GARNET帖吧，在这里： 百度贴吧 > 日韩明星 > garnet吧，（记住不是garnetcrow吧，那里近乎没人）。据我所知，那里客流量比较大，吧主是天使兰ran，说明一下情况，弄个精品什么的，置顶最好了。帖子标题最好动脑子想一下，因为帖吧标题可以在 www.baidu.com搜索到的。试想，如果您的网站能让不了解GC的人，开始了解并喜爱上GC，其实这才是最重要，最幸福的事呢。肯定会有很多刚刚接触GC的人，在百度搜索 “GARNET CROW网站”"GARNET CROW 相关网站”“GARNET CROW下载”“GARNET CROW WEB”之类的，因为当初我就是这么干的，所以帖子标题可以含有这些字。至于，怎么让google之类的全球性搜索引擎把您的网站列出来，我不知道，不过时间长了，也许您会有意外的惊喜，祝您好运吧！

还有您做的logo，希望是gif格式的，动态的显示出GARNET CROW这几个字，还是为了明显吧^^
您说的英文语系，不太理解是什么东东，在中国读英语专业的人呢，还是说英语国家的人呢。不过向这两类人群推广可不容易。您的英文水平这么高，去英文的论坛推广吧！！！
我的友人的建议：1。网站的名称,起的普遍些,自然容易被搜索到2。要想在baidu,google排名靠前是要花钱的3。免费宣传网站教程http://mark-world.net/p/mfxcwzjc.php
以上全是一些小小的建议，很可能是班门弄斧了，望莫见笑。说得不好全当是我胡说八道了：）
希望您能奈住性子读到这里，我写了一个多小时了，哈。!!!不用回复了，因为考研的关系，以后这里恐怕不来了，回复暂时看不到了^^。这是我最后一次给您发短消息了，希望自己明年会有一些时间泡料理店论坛^^衷心祝愿7 Seas网站会有更好的发展，也祝您身体健康了^_^

finally my GARNET CROW website's up!!!

Can't believe I spent 3 whole days working on it. Thought I'd drop dead in front of my laptop.
The poetry section and weekly recommends webpages are also up!

There're also a couple of sections on movies and books. I'd be happy to collect movie reviews from you guys since you all love to write ^^

ps. best viewed with IE.
Thanks for your support (bow)

north country

Yea! First of all tests are done. Mon, Tue, Wed, hell of a chain-reaction type of ordeal. It's rare we even shared a couple of laughs right before this morning's biochem test.
TA: Ok, now it's 7min before 9. Again no electronic devices, no cell phones, pagers, no pace-makers.
Student: Pace maker... That's the last thing we'd ever need.
Prof(reclining back in his chair, lazily): Unless you have another test tomorrow.
- After 5min -
TA: Ok, 2min to 9. No electronic devices. (Turns around, pointing at our lazy prof who's listening to his iPod) This guy here has an iPod but the rest of you can't.
Prof: hahaha, absolutely agree.

As the title suggests, I wanted to write a short review on the movie 'North Country' starring our forever so beautiful n talented Charlize Theron. I watched it 10min ago so while memory's still fresh!



Warner Bro. Official Web
IMDB movie info


The movie's inspired by a true story on the sexual harrassment case of female miners in Northen Minnesota. The famous class action law suit (pardon me but I've only learnt of it after watching this movie) was settled not long ago and the rules were in favour of women who are now lawfully protected and enjoy equal rights. Charlize said in her interviews that the movie was about the life of the miners, of the whole town in general. The sexual harrassment fact is only part of the bigger picture although the movie seems to accentuate it in favour of female rights, or equal rights. I was honestly taken aback by several scenes where obscene graffiti was scribbled all over the toilet walls and how they put unsightly stuff in those female workers' lunch boxes. The whole dark toxin-filled place plainly reeks of excessive male testosteron so to speak.

Getting back to the synopsis, the mine business is a male-dominated world where everyone's struggling to earn enough money for a decent living. Basically they never wanted any female workers there to snatch their bowls and the only few women chose to endure the gross treatment rather than voicing it and probably recieving harsher retaliations from the males in return for such daring acts. One woman, Josey(Charlize) finally spoke up. However in order for any chance of sucess in the lawsuit, there must be a class action. More than 3 people must file the suit. 3 is a small number you might say but reality is, the more it's stirred up, the harsher the life is for the women in the pit. They chose silence to get past and not a single one would bother. 'Being right or wrong has nothing to do with reality' Jose's lawyer reminded her. Besides, Josey has a past which gives everyone in town the wrong impression of promiscuity. Her own son hates her and calls her a whore. Her father's ashamed and someone's wife would turn up at his son's hockey match and yell at her in front of the whole crowd 'Stay away from my husband you bitch.' Life can't get any worse.

Charlize Theron!!! I know it sounds wrong but I'm just head over heels for her. She's got tons of talents and amazing flexibility. She just drags you right into the emotional world of her characters. And she has the sweetest smile and clearest eyes! One common feature of the roles she's played so far: they're all strong, relentless women, character wise.

Weekly pick:
Red Hot Chilli Peppers - The Zephyr Song

Don't know much about the group but the song's nice, especially the chorus, like a deep breath, a sudden lift in current that brings a true lightness of being.



Can I get your hand to write on
Just a piece of lead to bite on
What am I to fly my kite on
Do you want to flash your light on
Take a look it’s on display - for you
Coming down no not today

Did you meet your fortune teller
Get it off with no propellor
Do it up it’s always stellar
What a way to finally smell her
Pick it up it’s not to strong - for you
Take a piece and pass it on

Fly away on my zephyr
I feel it more then ever
And in this perfect weather
We’ll find a place together
Fly on my wing

Riddlin on liberator
Find a way to be a skater
Rev it up to levitator
Super mainly aviator
Take a look it’s on display - for you
Coming down no not today

Fly away on my zephyr
I feel it more then ever
And in this perfect weather
We’ll find a place together
In the water where the scent of my emotion
All the world will pass me by
Fly away on my zephyr
We’ll find a place together

Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa - do you
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa - won’t you
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah

Fly away on my zephyr
I feel it more then ever
And in this perfect weather
We’ll find a place together

In the water where the scent of my emotion
All the world will pass me by
Fly away on my zephyr
We’re gonna live forever
Forever

love psychedelico

one of the photo shot taken from their album booklet

bewitching intoxicating mesmerizing
Kumi's just too good.

internet

I'll be banned for the whole of next week. When i came back today I found a note from the Res office stuck on my door that read 'We've identified you as one of the 32 users who slowed down the internet, blah blah, from day blah to day blah, u used up blah megabytes, and now we give you 500mb limit for this weekend. If you exceed the limit, you'll be banned next week.'

Merci.But I've already exceeded 500mb counting today, so I don't care. I'm going to school library every day next week and enjoy my 1GB wireless allowance. Not that I'm an internet maniac. Uploading stuff to forums took up lots of my bandwidth.

Garnet Crow's 19th single was out on 23rd this month. Not very impressive, not bad either. Still I'm kind of certain they've reached the point of saturation where talents for song writing have stumbled into a deadlock. It can't be helped. This happens for most artists, sooner or later. I love their 1st album best. It's just so classic there'll be no 2nd runner up whatsoever.

Hmm, what have i been doing recently. Ok, I finished my biochem lab report half an hour ago. This's probably the 1st time in my entire life I beat the deadline by a good 3 days in advance. Miraculous! Truth is I'm so stressed up and fed up I don't know when to act, how to act and what to act. So I just try to be more productive and blindly assure myself the days will always shine even if hell freezes over. It helps to have some mental support. When it's hard to find any, I'd start chewing on chocolate and Skittles, hoping to figure something out on my own. And I'd be reminded of tree's quote 'Life's a bitch. Then you die.' or 'Shit does fly'. Along those spicy lines which I have to agree. But everybody survives and so will I.It's just a bad time, or not the right time.

Earthquake in China, 5.7. 14 or so died and hundreds injured. They say there's a major avian flu outbreak again and the government's been hiding it as usual...

quote of day
'Good girls go to heaven. Bad girls go everywhere.'
It so often appears I can't trace the original. I doubt it's from Jim Steinman.

And coz of my sudden sentimentality for the earlier days of GARNET CROW, I decided to play their 1st song ever. Back in 1999, when they weren't known by anyone, they released this mini yet orginal-flavoured 6-track album 'First Kaleidscope' under the independent label 'Tent House'. It sounds so raw and happy. I miss it just like that old rusted bicycle rested against the wall. I didn't make that up. It's from the album booklet.



Lyrics Translations from Ryuichi's Jpop Station

Kimi no Uchi ni Tsuku made Zutto Hashitte Yuku
- I keep running till I reach your house

Vocal & Song: Yuri Nakamura
Lyrics: Azuki NANA

Changing to my new coat
I change my mood and go dashing out
The times I spend apart from you
I'm quickly overcome by a blue mood

Even living carries no meaning
And I feel as if there's nothing of value
I find myself deeply moved by flowers blooming in the wild
Because they live in such safety

I'd planned to keep running till I reach your house
Let's just fall down and play like puppies
For all of today and tomorrow, look only at me
If we get hungry, let's phone out for some pizza, wow~

Your mind sometimes seems like a maze
A careless feeling that puts me in a silly mood
Even so, I'm a creature that feels lonely on my own
And I want to see you soon

If I could see your smile, I'd cheer up quickly
Is such a simple routine happy...?
Something was wrong with me for passing time in confusion
If I ever start to forget again, sing that song, wow~

Don't worry everyone
We lived for when we come home
Everything, anyway
Anywhere we think of fondly can be a starting point
Starting up brand new day
I'll share them with you
Follow you now... through

Maybe someday, woo baby
And we'll be sleeping with the TV on
Good night, good night for you

I wanna stay together, woo darling
To lovin' that all last forever
Good night, good night for you


ps. And it's one of the rare songs Azuki NANA gives happy lyrics for. This woman usually dumps in lots of depressive and impressionistic words and her explanation was 'I'd put in death themes to satisfy myself'.

The 24th Day

Well... I don't have much time right now to write a full review coz it's 2am and I need to sleep soon... Although I'd really like to write one like what Jeremy did on the new Harry Potter movie...

To be precise, I watched the movie on my computer 3 hours ago. It's a low budget movie with a well written script. I wouldn't say 'excellent script' but impressive enough. It has strong anti casual sex message in it and the social problems caused by HIV as well. Am I allowed to spill all the beans? If I'd to give the synopsis, you'll hear all the spoilers. Guess I'll just leave it to IMDB info.

The acting is great! Have to mention Scott Speedman is an alumnus from our school and he was under the same college(New College) as me muhahaha.(Anyone can see there isn't any real relation in that...)Still it's good to see a talented Canadian actor on screen.

Here's my favourite scene. In fact 2 scenes that call back on each other and give the movie a deeper hue. The main characters are Tom(the kidnapper) & Dan(the hostage).

Scene 1
Dan came back home a bit drunk. He was swinging a beer bottle and collapsed into the couch.
Staring at the handcuffed Dan through slitted eyes, Tom mumbled 'Hey do you know why most of the beer bottles are dark?'
'The sunlight. The bottle's in the sun longer and the scum gets the taste.'Tom answered himself.
Tom: And do you know the purpose of scum scent?
Dan: Defense against other animals.
Tom: Right. Very smart.

Scene 2(the end scene)
Dan: You're lying. This's not possible.

Tom: Today's the 26th day and things seem a bit different.(pausing)Stacey had the right to do to me as what I did to you. I loved her. I was supposed to protect her.And in the end I'm the only one responsible for what happened.And with you, I put my life in your hands, someone I didn't even know, and I got what I deserved.And you're probably getting what you deserve. No you don't deserve this. Nobody deserves this.

(After these words, Tom turned around and started unbolting the wooden boards he put on the window for kidnapping purpose)

Dan: Why are you doing this? Why are you f**king with me. I'm healthy. Look at me.

Dan: Would you look at me?

Dan: (yelling) Look at me!!

Dan in total desperation, picked up the HIV lab report on the table and pulled out the result from the envelope. In faded background, we see Tom ripping off the boards. Daylight flushed in and filled the room with stunning brightness. And Dan's face, a picture of total blankness.

Lots of witty talks and subtle messages. You'll have to read between their lines.

Tired. Oyasumi.

music sharing business

I've listed up all the music files recently sent. Let's not waste resources. Grab it when it's hot(i.e. when not yet expired). If you're repulsed by it, you can always delete the ear sore after you download them.

1. Finding Neverland OST

2. Jewel - Pieces of You
-the album includes the song 'Adrian' previously playing on the blog. I took it down coz Jady 'suggested' it was depressing. Right now playing 'A Prayer' from the Korean animation feature film 'Wonderful Days'. Not like this track is uplifting. no no...

3. Mika Nakashima - Music

4. Ilmari x Salyu - VALON(video)

busy busy T_T let's survive the worst hell before x'mas.

pic of day

cousin engaged

I got an email from my cousin and there're several engagement photos attached. Time sure flies. I hate repeating it but time really flies. It's been about 5 years since I last met up with him. As if it was only yesterday we quarreled about the stinking fish tank.

That's a long story btw. I was away on vacation so I asked him to take care of my fish. I even wrote out a detailed manual of how to clean the tank, when to feed and how much to feed etc. AND GUESS WHAT. When I came back, the tank was green with moss and one of the fishes, a cute little (unknown speices with eyes like bloated up water sacs) had one eye sacked... Basically I was so angry I ended up firing all my complaints at him, not only the fish tank but also nitty gritty grudges that got accumulated over the period he stayed at our house. He moved back to his dorm right after that and vowed never to return again. Well, he did return, after about 2 or 3 weeks of cold war during which I refused to apologize even though my parents made an effort to make me visit his dorm and hope I'd say something nice. He was just as obstinate as me and instead of hitting the target, we talked about how the cockroach which got trapped under his mug was gonna die pretty fast...
'Just now a cockroach was crawling on the table so I trapped it with that drinking mug.'
'So it's gonna die from suffocation.'
'Yeah.'
That's about the only conversation we managed.

Then he went to Singapore for his B.A. After a year I went there as well for my high school. But he left again for England for his master degree in law right after I got there. We were out of touch for some time. Except I know he adopts Chirstianity and he met his taiwanese girlfriend at a subway station. How romantic. Now they're engaged... I do wonder where life leads... anyway wish them happiness and hopefully I can attend their wedding next year^^


2nd from left, his girlfriend and the one sandwiched at the centre is him.

All About Salyu

You know all about lily chou-chou. Here comes 'all about Salyu'

Lily chou, a singer idol borne out of shunji iwai's youth-angst movie does exist in real life. Her name is Salyu. She doesn't wear ghostly paint or mumble about 'ether' yet that familiar hypnotizing voice makes you blink: am I back in the movie?

Salyu's singing is a hodgepodge of pop, new age and gospel(probably influenced by her choir training...). Her slightly coarse voice sounds weirdly abstract and laid back(the old elements of 'lily chou chou'). It might be my illusion that her lazy singing's always quarter of a beat behind melody. Still, the gluey voice drags on & on like this sunny winter afternoon, bathing your limbs your organs your nerves in a numbing comfort. Meditative or dangerously self-indulgent?

Mini Biography
adapted from here (Chinese)

Salyu (real name Suzuki sth) played piano since young and joined the choir where she sang mostly hymns and carols. She used to frequent live house and watched her friends perform. Occasionally she would sing on stage as well. In 1998, Takashi Kobayashi (composer for "All About Lily Chou Chou", "Swallowtail Butterfly") was greatly impressed by Salyu's live house performance and asked her to sing in shunji iwai's movie. The vocal album of the movie was released under the title 'Kokyu'(Breathe). Riding on the popularity, Salyu embarked on her solo career and has been actively invoving herself in live shows. Takashi Kobayashi writes and produces most of Salyu's solo projects. - so there you have lily chou's voice and the same composer from the movie. Welcome back!

Discography
2001.10.17 - 1st Album
Lily Chou-Chou: Kokyu (Breathe)

01. Arabesque
02. Ai no Jikken Experience of love
03. Erotic
04. Airship
05. Kaifuku surukizu Wounds that never heal
06. Houwa Saturation
07. Tobenai Tsubasa Wings that can't fly
08. Houwa(Kukyo na ishi) Saturation (Empty Stone)
09. Glide

2004.4.21 - 1st Single
IImari x Salyu - VALON

01. VALON
02. VALON（～mold mix～）
This's a collaboration between IImari(solo artist from the rap group 'Rip Slyme') and Salyu. 'VALON' in Finland (IImari's birth place) means 'to light'.

2004.6.23 - 2nd Single
VALON 1

01. VALON
02. Niji no Saki (the end of rainbow)
VALON 1 is the rearranged, less acoustic version of VALON and is Salyu's first solo.

2004.10.27 - 3rd Single
Dialogue

01. Dialogue（ダイアローグ）
02. Hikari no Suku (Rays of Light)

2005.3.24 - 4th Single
Peaty

01. Peaty
02. 砂 (sand)
Meaning of the word 'peaty' - partially carbonized vegetable tissue due to partial decomposition in water of various plants. Goes well with Track 02...

2005.5.11 - 5th Single
Suisei

01. Suisei(comet)
02. Taion (body temperature)

2005.6.15 - 2nd Album
Landmark

01. Landmark
02. AIAMU I am U)
03. VALON-1
04. Niji No Saki End of Rainbow
05. Peaty
06. Taion Body Temperature
07. UEE
08. Dramatic Irony
09. Dialogue
10. Suisei Comet
11. Pop

2005.10.26 - 6th Single
Kazeni Norefune

01. Kazeni Norefune
02. Saisei(replay/rebirth?)


Links
1. Salyu Official Site
Discography section contains PV clips. (really interesting, reminds me of surrealistic paintings)and you'll find journas from Salyu (with photos).

2. All About Lily Chou-Chou : Salyu
Chinese fansite dedicated to the movie 'All About Lily Chou-Chou'. There's a special column 'about lilychou/salyu' under which you'll find detailed reviews and CD scans for Salyu's released singles.

3. Liquid Voice - Salyu/Lily chou-chou Fanlisting
fanlisting, discography in eng

4. Cori's Lyrics Translations
Romaji lyrics & review

5. Days of Salyu
Japanese fan site dedicated to Salyu

6. Junk Magnet: Salyu
English review site, disco, review & links

Song of Week
Salyu - Houwa(Saturation)
[#6, 1st Album Kokyu(Breathe)]
- Translation(by me, so please close one eye)

I miss you,I miss you
to the end of a hundred million light years
I miss you,I miss you
400 thousand miles away the moon is smiling
I miss you,I miss you
if only i could return to the tropic of capricorn
I miss you,I miss you
leaning close to your lips
1mm distance away from the gate of saturation

05 Nov 11

5th November,

I started my soul dustbin again, not as warmly as the old version coz I don’t know how to use Microsoft publisher, it’s different from frontpage so I’m just making do with it.

I have 2 important testz next week, Monday and Tuesday, but look what I’m doing here. This might be one quick way of suicide, wasting time on diary pages rather than textbooks and exam papers. I’m stressed coz I’m not doing what I’m supposed to do yet I don’t feel like doing it now, procrastination.

I didn’t know jazz could be so soothing, been listening to Norah Jones. Nightingale, sing us a song, is your journey far too long? I feel comfortably lazy, on a cold day like this, outside the wind’s billowing in gusts. A steamy cup of English toffee and you walk on the campus feeling the trees singing in harmony. I feel at peace not thinking just listening and feeling the warmth. The meadow over there is carpeted with golden leaves. The wind has swept them all to one side of the road, whether they like it or not. Occasionally they swing in small whirlpools, pulling passers by gently into their embrace and settling down again so quietly, sleeping on top of each other. I wish I could just dissolve into the crispy freshness of the air and imagine myself carried by the wind to a sunny hilltop while the whole world disappears around me, to a place where there’s nothing but the green and the golden.

My friend who have just experienced a broken relationship have seemingly lost her faith in such thing called love. While love might be everywhere, drifting in air like the spring pollens, the way you see it in the movie ‘love actually’, a writer & a maid, best friends’ bride and a wasted heart, prime minister and office girl, a boy and a girl, singer & manager, but where is it actually, are we so blind or is love in a hurry it misses us? Where is love headed in her rush I wonder, to this abstract thing called endless desire or to hearts expecting nothing and waiting for nothing? And why would it be so complicated for a simple thing as love itself.

I must start recording things that’ll eventually make me happier, maybe some jokes of my own. Right now guizi’s humming with earphones on but she’s still in tune. It’s almost dinner time, maybe we should go down for dinner. When will those resnet people be back to work? I haven’t used internet for 2 weeks now, I feel like a secluded hermit. Nobody can survive that long without internet. I’m amazing, I’m amazed.

the place promised in our early days

Song of Week - from the animation feature film 'The Place Promised in Our Early Days'. Japanese title reads ' Kumo no Mukou, Yakusoku no Basho '. Info@ Animenewsnetwork

It's a movie about two boys' dream of conquering the high-rising tower that dominates the city in a mysterious way and also a girl who dreams about the fate of the earth. There's a relation between the two of course. No more spoilers. The art is absolutely breath-taking although I didn't quite enjoy the story or the character designs(a bit childish and inconsistent).

The girl who plays violin is sweet and shy. When the two boys asked her to play something for them, she hesitated but eventually brought her score and music stand to the centre of the wooden floored classroom and positioned the violin against her shoulder. As the melody drifts beyond the open windows to the vast expanse of blue, an innocent summer's dream slowly unfolds in sweet memories, before the harsh strike of fate devours the last warmth of their golden time.

- watch it and the above blabbering might make some sense...

Neighbour's cat doesn't have a name. She just calls him 'kitty'.
'Kitty, come here! NO, Kitty!' - most frequently used phrases when it's the cat's dinner time and when he eats off the wrong table, respectively.

Some days ago when I was cooking fish, the cat stalked behind me like a hungry ghost. And when he wants you to feed him, he'll rub his fur against your leg, twice, three times, until he's certain that you've totally ignored him...

BUT CATS ARE JUST SO ADORABLE!!! I'm going to pet a cat after I get a job and a house lol. Ideal type of cat for me: lazy ,nasty and temperamental. Feel like a masochist.

pumpkins and latterns

weekends, laugh and snore! (don't do it at the same time...)
Halloween's coming. Our Spanish(? id. not confirmed...)neighbour brought in a party of weird people today for the Halloween rehearsal. Singing, dancing and acting with props such as giant butcher knives. I never knew she is so capable of improvising (craziness).

a little bit of historical background of halloween
The word itself, "Halloween," actually has its origins in the Catholic Church. It comes from a contracted corruption of All Hallows Eve. November 1, "All Hollows Day" (or "All Saints Day"), is a Catholic day of observance in honor of saints. But, in the 5th century BC, in Celtic Ireland, summer officially ended on October 31. The holiday was called Samhain (sow-en), the Celtic New year.

One story says that, on that day, the disembodied spirits of all those who had died throughout the preceding year would come back in search of living bodies to possess for the next year. It was believed to be their only hope for the afterlife. The Celts believed all laws of space and time were suspended during this time, allowing the spirit world to intermingle with the living.

Naturally, the still-living did not want to be possessed. So on the night of October 31, villagers would extinguish the fires in their homes, to make them cold and undesirable. They would then dress up in all manner of ghoulish costumes and noisily paraded around the neighborhood, being as destructive as possible in order to frighten away spirits looking for bodies to possess.

Probably a better explanation of why the Celts extinguished their fires was not to discourage spirit possession, but so that all the Celtic tribes could relight their fires from a common source, the Druidic fire that was kept burning in the Middle of Ireland, at Usinach.

Some accounts tell of how the Celts would burn someone at the stake who was thought to have already been possessed, as sort of a lesson to the spirits. Other accounts of Celtic history debunk these stories as myth.

The Romans adopted the Celtic practices as their own. But in the first century AD, Samhain was assimilated into celebrations of some of the other Roman traditions that took place in October, such as their day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple, which might explain the origin of our modern tradition of bobbing for apples on Halloween.

The thrust of the practices also changed over time to become more ritualized. As belief in spirit possession waned, the practice of dressing up like hobgoblins, ghosts, and witches took on a more ceremonial role.

The custom of Halloween was brought to America in the 1840's by Irish immigrants fleeing their country's potato famine. At that time, the favorite pranks in New England included tipping over outhouses and unhinging fence gates.

The custom of trick-or-treating is thought to have originated not with the Irish Celts, but with a ninth-century European custom called souling. On November 2, All Souls Day, early Christians would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes," made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers, could expedite a soul's passage to heaven.

The Jack-o-lantern custom probably comes from Irish folklore. As the tale is told, a man named Jack, who was notorious as a drunkard and trickster, tricked Satan into climbing a tree. Jack then carved an image of a cross in the tree's trunk, trapping the devil up the tree. Jack made a deal with the devil that, if he would never tempt him again, he would promise to let him down the tree.

According to the folk tale, after Jack died, he was denied entrance to Heaven because of his evil ways, but he was also denied access to Hell because he had tricked the devil. Instead, the devil gave him a single ember to light his way through the frigid darkness. The ember was placed inside a hollowed-out turnip to keep it glowing longer.

The Irish used turnips as their "Jack's lanterns" originally. But when the immigrants came to America, they found that pumpkins were far more plentiful than turnips. So the Jack-O-Lantern in America was a hollowed-out pumpkin, lit with an ember.

So, although some cults may have adopted Halloween as their favorite "holiday," the day itself did not grow out of evil practices. It grew out of the rituals of Celts celebrating a new year, and out of Medieval prayer rituals of Europeans. And today, even many churches have Halloween parties or pumpkin carving events for the kids. After all, the day itself is only as evil as one cares to make it.

pic of day

mushishi

A rather unique anime that doesn't have high school girls and world saviours in it - Mushishi 虫师. Too lazy to write reviews so just check out this thread with lots screen caps. In summary it's about the spiritual world, somewhat like the kodamas in princess mononoke but instead of clicking heads you get floating unicellular organisms this time...

Mushishi BT torrents:
Source 1

Source 2

new link

伊豆的舞女(Chinese, txt format)

biochm test on Thur, study or die

The Sleep of Reason

The Sleep of Reason by Michael Swanwick, with illustrations from Goya.

The Noösphere is the ocean of thought within which we all live, dream, make love, and sometimes aspire. It is purified by reason. It is polluted by war and madness. And, like a river so badly polluted it catches fire, the Noösphere in times of war and madness can be a dangerous thing.

In a time of war and madness, the man who might well have been Goya fell asleep, and his dreams caught fire. They congealed and took form and entered the physical world. As cats and owls and bats and less wholesome creatures, winged, furred and fanged, they leaped into the night, and filled the skies with their keening presence.


What an interesting site... was brainstorming on a weird story and one of Goya's paintings popped into my mind. It started with 'dream'. I can vividly recall the owls and monsters looming large behind the sleeping woman. Then I googled. The full title is 'The sleep of reason produces nightmares'. And someone even wrote stories on each of Goya's plate!

pipa

Been listening to this track for the entire evening... it's sucking my brain out...

Pipa fits nicely to the melancholic mood. It's not the continuity of the sound that contributes to the feel. Pipa is most often a string of beads as Erhu is a whining stream. Not sure of the exact English term for the special technique - stroking the string? The quavering half note I humbly worship. We also tried that a lot with zhong ruan(a fat, roundish traditional chinese string instrument) but the sounds produced are just different. I always regard zhong ruan as a steady alto. Playing feminine pieces with zhong ruan just doesn't feel right.

Among all those traditional instruments, I can't pinpoint any favourite although I do have several 'ensemble' on my strictly 'no-no' list - erhu ensemble, suo na ensemble. Somewhat atrociously annoying.



Dearest zhong ruan (

Good to know zhong ruan is becoming a popular solo instrument. Usually it's just for chords and background music. *_*

angel and devil

Blogging time! Now I think of it, I should just stop blogging about academic stuff like the previous post. I'm keeping this pigsty free of reality bites.

Some days ago I flipped through a manga on angels and devils (not Angel Sanctury) and suddenly got curious about this genre since the names are intrigueing. I never knew angels are ranked, devils as well. List some names and see if you've heard of them: Dominions,Saraphim, Cherubim. The right term to use is 'Angel Hierachy' in Angelogy. Angels are roughly divided into 3 choirs of different powers and duties. The so-called 'Fallen Angels' usually come from the group called 'Powers' who run errands between Heaven and Hell. More stories here.

Opposed to Angelogy, you have Demonology. Ironically, the word 'demon' seems to have its root in 'devios' (Indo-Eurasion root), meaning 'celestial', pertaining to sky and heaven. When did the word start to synomize 'evil'?

I guess it's only in manga drawing you see angels with 3 wings... I googled 'angel 3 wings' and the first hit I have is an entry from online Wikipedia on the manga 'Angel Sanctury'. I remembered it was once ET sama's favourite fav.

pic of day : angel and devil

sighs...

First test ever since school... and what a total flunk...
That foxy cunning prof who taught us carbohydrates. He recommended a book which dated back to the 70s and was long out of print.

'Carbohydrates don't change much over the years you know.' Doesn't matter if i know or i don't, point is, I didn't buy the photocopied version from the bookstore coz I thought the book was old and useless.

And doesn't matter if it's useful or useless, point is, 40% of the stuff on the test was taken from the book and not covered in lecture. This's an exemplification of self-teaching and self-studying. aka DIY. I DIYed the wrong book...

Anway, who can tell me the use of NaIO4 (sodium periodate, an oxidising agent) on sugar analysis? What particular hydroxyl group( or whatever group) this reagent oxidizes? I googled to no avail. Maybe I should try alternative key words.

The independent essay topic I got from our molecular biology course is:
The "serial killer" mouse: Knocking out the transcription factor NR2E1

These mice have abnormally violent behaviours characteristic of criminals. They believe by studying the transcription factor, they might find a solution to cure violent behaviours in humans.

Resource gathering time! So everyone if you happen to come across any topic related to the pervert mouse or NR2E1, please help me out ^_*

izu dancer

A Review on the novel(in Chinese)

After random googling, should I say my suspision was confirmed - the 20 year old male student depicted in Izu Dancer is indeed an uncanny projection of the author himself. Kawabata had a rather tragic childhood. His parents and later his sister & grandma died when he was three and he had to live with his blind & deaf grandpa. Being a lonely person at heart, the sixteen year old Kawabata wrote in his diary which became a collected work later, 'I'm the only one left among this whole wide world.'

He went on a trip to Izu promenade alone and there he met a young female artist whom he befriended. She told him he was a nice person. Whether he was surprised, touched or feeling grateful, we didn't know. That expereince however molded into the masterpiece we see now - the Izu Dancer, a image-perfect portrayal of blossoming youth and love, subtle and painful.

The movie is a faithful adaptation from the writing. There're simply so many details and layers you can pick up that you never feel bored even if it was filmed in the 70s and a rather simple story of a high school student travelling with a group of performing artists.



The golden couple on screen and in real life - Momoe Yamaguchi and Tomokazu Miura.

more to come...

sth wrong

with my blogger navigation bar...
it's not a problem with html code coz the bar is still like that even if i change template. only solution is to get rid of it for good. anyone knows the code for removing it?

2 movies i watched *yesterday*
蓝宇[Lan Yu] & 伊豆的舞女 [Izu Dancer or Izu no Odoriko]


Lan Yu



I have loads of grumps for the first one although it's a renowned award - grossing film. To start with, it's a gay movie adapted from an internet novel. If it wasn't about gay love, all you get is a cliche story of how two lovers finally realize their affection for each other and after all the ordeals they've been through, one dies of accident and the other weeps. I can't pass on any justfied comments on the original writing but the adapted screenplay, for sure, is rather ill scripted.

'Maybe you don't know, but I really like you.' He mused. 'Maybe you don't know either. I like you too.'The other paused for a second and replied.
My eyebrow literally twiched as I was hearing this. I think I could still hold my breath for a while... diving, underwater, will stay there for just a second longer... excruciatingly
I'll come back to this after my exam. Too tired to write.
BUT, despite all the trashy mess, the acting is great.
----------------

The Izu Dancer
original novel by 川端康成 - 2nd Asian to receive a Nobel in literature

quick thoughts: it feels so real(dejavu that is). And I was wondering if the author identifies with the main character, that young student traveller. Seems there really is a shadow, or desire.

zzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZ

bye bye DAI

I'm always behind news. There has been rumour that do-as-infinity would break up long time ago. It wasn't rumour after all. DAI officially disbanded on 30 Sep.

Just want to say bye and thanks for all the great music! That's one great group I'll definitely miss, especially Tomiko. How spontaneous and happy she appears on stage. Her singing always cheers me up.

Fans at the dai forum are devastated, well, some of them. I understand how that must have felt when an important piece of your life is cruelly taken away. Just imagining GARNET CROW break up is enough for me. How impossibly sad. Although there'll be an end eventually, but I just wish they won't leave music, or leave their fans so abruptly.

So bye bye DAI, 6 years of great rock n roll!



Dear friends, so long. Wasurenai!

recommendations for upcoming anime

For those who do watch anime... (considering not all readers of my blog have such interests, or the time so to speak).
Here're the recommendations for the upcoming new series.

-> Jigoku Shoujo (Hell Girl)
official website
Animenewsnetwork Info
Genre: horror, suspense
First episode out on Oct 4th. Just watched it off BT. Music is wonderful, so is the background design.

-> Blood
Offical Web
Animenewsnetwork Info
Haven't watched it. Trailer looks promising and it's by Production I.G. Music by Hans Zimmer. Surprised me to hell. When did big shot western composers start to work on japanese anime series??
By the way, blood (TV) is a prologue to the movie 'Blood: the last vampire'. Very bloody recollection...

-> Angel Heart TV
Official Web
Another adaptation of Hojo Tsukasa's work. There was City Hunter and Cats' Eye before.
One thing I'm pretty sure is, Esther-sama won't like it because I remember her saying 'Ewww. This guy's drawing is so guly.' (but I think he's a genius^^)

And hmm... lemme see. Escape Room syndrome. Luckily I wasn't into too many games mainly because I was kept crazy busy by lab reports and readings. Here's a good website where you can find lots of games similar to the previous 3 rooms.
Room Escape at Gamehood
Highly Recommended(by guizi): My Diamond Baby

Have fun!

Wish those who are now deep shit in projects/exams/general school work best of luck. Take care and dun get sick... and remember to relax once in a while. (like me)

quiz and games

first of all, got an email and this link from Jeremy and I took the quiz. What? Ravenclaw?? I so honestly confessed i'd be sorted to Slytherin...



be sorted @ nimbo.net

And you'll HAVE TO try this series of intellectual games
Go! -> Escape!

There're 3 games so far:
crimson room
viridian room
the blue chamber

You'll be guided to a locked room and your primary mission is to find all available things in the room and escape! Finding stuff won't be easy of course so good luck! Last but not least, finding all the things won't gurantee you success (as proven by viridine room especially), you'll have to be creative and know how to assemble them and what story these broken clues can fit into.
Have fun!

what about me

I'm going through a phase again, and I don't know how long it'll last. There were once worries that disappeared just as quick as they came, also repetitive doubts pestering the heart. Anxiety is a top health killer I know but what about myself, what about me. When am I able to feel proud of myself, or comfortable with the undecorated me. It's tiring to be forced to bend, like a spring that longs to spring back. Taciturn at times, outspoken when it doesn't count, warped sense of humour that makes people go 'huh', easily confused by others' logics and find their speeches hard to follow, curious only when awake, studious only when in the mood. no idea how to purr or to be petted, not so lovable neither mellow - my basic constitutions that surface above acute self awareness when i'm inwardly reflecting. i could've been a little bit different. the better way to put it is, i could've done things in a way more convenient for myself and others. but i just can't. i'm scared of an unspoken fear, or the consequences of embracing that fear.

if there's no limit in trying, is there a limit on compromise?

...
...
...

maybe i should
do
do
something

nobel

so wat's up with all these nobel talk?

for the whole month of Sep, Prof Pulleyblank has been giving us his 'nobel' lecture of the history of nobels, from the first discovery of nucleotide base all the way to Gilbert & Sanger (he could've dragged it on for infinity if not for his session is up). And he sure has lots tiny bits of stories to tell, whether tabloids of the famous or his own personal gruffs and learnings of harsh reality.

Chem prof was announcing the new chemistry nobel last lec. Said it was a Swiss(?) guy who studied alkene. Alkene? he said! See, you can turn the most dismissed subject into some world sensation. That rings a bell coz one of Prof. Pulleyblank's most famous quotes runs like this - How can you get yourself a Nobel? You have to pick up a totally hopeless project and turn it into something the world will bow its head to. He was referring to Khorana at that time, an Indian scientist who had no choice but to work on cheap Salmon sperms and in the end came up with a method to synthesise short oligonucleotides.

and i just saw on Tree's msn display: wait till my boss gets a Nobel ... hmf. Whatever it means.

Nobel, Nobel, Nobel.

visit http://www.nobel.org for this year's winners
-> as advised by our chem prof.

song of week

This's the song that on first listening, tasted like plain water, dull and easily forgotten. It's a mystery when and how I came back to it with a brewing plethora of feelings. Her voice so clean and somber, touches me to no end. Sen ijou no kotoba wo narabetemo - even lining up a thousand words. There're still things left unsaid and can never be expressed. But funny how everything started with all but one word.

Even Lining Up A Thousand Words
Lyrics by Azuki Nana
Song by Yuri Nakamura
Eng. translation adapted from Ryuichi's Jpop Station

Cutting my hair at the park
I gathered up the fallen locks
You smile, and touch my cheek
Looking up, we saw a vapor trail

It's strange
That there could be such a peaceful ending
Your voice calling my name is so gentle
And I don't want to leave you

I guess I'll watch that overdue video
I think I'll try to feel
something in you I've never known up till this moment

Even if you were to line up a thousand words
There are some things that can never be expressed
Even though there are some things that will start
From all but a single word

It will be like planting a flowerless tree
And looking up at the blue sky
As we entwine and wriggle
On the full branches


Your back as you wait for the bus
I'll be seeing you off today for the last time
I'll smile, just like that day
I'll wave, just like when we met

I'll be waiting for you from tomorrow on
And I'll spend a too quiet time with myself alone
I'll miss you a little bit until I get used to it

Even if you were to line up a thousand words
There are some things that can never be expressed
Even though there are some things that will end
With all but a single word

Memories of our two seeds
That could not go on living in the same soil
Spreading our hands
We'll go on watching each other from afar

NANA the movie

Hachi (Aoi Miyazaki) & Nana (Mika Nakashima)

Manga version of Nana(right) & Hachi(left)

Ai Yazawa's famous manga series 'NANA', which's now adapted into movie is high on Japansese box office chart. The story is centred around two girls with the same name 'NANA' who happen to meet and live together under a strike of fate. One of them(the cool looking one) is a promising punk singer with a complicated past and a wild ambition to make her name in the music industry; and the other chubby and cute one is an ordinary girl who struggles for a decent living and falls in & out of love all the time. It's a story about two women with the same name and entangled fates, but more of life and reality itself.

To make the differences easier to see, the punk singer goes with the name 'NANA'(meaning 7 in Japanese), and the chubby one is nicknamed 'hachi' ('8' in Japanese)

Mika Nakashima (NANA), who's already a popular singer in real life, is perfectly tailored for the role. Cool looks, good voice and a hell of lot personality to go with. Aoi Miyazaki (Hachi), a young rising star on the other hand, is sweet enough for the role although not as spontaneous as depicted in the orignal manga. About the main male character Ren (Nana's lover), well... they could've chosen a less feminine looking actor.


Hachi(voice over): Ne, NANA, atashitachi no deaiyo omoideru?
[Hey, NANA, remeber the first time we met?] -> Trailers

- Links -
Official Japanese Movie Website
TBS NANA the movie[in English]

shunji iwai collage

 


Yeah, Picasa is cool! Thanks for the recommendation Jady!

Shunji Iwai the aestheticist. You probably notice these trademark elements in his films: beautiful looking actors & good use of lighting.

Lighting is important. (although it's probably not Shunji iwai himself in charge of it)

The most striking scenes I remember in which extravagant lighting is used:

All About Lily Chou-chou - the boy's trying to play Debussy on piano. He strikes a few keys, misses just as many and later crouches on the chair. The picture freezes for a few seconds. Morning light is pouring through the open door and his profile shrouded in a warm embrace.

Hana & Alice - that, you can see in the photo above. Hana dancing in that bright room, bright to the point of blinding.

April Story - she slides open the window. It's April and she just moves in her new apartment. It's such a heart-warming start.

Picnic - at twilight , near the coast line where they watch the sun set, she shoots herself. Black feathers flying. An angel falling.

Beauty - a word Shuji Iwai knows well. 

wonder land

 


yesterday's adventure retold in a short summary

So you see we get the back of our hands stamped. That's where the craziness started. Huge human-made pendulum swinging to unimgainable height(althou we didn't go for that) and a crab like megarobot that suddenly jerked its arm up and just as abrupt dropped you down when you were least prepared! There was a man sitting opposite me when we rode the crab. While the ladies screamed their voices coarse, his eyebrows went 8:25 and his head shook in awkard disconsent, 'Oh C'mon laides' was what he was silently suggesting but of course nobody heard.

There was also a 'drop zone' where mad people who wanted a taste of bungee jump were brought up to 20 storey height and whoosh! in a matter of 2 seconds, were back on the ground. The only visible difference was their facial expression. Stunned, horrified or totally erased. 'Holy mother of god!'A man shouted after finally getting his senses back.

The fact that I puked after 3 rides wasn't comforting. I was plainly too scared to torture myself with anti-gravity/acceleration/centrifuge games, where all knowledge on kinematics came back but made no sense.

Humans are the crazist masochists - good lesson learnt. Still, I might just go there again some time ^^ 

nonsense & wonderland

two elements in the title don't corelate in any way.
I'm plain too tired to write any sensical stuff on our trip to wonder land today.

Here comes the most nonsensical msn conversation between guizi and me, which took place somewhere near 1 o'clock midnight.

We were saying something about 'Beware! You're in big trouble' and on we moved to the topic of 'how to murder'.(we're in no way violent though)

GUi Zi:
but i have a much bigger one

ZhU:
i know u r gonna beat me with ur super big knife
but i'll hide it before u get to it

GUi Zi:
even u melted the two and make them into one, mine is still bigger

ZhU:
i also have a pen knife, one big scissors and a small one
and a super big nail clipper

GUi Zi:
what are u going to do?

ZhU:
the more the better

GUi Zi:
i didn't say i m going to kill u using knife

ZhU:
not sure wat to do yet, but materials are important

GUi Zi:
there are plenty of ways

ZhU:
including reminding someone the thrill of bungee jump or free fall

GUi Zi:
i can tell a joke, and u may die of the coldness

ZhU:
there you have me, i claim my loss
i worship u

GUi Zi:
i can shou mai the front desk and ask them to cut ur internet, u'll die within 24hrs

ZhU:
if they cut mine, u r so so so dead

GUi Zi:
due to extreme boredom or yu men

GUi Zi:
or extreme anger

ZhU:
i'm gonna come back from the dead and take my internet revenge on u

GUi Zi:
now i know .i should know it earlier, u take internet more important than ur future daugher/son's mother-in-law

ZhU:
without internet, there's no me, if there's no me, there's no 2nd generation and no you-know-what mother-in-law that ever exists

GUi Zi:
你与网络共存亡！

GUi Zi:
great!

GUi Zi:
nobel prize on internet worshipping

ZhU:
i hope there IS one

ZhU:
what abt u go sponsor that

GUi Zi:
nobel prize from me

GUi Zi:
hehe how did u know what i was thinking abt

ZhU:
coz u r mean

ZhU:
i'm mean 2

GUi Zi:
let's just cut it

ZhU:
yes, time for bed

ZhU:
i really can't make it, gonna faint tmr

GUi Zi:
rmb come over to knock me up

ZhU:
or beat u up more like it

GUi Zi:
if u happen to wake up before lunch

ZhU:
or else no use

GUi Zi:
i'll lock the door definitely

ZhU:
then i can tell u right now: just sleep and dun bother

GUi Zi:
sure

GUi Zi... 说:
good idea

strange quote

Someone (who?) said a pianist is either a jew, a gay or an all-thumb. Who can hate pianists to such extent? Whatever.

The comment bar is not up-to-date. Sorry I missed all the comments.

Diet these days is fantastic. We bought shrimps,fish,dumplings,strawberry,grapes etc etc. Can't imagine we're eating so good at such cheap price. Saves about 300 bucks per month compared to school meal plans. But if you say time is money, then the time we spent on cooking is something else to consider...

swing

guizi said it was 'stupid', 'childish' and 'unacceptable' to sit on the swing. but we went anyway and it was a happy time.

these days, slow dance

These days we cook ourselves. Sometimes joking and laughing as we jerked away from the splatter of boiling oil. Or doing serious analysis on why the dish failed to taste like what it should taste like... Ran down to grab some drinks when we felt like it. Or walk in the rain with our head covered in school magazine as scapegoat umbrella. On Monday and Tuesday it was pasta all the way till we sickened at the site of the supercoil. Then the night falls and street light casts a misty spell on the rain soaked neighbourhood. Chilly refreshing. And there's nothing more but to nestle once again in my own room, waiting for another day to quietly pass by.

Somehow i wish, somehow i know. Watching the colours rolling by, against something abstractly distant and blank, pure. And peace brewing and settling, in times you need it the most.

Humble Me

"Humble Me"
Norah Jones

Went out on a limb
Gone too far
Broken down at the side of the road
Stranded at the outskirts and sun's creepin' up
Baby's in the backseat
Still fast asleep
Dreamin' of better days
I don't want to call you but you're all i have to turn to

What do you say
When it's all gone away?
Baby i didn't mean to hurt you
Truth spoke in whispers will tear you apart
No matter how hard you resist it
It never rains when you want it to

You humble me Lord
Humble me Lord
I'm on my knees empty
You humble me Lord
You humble me Lord
Please, please, please forgive me

Baby teresa got your eyes
I see you all the time
When she asks about her daddy
I never know what to say

Heard you knocked the bottle
And helped to build the church
You carry an honest wage
Is it true you have someone keeping you company?

What do you say
When its all gone away?
Baby i didn't meant to hurt you
Truth spoke in whispers will tear you apart
No matter how hard you resist it
It never rains when you want it to

You humble me Lord
Humble me Lord
I'm on me knees empty
You humble me Lord
You humble me Lord
Please, please, please forgive me

updates

All at once i felt myself back in a deserted mansion, head in a cloud of dust and spider webs. Blogger now has a search function, and a FLAG?! report of offensive contents? makes me laugh.

Just to prove I'm not ignoring my blog, here I am typing 'I'm not ignoring my blog'. Got a new tagbox. Old one expired to no end. Updated background music. [Humble Me] by sweet Norah Jones.

Jeremy's kitakaze-disconnected.blogspot.com -> NOT FOUND?! What's that??

Already 3rd year, I'm really scared of this notion. Let it sink in...

Here's a nice Tibetan Song I came across on Fifay net. Not that traditionally Tibetan the way they described it, but pleasant enough. Right click & save.
Langla Mountain

classic movie?

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

typhoon

I spaced out for a second, couldn't remember the english term for 'tai feng'. And I googled - typhoon. What a direct translation, phonetic. I wonder where this word comes from. The wind's been blowing for two days, raging on and on like a lunatic. The windows are shaking with spasmic bangings. Standing close to it, I was imagining if the glass would really shatter. I could see some cyclers struggling to keep their raincoats on as the wind threatened to throw them off balance. There was one man whose hat tipped on and off and he kept putting it back on again and again. Before I realized, I was actually laughing as I watched it from the 6th floor. Don't know what's wrong with me. I seldom gloat... Feel like my childhood self was back again eating away my control.

Nothing much interesting. Did a few readings. I marvel at my own patience. There was one line I saw that says 'the rendevous is like a drop of ink falling into a glass full of water. It spreads, and nothing can go back the way it should.' Or an oil stain in similar fashion. The effect is slow, unconscious, and after all toxic. Creeping up till you're lost.

Watched 'Head in the Clouds', starring Charlize Theron, Stuart Townsend (Char's bf) & Penelop Cruz. As long as Char's in it, it's guranteed to be FAB. more to come...

home sweet home

After 18 hours of flight, I finally made it home. I almost forgot how everything just never changes. And together with that comes a serene peace which's impossible elsewhere but only here at home. I'm sooo happy at ease.

ps. why is it i can still access blogspot? isn't it banned???

slapstick inc.

finally did sth to JJ blog. Going back home next Monday and I won't be able to access blogspot in China coz it's blocked. I can still access the editing page but I can't preview it. So might say goodbye to my heavenlypigsty for 2 months T_T

till next time...

right n left

These days it seems, nothing's going right. Everything's going left.
Or more precisely - i thought it was going right, but it was the exact mirror image.

Over confidence isn't a good thing either. I thought I performed really well for the french oral test but the result was so-so. Comme ci, comme sa. Maybe I still didn't get the right 'french' accent to go with. Was thinking about taking a higher french course since it's a waste to stop at this awkard preliminary stage where you only understand fragments of speech and half mute so to speak. It's really troublesome being a student sometimes. I can't possibly do away with results & exams. But even if I step into working class, I'll be troubled by working performance, productivity, social relationships?? Survival problems never end... But somehow it does feel better to step back and analyse the reasons why I'm not happy. After that I do feel happier. Is it true the world is a comedy for those who think and a tragedy for those who feel? Maybe I'm somewhere in between.

For now, must stay humble and revise well for finals.

damn euthymides

My beloved history of greek art. Again!! Feel the urge to blog/complain about the misleading slide id. test. Now I know why it's 'beloved' greek art. This one-sided obsession is never repaid in due respect. T_T history of art loves me not. How can an artist dead for centuries still trick me into tagging that mysterious pottery to someone else. This 'notorious' Euthymides! I didn't even pay attention to this artisit coz I only know one pottery work of his ,'the three revelers' - to put it simply, a very much hilarious scene of three guys dancing. And the unknown slide given to us has three figures in it as well! But how can '3' be of any great help? I never knew Euthymides drew scenes related to Dionysus, satyrs, maenades and such! And I got the impression it must be Amasis painter. They always draw wine gods and the like. Ahh, Euthymides, you fickle artist, why did you switch genre? And somehow still stuck on your good old threesome composition??? I felt like I've just bought some bogus bootie with a whole month's salary.

Romans have great bath buildings. I envy them. They sure know how to enjoy life...

The Lovers Legend

That Kind of Love
Alison Krauss

Who would sell their soul for love?
Or waste one tear on compromise
Should be easy enough
To know a heartache in disguise
But the heart rules the mind
And the going gets rough
Pride takes the fall
When you find that kind of love

I can't help feeling like a fool
Since I lost that place inside
Where my heart knew its way
And my soul was ever wise
Once innocence was lost
There was not faith enough
Still my heart held on
When it found that kind of love

Though beauty is rare enough
Still we trust
Somehow we'll find it there
With no guarantee
It seems to me
At least it should be fair

But if it's only tears and pain
Isn't it still worth the cost
Like some sweet saving grace
Or a river we must cross
If we don't understand
What this life is made of
We learn the truth
When we find that kind of love
Cause when innocence is lost
There is not faith enough
We learn the truth
When we find that kind of love

Ah, Alison Krauss is the best!

Now I realize I've been coming back to this topic time n again but honestly I'm really fascinated by the golden Greek period and I won't ever regret taking this art history course despite how boring our prof is.

So today's menu is : the lovers legend - celebration of male beauty in greek mythology
The marble scuptures Romans copied from Greeks are stunning but that's not where it all started. It all began with an interesting story told by a pediment frieze at the temple of Zeus, which was built in the 5th century BC. The theme of the frieze is 'the chariotte contest for King Oinomaus' daughter Hippotamia(a name that reminds me of hippopotamus...)'. It was a contest in which Pelops who eventually won over Hippotamia, played a trick on Oinomaus's chariotte. (the bronze linchpins were replaced by fake ones made of beeswax so the wheels easily slip off).

And that lead me on to read more about Pelops (sly & treasonous), which lead me to his old lover Poseidon. And Pelop's eerie past: his own dad slew and cooked him into a stew for the Olympian gods. Zeus, out of sympathy(which is rare, all these gods who easily throw their wrath on helpless mortals), resurrected Pelops who upon rebirth, exuded an essence of unparalled beauty which stunned Poseidon.

And onwards with Pelops I was guided through a winding path that eventually ended at Oedipus from whom the Freudian term 'Oedipus complex' is derived.

And back on to Zeus & Ganymede, Archilles & Petroclus etc.

To sum it all up, it is an 'omnivorous' period which culminates in art, in culture and also in celebration of male beauty. If you think now, homosexulas are still fighting for their rights. It was such an integral part of Greek culture back then and instead of being something immoral & sodomite, it was part of an 'initiation', the binding of a youth to his master who passed on his knowledge and wisdom to the young friend and lover. Oscar Wilde might have wished to be transported back to that period, together with his beloved Bosie.

But I have to say all the legends evolving around gods' relationships are somewhat stupid-sounding, beastly funny at times.

in which Pelops walked to the grey sea on the night before the contest, calling out to Poseidon
O, Poseidon! If you had any joy of our love, Aphrodite's sweet girt, stay the bronze spearof Oinomaus, speed me on the swiftest of chariots down by Pisa's river, and clothe me about in strength, for he has already killed twelve, and puts off his daughter's wedlock.
Great danger does not take hold of a coward; since we are all destined to die, why should one sit to no purpose in darkness and find a nameless old age, without any part of glory his own? No, to me falls this hazard, to you to grant me success!

I was even momentarily fascinated by his pompous speech (well-delivered nonetheless), guess what, this bastard struck a deal with Oinomaus' charioteer Myrtilus (God Hermes' son). 'Help me win' he says ' and the first night with her (Hippotamia) is yours to enjoy, I sear it upon all that is sacred!' It was an outrageous lie which brought down Pelops eventually, but still, what a bastard. He should've been stewed and eaten clean back then. Nothing Zeus ever did was right.

Ah, I haven't eaten rice for almost a week. How disastrous.

garnet crow okamoto

Haha, I had so much fun spoiling his hair. Okamoto-san, happy belated b-day!

ps. Okamoto - guitarist from GARNET CROW, my fav Jpop band.

the self

original picture taken from here

What do you do when you no longer like yourself?

I was sifting through my messy MSN contacts and was wondering why the heck would some people add me to their contacts but never talked to me once. Just when I was about to delete all the nonsense, I spotted the display name 'S.X'? 'S.X' who? Do I know you? I have no clue, not even from the email address so I decided to look at his MSN space. Maybe his name's written in the profile. What a simple space layout. No names, no extras, just 3 neat entries. 'What do you do when you no longer like yourself?' the latest entry reads.

Hmm.

Just when I was deep in thoughts, S.X.'s conversation window popped out, 'Hi!'. For real? Isn't it scary? I felt like a thief caught redhanded although I didn't really invade his privacy.

'I was looking at your blog.'
'What? I'm looking at yours too.'
Conversation was going perfectly soap opera.
'what??'
'I was reading your last entry.'
'Ah forget it, it's just male PMS'

That's a poignant description. Male PMS. Anyhow I can't help thinking about the question. The fact is, I don't like myself either, periodically. Why in the whole wide world do I easily like someone else but never myself? It's so difficult to 'be myself' and still 'like it'. I'm losing that spontaneity. I even hate my decisions. I'm so brainblocked I don't know what more to write except I'm not comfortable with the current me.

pen

So this's 'the pen'.
I don't recall it being mine.

I find it confusing/somewhat profound, how one's lifestyle can change when living alone. Eat or sleep become equal chores as doing weekly laundry or washing dishes. When there're two as friends or lovers, or three as a happy family, one carefully prepares a meal enjoyed by all. I sleep early so as not to disturb my roommate; or clean up routinely to give it the feeling of a home. But alone, everything becomes functional rather than bearing any real meaning. There's no heart, no thought. The brain decides by instinct what's essential for basic living. When I'm not with them, my parents never bother with cooking. Those tiny gestures of significance become visible when the picture's reduced to its base colours. Or is it just me, someone who doesn't know how to take care of herself. But there's simply no need, neither a desire when I'm doing it for nobody but me alone. Strip away the decorations and life seems different.

from an old alumnus

You might think it's nonsensical, this unexpected email. Someone saw a pen in my pencilcase and asked about it. I remembered you gave it to me, and the old memories came back. How are you now?

I don't remember the pen. But I remember the old times. I rememberd a story about the pen I lent to you. We both liked to spin our pens but you were so unskilled you almost broke the one I gave you. I complained in the weekly journal how you tortured my pen and the teacher said something in class after she finished marking those journals. 'Someone lent her pen to a friend who has the habit of spinning pens and almost broke it. But the funny thing is, she also loves to spin pens and yet she's complaining about it. ' I laughed as I typed this. Do you still remember？Do you still spin pens now? For me, I can't concentrate on my work unless I spin it.

What does it look like, the one lying in your pencilcase?

archaic smile

'You have a nice archaic smile.'
^__^ (lol *rolling on floor*)

It's a special term used to describe a particular facial expression found on archaic sculptures dated back to 6th century BC. A smile like this: (gentle curling at corner of lips)

A Sounion sculpture found on Attic, where Anthens is located.

When the prof flashed this slide, I was instantly reminded of hu yuxuan. She has EXACTLY that kind of smile when she's scheming a thousand excuses/plans in her head.

There's one particular pottery painting I liked among all slides. By an artisit named Exekias, frieze on neck amphora, circa 545 B.C.

The theme is 'the suicide of Ajax', a hero in the Trojan war. It's rare to spot a painting which put more emphasis on the 'atmosphere' than the figure itself. Red clay gives a twilight feel and hints at the character's loneliness.

It's one thing to like potteries and quite another to collect them. I can't imagine a house clustered with big jars and kraters. That's an absolute nightmare.

The guy who lived next door looked scary. Last time he stopped in the hallway and asked me if I had a lighter for cigarretes and it's as if he MUST have that cigarette immediately or else death would fall upon him. And the next time I spotted him walking and panting heavily at the same time. Was he on drugs? O_O

banner mania

On a sudden whim of fancy, I've decided to make a banner for everyone , hmmhmm. Never made any banner/icon before and I actually did 16 within 3 hours. I'm a genius. Hope the theme goes well with everyone's blog. If you're unsatisfied, I'll make another when I'm bored.

My top 3 choices will have to go to


Although it might look more like 'a poor little fish committing suicide' than 'a fish's dream'...


9 coloured pills for you to pop, Jady!


Katana set + teapot. Or is it in my imagination the katana looks like a temple facade, trying to push it towards an imperium motif. Don't blame me if it feels like a thirty samurai.

Kneel down & Apologize to yaya,

I'll make a better one 'next time', i mean 'next time'.

I fail horribly as a responsible adult. I'd rather starve than cooking. Making banners rather than reading books. Saying 'don't worry zhu, you are a genius' instead of sitting down and revising for tests. What should I do. I'm gonna be jobless.

The only thing I managed to read this whole weekend are William Woodsworth's lyrical poems. (Our french prof says if we don't hyphan week-end, C'est anglais! not french!)
His lyrical poems (not a bunch of narrative poems)are mostly hymns for the beauty of nature. I wonder if he was a peaceful person at heart, whether he had beautiful childhood memories. I want to go to a place without myself, a place where I don't have to think. Jady, I wonder if it's still possible to find a piece of land where hermits dwell. Maybe they don't want to see us. Maybe they don't want us to join them.

To the Daisy
William Woodsworth

In youth from rock to rock I went,
From hill to hill in discontent
Of pleasure high and turbulent,
Most pleased when most uneasy;
But now my own delights I make, -
My thirst at every rill can slake,
And gladly Nature's love partake
Of thee, sweet Daisy!

Thee Winter in the garland wears
That thinly decks his few grey hairs;
Spring parts the clouds with softest airs,
That she may sun thee;
Whole summer-fields are thine by right;
And Autumn, melancholy wight!
Doth in thy crimson head delight
When rains are on thee.

A Joke from Tree's blog

revamp

Sayonara to golden clock & roman time. Jady must be sad I changed the layout. Summer's coming so here comes a cooler shade. Main reason for doing so: procrastination. Two tests next week, not in study mode.

shunji iwai's world

We'll meet again.



She was clutching the book, grinning.


And he loved you so...




spring has come, but you left.


- I'm from Hokkaido...
- So why are you studying here in Musashino?
- Musashino... Musashino




Let's go picnic!


The last day of our youth