Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Ayano Tsuji

NPR : Ayano Tsuji, Playing a Delicate Instrument

Ayano Tsuji is the singer who performed the theme song in the animated film 'The Cat Returns'. Very clean crystalline voice acoompanied by a typical Hawaiian instrument ukelele.

Ayano Tsuji poses with her ukulele.

Ayano Tsuji and her ukulele.

Weekend Edition - Saturday, January 21, 2006 · The Japanese music industry, dominated by J-pop and girl rock, can be fairly stifling. But there are alternatives, and one of them is a singer, songwriter and ukelele player named Ayano Tsuji. In high school, she loved folk music, but found her hands were too small to play guitar. So she turned to the ukulele.

Thursday, January 19, 2006

i say tag...


Yes, that 8 things you look for in your ideal partner tagging game. See I have to officially announce the victims...

shu, jady, jeremy, ET

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

sighz

Rejected by Prof. Chang's Lab. She said she's decided there's no more room available for undergraduate. Then why the hell did she interview me in the first place? Such a lie but anyway, I'll have to move on.

And I received an email from a friend whom I've lost contact for 7 years! Life's crazy at this point!

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

another tagging game

Tagged by Gang!

游戏规则
被点名的朋友需要在自己的 blog 里公开理想伴侣的8个条件,同时加上说明。A.理想伴侣是男或女?B.必须点名8个人,用尽所有办法通知各人被点名参与这个游戏。C.被点名的人不可重复被点,每个人只可玩一次。

Translation
Write down 8 aspects you're looking for in your ideal type of partner, and explain.
A.Is your ideal one a he or she?
B.Tag 8 people and inform them about this in any way you can.
C.You can't tag someone who's already played the game.

I'll ignore B for now.
For A,not really important since it's 'ideal'.

1. loves me, not on a temporary contract called 'hormone surge'
2. passionate about the things he likes
3. observant and caring but not too sensitive
4. a good father, meaning he has his way around kids and is responsible
5. has a career, not so poor that I have to feed him
6. common interests, good conversations. and sense of humour!
7. not flamboyant, definitely not a snob. good - mannered
8. certain charm (that's very vague I know but remember beauty's in the eye of the beholder!)

I'm tagging whoever reads this blog ^^

Monday, January 16, 2006

no way out

I don't mean to depress with that sad little title on top. It's just something off the top of my head.

Huazhen said he'd sing 'Hotel California' 4 times round and round in his head and the lecture would be over. THE BORING lecture which has nothing to do with HIS life would be over. The best way to kill time.

When I heard it then, I thought it wasn't a bad idea. No more than that.

Then slowly I realized it was something else. and I tried to think how the opening melody sounds like, chewed it over and over and realized how stuck I was. Very stuck.

----------------------

Here's something else. A random question.
You sure spend some time in front of computer, EVERYDAY. And I spend a lot of time so to speak with my IBM.
So the question is what are the websites you routinely check?

My daily walkthrough(somewhat in order)
gmail
hotmail
my GC website, reply to messages if there's any
GC forum , see if there's any new post
Read google news
Read animation news, blog news if it's interesting
Course websites , see if there're new notes posted
blog, reply to comments, check friends' blogs

It's become a time-consuming routine ...And I feel like an internet slave.

Saturday, January 14, 2006

biochemistry graduate open house

I went for our department's graduate open house today, from noon to dinner. We were given talks by the head of biochemistry and Prof Rini who's the coordinator of graduate programme. Later we went on a 'tour' to see some top notch facilities in medscience building and nearby hospitals. The instruments are really cool, especially the protein 3D simulation programme which's basically a giant computer with thousands processors and a big screen that simulates protein breathing and possible inhibitor/binding interactions through thermodynamic calculations. You have to wear special glasses to view it in 3D though and I stood there wondering how they could derive so much information just from the visual aspect of it. Bonds shown as dotted lines break and rejoin on screen as the molecules vibrate and I forgot to mention the system cost millions of dollars! I felt like a spectator worshipping King Kong, one of the wonders that is.

Wonders aside, I'm really worried about getting into a good graduate programme. I was totally clueless last year. I should've actively searched for lab jobs last summer instead of going home, lazing around and wasting my time!! It's hard to get the first research job without any previous experience. There're so many factors to worry about I don't even have the courage to list them down. The interview I went for two days ago didn't seem promising to me, partly because the Prof I applied to work with is famous and popular and I have an inkling she's looking for straight A students and I'm not. Still I don't think I should just let it go. Her lab is really interesting and I'd really regret it if I can't have the experience. Applying to our own department profs is another matter to consider. I'm more and more unsure as what I want to do for research... Right now it feels like something related to genomics and celluar biology and what the combinations of the two can bring. Wish me luck... in this potential jobless season one should strive... The little piece of paper I got out from the Chinese fortune cookie during dinner says this 'Read in order to survive.' and it sure sounds a warning.

Hotel California



Hotel California - The Eagles

On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair
在漆黑荒凉的高速公路上,凉风吹散了我的头发
Warm smell of colitas, rising up through the air
科里塔斯温热的气息,在空中袅袅上升
Up ahead in the distance, I saw a shimmering light
抬头极目远方,看见微微闪烁的灯光
My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim
我的头脑变得沉重,我的视线越发模糊
I had to stop for the night
必须停下来了,寻找过夜的地方

There she stood in the doorway;
她就站在门廊
I heard the mission bell
布道的钟声在我耳边回响
And I was thinking to myself, "This could be Heaven or this could be Hell"
我心中暗念,“还不知道这里是地狱还是天堂”
Then she lit up a candle and she showed me the way
这时她点起一根蜡烛,给我前面引路
There were voices down the corridor,
走廊深处一阵阵歌声回荡
I thought I heard them say...
我想我听见他们在唱。。。
"Welcome to the Hotel California
"欢迎来到加州旅馆
Such a lovely place, Such a lovely face
多么可爱的地方, 多么可爱的脸庞
Plenty of rooms at the Hotel California
加州旅馆如此多的客房
Any time of year, you can find it here "
一年四季无论何时何候,你都可以在这找到地方"


Her mind is Tiffany-twisted, she got the Mercedes bends
带着仿佛如纱般缠绕的心思,她开着一辆梅塞德斯·奔驰
She got a lot of pretty, pretty boys, that she calls friends
还带着许多漂亮迷人的小伙子,她都唤他们叫朋友
How they dance in the courtyard, sweet summer sweat.
在庭院里他们舞的多欢,挥洒着夏日甜味的香汗
Some dance to remember, some dance to forget
有人狂舞中唤起回忆,而有人狂舞着是为了忘记
So I called up the Captain, "Please bring me my wine"
于是我把主人召唤,“请给我来点酒”
He said, ’We haven’t had that spirit here since 1969’
他说,“自1969年我们这就再没那东西了”
And still those voices are calling from far away,
而那些声音依然远远传来,
Wake you up in the middle of the night
令人在午夜也会惊醒
Just to hear them say...
只听得他们在唱。。。
“Welcome to the Hotel California
“欢迎来到加州旅馆
Such a lovely place, Such a lovely face
多么可爱的地方,多么可爱的脸庞
They livin’ it up at the Hotel California
在加州旅馆他们纵情狂欢
What a nice surprise, bring your alibis”
多么美妙的惊奇呀,为你带来想要的借口!”


Mirrors on the ceiling, The pink champagne on ice
天花板上的镜子,冰上粉红色的香槟
And she said ’We are all just prisoners here, of our own device’
这时她说,“我们其实不过是这里的囚徒,甘心被自己所驱使”
And in the master’s chambers, They gathered for the feast
然后在主人房间里,他们聚集在盛宴前
They stab it with their steely knives,
挥舞着钢制的刀叉
But they just can’t kill the beast
但却就是不能刺死野兽

Last thing I remember, I was running for the door
我记得我做的最后一件事是跑向大门
I had to find the passage back to the place I was before
我必须寻找来时的路回到从前的地方
’Relax,’ said the night-man,“ We are programmed to receive.
“放松点,”值夜的说到,“我们安排好了接收,
You can checkout any time you like,
你可以在喜欢的时候结帐,
but you can never leave!”
但你却永远无法离开!”


赏析:

  1996年至今,全中国的酒吧都在播放一段音乐会现场录相:在鲜花与彬彬有礼的掌声中,几个功成名就的老家伙一字排开,抱着吉它和贝司做默契的合唱。那是老鹰乐队复出后一场著名的Unplugged Show(不插电晚会),那首随意但整齐、平淡却迷人的著名歌曲,就是他们在1976年底发表的《加州旅馆》。

  老鹰乐队是美国乃至美国文化波及到世界最为雅俗共赏的乐队,有人说他们是摇滚乐队,也有人说他们是合唱组,反正他们最拿手的,便是乡村摇滚的五重奏加上五重唱,乡村的传统情怀、摇滚的适当的动感、一层层吉它铺垫出的细致空间、一重重人声叠加的丰富和声,便是他们左右逢源的秘密。作为加州摇滚主流化之后的最成功例子,老鹰自1971年组建到1982年解散,伴随美国人度过了整个七十年代,他们不仅是格莱美大奖的常客,也是每张唱片都是金唱片的骄子,后来,更是“摇滚名人祠”和“硬石餐厅”(Hard Rock Cafe)追星式的收藏对象。就在乐队解散之后,也有Glenn Frey(格伦·弗瑞)、Joe Walsh(乔·沃尔什)、Don Henley(唐·亨利)三位分别成为歌坛巨星,其中唐·亨利的格莱美大奖作品 “The End of The Innocence”《纯真的结局》尤其深符美国人回归道德的心态:“我要记住它,亲爱的,在告别之前再给我一个吻,再让我长久地看你最后一眼。你可以把头枕在地上,让你的头发铺散在我的旁边,献出你最珍贵的防线,可这也是结局,这已是纯真的结局。”

  正如《纯真的结局》一样,当年的《加州旅馆》也是这样在旧式生活的场景中盘算着道德与美的双重意义。《加州旅馆》更像一个寓言、一次神秘的梦游,在黑暗的沙漠高速公路旁,加州旅馆宾至如归、应有尽有,灯红酒绿、美女如云,可是当“我”想要离开的时候却被告知:“你可以随时买单,但永不能离去。”歌中还有人说:“我们都是自制的牢笼中的囚徒”,这听起来颇有警世恒言的味道。然而音乐一旦响起,歌喉绽开之际,说教不见了,悲凉出现了,冷眼看世界的人满心疼痛,像是无力回天的唐僧在向神灵倾诉人间的不义与美好的不幸,而层层叠叠的铮然吉它和温厚的人声又创造了形式上的美----那网一样的听觉麻醉。在老鹰复出后的那个版本中,更有加倍的成熟男人的魅力,那谈不上沧桑,但也绝不是冲动,结果这首歌获得了意想不到的效果,它本身更加平淡从容,而听者却有更大的热情。
---------------------------

Sorry everything's in Chinese. I found the reviews on a forum and the lyrics translations sound pretty good ^^ Hotel California is in my personal opinion the unparalleled timeless classic!

CG colouring



A painting done by my biochm classmate. The colouring is really good!

I want to learn PAINTER!!

Friday, January 13, 2006

blogging about blogs

There's a general change in my blogging style as I've come to notice after scanning through past entries... The contents I blog now are less interesting. I've lost my sense of humour. Mysteriously dissipated. Is it because of 3rd year or just me?

I told Jady several months ago, as we started on a strange conversation called 'exchange a secret' aka girlie talk... I thought for a while and said 'Okay here's my secret. I have a private blog not listed in my blogger profile.' Jady replied 'I have so many such blogs I even lost track of them.' So it wasn't supposed to be a secret. A week ago I stared at my no-big-deal private blog where only 4 tiny entries were found and had the sudden urge to erase them all. I did and it's gone. When it's gone, I started to recall why it was there in the first place and I couldn't think of a reason.
On 2nd thought what I typed a second ago was a habitual lie because there has always been a reason. Honesty could be unthinkably timid. Therefore it wouldn't blend.

On Wikipedia: This fever is obviously passed down from tree... Thanks to her wikipedia has now become my 2nd favourite right after Google. And just when did my friends start calling me 'Google Queen'???!

A personal lesson on what Google cannot do -
We were walking back from the grocery store and Guizi started humming a tune. A very short but familiar tune. 3 seconds long, so simple and familiar it gives you an ITCH! Where is it from? Commercial? Children's song? We've heard it hundreds of times before but we just couldn't name it! After repeated truncated self mumbling such as 'what is...?', 'what the hell, is it...?' 'no, it's...?' 'o, yes, err, no...' Guizi couldn't stand it anymore and gave me one of the most ironic comments I've ever heard.
'Sorry you can't Google that.'
...

It would be great if Google coule have an extra function called 'Google sound'. There's Google news, goolge image, google earth... so why not Google sound??

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

I'm worth

less than 5 dollars and a phone call
We are different. It wasn't a randomly thrown in fact. It's been there for ages.
And I've made up my mind, as of today, not to care anymore. Enough.

To whoever's reading this blog
I don't want to recount what happened. Trust me it wasn't serious and it has nothing to with relationships.

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

discovered a movie blog

A New Yorker in Hollywood

Nothing but movie reviews. Jady would be exhilarated reading that... haven't seen her online for some time...

Monday, January 09, 2006

tagging game

tagged by tree,

Rules of the game:1. Post 5 weird/random stuff about yourself.2. At the end, list the names of 5 people whom you want next to do this, and leave a comment "YOU ARE TAGGED!" in their blog and tell them to read your blog for rules.

1. I'd rather starve to death in bed than falling asleep at the dinner table.

2. There's a mole at the base of my collarbone. It's normal looking but once a doctor remarked that it's better I get it removed by laser surgery ,just in case it's a tumor...

3. I kept lots of pets when I was small. Rabbit, bird, snails, ants, grasshoppers, beatles, goldfish, tadpoles, and unknown fish I caught in the pond...

4. During one summer I decided to do my own mini project on Studio Ghibli. I woke up, ate and fixed myself in front of the internet, gathered up all the information, cateogrised them and printed out the stuff I need and indexed them, till it was again time to eat. I used up 2 stacks of printing paper till there was no more ink catridge. This went on for 2 weeks till my parents couldn't stand it anymore...

5. Talking about dreams, I had the same dream three times before I turned 15. I was part of an underground secret agency and we worked in ditches at night. I could still remember the settings, which partly resembled our old neighbourhood. That dream never came back since...

Next 5,
Jade, Gui, Gang, Jeremy, ET

back to school

School starts tomorrow! *claps*

I was madly rushing the carbohydrates lab report the whole evening only to be told it was due two weeks after. Anyway better early than late.

The biochemistry course we have for the winter term is related to proteomics, a topic which sounds very physics and mathematical. I like physics but to investigate protein folding, build 3D models and study their kinetics for your entire life sounds very deappetizing to me...

Some random stuff

medical science building, where most of my lessons are held

http://phm.utoronto.ca/~aapssc/img/conf2005/conhall.jpg
convocation hall, where graduation ceremony is held. (pray we graduate...)


university college, simply ancient. They say before UT existed, there was only this building standing. Rather pathetic.

These are photos scrambled from the web. I'll take some good pictures after I've grown out of my laziness.

Friday, January 06, 2006

Utada Hikaru Holiday Speical

Video Download from this website.

Content:
3 min gibberish talk (coz I don't understand Japanese)
2 live performances: Boulevard of Broken Dreams and Passion(new single)
Total: 14:30min

Thought Jeremy and ET would be interested^^

Thursday, January 05, 2006

Quiz Time

Leave me a comment if you also took the quiz so I could check out your results *evil laughters*

First of all some online Alison Krauss videos
1. Lucky One
2. New Favourite
3. Let Me Touch You For a While
4. Maybe

Your Animal Personality

Your Power Animal: Eagle

Animal You Were in a Past Life: Whale

You are active, a challenger, and optimistic.
Hard-working, you are always working towards a set goal.






You Are 50% Weird



Normal enough to know that you're weird...

But too damn weird to do anything about it!






You Are 22 Years Old



Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe.



13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world.



20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences.



30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more!



40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.




Your Band Name is:

The Bald Goldfish



Your Eyes Should Be Brown

Your eyes reflect: Depth and wisdom

What's hidden behind your eyes: A tender heart



Your Personality Profile

You are dependable, popular, and observant.
Deep and thoughtful, you are prone to moodiness.
In fact, your emotions tend to influence everything you do.

You are unique, creative, and expressive.
You don't mind waving your freak flag every once and a while.
And lucky for you, most people find your weird ways charming!



Your Brain's Pattern

You have a dreamy mind, full of fancy and fantasy.
You have the ability to stay forever entertained with your thoughts.
People may say you're hard to read, but that's because you're so internally focused.
But when you do share what you're thinking, people are impressed with your imagination.







Your Brain is 53.33% Female, 46.67% Male



Your brain is a healthy mix of male and female

You are both sensitive and savvy

Rational and reasonable, you tend to keep level headed

But you also tend to wear your heart on your sleeve









You are "Yakuza" (Japanese mafia)

John Kerry








The last one really beat me. Why am I a Yakuza???!

Wednesday, January 04, 2006

george winston



YSI link
George Winston - December


Official Website

That's the album containing the track you hear on my blog. George Winston is also a Hawaiian slack key player (not sure what it is, might be a style of guitar picking). If you watch his live concerts, his fingers look funnily stiff and skeleton but when they move, they're deadly precise and adept. I had a hard time relating the magical sounds from the piano with the picture in front of me. That serious scholarly looking George Winston with clockwork mechanical body movement and yet the imaginary world has transformed itself under his spell. Ah, the peanuts music by Vinc Guaraldi is so joyous! Makes you wanna dance on tiptoes.

Last summer on the trip back to my grandma's house, I persuaded my dad to try one of Winston's season albums - Autumn and it turned out I was the only one enjoying it the whole way back. My mum complained it was too monotonous and repetitive. The repetitive part is true but that's just one aspect of new age music, minimalistic to some extent. Philip Glass can't be a better exemplificaiton. In the end we had to switch back to my dad's all time favourite CD - 'Golden whistle', which we've been listening ever since we had a car.

George Winston's inspirations come from Montana and that has been one of my most reveried places ever since. I really wish I could go there one day to see nature and experience the seasons spoken by him.

Dinner: Added too much salt in steamed eggplant. Deadly!!!
Tomorrow going to watch King Kong with guizi ^^ Finally!

Wong Kar Wai tops Cannes jury

BBC NEWS | Chinese director tops Cannes jury

Hong Kong film director Wong Kar-wai has been named as president for this year's Cannes Film Festival jury.

Wong, whose film 2046 won critical acclaim at Cannes two years ago, will be the first Chinese filmmaker to head the panel, say festival organisers.

'Every town has its own language. In Cannes, it's the language of dream,' he said in a statement.

The 59th Cannes Film Festival will take place from 17 to 28 May.

His statement added: 'I am eager to share the dreams of the greatest talents of contemporary cinema with my jury comrades.'

He made his first appearance at the French Riviera festival in 1989 with As Tears Go By.

Last year the Cannes jury headed by Emir Kusturica gave Belgian drama L'Enfant (The Child) the Palme d'Or, the festival's top prize.
"

Teppei Sasakura

Okay, click here
I feel lazy... Oh my hands, how they refuse to type...

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

The blue painting lodged in the middle of my blog is by a contemporary Japanese artist named Teppei Sasakura. You can see his signature 'Teppei S.' at the bottom. For more information you can visit his official website.

He uses extraordinarily bright colours. They look more like magazine designs/illustrations with thousands of details and nuances in light. Simply dripping rich with idealistic illusions.

For more pictures, here's My MSN space. You probably need to swtich to IE for proper display.

ps. Today I learnt why the movie's called 'Lily Chou Chou' but who first came up with this name?
Debussy the musician nicknamed his daughter 'chouchou' and 'lily' is the middle name of his wife.
That's all.
......
...


zzzzZZZZZ

Tuesday, January 03, 2006

2006 revamp

The reason I changed template is because the old one was clogged with junk codes. Sorry I have to drop everyone's blog banners since they're too cumbersome.

*Haven't figured out a way to install comment bar. The old one is weird since Jeremy says I used back the blogger comment function and when I checked this morning, I couldn't even see the comment post.?????

*I watched Leon the Professional, a 1994 film directed by Luc Besson, starring Natalie Portman(Star Wars,Closer), Gary Oldman(5th Element, Harry Potter) and Jean Reno(no idea... but he also took part in 'The Da Vinci Code'). I finally watched it... Last last year Gang said the script was the best ever and last year Jady wrote a teary review on it and is obviously head over toes for 'Leon'. However after watching it myself, I don't feel the movie's as fantastic as described. First of all you have to admit the story plot is rather cliche(although touching) and some parts don't make logical sense. For example how Leon just stormed into the federal building, grabbed the girl and went. It's a police building, not an empty church...

Natalie Portman is gorgeous, even when she was only 12.

ps. The chinese translation of the title reads 'This hitman isn't so cold', which gives me shudders.

more photos

I'm wasting so much time... Whimper, better go sleep.