collapsible lung

This is a good, nay, GREAT year, and I say that because most of my favorite bands and singers have been or are releasing new albums! OH JOYYYYYYY!!!! :D

I've just downloaded Relient K's Collapsible Lung, which is my third full album purchase this year, after Khalil Fong's Back to Wonderland and David Tao's recent Hello Goodbye.

I don't really need to say that I love this album right? I'm a good if not die-hard fan.. so of course it's good hahaha! But really, I'm lovin' the upbeat melodies of Don't Blink, Lost Boy, Collapsible Lung and That's My Jam (all of which were previously released on youtube). And everything else are sounding good too. ^_^ I haven't checked the lyrics yet, so I could be wrong in saying that some of the witticism and word play they are known for aren't so prominent this time around (first impression). Mattie has always have a way with words which was how I got hooked with a punk rock band that has apparently gone pop (M has said that their next album will be rock if not punk rock :) I've also read that songs that reflect their Christian faith are not found, so I thought that's quite a bummer cos those that they have written have always been my favorites :(

With that too, I can't shake off the sadness for the departure of their drummer EL right before the album was released, and the news of the other two members (bassist JW and guitarist JS) not joining in the tour. I don't know what that's all about, and maybe in not knowing I tend to imagine the worst. M, this had better not be your doing! :(

anyways, after this, I'll be anticipating Switchfoot's Fading West which is coming out soon (there's an album AND a movie, omg so much awesomeness!) and Leehom's in the studio between his movie takes recording for a new album. this fangirl cannot ask for moar.. MOARRRRR!! hehehe.. sorry for my state of delirium.. wait, I'm not sorry. I'm soooo excited I can't sit still.

a good year indeed.


#update: love the pop rock tunes, but the lyrics quality leaves much to be desired. i think M could do so, so much better. because he has done it before. i am disappoint. i'm enjoying the album without listening to the words. which isn't cool in my book. not cool at all. :(

brb.

After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.
- Aldous Huxley (via David Crowder)

I've had quite a bit of the latter here lately, which is naturally pretty awesome, but I'm taking a quick break to pursue the former. I'll leave you with this, Khalil Fong's wonderful cover of Faye Wong's 紅豆 Red Bean.



brb+xoxo+hello, june. 

#TeamLeehom

Hello again, Brendan! (this is for your viewing pleasure, my dearest D and J hehehe..)



The awesome Brendan B. posted this pic on his Fb with a note thanking the Malaysian audience. Well, thank YOU, Brendan! And come back to our shore soon!

Brendan obviously isn't the only musician on Leehom's team. And I'm pleased to intro them: in his current band, he also has Grecco Burrato (left below) on the electric guitar, Eric Holden (right below) on the bass, and the keyboardist and band leader is long time collaborator, Kheng Long (middle below the below :P). Interestingly, Brendan, Eric and Grecco (a trio henceforth known as BEG even if I never refer to them as such again in this post hehe)(I know it's unfair that I left KL out from the acronym but BEGKL doesn't have the same ring to it)(fine, fine, the quartet BEGKL it is then)(where am I going with this?) have all played for Shakira (BEG, not BEGKL, in case you lost me there), so I'm guessing Leehom bao kah liao the team (perhaps he got a good buy-2-free-1 deal hahah.. I jest ;).

Naturally, they are all accomplished musicians in their own rights, who have played for big names worldwide (like Eric, he was in Josh Groban's band for a good few years---the band was affectionately known as Groband---I had to chuckle! :D). As for KL, I've only seen him mostly in the Chinese/Asian scene, and my favorite video where he was featured prominently would this one (actually it was the only vid where I could see him clearly that I've come across (then again, I haven't been googling him much :P) where he played for David Tao. ^_^ Ah it's quite mind blowing to think of the amount of talent that ooze out whenever they play together! So humbling... :)

Actually, the main point of this blog post is to say hello to Brendan and I've done that so imma end now.. but wait, there's more! (cheesy informercial reference)(thousand apologies)(there really is actually other stuff below this so don't go yet! :)

That dude on the left, the backup singer, has been w LH really long too. I'm sorry I don't know your name, good sir.  

On a not-so-random note, this happened lol!

This taught me to cross check my lyrics source when something doesn't add up! Hehe..

Btw if LH is not your cuppa, what about KF, as in Khalil Fong. The MV for his song Romeo is fresh off the oven today. It's one of my favorite tracks from his latest album Back to Wonderland.

Hey girls, look who's here again (taken from his website).. come to think of it, I didn't even post this many photos of Leehom -_-"

i'm hooked on a new drug, and it's called Quora, and it's so addictive, i just can't stop scrolling. it's basically a community-driven Q&A website (something like Yahoo! Answers but wayyyyy better in content quality).. there is every possible topic under the sun that you could choose to follow, and i really enjoy the thoughtful or funny insights some of these answers have given. Jimmy Wales, one of the founders of Wiki (one of my other most visited websites), is a small investor of Quora (not surprising), and is also a regular contributor whose answers are good read. so yeah, this is what i do late into the night under the cover when i can't sleep. :D

anyway, i would like to report that i've been a good girl and the WLH fast is ongoing without a hitch. this also means that i gave his Google+ Hangout session last Saturday a miss :( but other than that, i've been doing quite okay. today is Day 28 (wow, already!) and other than the Gospel of Matthew, I've been enjoying David Crowder's latest (and final! *cries) CD on the way to and back from work. (I tune into Khalil Fong's music at work though)(realised i've paid more for Khalil's songs on iTunes than even LH, but that's cos I had all of LH's songs prior to iTunes being available in Msia ;)

speaking of K, here's my new favorite song, 詩人的情人 The Poet's Lover from his 2006 sophomore album This Love. ergh this is really difficult to translate so please humbly accept my attempt.

纏綿(chan mian)是首詩　很容易迷失
北島的朦朧(meng long)不減李商隱的精緻(jing zhi)
感情是首詩　要懂愛才能知
我希望像李宗盛一針挑中你心事
別像宋代李清照悽悽慘慘戚戚
it's easy to get lost in this poignant poem
Bei Dao's obscurity does not reduce Li Shangyin's exquisiteness
feelings are a poem that you could only know if you understand what love is
i hope to be like Jonathan Lee whose words would get you right in the heart
and not like Li Qingzhao of the Song Dynasty who was sad, miserable, sorrowful

List of poets named:

• Bei Dao 北島: lit. "Northern Island", pen name of Chinese poet Zhao Zhenkai 趙振開. He chose the pen name because he came from the north and because of his preference for solitude. Most notable representative of the Misty Poets, a group of Chinese poets who reacted against the restrictions of the Cultural Revolution.)
• Li Shangyin 李商隱: Chinese poet of the late Tang Dynasty. Was much admired and "rediscovered" in the 20th century by young Chinese writers for the imagist quality of his poems. He is particularly famous for his tantalizing "no title" (無題) poems.
  
• Jonathan Lee 李宗盛: Taiwanese record producer, singer, and songwriter, and is hailed as one of the godfathers of Taiwanese Mandopop. He was one of the most successful producers of the 1990s and 2000s. Divorced his wife and married one of the artistes he wrote for (sorry, but i lost my respect and interest of him at this point)
• Li Qingzhao 李清照: Chinese writer and poet of the Song Dynasty. Born into a family of officials and scholars. Unlike other girls born in noble families, Li was outgoing and knowledgeable. She is credited with the first detailed critique of the metrics of Chinese poetry. She was regarded as a master of wanyue pai "the delicate restraint". Her poetry was already well known within elite circles before she got married. Her husband and she shared a love of poetry and often wrote poems for each other. His death was a blow she never recovered from, and her later works reflected this.
  

我願為你背誦(bei song)　每一首情詩
我願意做你的老師　示範著(shi fan zhe)執子之手(zhí zǐ zhī shǒu)如何解釋
不願為深奧(shen ao)的感情　變白痴
我倆的情事　是一首情詩
要像徐志摩那麼癡　要像對押韻(ya yin)的堅持
要成為文學的歷史　讓我們要多美麗有多美麗 [要這段情感動他人名噪一時(míng zào yīshí)]
i would recite every one of those poems for you
i am willing to teach you
and demonstrate the meaning of 執子之手 (fig. holding hands)[Ed: lol so cheeky]
i won't let the deep feelings make me a fool
our love story is a piece of poetry
as silly as Xu Zhimo, as insistent as a pair of rhymes
to become literary history
to be as beautiful as we want it to be [v2: so that this love will become renown]

More poet references:

• Xu Zhimo 徐志摩: an early 20th century Chinese poet. One of the most renowned romantic poets of 20th century Chinese literature, he is known for his promotion of modern Chinese poetry, and has made tremendous contributions to modern Chinese literature. Tragic love life thou (wiki)

很少人看詩　很少人得知
擁抱時怎創作(chuang zuo)接近詩意的手勢
很少人懂詩　很少人情癡
莎士比亞的十四行詩快沒人認識
可我對你吟頌(yín sòng)並不如煙的往事
very few people are into poems, very few people want to find out
when we embrace, how do we create poetry-worthy gestures?
very few people understand poems, very few people are crazy in love
Shakespeare's sonnets are losing its familiarity
but the odes i hum to you aren't even like vapor of things past

讓這一首解構(jiě gòu)擁抱的詩　感染這誤解愛情的城市
多少艱澀(jiān sè)的美感快消失　可我們是少數的奢侈(shē chǐ)
我送你情詩就靠著　靈犀一指
走遍世界也能步步成詩　給寫成故事
let this poem of deconstructed hug (huh?) influence this city that misunderstands love
so much of incomprehensible but beautiful feelings are lost
although we take pleasure in the small things
my gift of a love poem to you is based on our mutual feelings
and every step around the word will turn into a poem and then a story


缠绵/纏綿 chánmián - touching (emotions) / lingering (illness)
朦胧/朦朧 ménglóng - hazy, obscure
精致/精緻 jīngzhì - delicate / fine / exquisite / refined
凄 qī - sad, mournful
惨 cǎn - miserable / wretched / cruel / inhuman / disastrous / tragic / dim / gloomy
戚戚 qīqī - sorrowful / distressed
背诵 bèisòng - to recite / to repeat from memory
示范/示範 shìfàn - demonstrate
执子之手 zhí zǐ zhī shǒu - holding hands
深奧 shēn'ào - profound / abstruse / recondite / profoundly
解構(jiě gòu) - deconstruct
艱澀(jiān sè) - incomprehensible
奢侈(shē chǐ) - luxury
名噪一時 míngzàoyīshí - to achieve fame among one's contemporaries (idiom); temporary or local celebrity

[VIDEO: I can't find a video that plays from the embedded link so please go HERE for the song :)]

詩人的情人

作詞：林夕
作曲/編曲：方大同

纏綿是首詩　很容易迷失
北島的朦朧不減李商隱的精緻
感情是首詩　要懂愛才能知
我希望像李宗盛一針挑中你心事
別像宋代李清照悽悽慘慘戚戚

我願為你背誦　每一首情詩
我願意做你的老師　示範著執子之手如何解釋
不願為深奧的感情　變白痴
我倆的情事　是一首情詩
要像徐志摩那麼癡　要像對押韻的堅持
要成為文學的歷史　讓我們要多美麗有多美麗

很少人看詩　很少人得知
擁抱時怎創作接近詩意的手勢
很少人懂詩　很少人情癡
莎士比亞的十四行詩快沒人認識
可我對你吟頌並不如煙的往事

我願為你背誦　每一首情詩
我願意做你的老師　示範著執子之手如何解釋
不願為深奧的感情　變白痴
我倆的情事　是一首情詩
要像徐志摩那麼癡　要像對押韻的堅持
要成為文學的歷史　要這段情感動他人名噪一時

讓這一首解構擁抱的詩　感染這誤解愛情的城市
多少艱澀的美感快消失　可我們是少數的奢侈
我送你情詩就靠著　靈犀一指
走遍世界也能步步成詩　給寫成故事

我願為你背誦　每一首情詩
我願意做你的老師　示範著執子之手如何解釋
不願為深奧的感情　變白痴
我倆的情事　是一首情詩
要像徐志摩那麼癡　要像對押韻的堅持
要成為文學的歷史
閨房的文字只為多情傳世

• what is a gift? for me today it was waking up from a three-hour nap on a sunday evening, and then realising that the next day, a monday, is a public holiday. oh JOY!

• 2012 for me was also about chinese songs. i don't think i've ever heard that many chinese songs in the span of 9 months. granted, 90% of the time i was listening to one particular singer who doesn't need to be named but i shall, just because. hello, leehom :) along the way, i revisited david tao, and took some interest in the songs from mayday, sodagreen and khalil fong. i kinda realised that i would never be able to fully get the whole chinese pop music scene. not that i want to: the thought of another sappy ballad makes me bleh.

• i am aware that i've not set any goals for my spiritual life for 2013. it's not that i have not been thinking about it. perhaps i'm afraid of all the resos i could make, that i would not be able to keep these. i don't think it's any different from other resos, but not achieving the ones in this category is like breaking a promise to God, which i have done often enough. maybe it's all in my head. but perhaps it's to do with my not wanting to commit to this form of sp discipline. 

• tentative travel plans for this year: Taiwan (yes, again :) and maybe Bali and hopefully Singapore w00t! i had hopes to visit Beijing, not now but one day when the air quality becomes better (right now it's off the charts bad!)... and maybe Wuhan next year and someday LA! :D and New York! and Lapland! and Tokyo and London! when oh when is money gonna pour down from my sky? hehehe

• i am halfway attempting to translate this song from Khalil Fong that i've been looping the entire evening, but i feel like i'm falling short. i think it's a simple but poetic piece, and my direct translation is just killing it. but because i'm halfway done, i'm pushing forward with it. forgive me, 大同! so here's 春風吹 Spring Wind..

吹紅了桃花　吹綠了柳樹
你在路上總會安慰誰
吹醒了青蛙　吹來了燕子
我在城裡剛好缺了誰
你縱然帶來地下的玫瑰
能否收回地上的滋味　有人唱胡不歸
the wind blows and makes the peach blossom red and the willow tree green
who will you be comforting on this journey?
the wind blows and wakes up the frog, and brings the swallow
in the city, i just missed someone out
you brought with you roses from the undergrounds
could you take back the taste of the ground
someone's singing recklessly and not returning

春風一吹想起誰
有所謂　無所謂　只要不後悔
春風一吹忘了誰
我上一次流淚又幾歲
when the spring wind blows, who are you thinking of?
does it matter? it doesn't matter as long as there is no regrets
when the spring wind blows, who have you forgotten?
the last time i cried and how old was i?

你會退　我想追　會不會　對不對
也難怪我有點累
洞裡蛇　冬日睡　原上草　春風吹
到夏天我變了誰
you will retreat, and i want to follow after you
would i? am i right? no wonder i'm tired
the snake in the hole, hibernating in winter
grass in the meadow, the spring wind blows
when summer comes, i have become someone else

吹過玉門關　吹過南泥灣
你在北方註定拋棄誰
吹皺了河水　吹散了雲堆
我在世界不巧背著誰
你可以慫恿三月的悶雷
能否保證十年的約會　有人放生烏龜
the wind blows past the Jade Gate and past the Southern Muddy Bay
from where you are at the north, who have you decided to abandon?
the wind blows and creases the river and scatters the clouds
here on earth, i have had to carry the burdens for someone
could you instigate the melancholic thunders of March?
could you ensure our date on the tenth year
someone's releasing a turtle to its freedom

皺/皱 zhòu - to wrinkle / wrinkled / to crease
堆 duī - to pile up / to heap up / a mass / pile / heap
慫恿/怂恿 sǒngyǒng - to instigate / to incite / to egg sb on




春風吹
方大同

作曲：方大同
填詞：周耀輝
編曲：方大同

吹紅了桃花　吹綠了柳樹
你在路上總會安慰誰
吹醒了青蛙　吹來了燕子
我在城裡剛好缺了誰
你縱然帶來地下的玫瑰
能否收回地上的滋味　有人唱胡不歸

＊春風一吹想起誰
有所謂　無所謂　只要不後悔
春風一吹忘了誰
我上一次流淚又幾歲

你會退　我想追　會不會　對不對
也難怪我有點累
洞裡蛇　冬日睡　原上草　春風吹
到夏天我變了誰＊

吹過玉門關　吹過南泥灣
你在北方註定拋棄誰
吹皺了河水　吹散了雲堆
我在世界不巧背著誰
你可以慫恿三月的悶雷
能否保證十年的約會　有人放生烏龜

REPEAT＊

你可以慫恿三月的悶雷
能否保證十年的約會　有人放生烏龜

REPEAT＊

春風吹

from books to the big screen

there are a few reasons why i am really looking forward to the end of the year. and here are two of them:

Yann Martel's Life of Pi

scheduled release: the day after my birthday :D

Victor Hugo's Les Misérables

scheduled release: the day we celebrate Jesus' birthday

oh joy, oh joy, OH JOYYY!!!!!!!!!!!! you know how delirious i can get over anticipating things like this. how my heart beats faster, how my tummy dance in delight, how i would sometimes squeal out loud. ah! :D  i'm re-reading Life of Pi now, cautiously i might add, because i want to manage my expectations should the images in my head do not translate well on the big screen.. but the trailer looks really promising. I might also attempt to read Les Mis again (i've only read the movie tie-in, and only halfway through the full version cause i keep getting lost in the details of the French Revolution). here's the trailer btw. i can't waittttttt!!!!!

and speaking of things that make me happy to the point of ecstasy... ok, that would be a gross exaggeration of what i'm going to say next, but really, i'm kinda addicted to this song right now. it's Khalil Fong doing a cover of A-Mei's 记得 Remember, featured in his 2009 covers-only album, Timeless. and i like what he's done with it. it's a sad song though, about two people who have reached a stage in the relationship where they can't go one anymore. emo beamo stuff, but i do like khalil's arrangement over a-mei's, he has made it sound somewhat more hopeful, somewhat bittersweet. :)


我们都忘了 这条路走了多久
心中是清楚的 有一天有一天都会停的
让时间说真话 虽然我也害怕
在天黑了以后 我们都不知道会不会有以后
we have forgotten how long we have been on this journey
but we know it well in our hearts, that one day, one day this would end
let time speak the truth, although i'd be terrified
as the day grows darker, we don't know if there would be a next time

谁还记得 是谁先说 永远的爱我
以前的一句话 是我们以后的伤口
过了太久 没人记得当初那些温柔
我和你手牵手 说要一起走到最后
who would still remember, who was it who had first profess to "love you forever"
words from the past, are the wounds of our future
after so long, no one remembers the initial tenderness
the both of us holding hands, and we said that we'd walk together til the end

我们都累了 却没办法往回走
两颗心都迷惑 怎么说怎么说都没有救
亲爱的为什么 也许你也不懂
两个相爱的人 等着对方先说找分开的理由
we are growing tired now, but there's no way for us to go back
two confused hearts, no matter what's said, cannot be saved
dearest, why? perhaps you don't understand
two people who love each other, waiting for one to first speak up
to find a reason to break up

谁还记得爱情开始 变化的时候
我和你的眼中 看见了不同的天空
走的太远 终于走到分岔路的路口
是不是你和我 要有两个相反的梦
who would still remember, when love first bloomed, how it's changed
you and i, our eyes are gazing at different skies
after walking such a distance, we have reached a fork in the road
why are our dreams so different?




记得 (an A-Mei 張惠妹 cover)
方大同

我们都忘了 这条路走了多久
心中是清楚的 有一天有一天都会停的
让时间说真话 虽然我也害怕
在天黑了以后 我们都不知道会不会有以后

谁还记得 是谁先说 永远的爱我
以前的一句话 是我们以后的伤口
过了太久 没人记得当初那些温柔
我和你手牵手 说要一起走到最后

我们都累了 却没办法往回走
两颗心都迷惑 怎么说怎么说都没有救
亲爱的为什么 也许你也不懂
两个相爱的人 等着对方先说找分开的理由

谁还记得爱情开始 变化的时候
我和你的眼中 看见了不同的天空
走的太远 终于走到分岔路的路口
是不是你和我 要有两个相反的梦

谁还记得 是谁先说永远的爱我
以前的一句话 是我们以后的伤口
过了太久 没人记得当初那些温柔
我和你手牵手 说要一起走到最后
我和你手牵手 说要一起走到最后