Going to karaoke with my cousins even though I can’t read Chinese or listen to Canto pop, but I’m determined to learn just one Cantonese song so I can sing it on this coming Sunday…
It’s proving harder than I originally thought, but no fear, challenges are good for the soul! On the other hand, listening to this one song on a never-ending loop is not so good for my ears.
In other news, the computer I’m using doesn’t recognise my mobile phone so I can’t upload amusing/thought provoking pictures I see around me. Ho hum.
I’m in Hong Kong at the moment… and still adjusting to many things: the weather, the humidity, the crowds, the different culture, the high-rises, the lack of space, and the fact that I am normal sized instead of a foot shorter than everyone else! Huzzah!
Had a wonderful and philosophical dinner and movie with a friend last night. During our discussion, she recommended that I base my Honours thesis on the second book of the Lioness quartet instead of the first one because Tamora Pierce’s prowess as an author develops significantly more in her second novel, as well as the fact the heroine leaves the institution of knighthood in that book.
I was called a ‘wog’ by some extremely intoxicated youths a few days ago.
Biologically I’m 100% Chinese. It just made me laugh at how incredibly drunk they were to confuse a person of Asian descent with someone of Mediterranean descent. I feel so sorry for these boys that I can’t even feel angry at them for being racist.
Just wanted to point out that there are very handy Cantonese translations, free of charge, of some Hillsong songs. You can find the link in my other blog.
Hilarious sketch! It really emphasises the fact that the works of Shakespeare were not meant as literature or anything groundbreaking, rather the works were popular culture in Shakespearean times. Brilliant!
And of course, how could your resist Rowan Atkinson and Hugh Laurie together?
A friend of mine is having her 21st birthday party, and the dress up theme is… ‘non-existence’, or more specifically, what does not ‘exist’.
It is very difficult as an English major with friends in philosophy to disregard the philosophical debate this theme incites. What exactly qualifies as ‘exists’? Are we talking about physical existence? In that case, abstract ideas such as love or truth or even power is up for a costume. Is she talking about fictional and ‘real’ (another problematic term) existence? If so, then what about George Poulet? When reading a novel narrated in first person, ‘who, when I say I, is indeed that I?’*.
When I tried to clarify the parameters of this theme, I was met with incredulity and was unjustly abused (by others, not the birthday girl) for my attempted analysis of this theme. As much as I love her, I wish people would just think that little bit more deeply about the terms they so carelessly toss around. Argh.
Shall update later on what I eventually decide to go as.
Cheers and God bless!
* Poulet, George. (1969) Phenomenology of Reading.
My tastes in music vary widely – I like to listen to a wide range of styles. Mostly I enjoy classical or orchestral works because I love the idea that language (in the linguistic sense of the word) is unnecessary to enjoy it. Although one could argue that classical and orchestral compositions require an understanding of a different kind of language, I find communicating emotions without words quite fascinating.
Take, for instance, Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings.
I almost cried the whole way through when I heard it for the first time. For me, it was as though Barber had searched for the definition of grief then translated it into notes and rests.
Which leads me onto pop, R ‘n’ B, rap and etc. There are many occasions where I am tickled to listen to the latest pop songs, but I find the lyrics very hard to appreciate. More often than not, I notice grammatical mistakes, dubious leaps in logic and inappropriate references to literature.
There are a few artists whose work I do enjoy and the common thread that ties them together is honest and heartfelt lyrics. No pretentious references to literary cannons (You were Romeo, I was the scarlet letter? What was Taylor Swift thinking?) or oversights in grammatical accuracy (is it I’ve been trying to tell you, that we should be together everyday or is it I’ve been trying to tell you that, we should be together, everyday? Argh!).
So I’m going to start putting up artists’ whose work I enjoy because I don’t think they get the attention they so obviously deserve.
First up: Marie Digby. Her youtube channel is here. What I love about her music is that she does not try to put on a facade in her music. Plus, she does amazing interpretations with a guitar.
I particularly enjoy Miss Invisible, Say it Again and Feel.
The father is quite a passive, weak figure. Even though he knows his eldest daughters mistreats Beauty, he lacks either the inclination or the power (or both!) to do anything about it. He also fails to succeed against adversary, whether it be against the merchants or his own beloved Beauty.
How specific all the measurements were – Miles! O’clocks!
How passive the beast is. He whines, puts himself down, starves himself.
Most of all, though, I am most amused by the requisite qualities of the Beast’s heroine: beautiful and virginal.
I can only imagine a scenario where a girl would consent to marry Beast, but is not beautiful… or virginal. Sounds like a potential soap-opera to me!
Hope you’re having a great weekend. Cheers and God bless!
I think it’s wonderful that institutions are open to the idea of using and studying different communication platforms. Popular culture and technology is so often disdainfully looked at because it caters to the masses, but isn’t that why we should observe it all the more?
Considering the way in which new technologies such as mobile phone cameras, twitter and the internet (in general) has broken accepted forms of information distribution and ownership, I think it definitely deserves academic scrutiny. I feel incredibly excited that I am living in an age where boundaries are constantly challenged and pushed by those outside the upper echelons of academic and scientific institutions (not that they are mutually exclusive).
Especially if such a technology can do this, this and this.
