loud movies, brave new world

today i accompanied my mum to johor bahru.

she wanted me to watch 'bourne ultimatum' with her
but i refused. :/
i have this strange aversion to action movies.
i think this started after watching the 'infernal affairs' triology a few yrs back.
(those of you who have no idea what 'infernal affairs' is about
can go google it...it's this blockbuster chi movie with big names
like andy lau, tony leung, leon lai, shawn yue and edison chen etc..)
'infernal affairs 2' must be one of the most violent movies i've watched.
the dead bodies just kept piling up.
the worse thing was that i was seated in the very first row,
and thanks to the marvelous technology known as DTS surround sound,
every gunshot was amplified,
which meant that the violence was magnified manifold.
i wonder what the heck DTS's for?
its main purpose seems to be to amplify
screams, (from the horror flicks)
gunshots,
and other assorted sounds of battles.
tsk tsk such things make me very nervous.

i've friends who tell me that if they are to go to a movie,
it must be something spectacular, like
epic battles,
virtuosic fight sequences,
eye-boggling computer effects,
exhilarating and heart-stopping car chases.

but for me, i'm not impressed by
grand stories of one man trying to save the world
from the slimy paws of some terrorists by jumping from planes,
or emerging unscathed from a ferocious gun fight
after singlehandedly shooting all the enemies,
and doing other superhuman stunts.

i'm not thrilled to watch helicopters exploding in balls of fire,
or how people could fight suspended in air.

i don't care for a film that is set in the sahara desert or the himalayas,
with plenty of superhuman adventures,
and grand gestures.

i would rather watch a quiet little film
that is set entirely on a sofa in a living room,
but with meaningful dialogue
and wonderful human sentiment.

on another note,
i most unexpectedly bumped into a student and her family
at JB.
i think she was initially quite shocked
that she completely did not acknowledge me.

so for a full 5 seconds,
i was there waving at her and nodding at her family,
and they looked positively surprised.
they must've been thinking
'who's this strange person gawking and waving at us?'
until a few secs later,
when i identified myself and things became clear.

quite amusing.

on yet another note,
i've given up trying to read haruki murakami's 'a wild sheep chase'.
i've read about 80 pages of it...
deep stuff, very philosophical...
and it's so full of malaise--
the characters are all living such
meaningless and depressing existences.
what's more, the plot gets increasingly confusing,
so i've decided to put it aside for now.
i'm certainly not in the mood for meandering narratives right now.

and i've started on 'brave new world'.
can you believe someone could write
about genetic engineering as early as 1932?!
that's what this book's about.
cool stuff.

should i post more often?

hmmm i'm thinking that i should post more often,
so that this would become more like a diary,
and since it's the holis now
and i've got more time.

but then the posts would have to be short.
anyway, i've just finished a meeting in school.
considering watching this movie
called 'lars and the real girl'...
about this man who buys a s-- doll (chong1 qi4 wa2 wa1)
and pretends it's his gf.
(again i don't spell out s-- as not to corrupt the minds
of my students, whom i'm sure are 'pure and innocent' haha!)

hmmm what an interesting premise this movie has.
should i go watch it? should i? should i??

Moliere

I watched 'Moliere', a biopic of the French playwright today.
Anyway, something silly, before I talk about the movie proper...
Today I watched the movie alone -
When I watch a no-brainer movie,
or one purely for entertainment,
I would go with somebody.
But when I'm in there to learn something
about the writing, the plot/story...
I prefer going alone,
as I tend to get distracted with someone beside me.
Strange habit I have!

And I have digresssed!
Back to the silly thing that happened...
As I was alone,
I wanted to get a seat that is hidden at one corner.
So I chose seat A1, at one corner.
But when I entered the theatre,
lo and behold,
there was this strange looking guy seated at seat A2,
while the entire row was empty!
The idea of 2 guys who don't know each other
sitting side by side in a dark corner of a theatre for 2 hours
didn't seem very welcoming to me,
so I invaded the seat at the other corner of the empty cinema,
praying very hard that that seat had not been bought.
In a while, 2 guys came over and sat in my row beside the aisle,
leaving a few empty seats between us.
The film then started,
and I thought I was safe.
But a few minutes later,
a group of 5 persons came in and proceeded to my row.
There were only 4 empty seats,
and just as I was preparing to evacuate my stolen seat
to prevent a row,
the 2 guys beside the aisle gave their's up
and saved me!
Hmm, actually I suspect that the 2 guys were also not sitting
at their designated seats,
since they stood up for the latecomers so readily,
but I do feel a bit guilty since I was in the wrong too!

Anyway, 'Moliere''s quite a silly movie.
(Warning: Spoilers ahead!)
It's about how Moliere was thrown into prison for not paying his taxes,
and how a boorish rich man Jourdain bailed him out,
on the condition that Moliere teach him acting skills,
so that he could woo a young coquette.
In the process,
Moliere fell in love with Jourdain's wife,
and she inspired him to become the great comic writer that the world would know.

The plot is non-linear,
starting with Moliere receiving the news that Mrs Jourdain's dying,
and then we were brought back 13 years earlier to where the main plot happens,
and finally back to Mrs Jourdain's deathbed again.

The autumn-summer romance between Mrs Jourdain and Moliere
was a bit weird.
She was visibly so much older than him,
and Moliere looked so much more compatible with her daughter.
The premise of their romance was also rather tacky.
He merely stole a glance at her bare back through a window,
and then became head over heels in love with her.

Jourdain provided the comic moments in the film.
Here's my favourite one (I've forgotten the actual lines, so I'm making some up):

Jourdain: Help me write a letter to accompany the ring I'm giving to my lover.

Moliere: What do you want me to write?

Jourdain: "My fair maiden, if thou accept this ring, I shall die of love." But write it in a prettier way.

Moliere then suggests something pompous, (I've completely forgotten the lines) which Jourdain rejects.

Moliere: Then my suggestion to you would be "Fair maiden mine, if thou this ring accept, I shall die of love." Or "Maiden fair mine, this ring if thou accept, die of love I shall." blah bah.

Basically, he changes the word order of Jourdain's original lines - quite funny.

Anyway, the movie's NC-16, for a very minor making out scene.
Actually, the actors were fully clothed.
Granted there were some 'cries of passion',
though I've seen far worse things on TV,
but I guess the local censors have to ensure that the
'pure and innocent' minds
of our youths do not get corrupted,
and hence the rating.

I agree (from both religious and moral standpoints) that unwholesome images
should be kept out.

Having said that,
when we are talking about 'control' and 'regulation' generally,
it may/may not be (delete as you wish) good to be too absolute.
Leaves little room for freedom and creativity.

Chopin's concerto

Today, I'm going to talk about Chopin's Piano Concerto No.1.

Chopin is known as the 'poet of the piano' for his dreamy and tenderly poetic piano works.

His piano works (the majority of his compositions were for this instrument) contain long-breathed and lyrical melodies that could melt your heart.

The slow movement of the 1st piano concerto is the epitome of Chopin's poetic writing. In Chopin's own words, this movement "is intended to convey the impression one receives when the eye rests on a beloved landscape, which calls up in one's soul beautiful memories, for instance, on a fine moonlit night in spring." (see, even his description of the movement is so poetically done.)

In the recording below, you will hear the prize-winning performance of one of the hottest property in classical music today -- Li Yundi. At age 18, he was the youngest ever winner of the prestigious International Chopin Piano Competition in 2000. This recording is from the final round of the competition. (ie. he was announced winner after this performance)

Music clips

Here are some great music clips...


Nicola Benedetti, the 20 year old Scottish (I think she probably has Italian blood, looking at her name) violinist with both looks and talent. Here she's playing the Meditation from Thais by Massenet (I hope I got the piece right, I don't always have good memory for such cheesy pieces:)). This girl's really talented. Let's hope she doesn't do a 'Vanessa Mae' (ie. pose in a translucent dress in the sea and switch over to play classical music with a disco beat!) http://www.nicolabenedetti.co.uk/


Andras Schiff, one of my 'favouritist' pianists playing the lovely Schubert Arpeggione Sonata with an unknown cellist.


Krystian Zimerman playing and conducting the buoyant and energetic Beethoven 1st piano concerto. This is great fun to watch. I think he's one of the three pianists in the world(together with Stephen Hough and Maurizio Pollini) whose technique is so out of the world that he has probably never played a wrong note before.

Russian ironist

i'm listening to some cds by shostakovich
while preparing for the 'family day' discussion with my class later.

shostakovich's music is interesting -
his is a curious mix of sarcasm, parody, military harshness and jazz.
very eclectic and versatile he is.
his music runs the gamut of emotions
from deepest despair,
to the frivolity of 'clown' music.

he lived through a very tough period in russian history-
the overthrowing of the tsars,
the revolutions,
the rise and fall of Stalin,
who denounced his music.

i just love the acerbic quality of his music,
and also the various jazz elements.

Private blogs

Some people have private blogs.
The reasons why they want the restriction might be:
1) They've scolded someone on their blogs.
2) They've written something sensitive or potentially embarrassing. (eg. my crush is_____, i think XXX is cute)
3) They want their blogs to be very exclusive. (only a select group of friends permitted to read)

For me, I post on my blog
to share information which I think might be useful for my students.
or occasionally to air my thoughts so that students and friends
can know more about my beliefs.

There is nothing that is restricted.
If I have something to say that might embarrass anyone,
I wouldn't post it online at all.
For example,
if I need to reprimand a student,
or to correct a behaviour,
I will go talk face to face with that student.

You might ask me if everything I write on my blog is really what I think.
Well, I will say that I try to be as sincere as I can when I write.
Because I'm one who values openess and hate any kind of pretence.
But being one who is interested in creative writing,
I do assume a kind of blog persona when I post too.
So I choose what to write and what not to write.
But I would say that whatever I write, I believe.

Stephen Hough

i just have to post this.
i've just attended the best concerto performance of my life.
stephen hough was just amazing.
i've always thought that british pianists are predictable, safe and boring,
but hough just shows otherwise.

he's so naturally one with the music,
he sat quite still during his playing,
and never for once resorted to histrionics.
yet his octaves had so much power,
his hands glided over the keys with such fluency,
and he played with a ravishingly beautiful tone.

his playing of the third movement
made me see it in a totally different light.
i didn't know it could be so 'hungarian' with all those accents.
he played with such ease in such a difficult piece of music.

i must have attended over a hundred live classical music concerts since 1995,
never for once have I been so impressed before.
and the brahms concerto isn't even one of my favourite concerti.

i will now definitely put stephen hough as one of the world's top 3 pianists.
okay, enough of gushing.
more marking to be done tomorrow.

Of Compre, Brahms and Psalms

All the very best to those taking the L.A. Paper 2 on Monday.
Make sure you read the passage and questions very carefully.
Don't make any careless mistakes,
or else I will....


be very disappointed.

________________________________________

I'll be attending a SSO concert later.
Grieg's peer gynt suites (nice norwegian music)
and Brahms' 1st piano concerto.
The latter is a most monumental work-
symphonic in scope,
but intimate in the loving exchanges between piano and orchestra,
and definitely very concertante in the very idiomatic piano part.
At >50 minutes, it's a really taxing and demanding work for any pianist.

Tonight we'll be hearing british pianist stephen hough.
a cool customer who is never showy but has a stupendous technique.
Though he was in the news recently for the wrong reasons,
over some 'gay' remarks he made.
http://www.playbillarts.com/news/article/6569.html


Stephen Hough

________________________________________

One of my favourite Psalms

Psalm 139 (verses 1-10)

O Lord, you have searched me
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O Lord.
You hem me in - behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

My concert

I played in a concert yesterday.

It was okay overall.

Small and intimate audience of about 50.

Nice and cosy for chamber music.

Ying Ning, Ying Liang, Mel, Huiwen and I

Our programme cover

Our programme page 1

Our programme page 2