The first ever firework show from the city’s IFC. Happy New Year and enjoy !!
Category: Entertainment
Shawshank Redemption
It’s on cable TV again and I simply couldn’t help but watched it, one more time. I am not sure why it’s rated 5-stars, but no doubt it is a very good movie and every time I watch it, I find / learn new things. For example, there is a very moving scene in the movie about Andy (Tim Robbins) locked himself in a room and broadcast a very beautiful song to all the prisoners. And here is it … another find from Youtube – a Mozart masterpiece by Dame Kiri Te Kanawa & Ileana Cotrubas.
“Sull’aria” from Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro”
Oh, for those who has not seen this movie – the original scene from Youtube as well …
Fado …
Pretty much like Samba of Brazil, Flamingo of Spain, Tango of Argentina … Fado is a national treasure of Portugal. Fado (translated as destiny or fate) is a music genre which can be traced from the 1820s in Portugal, but probably with much earlier origins. It is characterized by mournful tunes and lyrics, often about the sea or the life of the poor. However, without visiting this beautiful country, how can I have a taste of Fado ? Once again, Youtube has the answer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpExb2hCYTs
The name of this beautiful song is Chuva (Rain in English) by famous Portuguese artist Mariza. Lyrics translated in English …
The ordinary events in our lives
Do not fill us with longing;
Not so those memories that hurt
Or those that bloom into a smile.
Some people are our history,
The history of our lives;
There are others whose name
We not recall ever hearing.
Such are the feelings
That keep alive my longing,
The feelings we shared
And withered in the end.
There are days that scar
One’s soul and life,
This is why I cannot forget
The day you left me.
The rain drenched
My cold and tired face
In the streets of a city
I had aimlessly walked.
Ah! …Like a girl gone astray
My cry rang across the city:
How quick does the fire of love
Dies in the rain!
The rain heard me and kept
To herself my secret in that city
Where she taps on the window,
Filling me with longing.
East meets West
Stumbled upon a couple of blogs about a young Chinese designer Liu Yang (now lives in Germany) . She designed a series of graphic icons to compare the German and Chinese cultures … very interesting and pretty accurate 8-). You probably know which color represents Chinese …
Queues
Travelling
Opinions
Sunday on City Streets
Restaurants
Handling problems
Life of elderly
Boss …
Search-a-holic : movie
I still cannot finish the book “The World is Flat” even though I have read a couple of dozens pages more, however there is one point in the book is right – Internet Search Engine is one of the “world flatteners”. Essentially, the search engines like Google, Yahoo empower every Internet user in the world to access all the knowledge indexed in the Internet. I think it is very true, and this power has also made me a “search-a-holic”.
Other than searching for information that are useful at work, I also use the search engines extensively even I am watching TV, or movie at home. For example, I will go to imdb.com to check the ratings, information of the actors and actress … to decide whether I shall continue watching that movie or TV show. Once I found a movie is good, I will go to Amazon.com to see whether the DVD and the soundtrack is available. And of course, the youtube.com is my favorite site for the music and music video in the movie.
So, here are three music videos I found from three movies …
Amazing Grace – if you don’t know the history of that 235 years old hymn / song, better go to cinema for that. And for me, the best version of Amazing Grace is always the bagpipe one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V84STSWVp3g
Scent of a Woman – I think no one can forget this tango scene and with the 70 years old classic – Por Una Cabeza
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBHhSVJ_S6A
The story of us– I just watched this movie in cable and of course, how can one forget the Classical Gas by Mason Williams ?
M.Y. Lessons Learnt 