One Day

"What are you going to do with your life?" In one way or another it seemed that people had been asking her this forever; teachers, her parents, friends at three in the morning, but the question had never seemed this pressing and still she was no nearer an answer... "Live each day as if it's your last', that was the conventional advice, but really, who had the energy for that? What if it rained or you felt a bit glandy? It just wasn't practical. Better by far to be good and courageous and bold and to make difference. Not change the world exactly, but the bit around you. Cherish your friends, stay true to your principles, live passionately and fully and well. Experience new things. Love and be loved, if you ever get the chance."

SWAG~

Theophilus London feat. Sara Quin - Why Even Try?

雖然沒有聽 Tegan & Sara 的歌，可是看起來很像小男孩的 Sara 穿著這寬鬆的衣服，唱著饒舌的歌，小小的一隻跳著舞，好可愛愛愛啊！可是她是女同性戀！！！

回到 Theophilus London，這個 FLYING OVERSEAS (HASAAN INSANE SADE MIX) 很讚！

The Inn of the Sixth Happiness

Director: Mark Robson
Writers: Isobel Lennart (screenplay), Alan Burgess (novel)
Cast: Ingrid Bergman, Robert Donat and Curd Jürgens
Year: 1958
IMDB
My Rating: 3/10

Being Chinese,  this movie is absolutely terrible. So fucking corny, so fucking unChinese, and so far from the truth. Movie can be scary when you were trying to portrait a real story, and did it so badly. It almost destroy my faith in movies. Perhaps, movies really are just about using devices (eg. sad/heroic story plot) to ignite our emotions and sentiments. It doesn't mean anything at all... Can't believe that I've been let down by an Ingrid Bergman film.

She moves in a mysterious way...

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Director: Milos Forman
Novel: Ken Kesey
Screenplay: Lawrence Hauben, Bo Goldman
Csat: Jack Nicholson, Louise Fletcher and Danny DeVito
Year: 1975
IMDB
My Rating: 9/10

This is such a powerful film. Excellent storyline and acting. Both very funny and devastating. A true classic.

Freedom

Mr Franzen hits home again with Freedom.

Much like his last novel, The Corrections, the novel revolves around a Midwestern family, and deals with complexion of family and society. Much of what's been discussed in the book is "current affairs" on politics, environment, and indie music scene. And the family drama is exactly what everyone at any age can relate to. I, for one, can really relate to the story to a point that a particular scenario was actually happening to me while I was reading the book.  I'm not here to explain the story, or review the book, I'm here to give a simple message: READ IT!

Just another note, this book is not as funny as The Corrections, perhaps more serious, more tragic, more depressed (everyone was somehow depressed in the story), but you can tell that Mr Franzen poured more of his true feelings and heart into this book. He is no doubt a great American novelist, inheriting the spirit of American literature.

Top 10 Rules for Writing Fiction by Jonathan Franzen

1. The reader is a friend, not an adversary, not a spectator.

2. Fiction that isn't an author's personal adventure into the frightening or the unknown isn't worth writing for anything but money.

3. Never use the word "then" as a ­conjunction – we have "and" for this purpose. Substituting "then" is the lazy or tone-deaf writer's non-solution to the problem of too many "ands" on the page.

4. Write in the third person unless a ­really distinctive first-person voice ­offers itself irresistibly.

5. When information becomes free and universally accessible, voluminous research for a novel is devalued along with it.

6. The most purely autobiographical ­fiction requires pure invention. Nobody ever wrote a more auto­biographical story than "The Meta­morphosis".

7. You see more sitting still than chasing after.

8. It's doubtful that anyone with an internet connection at his workplace is writing good fiction.

9. Interesting verbs are seldom very interesting.

10. You have to love before you can be relentless.


More other top 10 rules for writing fiction.

The 10 Rules of Rock And Roll by Robert Forster

1. Never follow an artist who describes his or her work as ‘dark’.
2. The second-last song on every album is the weakest.
3. Great bands tend to look alike.
4. Being a rock star is a 24-hour-a-day job.
5. The band with the most tattoos has the worst songs.
6. No band does anything new on stage after the first 20 minutes.
7. The guitarist who changes guitars on stage after every third number is showing you his guitar collection.
8. Every great artist hides behind their manager.
9. Great bands don’t have members making solo albums.
10. The three-piece band is the purest form of rock and roll expression.

Still reading this book... my favourite part would be the story between him and Grant McLennan. After listening to more Go-Betweens, I really wish I knew them earlier, maybe I would like the city better.

Belle and Sebastian @ The Tivoli on 7/03/2011

With a bunch of great songs on hand, you know it's going to be a great gig!

1996 was a special year for Hip-Hop

Nas - It Was Written 

OutKast - ATLiens

Both albums are damn good!

Out of Africa

Director: Sydney Pollack
Writers: Karen Blixen, Judith Thurman, Errol Trzebinski and Kurt Luedtke
Cast: Meryl Streep, Robert Redford and Klaus Maria Brandauer
Year: 1985
IMDB

My Rating: 9/10

Very very beautiful film. Besides the story, the African scenery is already worth seeing it. Although this is a well-designed Hollywood production, but I think it matches the height along with all the old Hollywood epic romance film. I personally relate a lot to Robert Redford's character and story, and Meryl Streep did a great job portraiting the tough woman role.  This is stunning, poetic, and very touching. I want to see the Africa with my own eyes, but it won't be the same as before now...

My Taste-makers

Ben Watt

從他的個人專輯，到 EBTG，到現在的職業 DJ。有一件事是沒有改變的，那就是他超凡的品味。早期個人專輯，可以聽得出來受民謠很大，甚至翻唱了 Bob Dylan 的歌。之後在 EBTG 的 Acoustic 專輯裡，更是翻唱了一堆我愛的團和愛歌，包括 Boss，Elvis Costello，Tom Waits 和 Simon & Garfunkel。在他們做的合輯 Back To Mine 裡玩得更凶。把 Trip-Hop，Rap，House全都融為一爐超級好聽的合輯。雖然，他後來的 DJ 專輯沒有聽。但從八零年代到兩千年，二十個年頭裡他的品味真的是沒得挑剔。

Radio Dept.

他們已經從瞪鞋的曲風慢慢的轉變成了最近瑞典很夯的 Synth-Pop 了。原因不是因為他們隨波逐流，看著一樣來自瑞典的 TTA 和 Embassy 紅的程度，所以也要搶一分粥。而是他們真的愛 The Embassy，Johan就說過他們最愛的樂團就是 The Embassy。另外，就從他們的 Interview 裡也可以發覺，他們對不同類型的音樂保持著非常開放的態度。其中，嘻哈也是他們愛的音樂類型。所以，在他們最近這幾年發行的音樂可以聽到噪音吉他成分越來越少，貝斯和拍子越來越重。對我來說，這改變是好的，他們的音樂越做越棒。他們的歌跟他們的品味一樣都是一絕。

Jens Lekman

這位先生呢，他的品味實在是令我摸不透。先從基本的開始說，根據維基上的資訊，影響他的人有 Jonathan Richman，Stephin Merritt，David Byrne，Dan Treacy 跟 Stuart Murdoch。除了 B&S 我本來就有聽以外，其他這些人的樂團作品還真都是因為他的關係跑去聽，然後聽的愛不釋手。然後從他翻唱的作品，也認識了 Arthur Russell，這奇特的電子樂先鋒。不過要從他做的 Mixtape 去了解他的品味，真的太艱深了。有時候覺得，他放了一些奇怪（但是好聽）的歌純粹只是為了搞笑。另外，也會在有些地方看到他貼的歌單，或是在他網站上貼的音樂，全是些沒見過的團，所以我也懶得每個團去找來聽。儘管如此，他的歌和做的 Mixtape 是絕對不能錯過的好音樂。



寫這文的重點就是，我喜歡(幾乎)所有這些人做的音樂，也覺得我們的品味很像。

Young Galaxy 蛻變記

整張專輯聽下來，就像是聽著他們用音樂表演著蛻變記。