IPPT

While waiting for my turn at the standing board jump during my RT, I felt a spur of encouragement when Shakira's She-wolf played over the speakers (they had 98.7fm playing throughout). I felt like I could dance and fly my way past the 216cm mark. But before it was my turn to jump, the song was over, and Adam Lambert's Time For A Miracle came on. I thought: what providence! My miracle of passing SBJ might finally come true today!!!! super psyched.

I guess my feet were just not used to the new SBJ mat because I failed yet again. damn. ADAM WHY NEVER SAVE ME!

On a brighter note, I passed my 2.4km at a surprising 12.02 timing. Surprise surprise. =)

Julie & Julia

After watching Meryl Streep's indelible performance, all that is ringing in my head right now is her high-pitched tone, bouncing off joyous "Bon Appetit!" and "Bon Jour!"

May I reiterate the question that millions of people around the globe already know the answer to: Is there anything that Meryl can't do?!?!?!

Fantastica






"you are the butter on my bread, you are the breath in my life."

TOY STORY 3 POSTERS!!!

I AM ALREADY EXCITEDDD!

Brad on Benjamin Button and Tyler Durden

"Benjamin Button" and "Fight Club" actually deal with similar themes: having a finite amount of time in life, and what we should do with it. But they come to such radically different conclusions. In "Fight Club," the response to mortality is nihilism, anarchy -
[Laughs] That was a Nineties conclusion. Now we have an Aughts conclusion. I actually never thought of what you just said. But it's probably true.

It's just, "Benjamin Button" feels very positive, but you could easily come away from that story feeling very bleak.
Yeah, I think it's open to...it's your choice. I find "Benjamin" is about those universal things we all share - that 95 percent that makes us all the same, wherever we are in the world. Our loves, our hopes, but also the loss that we all walk arounf with and hide very well, and the ultimate notion that we're all expendable. To me, it's a counterstatement to this divisive period we've been in, where we focused on the two, three, four five percent of ways in which we're different.

Had you read Fitzgerald's short story?
No, I still haven't read it. I was told it had nothing to do with the movie, really. I was moving full-steam on Eric's (Eric Roth, scriptwriter) version, which he based on that saying "Youth is wasted on the young."

- Rolling Stone interview, Mark Binelli, RS 1068/9, Dec 25, 2008 - Jan 8, 2009.

Life's a D'oh

Homer says it all with this expression.
But sometimes, too much comfort can be a disaster. Humans always need some excitement in their lives.
We need to lose it, in order to find it.
The pressure is getting harder and harder.
Time to move on, Loo.

Mosaic Music Festical 2010

Cat Power, January 13
I reviewed Chan (pronounced "Shawn") Marshall's first album of covers, "The Covers Record", a while back. Some of you may have seen, or heard, her most famous song "The Greatest" by now, through my postings here, as well as on facebook. Her smokey vocals and improvised live performance will leave me in rapture I'm sure.





Andrew Bird, January 26
Certain albums or songs serve as soundtracks to our lives, and there's also albums that mark your travels, like a travelogue that reminds you of the smell and sight of places. Andrew Bird's "Noble Beast", together with a Starbucks compilation of love song covers (I seldom, or close to never, buy compilation albums, unless they are supremely comprehensive and value for money, or have a consistency in its theme. In this case, it's the latter, and also features some of my favourite acts. hee), played like soundtracks to my surreal USA trip. In the way lady-luck smiled and awarded me with a fairy-tale-like victory, AB's album is filled with sounds from nature and creatures unseen or unheard, like an imaginery dreamscape. Mixing violins with his alluring yet unintrusive vocals, AB created an album of folk ditties that contrasted against the urbanised city, and soothes along with the man-made nature of Central Park. I've read positive reviews about the album, and thought I should give it a try. Moreover, it was on discount. My only regret was that I would miss his show at Madison Square Garden when I was there.



It is going to be an exciting January lineup and leadup to the birthday. YAY!

But it's a tad disheartening to know that no one around you appreciates the same things as you do. Love unshared is love without. But I guess I'll survive.

AR 3: Bat For Lashes - Two Suns

TWO SUNS is Natasha Khan's sophomore album, and the concept is a sense of duality.
"Two Suns revolves around Khan's "desert-born spiritual self" and her "destructive, self-absorbed, blonde femme fatale" alter-ego Pearl as it covers "the philosophy of the self and duality, examining the need for both chaos and balance, for both love and pain, in addition to touching on metaphysical ideas concerning the connections between all existence."" - www.allmusic.com

Listening to Khan reminds me of Bjork and Sarah McLachlan. The way she drags her notes and her use of nasals sound like the former, while the sensitivity and timbre in her voice reminds me of the latter. While never as brilliant as either, the strength of the album lies in its concept. Opening track is a good travelling song, but my favourite is actually her cover of Kings Of Leon' "Use Somebody". She gave that song a certain emotional immediacy that was slightly lacking in the original (it's probably her voice). While the album is not catchy and not one that you will put on repeat, what is admirable is the ambition and the use of a wide array of equipments in trying to create a emotional landscape.

A B- album. Not for everyone. Also nominated for a Mercury Prize.

recommended: Sleep Alone, Use Somebody

AR 2: Florence + The Machines - Lungs

Nominated for a Mercury Prize last year (the British equivalent of a Grammy Best Album), Florence + The Machines' debut album could not be more aptly named. Lungs, that organ through which we breathe and sustain, is also key to singing. We often associate a powerful voice with "lung-power", and this album is proof of that. Paying tribute to the organ notwithstanding (with references to "lungs" on more than 1 song), the album is also a display of the kind of "lung-power" Florence has. The album opens with "Dog Days are Over", and as she repudiates a life of slogging, it lifts the album and sets the mood for what is to follow. Subsequent songs have a similar sense of aggression in them, as she sounds like a modern-day Banshee storming through the songs with conviction and motive. It culminates in "Drumming Song", an exhilarating number with a catchy and infectious beat. And as she sings of the sound that is "louder than sirens, louder than bells" ringing in her head, it feels almost as if she is enjoying it.

Florence has mentioned that she is inspired by nature and trees, and as you watch her videos (watch it before it gets reported!), you will feel a sense of organic/Earth Mother as she traverse in gardens and churches, doing what resembles tribal dances.

An A album.

recommended: Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up), Drumming Song, Dog Days Are Over