It don't matter if you're Black or White

The first customer that came into my shop today bought the only 2 copies of Michael Jackson dvds that we have: one a live concert, and the other of his MVs. She also asked for his CDs, of which we only have "Blood on the Dance Floor" left. Soon after, Ash sms-ed and told me of Michael's shocking death. Before I left my workplace at 3.30pm, I have served 5 customers who have called/asked for his albums.

While I've never been a huge MJ fan, but being a music fan, I cant help but feel a tinge of sadness at the passing of a true legend. Arguably the biggest pop star who has ever lived, MJ has the best-selling album of all time with "Thriller". That is the epitome of a classic album - no song goes unnoticed, all of which you've probably heard before. Who can forget the "Billie Jean" MV that revolutionised MTV and accelerated the MTV-gen, and those tiles that light up as he walks on them. I still do the "Beat It" move once in a while, that gang-fight MV and those black leather jackets. And then there's the epic "Thriller" MV, that till today remains the mother of all MV with a story of man-to-werewolf to boot.

And these go without saying: the moonwalk, "black or white", the glove, the crotch-grab, the signature falsetto "whoa!", "ben", "you are not alone", "bad", "ben".

MJ will remain in my mind and heart as the greatest and most successful pop artist of our lifetime. Ask any budding dancer/singer who is their role model, and 1 in probably 5 will name MJ. Look no further than our generation of Usher, Ne-yo, and Chris Brown for proof. "Thriller" will remain as one of the best and grooviest albums I've ever heard.

It's sad how we the exploitative news and scandels have marred his career and overshadowed his music. It's a bigger pity that one only begins to appreciate genius when it's gone. "That you dunno what u've got til it's gone," as Janet Jackson has sung. While the world mourns the death of a true legend, I reflected upon my short existence, sighed at its insignificance, and marveled at true greatness that one could achieve.

Take this time to show your loved ones that you care.

Farewell, Michael Jackson. 1958 - 2009




And while MJ's death may have overshadowed Farrah Fawcett's departure, which is a pity, you have to admire her spirit for putting a long fight against cancer. Our eternal Charlie's Angel.

Do I Move You?

I want to see Dianne Reeves sing Solitude and Just My Imagination come sept 12. She'sgot a very Jill Scott vibe which I like. anyone??

"Let it die, and get out of my mind"

Today was a lesson in "positive energy". Working with Ms Soh, my "soul sistaaa", was a cure for the Monday blues. I now truely understand, and have realised, how it feels to be with positive energy. They make you feel happy, and be less self-centered. They make every small act seem like a lesson in hilarity, like how the pasa-malam guy shouting "watermelonnnnn" makes us pay attention and laugh, though normally I wont even give it two-cents' notice.


So thank goodness for good friends with positive energies, and I will try to imbue that in me, and be the positive energy that affects and radiate more positive energy.


I know it sounds very Dr Phil. But who cares! think positive!

I cannot wait to catch I LOVE YOU, MAN later! yayyyyyyy!




and I am patiently waiting for these next two movies. waiting. patiently......

English

"Lets face it, English is a stupid language.

There is no egg in the eggplant.

No ham in the hamburger.

And neither pine nor apple in the pineapple.



English muffins were not invented in England.

French fries were not invented in France.

We sometimes take English for granted.

But if we examine its paradoxes--



We find that Quicksand takes you down slowly.

Boxing rings are square.

And a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.

If writers write, how come fingers don't fing. I

f the plural of tooth is teeth, shouldn't the plural of phone booth be phone beeth?

If the teacher taught, Why didn't the preacher praught.

If a vegetarian eats vegetables What does a humanitarian eat!?



Why do people recite at a play Yet play at a recital?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy

Of a language where a house can burn up as It burns down

And you fill in a form By filling it out

And a bell is only heard once it goes!



English was invented by people, not computers

And it reflects the creativity of the human race

(Which of course isn't a race at all)

That is why: When the stars are out they are visible

But when the lights are out they are invisible

And why it is that when I wind up my watch it starts

but when I wind up this poem it ends?"



-- Anonymous --

王菲 - 爱笑的天使

oh oh oh Feist

Now I read that this year's Singfest is gonna be BIGGER, and BETTER than last year's. And I can only hope the delay is a sign of biggggg acts to come.
If the organisers can so much as move Feist over to our shores, I am converted. I will believe that Singapore is cool and deserving of the coolest acts on earth, and that faries do roam in between bushes waiting to get our tooth from under our pillow.

I AM SO GOING IF SO MUCH AS FEIST IS COMING.

Reading the Rolling Stone interview with Kings of Leon got me really interested in them, and I began to fascinate singing 'Sex On Fire' out loud during Singfest, which led me to imagine how I would be if I see The Killers live, singing Mr Brightside. or Smile Like You Mean It.I thought of doing another banner, probably one that says "Brandon! I love Flowers!".but that's too cheesy. or something funny. but it's too much work la.

but if The Killers do come, I'd kill to go as well!

which got me to think of the lineup i'd wish to see at this year's Singfest:
- Eminem!
- Kings of Leon
- The Killers
- Andrew Bird
- Martha Wainwright
- Adele!!!!
- Mark Ronson
- Daniel Merriweather!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Jonny Lang!
- Cat Powers!!!!
- Elliott Yamin
- Kaiser Chief!!!!!!
- U2!!!!
- BJORK!!!
- Sufjan Stevens!
- Annie Lennox!
- ARTIC MONKEY!
- ARTIC MONKEY!
- ARTIC MONKEY!

王菲 - 暖昧

眉目里似哭不似哭
还祈求甚么说不出
陪著你轻呼著烟圈
到唇边讲不出满足
你的温柔怎可以捕捉
越来越近却从不接触
la...... la......
茶没有喝光早变酸
从来没热恋已失恋
陪著你天天在兜圈
那缠绕怎么可算短
你的衣裳今天我在穿
未留住你却仍然温暖
徘徊在似苦又甜之间
望不穿这暖昧的眼
爱或情借来填一晚
终须都归还无谓多贪
犹疑在似即若离之间
望不穿这暖昧的眼
似是浓却仍然很淡
天早灰蓝想告别
偏未晚



yet another brilliant lyric by 林夕. everytime I reminisce the lyrics to 人間, and admire the words and meaning, i feel like crying. it's nothing sad - just so well-written; the melody and the lyrics just matched perfectly.

I am trying to take things lightly and with a pinch of salt, as I have learnt from Adam. This emo facade has to diminish, bit by bit. This is my resolution.

cope

In the end, I don't think I will ever come to terms with the trappings and baggages of this world, that at my deathbed I shall bring with me regrets and torture. That when it comes to coping with life, I have failed tremendously. The self-empowering sense of dignity that I preserve, and the inner peace that I seek, wavers, and I do not foresee myself coming to terms with my situations and predicaments anytime soon. I am destined to walk the road that is paved with difficulties, in order to learn. They call this 'the hard way.'

In the end, I am all alone; there will be no one to depend on except myself.

大日子!! A Kelly Chen Party!

I know Sammi Cheng is the queen of ah-lian techno, but Kelly Chen can give her a freaking run for her $$! just listen to the following few songs.They are amongst those that I'm hooked to at the moment. yes, my guilty pleasure. I'm shocked that so many of these lyrics are written by Lin Xi, until a fren told me that when they put "Lin Xi" as lyricist, it might not be him but someone else from his company! blasphemy! imagine the cheating involved! well that's the entertainment industry. everyone wants a piece of him.

If i ever do open my own cafe/pub/club/bar, i am so having a Kelly Chen Guilty Pleasure Party. KCGPP. we'll sing 'babe' as 'ba-be', and mouth the silly lyrics like 'everybody move your body' or '要好玩 要好玩 要闪闪的衬衫 / 看表演 也表演 要养养一双眼', set to flashing lights piu piu piu, disco ball, and mayb dancers tt teaches the dance steps like some mambo-kelly night.

sweet. =)=)=) kelly makes me happy. KMMH.




"花花宇宙"


"戀愛情色" - kikikiss!


"Shake Shake" - this is the song that pronounced "babe" as "ba-bee". hilarious. ba bee shake shake!


"大日子"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! everybody move your body!

我拥有的都是侥幸啊 我失去的 都是人生

你眷恋的 都已离去
你问过自己无数次
想放弃的 眼前全在这里
超脱和追求时常是混在一起
你拥抱的 并不总是也拥抱你
而我想说的 谁也不可惜
去挥霍和珍惜是同一件事情
我所有的何妨 何必
何其荣幸
在必须发现我们终将一无所有前
至少你可以说
我懂 活着的最寂寞
我拥有的都是侥幸啊
我失去的 都是人生
当你不遗忘也不想曾经
我爱你
你眷恋的 都已离去
你问过自己无数次
想放弃的 眼前全在这里
超脱和追求时常是混在一起
你拥抱的 并不总是也拥抱你
而我想说的 谁也不可惜
去挥霍和珍惜是同一件事情
我所有的何妨 何必
何其荣幸
在必须发现我们终将一无所有前
至少你可以说
我懂 活着的最寂寞
我拥有的都是侥幸啊
我失去的 都是人生
当你不遗忘也不想曾经
我爱你
在必须感觉我们终将一无所有前
你做的 让你可以说
是的 我有见过我的梦
我拥有的都是侥幸啊
我失去的 都是人生
因为你担心的是你自己
我爱你
我爱你

blogs with blasts

One of my tuition kids sent me the link to her blog, from which I was able to link to some of my other tuition kids', and their friends', blogs. Its annoying how they all have some rock/loud music playing off it, which you have to manually pause in order to read in peace. It's a whole load of Simple Plan with J/K-rock,and even some soulja boy hip-hop(ok that I can take. guilty pleasure), but all loud. Which made me irritated and I'll say this:

WHAT ARE THE KIDS LISTENING TO NOWADAYS!??!?!










them kids need some music education.

A conversation on my flight from New York to LA

wife: Who the hell flies on Pepsi airline?
husband: No it's not Pepsi it's Korea
wife: oh I swear I thought it's Pepsi
relative, big jock with tattoo: New York is pizza, Philadelphia is cheese stick, what is California for?
wife: vineyards
jock: oh ya?
husband: no it's the land of implants hahha
jock: oh ya! We can go see Pam Anderson and her apartment! haha

CLOSER

Scene 5, Gallery
*at Anna's photo exhibition. The subjects were all strangers.

Larry (gesturing to the photos) What d'you reckon, in general?
Alice You want to talk about art?
Larry I know it's vulgar to discuss 'The Work' at an opening of 'The Work' but someone's got to do it. Serious, what d'you think?
Alice It's a lie.
It's a bunch of sad strangers photographed beautifully and all the rich fuckers who appreciate art say it's beautiful because that's what they want to see.
But the people in the photos are sad and alone but the pictures make the world seem beautiful.
So, the exhibition is reassuring, which makes it a lie, and everyone loves a Big fat Lie.


-- From Closer, a screenplay by Patrick Marber

Going Green

"To get a sense of how committed San Francisco is to conservation, consider that in 2007 the city recycled 69 per cent of its waste - more than double the national average - with a goal to reach 75 per cent by 2010. A staggering number of initiatives were also passed in 2007. Among the more controversial:

- A ban on plastic shopping bags in large supermarkets and drugstores, the first city in the US to impose one.

- A ban on the use of Styrofoam in local restaurants.

- A ban on city departments and agencies buying single-serving bottled water.

- A committment to make all city buses emission-free by 2020, and to convert all taxis to alternative fuels by 2011.

- A state initiative to reduce greenhouse gases by 25 per cent by 2020.

- A number of bans on smoking, including one that prohibits smoking in cars with passengers under the age of 18.

Restaurants all over town continue to ride the momentum of the 'locavore' movement, betting that the way to the public's heart is through its stomach. At Fish & Farm, a new Downtown restaurant, not only are the majority of ingredients sourced from within a 1000-mile radius, but staff grow their own herbs in an organic garden on the roof. They also recycle all the kitchen's cooking oil (the city recently began free pick-up of used vegetable oil for conversion to biodiesel). Nearby Mixt Greens, a popular made-to-order salad eaterie, composts 80 percent of its daily waste, and packages its take-out orders in biodegradeable containers.

Hotels, too, have jumped on the bandwaigon, increasingly building to LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) specs, and using environmentally products. Currently, 60 building projects in San Francisco are registered with the US Green Building Council for LEED certification - an astounding figure for a city this size.

And while some industry bigwigs are fighting these changes, most are happily embracing the wave, banking on the idea that being green will eventually translate into seeing green - the dollar kind - in the not-too-distant future."

-- From TimeOut San Francisco, written by local experts.





Its hard to imagine that the Govonator is leading all these changes. hee.

In Retrospect

WHY!???/!/!?!!?!?!?!!!

WHY is UP shceduled for a freaking September 13 release, when it's showing all across theatres in the States already!?!?!?!?!?!


WHY!!!!!

I hate waiting, I have no patience when it comes to movies (though time sure pass by very fast when you're waiting for movies to be screened). I wanted to catch it in NY, but it's all sold out, so I ended up watchin Tom Hanks running across Vatican City for 2 hours.


and yes, I am back. Home Sweet Home. The jubilation I felt when I heard the first Hokkien words upon arrival, "te kar" (pig trottle), was ginormous.

So before I blog about my runaway holiday, here's some thoughts, or rather, musings, on my way back:

- why do Indian children always cry on the plane?! as if it's not irritating enough, they have to cry AFTER they disembark too!

- is the N95 mask truely safe against the H1N1, if I can smell my fart through it?

- does the N95 mask eradicate bad breathe? because i cant smell my not-brushed-for-2-NY-days-cos-i-was-on-plane breathe. hmmm.

- SPORE ARILINE is damn smart. they feed us terrific food and drinks so much, so that we will fall into deep slumber and not ask the air stewardesses silly questions like "where is my air pillow?"

- i hate people who sit near the plane's emergency exit and still lower their backrest, because they have plenty of leg space yet still wana take over my comfort zone. they should know its hard for guys with long legs!

Adam Lambert mixtape!

Jake, this is what happened to your beloved Jordin Sparks. It was a great great performance in which we see more stage presence and some high though pitchy notes, some Beyonce-Sasha Fierce moments there, but that last framed totally made me gag.

machiam ghost can.




and i supported a Glambert, and i LIKEEEED IT.=)=)=)









IT'S A DREAM FINALE!!! A BA-DING-DONG(!?!?!?!?)

Heartless

Kris Allen. I AM A CONVERT. He totally "blew it out of the box" tonight with his rendition of Kanye West's vocoder-filled version. Kris totally made it sound like a rock track. With only the acoustic guitar alone, his voice stood out. I've always thought Kris has a very commercial voice, nothing more than that. And in a point when Adam's scream/tenderness and Danny's rasp has dominated thus far, the dark and the light, though there's nothing really dark about it, i've finally come to appreciate Kris vocals for what it is. He's the kind who needs the right material and arrangement to make him so good. and so far, he's hit the nail more than he fails, which is not alot of times in fact that he fails. and tonight i saw a very Jason Mraz vibe to his performance. talking about CURRENT! it adds on to the quite good Apologise he did, which also showed his range and current-ness.


while i wld love to see Adam kick danny's freakin ass and face in the finale, i wld LOVE to see Kris' arrangements to songs once more and surprise us.

so i loved the original, but i love this more. OMG.


Kris Allen - Top 3 - Heartless
Want more American Idol videos? Click here.


Kanye West - Heartless




i'm bring a black banner, "Adam! Singapore loves you!", with the spore in red and white. add some glitter to make it glambert.and then i am painting my nails black. for 2 days.

PAINT IT BLACK, DARLING!

Something in my liberty

Happiness
More or less
It's just a change in me
Something in my liberty
Oh, my, my
Happiness
Coming and going
I watch you look at me
Watch my fever growing
I know just where I am

But how many corners do I have to turn?
How many times do I have to learn
All the love I have is in my mind?

Well, I'm a lucky man
With fire in my hands

Happiness
Something in my own place
I'm standing naked
Smiling, I feel no disgrace
With who I am

Happiness
Coming and going
I watch you look at me
Watch my fever growing
I know just who I am

But how many corners do I have to turn?
How many times do I have to learn
All the love I have is in my mind?

I hope you understand
I hope you understand

Gotta love that'll never die

Happiness
More or less
It's just a change in me
Something in my liberty
Happiness
Coming and going
I watch you look at me
Watch my fever growing
I know
Oh, my, my

Gotta love that'll never die
Gotta love that'll never die
No, no
I'm a lucky man

It's just a change in me
Something in my liberty
It's just a change in me
Something in my liberty
It's just a change in me
Something in my liberty
Oh, my, my
Oh, my, my
It's just a change in me
Something in my liberty
Oh, my, my
Oh, my, my








I'm loving The Verve right now =)
If you've watched Marley & Me, you might remember the scene when Owen Wilson released Marley and let him roam freely on the beach, and into the water. This song was played during that scene, and as strange as how a Verve track would fit in a commercial Hollywood movie, it turned out surprisingly well. I thought that was one of the best scenes of the movie, and the tune made it work.

"Happiness, coming and going"
this whole trip has become a debacle of sorts. I've always believed that life is fair, and a turn in fortune might just be the calm before the storm. Still, that does not mean that life is at a standstill, but it has proven to me the very true saying of "you win some, you lose some." This is like a lesson in providence, a exercise in divine care. Great, can never be truely great. I've been thinking about this and that so much, that I'm falling behind in my revision. I really felt like giving up, because there's really no time, but I figured, tough times make tough men. Then there is the financial prospect when I return, because borrowing 1k from my naggy mother means that I will have a heavier burden when I return. Is it that hard to just want to spend a holiday with a friend?!

Yes it does sound like a bad paradox, but the past week has been revealing, and I hope it stays this way, or in the best way possible, when I'm there. When Susan told me that it's not so bad travelling alone, and it could be a trip of self-discovery, I did not cringe. The thought's been at the back of my head all these time, and her saying it out just made sense and made it obvious. As I've always said, she makes the most sense. =)

Right now, it's "Happiness, more or less". I should be looking forward.

If you like this, try The Drugs Don't Work. But I figured I just might post it here sooner or later.

put the GO in GOKEY!

it's a sad day for rock chicks everywhere, as dear Allison makes her Idol exit.

i've done my part in putting the Go in Gokey. look no further than this Sunday's ST Lifestyle for what is already deemed as a "bitchy" slam.


ps: bitch slap him please.



I wish I could have come up with better soundbits. bet Namia would have something fantastic to say.










gawd. I just wana tear my hair out now. or dance like there's no tomorrow. urk.