懷念家駒

As I don't have the patience to write in Chinese, that's why it is sometimes hard for me to talk about some of my views on Chinese stuff, like Chinese movies, music, books, etc. However, there is a Chinese band that has an English name that I love dearly since I first listen their music. The band's name is 'Beyond'. The soul of Beyond - 家駒 died in 1993 at the peak of their popularity. It has been 15 years since his departure. His music never get old to my ears.

Recently, his brother 家強 released a new CD of demo from his vault of 家駒's incompleted songs and the refurnished version with lyrics and full production. Even though there are only 5 songs. I can hear that his new (old) songs are still full of live. If I don't talk about this latest release. Just Beyond's songs that I have in my possession (I think I own maybe 80-90% of songs that they ever release). They are good enough for me to enjoy for the rest of my life.

Though I fully respect Beyond in the post-家駒 era, 3 guys had stood on their own for 7 more years before they separate. They did have some very good materials released during their time together. However, the time that I still miss the most is when 家駒 was still alive. Cos, he is the 'soul' of the band. When he was alive, 80%+ of their songs were written by him, such a remarkable source of music creation. Actually, the more I know about 家駒, particularly after his death, the more I could appreciate the songs that he wrote. I would compare him to John Lennon. A modern poet with such as unique view in music, live and our world in such a narrow-viewed, money-minded local showbiz environment. His music is like a spring pouring fresh water on surrounding mud.

I don't have idol, there are many musicians that I like very much, both in local music scene or foreign. However, I don't think there is a local band/musician's music affect me more than Beyond/家駒. They wrote ALL their music in their 20 years together, no other bands/singers have done that in local scene with such an accomplishment. Their songs did have something to say, they have messages, wide range of them, not just about love among lovers, but love to parents, to children, anti-war, equality, youth anger, social injustice, Nelson Mandella, separation, criticism of China, homeless people, etc. The more I listen to 家駒's music, the more I think about what if he is still alive, how much more good music will he be able to release. So much 'what if'.....

Among all the great dead musicians/artists, 家駒 is definitely the one that I wish he could live the most. Died at an age of only 31, he is definitely another example of the so-called 'The Great always die young'. He is forever young in most of his fans' heart and his music does able to stand the test of time. His songs are always on my iPod's active playlist. It has been that way since I got my iPod, and it will continue to be that way on and on.........

The Peak - June 23, 2008

A Smoggy day from the Peak, a view of the Victoria 'River'!

These are what we need in future superheroes movies

Incredible Hulk

Well, I went to see this movie yesterday with my sis and bro. It is entertaining, predictable, but enjoyable. Is it great? I would say 'Not'. However, it is worthy the admission fee. I would compare this to 'Iron Man' in terms of quality and entertainment level. It is definitely better than Ang Lee's 'Hulk' few years back. With more action, and better CG, I think this movie will do better business and sequels are expected. Superhero movies are what sell tickets these days. I think that if they can do more crossovers among characters, that would be even better. Let's see if others agree with me and whether Hollywood and Marvel will take notice of that. Cheers!

Celtics is the Champ!

Too bad I didn't take a day off to watch this game but only found out the result at lunch time at work. Anyway, the loopside win against the Lakers in Game 6 sounds so incredible that I think it will deserve repeat watching for many Celt's fans. In NBA, I only follow 2 teams, one is the Celtics for long time sake and the second is the Rockets just for Yao. I'm quite excited that Celtics finally won the championship for the first time since 1986.

The more I read about KG, Paul and Ray, the new 'Big Three', the more I like about them. They are so diverse in terms of characters. What I like them is about the unselfishness and willing to foresake individual gain for the common good for the team. That's really what team sport suppose to be. Yes, I know that Piston did that as well few years back. But what Celtics did is with 3 stars, that's always more difficult with all those big egos, fame, and power involved. However, they did it and worked as a team. Such team spirit is what is needed these days. I'm happy for them. Let's see what they can do next year.

Imagination

I think the older I got, the less imaginative I am.

When I was I kid, like most others who watch a lot of cartoons, and read comic books. I dreamed to be a superhero. The funniest thing was when I got older, like in early teens. I would still dream that once in a while, like what kind of superpower that I would like to have and all that. Meanwhile, as I grew to know what the real world is really like. I would thought that it would be better to hide my superpowers, cos I might be trapped by some government authorities and be a guinea pig in lab. Also, if they know who I am, then I will loose my normal life and people around me will be threatened by my enemies. The more I think about it, then I would think that there are so many bad guys in the world, how many can I fight to keep the world safe and just. It would be very tiring to be a full time superhero. Then, think about what I would lose as a normal person has, then I decided that I wouldn't want to be a superhero.

As I grew older, then I would think about what if I become rich, I mean insanely rich with tens of billions of dollars. Richer than Bill Gates + Warren Buffets. Then, what will I do? I will buy this and that... But, just material possession would not be enough, I need to be rich in heart as well. Then, I would think about what I will do with my money then....like funding scientific research, giving to charities, etc. However, come to think of it, no amount is enough as there are just so many people in the world that need help. That kinda dissuade me from further imagining being rich, cos it is depressing to think about how many people are desperately needed help in various form or means.

I once think about what if I can live forever, never die, or stay young forever, etc. Come to think about the negative sides, just made those ideas less appealing.

So, I conclude that.....as you get older, what you know about the world and reality, and more logical and detail a person you are, you will be less imaginative. Certainly, that's not applied to folks into invention or scientific research or in creative business. For folks like me who work in an profession that are not to much into creativity, but rather into efficiency, effectiveness and costs, imagination is just not essential.

iPhone 2.0 - 3G

Announced on June 9, will be available locally (finally) on July 11. Too bad, it is not by the carrier that I prefer. Will I dump my existing contract which still has almost a year to go for this?? hmmm.......I don't know....but it is certainly tempting!

The verdict has not come out yet, but with just 16GB?! That's still not my cup of tea. Just about half cup of my current tea (my 5G iPod is 30GB). So, I really don't know..... Apple is just killing us, giving us something good or very good, but just not great enough to meet all our needs. Just keep getting us wanting for more......

I gotta find time (yes, I need to) to watch the video from Steve Jobs to see all his words about this whole thing, no amount of reporting can do him justice. Watching him doing his speech in his black turtle-neck and jean is simply a pleasure by itself. That's what presentation all about. If you wanna learn, learn from the best (he is certainly one of the best).

Actually, my wife is thinking about getting a new phone lately, she is thinking about LG KF700. Now, with about a month to go, not sure if she will change her mind.....and go for the iPhone, which is way more than she needs but she still have to deal with the contract issue.....

Hahhhh...........there are still more that I want from it - Video recording, larger memory capacity, etc.....anyway, dreaming for an ideal iPhone is torturing.........

Local Japanese restaurant practice

I have lunch with my wife today in a Japanese restaurant. As today weather is miserable with downpour, that's why the place was packed. I didn't know that they have changed their rule of matching customers to tables. Unlikely many local restaurants that you can reserve your seat or at least walk in and get a table while waiting for your friends, this restaurant doesn't allow neither of that. It has a sign of 'no table for customer without food on a plate'. So, when my wife was in line getting foods while I came in late. After I arrived, I was not allow to get any spare seat that was available. I had to join my wife in line to grab our plate, then, we were allowed to get any spare seat. At first, I was kinda frustrated, but the waitress and a Japanese waiter kinda insisted on that rule. Sure a person who believe in civil manner. I complied with them. After helping my wife to get the foods, sure we got 2 sofa seats by the window. The foods were decent, but what get me interested was to see how another customers who didn't know the rule reacted.

There were several OLs (office ladies), just walked in and grab empty seats that the saw while waiting for their companions. Perhaps, the waiters were busy with other customers or picking up trays. However, those OLs were being told of the rule and some of them did complied with it, but some didn't until repeated requests by the waiters. I think one of the OLs even walked out of the restaurant.

My wife told me that she had seen the same rule being applied in Japan when she was there. So, I guess it is a cultural thing. Then, I told my wife, it is ok to apply this rule in the business district here. If it is applied elsewhere locally or even in China, I'm sure some customers will simply ignore the waiters or even scolding, yelling at them. Those kind of bully behaviors will be expected. Come to think of it, I think this rule actually is not a bad thing, particularly for those who are single patron coming in by him/herself and just wanna get a quick one. This way, they will be almost gurantee a seat. I remember how bad I felt before when I dined alone and holding a tray waiting for an empty chair while other folks seemed not leaving. So, I can ampathize those customers and think that it is kinda fair to them. So, next time, I happen to be in the area and need to dine alone, it will be a place to go. If I wanna go with my wife or anyone else, we better go together or else.

3-D Animation Movies

Look at the pic on the right!....No, I've not seen this movie yet. That doesn't mean I'm not excited about this movie. I've been a long time fan of 3D animation movies. Just to recall what I've seen before....Antz, Toy Story & Toy Story 2, A Bug's Life , Monsters, Inc, Finding Nemo , The Incredibles , Cars, Ratatouille , The Shrek Trilogy , The Ice Age Collection (Ice Age/ Ice Age: The Meltdown) , Over the Hedge , Madagascar, and Shark Tale . Except Shark Tale, Antz and Shrek 3, I own the 'official' DVD of all of them.

Basically, out of them all, I do have my favorites over others. However, I can say that I enjoy most of them. Also, the reason why I bought all of them is that I know that my son will enjoy them very much. As I think that these movies deserves repetitive watching, so I don't have any problem watching them again and again with my son when he is a bit older in few years. Cos, I think that other than the entertainment value, the artistic achievement in this movies. They do have good stories and positive messages that will be educational value to my son. For example, even I've not seen 'Kung Fu Panda' yet, I can guess that this movie is trying to convey a message that... "regardless what you are born as, as long as your work hard, you still can succeed." Well, let's see if I'm right about that when I see the movie. Anyway, come to think of it, my wife is quite astonished when I told her my purpose of collecting those movies. Cos, I started doing that even before we married, let alone have kid!

Thanks to Pixar, the 3-D animation movies were getting popular and common. Firstly, it is because they have been doing very well in box office. Secondly, the cost of producing one is getting cheaper with improving technology and outsourcing to other countries like Philippines, South Korea, etc. Actually, the original cost to produce this kind of movie is about US$60-70MM, an amount that I heard few years back. While comparing with those US$100+MM blockbusters, some of which may bomb, like the latest 'Speed Racer'. They are good bets by many studios. Certainly, Disney-Pixar is the best, but DreamWorks is not far behind, thanks to Shreks. However, their records, unlike Pixar's, are kinda relatively more spotty with some ups (like Shreks) and downs (like Shark Tale, Antz) as well. As there are getting more and more 3-D animation movies coming out, I've started missing some of them in the last few years. Like the 'Bee Movie', and few others before. I'm not sure if I will catch them up down the road anyway.

In the summer of 2008, there will be few 3-D animations coming out. The top choice will be 'Kung Fu Panda' for me. Though, I've been a big fan of Pixar's movies. So, I wouldn't miss 'Wall.E', but I have kinda lower expectation to that one: at somewhat the same level as 'Cars'. Cos, the premise of Wall.E is kinda less appealing to me. So, Kung Fu Panda is my top choice, especially after reviewing its trailers. I think the voice of Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, and Dustin Hoffman are very fit to the characters. Also, the story sounds attractive, considering in today's movies, many kung fu movies are added with CG animation, so it is a natural fit the other way around. Just can't wait to see it in the theatre!

His Development Update #1

So far, these are what I notice about him:

He is quite sweaty, because of that...he smell! So bathing is a must, multiple time is needed when it is hot.

He is quite nosy, maybe it is natural to be curious about things around him, cos he is on a learning curve. Everything is new to him. All his senses are exposed to anything new. He just react to them.

He looks really cute and funny when he tastes something new. Like he tastes Pitaya 火龍果 the first time recently, he just lour but still wanted more.

He doesn't like to be alone, he wants to be hugged and walked around.

He murmoured at his wishes, can say something like 'ba ba', but no 'ma ma' yet, just 'mer mer'.

He can't crawl yet, no coordination with arms and legs, he can bounced with two legs up on bed, but can't bend his waist to sit up from lying down yet.

He doesn't sleep as much as others, which is no good, but not much can be done. Hopefully, that won't affect his mental development.

He has 'quite some' strength in his arms and legs.

He doesn't like milk that much now, 2 meals of rice puddings a day are needed.

He hasn't learnt to hold a bottle or cups to drink on his own.

I love to see him smile!

Is that Karma?

Original Text：

“Well you know it was very interesting because at first, you know, I am not happy about the ways the Chinese were treating the Tibetans because I don't think anyone should be unkind to anyone else. And so I have been very concerned about how to think and what to do about that because I don't like that. And I had been this, you know, concerned about, oh how should we deal with the Olympics because they are not being nice to the Dalai Lama, who is a good friend of mine.

And all these earthquake and all these stuff happened and I thought: Is that karma, when you are not nice that bad things happen to you? And then I got a letter, from the Tibetan Foundation that they want to go and be helpful. And that made me cry. And they ask me if I would write a quote about that and I said,“I would.”And it was a big lesson to me, that some times you have to learn to put your head down and be of service even to people who are not nice to you. And that’s a big lesson for me...”

Just some thought.....how about this:

“Well you know it was very interesting because at first, you know, I am not happy about the ways the American were treating the Arabs because I don't think anyone should be unkind to anyone else. And so I have been very concerned about how to think and what to do about that because I don't like that. And I had been this, you know, concerned about, oh how should we deal with the Super Bowl? (or whatever big events) because they are not being nice to the Mr.so and so (any famous humanitarian), who is a good friend of mine.

And all these Hurricane (in Katrina or whatever natural disaster that are coming) and all these stuff happened and I thought: Is that karma, when you are not nice that bad things happen to you? And then I got a letter, from the (any so-called Independent human right concern organization, e.g. Amnesty International) that they want to go and be helpful. And that made me cry. And they ask me if I would write a quote about that and I said,“I would.”And it was a big lesson to me, that some times you have to learn to put your head down and be of service even to people who are not nice to you. And that’s a big lesson for me...”