Monday 31 January 2011

他好可愛。He's cute alright.

Jeremy Warmsley, a London based singer-songwriter. My personal favourite is "If He Breaks Your Heart', which I posed months ago.
http://www.jeremywarmsley.com/




His music style would probably be described as indie and folktronica, a little bit folk acoustic and sort of electronic.



反正他很可愛(帥氣的臉龐戴著眼鏡加襯衫就是我的菜啊),所以就算是亂唱的freestyle我還是可以很容易被逗的很開心,youtube上找的到他彈琴唱歌的片段,他還說了法文呢!(很容易迷戀這一類的特質)

Well of hope



希望井
掉落深井,我大聲呼喊,等待救援……
天黑了,黯然低頭,才發現水面滿是閃爍的星光。
我總在最深的絕望裡,遇見最美麗的驚喜。

………「我的心中每天開出一朵花」˙幾米作品


Trapped in the deep well, I shouted for help, waiting for succour...
Nearly nightfall, I looked down in disappointment, and I found
glittering starlight glistening on the water.

Always, I meet the most beautiful surprise in the deepest despair.

------------------   A Garden in My Heart, by Jimmy Liao

Jimmy's 'How to own a corner'




I went to the exhibition with friends yesterday. It was freaking cold and drizzling, so freezing that I may forget everything but the unpleasant weather and the unexpectedly stream of visitors.


Upon this exhibition, one walks into the blocks of independent topic from 12 corners of the outer wall. I got a ticket with a digital number which enables you to scan into each corner and leave messages on the ipad located in the center of the exhibition. Woo, high-tech.

The blocks and the hallways demonstrates different items created by various artists, ranging from fashion designers to metallic sculptors and animators. Each shows their ideas (or inspiration) influenced by Jimmy the illustrator. Therefore it can be described as an hybrid of a little bit of everything in the name of Jimmy.

Obviously Jimmy is the gimmick.

Honestly I would say that it is an interesting joint exhibition yet it won't attract much attention or if it did not 'collaborate with' Jimmy.

Anyhow, I like Jimmy's paintings. And I like the way he sees the world and life. My friends and I had a discussion of his illustrations, books and philosophy of life. I'd say, as a book or complete story, 95% of his philosophy is gloomy and melancholy and the rest 5% is a little bit of hope he got, in order to give a happy ending, as everyone would love to see.

The world's not beautiful; therefore it is.

Every character in his stories is either sad, confused, helpless, or troubled. Jimmy's world of illustration offers a colourful cheerful world that shows the irony of  the beauty and the ugly of life. The sympathetic sensation in his illustration is sometimes contagious. People easily feel the same way in the simple yet resplendent drawings.

(pictures from JimmySpa.com and the blog)

請說中文 in English, please

The only reason I keep the blog mainly in English is because I suppose no one would care to read it in another not-so-familiar language. (I mean, most of my friends and family in Taiwan) Therefore it would be more like my secret diary.


When I was studying in London, my blog is written in Chinese for the similar reason. So that my dearest reader (my mom) can read it (and make less skype call from Taiwan in strange timing), and my close friend in London would have no idea what it says.

Pretty evil, I know. But I like it this way. (And I swear with all my heart that I speak highly of them.)

這種語言的錯亂持續中,我覺得我必須保持在不同時刻只用一種語言思維邏輯讓大腦運作,雖然大部分的時候都處於快要當機的狀態然後中文和英文都一樣不怎麼好。能用就好。

Friday 28 January 2011

寂寞特輯 - 田馥甄

不知道從什麼時候開始沒有很認真的聽中文流行樂(除了陳綺貞、戴佩妮一類的,我歸類為indie pop),只記得高中的少女時代曾經覺得SHE有一首「熱帶雨林」好聽,其他的倒是印象不深。Hebe以本名田馥甄出個人專輯的時候,偶爾在電台聽到的主打歌像是「寂寞寂寞就好」或者「你太猖狂」一類的我都覺得「怎麼一個人出專輯聽起來跟三個人合體差不多」的感覺,和聲的地方滿厚重的。

一直到後來偶然聽到那首歌詞異常簡單、曲風相對輕快的LOVE,找出歌詞後著魔似地把這首歌連續聽了三四次,然後開始聽她這張專輯裡其他的歌。

真的很好聽耶,特別是歌詞。是好音樂。

The lyrics simply, truthfully speaks my mind.



離島 歌詞
詞/曲:施人誠/林一峰
編曲:盧家宏
製作人:王治平

我覺得這樣的距離很好
就隔著一片海互不打擾
我是一座離島人海邊的離島
世界和我禮貌微笑

不擔心我這島居民太少
人口的密度就這樣剛好
我是座小小島裝不下大煩惱
觀光客們下回請早

怎麼會這樣 我也不知道
謝謝誰為我祈禱 可是我並不困擾
誰能夠決定誰 怎樣最好
我疏離得很舒服 不想治療

這種距離對大家都好
就隔著一片海互相遠眺
我是一座離島人海邊的離島
世界和我都不無聊

怎麼會這樣 我也不知道
謝謝誰為我祈禱 可是我並不困擾
不擔心我這島 居民太少
來過的朋友們 都住下了
我是座小小島 容易滿足的小島
懂的人懂得就好
我是座小小島 心滿意足的小島
我愛的人愛我就好

This reminds me of the days struggling with my dissertation. Libraries and the dorm are my only destination. "If I'm not in the library, I'm on the way to the library." Dissertation, library, pamphlets and that's basically everything of the last term life. I did not ma I felt like I live like a solitary.

An island.

And I reckon it alright to be an island, keeping in touch with a couple of friends, being satisfyingly happy with my scholarly like life, feeling constantly confused, perplexed by the history I'm studying. That's good.

I care those who cares about me, understands me and takes me seriously. Good point.








寂寞寂寞就好 歌詞

作詞:施人誠
作曲:楊子樸

還是原來那個我 不過流掉幾公升淚所以變瘦
對著鏡子我承諾 遲早我會還這張臉一堆笑容
不算什麼 愛錯就愛錯
早點認錯 早一點解脫

我寂寞寂寞就好 這時候誰都別來安慰擁抱
就讓我一個人去 痛到 受不了 想到 快瘋掉
死不了就還好
我寂寞寂寞就好 你真的不用來我回憶裡微笑
我就不相信我會 笨到 忘不了 賴著 不放掉
人本來就寂寞的 借來的都該還掉
我總會把你戒掉

還是原來那個你 是我自己做夢你有改變什麼
再多的愛也沒用 每個人有每個人的業障因果
會有什麼 什麼都沒有
早點看破 才看得見以後

我寂寞寂寞就好 這時候誰都別來安慰擁抱
就讓我一個人去 痛到 受不了 想到 快瘋掉
死不了就還好
我寂寞寂寞就好 你真的不用來我回憶裡微笑
我就不相信我會 笨到 忘不了 賴著 不放掉
人本來就寂寞的 我總會把你戒掉

So I know that the constant loneness and I would get along quite well.




我想我不會愛你 歌詞
詞/曲:張承濬
編曲:JerryC
製作人:王治平

你的呼吸 還有你的聲音

你的呼吸 穿過身體
我來不及反應
你的聲音躲在耳裡 讓我生病
謝謝 你給的讓我沉迷
讓我丟掉了姓名
在好奇的時候 拉不住眼睛

我想我不會愛你 這樣下去
渺小的自尊都快要拋棄
我想我不會愛你 只是也許

你的歎息 散落一地
讓我歇斯底里
靠得太近一不小心 弄傷自己
謝謝 你給的讓我沉迷
讓我困住了自己
在迷路的時候 捨不得離去

我想我不會愛你 這樣下去
渺小的自尊都快要拋棄
我想我不會恨你 傷的痕跡
住在我心底 變成了秘密
我想我不會愛你 害怕失去
所以逞強的 遠遠看著你
我想我不會恨你 只是也許

This song herewith I would like to dedicate to the person that I spent my university life with.
Finally I realised that I leave you to save my tiny little nearly invisible dignity. But thank you, for the good six year.

Thursday 27 January 2011

最噁爛旅館之票選



This is new. I just got an email from the trip advisor, which is supposed to recommend hostels or hotels of good quality. This time they're having a vote for the 'Dirtiest Hotel'.

One of them is located in London! lol

Those Beautiful Blogs

I love fashion, or, precisely speaking, I love beautiful things. To me, fashion is not as shallow or can be defined or known by some famous names such as Louis Vuitton, Dolce&Gabbana or Marc Jacob.

the Parisians
'Fashion' means differently to people from different culture or cities. I would say the Parisians may live in fashion, having no difficulty treating high fashion as part of their life. The Milanese and Italian love play with the colours and textures, so they create a beautiful scenery with their historical ruins and chapels. And the English simply live in the past, they honour their history with their distinguished taste of style.

a cheerful lady from Melbourne
Fashion therefore is not just famous brands and skinny models wearing bizarre clothes. It's a lifestyle, carefree and confidant. It's an way to present how you regard yourself and your life, which mostly likely reflects one's own history.

Therefore it's sometimes not easy for the Chinese people or Taiwanese to create their own fashion.  Obviously the modernisation and westernisation plays a potent role on the process of forging our own identity, which has been problematic for decades.

However we're not alone. We''ve been confronted with the awkward situation of the East meets the West, like many other places around the world. Either moulding a people's fashion or identity is not as quick as writing a blog or history book.

Either fashion or a rather complicated and sophisticated issue such as identity are part of daily life, it deserves some attention, and it'd better be unbiased and open minded.

(photos from the Satorialist)

Wednesday 26 January 2011

Those Beautiful Blogs


There are millions of fashion blogs and websites. Writing a 'street snap' blog is not as difficult if you got a camera and live in a-la-mode city. But personally I would say Startorialist is one of the best. Scot Schuman is not just a excellent photographer and has supreme taste of fashion and his photos feature not only pretty people, in many ways they shows an attitude, a way of life, a style.






It's a pure pleasure to read the photos. Each has a story. Quietly brilliant. 

Monday 24 January 2011

Three Idiots!




"Definitely a unmissable film of the year! You'll have a whole new idea of Bollywood!"


This would probably be the best movie I’ve watched in the past 5 years.
For a very long time that people have forgotten the reasons they went to the movies in the first place, yet Three Idiots reminds me of the best thing in theatre: to be touched. Yes, we audience of the 21st century are gradually spoiled to expect that a qualified ‘good movie’ to be funny, inspiring, touching and as well as to have everything ostentatiously fantastic, such as fancy sound effect or 3D spectacle or renowned director or pretty cast. Otherwise one may rather watch online. It’s a purely sad truth that today we consider all the factors above before we walk into the cinema.

Three Idiots is a successful film in many ways. The director is undoubtedly an apt story teller. And, I’ll save the rest till it’s off the theatre.

怎麼這世界 每個人都不快樂



詞/曲:黃淑惠
編曲:樊哲忠
製作人:王治平

我愛你 你愛她
她愛她 她愛他
你愛我 我愛他
他愛他 他愛她

咦?
怎麼這世界
已經沒有人相愛
怎麼這世界
每個人都不快樂
怎麼這世界
每個人都愛別人
不愛自己

Friday 21 January 2011

一年。 a cliche a new year resolution

今天一月二十一日,我回台灣整整一年。

這一年變化不多不少,剛剛好。
在交大慘澹的那兩個月過後我到了政大,雖然都是助理的工作,在政大這邊的生活、在台北的日子還算愉快自在。

在倫敦無所事事的六個月所積累的能量可以說都在回台灣之後轉化為生活和工作的動力,所以我很努力很努力,然後也很幸運很幸運。

努力地生活,把握機會認識了一些新朋友,跟老朋友們恢復偶爾聚餐看戲的日子,有些週末陪家人,很充實很充實。擁有了這種「沒在怕」的衝動勇氣,努力的把在倫敦一年半寫論文找工作的沈重還有大學五年用約會和各種活動填塞自己的日子好好檢查一遍,回想那些只顧著往前衝而沒有好好過生活的日子,然後再一次努力地生活。


我希望以後的日子除了可以為自己的夢想和計畫努力之外,還有很多很多的愛給我的朋友和家人。

the view from my office

Thursday 20 January 2011

The Greatest

a simple, beautiful song
utterly tear jerker to me

when someone taught me to hate the world

I'm so fucking angry that I've got to crash the god damn pigs!! 囧
Hmm, a very sensational title. This dear friend of mine hates his life, his job, apparently his boss and the world as well. I found it difficult to understand how much negative emotion one can generate and live with it. So we had a talk and I get to know a little bit better his logic and this way of life and attitude towards everything. I guess I can never be a dedicated anti-socialist or can never simply blame a certain person for the wrong. I'm taught and trained to be 'self-reflective', a very Asian way to be an educated and enlightened. It's been to long to change.

But psychoanalytically it's necessary to know yourself, the id. Therefore we decide to have a competition on writing essay to express how much we (hmm, obviously I'm still learning) hate the society and the world.

Fortunately he did not teach me how to make a boom.

Alright, my first letter of hatred practice will be dedicated to my beloved ex-coworker.

5 days of Bangkok, not quite authentic taste of Thailand

I took a few days off and spent this Christmas in Bangkok. I have to say, I love traveling! And Bangkok is amazing!

Without and presumption, I fond Bangkok a wonderful place for a short vacation like this. There are plenty of reasons to praise Bangkok. But first of all, it's safeI simply got packed just one day before the flight and left 4 pm in the early morning.

first impression

As a Thai friend said, there are three weather type in Thailand: Hot, Very Hot, Super Hot.' It is true. So true that I had to take off layers of jackets and coats on the way to downtown. I can't believe it's December and I'm sweating on Christmas!

The youth hostel we booked is located in Siam, a rather convenient place, somewhere around city centre. After everything and the luggage was settled, I decided to hang around Siam to have a real taste of metropolitan Thailand!

Siam is basically made up of clusters of shopping centres, each nicely linked with another, in order to keep people get totally lost and spend all the money here! This reminds me of those shopping centres in Hong Kong. But Thai shopping malls are a bit different. They don't share so much resemblance with each other. It's more like a mixture of a little  bit of everything. Old within new, and high street fashion blended with local market stuff. I spent the entire afternoon hanging around, I guess I'd been to probably only five out of ten, or even more.

While I did the shopping, my dear partner was still stuck in Taipei. She's having trouble dealing with her visa and packing. Fortunately she got the tourist VISA in the last minute. I texted her "Bring Nothing. Nothing at all! Bangkok's got everything! And Cheaper!'

I suppose if it's not because of my poor limited budget, this article might just become photos of the good stuff I bought.
And the escalator always lead you to another magical place, a literally labynith

Siam in a sense equals to our "Xing Yi Disctric" in Taipei City. It's a embodiment of modern, western and capitalist life. People's outfit is nicer and brighter and everything is accordingly more expensive here. The department stores and shopping centres around Siam are elaborately decorated with bubble lights and bells and giant rabbits (looking like misplaced in this place rather than Alice's wonderland), and off course, Christmas tree. Christmas jingle is playing all over. A jolly atmosphere of Christmas is impeccably in the air, in this 27 degree tropical land.

Aren't they suppose to be Buddhists?
an ordinary food stall




Anyhow, it's quite a pleasant shopping experience in Siam. They have much more choices, better quality (which they enhanced that it's made in Thailand, instead of China). and absolutely temping price. It's no doubt a shopping paradise!

But the local market's my personal favourate, as usual.

The local market near a huge shopping centre is very much alike to those night markets and grocery stores where sales cheesy stuff one for10 dollars in Taiwan. And I found I was the only foreigner in the market. That's the best thing to go traveling. I always fancy a real taste of authentic local life, instead of tourist spots.

strange food, those fried things with feet, I'd suggest it insects...
the vendors outside the overground station (they call it 'skyline)
In order not to upset my stomach in the very first day of the trip, I kept them, sadly. (Obviously I fall  short of the high expectation for the 'Chinese eat anything' legend,'

And my journey continue happily ever after with my partner next day!

(to be continue)

Tuesday 18 January 2011

說好的遊記呢?

I really should keep the promise to write essays about the three cities I visited last year. It's surprising that some of the memories vanished so soon that I can only capture few fractured, scattered image in my brain.

Somehow I remember the days in London quite well.

It might be work. Work keeps you satiate, with lifelessness but not money or food.

Traveling is a great escape, even if it's a business trip. Thank you my boss and my job. They offered me great escape to Hong Kong, Shanghai and Bangkok.

Here we go, again.

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