Stone Roses

A remastered version of all 14 official Beatles albums (yes, the original British versions and not the rearranged and remixed US versions, where they add in reverb effects or 'echo' as the Americans like to call it to their earlier songs and makes them sound awful), including the US album 'Magical Mystery Tour' and the two volumes of Past Masters compiled into one CD, has been released earlier this month. Reviews on the web said sound quality were excellent comparable to the original vinyl sound. By the time i knew about it, almost all their albums had been sold-out. All their later albums from 'Rubber Soul' to 'Let It Be' has been off the shelves. Why do i always get my news so late. Damn, have to wait for the re-print. And my favourite u2 album, 'The Unforgettable Fire' 20th anniversary remastered edition is due out next month. Damn.

Changes

(Image from here: http://mo-01.deviantart.com/)

Went to my old workplace the other day. It has been nine years since i'd been there. It's a Saturday and almost all the offices were closed. Then i saw my old office. Looked the same. Use the toilet while there. Still the same. Even remember the old lady operating one of the lifts. Looked at her but she did not return my gaze. No, she did not recognized me.

Life is but a dream

You had to leave
On a fine sunny day
To chase after dreams

Of a life without me
The train slowly pass from sight
As memories of your shadow lingers on

Chicken a la Carte

This should make us think twice about throwing our food the next time. We all know that life is not fair and some are luckier than most others.

Still taking things for granted?

View this movie at cultureunplugged.com

Ella Fitzgerald's music

Ella Jane Fitzgerald, 1917 ~ 1996

I have to say i liked loved Ella Fitzgerald's music. Her music evoke a nostalgic feeling of childhood to a time when my grandmother was still around.

These interpretations of Gershwin's classics are my favourites. Although she don't have a so-called "big voice", hers is so soothing and full of emotion. Listening to this in the dark and alone makes one feel everything else is so 'unimportant'. Alone never felt so good.

Morality, ethics, what?

"Morality represents the way that people would like the world to work, whereas economics represents how it actually does work" - so it was quoted in 'Freakonomics' by Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner.

We often confused morality and ethics. They're two different concepts. We studied morality in school. Yes, although i do not hate the subject but found it extremely boring. Most probably it could be the teacher.
---

All I Want Is You

Heard this on the radio today. It's been a long time since i heard this one.

According to lead singer Bono, the song is dedicated to his wife. A poetic and lyrical description of true, unconditional love perhaps.

Video tribute to MJ

These are my favourites of his work. Most of it are from his "Thriller" album.

The first song i heard from him back in the late 70's /early 80's. Remember thinking who this woman was.

One Day In Your Life

Tempo and Time Signature (updated with correction)

Tempo

Tempo is the speed at which music is played, often measured in beats per minute (bpm). The instrument normally used to measure bpm is called a metronome. Most modern music software has a built-in metronome.

Time Travel as a concept in science fiction films

The film, Terminator Salvation while being an action film has a central theme in it-that of time travel. Many films, especially Hollywood films had explored the concept of time travel. Good ones that really put some thoughts on the concept are "The Terminator" series, the "Back To The Future" trilogy, "12 Monkeys" and the "Star Trek" series and films. The bad ones are Van Damme's "Time Cop", the remake of "Planet of the Apes" (the only thing that makes it passable is perhaps Scarlett Johansson); and Jet Li's "The One" with its non-sensical depiction of multiple universes (multiverse or many parallel universe).

The concept of time travel in the Terminator's film 'universe' is different than the ones in the Back To The Future's (bttf) film universe.

The first film of the 'Back to the Future' trilogy does bring back some fond memories. First shown in the year 1985. i remember it was the last day of school just before the school holiday. A group of classmates, quite a large group of us, went to watch the film. Those days, there were no cineplexes. There was only purpose-built one-screen cinema, and the screen was huge, much larger than the current cineplex's screen. It was the first and last time that a large group of us sat and watch a film together. We had a really good time, sharing jokes and laughter before the show. The film was so good that-it was funny and thought-provoking at the same time. And the song which played during the end-rolls was jsut fitting-Huey Lewis and The News "The Power of Love". After it was over, we talked about it and all of us went home with a smile. I never forgot those moments after all these years.

The concept used in the film is just one of many postulated in science fiction about time travel. It is the "ripple effect" in a single timeline (or space-time continuum) universe. No multiple universes or parallel universe. Multiple alternate realities existing at the same time just does not seem plausible although it may be possible. Incidentally, the quite watchable tv series "Sliders" uses the parallel universe theory in a 'responsible' way.

Music and time

Music is meant to be listened with the heart, not only the ear. That is the part of music that appeals to the emotion. Emotion in music is sometimes lost when one only listen with the ears.

Melody is a strange thing as it is most often the only part in music that make us recall certain piece of music. The rhythmic part does not play that role. Maybe because if we could recall a piece of music from childhood, the melody is what we remember. The rhythm is almost always inevitably associated with it in our mind, whether it's a fast or slow rhythm.

Timbre and Texture

Timbre


To illustrate, first, place the violin into slot 1. Listen to how it sounds.

Then, put in place the flute into slot 1 and listen again. Finally, place the tuba into slot 1.

All three musical instruments sounded different although they are playing the same notes. This difference is what is known as the timbre (pronounced tam-ber) of the sound.

Melody, Rhythm and Harmony

What is a melody?

A melody is a sequence of musical notes of different pitches that forms the basic musical piece.

Simply put, when you hear a song and hum it, what you are humming is the melody of the song.

Using the popular nursery rhyme "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and the piano widget, try this:

Arpeggios and chords

What is a chord?

A chord is when three or more musical notes are played at the same time (simultaneously). Using the above piano widget (click once on the widget's piano key first), try playing:

Z-C-B representing "do-mi-sol" on the widget (by simultaneously pressing these 3-keys on your computer keyboard). This is the C-Major chord.

Ode to a young mind

"Eh, what is he up to this time? I wanna have a look. It could be fun, hee-hee.

"Hey, wait up for me".

She likes to follow him. Her inquisitive mind who like to see what he is doing. Why does he walk into that bedroom every so often? And why is he sitting on there moving his fingers up and down slightly on that black square thing?

Fine line between Truth and Belief

What is truth and what is belief?

Is belief blind faith? The faith we have in religion and God. But the belief in God and religion is a belief based on a universal good values, religious extremism not withstanding. Blind faith then may be a good thing?

Then there is the belief in people and what they said. Some, no make that most, people believe in what a select few says to them. These select few are people with atatus or privileges. Or they have achieve some amount of celebrity status. And these status and privileges of the select few are bestow upon them by those who are now their believer.

A night train through hills and valleys

Days are getting dark outside my window. It's going to rain soon. After the rain, it's going to be dark as night would have fallen.

Life is a journey not a destination. All of us would probably heard of that.

As we grow older, we plan for our future. We want material comforts. A roof or two to cover our heads in case it rains. Machineries to transport us to places without relying on public transport. Financial means to get all those mentioned things. Some would want children. To make them happy. To make them complete. To carry the family's name. As an extension of themselves.

Compression in music a reflection of modern society?

Sound compression. What is it? To answer that, we have to know what is dynamic range first. Simply put, dynamic range is the difference the loudest and softest sound that a human can hear. Or, the difference between the loudest and softest sound in a recording.

Ideas, Events & People

"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people”
-Eleanor Roosevelt

Haiyo, look at Ah Poh these days. She has slim down lah.
Ya-loh. She used to be fat. What did she do to become so thin ah.
Don't know leh. Maybe she exercise. Go jogging in the park.
Hmm, but i don't think so lah.

Memories and music

Not doing a review here. Always had a soft spot for cantopop since very, very young. i remember listening to Sam Hui's old songs. Very old songs that is. From the seventies. My school bus driver used to play his love songs all the time.

It was played during the wee hours of the morning on my way to school. Yes, as early as 5:30 in the morning. I'd grown to loved his songs from listening to them. Barely awake sitting on those trips, his voice is like a balm enveloping my consciousness (or more like half-consciousness).

Underground or mainstream

What is mainstream music but popularly accepted music. Music for the masses. But does the masses know what is good music? And its opposite is called underground music. Music that suggest decadence. Or even music that 'decent' people imagined that could and would corrupt the minds of the young and impressionable. Well, by now most anyone would realize it is just plain and simple - music that does not have widespread acceptance by the masses.

Contentment on the horizon

Once a musician or group has achieved popularity or at least some sort of popularity and recognization, their music are considered mainstream.

The extremely popular group u2 started life as an underground punk group. Their music only appeal to certain small segment of listeners. Their early work, those seminal songs and albums from the 80's was still their best. Those who said their later or latest are their best either are too young to have listen to their earlier masterpieces or do not know how to differentiate between good and mediocre music.

As much as recent albums like "All That You Can't Leave Behind" and the last "How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb" had garnered positive and critical acclaim, at best they remain average albums on their own and mediocre compared to memorable gems like "The Unforgettable Fire", "The Joshua Tree", "Boy" and even "Achtung Baby".

Their upcoming "No Lines On The Horizon" has been getting good write-ups and preview even before the album is scheduled for worldwide release on March 2. Adjectives like "fantastically innovative", "some of their best work" and "sounds amazing" are now taken with a pinch of salt.

As a very old fan of the group from the 80's (yes, i'm that old), i had read the very favourable reviews of their last two albums- 'ATYCLB' and 'HTDAAB'. But frankly i found them a disappointment given the long time they spent in the studio making them. For the music they make which is rock music, they both are missing an important ingredient-passion. Good rock music requires fire and passion.

Also, their album's title seemed to get longer with every new release. Ego's reflected in the titles?

So, it's not hard to tell i'm no longer so excited they're releasing a new album. Would of course get the album but the thrill of anticipation is no longer there. In fact, the feeling of disappointment is higher.

Hate to say it but maybe they have come close to 'sell-by dates'. Maybe age has to do with it. People tend to become mellower with age. Rock music is youths' music in spirit but when you get older the spirit tends to fizzle out (at least a little). Also, they tend to run out of things to say. Their lyric evokes the "haven't i heard this before" feeling more often than not.

Or maybe not. Maybe it's just that i'd heard all that they have to say. maybe it's just me getting older; too old for this kind of music. I'd grown to liked 'mellower' and more 'emotional' music through the years. Apart from 80's music (New Wave music), rock music is my singular favourite kind of music. From The Beatles to Led Zeppelin to Pink Floyd to U2 to Nirvana, used to lap up every kind of rock there were. But now, even Metallica and Guns N'Roses are not quite as appealing as previously. Heck, can't stand the high-pitched scream of Axl Rose the last time i listened to them.

Besides returning to new wave (or the much maligned 'retro') music and those 80's cantopop (from the likes of Alan Tam, Leslie Cheung, Jacky Cheung) Tsai Chin, Zhou Xuan, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday has slowly become my staples. Maybe i'm really getting old or worse, feeling it. Feeling old is definitely worse than getting old. You tend to lose interest in things which you once find enjoyable. Things which makes life worth living.

Just hope it's really the amazing, innovative and one of their best work after the last song had finished playing. In between now and then, there's still hope. But not too high a hope. Maybe it's time to move on but only for the memories. When music is put on a commercial pedestal in place of art and emotion, then it's not music anymore.

Alternatives

With the looming recession (or is it here already?) and feeling a little down after reading this article by de minimis. Having worked in two different manufacturing concern for quite a few years made me come to the realization that wholly manufacturing industries is coming to an end. Perhaps not in this lifetime but it could be during my children's or their children's time.

Wholly manufacturing industries are those that depends solely on manufacturing for their survival, without other divisions (A&P, Marketing, Research & Development, Customer Service), or if they have one, they're not an important part of the organization. These manufacturers often get their technologies and technical skills from others in the same market and often do not innovate or improvised upon this technology.

Happiness and knowledge

There is a western saying that goes "Ignorance is Bliss", or as the chinese would like to say "What do i care?". Well, what is the opposite of ignorance then? Intelligence? i would like to think that ignorance has nothing to do with a person's intelligence. Ignorance is something like the freedom to be naive that can only be enjoyed by adults no matter if one is intelligent or not. Intelligent people could also be as ignorant as the stupid ones, although maybe it's less likely to be the case.