Sea Change

I like Beck. He's one of those artists who's always trying to experiment with things different from the last time. Not sure if we can say Beck is inventive. His music is more deconstruction, cut & paste existing elements than create from scratch.

Like most others, the first Beck single that strike me was 'loser'. 'Loser' was just so easy listening, yet it has alternative written all over it. I listened to Beck’s major release. And seriously, they were all good. I think he is truly a music chameleon. He’s like David Bowie in the 70’s if not bigger.

Beck’s Sea Change is my personal favorite. This 2002 record was his vision of alternative country/ folk rock. It again proved Beck's ability to blend genre. Through the simple songs, it also proved Beck's talent in composing good tunes.

The 2 songs that keep ringing in my head are: the lost cause and guess I am doing fine.

BTW, this CD was also released as DVD-A and SACD multi-channel surround. These beautifully atmospheric mixes drowned me in the wild sea of melodies.

Nude flight

After Nitroglycerin was found in luggage of some terrorists at a UK airport this month, the rules on carry-on luggage were tightened. For some time, even the duty-free liquor purchase was not allowed to be hand-carried on the planes. Due to no business, some of the duty-free stores were actually closed for a few days. Possibly after some heavy negotiations, we can now again bring the duty-free purchase to board a plane in Canada. Most other forms of liquid/ fluid are still forbidden.

Baby milk/formula/ food are still OK, but who knows if that may be changed sometime.

Who would have think of explosive in a liquid and edible form! Given enough time, mostly anything can be possible. What if one day, someone decided explosive can blend with fabric/ leather/ plastic and we should take the precautions of not letting it happen? We may then need to strip, shave clean, and get into a paper suit at the airport. If that’s not enough, I guess the authority may ban the wearing of any type of garment on the plane. Then maybe we can once and for all get naked and relax on the plane. That may make the long, boring flight more enjoyable than just some in-flight movies. 

Now, imagine a 40-year-old air stewardess wearing a uniform smile and commandingly ordering you at the gate,"Take off your clothes." Sorry pal, we are not in 'unbearable lightness'.

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-6104475.html
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/August2006/18/c6962.html
http://uniglobepacifictravelleisure.com/site/viewhome.asp?aid=18624&sit=130&vty=ARTICLE&tid=12923&sessionid=

Freedom of press abused

Some artists voluntarily peeled off some of their clothes to get more exposures, some others had a tighter bottom line.

A famous Hong Kong singer was pictured while changing in the backstage. The photograph was published on the front page of a local magazine. Gillian Chung was a young idol who had a healthy and positive image. She was very upset and burst into tears during an interview on this incident.

The Freedom of Press Act allows tabloids to publish 'news' they think is appropriate without going through auditing first. Once the magazines hit the market, it is too late for any remedial actions. The affected party can take legal action against the publishers, but in most case the results are monetary penalty, or at most suspending the license of the publishers.

However, some damages are irreversible. There is no way to get even.

Paparazzi claim they are not in the business of taking intrusive photographs for their own perverse pleasure; they are just fulfilling the public thirst. Sounds like these people are pillars of the society and without them the public will need to go hide under the bed or the bathrooms of the celebrities themselves. They sacrifice themselves to do the dirty jobs so we don't. I think they really deserve a big achievement award for making up all these bull with no shame.

http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article-eastasia.asp?parentid=51920
http://www.singpao.com/20060823/gossip/868326.html

PC world - 101 freebies (2006)

We will never get tired of all the freebies we can find on the internet. Here's a list PC world put together earlier this year. These software are free and safe to use in most cases (provided that you know what you are doing). Some of them are really good utilities that you can't even find commercially. Furthermore, they are all legal!

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,124883-page,1-c,freeware/article.html

Act fast, some of the good stuff just doesn't stay free forever.
Happy downloading! :)

In-complete Dossier edition

Apocalypse now's production story was like an American version of Fitzcarrado. As a fulltime DVD collector, how could I resist the handsomely packaged, newly remastered & released complete dossier edition of the movie.

No, this collection does not include the famous documentary "the heart of darkness" that captured the madness of this production. In effect with the release of the complete Dossier set, this documentary is now becoming one of the most wanted titles for possible future release on DVD.

V for Vendetta

James McTeigue's directorial debut based on an adaptation of a comic book series.
Screenplay by the Wachowski Brothers.

Even after the flops of the Matrix's sequels, I still had high hopes for the Wachowski brothers.

V was definitely better than the last 2 Matrix chapters, and it was a reasonably good movie on its own. But it is not on the level of a masterpiece like Matrix. I suspect this was why the Wachowski decided not direct the script themselves, but instead elected their 1st unit assistant director to execute the project.

The result's like darkman vs. a fascist government that conducted human experiments. Super hero met 1984. I was not sure if this uprising finale made sense. There was not enough focus on the society throughout the movie. (Yes, I knew they were a bunch of couch potatoes)

I like the theme of this movie though. Some leaders thought they were elected to control the countries and/ or save the rest of the world who did not think the same. Criticisms and opponents were not welcome. People not obeying the leaders were against the countries. Those leaders should learn what they "meant well" may sound good only in their dreams if the act was not the mean for some hidden agendas.

Human blood drop

I was in this picture. I am not sure if we really have 1000 donors there though. Anyhow, it was a nice day and the helicopter flew over us 10-15 times and who knew how many shots it took.

I started to give blood since the early 80s and I've been donating blood for the past 10 years. Blood donation is a volunteering service and I feel good after doing it.

I read it from a Chinese novel, Chronicles of a blood merchant, that giving blood was a trade in China. Chinese traditions believed that bleeding was a hazard to health. (worst than smoking and drinking!) People gave blood was only intended to exchange for a living. The traditional Chinese society did not encourage people to give blood, not to mention as a form of volunteering donation. I hope their values have changed by now.

Do you think you can locate me? (you can download the original picture from the linked web page)

Jump - Aztec Camera

Jump is one of the best songs in the 80's. I like this cover version by Aztec Camera even more than the original. It started off as an acoustic play down of the song, then it turned out to be an electric guitar solo screaming a blasting stream of emotional energy. The single that they played on the radio was the faded out edit with only the laidback music and vocal. The full version (5:25) of the song first appeared on the Aztec Camera EP. It was then reissued as a 2 for 1 CD along with Knife in the US.



This CD is now out of print and can be found in Amazon Marketplace for US $75. I am lucky enough to have my buddy finding me a copy of the CD.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000068TMY/sr=8-7/qid=1154797071/ref=pd_bbs_7/104-1455661-2635940?ie=UTF8