::Wondering Mind::

A good friend of mine suggested a few weeks back that a few of us get together and do an old fashioned music swap. It would be a great opportunity to bring together a dozen people around the globe and discover new exciting music ( or remember why we’re not listening to a particular artist/type)

The rules were simple, pick at the most 25 songs that represent your journey through life!

yeah, simple my ass!!! How am i supposed to sift through an entire itunes catalog with songs in over 10 languages and decide on the 25 that changed my life or represented milestones? tricky tricky!

The first go netted a little over 100 songs. Thing is, these were 100 songs that i love, not songs that meant something in particular. That wasn’t gonna cut it! I deleted that playlist and started over with a new criteria: The song had to bring back a memory, good or bad! This process netted about 45 songs that I managed to work down to 25 but it wasn’t easy! The result actually surprised me… certain names are on there while others i expected to make the cut were nowhere near!

Here is what came out:

The front cover is a picture i took a few week ago at the Black Sand Beach in Langkawi, Malaysia. I couldn’t get it out of my head for a while and kept drifting back to it whenever i thought about a cover for this mix. At first, I couldn’t think of a way to connect the water, sand, music and all. Of course, I could just put it all together just like that but I wanted the whole thing to flow. One late night sipping rum, I got the right inspiration and that’s what came out of it. I absorb music the way sand absorbs water… it comes in and becomes part of who/what I am.

The back cover is a bit of funky idea on its own, I d be curious to see if anyone figures it out

I had a little chance to catch Confucius (孔子） yesterday at the Megabox in Sanlitun and while i did not necessarily come out of it a better man (maybe the whole patience angle), it was better than expected!

Of course, most people are aware of the controversial decision to pull avatar out or the 2D screen in favor of the local production but more importantly, said local production has been slaughtered by foreigners and locals alike. I heard so much criticism of the movie that made it sound like one of the worst cinematographic products of recent memory.

The prominent Chinese blogger, Han Han (as translated by chinasmack) wrote that :

Finally, I want to say that the movie Confucius, whether it is from the perspective of cinematographic meaning, business profits, artistic merit, what it explores, its educational qualities, its historical accuracy, its entertainment value, its emotional resonance, etc., is completely unnecessary. It is a film that could be completely done without.

what? I mean come on, give me a break! I’ve seen plenty of movies in and out of China but I’m not going into that right now.

Maybe it was a byproduct of my low expectations but I can’t say I didn’t like the movie, at least from my limited perspective as a foreigner. I really wished I could actually follow the whole thing without needed the subtitles as there were times when I caught myself concentrating too much on what was written and forgetting the picture.

so, a few notes:

• I liked that they showed more than just the philosophical side of Confucius. I’m not sure he waged war with such ability but but it was good to see that aspect of his life/personality emphasized. One could even argue it was too much of an emphasis
• Too much politics, not enough philosophy. Then again, that is in many cases representative of the real situation in China even nowdays.
• G.O.L.F: Gentlemen only, ladies forbidden! The one somewhat meaningful female part was more or less meaningless. The empress is assassinated without explanation as to who or why.
• The was a sense of rushing through the story without tying loose ends… a cinematographic equivalent of the Chinese “deng deng deng” or etc..
• Chow Yun-fat did a decent job with the acting.. I honestly like the guy much more so than I like Jackie Chan.
• I don’t see what the fuss is all about either way
• The movie will get a decent reaction from overseas markets. They’r hungry for anything China and Confucius could use some PR. It’s also nice for the general mass populi to get a bit of education and have their stereotypes replaced by others that are closer to reality but nevertheless stereotypes.

what did you think?

so, two weeks after the earth stopped turning because Google announced they would stop censoring the results on their .cn domain, we’re still around and not much has changed!
The blogoshphere is full of posts, rants and articles from everyone and their dog about why, how and what now but truth must be said, it’s all just chit chat and distraction from other issues!

The Romans used gladiators to distract the mass popula from real problem and state trouble. Other rulers used similar tactics to distract their citizen from whatever issues were at hand and disguise them. They’ve used comedy, games, wars, tragedy and music amongst others. This whole Google thing feels much like that right now.

In a few more weeks, it will be all but forgotten! the ones that want results can get them with or without google making their move! It’s not gonna give me a more table access to picasa or google docs, not that i care much to use them. It’s not gonna get the folks that lost their job at Fanfou their jobs back…
what it did/does very well was to provide us with a good opportunity to pretend we can use out analytical abilities for the first time in a while

just a sham or a scam..

This was gonna be year of no resolutions and no wish-lists, just actions and I guess it’s starting on good footing: I haven’t had a cigarette for 36 hours and so for I’m feeling quite good about the whole thing!

I wish I could say that it was some sort of effort but it wasn’t. I was out in the hotsprings with some friends recovering from NYE celebrations when I ran out of smokes and decided to not go and get more. My last cigarette was officially on January 1st 2010 around 9:00 pm

Let’s see how grumpy and bitchy i’m gonna be since tomorrow marks the beginning of my yearly detox week and lord knows i need one this year: The last two months were noticeable in terms of excess: too much going out, too much eating, too much drinking, too little sleep etc… I’m actually looking forward to being creative with my diet again and going for a whole different spectrum of dishes, not to mention experiment with new ones at home and outside.

wish me luck

Funny the differences that 10 years make!

love you all

10 years ago, I was in France with one of my best mates getting ready to bring in the new millennium in a chateau outside of Marseille. This year, I’m in China getting ready to bring in the new decade in a Villa outside of Beijing!

such is the life of a modern day vagabond but it’s not a complaint in any way, shape or form! I consider myself extremely lucky and blessed!

So as I get ready to turn a new page, I just want to take a minute to remember every one that mattered and still matters in my life! I want to thank the time to thank you/them all for being there and helping shape me into what i am today!

It’s been a strange road but the journey is still young

Love