September 12, 2011

An Ode to a Pin-up Girl

Alright, It's Betty Page, y'all
Betty Page was such a bad ass. She dropped the devil's horns and put on the angel's halo, yet her leaving the dark side didn't offer much peace to her. I wonder what should one do to be happy? To do what her heart desires or to restrain herself from natural instincts for a higher purpose? I may sound like a hedonist, but I don't advocate the exclusive choice of either self-deprivation or indulgence of any earthly pleasure. What we need is a fine balance between indulging and abstaining. This leads to the concern of what guideline there is to help us achieve this equilibrium.

For Betty, she chose Christianity, which obviously doesn't endorse indulgence in its teaching. After all, it is entirely up to the person's own judgement, whether there has been responsibility and mindfulness when an action is done. If Betty had loved what she did and her action harmed nobody, she wouldn't have had to rely on a higher entity to justify herself. However, people sometimes lose trust and hope in themselves. When the mind and heart are weak, their vulnerability is easily taken advantage of, all in the name of love and salvation.

What exactly happens when a person is saved from being lost, what does she realize when her blind eyes suddenly start to see? The awareness of her own self and the discovery of a meaning for her existence in the world are the answer. Religion can be a mean to this end. Sadly, the person has to avoid such realization in worship of a higher being that her lowly self wouldn't dare to match. Again, I want to stress that if you don't regret your choice of dedicating your life to god, then you are doing the right thing. That is how you define your identity and your place in this world, I respect your intention. However, always keep your mind open. Even if there is guidance, you can close your eyes yourself, fail to see, and ultimately become a lost wanderer in this monstrous confusion called life.

Anyway, enough indoctrination, it is time for some music. This mix offers a refreshing interpretation to the classic repertoire, some vintage inspired pieces, and a bit of old school goodies near the end. Enjoy.


Tracklist:

1. It Don't Mean a Thing - The Puppini Sisters
2. Mambo Italiano - Club de Belugas ft. Dean Martin
3. Soul Bossa Nova - Quincy Jones and His Orchestra
4. Rum 'n' Coca Cola - Tim Tim
5. We No Speak Americano - Yolanda B Cool
6. Whipped Cream - Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass
7. The Mambo Craze - de Phazz ft. Pat Appleton
8. Maria Elena - Xavier Cugat

September 11, 2011

Rohinton Mistry - A Fine Balance

A Fine Balance
My friend Cora decided to cease her ownership of the book and gave it to me after an abysmal Sociology lecture about the caste system. "Ugh...take it, I can't have it, it's too depressing for me, I just can't..." she then wandered off complaining about how much she hated the professor and sociology in general. Holding the book in my hand, I realized she quit after about one third into the book. I wondered what it was that set off such a vehement rejection. Was it because the book belongs to Oprah's book club and Cora was being a hater of anything mainstream? Obviously, I had no idea what was in store for me in those 600 pages.

The book depicts how destiny brings four people of very different background into each other's life. Set in the time of political and social chaos, the novel weaves the life fibers of Dina, a widow of wealthy background to those of Maneck, a young student, and Ishvar and his nephew Omprakash, two tailors who work for Dina's secret sewing shop for an export clothing company. I guess I won't present a synopsis of the novel as you can find that easily on Wikipedia. I'm more interested in telling you why Cora abandoned it in the first place.

September 7, 2011

Doctor Comic - Part 3

Source: Buttersafe
I finally took the MCAT last Friday. The amount of coffee I drank pumped me up so high till I crashed down and slept like a dead log hours later into the night. I've come to the conclusion that the amount of stress you got after the test is inversely proportional to the amount of time you spent studying. Last summer when I took the test, which I failed of course, I didn't have the smallest piece of anxiety or fear or any negative feeling. Now that I spent months preparing, I've been haunted with so much fear regarding my scores, which I will share with you below.

The highest maximum score anyone can get from this test is 45T, with the letter is for the writing samples' score. To be hopefully accepted, you need to have a 27; to be competitive, you need at least a 10 for each of the three sections other than the writings. So here comes the possibilities.

1. I fail it again. My family disowns me so I have to go sell peanuts at the stadium where people watch American football. Don't get me wrong, selling peanuts competitively is an art and if you don't meet your quota, you are fired. As I run toward a waving customer on the horizon, a smiling shady old man smacks my butt, which makes me trip on his cane, spill all of my nuts, break my spine, and get paralyzed from the neck down. "You drop your nuts, little boy," he says. The end of my life.

August 14, 2011

The Ultimate Music for Studying

Well, instead of studying, ironically I've been compiling music to help me study. I can't study if I make music, and I can't study either if I don't have music. Whatever, my procrastination has reached a higher level. My test is coming on the second of September, yay! I even turn down my sister's invitation to go to the beach so I can study. Ugh, that means I'll be really pale. My friend Lauren told me that I look sick and pasty last time, what a tramp!

Many of the songs here come from my favorite movies. Classical music has this tendency to make a scene become more classy, probably because of its timeless quality. Even though many songs in this particular mix are neo-classical, the same effect is achieved. 


Oh yeah, I assume you are here 'cause you've been stumbling instead of studying eh? This music mix may help, trust me, after I'm done posting this, I'm gonna listen to this and study like a boss and ace it like a Brain god! 

Track List

I'm smokin 'cause the music is so good
1. Sympathy for Lady Vengeance - Yeong-wook Jo
2. Dark Chariot - Peer Raben
3. Yumeji's theme - Shigeru Umebayashi
4. Bolero - Zbigniew Preisner
5. Rachmaninoff's Vocalise - Itzhak Perlman 
6. Adagio from 2046 - Rolf Lovland
7. And Just Like That - Abel Korzeniowski
8. To Zanarkand - Nobuo Uematsu
9. Sposa Son Disprezzata - Cecilia Bartoli
10. Les Marionnettes - Zbigniew Preisner
11. Georges Watlz (Take 2) - Shigeru Umebayashi
12. Ombra Mai Fu - Philippe Jaroussky
13. Meditation from Thais - Sarah Chang
14. Ruhe Sanft - Academy of St. Martin in the Fields
15. Song to the Moon - Stjepan Hauser
16. Lascia Ch'io Pianga - Philippe Jaroussky
17. Meeting - Roman Rewakowicz
18. Song for the Unification of Europe - Teresa Salgueiro

August 12, 2011

Tango Mix

I love listening to tango while studying. I have made a mix on 8tracks, which I am showing you right below. Normally, the site won't let you download the music directly, so I think it may be a good idea to find another way to share music with you.

Yes, I own these tracks, and if anybody gets offended by my non-benefit sharing here, please let me know so I can remove the download link. Remember, my blog doesn't host the music files, and I am totally broke so don't sue me, thank you very much.



I really love the music, and so will you.  You can thank me by keeping me in your thoughts and sending me some positive energy so I can study well. Oh, you can also check out another related post about tango right here.


Track List:

It's the Tango, yo!
1. A Media Luz - Trio Pantango
2. Peliculas - Demoliendo Tangos
3. Malena - Sexteto Mayor
4. L'ete Indien - Quadro Nuevo
5. Fruta Amarga - Lidia Borda
6. La Comparsita - Villurca
7. El Choclo - Maria Grana
8. Oblivion - Astor Piazzolla

Alright then, Peace, love, and sexy rhythm.

July 28, 2011

Doctor Comic - Pas Deux

Source: Buttersafe
This is the second comic that puts doctor, patient, and butt together, just like the one I posted in this entry a while ago. I am being the dullest person on the face of the Earth, doing nothing but pretending to study for the MCAT, which is coming on the second of September. Whenever I think about it, I feel as if I just carelessly step on a baby's face while calling the mom fat or something equally devastating.

Apparently, I don't know how to read actively and critically enough. I guess I daydream too much. For example, below is a sample of how my brain processes a passage as I am reading it with the italic representing my thoughts.
Philosophers Immanuel Kant and David Hume both spent their professional careers searching for a universal principle of morality... ugh, what the fuck, not philosophy again... Considering that they began their searches with seemingly irreconcilable...damned hate big words...ideas of where to look...blah blah...the similarity in the moral systems they constructed is surprising...yeah...yeah my ass is surprising...
And then a brain transplant?
So that's how I fail the so called verbal reasoning on the MCAT, beside my inability to comprehend, I often bear this intense animosity toward the passages themselves. There should be no reason to have such sentiments toward those passages, they are only designed to wear my brain down, lower my overall scores and ultimately prevent me from going to medical schools altogether. As a result, I'd be so green with envy and turn into a giant cucumber when all of my friends touch their first cadavers and contemplate the meaning of life and death. To prevent this from happening, I have come up with several ways to learn how to love those passages:

July 20, 2011

Coloratura

It's Coloratura
Coloratura: A soprano or tenor voice of great range, agility and delicacy. Famous coloratura roles include The Magic Flute's Queen of the Night, many bel canto heroes and heroines and various opera lyrique female role (notably by Gounod and Thomas.) This is verbatim from the fourth edition of Rough Guide to Opera. One of my classes at Goucher required the book, which is currently listed at Amazon.com up to nearly a thousand bucks!

I don't include the notoriously difficult Queen's aria though, yet I throw in Figaro  from Rossini's Il Barbiere di Sivigliato, just because it's awesome!

July 18, 2011

Orgasmic Pintxos

It's Pintxo Heaven.
Around this time last year I was strutting my stuffs on the Basque streets like a typical clueless tourist/student. The reason why I decided to go to San Sebastian was because of the food! And boy was I so grateful I made such a decision, it changed my life and touched my soul dramatically one dish at a time. The whole time I stayed there was just surreal. I remembered checking the clock all the time till I could run out of my class to go on my gourmet adventure. I even dated a waiter, that tells you how often I went to the pintxo bars.

The Basques love to eat, and good food and wine are their ways of life. The cuisine is emphasized on the quality of the ingredients; the harmony of taste, smell, and visual presentation; and above all, the passion and talent of the chefs. I often shiver with an almost orgasmic delight when a little bits of good food land on my lucky tongue, which happened almost all of the time when I was in Donostia. My Spanish was rusty no more when I came into a pintxo bar or restaurant to order what I want. They are pretty generous with wine, so I was always slightly intoxicated getting back to my rented apartment. Sometimes I stopped by the supermarket to stock up on the regional ham, cheese and black beer for a small snack before heading out to eat again.

Foie with Apple Sauce and Crushed Nuts
I ate a lot of foie gras, almost daily. I didn't turn into a fat cow, thanks mostly to the undying love of the kitchen lord. Even though Donostia has an efficient public transport system, I often walked my legs off since the city is very walkable. I remember resting on a bench at the Miramar Palace on the way back to Gros from my school near the Igara Tennis Club when I met my first Spanish lover of the summer.

But anyway, let's stick to foie gras, which I got the first bite when I was 16 during my first birthday celebration in the States, it got me hooked ever since. For about €3.00 to 5.00 a pintxo, or more for a racion, I got myself a good deal to nibble on daily. If you ask, I recommend you go to Iraeta's in Gros and ask for their Foie Gras in Caramelized Vodka, it's their signature dish. It was a fine balance of sweet and savory, and the moment the foie landed on my tongue, I swear to you, I almost creamed my pants. The foie with the pistachios you have seen above was taken from another bar somewhere in Parte Vieja that I couldn't remember the name though. 

Each bar has its own system of pricing. One of my favorite bars in Gros called Bar Bergara only charges €1.00 for any food item yet a lot more for a glass of wine. As seen below, the partially shown glass of white wine I got actually went very well with the crispy soft shelled crab and the croqueta de txipirones - fried squids on the bread. There was an either drunk or overtly excited old man to keep me company too. I learned Spanish through the people on the street even more so than that in class!

Crispy Soft-Shelled Crab and Fried Squids with Onions - Damn it I love Squids.


July 9, 2011

Baroque Arias Mix

Oh so Somber
I made this mix ages ago. I enjoy the very well-structured measure of Baroque music, yet sometimes I dread the numerous recitative in the company of the oh so somber basso continuo characteristic of operas at the time. Personally, I prefer listening to some Bach or Vivaldi when I study as I focus more, and my emotions don't stray too far from the desk as in the case of music in the Romantic period.

In this mix, you will get to hear two of my favorite artists - Cecilia Bartoli and Phillipe Jaroussky. I've heard people criticize the former for not having a strong voice and the latter for being too commercial. Frankly, my dear, I don't give a dime.

You can also check out my other jams here at 8track

July 8, 2011

18 Rules of The Dalai Lama

Dalai Lama
I was by myself at the local Barnes & Nobel when I decided to make the Dalai Lama my date. He said inspirational things to me, lifted my spirit up during a very dramatically turbulent time of my life. I dated a jerk and got dumped, my mom turned psychotic, and my grades took a turn to the dumpster. These events affected my snobbery negatively. With much gratitude to my crazy friend Cora, the relatively cultured things I got to do were seeing a highlighted performance of Die Zauberflöte and dining out fancily at my favorite restaurant Demi. Anyway, I was still so distraught over the whole thing that I didn't really enjoy the experience. To be more accurate, my mind wasn't there, it was imprisoned somewhere in this dingy cell of melancholy. The Dalai's words put me in a meditative mood and brought me peace.

There are people who have real reasons to suffer, who are really ill, for example, on the breadline, disaster victims, or abused. And yet, here again, they often have the power to remedy this. Practically speaking, they can and should take care of themselves, speak out against their abusers and take them to court demanding damages or again they can work extremely hard if they do not have enough food or clothes. And mentally, they can adopt a positive attitude."

Acording to Buddhism, reflecting on the reality of suffering never induces either pessimism or despair. It leads to the discovery of the root causes of our plight: desire, hatred, and ignorance, and to a way of freeing ourselves from them. By ignorance, we mean not understand the true nature of people and things. It gives rise to the other two poisons. When ignorance dissolves, desire and hatred have no foundation and the source of our suffering has dried up. As a result, we experience a happiness that is spontaneously altruistic and that is no longer at the mercy of negative emotions."

So yeah, while Bill Gates in this post proposes rules that bring awareness to a person's reality, the Dalai Lama's rules reach spiritually inward to the core of our beings and simultaneously connect us to others. I also find the concept of mindfulness much advocated by Thich Nhat Hand shares the same principles with what the Dalai Lama has to say.
  1. Take into account that great love and great achievements involve great risk.
  2. When you lose, don’t lose the lesson.
  3. Follow the three Rs:
    • Respect for self
    • Respect for others
    • Responsibility for all your actions.
  4. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck.
  5. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
  6. Don’t let a little dispute injure a great friendship.
  7. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.
  8. Spend some time alone every day.
  9. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values.
  10. Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.
  11. Live a good, honourable life. Then when you get older and think back, you’ll be able to enjoy it a second time.
  12. A loving atmosphere in your home is the foundation for your life.
  13. In disagreements with loved ones, deal only with the current situation. Don’t bring up the past.
  14. Share your knowledge. It’s a way to achieve immortality.
  15. Be gentle with the earth.
  16. Once a year, go someplace you’ve never been before.
  17. Remember that the best relationship is one in which your love for each other exceeds your need for each other.
  18. Judge your success by what you had to give up in order to get it.
So, light up a candle, close your eyes, take a deep breath, be aware of the surrounding and contemplate the words. I did, felt much better, and get my feet back on the track.

    July 4, 2011

    Verdi's Chorus

    La Traviata
    Well, growing up in Vietnam means that I got to listen to Red Propaganda music all the time. When I was in elementary school, my first operatic experience came from a remix of The Flowers Duet randomly played in the background of a radio ads. I remember thinking that it was the most heavenly sound any human could make. When I moved here, I didn't care much for opera until this one fateful night during my Sophomore year at Goucher. I was miserable writing this lab report on fruit flies while I clicked on an internet radio that happened to play opera. I found myself dropping everything to listen to the first two acts of Verdi's Il Trovatore. On that night, I found myself a life long companion.

    I often find the opera plot confusing, and it was quite hard for me at first to see why someone has the strength to sing on for another twenty minutes before dying of consumption. A possible argument is that the chronological perception of everyday life shouldn't be clumsily applied to operas. The never ending arias that seem to delay actions are actually elaboration of several highly dramatic moments that generate the whole plot. Moreover, I know someone dies right away without uttering a note when death comes for her, ask Carmen for more information.

    Yes, it's the Anvil Chorus of Il Trovatore! They are obviously drunk and boasting about their bosomy women. I like this clip since it also includes the haunting Azucena's Burn Baby Burn aria. The old gypsy in her mad rage threw in the fire her own child instead of her enemy's. This is supposed to be a secret, but being old and bitter, she bursts it out anyway. Of course, her "son" is there listening to the whole thing. As he confronts her about this, she goes "Nothing, child" on him while probably thinking "Crap!" inside.



    This clip below comes from Verdi's Nabucco. The Jews are lamenting their exile from Babylon. I have a feeling that personal tragedy is a powerful source of inspiration. Verdi lost his whole family around the time he composed the opera. When Verdi died of a stroke in his late 80s, thousands of people mourned him with this famous chorus. As you can see, it receives such popularity that there is an encore!



    I think that the Sassy Gay Friend will have a day trip talking to the title character of Verdi's Aida. The slave princess hides in the tomb in which her lover is to be buried alive, but I will save this talk for the future. For now, I'd like to present the glorious Triumphal March celebrating the Egyptian victory over the Ethiopian.



    Do you know why I choose these to show you? I sang once. Consider that my singing voice sounds like a voodoo princess in heat, I faked my way to nearly the operatic top by singing once in the Naval Academy's chorus through the yearly collaboration of Goucher College. Or shall I say, pretending to sing and mostly fawning over guys with toned abs showing majestically through their impeccably white attires?

    July 3, 2011

    Pas de Deux

    Giselle - Pas De Deux
    Normally I wouldn't have time to watch TV because of the college workload or otherwise crying over failed romances. These days, I find myself watching the Food Network at 3AM in the morning, dreaming about being the next Food Network Star with my own gastronomic traveling show à la Anthony Bourdain. To switch the focus abruptly from food to arts, I also watch this obscure channel called the Classic Arts Showcase that is only broadcast after 10PM every night. They present various clips of classic movies, operas, ballets, dances, and other artsy stuffs. They are great for my late night mood, which is sadly incomplete without a glass of wine and someone equally pretentious to cuddle with and exchange comments.

    Anyway, this channel seems to plant in my mind an ever-growing sapling of appreciation for dances. Yes, another not-so-available art form to my newly graduated, unemployed self. On the channel, I haven't actually seen the Legend of Love clip shown immediately below, yet it is irrefutable that the ballet clips I have seen there inspire me to look for similar ones online.



    The channel also introduced me to the Cuban prima ballerina assoluta and choreographer Alicia Alonso. Her passion and persistence are legendary, consider that she is partially blind. Her talent and beauty perpetuates over decades as seen through her remarkable performance of Giselle in her 60s. I intend to show her Black Swan Pas de Deux with Azari Plisetsky. Well, of course, the clip is not embeddable by request. So just follow this link, if not, you are missing out. These clips originate from the Vaimusic people and they are actually my favorites by the way. If you don't feel like leaving my page, then check out her Gisele below:



    The upcoming clip possesses extraordinary beauty. I hold my breaths every time Ekateria Maksimova flies high up in the air, light as a feather. Another version performed on stage lacks the fleeting fragility that I find enchanting in the clip. Therefore, grasp the person closest to you like now, confess your love to each other then watch the clip together!



    Magical, Isn't it? And yeah, it's hard to be a snob when you are poor. Did I tell you I was so cheap today, I didn't want to give my sister $4.00 for a pizza we ordered? I'm not entirely sure if I have seen better day, but I'm certain that better days are ahead. They are there for me to see. Or I'm just gonna put my scantily clad pic on Craigslist looking for a silver sugar-daddy. But then I'm gonna be a slutty boy-toy, not a snob wannabe anymore, so no. And who would want to be a snob anyway? So leave me and Britney alone, wait did I mention that Chris Crocker is dropping his panties to do porn? Ugh, I have no idea why I go from food to this. Anyway, forget about my digressive rant, focus on beauty. I'm so considerate, putting all this crap at the end. Remember, this is just another verbal dingbat, after all.

    June 30, 2011

    Tango

    You know what is really hot? That's right, it's the tango. You know what is even hotter? Let me tell you, it's when two men dancing the tango together. In Argentina, it's called Queer Tango. The videos I am about to show you do not focus on the romantic same-sex relationship between the dancers; more likely, I intend to applaud the freedom from the hetero-normative codes in ballroom dances.

    Men Tango
    My dancer friends at Goucher are probably more knowledgeable than me about the aestheticism of ball room dances. I like ballet, ballroom dancing and dance composition and all, but the whole mechanistic minimalist modern dance sometimes performed at Goucher just didn't claim its place in my heart. I don't want to have a fixed prejudice against any art form. If I did, I would be in perpetual lamentation whenever an aria is sung and I wouldn't be risking my life taking the ghetto bus to go see old opera shown on a screen at the local movie theater. Anyway, There is a ball room dance class at Goucher, which is always in dire need of dancing guys. I decided to take the Jujitsu class instead, and I regretted my decision till this day.

    Excuse my digression, the men in the clip below don't execute the common tango moves I see in the ballroom, yet I love the music very much. It's La Cumparsita, authentically tango, interpreted through modern dance - the good kind.



    As you can see, the more the merrier. I like the staging here, you can play around with the Yin-Yang ideas, good vs. evil and the whole cornucopia.



    And finally, when you decide to bring the dance out of the stage onto the street, and it's New York city. They are brothers, by the way. What a sumptuous visual experience.



    Totally hot, I know.

    11 Rules of Bill Gates

    Can the Rules of Living be found
    in these books?
    I was doing some MCAT passages when I ran into Bill Gates' thought-provoking rules. Apparently, he "talked about how feel-good politically correct teachings have created a generation of kids who have no concept of reality and how this lack of a concept sets them up for failure in the real world." I see truth in his ways of thinking, so consider this a reality-check. Sugar-coating reality is quite lethal, don't you think?
    • Rule 1: Life is not fair - get used to it.
    • Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something before you feel good about yourself.
    • Rule 3: You will not make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone, until you earn both.
    • Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure.
    • Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping; they called it opportunity.
    • Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parent's fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.
    • Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes, and listening to you talk about how cool you are. So before you save the rain forest from the parasite of your parents' generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
    • Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades, and they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to anything in real life.
    • Rule 9: Life is not divided into semester. You don't get summers off, and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. You have to do that on your own time.
    • Rule 10: Television is not real life. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
    • Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one. 
    I realize myself doing or not doing certain aspects proposed by these rules, which are quite practical and applicable to me as a young adult freshly out of college. I don't think these rules only work for a certain population at a certain age but should be considered universally to everyone. At the moment, I still can't believe that I graduated. Indeed, I still call these months my summer breaks, which makes me startled every times someone asks me about my plan post-grad. "Uhm... after the summer break, I'm taking the MCAT this September... uhm... probably find a job somewhere before applying to the med school." I'm still scared though. I want to get on my own feet taking care of my future before I can take care of anyone/anything else that needs me. Sitting at home studying might sound stagnant but dear World I am getting out there. *sigh*

    June 13, 2011

    Chopin Piano Concerto No.2 in F Minor Op.21

    Frédéric François Chopin
    I love the second movement, which makes me feel so peacefully pensive. I was thinking about Evgeny Kissin's rendition, but I decide to post Aimi Kobayashi's instead. She has a very distinct vivacity that is quite exhilarating to enjoy. I find her expressive nature genuine, not hysterically histrionic like Lang Lang. Ugh, maybe he deserves a second chance, who knows?

    My MCAT prep is quite physically draining. I found this studying schedule some guy posted on the Student doctor forum, and am trying to catch up with it. Basically, it tries to squeeze my entire career of science undergrad in three months. What a bitch. Consider that the test is allegedly the only thing that stops me from obtaining the entrance ticket, I shouldn't be complaining.

    My sister saw a ghost in the hallway this weekend. She diverted her fear to merry-making quite skillfully by poking fun at me since I am forever haunted by that movie The Hills Have Eyes (the remade one, I haven't seen the original, and I don't ever want to.) The story is that we got lost once in Nevada on the way back from Las Vegas to Orange County. I refused to leave the car as the household went into this sketchy gas station in the middle of the nowhere-but-the-desert to ask for direction. I was literally screaming and hissing and begging them to leave that god-forsaken hell-hole even though the car was running out of gas, the air conditioning system stopped working, and my infant nephew passed out from the heat.

    Anyway, to calm me down, here is the beautiful Second Concerto. Enjoy.

    [Update 05/03/12] The clips were removed. Please savor Mr. Kissin's rendtion!

    June 7, 2011

    Chopin Piano Concerto No.1 in E Minor Op.11

    Frédéric François Chopin
    Garrick Ohlsson and Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Antoni Wit, from Chopin's 200th Birthday Celebration Concert at the Polish National Opera, Warsaw, on the First of March, 2010. This is such a stupendous performance. I'm not savvy enough to interpret the playing and analyze the nuts and bolts, but I really enjoy the experience. I've never heard of Mr. Ohlsson before this, but he is getting on my list of favorite pianists. I find Lang Lang very irritable to watch, so excuse me if you think he's entertaining.

    I have this strange sensation whenever I listen to music in this period. I feel like there is a cluster of  hidden sentiments churning down from my stomach, incubating into this undulating mixture of very conflicting emotions rising up to my throat - and I realize that I am holding my breath listening to the music, fixing my eyes at the musicians without a blink. I wish Chopin could have written more concertos like this. He was such a bad ass: this piece was among the only orchestral pieces he ever wrote, of course to honor the beauty of the piano. There are also chamber versions existing somewhere, I've heard!

    In a piano concerto, which one do you think is more important: the piano or the orchestra? Which one enlivens the other or they are there equivalently to make sweet love to each other and spill the orgasmic juice in your ears? Ah! I must be thinking about that movie already, you know what I'm talking about, yes, Jane Campion's very poetic The Piano.

    Okay alright, enough rambling, enjoy the magic, y'all.

    [Update 05/03/12] Well, obviously, since the "YouTube account associated with this video has been terminated due to multiple third-party notifications of copyright infringement..." blah blah blah, I have to post another performance instead. This is Daniil Trifonov with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.

    June 3, 2011

    Three Colors Trilogy: Blue

    Juliet Binoche
    It's the time to talk about Kieslowski's Blue. The first installment of the trilogy aims to celebrate the concept of freedom through the life of Julie Vignon, beautifully portrayed by Juliet Binoche. It is a journey of self-redemption and forgiveness following the death of both her husband and daughter. The color blue serves as a medium for contemplation, of memory and of getting in touch with the nature and magnitude of suffering. The soundtrack, composed by Zbigniew Priesner, also plays an important role in the movie as a spiritual and emotional guideline.

    Complete detachment from the past is the way Julie chooses to liberate herself from pain and suffering. She adopts an indifferent facade as if she merely carries her corpse around since her soul has died the day she loses her family. She withdraws herself from the world and completely shuts off everything that reminds her of the tragedy. She even throws away the music script for the concert her husband supposedly was working on. It is not the music but her own guilt that darts out and petrifies her:


    She also tries to disconnect herself from human interactions. She seems to obtain certain degrees of relief from such practice yet her suffering is still there. It is an ignored wound that she neglects to take care of. Her failed effort to numb her feeling manifests itself in many ways. Her false sense of redemption is best described below:


    As Julie relishes her brief freedom from suffering, an old woman struggles to get by her life. It is acceptable to spend some time to nurture yourself after a crisis, but remember that the world is still revolving around you. There are many other struggles, there are miseries greater than the one you experience. Reposition yourself in life in order to live again. My friend Batya introduces me to a great saying of Hillel the Elder:

    If I am not for myself, who will be for me? If I am only for myself, what am I?

    Julie certainly has the answers to these questions. She wouldn't want to live in a perpetual state of numbness, of spiritual death symbolically equivalent to her mother's Alzheimer disease. When she reaches out to others who are also affected by the death of her husband and daughter, not only does she redeem herself but also touch their lives profoundly. She finally comes to term with her loss, accepts the reality, and lives again through her act of forgiveness to her husband's mistress and ultimately herself. Isn't it a coincidental irony that the song she finally completes is for the Unification of Europe? It is true that no man is an island. I believe that there are bridges connecting each man's island. For Julie, two of the most important bridges of her life have collapsed but isolating herself from the rest of mankind is not the solution.

    It is also important to emphasize that the act of reaching out to others must occur at the same time of taking care for one's self. Whatever change must come from within first. We see Julie's effort to come to term with her loss is highlighted every time she swims. The blue water represents her emotional flow. The swimming pool is Julie's meditative haven. Every time she arises from the water, she reaches certain realization critical to her recovery process. In the following scene, notice two important elements. First, the recurring music keeps on haunting her. Secondly, she recoils into a fetal pose as if begging for a new beginning:


    There's a bit of a religious undertone in the movie. There is similarity between Julie's rising up from the swimming pool and baptism. Even more prevalent, which religious figure do you think of from these elements: the blue color and the sorrowful mother figure? But I don't want to get there. I will save it when I talk about the Mr. K's Decalogue. Anyway, the old woman disposing the empty bottle is seen throughout the trilogy and also in The Double Life of Veronique. Mr. K's film is so packed with symbolism that you can make a meaning out of almost every details of his films. For Blue, I particularly enjoy the aspect of rebirth and forgiveness. I find so much hope and peace at the film concludes. In the last glorious scene, a tearful Julie is shown looking outside her window. Those are not her tears of anguish but of peaceful acceptance as she moves on with her life.


    Life is more meaningful in suffering, only if you survive and live on, of course.

    Doctor Comic


    I ran into this comic today, from the Three Word Phrase by Ryan Pequin. It's hilarious and yes it is so wrong on so many levels but I love it.

    Ideally I would be going to medical school this coming fall, but since my spirit has been *insert puppy-eyed excuses here* so yeah... it won't be happening right away. But I will do it, y'all. 

    I have got all the material I need to study for the MCAT. I want to make it my little bitch and tap its ass. I got a bootleg version of the famed Berkeley review, the much-acclaimed ExamKrackers, and access codes for practice tests. Starting next week y'all, I will start studying again, or shall I say, make it my little bitch and tame it till the day I ride it majestically straight to med school. Focus Focus and Focus, of course. With no "bad poop in my butt," I can do it.

    June 2, 2011

    Bacon

    I shiver with pleasure the moment I sink my teeth in you. Yes you, bacon you.

    Coming straight out of the oven. That pepper is spicy and that grease is sweet, y'all.




    So yeah, I blame my love for bacon on the sketchy brunches I had every weekend at Goucher college. I approached bacon with hesitation and wondering since there is no bacon back at the 'Nam where I came from. What started as a school-girl amazement now turns into some sorts of (un)healthy obsession. Well, I know it's bad for you, blah blah blah, but when you lather a cup of brown sugar and two table spoons of mesquite seasoning on it, put it in a 350 degree oven for half an hour, and listen to the bubbly noise of the caramelized sugar making sweet love to its crispiness, you know you can't resist.

    My friend Rob and I used to have this ongoing joke about the love for bacon. One of my favorite has to come from The Oatmeal's 6 Reasons Why Bacon is Better Than True Love. Anyway I made a batch of the baked bacon mentioned above to feed my mom for lunch yesterday. I freaked out so much thinking about how much weight she would put on devouring so much bacon all at once like that. I felt obliged to make her green tea to calm her down after such bacon euphoria. I remember sending my friend Rob bacon chocolate bar with a side of green tea chocolate bar to neutralize the effect. Wow, I am so considerate. Oh, I dated a vegan kid several months ago. He fucked the last half a year of my life, so what works most effectively for vengeance? That's right, y'all. It's the bacon. I wish I could de-veganize (is this even a word?) him by stripping him off naked, forcing him to wear a bacon bra, and beating him up with a bacon whip. 

    I got this awesome bacon bra from this guy's Flicker.

    June 1, 2011

    The Double Life of Veronique

    Technical details of this Kieslowski movie can be found at the IMDB website. Every frame is a picturesque feast to the eyes with an ethereal score composed by Preisner. This is one of those movies that stay in your mind long after that speechless awe you experience the first time you watch it. I watched it twice and each time I gain some refreshing perspective not only about the movie itself but also about life. What would you do if you are to have a second chance in your life?

    How about a bit of that glorious opening sequence to get you in the mood?


    I particularly love the green color filter used throughout the film. You can crack out many meanings associated with such a color choice, of which Kieslowski was the master. Check out his The Three Colors: Trilogy, also my favorite, and I'm thinking about writing about them sometimes in the future. At the mean time, I'm watching his Decalogue and it is a religious experience for me.

    Well, enough rambling about Mr. K's other gems, now I can go on and on about how much I love Irene Jacob, ever since I first saw her in Red. The camera simply loves her and she did quite a good job portraying the Polish Weronika and the French Veronique, two similar yet profoundly different human experiences that one can live. Having heart problem, Weronika drops dead pursuing her dream while Veronique sacrifices her career to preserve her life. Weronika lives more fiercely while Veronique appears more reserved and contemplative. Having an allegedly better Veronique-self, the Weronika confirms to her father that she is not alone in this world. Mysteriously affected by Weronika's death, Veronique suddenly cries during her love-making as dirt is thrown upon Weronika's coffin.

    When I was younger, I had this irrational fear upon knowing about the "antimatter." Supposedly, the antimatter is to nullify the existence of matter. To elaborate, if you happen to see yourself walking from the opposite direction toward you, it is certain that you are to vanish from the Earth. I smile uncomfortably as Weronika sees her Veronique self on the bus during the demonstration. Which one survives, we all know by now. The difference is that there is no complete disappearance, the better entity persists. The encounter can be seen below:


    While Weronika collapses on stage and dies, Veronique quits her singing career to work as a modest music instructor and takes care of her health. In real life, you don't get to have a second chance to start all over again very often. You don't simply drop dead in order to live again, restarting a new self full of knowledge and appreciation of your life. All you get is this one chance, so the least you could do is to be conscious of your choice and take responsibility for all the decisions you make. If you could do so, you would feel a sense of powerful self-control that hopefully gives you enough strength to resurrect on your own if you happen to die in any aspect of your life. Talking about control, the movie proposes quite depressing and hopeless a viewpoint on the extent that one can control his life. The following scene proposes the most important philosophy behind every gorgeous frame of the movie:


    That's right, y'all. There is no free will. You can do what you want, thinking you have the control over what you do and such but hell no, you are all but mindless marionettes controlled by invisible strings of an ever-powerful yet secretive puppeteer knowing all of your actions, thoughts, and consequences. Indeed, Weronika is orchestrated by the old conductor during her hauntingly fatal performance. Veronique runs around looking for her lover - the puppeteer/writer who plots her every single move. She never realizes how much she is being controlled till the moment her lover carves out her two wooden marionettes and tells her about the storyline of his book:
    "...November 23, 1966 was the most important day of their lives. That day, at three in the morning, they were both born in two different cities, on two different continents. They both had dark hair and brownish-green eyes. When they were both two years old and already knew how to walk, one of them burned her hand on a stove. A few days later,the other one reached out to touch the stove but pulled away just in time. And yet, she could not have known that she was about to burn herself..."
    I will leave Veronique's reaction upon such realization for you to find out. I've spoiled quite a good deal of the movie to you, my apology. Now what you have to do is to experience the magic for your self. Your watching or not has already been decided already. Whatever you do has already been planned out. However, you can still retrieve a meaning to your own existence and living in this world: just by knowing how uncontrolled you are have already given you so much power already. It doesn't mean that you will let things slide under the table and hide under your blanket withdrawing from everything; your action is also what the puppeteer wants. The consequence of your action, the outcome of whatever plan is in your hand despite the plan itself being established by the puppeteer. Give it a try, don't be afraid. 

    Even if you have to drop dead like Veronika, your responsible choice will give you strength and knowledge to resurrect. Don't you feel like you've become a better, stronger, and wiser person every time you recover from certain life's downfall? If you do, count me in.

    There are certain aspects of the movie that reminds me of Jostein Gaarder's Sophie's World. Take a look!

    The next time you drop dead, remember, it's not the end. Just like this:

    May 31, 2011

    The British Canapes

    They served these pretty little things during the royal wedding. I took these pretty photos from CNN's Eatocracy

    1. Scottish Salmon Rose on Beetroot Bellini


    2.Miniature Watercress and Asparagus Tart


    3. Miniature Yorkshire Pudding with Roast Fillet of Beef and Horseradish Mousse


    Dubstep your mom

    This is a very nasty dubstep mix I put together from some of my favorites. For some reasons, it only works with Firefox.



    First Post

    Awkward First Post.

    Don't really know what to say. Basically I have another blog, but the content is too juicy for the public to read so I have to rely on this one for my act. It will take a while till I finally customize the blog to my own liking, but this is a start.

    Graduated with a degree in biochemistry. What to do next? Blog, of course!

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