It'll be so nice, just to not sleep. Or, to sleep forever.

How do you help someone on the path of self destruction?

I suppose this was the first time I had ever felt an urge not to be. Never an urge to die, far less an urge to put an end to myself - simply an urge not to be. This disgusting, hostile and unlovely world was not made for me, nor I for it. It was alien to me and I to it.
~Stephen Fry, Moab is My Washpot

Done first semester of university!!!!! =D
Time to pack and go home.

I am finding myself increasingly unable to tolerate what some people say when having a conversation.

There's something about these conversations... They drag one into this raging mood, depressing... Then it causes one to act in a manner which is unfit for society (or at least, unfit for one's values/beliefs about what society should be - cognitive dissonance)... Then it leaves one feeling like shit for a long time.

I don't want to change for the worse.

filament magazine

... It's been a long time since my last post.. =/
Though, once exams are done this thing should be up and running more frequently.

Meanwhile:

filament magazine, the thinking woman's crumpet

"The women's magazine inspired by the rocket science that women have brains and eyes."

"Filament does

- articles you actually want to read

- men photographed for women

- high-quality writing and design

Filament doesn't do

- fashion

- diets

- gossip"

Personally, I have a little problem with what they portray this magazine to be; what the style/image of the magazine is. But, I do have exams to study for -__-, and really should stop procrastinating. Also, I think the magazine is extremely aesthetically pleasing and enjoyable, so I'm not going to be too picky about it.

Till next time...

*Speaking of magazines, I submitted some art samples to Shroud Magazine about 5 months ago, and they still have not gotten back to me yet...

*EDIT*
Okay, I take back what I said. Upon further investigation (aka, actually reading the content of the articles), this is like a porn magazine disguised as a classy/sophisticated mag for intelletual people.
This is very disappointing -________-.
Oh well, some of the pictures are still enjoyable.

Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes

'Twas on a lofty vase's side,
Where China's gayest art had dy'd
The azure flow'rs that blow;
Demurest of the tabby kind,
The pensive Selima, reclin'd,
Gazed on the lake below.

Her conscious tail her joy declar'd;
The fair round face, the snowy beard,
The velvet of her paws,
Her coat, that with the tortoise vies,
Her ears of jet, and emerald eyes,
She saw: and purr'd applause.

Still had she gaz'd; but 'midst the tide
Two angel forms were seen to glide,
The Genii of the stream;
Their scaly armour's Tyrian hue
Thro' richest purple to the view
Betray'd a golden gleam.

The hapless Nymph with wonder saw:
A whisker first and then a claw,
With many an ardent wish,
She stretch'd in vain to reach the prize.
What female heart can gold despise?
What cat's averse to fish?

Presumptuous Maid! with looks intent
Again she stretch'd, again she bent,
Nor knew the gulf between.
(Malignant Fate sat by, and smil'd)
The slipp'ry verge her feet beguil'd,
She tumbled headlong in.

Eight times emerging from the flood
She mew'd to ev'ry wat'ry god,
Some speedy aid to send.
No Dolphin came, no Nereid stirr'd;
Nor cruel Tom, nor Susan heard.
A Fav'rite has no friend!

From hence, ye Beauties, undeceiv'd,
Know, one false step is ne'er retriev'd,
And be with caution bold.
Not all that tempts your wand'ring eyes
And heedless hearts is lawful prize,
Nor all, that glisters, gold.

~Thomas Gray

This Hollow World

Johnny Hollow


Finally! After several years of creating this dark art, Johnny Hollow came out with their first music video! =D

Nam Sibyllam quidem Cumis ego ipse oculis meis vidi in ampulla pendere, et cum illi pueri dicerent: Σίβυλλα τί θέλεις; respondebat illa: ἀποθανεῖν θέλω

Sketchy Ice Creams

By Bird Box Studio


"A sketchy look at family life: Daddy's on childcare duty while mummy gets the ice creams."

I think it's one of those exaggerated dark humour "reality" things. Very simple, yet entertaining and effective.
Also, doesn't the rhythm and texture of the sketch remind you of the Compagnie Marie Chouinard dance piece?

* * *

BD: Wenzel Muller, T.S. Eliot, George Gershwin
DD: John Byron, Bela Bartok
European Day of Languages

"bODY_rEMIX/gOLDBERG_vARIATIONS" 2005

*NWS*

Performed by: Compagnie Marie Chouinard from Montreal.
Choreography: Marie Chouinard
Music: Louis Dufort, J.S.Bach: Die Goldberg Variationen.


It's simply, brilliant.

:|

I feel that everything at this point, is just one giant exercise in decision making.

It's a little late, but,

*drools*

Christian Dior, A/W 2007.

I loved that season, so many designers creating such... lovely 'dark' things.

In This Shirt

By The Irrepressibles

PAG - THE LADY IS DEAD
*NWS*

Director: Roy Raz

...I am lost in a rainbow

Now a rainbow is gone

Overcast by your shadow

As our worlds move on...

*Work safe version: Promotional clip from the film, 'The Forgotten Circus'*




***

BD: Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon I)
DD: Joseph Joachim, Lei Feng 雷锋,
Woodstock begins; 1969
"Assumption of Mary"

Serenade

the 1000 piece puzzle, from Ravensburger Puzzle.

I found this set on July 29th, from a thrift store. Luckily, it looked relatively new, and thus, hopefully, not missing any pieces.
I have always loved jigsaw puzzles, and is relatively fast at doing them. Thus, here's a little photo diary, of my journey with this puzzle. =)
*warning, this post is image heavy, so dialups beware*

July 29th, day I:

Let the sorting begin!

Done sorting out all of the edges.

Now, to piece together the border. At this point, I was very afraid that I wasn't going to have enough pieces, it looked sketchy.

Lining them up = great help.

Done border! Nothing was missing, a very good sign.

This particular puzzle, had it's own 'border' on the drawing, so the second layer was fished out and pieced together.

And finally, flipping all of the pieces right side up.

And a slightly more detailed look at the board.

July 30th, day II:

The maiden is starting to take form.

And some more...

The other board looks like this now, a lot less pieces.

August 3rd, day III:

After a few hectic days of not touching the puzzle, returned to it, filling out the maiden some more. Then it got pretty hard, so I went and focused on the sky instead.

August 4th, day IV:

Transfered the sky onto the main board.

More filled out.

Almost there!

And... it's done =)

Though, missing a piece <.<. I think it might be in one of my rooms, from when I moved it around from room to room. But... at least it wasn't missing a lot of pieces.

And thus, completes the 1000 pieced puzzle, in 4 days. It was a lot of fun, though frustrating at times. And now, I'm debating on whether or not to buy another one.....

* * *

BD: Tom Thomson, Neil Armstrong

DD: Friedrich Engels, Carmen Miranda, Marilyn Monroe

International Beer Day

Melting Men

by Nele Azevedo

One Brazilian artist, thousands of icy men, countless people touched.

What started off as a 'critical reading of monument in contemporary cities'
turned into
activists' message on climate change.

This is what great contemporary art does, it makes you think, and often, there may be so many interpretations to it, from this very simple (almost.. pointalistic/minimalistic [musically speaking]) concept. I mean, I even have my own interpretation of it, that's completely different from her's and the climate change people's. The beauty of it is that it's so elegant, people can have their own interpretations of it, based on their believes, interests, passions.

Just brilliant.

In Times of Great Stress.....

The solution? Stress balls!

"Stress-busting balls have been in use right from ancient civilization days for a wide range of medical uses. Apart from relieving stress, they were used to improve coordination, treat arthritis and rheumatism, improve the circulation of blood, and help you in focusing the mind during meditation. They also help in the treatment of carpal-tunnel syndrome."

Years, even as recently as months ago, I did not see the point of stress balls. Honestly, they seemed to hurt the hand more by squeezing it, rather than helping to relieve stress. Though, they do make great toys to chuck at people and what not.

So back in April/May, during IB exam time, and friend of mine and I, started carrying around our stress balls.

Her's was the world:

And mine, of a brain:

All throughout the exam period, I carried mine around, more as a humourous show piece, and a toy, than anything (if you think about it, the shape of our stress balls are quite ironic/funny/fitting). And occationally using them (and again, hand hurts from squeezing too much).

Then last week, something interesting happened. I was in class, the morning of my bio exam, trying to do some last minute cramming. While I was doing that, I noticed that I really wanted something to squeeze in my right hand. Alas, I did not bring my brain with me that day, but luckily my cell phone charm, is this rather large (for a cell) plushie, that is spherical/cube shaped.

(Which looks very much like this guy, sans the hole, and the cherries 2D on the side of this head)

So... is this stress ball using really usefull, or just a habit? Either way, it does provide some comfort at stressful times; especially with those of us who likes to fiddle with something when nervous (honestly, my scripts = dead by the end of a presentation). Either way, they come in very amusing shapes, and very fun to look at, at least.

* * *

BD: Louis Armstrong, Barack Obama

Einstein's Dreams

There is a place where time stands still. Raindrops hang motionless in air. Pendulums of clocks float mid-swing... As a traveler approaches this place from any direction, he moves more and more slowly...

Einstein's Dreams
by Alan Lightman

"The novel fictionalizes Albert Einstein as a young scientist who is troubled by dreams as he works on his theory of relativity in 1905. The book consists of 30 chapters, each exploring one dream about time that Einstein had during this period. The framework of the book consists of a prelude, three interludes, and an epilogue. Einstein's friend, Michele Besso, appears in these sections. Each dream involves a conception of time. Some scenarios may involve exaggerations of true phenomena related to relativity, and some may be entirely fantastical. The book demonstrates the relationship each human being has to time, and thus spiritually affirms Einstein's theory of relativity."

Personally, I absolutely adored this book. The 30 stories are all very short, about three pages each, and very easy to read. The stories generally start of introducing the type of 'time', and then a few short clips from a few individual's lives to illustrate it. It usually end with a broader statement which would lead to questions, different views about that specific type of time.

The stories described in the book are all simple, clear, and straight forward, such that a grade schooler would be able to read and understand (though, some materials in there is probably not suited for audiences of a younger age). What is magical about them though, is that such simple stories, can bring on so much thought. It really makes you ponder about the concepts of time, humanity, our values, our stories, our lives. It is generally the last paragraph, which sums up the story, and brings on these questions. There is truly a lot to be gained from this book, if one looked deep enough.

Also, I loved Lightman's writing style. He makes everything just so poetic, and often, the style and structure reflects the type of 'time' which the story describes.

Here's a little excerpt:

... Thus, on any day, at any hour of any day, a line of ten thousand stretches radially outward from the center of Rome, a line of pilgrims waiting to bow to the Great Clock. They stand quietly, reading prayer books, holding their children. They stand quietly, but secretly they seethe with their anger. For they must watch measured that which should not be meaasured. They must watch the precise passage of minutes and decades. They have been trapped by their own inventiveness and audacity. And they must pay with their lives.

For more, click on the title of the book, that link contains the first three chapters of the book.

* * *

Food Inc

I watched this documentary about a month ago, very interesting.
Personally, I'm not a very big 'GO GREEN/ORGANIC!' fan. Any activism for me is a little too extreme. I think that they are right in some of what they are saying, and their thoughts' nice. But.... sometimes, their methods, the way they just force their ideology onto yours.... they almost act like what they're fighting against, just the other way around.
But anyway, it's an incredibly informative movie to watch. It has around 10 parts I believe, so it may take a while.



Speaking of chickens (featured throughout the film). We had 'free-ranged' (or w/e you call it) chicken the other day. Personally, I think it does taste better. The texture of the meat, composition of the chicken overall, is quite different.

To go along with this video, is an episode from the radio program Ideas, by CBC radio
http://www.cbc.ca/ideas/episodes/2010/05/17/have-your-meat-and-eat-it-too-part-1-2-listen/
The three segments of ~52min episodes explores the western culture of meat, arguments from both sides, etc. Again, really interesting.
If there's something to be taken out of these episodes:
1. Reduce your meat intake.
2. be very careful when making food choices for your baby/toddler/kid - too much is not good, but vegeterianism isn't the best way either, they still need all those nutrients to grow, people!
3. Eat everything! Do what Asians/natives/probably all cultures but the North Americans do, eat every part of the animal! (On a side note, pig ears = <3)


* * *
BB: Jean Picard, Henri Victor Regnault, Ernest Hemingway

Carnival of Venice

To be honest, I don't know anything about this song; have not studied it in any sense, etc. But, it is one of those tunes that everyone just knows.
Carnival of Venice
On youtube, there are many, many, many different version of it. The one that it is apparently originally made for, is for the solo trumpet.

Solo trumpet - Maurice André
(his version is quite stunning, but, a little hard to recognize due to the virtuostic components. Should start getting familiar at around 1:23)


Flute version - Viviana Guzman


Tuba version! He looks like he's having a LOT of fun play it =)

Summer - Piano to do List

NTS: (properly learn to play these)

All your ARCT songs:
1. Bach english suite
2. Beethoven sonata
3. Brahms ballade
4. Debussy
5. Diabolical Suggestions (maybe)
6. Revolutionary Etude

Also:
1. Etude op10. no3
2. All those Chopin nocturnes you've started
3. Scriabin left handed prelude and nocturne
4. Flight of the bumblebee
5. Requiem for a Dream (touch up on it)
6. Go find one or two other show pieces (i.e. Etude op10, no13)

Visual Orgasms

*NWS*

THE WALTZ from Chad Michael Ward on Vimeo.



Subliminal from Damir Doma on Vimeo.

Il pleure dans mon coeur

Il pleure dans mon coeur
Comme il pleut sur la ville;
Quelle est cette langueur
Qui pénètre mon coeur?

Ô bruit doux de la pluie
Par terre et sur les toits!
Pour un coeur qui s'ennuie,
Ô le chant de la pluie!

Il pleure sans raison
Dans ce coeur qui s'écoeure.
Quoi! nulle trahison?...
Ce deuil est sans raison.

C'est bien la pire peine
De ne savoir pourquoi
Sans amour et sans haine
Mon coeur a tant de peine!

~Paul Verlaine

Claude Debussy (1862-1918): "Il pleure dans mon coeur"


* * *
Bloody Thursday

Of Journals

So, it's the holidays, and I've been bored. So last night/this morning, I found these two blogs/online journals that I kept, from grade 8 to the beginning of grade 10. Most of the entries were from grade 8, and a few scattered across grades 9-10. Reading them, certainly brought back a lot of memories.

One thing that I, looking back at them, realized now, was that I was SUCH an egotistic bitch back then... <.<. Honestly, some of the things I wrote back then, well, for 1 i typed lik this n wut not. -___-. Also, the ego behind some of it, and the certainty about certain topics to which I thought I understood and defended, which I now know to be seriously wrong. It's kind of embarrassing actually, to read through them. And I think, in my own way, yup, I was a bitch. I remember some people making that comment, but I also remember myself not believing them. The ego and attitude behind some entries were just... I'm glad I (really hopefully) grew out of that. Then again... maybe not. But I've certainly 'calmed' down a lot over the years, yay?

One things about those blogs, were that yes, I filled them with quite a few quotes, but they were also a lot personal in nature. I seem to have spent a lot of my time recording down daily happenings, and what not. Which, I think is a good thing, because when I read through them again, it's quite amusing to look back at the events which have occured in those years. That, and I found some pictures which I would have otherwise lost. Also, when reading them, I found many traces of myself in them. (Well, obviously, I wrote them - but a lot of the entries, especially the earlier ones, seems like a whole different person). Some of the traits that I've carried throughout the years, some have been dropped, and some, more refined. But it was really interesting, finding the commonalities / progression between them and throughout the years. But yeah... another 4 years later, I'll be reading this thing, and going like "wtf was I thinking?!" =).

* * *

BD: Walther Nernst, Robert Henri, George Orwell, William Howard Stein
DD: Georg Philipp Telemann, E.T.A Hoffmann, Michael Jackson

He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven

Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths,
Enwrought with golden and silver light,
The blue and the dim and the dark cloths
Of night and light and the half-light,
I would spread the cloths under your feet:
But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread upon my dreams.

~W.B. Yeats

Nights of May

A little something for the summer solstice

Nights of May from Joe Sargent on Vimeo.

Created by, James Stephens, Mark Ranson and Joseph Sargent
Music by Tim Johnson

* * *
BD: J.C.F Bach, Jean-Paul Sartre, Aleksandr Tvardovsky

Go Skateboarding Day
Canada's National Aboriginal Day
World Music Day
World Humanist Day
Summer Solstice 2010

Soliloquy 88

SOLILOQUY 88 from JASON LAST on Vimeo.
Found via Twisted Lamb
"SOLILOQUY 88 is a fashion film collaboration between Jason Last & art director Jaime Rubiano.
Commissioned for Hintmag, the film features Rodarte's spring 2010 collection, with shoes by Nicholas Kirkwood for Rodarte.
Radium, a white radioactive metal with the atomic number 88, turns black when exposed to oxygen. The film explores themes of decay, metamorphosis, transformation, etc, all through the lens of a dystopian and sci-fi vision, with a soundtrack by David Madden."

The fashion world have lately (in the past few years), started to fully embrace technology as a medium of presentation. Fashion films are starting to go viral. Why not? They are attractive, interesting, and a really fast way of 'spreading the word' so to speak. In the past two years or so, with the financial 'crisis', many of the less wealthy designers have used this medium as a way to present their fashion shows. It is much, much cheaper than the traditional runway show. (Only one model is required, and thus probably only one makeup artist, stylist, etc, and the location is probably fall cheaper to rent too). It's probably not as 'grand' as a traditional show, and all that stuff. But, it is the new age.

And I'm liking this =)

* * *
BD: Nicole Kidman
DD: Carl Friedrich Abel
World Refugee Day
Father's Day 2010.

Last night, I dreamt that I died.
It was peaceful.

... Now, I cannot sleep.

It's growing light, and the birds won't shut up...

Too Much Food =)

And I'm too bloated to write anything, so just go read the links:
端午節
http://www.mybeijingchina.com/special/duanwu.htm
http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90782/7025727.html
http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90782/90873/7027424.html
http://beijingexpert.com/06/duanwu-festival/
'nuff said.

* * *
BD: Adam Smith,

*Note, when I started this post it was still June 16th.

We weren't that bad, were we?

The future is doomed.

Last Wednesday, I went back to visit my old middle school (Williams Parkway). So I sat with my grade eight teacher for an entire school day, while she carried on art and math classes with grade 7s and 8s. The material they covered, was pretty much like most public middle schools'. In math, our school's awesome in the sense, that they try to get kids ahead, and while I was there, they were taking up gr 9 applied EQAO packages. For art class, they doodled while listening to music. Honestly, with 45 minute periods, there's absolutely no time, to do 'proper' art projects. With a class of 12-13 year olds, it'll probably take them more than 20 minutes to settle down and set up. by the time they actually start doing something, they'll have to start cleaning up and the class will be over. (They should really put it so there's a double period art...).

What was the most worrisome, was the behaviour of these classes. Quite frankly, they were worse than a class of grade 2s - at least the 8 year olds will listen to their teacher. These kids that I met the other day, a large number of them, were disruptive, loud, and rude (Of course, there are a lot of nice kids in the class, but the number of trouble makers seems to have increased exponentially, from since I attended the school). It takes forever for them to settle down, and actually get to work, etc. And unfortunately, one class, took about 20 minutes to solve this math question involving triangles/complementary, supplementary angles, etc. A question that should have been able to be cleared up, with a calculator, in less than 5 minutes. What does that say about their knowledge/quality of education/abilities? Math aside, they just seemed much more... attention deficit or something. And they seem to severely lack a sense of responsibility. If this were China, most of these kids would never be able to survive that education system. Compared to the Eastern hemisphere... Yeah, my parents calls the public schools here, the equivalent to raising sheep... Seriously, there's no learning going on here, more like teachers babysitting a bunch of tweens. In China, starting from grade school, you would not dare to act the way some of these kids are acting, or else you'll be sent to the corner, or get beaten w/ the meterstick, or something.

After class, I asked my teacher, if we were like that when we were in school, because I certainly don't remember my class being that way. Sure, there were those days, where everyone just felt like being chaotic, but I think we were a relatively good class. Anyway, my teacher replied, saying that she didn't remember us being like this, and that unfortunately, what I saw, was these kids on a 'good' day. I really don't want to know what they are like, rest of the time.

Also, social networking -_________-. Most of these kids have facebook already. And some teachers openly talk with them about it, and some probably even communicate with them via facebook. I get the fact that it's the technological age, and there's bound to be new methods of interacting with the younger generation, teaching, go with the flow, etc, etc. But seriously? Isn't there a - need parental consent thing, if under the age of 13 for most online sign up thingies? (Obviously, you can fake your age, and all that stuff... and I'd be a hypocrite if I were to say that people shouldn't do that). Still, don't these parents know what their kids are doing on the intertubes? (Once again, probably not the best person to be complaining about that...). It just doesn't feel right. Because, especially with a lot of personal and private information, these kids probably do not have the best sense of responsibility, reason, and protection to ensure their privacy settings are what they want them to be, and all that jazz. For example, apparently some universities and colleges down in the States, are starting check their applicants' social networking profiles, etc, during the admission process. I think it's smart that they're doing that, but at the same time, it's also leading the world down a very dangerous path.

All of this also contributes to kids growing up too fast, and not in the proper way. An old Chinese tale will help neatly sum this point up:
Pull the crops up to help them grow
During the warring states period, in the state of Song, there was a farmer who was tired of working in the field. Year after year, season after season, he had been working in the field to look after his crops. Planting, seeding, plowing, irrigation, removing weed & insect, working under burning sunshine or pouring rain, all these hard work filled his life.
One year, in the spring, he was working in the field to fertilize the field in order to make the crops grow better. Looking at those short young shoots in the field, he really hoped they could grow faster so he could harvest the next day!
Ding! He came up a smart idea: he would like to “help” them grow “faster” by pulling them up taller. He did this to all the crops in the field quickly. After it was done, he felt very happy when all the shoots were much “taller” than they were before.
He went back home happily that day and told his son proudly: My son, I help our crops grow much taller today by pulling them up; now they are all two inches higher than they were yesterday!
By hearing this, his son knew what would happen to those poor crops. He rushed to the field immediately but it was too late. All the “taller” young shoots were weather and dead under the sunshine with their damaged roots out of earth.


I don't know... maybe I'm just looking at this from the wrong point of view, and it's normal for kids to be like that, and it is how the older generations view us. And hopefully, as they grow older, they'll mature and be responsible young adults. That, or the future's really doomed. -__________-.

* * *
BD: Nicolas Poussin, Edvard Grieg, Gotthard Günther, Saul Steinberg, Neil Patrick Harris
DD: Ella Fitzgerald

Sonnets

By William Shakespeare


Sonnet 18
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest:
     So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
     So long lives this and this gives life to thee.




Sonnet 29
When, in disgrace with fortune and men's eyes,
I all alone beweep my outcast state
And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries
And look upon myself and curse my fate,
Wishing me like to one more rich in hope,
Featured like him, like him with friends possess'd,
Desiring this man's art and that man's scope,
With what I most enjoy contented least;
Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising,
Haply I think on thee, and then my state,
Like to the lark at break of day arising
From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven's gate;
     For thy sweet love remember'd such wealth brings
     That then I scorn to change my state with kings.




Sonnet 65
Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea,
But sad mortality o'er-sways their power,
How with this rage shall beauty hold a plea,
Whose action is no stronger than a flower?
O, how shall summer's honey breath hold out
Against the wreckful siege of battering days,
When rocks impregnable are not so stout,
Nor gates of steel so strong, but Time decays?
O fearful meditation! where, alack,
Shall Time's best jewel from Time's chest lie hid?
Or what strong hand can hold his swift foot back?
Or who his spoil of beauty can forbid?
     O, none, unless this miracle have might,
     That in black ink my love may still shine bright.




Sonnet 71
No longer mourn for me when I am dead
Then you shall hear the surly sullen bell
Give warning to the world that I am fled
From this vile world, with vilest worms to dwell:
Nay, if you read this line, remember not
The hand that writ it; for I love you so
That I in your sweet thoughts would be forgot
If thinking on me then should make you woe.
O, if, I say, you look upon this verse
When I perhaps compounded am with clay,
Do not so much as my poor name rehearse.
But let your love even with my life decay,
     Lest the wise world should look into your moan
     And mock you with me after I am gone.

Beethoven Sonata no.28, op.101

This sonata was one of my choices for the sonata selection for ARCT. It was pretty much between this one, and the Pathetique. Unfortunately, with my teacher, Pathetique obviously won. And the reason was quite simple - that one, is so much easier.

But I've always liked this sonata. It's not that well known, it's super hard, but I think it's very fun to play with, and it sounds incredibly grand.

That, and kind of typical of Beethoven, it does not follow the typical sonata structure. In this one, The first movement is the relatively 'slow' one. The second movement is atypically fast, with a smoother middle section. Then, there's this tiny, I guess we could call it the 3rd movement, or some inbetween movement thing that leads right into the final, monstrous final movement. Despite it's monstrosity, I love this movement...

There's just so much play around with. (In terms of play, you're still following the music, but the way he wrote it and everything, it's just so interesting/fun to read and play.) That, and the second movement's awesome sounding too. The first one... I'm not a very big fan of that.

Here's a version of it, played by the Maestro Barenboim. It's fantastic. (Split into three parts, because it's too epic for youtube, though not split by movement)







* * *
DD: Alexander the Great

David Debono

David Debono - He is currently my favourite pianist (on youtube, at least)
He's simply just brilliant. His videos are mainly themes from movies, games, commercials, and self compositions. I'm pretty sure that he also has absolute pitch. I think he's  classically trained... though, looking at his fingers - which sometimes perform big piano no-nos - not very sure. Either way, amazing ^__________^.

[Sept 4th, edit: He recently did his ARCT exam, so yup, classically trained.]

He puts a lot of emotions and force behind the music. And that's what I love about him - a very sure and powerful hand. A lot of artists these days have these flimsy hands, which doesn't produce a very rich tone, and cannot fully utilize the piano to it's full extent. For him, even in the softer moments, you can hear the depth behind it. The sound's very clear and pure - just enough pedal (most people tend to put too much), along with some amazing dynamics. But then of course, he does have a grand piano, which goes a long way in helping the sound.

One thing that I would possibly critique on, is that he tends to go over the top sometimes. I'm trying not to stereotype here, but I think it's mainly because of the fact that he's, well... a he. Most of his songs are super fast and forceful, and he has the slight tendency to speed up/crescendo/stretto everything. In some cases, this is good, but all the time? Most young artists do have a tendency to do so, heck, I do it myself all the time. We tend to gain more control over it as we matures as an artist. So, I'll just give it a few years.

Below are some of his videos. Enjoy =)

Kiwi Background Music

This song is how I first discovered him.

Requiem for a Dream

I've linked this song before (Note the tendency to speed up)

Pacman Theme

Absolute pitch much? XD

Underwater Ambience - Original Composition

Musical Birds

Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.

Despite the comments on the video, about whether or not the picture is photoshopped, or that the notes are all 'space' notes (so 3rds = they form consonants no matter what), the the correctness of voice leading, I find that it is still a very creative concept. And this idea of this concept, should be the most important factor. Yes, it would be awesome if the rest of the stuff mentioned above, were more 'artistically correct', but they are secondary.

* * *
DD: John A Macdonald, Louis Chevrolet, Carl Jung

My Favourite Things

Once again, dug this up from old emails:
(Warning, some of these aren't very work safe :P)

This, is a twist to My Favourite Things. A challenge, by EvilHippyEmperor
Original post by EvilHippyEmperor:
Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Fishnets on girl’s legs and mohicans on Britons
Tattoos adorning alabaster skins
These are a few of my favourite things

Meaningless lyrics from the Sisters of Mercy
Men who call themselves Vlad, but are really named Percy
Your first nipple piercing, god how that stings
These are a few of my favourite things

Goths who spend hours on their make-up, then sit in the shadows
Chavs in their Burberry, who think we are the saddo’s
As they gibbon along all covered in bling
These are a few of my favourite things

Goths who are blind ‘cause they’re too vain to wear glasses
But they’re too cool to dance, so just sit on their arses
OK, so I dance like Gerry Anderson’s pulling my strings
But that’s also one of my favourite things

Girls who claim to be ‘Wiccan’ with no idea what that means
Vegetarian vampires, preying on helpless soya beans
Dani Filth gargling broken glass when he sings
These are a few of my favourite things

When the cheques bounce
When the boss rings
When I’m feeling bad
I simply remember my favourite things
Then I don’t feel so sad

Please feel free to add your own verses.

The Responses:

By Fangtease:
Boys in black leather and fishnets with slashes
Liquid eyeliner accenting their lashes
Ebony talons and fourteen piercings,
These are a few of my favourite things

Cruising the graveyard in inclement weather
Seeking Heathcliff for a roll in the heather
Gazing at twilight to see bats take wing,
These are a few of my favourite things

Corpuscle cocktails and gray squid ink noodles
Baking a pastry all filled up with poodles
Absinthe in goblets and rich blood pudding,
These are a few of my favourite things

Stoker and Lovecraft and Nancy Kilpatrick
Loving when Poe makes him put in that last brick
Vampires and werewolves and spirits haunting,
These are a few of my favourite things

Corsets so low-cut there's risk of exposure
Clubbers debating which one is a poseur
Music so loud all our ears are bleeding,
These are a few of my favourite things

Dressing in colours of midnight and ashes
"Dissing" the Master to earn forty lashes
Left in the dungeon all tied up till Spring,
These are a few of my favourite things!

(I won't even try to improve on your chorus....!)

By Arkum:
Leather and lace and blindfolds and cuffs
Going down on men or swimming in muffs
Take to the bed or the checkered tiling
These are a few of my favorite things

Tied up and layed upon pretty red roses
Licking me down from my heart to my toses
Stopping in spots that you know make me sing
These are a few of my favorite things

Both men and the ladies dressed in vamp clothing
Eyeliner and lipstick on either, not loathing
Keeping in mind that both ways I swing
These are a few of my favorite things

By Goulash
Little black roses and being bitten
Whips,chains and doin' the hitten'
Being tied up and the joy that it brings
These are a few of my favorite things!!!

Little white ponies and chocolate covered doodles
Slurping as if I were eating some noodles
Wearing new costumes...Even some that have wings
These are a few of my favorite things!

Goths adorned in lace with coal black eye lashes
Goths that think if they step in the sun,they'll turn to ashes
When he gets hot,the misery it brings
These are a few of my favorite things!

And here is a proper and really awesome cover, by Pomplamoose

Three Poems

A few poems that I've collected over the years (3-4 years ago.)
Many of them are anomynous/used an alias, and I can't seem to track them down anymore.
Yeah.. they're kind of gloomy and teenage angst and what not. But they're also very pretty/interesting.
Enjoy =)

"Silent Music"
The young girl sat upon the stool,
Gazing at the marble.
As her finger touched the key, she flinched.
It was cold.

Wind blew through the room -
- Whistling quietly inside its chambers.
As if this was a call to her,
she began to play.

Absorbed by the rhythm, she closed her eyes.
Swaying from side to side,
her hands creating a magical fusion with the keys.
Nothing could seperate them.

The silent breeze blew the dust away,
it spread into the air, floating into the dark
as were her thoughts
when she played this piano.

The piano had not been cared for.
Scratched, damaged, left to crumble in the room.
Just like the girl.
And together they sat, bathing in the music.

One could not live without the other,
Their sound only created through harmony.
For once the piano felt loved,
and the girl felt compassion for it.

All the night she stayed
sat upon that stool.
The sounds of the world joined them,
weaving into their immense sound.

The piano began to feel the strain
of being uncared for.
Without a sound its strings broke,
and silence filled the room.

Silver tears hit the ground,
as the girl lay underneath the piano.
And there she stayed, until the day
she too played her last note.


"A-Z Poem"
Always doing something wrong
Banishing those who don't belong
Catastrophe started under the moon
Death is sure to come very soon
Evil lurks in every corner
For every death there is a mourner
Gold and riches are the focus
Happiness is a bunch of hocus pocus
Intimitidation is the key
Joy fills it when we are free
Klutzy people are at every turn
Love is what we all yearn
Magic is shunned by many of us
Normally we think it right to cuss
Optimistic people are very uncommon
Prejudice is found in avergae to shaman(:P)
Questions need answers
Resources should destroy cancers
Sex is all the people think about
They are taking the wrong route
Unheard and unloved
Valiant hardly lift a glove
War is getting this world shakin
X-treme measures will be taken
Youthfulness and peace is what we need
Zonky idea,yes,but without it we'll bleed


"Crows and Ravens"
There stands a raven so clear,
Its black feathers shining,
The sun sets with blood red dips,
As the hounds start whining,
Singing their lullaby,
Dreadful escape,
Snow driven mountains,
Bats and shadows await,
High in the stone clenched,
Mountains lie a castle,
There you hear chains sing,
Without any hassle,
They cling and screech with the crows rhythm,
Giving ears no word,
For their song brings tears and such depression,
Whenever it is heard,
And beneath the sea lies open freedom,
It tricks us to deny,
And though we are crows entangled in chains,
We know one day well fly,
Flying above the forest,
Soaring over the hills,
High above the mountains,
Were the air send us chills,
Freedom awaits no other,
It stands merely atop a ledge,
To let us go or not,
Is yet a mortals pledge,
Tricks and pranks they are,
Showing us nothing but doubt,
But one day I hope to kill them,
With my scream, my shout,
Ill show them all what I can be,
And what I can do,
These words arent just speaking for me,
They are speaking for you to,
And soon enough the crows will die,
The ravens they will to,
Nothing here as the world decays,
Never to live through,
And yet there will be a time,
When immortals rule this earth,
All mortals died and gone to heaven,
This has given us rebirth,
And o youll see the vampires laugh,
The werewolves howl at the moon,
And red eyes in the shadows,
All happen very soon,
The water will be water again,
The sun will be so gray,
The moon will rule over all,
And the pain will go away,
Well be brothers and sisters,
Lovers that too,
A world for all acceptation,
And it all awaits you,
So come and hear the morning birds,
Sing their song of new,
For there it lies glistening,
One of its few,
And so now I look upon,
The sun setting what it may lack,
For there high above a raven flies,
In its mouth a rose the color black.


"Apocalypse"
By: R. Vates
Energy....Stuck in a moment in the past,
The present, now and always.
Forever one with the universe...
The universe torn in two pieces.
And never again will it shine.
The words fall from broken lips,
The mouth trembles with anticipation.
Waiting, and seeing behind the blades of
infinity. Only in our lifetime.
Running backwards fowards,
Skipping stones in an endless stream...Life.
Following the rythm of earth,
We seek what we can never know.
Higher it pulls us into the nothingness of
mankind.
Our own destruction we have created.
Filling the air with darkness, and it drips
So slowly now.
The earth trembles, and our bones are weak.
Never again may we remember what never was.
Further into the ground...
Digging for words of past civilizations...
Never again.
Seeking truth,
But believing the lies.
What is hidden from us,
Is what we were before.
Washing the brain,
With sounds of structure and chaos.
Together as one, yet never united.
Tying up our thoughts with myths and lore.
Fiction never seemed so real.
Now we sit quiet,
Almost waiting for the end to come.
A weary spirit comes from deep within,
It pours out it's sadness to the earth.
Fields of laughter,
From the children who will never know.
Discussion, remembrance,
And what the future holds,
It is all to bright for human eyes.
When the sun comes closer,
Bringing with it secrets, and promises.
Complete fulfillment.
One more time around,
One more day to live.
Everything matters when nothing does.

* * *
BD: Adam Smith, John Maynard Keynes
DD: Carl Maria von Weber
World Environment Day

Rain

Rain, midnight rain, nothing but the wild rain
On this bleak hut, and solitude, and me
Remembering again that I shall die
And neither hear the rain nor give it thanks
For washing me cleaner than I have been
Since I was born into this solitude.
Blessed are the dead that the rain rains upon:
But here I pray that none whom once I loved
Is dying to-night or lying still awake
Solitary, listening to the rain,
Either in pain or thus in sympathy
Helpless among the living and the dead,
Like a cold water among broken reeds,
Myriads of broken reeds all still and stiff,
Like me who have no love which this wild rain
Has not dissolved except the love of death,
If love it be towards what is perfect and
Cannot, the tempest tells me, disappoint.

By Edward Thomas

***

DDs: Joan of Arc, Christopher Marlowe, Peter Paul Rubens, Voltaire, Wilbur Wright

Painting

With some free time on my hands, I drafted a painting, about a week ago. Here's a watercolour sketch of it (ignore the anatomical inaccuracies, this version's mainly to plan out colour scheme)

And a charcoal sketch on the actual canvas.

So far, I've washed it with an underlayer. Until I searched the house and found out that most of my paints have dried out (after having them for 5+ years), and that I do not seem to have a white.. -____-, and obviously, as seen on the draft, white is pretty important. So now, the painting is on hiatus until I can go out and get more paint. Which won't be for a while.

Anyway, I will be periodically posting the progress of this painting.

The medium's probably going to be in acrylic. (I need to get turpentine, for oil)

There's really no message/anything interesting/informative behind this post, just felt like sharing some art.

* * *

BD: Hồ Chí Minh, Malcolm X, Pol Pot

World Hepatitis Day

Maya and The Great Train Race

The other day, on one of my youtube loops, I came across a great composer, who happened to also be a flautist, thus composing absolutely fantastic songs for the flute =)

Ian Clarke

To play his music, I think, requires great virtuosity, a lot of practice, etc, etc. And they're just so pretty to listen to.

Maya - Two flutes + Piano
This is one of the songs, that could make you cry.
And I really, really, really, want to play it. (I even have two flutes and a piano! Just no one to play it with >.<)


A live performance of Maya - these two are amazing.



The Great Train Race
This one... just... holy crap, I have no words for it.