My Body is a Cage

Arcade Fire


This song describes so much of our lives...

Come Wander With Me

Composed by Jeff Alexander and sung by Bonnie Beecher
For the Twilight Zone episode of the same name.


 
He said
Come wander with me love
Come wander with me
Away from this sad world
Come wander with me
He came from the sunset
He came from the sea
He came from my sorrow
And can love only me

There are many covers of this song. But no one can match her voice.

Art from the Future?

"25 Abandoned Yugoslavia Monuments that look like they're from the Future"

Stunning monuments. It would be great to get a description of their actual size. Or to have a person standing beside one of them for a reference. Quite a few of them remind me of Beksinski paintings...

The "alien"istic qualities that they all contain. Telling a story of a tragic ending for a mighty society past its prime. They are absolutely gorgeous pieces...

I really like a few of them: "Tjentište", "Makljen", "Kadinjača", and the one above, "Podgarić".

Calculus

And here I am, procrastinating on studying for math test. Which, undoubtfully, I'm going to fail.

Anyway.

The other day, we were learning about differential equations. Direction fields, etc, etc. While connecting the dotted lines that make up the field, I realized, that this type of conceptual/w.eyoucallit math, is incredibly beautiful. How you can model something through a concept - pulling something out of a few (and I hesitate to use this word) simple equations, it's quite breathtaking.

Obviously, something that I will never be able to do or even understand, judging by the progress I'm currently making.

But, one can still appreciate the beauty of it.



P.s. Birthday coming up in 2 days! =D. Well... technically tomorrow, since I'm writing this at 12am on Monday.

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

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"

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.

* * *

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

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

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.

Red Moon

It is just beautiful, things you can observe so late at night.

Right now, sitting outside my window, lies a sliver of the red moon.

It looks something like this:

Photo by Chris Harvey

http://www.flitemedia.com/index.php

Except, my moon, is a waxings one (the one show in this image is waning), and it is larger, yellower/whiter along the outer edge, and its craters are much more visible. It is much better to be looking at it, photographs does it no justice.

It is visions like this, that are the driving forces behind artistic creation, behind inspirations, the romanticism in ourselves.

And I just love how, if someone in my general geographical area looks up in the right direction, they will see the exact same thing, and perhaps ponder the exact same thoughts.

So pretty...... But alas, like all beauty, it will not last. It will return again, perhaps in the same setting, perhaps in a different one. But for now, it is fading.

Back in December, was the first time I saw this red moon in a long while. It was in the early hours of the morning, not quite dawn yet. The moon was full that day, and in the exact same location, I sat there, watching as the red disk slowly sank to the ground, disappearing into the horizon.

It was quite amazing. Because in the summer, I always watch the sun set, just a little west of where that moon was. They sank, the exact same way, the moon being slightly larger, and the setting of it signalled the beginning of light, instead of the end.

So this is where philosophies and ancient tales, stories passed down through generations came from...