Every teardrop is a waterfall
Not meant to drag on this forever but got to say how Coldplay’s performance at the Celebrating Steve event was really triumphant and uplifting, overcoming (but not withholding) the melancholy and sorrow that hung so heavily in the air. Music touches people’s souls, and at its most intense, takes them on a trip far, far away and back, with the renewed faith that things have been healed a little.
Viva La Vida. Long Live Life.
Fix It. Lights will guide your soul.
Thirteen Years and a PM ago
With the dust beginning to settle and the unthinkable notion of a coalition government coming into being, all eyes are set on how Cameron and Clegg are going to pull this off – while not going at each others’ throats, that is.
"You're supposed to smile for the camera, dumbass". Image: guardian.co.uk
And if Cameron is indeed fearful that worst times are yet to come, he’s not hiding it. Take a look at the wordings in his first speech – I wonder if it was written with the sole purpose of curbing expectations and evading responsibilities in the first place. For instance:
And I think the service our country needs right now is to face up to our really big challenges, to confront our problems, to take difficult decisions, to lead people through those difficult decisions, so that together we can reach better times ahead.
One of the tasks that we clearly have is to rebuild trust in our political system. Yes that’s about cleaning up expenses, yes that is about reforming parliament, and yes it is about making sure people are in control – and that the politicians are always their servant and never their masters.
But I believe it is also something else. It is about being honest about what government can achieve. Real change is not what government can do on its own – real change is when everyone pulls together, comes together, works together, where we all exercise our responsibilities to ourselves, to our families, to our communities and to others.
If that didn’t sound hope instilling and upbeat, take a count and see how his speech was dominated by words that paint a picture of depression and urgency:
- “difficult” and “difficult decisions” – 4 matches
- “work” – 6 matches
- “challenge”, “hard” – 4 matches
- “problem” – 3 matches
- “rebuild” – 4 matches
- “stable”, “trust”, “strong” – 9 matches
Of course, it’s not Cameron or Clegg’s fault that the country isn’t in more healthy shape. Not that their parties or voters wished to be caught up in the predicament of a coalition government and a pissed poor economy anyways. It’s just that the rate at which events unfolded and the dramatic marriage of opposing forces gave a surreal air to the entire event – or should I say more “real”, because it clearly exposes how easily and quickly what claimed to be core values and fundamental differences can be set aside and forgotten, when it comes to a power struggle that decides who runs the parliament of a country.
Images of 10 Downing Street always remind me of a particular scene and a particular era. An era that in retrospect started off just as horribly but people were buying into a bubble and thus optimistic and cheerful. Now compare this speech excerpt with Cameron’s and try not to come to the conclusion that one of these speakers were under the influence of certain reality bending substances during the delivery:
“It’s been a great year for British music,” said Blair. “A year of creativity, vitality, energy. British bands storming the charts. British music back once again in its right place, at the top of the world. And at least part of the reason for that has been the inspiration that today’s bands can draw from those that have gone before. Bands in my generation like The Beatles and The Stones and The Kinks. Of a later generation: The Clash, The Smiths, The Stone Roses…”
Even though that was a speech made at the 1996 Brit Awards and not upon taking residence at Downing Street, once can’t help but reflect in awe how the circumstances have deteriorated. Compared to then, UK in the 2010 appears more like a torn apart war zone struggling to maintain its identity. And no-one, not even the guys at the NME, can focus on the music alone and not get distracted by the prevailing cries of distress and desperation.
Tony Blair and The Chief in 1997. Image: dailymail.co.uk
How to assemble an electric guitar
Note: For those interested in getting one of these kits, head over to ebay and search for “otona no kagaku” (name of the magazine).
People swear by it. Millions have had their lives transformed by it. The instrument that has changed history is, at its core, a relatively simple set up of wood, wires and stones. Any dirt-cheap cell phone nowadays contains parts with sophistication a million times greater.
Coming across this japanese magazine, I finally had a chance to do the impossible feat of putting together the axe, albeit a much simplified one with 1/5 of the original size and the E and A strings absent. Nonetheless it served as a wonderful weekend project, especially for an electronics dummy like myself.
Unbox & Assembly
The kit itself is rather tiny, but the shots were so well done they made the finished product convincingly playable enough.
The design of the mini-guitar is a bit like the Frank Krocker’s framworks guitars, with a reduced neck and minimalistic body. For good measure the did include a teeny amp with internal speaker too, which is a surprise.
The unboxed package and parts.
Putting the neck in place was easiest. Somehow it was more reminiscent of a Gundam plastic model kit than a musical instrument though.
Strings winding remain a huge pain…on guitars large and small. To me the pain is occasionally physical as well as somehow the steel ends like to find their ways into your fingernail gaps. The little bastards.
Moving to the heart and soul of the guitar – the pickup. And it can’t be simpler – a single chunk of ordinary magnet wrapped around by copper wires. The wrapping took a good 15 minutes by hand (Imagine what it would be like to hand-wire a real pickup with its standard 7600 cycles), and when it was done, a silly decal resembling Fender’s pole pieces was slapped on top.
Some textbook recap of what a pickup is – The magnet generates a field upon itself, though which the strings pass. Any vibration in the string moves some of the lines of force that make up the field. These movements in the field create tiny electric pulses in the coil, which is then picked up from the coil. In other words, striking a steel string next to a magnet would cause its strength to fluctuate, and that triggers a response in the rings of copper around it. The tiny spark gets amplified a thousand times and eventually transformed into audible waves. Or something. Hope my understanding wasn’t too far off.
Slapping the heart into place and voila – a rock-n-roll axe ready ready to melt faces.
The finished product:
The only thing was that it produced NO SOUND…so some expert inspection was eventually inevitable…
Here’s what the mini guitar would have sounded (if the strings don’t constantly crap themselves out and the coil becomes dumb every few minutes)…still…what good fun it was.
For those willing to part with HKD $400 can take a look at the various auction sites here to get a taste of what hand-wiring a pickup is like.
2009 music and films – a personal list
09 was full of promises. Particularly broken ones. Though amidst the ruins there sometimes came along works of brilliance that helped to make the unbearable times slightly easier to endure.
21 Guns
Sometimes a song really gets to you not due to its quality but how its context hits you at the appropriate moments. This is the parting swan song that echoed in my head as I saw her ashes being put into place. What can I say? A tragic tune loaded with anger and unjust, just like her life and passing.
Jesus of Suburbia
It’s Green Day revisited year alright. It wasn’t till 09 when I rediscovered this tune and taken to its nihilism and rage. I don’t care if you don’t I don’t care if you don’t I don’t care if you don’t care.
UP
This was quite unexpected. Watching UP was like watching my entire life flashing before my eyes…though unlike Carl Fredricksen, I’m hanging on to the floating house like dear life. At least he had somewhere he could go. At least he doesn’t have long to live before he gets to see his Elly.
証人 Beast Stalker
Moving on to less sentimental choices. I think Beast Stalker (a 08 film) is undoubtedly the best local film I saw in 09. With the local film industry being stagnated or gone all haywire, this might remain the most decent film for many years to come. Mark my words.
Let It Be – Remastered
Love the fact how the 2009.09.09 re-issue has rejuvenated the band’s legacy around the world. Pity that “Across The Universe” didn’t sound particularly different. Sometimes efforts to bring back certain things that have passed are destined to be futile. A real shame.
Slumdog Millionaire
There was the initial shock (seeing Dharavi) followed by waves of surprises. The success of the film lied on its transformative power – its ability to change people’s perceptions upon alien cultures and nations. Not to mention how it eventually led me to set foot in Mumbai or learn about Mahatma Gandhi’s life. The chase scene in the beginning is so much more engaging and shocking than any of the pompous CG scenes in Avatar.
Sweetney Todd – The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
A fantastic film I didn’t get to see till this year. The production, characters, sets and music are all top notch. Should have seen it at a cinema. An underrated film this didn’t seem to have garnered enough praises.
Uncharted 2 (ps3 game)
Have to bring up this title again, for its innovation in pushing the gaming media into new narrative heights. In terms of achievement Uncharted 2 should be up there with Shenmue, I reckon.
Marley and I
It wasn’t a film about canines. It was showing us a life that we wished we could have had but knew we never would. I wonder if her tears were shed for the same sentiments. I’d never know.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Anything with David Fincher’s name on it is bound to secure a place on my list. Though criticized for its linearity and unoriginality, Benjamin was great in its own terms. The portrayal of encounters, emotions and departures in life were simply outstanding. Another film that managed to reduce me to a pool of tears (and eventually led to a Varanasi visit).
20th Century Boys Part 2+3
I might be the only one who thoroughly enjoyed all three parts of this trilogy. Seeing how the production team painstakingly re-created the imaginary world from the manga was nerve whacking enough – then seeing how they went an extra mile in exemplifying the key scenes and emotions was beyond moving. People, you guys were missing the point, big time.
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- Tell No One - On DVD October 15th December 8, 2011
- Santa Clara Adult Education / Homepage October 22, 2011
- How Google's Self-Driving Car Works October 20, 2011
- ai-class.com - Notes of Lesson 1 and 2 October 16, 2011
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