Tuesday, December 13, 2016

我所在意的《小王子》里的一些句子

(。・∀・)ノ゙嗨

以前我小学的时候我图书馆看了儿童版的《小王子》,然后因为当时年纪小,所以就算(感觉上)那本书已经简化了原本的《小王子》,我还是一头雾水地看完了那本书。

我不太懂的拟人拟物,更不懂得了解那些故事深一层的意义。所以以为它就只是一个小王子到不同星球的故事。最了解的应该只有他跟狐狸的对话,因为那种东西连小学生都会有点体会到。

然后我有个女友朋友说她也对《小王子》有兴趣,只不过没看完就不得空/不方便看下去了。啊啊,我就想回我以前看也不太看懂《小王子》。上网查查看,看到有人写“在不同的年龄读小王子会了解不同的东西”。看来我又要读多一次了。

所以在我们马来西亚吉隆坡一年一度的大众书局书展,《小王子》的书很多啊!然后我选了最便宜的……《小王子》中文版精装书!!RM20+而已呢!

买下了!



结果读了还是对一些星球的故事有所不舒服感。但是,总有些句子我觉得值得记录下来(有思考价值),在下:

  • 大人从不主动去了解,总要小孩子一遍一遍解释给他们听,真烦人。
  • 我知道有一颗星球,上面住着一个红脸先生。他从没闻过花香。他从没见过星星。他从没爱过任何人。出了演算加法,什么事也没做过。他像你一样整天说个没完:“我有正事要做!我有正事要做!”而且傲气十足。但他不算是个人,他是一个蘑菇。
  • 几百万年以来,花儿都带着刺。几百万年以来,羊儿也一直在吃花儿。如果刺什么用也没有,那花儿为什么要努力长刺呢,把这弄明白难道不是正事吗?绵羊和花儿的战争难道不重要吗?这难道不比脸红胖子先生的数字加法更重要,更算是正事吗?还有,如果我认识一朵世上独一无二的花儿,出了我的星球,哪儿都找不到这样的花儿。然而有一天早上,一只小羊还不明白自己在做什么,就一口把花儿吃掉了,难道这不重要吗?
  • 那你就审判自己好了。这是最难的。审判自己比审判别人困难许多。要是你能审判好自己,你就是一名真正的智者。


Monday, February 22, 2016

A New World: Intimate music from Final Fantasy experience

So years back, Final Fantasy had concert tours such as Voices, Tour de Japon, Distant Worlds. A relatively new series had been introduced in 2014 which is A New World: Intimate music from Final Fantasy. According to the FF wikia, this series is aimed to perform the music of FF in a smaller scale, based upon the awareness that there are smaller cities and concert venues which are not able to support a full orchestra.


Exterior of KLCC


Event details
Sun, 21 Feb 2016
3.00pm
Musicians of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra
Arnie Roth, conductor
Benyamin Nuss, piano


Got me ticket
Setlist
The Red Wings (IV)
Victory Theme
The Promise/ Blinded by Light (XIII)
Town (I)
Selbina (XI)
Fragments of Memories (VIII)
Final Battle (X)
Danger in the Forest (IX)
Final Battle (X)
Home, Sweet Home (V)
Rebel Army Theme (II)
Zanarkand (X)
Chocobo Medley
Interval
The Decisive Battle (VI)
Ivalice Landscapes (XII)
A New World (V)
Troia (IV)
Moogle Theme Medley
Fight with Seymour (X)
Those who Fight (VII)
Force Your Way (VIII)
Extra (not written on distributed pamphlet): One Winged Angel (VII)

It was really a smaller scale performance than I had expected, it would be more suitable to describe this as an ensemble. I started counting, approximately 12 members + 1 conductor. My seat was one of the front seats and the height was slightly lower than the stage, thus I can't see the full layout of the ensemble. I roughly deduced 1 pianist, 2 violinist, 1 viola (I presume), 1 cello, 1 double bass, 1 flute player, 2 percussionists, 1 guitarist, 2 brass players.

Unlike the previous concerts, A New World doesn't have a choir or singers, thus no main vocal songs of the series were performed, neither did Dancing Mad made the list (even though One Winged Angel did). Instead what was different was that not all the pieces were performed by the whole ensemble, some were performed as duets, string quartet, and even piano solo. And A New World didn't have a screen to show the animation videos like the previous concerts.

What I enjoyed was The Promise/ Blinded by Light. Same as Distant Worlds, the concert started with a piece, then the conductor Arnie Roth will give a welcoming speech, followed by the opening of the concert with the Victory Theme before moving on to the next piece. This time, after the Victory Theme opening, he went to the back of the stage, grabbed his violin, and performed The Promise/ Blinded by Light as a duet with piano. For those who know, The Promise is a very sweet piece and requires a somewhat sharp yet harmonious control over the violin, whereas Blinded by Light is a very heavy piece with a soilder's spirit. It was the first time I saw Arnie Roth on a violin and he did a very spectacular job at it.

For those music that uses the whole ensemble, the main melody switches from instrument to instrument. The main melody was played by the violin at one time, and it will switch to the flute, then another instrument. I noticed that the cellist actually had a chance to play the main melody in one of the pieces, which is very amusing because lower pitched instruments normally don't get to play the main line.

The Chocobo medley really did went intimate, an ukulele was introduced for a part as the background line. Arnie Roth stated that it was Nobuo Uematsu had lived in Hawaii for a while thus the ukulele. During this piece, the clarinet player occasionally played out a whistle that mimics the sound of a bird, or in this case, sound of a Chocobo. Not what expected of an actual orchestra but it was fun. That clarinet player was also seen changing from his clarinet to bass clarinet while playing the same piece. 

A new addition to the series was Ivalice Landscapes, its a medley of some music in FF XII. I played FF XII at the early stages then the PS2 got spoiled so I didn't get far to be able to enjoy more music. I was glad to hear a short line of The Royal City of Rabanastre in this piece, but was a little sad that I didn't hear the Eastersands in it. This piece mostly consist of slow music.

Those Who Fight was a piano solo, I'm giving a very good rating for this. Benyamin Nuss played it with a lot of emotion.

As this concert aim is to give a similar experience of Distant Worlds in a smaller scale, One Winged Angel was included as an extra, but without the choir. For those who had experienced Distant Worlds, there is a little fun in this and it was again used in A New World.



About MPO (Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra) seating
For Distant Worlds I got a sit at the upper circle, which I was able to view the orchestra from a bird's eye view. That was a distance away from the stage.

In A New World, I sat in the stalls, thus the view is as in the picture above. I wasn't able to get a view of the full ensemble, but I was close enough to see that the clarinet player was using a different mouthpiece from time to time (thus able to deduce that he switches to bass clarinet). It was very close to the stage that I was even able to see rings on the player's hands.

About pricing in MPO, the stalls are the cheapest, followed by the upper circle, lower circle, then suites. A New World is cheaper than Distant Worlds in general. MPO provides student price provided that we have a student card, however student prices limits the choice of seating to the stalls.

Happy kid
I heard that an upcoming concert series of Square Enix is going to include Kingdom Hearts' music alongside with Final Fantasy. My wait is getting closer to the end.

Friday, December 25, 2015

Something to read when you're jealous of other people's life as shown on their Facebook wall.

Merry Christmas (for 2015)! :)

Today I stumbled upon an interesting post on Facebook (link), it's in Chinese so I've decided to put my translating skills to the test. It's something about what a lot of us are aware of, but then we don't recall them during times when we needed to be reminded of.
So here goes:

The pub is a mysterious place, race cars, brands, pretty girls.
You learn fast in a pub, first it changes the way you look at your world, then it crashes your dreams.
At these type of places, where there is no use of being humble and low profile, what people wants is very direct, fast, outspeaking, instant leisure.
Preys are always being sought out by people, as these people are turning into a beast themselves.
What's abundant here is the distorted body and mind,
A smile build from stones, is still unable to cover up the holes in the eyes.
People who seeks love come to these kind of places, yet what is lacking the most at these kind of places is love itself.

A woman.
Like may women, a women loves branded goods, LV, Gucci is just the beginner's step.
A little higher up and she will fall for Balenciaga, Chanel... but as the crowd goes, she will also like the same type of fashion as everyone else.
All these women wishes to have a Birkin before the age of 30.
One might as well ask themselves: "What do you want after 30 then?"

A man.
Like many men, a man wants a good car.
Starting with SLK, Z4.
Those more "fortunate" might go for a 911.
All these men's ultimate dream is to have a F430 or a Ferrari.
One might as well ask themselves: "After you've achieved all these, what's your next dream to chase?"

Materialistic, is one of the poor attitudes deep rooted in us.

We might have heard words like these:
"I've just met a guy, X. He drives Mercedes, BMW, Porche and a few nice cars. He stays at YYY, and he smells of Dior, Homme..."
Isn't it just sad , some of these people haven't even get to know the other person's full name, yet she had already found a place in his arms.
When you are accustomed of attention, you are slowly engulfed by these flashes,
slowly growing in the loop of materialistic and vain-glory, and lost your sense of self.
From ipod to imac, the most advanced selfie technologies, you already have them in your hands.
Wake up and look around, is there even a book in your room? The type which is full of words.
You know how to spell out Salvatore Ferragamo, without a mistake, but you don't know how to request a tissue from the waitress. Or even forgot that the word "napkin" exists.

Our generation started out high, too much of unrational dreams.
We drown in our favourite idol's tv series and movies, and think that we deserve that kind of life.
What we can't accept is the long wait, because we are so accustomed to being fast, faster and faster.
We wish to have everything at the best moments of our lives.
When we finally have them, what can we do about it?
Ask for more?

Even to be ridiculously rich, requires the accumulation through time, and the long wait before the special chance.
Look at our surroundings, is there anyone who really make a fortune before the age of 20?
To be wealthy and rich at 45 is already considered young, there is also an abundant of people who only achieved this at 50 or 60.
You think just by the little ability you have at this moment, you can own the world at 20+ years of age?

To spend, doesn't require skill.
We indulge in it.
But to do things hands on or technically, such as earning money.
We don't.
Students don't think too much of reality.
Graduates are always running from reality.

Unwilling to work.
Why?
We think we're so great, we know everything.
From what's the latest leisure trend to whats the newest hipster cafe, played all from GT3 to GTR.
But when we stand in front of a photocopying machine, we stare at it blankly.
Don't even know how to print double sided.
Looking at all those buttons on the machine, ust staring at it.
"How is this thing more complicated than racing?"

We have too many reasons to run from work.
Low pay.
Of course the pay is low, the pay for a month is not enough to keep up with your "flow" of a week!
What now?
If your dad's business is your business, then it's complicated.
You're the boss' kid, even the workers are trying to get their benefit from you.
They will teach you? You've gotta be joking. If they teach you, how are they going to get on the boss' (your dad's) good side?
Even the supplier wants to get the benefits from someone as "unripe" as you.
Just with that little CV of yours, even if you're being sold somewhere else, people won't even know how you died.

How bout' working at your uncle's company?
With that amount of pay you get, it's still too much for your dad to return the favor to them.
Your own business?
Are you kidding? You don't even know the basics of being human.
You starting your business will only contribute to society by paying back money.
To be honest, go picking some hands on skill yourself is more rational.

Our lives are interesting as we think it is, is only because you got your dad's surname.
Everything you have that makes you proud, is what your parents contributed to you.
Even if your face look a bit nicer, is still your parent's DNA, nothing to do with your own efforts.
We have a lot of dreams.
What kind of house to stay in, what kind of car we want to drive, what kind of life we want to live.
All these dreams, don't tell me you are waiting for your 50 y/o parents to finish it for you before they reach 60.
Growing up so many years, what have you contributed to your family?
Is there anything, that is worth your dad sharing to his friends about you?
None!

Taking off all the brands on us, changing into those plain t shirts.
Throw aside all your Gucci, LV, Balenciaga, Chanel, and stand at the subway entrance.
You will realize that you are nobody. People won't bat you an eye.
Pride, jealousy, anger, laziness, greed, lust.
All of the poor attitudes we are born with, had just been fully displayed by us in many different forms.

We were once drunk, can't tell between good and bad.
We like being brats, and despise honesty.
To sleep only before the break of dawn, just to rush to get ourselves ready on the vibration of our handphones.
And then what follows is another stage of drama, drunk in money.
The world we see is upside down, no tomorrow, no future.
Painkillers, medicine for headaches and alcohols, these pills are increasing day by day. And the moment when you wake up with nothing, you just don't want to face your life.

Suddenly one day you stand in front of the mirror and wipe away your thick layer of make up.
And you realize the 20+ years old you is beginning to look unacceptably old.
Looking up to your empty surroundings, the ground full of cigarettes and alcohol bottles.

Is this our kind of youth?
Is this your youth?

============================================================
Original post:
夜店是個神奇的場所、跑車、名牌、美女
去夜店學壞很快、首先改變你的審美、其次粉碎你的夢想
在這個場合、內斂和低調沒有市場、人們要的是直接
快速、虛張聲勢、及時行樂、
人們搜索著自己的獵物、自己慢慢地變成動物
這裡最多的是扭曲的肢體和表情
堆砌出來的笑容、還是掩蓋不了眼中的空洞
缺愛的人來到這裡、而這裡最缺的、卻就是愛本身
女人
每個女人都喜歡名牌、LV Gucci 是初級階段
稍微上點品的、喜歡Balenciaga、Chanel、但卻無比雷同地指向同一個款式
所有的女人都夢想30歲之前擁有一個Birkin
那當你30歲之後你還能追求什麼?
男人
每個男人都要有一部好車
SLK、Z4起步
錢多的喜歡911
所有男人的終極夢想、是擁有一部F430或者蓋拉多
當你擁有這一切之後你還能追求什麼?
虛榮、是人類最初的劣根性
我們經常聽到這樣的話:
"我新認識一個男的、叫XX、開賓士、寶馬、保時捷一系列的好車、家住哪裡、渾身Dior 、Homme"
太可悲、你連人家全名都沒搞清楚、就已經投入了別人的懷抱
你習慣了被人注目、你慢慢被浮華包圍
慢慢在物欲和虛榮的光環中、漸漸膨脹、迷失自我
從ipod到imac,自拍神奇,你樣樣都有
環顧四周、你的房間裡有一本真正的書嗎? 全文字的那種
你能拼寫出Salvatore Ferragamo一字不差
卻連問服務員要張紙巾都不會說
餐巾紙怎麼說、你告訴我
我們這一代人的起點太高、夢想的太多
我們看了太多偶像劇和電影
覺得我們就該擁有那樣的生活
我們不能接受漫長等待、因為我們習慣了快速、
快一點再快一點
我們希望在人生最美好的時候擁有一切
一旦真的擁有了、我們又能幹什麼?
要求更多嗎?
即使是暴富、也是需要時間的積累、和機會來臨前的慢慢等待
看看我們周圍、哪個暴發戶是在他們20多歲的時候爆發的?
45歲發財已經算年輕了、五六十歲才剛剛起步的也大有人在
就憑我們這點能力、也想在20幾歲擁有整個世界?
花錢這檔子事兒、是不需要技術含量的
我們沉迷其中
而對於有技術含量的東西、比如賺錢、
我們卻不屑一顧
學生們不需要考慮現實、畢業的人們逃避現實
不願工作
為什麼不願工作
我們覺得自己很牛B、什麼都會、什麼都懂
好玩的好吃的個個知道、從GT3到GTR台台玩過
去上班卻連雙面複印都不會
面對有200多個按鈕的影印機就傻了
這玩意怎麼比跑車還複雜?
我們有太多的理由來逃避工作
薪水低
薪水確實低、一個月的薪水也滿足不了我們一個週末的流量
怎麼辦?
如果你爹是自己的生意、那就複雜了、
自家做吧、你是太子、是大小姐、員工都拍你馬屁
教你東西?開玩笑、教會你、他們怎麼黑你爹的錢?
供應商都想從你這個嫩頭兒下手
就你那點閱歷、被人賣了都不知道怎麼死的
去那些叔叔伯伯的公司做吧
就那點收入、還不夠你爸去還人情的、
自主創業?
別開玩笑了、連做人最基本的道理都不懂
創業只會通過賠錢來奉獻社會
老老實實學點本事比較實在
我們的人生之所以精彩、只是因為你和你爸同姓而已
你所有值得驕傲的東西、都是你的家族給你的
即使你長的好看一點兒、也是你父母的DNA決定的、 跟你毫無瓜葛
我們的人生有很多夢想
要住怎樣的房子、要開怎樣的車子、要過怎樣的生活
這些夢想難道還要讓你快50歲的親爹
用60歲之前的歲月、來幫你完成嗎?
長那麼大你為家裡做過些什麼
你有些什麼東西、是值得你爹在朋友面前炫耀一番的?
沒有!
把我們身上的名牌衣服都脫掉、換件廉價、沒板型的T恤
Gucci LV Balenciaga Chanel 通通丟到一邊、
搭地鐵去門口站著
你就什麼都不是、沒有誰會多看你一眼
傲慢、妒忌、暴怒、懶惰、貪婪、色欲、
這些都是人生來便有的劣根性、
現在卻被我們發揮到了極致
曾經醉生夢死、分不清好人壞人、
喜歡混蛋、討厭真心、
在黎明降臨時昏睡、在手機震動時、慌亂的打理好自己
接著又是一場逢場作戲、紙醉金迷、
看到的世界是顛倒的、沒有明天、未來
頭疼片、解酒藥一次次增加、醒來發現已經一無所有、不敢去想所謂的生活、
突然有一天在鏡子前擦去厚厚的濃妝
才發現20幾歲的自己早已蒼老
抬眼看看空空蕩蕩的四周、和滿地的煙蒂、酒瓶
這就是我們的青春嗎?
這就是你的青春嗎?