Emi Fujita, a Japanese jazz singer. I noticed her about 2-3 years back. It was the way she rendered "What a Wonderful World" in her second album that caught my attention back then in Music Junction.
It was the way she sang some of her numbers that brings out a magical feeling to the listener.
Absolute joy to hear. Some of her songs if i may recommend, are:
1) What a Wonderful World
2) Fields of Gold
3) Desperado
4) True Colours
5) Every Breath You Take
In her latest release Camomile Classics, she did a good job with Over the Rainbow, Leaving on a Jet Plane and Try to Remember (at least in my opinion). Think i'm going gaga with Leaving on a Jet Plane, keep listening to the song this few days. =)
In anycase, here are the lyrics. Thumbs up to John Denver for writing such a beautiful piece of song. =)
All my bags are packed
I'm ready to go
I'm standin here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin
It's early morn
The taxis waitin
He's blowin his horn
Already I'm so lonesome
I could die
So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go
cause I'm leavin on a jet plane
Don't know when I'll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go
There's so many times I've let you down
So many times I've played around
I tell you now, they don't mean a thing
E'vry place I go, I'll think of you
E'vry song I sing, I'll sing for you
When I come back, I'll bring your wedding ring
So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go
cause I'm leavin on a jet plane
Dont know when I'll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go
Now the time has come to leave you
One more time
Let me kiss you
Then close your eyesI'll be on my way
Dream about the days to come
When I won't have to leave alone
About the times, I won't have to say
Oh, kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go
cause I'm leavin on a jet plane
Don't know when I'll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go
But, I'm leavin on a jet plane
Don't know when I'll be back again
Oh babe, I hate to go
Wednesday 31 January 2007
Wednesday 24 January 2007
Quite Another Version of 向左走 向右走
向左走 向右走 is one of the more well known works of 几米. It was first published in 1999 and made famous a few years back by its screen adaption.Listening to one of songs in the debut album of 蔡淳佳 released in 2000 titled 他和她, i cannot help but feel a sense of familiarity. Somehow, it seemed to describe the situation that the lead characters are in. They were meant for each other but even though they are living in the same building and just 3 windows away, they somehow managed to miss each other. Isn't that very 向左走 向右走? Well, the lyrics are just below, you decide for yourself. =)
他习惯把自己丢在热闹的场所
他以为这样可以掩饰掉落寞
她喜欢往这个城市最安静角落走
担心脆弱被人识破
他和她住同一栋楼
遗憾的是爱擦肩而过
他们孤独时候
都望着同一颗星球
他和她都在城市飘流
遗憾的是心无缘邂逅
他们彼此适合却无奈的错过
在人群中掩没
他渴望能有人分享夜晚和失落
她最怕独自面对黄昏和脆弱
其实他们彼此距离才两三个窗
不同的心一样寂寞
Saturday 20 January 2007
Meaning of Life
What is the meaning of life? That is one answer that only we ourselves can truly answer. No one better than us know the reason why we live the life we are living now, doing the things that we do now.
What is your reason for living? The possibilities are infinite and i hope your motive to live is based on love, peace, joy and happiness. If we do so, not only will we better our own lives, it benefits people around us as well. 8) Otherwise, to live a selfish life or one that is filled with anger and hatred, will only serve to lead us into a life full of hurt and disappointment.
From Venerable Mahinda,
"The true meaning of life lies beyond wordly happiness, beyond material wealth and status. As long as we do not have the wisdom to realise impermanence, unsatifactoriness and emptiness of worldly things and pursuits, we will always be seeking for meaning.
To realise the true purpose and meaning of life, we need patience, perserverance as well as faith and confidence in moral and spiritual values. We need to fufill our immediate purpose before we can move on to something higher."
True to Bhante's words - until we realise how empty worldly happiness and material gains are, we will never truly be contented and constantly searching for an answer. Once we start to realise the impermanence nature of all conditioned things, we will also start to realise the need to cherish this present moment.
As the Buddha once put it very nicely, "The past is gone and the future yet to come. The only thing we truly have is the present moment." When we understand this, we will learn to live a life of understanding as the future is uncertain and we may not have the luxury to enjoy other than this very moment.
Understanding the love we received from our loved ones such as our families, friends, teachers and to learn to appreciate and return it in kind. Understanding the suffering of others, to learn to release our compassionate heart and to let go of our hatred and anger if any in us. Such is the purpose of life - living a life of kindness, free from fear and regrets. 8)
What is your reason for living? The possibilities are infinite and i hope your motive to live is based on love, peace, joy and happiness. If we do so, not only will we better our own lives, it benefits people around us as well. 8) Otherwise, to live a selfish life or one that is filled with anger and hatred, will only serve to lead us into a life full of hurt and disappointment.
From Venerable Mahinda,
"The true meaning of life lies beyond wordly happiness, beyond material wealth and status. As long as we do not have the wisdom to realise impermanence, unsatifactoriness and emptiness of worldly things and pursuits, we will always be seeking for meaning.
To realise the true purpose and meaning of life, we need patience, perserverance as well as faith and confidence in moral and spiritual values. We need to fufill our immediate purpose before we can move on to something higher."
True to Bhante's words - until we realise how empty worldly happiness and material gains are, we will never truly be contented and constantly searching for an answer. Once we start to realise the impermanence nature of all conditioned things, we will also start to realise the need to cherish this present moment.
As the Buddha once put it very nicely, "The past is gone and the future yet to come. The only thing we truly have is the present moment." When we understand this, we will learn to live a life of understanding as the future is uncertain and we may not have the luxury to enjoy other than this very moment.
Understanding the love we received from our loved ones such as our families, friends, teachers and to learn to appreciate and return it in kind. Understanding the suffering of others, to learn to release our compassionate heart and to let go of our hatred and anger if any in us. Such is the purpose of life - living a life of kindness, free from fear and regrets. 8)
Sunday 14 January 2007
Pan's Labyrinth
A Spanish film set in the 1940's countryside of Spain. It tells of a tale of a little girl (Ofelia) travelling with her mum (Carmen) who joins her newly wedded husband (Vidal) in their new home. There, it starts a tale of fantasy in the midst of harsh reality of warfare. For the full synopsis, you can visit their website www.panslabyrinth.com
Although its film that has won numerous awards, it is not for those who cannot appreciate dark beauty at one of its better moments. If Alice in Wonderland is the pretty version of surrealism, then this must be the dark and twisted version. The faun is no pretty faun like the one you may have seen in Narnia. The faun in this film looks more like the devil in disguise and the magical creatures that Ofelia met are no angels. Even the fairies are in dark colours like dirty green and dark blue to help better portray the gloominess of the show.
What really stands out in the show is the ability of the director to mix reality with fantasy in a very fine line, leaving you wondering if those magical creatures are for real or just simply the conjurement of Ofelia. Other than this, this film really brings out the best and the worst of the human nature during war time. A tale of all sorts of human emotions, love, hate, pride, humility, compassion.
Oh, by the way, the show is somewhat graphical in nature, so if you are those squemish people, don't watch it.....
Saturday 13 January 2007
Wish I Could Do A Little More
Knowing how people around me are suffering and yet unable to offer much to ease their suffering is really saddening and sometimes even fustrating.
I know how sometimes the right words and actions at the appropriate time can help immensely but somehow i am lacking the infinite wisdom of a enlightened mind to do so. But i do know that to join them in thinking negatively will not help as it will only heighten whatever dukha (suffering) they are experiencing.
All i can do at any point in time is to offer and radiate my slient wishes of metta (loving-kindness). Sometimes, they will offer to relate whatever unhappiness they are experiencing and i do my best to listen and if they are willing, offer some worldly advices or dhamma (if they do not mind).
So when will their suffering and fustration end? How i wish i could do a little more to help....
I know how sometimes the right words and actions at the appropriate time can help immensely but somehow i am lacking the infinite wisdom of a enlightened mind to do so. But i do know that to join them in thinking negatively will not help as it will only heighten whatever dukha (suffering) they are experiencing.
All i can do at any point in time is to offer and radiate my slient wishes of metta (loving-kindness). Sometimes, they will offer to relate whatever unhappiness they are experiencing and i do my best to listen and if they are willing, offer some worldly advices or dhamma (if they do not mind).
So when will their suffering and fustration end? How i wish i could do a little more to help....
Tuesday 9 January 2007
Death - A User Friendly Guide
About a week ago, I chanced upon this advertisment ~ "Death. a user friendly guide" at a bus stop in Bishan area. The title caught my immediate attention. Talk about advertising for death! =)I'm not too sure if there is any infringment of copyrights (and if if there is, do let me know and i'll remove the link below from my blog) but meantime, i'll share with you this adverstisment by Singapore Hospice Council. =)
How do you feel after reading this advertisment? It seems to serve as a reminder to us to be mindful of the present moment and our loved ones around us. To resolve any hatred and anger that we might have with the most important people in our lives and not wait a second longer as the future is uncertain.
Sometimes we rush into things without thinking and yet there are times we simply ignore and not do what truly deserves our attention. If there's any cue to be taken from this article, it is to express your love this very moment without delay and to let go of your anger this very second. Doing so will reward us beyond material riches ~ a more fulfiling life, a life without regrets. =)
Monday 1 January 2007
Platonic Relationships
Platonic relationship in a modern sense means an affectionate relationship between 2 people of opposite sexes in which the sexual element does not enter into the picture. A simple example of platonic relationships is a deep, non-sexual friendship between two heterosexual people.
It is also commonly used to describe the relationship between a man and a woman who are bosom friends but have no intention of getting into a deeper relationship e.g. BFGF or Man & Wife relationship. Do you believe in platonic friendships exist in this world? I do so without a doubt. Simply so because other than my buddies, i do have very good bosom friends that hail from the opposite sex. (",) Some are married, some being attached while the rest being single.
(I must admit once more that this is one of those blogs that are prompted by the events around me. Without these events, i do not read or think too in depth into things that i might have taken to be very natural and simple to me but not so to some others.)
Let me illustrate more of my views on this topic. When you see two persons of the opposite sexes going out together, enjoying each other's company. Laughing aloud over a good cup of coffee, walking the mall together or even catching a movie together. What do you see? Or rather how do you view their relationship?
I simply see 2 persons having a good time enjoying each other's presence in the present moment but to some, it means that the 2 parties are interested in each other and habour thoughts of developing further into the relationship (based on past reflections from a number of friends as some of them had remarked that if the girl is not in the bit least liking the guy, she would have never agree on a one to one basis outing).
Of course, there is no denying that there are times when people do go out with the intention of getting to know each other better. And some of them do so in hope for a more beautiful relationship to blossom in the somewhat near and foreseeable future.
Looking at these few very different attitudes towards relationship, it's little wonder that people (or maybe it's just me) find it difficult to tell what sort of intentions are present. And to make matter worse, one party may approach with a simple view for better friendship while the other might think otherwise and wish for more, resulting in a awkward situation.
No matter what and how different is our attitude towards the relationship, it is still important to remember that the other party might not concur in their views. Even so, we should learn to respect their point as the other party is just like us, in search of happiness in this present moment. We will then be able to live in the present truly and let infinite possibilities take over in their own due course, be it great friends or lifetime partners in the future yet to come. =)
It is also commonly used to describe the relationship between a man and a woman who are bosom friends but have no intention of getting into a deeper relationship e.g. BFGF or Man & Wife relationship. Do you believe in platonic friendships exist in this world? I do so without a doubt. Simply so because other than my buddies, i do have very good bosom friends that hail from the opposite sex. (",) Some are married, some being attached while the rest being single.
(I must admit once more that this is one of those blogs that are prompted by the events around me. Without these events, i do not read or think too in depth into things that i might have taken to be very natural and simple to me but not so to some others.)
Let me illustrate more of my views on this topic. When you see two persons of the opposite sexes going out together, enjoying each other's company. Laughing aloud over a good cup of coffee, walking the mall together or even catching a movie together. What do you see? Or rather how do you view their relationship?
I simply see 2 persons having a good time enjoying each other's presence in the present moment but to some, it means that the 2 parties are interested in each other and habour thoughts of developing further into the relationship (based on past reflections from a number of friends as some of them had remarked that if the girl is not in the bit least liking the guy, she would have never agree on a one to one basis outing).
Of course, there is no denying that there are times when people do go out with the intention of getting to know each other better. And some of them do so in hope for a more beautiful relationship to blossom in the somewhat near and foreseeable future.
Looking at these few very different attitudes towards relationship, it's little wonder that people (or maybe it's just me) find it difficult to tell what sort of intentions are present. And to make matter worse, one party may approach with a simple view for better friendship while the other might think otherwise and wish for more, resulting in a awkward situation.
No matter what and how different is our attitude towards the relationship, it is still important to remember that the other party might not concur in their views. Even so, we should learn to respect their point as the other party is just like us, in search of happiness in this present moment. We will then be able to live in the present truly and let infinite possibilities take over in their own due course, be it great friends or lifetime partners in the future yet to come. =)
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