Music

You guessed it: I am a music lover! Has music ever brought tears to your eyes? Music can certainly make me cry. It made my dad cry. And when my youngest was a mere baby, my wife had sung this mournful song to him and - to our utter surprise - tears were rolling down his cheeks! How does a child who is just a few months old understand happiness and sorrow? Even babies are spiritual beings!

Below is a list of songs that I dug out from Youtube. I have had to reject a few as the list was so long. You will probably be surprised at the type of music I like.

Enjoy!

A Bridge Too Far
(One of the family's favourite tunes.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tQi8ZQgmlM

Ambrosia: Biggest Part of Me
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QIWtY7gzvA

Annie Lennox: Love Song for a Vampire
(From the movie Dracula.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhG8zC4npsE

Bryan Adams: Thought I'd Died and Gone to Heaven
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTfIr_euGTs

Carole King: It's Too Late
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPeVbEg1DHE

Chemical Brothers: Galvanise
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2hzVV2Nwfs

Cliff Richard: Hey, Mr Dream Maker
(Bitter sweet tune for those nursing a broken heart.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn7l-AoRqiw

Corrs: Old Town
(My favourite song from them.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5DF-l7sVrI

Counting Crows: A Long December
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNF1a-ZG1uc

Daniel Lee: Mimpi
(Lovely Malay song sung by a Chinese boy.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yf3TyhedHkc

Danny Chan: 一生何求
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_H590e5KKw

Dexys Midnight Runners: Come on Eileen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc-P8oDuS0Q

Dido: White Flag
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d05zbvtGhtE

Don McLean: Vincent
(Song dedicated to the artist Vincent Van Gogh.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dipFMJckZOM

Earl Klugh: If it's in Your Heart
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsH2uDRK3_o

Gabrielle: Sunshine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fmpaWSz04aQ

Garbage: Stupid Girl
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N29vkIT3eo

Gin Blossoms: Till I Hear from You
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CU0LO1gFRA

Goo Goo Dolls: Here is Gone
(One of my favourite bands.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tM6yOEMI82Y

Hoobastank: The Reason
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Q30-2QpZVc

INXS: Original Sin
(You can see why the girls like Michael.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sGeitNLkVog

John Mayer: No Such Thing
(My favourite JM song.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mndGAh7M1GY

Jamiroquai: Little L
(Jay Kay reputedly spends a fortune on his videos.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJj2v37T9xA

Kula Shaker: Govinda
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ioj_Npc5L_g

Lang Lang: Defend the Yellow River
(Part 4 of the Yellow River Concerto which was apparently composed during the anti-Japanese war.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7xI9X8IsuE

Lou Rawls: Lady Love
(Amazing voice, amazing song.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fs97K9Fs3RE

Massive Attack: Teardrop
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PWiZ7ogzaaY

Matchbox Twenty: Real World
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Re33gPbnWfo

My Fair Lady: Ascot Opening Race
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5Sq1Pax7h8

Nirvana: Smells Like Teen Spirit
(What's tormenting Kurt?)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXO3OMGKPpw

Paul Hardcastle: 19
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=byCCmBwRjGw

Paul McCartney: Pipes of Peace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVK_mJrLbmY

Puddle of Mudd: Blurry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGmrL2h8lrE

Rob Dougan: Clubbed to Death
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9TzYICt3yg

Sally Yeh: 瀟灑走一回
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_QLb-coHCs

Staind: It's Been a While
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVC1iBVnKJk

Stereophonics: Maybe Tomorrow
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaT86mk9gj8

Steve Perry: Foolish Heart
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-A8MSEB9rg

Stevie Wonder: Sir Duke
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmUvVj2mxnY

Swing Out Sister: Breakout
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q99GdBdX4u4

Tal Bachman: She's So High
(Love this song!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zbWyq6MRUX8

Song Fei: 二泉映月
(My dad loved this haunting erhu tune and so do I.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj13KU3SAvE

Saigon Execution

This is a very famous photo of a Vietnamese police chief in Saigon executing a Vietcong prisoner.












And below is the video of it.


Watch what happens when a bullet goes into someone's head. His feet give way immediately and he drops straight to the ground. His heart continues to pump for a while and blood squirts from his head wound. I'll bet you have never seen anything like it and hopefully never will again.

Napalm Girl

A few blogs ago, I mentioned a Vietnamese girl who was hit by napalm. This is a video of that incident. Notice the skin hanging off the baby.



[From a young lady in Kuala Lumpur (5 May 2009):

I read ur updated blog… its … I should say … sumthing we will never know & do not bother to find out. I’m seriously type-less (speechless). What makes u to have interest in Vietnam’s war? Or wars? And where did u get all those pictures? From the books u read?

Da moment I saw da girl who took off her clothes when da fire is burning it, and she survives all those……, my life now, is nothing compare to her’s. I’m so lucky to hv what I had now….

Thanks…. ]

Art and Subjectivity

Yup, that's a photo of me approximately 25 years ago.

I was in Architecture school doing a Communications subject. We were instructed to create a perspective of a small building and place it in some bush environment. I was probably in a state of panic as usual wondering how the heck I was supposed to get over the hurdle. My skill at water colour was (and still is) near zero. So you can see that it was a totally hopeless attempt to produce a painting by trial and error!

When the Aussie tutor first looked at it, he gave me a Pass Conceded or something contemptuous like that. After a while, he came back, studied my painting again and - surprise! surprise! - changed his verdict to Distinction or High Distinction, I can't remember which!

Isn't that absolutely hilarious? It shows that art is something that is totally subjective. How can I jump from low pass to distinction in one step? It's like hopping over that thin red line that exists between genius and insanity! A fellow student looked at my "masterpiece" and exclaimed, "How can they give such a high score to something so ugly!" before she realised I was standing behind her! Hahaha!

Going back a little further, I wrote a speech for a high-school public speaking competition that was rubbished by the teacher assigned to "edit" it for me. I ignored her and used it to get myself into the finals! I came away with the runner-up trophy!

Goes to show that what is crap to you may be beauty to someone else!

I like the word Art. It's very different from Science. In science, E always equals mc2! In art, you can use the same formula and get different results every time! The rules that apply to some may not even apply to you! With experience, intuition, psychological insight and the grasping of a whole lot of variables and maybe some intangibles, you can actually improve your results! Just the way you smile may alter the course of events! That's why war is an art. So is management. And so is stockmarket investment!

George Carlin on Religion

Even though I'm a Deist (I believe in God but have no religion), I like this video. A lot of the things Carlin said is relevant and should be considered by all who are seeking the truth.

I was a Christian once and tended to get very defensive and upset if people so much as asked questions about my religion. It certainly didn't convince anyone that my beliefs were right. So do watch it with an open mind and think about how other people view the world.