Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Kungfu Fight -vwv

I happened to chance across this video of the classic fight between two kungfu masters in 1954. This was a big event in Hong Kong and Macau back then. It happened when the 33-year-old Chen Kefu of the Tibetan White Crane style challenged the 53-year-old Wu Kung-i of Wu Style Tai Chi.

It's quite an amusing video, seeing that the fight looks less like a Wong Fei Hong movie and more like a children's brawl. I guess it's one thing to know the moves but another to actually apply them under the pressure of a real fight.

Emotions were running high with the media fanning the flames. Before long, both parties were violating all the rules (no kicking allowed) and the referee had to end the fight with a draw (give face lah) before anyone got seriously hurt.

Interestingly, the fight resulted in more students for the martial arts schools and indirectly brought forth the modern era of wuxia novels.

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Yiheng made 10:16 PM

1 Comments:

hmmm.. their fightings were just throwing fits at one another... and slapping moves..
By  Anonymous, at 10:56 AM  

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Sunday, February 22, 2009
Fake Cigarettes -vvw

There have been recent reports of contraband "fake" cigarettes containing disgusting ingredients like dried grass, human faeces, dead insects etc. The moral of the story is that you should buy legal cigarettes with quality control if you don't want to smoke all that crap.

I totally agree. People should buy REAL cigarettes where they can get proper ingredients like formaldehyde, ammonia, cyanide, lead and other approved heavy metals and carcinogens.

That is precisely why during a presentation in high school biology class many years ago, I advised my classmates that if they want to get heroin, don't get the black tar variety, get powder instead. Of course, Mrs Low was quick to add that we should not buy heroin at all.

At the end of the day, it's really all about the quality control. I mean, if you want to kill yourself, you should at least be allowed to do it according to plan, right? There's no telling what kind of side effects all those random ingredients might cause.

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Yiheng made 9:25 AM

1 Comments:

Haha I would love to sell cigarettes containing shit inside to smokers, and get paid in the process
By  Soqcrates, at 6:10 PM  

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Sunday, February 15, 2009
Jie Chen Piano Recital -vvz

It's been two years since the last time I attended a piano recital and the inspiration effect from that outing was starting to wear off. Fortunately, the Esplanade has arranged another piano recital in this year's Huayi Festival.

I thought Jiangzheng could use some exposure to piano performances of international standards, so I got him to go as well. By the 2nd movement of the first piece, he was already dozing off. Maybe it was a bad idea to start the recital with Hadyn.

Overall, Chen Jie managed to live up to the hype generated by the concert synopsis. Her technique was good and her interpretation colourful. I especially liked the Chinese folk tunes.

百鸟朝凤 left a strong impression. It really sounded like there were hundreds of birds. Jiangzheng preferred the original suona version. I guess if you expect the piano to sound like a lyrical instrument, you're setting yourself up for disappointment. Lucky for me, I don't quite remember what the suona version sounded like (although I'm sure it wouldn't be any less challenging for the musician).

The encore piece was 平湖秋月 (appropriate, since the next day was 元宵节). It filled me with a sense of tranquility (and somehow, déjà vu too); I could still hear the last few notes in my head long after the show has ended.

Being the cheap-thrill seeker that I am, I got her autograph on the CD I bought. Too bad she signed it in English. Her Chinese signature looks nicer. Must've been the greedy auntie in front who tired her out with a thick stack of programme booklets to sign.

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Yiheng made 10:19 PM

1 Comments:

The first piece was rather to chin for me to understand but was a great piano performance.
By  Anonymous, at 9:29 AM  

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