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March 30 Junos Brits Grammies for 2008 MusicThe Juno Awards aired the other night. Nickelback cleaned up apparently. With the Brits and Grammies over, we can compare the winners.
I love how the shows use the term "international album" but only nominate albums from English-speaking countries. Wouldn't it be cool if there was a truly international awards show that nominated songs from all countries and of all languages. A panel of judges made up of various nationalities would vote for the winners. And we'd see performances from Egypt's Amr Diab, France's Alizee, India's biggest singing star, Italy's Alessandro Safina, The U.K.'s Coldplay, China's Jane Zhang, Canada's Nelly Furtado, Senegal's Patience Debany, Korea's BoA, maybe someone from the U.S. and so on.
It seems that the world is not mature enough yet to showcase such a spectacle. But I believe the time will come. Let's hope it comes sooner rather than later.
Though it is hard to get a hold of music from various places and sung in various languages, Peltonator's was impressed with Japanese-American Utada Hikaru's album Heart Station, including her song "Prisoner of Love", as well as Mainland Chinese prodigy Zhang Li Yin, her album "I Will", and its title-track. March 24 Michael Wang's "Fairy Tale"In 2005, a 35 year old Chinese singer and composer from Malaysia released his third album, Fairytale. In making the album, Michael Wang rejected the first few songs, settling for nothing but perfection. He enlisted the help of experienced Japanese producer Taichi Nakamura. The finished product had ten songs, six of which were co-written by Wang himself.
For the album's title-track, Wang composed it himself. Being more of a composer and less of a lyricist, he consulted with about 30 lyricists for suggestions. After adding some finishing touches to the song with lyrics he wrote himself, he then handed the song over to Nakamura for arrangement and production. When the album's title-track, "Fairy Tale" was released in January 2005, it immediately shot up to Number 1 on charts across Asia. It became the Number 1 download on Baidu for 15 consecutive weeks. And it hit Number 1 on the karaoke charts, remaining at the top for the next two years. Asia was swept up by what was dubbed the "Fairy Tale Tornado". Arguably, Michael Wang's "Fairy Tale" is thus far the biggest Chinese song of the new millennium. Wang became the first Malaysian to win four main awards in the Chinese music scene's biggest award show, the Hong Kong TVB8 Golden Music Awards on 3 December 2005. He won Best Composition, Best Composer/Artist, Top Ten Songs of the Year, and Best of the Year's Top 10 Songs.
Below are the lyrics in Chinese and pinyin with an English translation. For the pinyin, I've not bothered including the tone marks, as tones are not used in singing. The English translation is mainly from the Chinese Music Blog (chinesemusicblog.com) with some fine tuning from yours truly.
童话 (王光良)
Tong Hua (Wang Guang Liang)
"Fairy Tale" (by Michael Wang)
忘了有多久再没听到你
Wang Le You Duo Jiu Zai Mei Ting Dao Ni
I’ve forgotten how long it's been since I've heard you
对我说你最爱的故事
Dui Wo Shuo Ni Zui Ai De Gu Shi
Tell me your favourite story.
我想了很久我开始慌了
Wo Xiang Le Hen Jiu Wo Kai Shi Huang Le
I’ve thought for so long, it's making me dizzy,
是不是我又做错什么
Shi Bu Shi Wo You Zuo Cuo Le Shen Me
If it’s me who’s done something wrong.
你哭着对我说童话里都是骗人的
Ni Ku Zhe Dui Wo Shuo Tong Hua Li Dou Shi Pian Ren De
You’re crying and telling me fairytales are all lies,
我不可能是你的王子
Wo Bu Ke Neng Shi Ni De Wang Zi
That I can never be your prince.
也许你不会懂从你说爱我以后
Ye Xu Ni Bu Hui Dong Cong Ni Shuo Ai Wo Yi Hou
Maybe you haven't understood: since you said you loved me
我的天空星星都亮了
Wo De Tian Kong Xin Xin Dou Liang Le
Stars have been shining in my sky
Chorus:
我 (愿/要/会) 变成童话里你爱的那个天使
Wo (Yuan / Yao / Hui) Bian Cheng Tong Hua Li Ni Ai De Na Ge Tian Shi
I'm (willing to / want to / will) become the angel in your fairytale,
张开双手变成翅膀守护你
Zhang Kai Shuang Shou Bian Cheng Chi Bang Shou Hu Ni
To open my wings and protect you.
你要相信相信我们会像童话故事里
Ni Yao Xiang Xin Xiang Xin Wo Men Hui Xiang Tong Hua Gu Shi Li
You have to believe that we can be like those in fairytales
幸福和快乐是结局
Xing Fu He Kuai Le Shi Jie Ju
With a blissful, happy ending.
一起写我们的结局
Yi Qi Xie Wo Men De Jie Ju
Together we will write our own ending.
 March 23 The Spring of CivilizationThe following blog entry may not be for everyone. But I thought I'd write something a little more on the "spiritual" side of things.
Nature, dependent on the warmth and light of the sun, follows an annual cycle of life and death. When the earth turns away from the sun, trees, plants, and flowers begin to die. Trees lose their leaves, flowers wilt, and grass turns brown. In the chill of winter, the landscape is lifeless. The birds and their song, the buzz of insects, even the gush of now-frozen water, are all absent. The animals, aside from those with thick coats protecting them from the coldness, have retreated into hibernation. Then, as the earth begins turning back toward the sun, life returns. The birds come back from their southern excursions, the insects drone about, and the animals emerge. Flowers blossom, trees grow new leaves, and the grass turns green again. This phenomenon we call spring. It is a time of rebirth, of resurrection.
I believe that human civilization follows a similar pattern. But the cycle, far longer than an annual one, lasts perhaps every thousand years or so. After the intensity of the summer's heat, we begin to die, in heart, or in spirit. We begin to turn away from that heavenly Sun, our Creator. Or, if you're not a believer, let's at least say, we turn away from the good. We become increasingly selfish and, rather than placing the good at the center of our lives, we place the satisfaction of our personal desires. As a result, darkness sets in. We no longer dedicate our lives to the pursuit of virtue. There is a continual decline of trustworthiness, truthfulness, honesty, love, sincerity, patience, forbearance, justice, and kindness. And without these fruits of the heart, a host of dark phenomena rise to power: crime, terrorism, drunkenness, promiscuity, violence, prejudice, injustice, dishonesty, betrayal, and backbiting, to name a few. Society's institutions begin to fall apart: schools, governments, firms, families, what have you.
In the winter-season, these cold realities dominate over our lives and the lives of civilization. But, lo and behold, spring comes. People begin to turn toward the Creator again. The first ones to turn back to the good are usually not the people of high rank or accomplishment. To use an analogy:
Prominent people are like precious jewels. What are done with precious jewels? They are hidden away lest they be stolen. They are locked up in a safe. So, when the earth (of civilization) begins to turn back towards the sun, what do its warm rays hit first? Usually, they hit the humble, rough grains of sand in the desert. What about the jewels? The jewels are hidden away in a box filled with money. The sun's rays cannot reach them. ;-)
One difference between the life-cycle of nature and that of civilization is that our spring—the rebirth of our heart or our spirits—is always heralded by a great personage. These great ones are really manifestations of the sun. They are like mirrors that perfectly reflect the sun—its light and heat. Since we cannot approach the sun lest we be melted away, by turning toward the Manifestations perfectly reflecting the attributes of the sun, we are turning toward the Creator. We've all heard the names of these Manifestations: Krishna, Abraham, Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Christ, Muhammad. Interestingly, these Manifestations have almost always appeared in Asia. The physical sun rises first in the east. And these divine mirrors also appear in the east.
Whenever one of these spotless Beings appears, He heralds a spiritual springtime, helping us to turn back to the good and also bringing us new guidance suitable for society at its new stage of growth. He releases into the world an impulse that sets in motion a rebirth of the good, a new spring. And civilization comes together again with love, with unity, and with justice.
People will believe anything. Name the most far-out, fantastic, ridiculous nonsense you can think of and there will definitely be a group of people who believe it. But there is one thing that people will never believe; namely, that our Creator has sent us a new Messenger. Whenever the Manifestations mentioned above first appeared, they were, one and all, ignored, mocked, or persecuted by all but a small handful of people. People usually do not respond favourably to the call of the new Manifestation right away, wrapt up in their cares and worries, spiritually asleep. Perhaps it is because we are so accustomed to the darkness that we don't like a bright light shining in our faces. Rest assured that we are coming out of our winter. A new Manifestation has appeared. And His name is Bahá'u'lláh. March 21 Gini IndexGap Between Rich and Poor: World Income Inequality
"To understand how many inhabitants of a country are poor, it is not enough to know a country's per capita income. The number of poor people in a country and the average quality of life depend on how equally or unequally income is distributed across the population. A Gini index value of 0 represents absolute equality, and a value of 100 indicates absolute inequality."
(Canada is 24th)
Primary Source: World Development Index 2007, The World Bank March 18 50,000 HitsAll is noisy on the eastern front. Shanghai is still under construction. The weather is warming up. The first day of spring is just three days away. 27.3% of all twenty-something women in China have had an abortion, according to a recent article in the China Daily newspaper. The World Bank reports that the country in the world with the biggest gap between the rich and poor is Namibia and the smallest gap is Denmark. The hottest female singer in the Chinese world - Jolin Cai - is releasing a new album entitled Butterfly. Gigi Leung is visiting Vietnam. Gary Numan has just returned from his first Australian concert tour in 29 years. For the first time in 12 years, unemplyment in the U.K. has passed the 2 million mark. The unemployment rate in Canada is up to 7.7%. The Vancouver Canucks have set a club record achieving 10 straight home wins. And ... Peltonator's reached 50,000 hits this evening. March 16 What Is St. Patrick's Day?Had it not been for a band of Irish marauders in the fifth century, March 17 might've been plain old Maewyn's Day — because Maewyn wouldn't have changed his name to Patrick, and he likely wouldn't have become a saint. In fact, it wouldn't have been a Day at all.
But as it happened, a certain 16-year-old Welsh lad was kidnapped by those Irish marauders, and during the six years young Maewyn spent in servitude as a shepherd in Ireland he experienced a religious awakening, then spent years studying in a monastery. He took on a new name, Patrick, and a new calling — converting his countrymen to Christianity.
 Patrick certainly had the luck of the Irish — as a young man he escaped the captors who enslaved him, and several times later in life he escaped arrest by the druids who didn't appreciate his missionary activities in their midst.
He was successful at his chosen mission, too, founding schools and churches and performing baptisms; within 200 years Ireland was a Christian country. The shamrock, a trifoliate clover, became his cleverest teaching tool, which he used to explain the Trinity — three elements forming one entity. …
Saint Patrick died on March 17 in the year 461, and this date was declared a religious feast day. … Nowadays, in an effort to present the best face of Ireland to visitors, a St. Patrick's Day festival is celebrated in Dublin from March 13th to the 19th. It features music, theatre, dance, comedy, a treasure hunt, performance art, fireworks and more; it draws over a million revellers.
The first St. Patrick's Day parade took place not in Ireland, however, but in New York, in 1872; the parade became an occasion for downtrodden Irish immigrants to declare their pride in their nationality. Parades now take place across Europe, the Americas and Asia.
How to celebrate St. Patrick's Day:
l Wear green
l Pin a shamrock to your hat
l Speak with a brogue (a strong Irish accent)
l Speak some blarney (smooth, flattering talk, esp. when trying to gain favour)
l Wear brogues (heavy shoes of untanned leather)
l Wish your friends and family "Top o' the morning to ye" and every so often cry out "Erin go bragh!" (Ireland forever)
l If you're a mayor, dye your town's rivers green and paint your lane markers green.
—From an article by Answers.com
Peltonator's wishes all Irish friends a happy St. Patrick's Day, 2009. March 13 Clearing Up Confusion Over the U.K. and the U.S.Living here and meeting many people from all over the world, I have found that there is a lot of confusion surrounding The United Kingdom. Is England a country? What's the difference between Great Britain and the United Kingdom? These and a host of other questions are often asked. Many ESL teachers here often teach Chinese students the wrong things about the country. So, let's clear it up.
Geographically speaking, there are two main islands. The western island is called Ireland and has two political divisions: Ireland and Northern Ireland. The eastern island is called Great Britain and has three political divisions: England, Scotland, and Wales.
Prior to 1949, the two islands made up one country - The United Kingdom. But Ireland became a repubic in 1949. Northern Ireland has remained part of the United Kingdom. So, currently, the United Kingdom (U.K.) consists of four main divisions, three of which (England, Scotland, and Wales) make up the entire island of Great Britain, and the fourth of which makes up one-sixth of the island of Ireland in the north (Northern Ireland). The southern five-sixths of the island is the Republic of Ireland, an independent country.
Population-wise, things are very interesting. I, for one, never realized it until recently. The entire country (republic) of Ireland has a population of only 4,429,320, about a quarter of which live in the capital city - Dublin. In terms of the United Kingdom, things are even more surprising and maybe our referring to the entire country as "England", which is actually only one of four divisions, is partially justified. About 84% of all people in the United Kingdom live in England. Only 8% live in Scotland, 5% in Wales, and 3% in Northern Ireland!
Here are population estimates for this year (2009):
There is also a lot of misinformation going around concerning the United States of America (U.S.A.). People often refer to the country as "America". This is incorrect. The United States is not America; it is OF America, meaning that it belongs to the American continent. The American continent, due to the narrow country of Panama and its canal, has been divided by geographers into two continents: North America and South America. North America includes all countries from Canada in the north to Panama in the south.
Central America is not a continent but a region of North America: from Mexico in the north to Panama in the south. Latin America is also not a continent. It is the region of the two American continents (North America and South America) south of the United States, called so because most countries (with the exceptions of Belize, Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and many islands of the Caribbean) are Spanish or Portuguese speaking. The term "Latin" America is misleading too because Latin was the language of Rome which has now become Italian, not Spanish.
I hope this clears things up. March 10 When Law is Simply AdviceWalking home today, I saw a scene which I would have loved to record on video and upload to Youtube. Countless English language magazines in Shanghai a few years ago dedicated much space to information about new jaywalking laws and fines in the city. Articles cautioned everyone to be careful lest getting caught would deprive your wallet of a lot of cash due to the hefty fines.
Well, today, on foot, I was waiting at an intersection to cross the street. Among the cars waiting for the light was a police car. Although the light hadn't turned green (no walk signal), a group of Chinese men jaywalked right in front of the police car. The police officer did absolutely nothing.
As I've lived here for six years now, I wasn't surprised. From what I gather, the Chinese see law as a means of informing people of a wise course of action to take and raising awareness. Law is simply advice and as such is rarely enforced, unless it is a more serious crime. Here is a further example.
When my wife Carolyn and I were at the Great Wall of China, there were a number of No Smoking signs posted at the foot of the wall. Apparently there have been bushfires in the past that have destroyed a lot of trees nearby as it is very dry. I've often told Carolyn of how No Smoking signs are ignored in many public places that have them. Chinese men will defiantly light up anyway and will not get in trouble for doing so, unless it is a western establishment like KFC. Upon seeing the signs at the Great Wall, Carolyn told me that, for sure, people will obey the signs here because the fine was much heftier—RMB 5,000. I told her that it would make no difference. "I bet you we'll see someone light up here," I said. And sure enough, right in front of us we saw a Chinese man light up. Carolyn started chuckling to see my prediction come true before her eyes. I suggested we take the man's photo and publish it on the internet. She burst out laughing even harder.
What especially irks foreigners - including Singaporeans and Hong Kongers, I might add - is when cars fail to stop for people at pedestrian crossings. What is even worse is when cars actually honk at pedestrians! What could be ruder? I was curious to know whether stopping for pedestirans was law or not (not that it would make much difference). I have a foreign friend getting a Chinese driver's license. In order to get one, you have to already have a foreign driver's license and then pass a written exam which spells out the Chinese traffic rules (there is an English version). My friend said that one of the rules is that pedestrians have the right-of-way on the pedestrian part of the road (crosswalk). So, yes, it is the law, and one of the laws that is the most often broken. I do my part to honour the law. Whenever I'm crossing the road and a car honks at me, I slow down my pace. If he honks again, I slow down more. That's my advice! March 04 The Blacks-and-Whites-Only ClubJust so that there is no mistake, here's the thing. I talk about hero worship and idolizing celebrities in a negative way and then right after write about some Chinese celebrities. Am I a hypocrite?
As I said, respecting and admiring people in various fields is fine as long as we don't begin to pin all our hopes and dreams on them.
My web log is very broad in its content. I was never intent on dedicating it to one topic or theme. One of the themes I've chosen to write about is Chinese culture. Because I'm living in China and married to a Chinese beauty, I like to introduce Chinese culture to the many westerners attracted to it. As I learn about China and Chinese culture—its food, its beverages, its geography, its language, its way of thinking and working, its entertainment industry, and so forth—I write about it.
As far as the Chinese entertainment industry goes, its two biggest players—movies and music—are a force to be reckoned with. But there is very little information on Chinese entertainers in English, aside from maybe Jackie Chan and Jet Li. So I'm trying to provide some info on them for interested non-Chinese.
The music industry in the United States and Canada (and the movie industry to a lesser extent) is a blacks-and-whites-only club. In order to be played on the radio in Canada or the U.S., your skin has to be either black or white. It cannot be any shade in-between. When an English song from a Chinese singer is undeniably good, the racist excuse is given, "Well his or her English isn't good enough." Two refutations can readily be offered. First, let's look at lyrics of some native English speakers:
One of the biggest songs of last year was "I Kissed a Girl" sung by native English speaker Katy Perry, an American. Let's look at an excerpt of the lyrics:
"I kissed a girl just to try it
I hope my boyfriend don't mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don't mean I'm in love tonight"
This is horrible English! Did Katy even graduate from Primary School? Her conjugation of the verb "to do" is all wrong of course. The second line should read, "I hope my boyfriend DOESN'T mind it." And the fifth line should read, "DOESN'T mean I'm in love tonight".
Another of the biggest songs last year was "Don't Stop the Music" by Rihanna. Rihanna is a native English speaker from Barbados, an English-speaking country.
"I gotta get my body moving
Shake the stress away
I wasn't looking for nobody
when you looked my way"
Many lazy native speakers pronounce "Got to" as "Gotta", so I'm not going to knock her too much for that. But line 3 should say either, "I wasn't looking for anybody" or "I was looking for nobody". Bad English!
Let's look at one more song. Chris Brown, an American native English speaker had a big hit last year called, "Forever":
"I'm a take you there
I'm a take you there
So don't be scared"
Um, excuse me? Just what kind of English is "I'm a take you there"? It makes no sense, buddy.
The music industry in the U.S. may argue that Chinese singers can't speak good English, but the fact is that native English speakers aren't doing much better.
The second refutation to the racist argument "Well the Chinese singer's English isn't good enough" pertains more to pronunciation. Maybe the lyrics have sound English but the singer's pronunciation is off. The counter-argument is that many non-native English speakers, who get radio airplay, such as Enrique Iglesias, have noticeable accents when they sing in English. But I suppose since Enrique is European and not Asian, his accent is acceptable to redneck Canucks and Yankees, eh.
The racism is totally exposed when the Chinese is Canadian or American born. You can't accuse someone who was born and grew up in Canada or the U.S. of having bad pronunciation. But then the racist excuse becomes, "Well the song / music isn't good enough". This is such a convenient excuse because no one can prove or disprove it. It dissolves itself into an ocean of subjectivity.
Chinese radio plays many English songs. But Canadian radio plays no Chinese songs. Why is that? In fact, Canadian radio doesn't even play French songs unless it's a French radio station.
I haven't the power to change the injustice but at least I can raise awareness and that's the spirit of Peltonator's. |
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