After four years of movie & music loving, Luna’s Corner is retiring.

Thank you for reading. If you’re looking for Luna, you can still find her at Ashita Smile.

I’ve long hoped for F.I.R. and Mayday to collaborate, and they did so on a song called 第一天 “Di Yi Tian” on 孫燕姿 Stefanie Sun Yan-zi’s 完美的一天 “Wan Mei De Yi Tian” (A Perfect Day) album.

The song is credited to “First Day"– F.I.R., St[efanie], and [May]day. Neat, huh?

The bridge is perhaps the coolest part, where Faye, Stefanie, and the lead singer of Mayday all alternate lines. However, the ending of the song REALLY REALLY SUCKS.

Perhaps someday F.I.R. and Mayday will collaborate alone on a song.

On another note, I would LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE to hear Faye (lead singer of F.I.R.) sing the female part of Shin’s (another band) 千年之戀 “Qian Nian Zhi Lian.”

Interestingly enough, F.I.R. also has a song called 千年之戀 “Qian Nian Zhi Lian” although they’re completely different songs.

I’m very annoyed at this blog right now because somehow, all the spammers can still spam me, but normal people can’t comment anymore.

That, and I really don’t like WP (it’s too complicated).

I purchased 3 new albums off my wishlist at yesasia.com, and I’m sad to say I’m a little disappointed in the selection. First of all, I got Ocean Au’s 2nd album (since I liked the first one so much), Eason Chan’s “special thanks to…” and F.I.R.’s new album, “Wu Xian” (Boundless).

I’d already heard all the songs before I bought the Eason one, so I knew it wasn’t as good as “It’s Me” or “Black, White, and Grey.” However, I’m still a big fan of Eason’s music and I decided I wanted more of his Mandarin CDs, since he’s an HK star and does more Cantonese pop than Mandarin pop.

The Ocean Au album is a little disappointing because as I was flipping through it, I noticed that the same composer wrote EVERY SINGLE SONG and the same lyricist did ALL THE LYRICS. Already, I don’t like seeing that kind of thing on an album. There’s a lot of famous composers and lyricsts out there that I notice tend to write songs I like, and I always look at the album booklet to see who did what. There’s not enough diversity on the type of songs and the lyrics are all pretty sub-par. The mixing doesn’t sound as crisp or professional as his first album, either. Sigh! A disappointment.

As for F.I.R., how is that disappointing? Not the music, of course, but the album package itself. I purchased the CD+VCD set, because I wanted to see some of their music videos. Bad idea! It didn’t come with a lyric booklet. I would gladly trade the VCD in for a lyric booklet anyday. I can’t stand not being able to read along while I’m listening to the music. ARRGH!! I guess I shouldn’t have bought the CD+VCD set. If anyone wants to trade me, I will sell you this one (it’s in “like-new” condition) and buy the CD only. RRRRGH.

So… bleh. I still have 4 CDs in my wishlist, hopefully whenever I decide to get those I won’t be disappointed in them…

Tee hee.

^_^

I haven’t had much to write about in particular, but lately I’ve really been into JJ Lin (林俊傑 Lin Jun Jie)’s music. At first I only liked his song, “江南,” (Jiang Nan ~ River South) but after listening to some more I’ve really become a fan of his voice. He now no longer reminds me of a young Jeff Chang (張信哲 Zhang Xin Zhe), but has a sound that’s all his own. Which is, of course, very cool.

While in Taiwan, I don’t really listen to what music other people tell me is popular. I tend to watch Channel [V] and MTV Taiwan and just find whatever music I like. That’s how I heard Ocean Au (歐得洋 Ou De Yang) for the first time, and that’s how I’ve actually picked out a lot of singers I like. Doing translations for Ting Dong also gives me access to new music, since a lot of songs people request to have translated are songs and/or singers I’ve never heard of.

My current method (me not being in Taiwan right now, makes it kind of hard to watch Channel [V]), is Mp3 journals. I actually don’t like the idea of people being able to download music for free and saving it on their computer (hence, the singer/songwriter gets no $$ for their work), so I’m not going to list any links here. However, I do admit that I am fond of these journals because I’m always getting new music I’ve never heard of and a lot of them are things I eventually like. JJ Lin is a prime example; I would probably never have downloaded his stuff if a friend didn’t send me mp3s of his entire first album. Moroever, the aforementioned mp3 journals also feature his music a lot, too. I really like these mp3-sharing journals (most of the ones I follow are on LiveJournal), and although I dislike their method of reviewing the music (I think it’s rather stupid when someone keeps going on and on about why they think such-and-such a song is cool or crappy rather than letting you download and listen for yourself*), I don’t have any qualms about receiving the music. ^^

*This is because I tend to not trust other people’s tastes in music unless it’s a friend or I know for sure their taste coincides with my own.

Something else that’s happened that I neglected to mention is that I joined an a cappella choir at my Uni (I graduated, but am still working for the same lab) sometime in early January and have faithfully attended all but one 2-hour, once-a-week practices. I’d have to say I have a stronger control of my voice and am pleasantly surprised that my vocal range has also increased– albeit, I can hit more lower notes and not so much higher notes. Which irks me a little, since I’m an Alto 1 I’d prefer if I could ease myself into the lower soprano range. But, I’m satisfied with having a small hold on the higher tenor range, since I can now sing a lot of male-vocal songs I like at karoke without feeling strained. This includes JJ Lin (he’s high for a guy’s voice anyway), Andy Lau (劉德華 Liu De Hua) (his higher-pitched songs, like “練習” (Lian Xi ~ Practice); Andy is more of a baritone), and Ambrose Hsu (許紹洋 Xu Shao Yang)’s “花香” (Hua Xiang ~ Potpurri).

I feel like recording myself on my computer. Hehehe.

Is anyone out there reading this a fan of the pop group Twins? I think they’re from Hong Kong (at least, I haven’t really ever heard them sing in Mandarin, so I’m assuming they’re HK singers). I have a Twins poster up for grabs if anyone wants it, all you have to do is pay for shipping. I’d prefer shipping within the U.S. and Canada if at all possible, but international rates can be negotiated. Please let me know by responding to this post, and I will try to get in contact with you. Preferably leave an email address or a website that you can be contacted at/through.

Thankies~

The poster has been sold! ^.^

Lately, I’ve been on a Making Tracks listening binge again and putting my CD on repeat for hours at a time. I really, really love the lyrics… except for I usually don’t listen to “Shikataganai” and I really hate “Must Be the Music.” In fact, I personally feel that the latter is utterly the worst song on the album and most definitely should not have been included. I wish the’d put something like “The Other Son” on there instead. x_x

Maybe someday soon I’ll post some lyrics for you to peruse. For now here’s a line from, “Wings Like a Dove” that I particularly like.

“For how can we sing our fathers’ song in a land where we’re not free?”

To me, this line means, how can we, as Asian-Americans, hold onto our original cultural values (such as honoring our ancestors) if the society around us does not allow it? The word “father” in this case refers to past generations, as the musical tells the story of six generations in an Asian-American family. Interestingly, “fathers’ song” could be taken literally, as the character has a ancestor who immigrated to America with dreams of achieving riches and giving his family a better life. One song in the musical, “Mei Guo,” is sung when people from China, Japan, and Korea are all travelling to America on a boat. Some make it. Others die. How can we live the life that our ancestor wanted for us, if within the freedom that they dreamed of giving us, all we find is racism and prejudice?

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not trying to spew rants about Asian-American rights. I just think that the Asian-American identity needs to be more distinct. It’s murky and blurred. I don’t want to be just “American.” I am Asian-American, and proud of it. To be more precise, I am American-born Chinese, and proud of that, too.

I’ve heard from some Christian Chinese that they don’t even teach their own children to honor their ancestors anymore. Apparently, they see it as a form of idol and worship, something that their religion forbids or looks down upon (to any Christians: is this true? I welcome any insight and information you might have). I think that is sad, because it means we’re losing a part of our culture, ever so slowly. To me (keep in mind that I am not Christian), honoring ancestors is not idol or worship, it’s about respect. It’s about knowing and understanding all the countless generations that went into creating you. I’m eternally grateful for my life and all the things I’ve gotten to see, all the things I’ve gotten to do. I think I’m actually very fortunate. Thank you to all my ancestors, to every little tiny piece of you that still lives on in me.

I should do more close readings of Making Tracks lyrics. Actually, I already wrote a short two-page essay on the rhythm and rhyme of Hoon’s “I Will Walk Away” (also from the Making Tracks album). ^.^

Hey, guess what? I actually won one of the Andy Lau posters in the random drawing! How fun. ^.^

People seem to forget that “Asian” doesn’t just mean slanted brown eyes and straight black hair. In fact, my maternal grandfather originally came from northern China and has blue eyes, and my brother has wavy hair. Also, “Asian” doesn’t just mean China, Japan, and Korea. What about Laos, Thailand, Brunei, and Indonesia? Those are all in Asia too.

Probably the most forgotten “Asian” country is India. To me, India sounds like an exotic place, with all sorts of mysterious culture that I can’t even begin to understand. My friend, who is absolutely 110% in love with India, showed me my first Bollywood movie recently, that being Asoka (pronounced ah-shohk… like “ashoka” but the second ‘a’ is silent) starring Shahrukh Khan and Kareena Kapoor.

I really enjoyed it and I’d like to write more about it, so maybe I’ll do so after I’ve seen it again. I liked it so much that I bought myself the DVD. Trust me, it’s worth it. What makes the story so interesting to me is that it’s based on a true legend, that of the Emperor Asoka who invaded the city-state of Kalinga in order to rule all of India… only to realize that in the end, all he rules are dead bodies and rotting corpses. Instead, he turns to Buddhism, and spends the rest of his life spreading love and understanding, and not violence and hatred.

Truly remarkable.

(It’s a million times better than Troy, but then again, I hated Troy.)

Hello, I know, long time no post right? Well I’ve been busy and there’s really not much to talk about. I’m also working on another webproject with a friend (unrelated to Asiapop culture, unless you consider bubble tea to be part of it), and the graphics and webdesign has taken up a bit of my free time. I really hope you’re all still faithfully following my blog! I think I should give this a little more professional feel but I also want people to know that what I post in my blog is only one person’s opinion. It wouldn’t do to express myself ambiguously in third person and imply that it is the industry’s, and not my, opinion.

Well, being an Andy Lau fan, I’m really excited about the airing of his “Vision Tour 2004″ concert on HKVPradio. And for all you other faithful Andy Lau fans, guess what?! They are having a poster giveaway. Don’t worry, their site values your privacy as much as you do. Simply add yourself into the drawing (name, address, email addres) and you’ll be entered to win a free poster! C’mon, show your appreciation for Andy and for HKVPradio. Please note: All entries must be received by Tuesday, March 29, 2005 at 12am Pacific, and is available to USA residents only. So if you’re eligible, why not give it a shot? ^_^

Please see the HKVPradio homepage for more details.

From the Second Generation website:

Thanks to your support, we have been busy preparing for the California premiere of Making Tracks at the San Jose Repertory Theatre in California. Making Tracks takes the audience on a musical journey through six generations of an Asian American family, and has toured in New York, Seattle, and in Asia.

The San Jose production may be your only chance to see the musical Making Tracks for a while. Due to the tight funding environment, we were not able to secure enough funds to bring Making Tracks to New York this year.

Please pass the word onto your friends the Bay Area! Audiences out there are already excited. Tickets are selling fast! We’ve arranged for a special discount for our Second Generation supporters. For $6 off each ticket, please mention Second Generation when you call the San Jose Repertory Theatre Box Office – 408.367.7255. You can order tickets online (but with no discount) at http://www.sjrep.com/plays/play_view.php?id=s5

Thank you for your support and we hope to see you in San Jose!

Sincerely,

Welly Yang
Author, Making Tracks
Artistic Director, 2g

Grace C. Lee
Executive Director, 2g

I saw this musical when it toured Seattle, and I absolutely loved it. It is a must-see for everyone, regardless of your heritage: Asian-American or not.

Next on my list of songs I want to translate (as opposed to songs people have asked me to translate) is 劉若英 Rene Liu’s “蝴蝶,” or Butterfly. It’s from the animated version of 梁山伯與祝英台, better known in English as “The Buttefly Lovers.” If you don’t know the story… well, I guess I can explain it here.

~*~

祝英台 Zhu Ying-tai is the only daughter of the Zhu family, and longs to go to school and be educated. Unfortunately, in the period of China that this takes place, women stay at home and only sons are allowed an education. Disguised as a male doctor, she tricks her father into promising that if he can’t recognize his own daughter when she’s dressed as a man, she could go. When she reveals herself, her father can’t go back on his word. So Ying-tai and her servant girl both dress up as young boys and head off to the boy’s boarding school, a long way from their hometown. On the way she meets a handsome young man named 梁山伯 Liang Shan-bo and his servant 四九 Si-jiu (4-9). Ying-tai is taken by him and is happy to learn that he will be attending the same school as she is. Right then and there they pledge to be lifelong friends, and their friendship continues to flourish at the school. Ying-tai manages to successfully keep her true identity hidden to all except the school mistress, who recognizes she is a girl but never breathes a word of it to anyone, not even her husband.

Eventually, Ying-tai is called back home on an urgent matter, and she laments having to leave Shan-bo. She goes to the school mistress who has always kept silent about her secret and tells the school mistress that she loves Shan-bo. She gives the school mistress a jade in hopes that Liang Shan-bo might realize she’s a girl and propose to her someday. On the road back to her home, Shan-bo is so sorry to have to leave his friend that he accompanies her partway. During their journey, Ying-tai drops hints that she is a girl and is in love with him, but Shan-bo is naive and doesn’t realize what she’s talking about. Finally, Ying-tai is exhasperated and tells Shan-bo that she has a younger sister, and if he married her sister they would be brothers. Shan-bo likes this idea. When she gets home, Ying-tai’s parents drop a bombshell on her— she is already betrothed to 馬文才 Ma Wen-cai, the “dunce” of their school. Ying-tai is adamantly against the union but the Ma family is too wealthy and powerful for the Zhu family to refuse.

Meanwhile, after going back to the school, Shan-bo hears word that Ying-tai will not be returning to the school. He becomes lonely and heartbroken without his best friend, and takes ill. Startled at his condition, the school mistress finally admits to him that Ying-tai is a girl and gives him the jade, telling him to go propose to Ying-tai. On the way to Ying-tai’s home, Shan-bo finally realizes what she had been saying to him all along the path the last time they’d walked to together. When he finally sees Ying-tai, he learns that she is engaged already and cannot marry him, nor would their family accept him (Shan-bo comes from a poor household whereas Ying-tai is upper-middle-class). Sick at heart, Shan-bo goes back to his elderly mother, too heartbroken to go back to the school.

On the morning of the planned wedding, Ying-tai learns that Shan-bo has died from the illness he’d contracted. She throws a fit and tells her parents that the only way she’d marry Ma Wen-cai is if two white funeral lanterns (white is the color of mourning in Chinese culture) were hung on her sedan chair instead of two red marriage lanterns. In addition, she even gets her parents to agree to allow the procession to pass by Shan-bo’s grave. At the gravesite, Ying-tai throws off her red wedding gown to reveal a white gown of mourning underneath. Suddenly, a giant storm arises, and lightning strikes the grave, splitting the earth open. In the midst of the chaos, Ying-tai leaps into the hole and the grave closes again behind her, leaving only two pieces of cloth from her dress. When her servants touch the cloth, they become two butterflies and fly away together, a symbol of Liang Shan-bo and Zhu Ying-tai’s eternal love. Even in death, the two could not be parted.

The end.

~*~

I find it ironic and amusing how the character of Liang Shan-bo is traditionally played by a woman. 蕭亞軒 Elva Hsiao plays Liang Shan-bo in the animated film. Heh.

OMG I LOVE MY IPOD MINI MY PARENTS ARE THE BEST I TOTALLY DON’T DESERVE SUCH A COOL GIFT FOR MY BIRTHDAY/CHRISTMAS!!!

I’m currently listening to Andy Lau’s “相思成灾” (Nostalgia Becomes a Hazard). LOVEITLOVEITLOVEIT.

Andy rox!

His lyrics… his voice… his music… his melody… it speaks to me in a way that no other singer can. Andy will forever be my favorite singer. I wish it hadn’t taken me so long to realize that.

I’ve got his “今天” (today) on here too. I love the line:

我不断失望　不断希望
wo bu duan shi wang bu duan xi wang

This means, “I’m constantly disappointed, constantly hoping.” To me this says he never gives up hope. By saying he’s still constantly hoping AFTER he says “I’m constantly disappointed,” it ends the line on a more positive slant, as if in defiance of the disappointment.

I need to put “月老” (Matchmaker) on here!!!

I still am shifty on the “favorite female singer” though. I haven’t decided. And every time I decide, it changes. :p

This is something I’ve noticed. When I hear new singers, I tend to compare their voices to singers I’ve already heard, before looking at them as an artist in their own light.

When I first heard 林俊傑 (JJ Lin)’s stuff, I thought he sounded a LOT like 張信哲 (Jeff Chang) when he sang slow songs. My favorite JJ Lin song is “江南” (Jiang Nan) because I love slow songs and ballads more than any other style.

Lately I’ve been listening to 歐得洋 (Ocean Ou) and I think he sounds a LOT like a young 周華健 (Emil Chau) would sound. I’ve heard two of his songs, and liked them enough to order his debut album. It’s due to arrive on Saturday. I’m looking forward to it!

This is the second version of this entry. To anyone who read the first version, I apologize for my loud outburst. I must confess that I posted it in an enraged fury, probably enhanced by my fatigue after the normal partying that goes on during the passing from new year’s eve to the new year. (Happy New Year, Asiapop fans!!)

In case you haven’t noticed, I don’t look kindly on people who copy my translations on Ting Dong and paste them elsewhere on the internet without giving credit to me, Miki, or Ting Dong. That constitutes plagiarism, and in my country, plagiarism is a crime. My definition of plagiarism regarding the works posted on Ting Dong is the same as on the Merriam-Webster site. “[To] use (another’s production) without crediting the source.” (See? I credited Merriam-Webster, and I utilized quotes to show that I directly copied and pasted the text from their site. Hence, this is not plagiarism.)

Here’s some remnants of my previous post that I have left unedited:

Let’s see. That’s the third site I’ve seen my translation of the Tension song on. Are you people dumb? I put a lot of effort into my translations, and you don’t seem to appreciate me. See, if you appreciated me, you would donate and support my site rather than just copying my translations and throwing them somewhere else. How about this. I never do another translation. Is that what you want? Well, if you want that to happen, just keep going. Keep plagiarizing me. I’ll never do another translation, and I’ll delete the huge list of “songs people requested to be translated” that I have. You’re pushing the limit. DO NOT PLAGIARIZE MY WORK ON TING DONG. That’s all I ask. The site is always there– why not just LINK someone to it? That’s the point of the damn website.

I hate stupid people who spread my translations around like that. If you’re one of them, I’d love to slap you with a heavy book and then throw a lawsuit on your lap.

But thankfully, the situation has been rectified. Below is an excerpt from the email I recieved from Yesasia.com’s customer service.

We share empathy with your case. Review of item allows customer to share their opinion and Yesasia would not prohibit their expression. However, in case there is any violation of copyright, we would respect the right of the owner in foreground. Your case has been redirected to our IT team and we will remove the suspected review posted on 31st May 2004. Please kindly allow us a couple of days to complete it and we are sorry for the inconvenience caused.

If there is still any further enquiry, please feel free to visit our Help Page. We hope this informative and look forward to serve you soon.

So I feel better now. Score one point for the Luna against plagiarism. *crowd cheers*

I haven’t been posting on the HKVP Radio forum lately mostly because I have little to nothing in common with the people there. The thing is, having grown up speaking Mandarin, I really have little to no interest in Cantonese music. There are several Cantonese-language songs on my computer, but they’re heavily overshadowed by the amount of Mandarin-language music I’ve ripped from my various CDs. So first of all, I’m not that fond of Cantopop to begin with. Secondly, the V in HKVP stands for Vintage. Meaning, oldies. I’m not a fan of too many oldies, either. Especially not Cantopop oldies.

The reason I stayed on the forum at all is because I hope to eventually establish an affiliation with them and Ting Dong. Actually, another reason was that I actually found someone else who shares the same enthusiasm for my favorite singer that I do. Sadly, she’s the only other person on the board who does. Everyone else there seems to adore Leslie Cheung and Anita Mui, two stars that I feel little to nothing for.

So I suppose I’m a little immature in that I like picking fights and arguments with the people there. Otherwise nothing else seems interesting. The most recent debate/discussion I’ve started is with Cantopop vs. Mandarinpop.

Anyhow, I’ve never had much faith in the Cantonese music industry. I think Mandarin pop is a gazillion times better, considering that Chinese-speaking people from America, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and mainland China can all participate, and bring with them their own unique sound. Victor Huang and Michael Wong are examples of great singers from Malaysia (I think Jasmine “Fish” Leong is from Malaysia as well?). And from Singapore, there’s Stefanie Sun, Tanya Chua, Celest Chang, etc. From Taiwan, there’s Yuki Masuyama, Jay Chou, Elva Hsiao. Even from America, there’s Leehom Wang, Shunza, David Tao, and CoCo Lee.

To my ear, Mandarin just flows better. It’s much less harsh-sounding than Cantonese, which makes it much easier for melodies to flow. The only Cantopop that I ever seem to enjoy is all dance music or angry music. There are few beautiful-sounding Cantonese songs, and even having listened to HKVP a lot in order to try to find more, I’ve determined that Cantomusic is definitely not for me. It’s kind of sad that the more music I listen to, the more I feel like everything I listen to is stuff that none of my friends would ever like.

I don’t think my post really lends to any conclusions. Mostly it’s all opinions. When it comes down to it, I think it’s all just personal preference over which style people consider to be the superior one. Apologies to anyone who likes Cantopop and is offended by this message. Maybe you can explain to me why you like it so much?

Hi, Luna here! Just testing out this new posting system. It’s pretty impressive how all of this is set up, and I have Miki to thank for that; all I have to do is log in and blog. How lovely. ^.^

I guess I have to get in the mindset of blogging about Asian music and fashion and all that good stuff again. How many people do you recognize in the picture above? I recognize three of them (three pictures, since one of them is a singing group of four).

Currently I’m still doing translations for Ting Dong. We get a lot of requests and it’s hard to do them all, considering that the site is for fun, and I really don’t like doing translations of songs that are too simplistic or are by singers I don’t particularly enjoy.

Lately I’ve been listening to 鄭秀文 Sammi Cheng’s ≪完整≫ “Wan Zheng” (complete) album.

Hello, World. Miki here, setting up the new location of Luna’s Corner. Please excuse the mess while we get cleaned up. Luna will be back on the scene very shortly.

And just for the sake of something Asiapoppy - I know she’s not a singer, but check out this LJ post with a picture of Zhang Ziyi. Isn’t she gorgeous? Actually, it’s quite scary, she looks like one of my friends - it’s that ‘typical gorgeous Asian’ look that so many of us wish for but so few of us have!

This music kicks ass. I love it. I want the CD. x_x http://www.twelvegirlsband.com/

An excerpt from their site:

“One dozen beautiful young women, all in their twenties, take the stage and stand before an array of exotic and ancient musical instruments. Although an uncommon sight, the moment they start to play, it’s clear the members of the Twelve Girls Band are among the most gifted musicians in the world. Hailing from the People’s Republic of China, the Twelve Girls Band is already one of that country’s most popular ensembles.”

My mom was cleaning out some of her stuff and she happened across two Andy Lau CDs she’d purchased a couple years ago– before I was an Andy fan (yes, he’s been around that long…). She looked at one of the CDs, titled “Ai Zai Ke Gu Ming Xin Shi” and said to me, “Here, you can have this; I can’t remember why I bought it. I think it was because ‘Ma Tong’ was popular or interesting or something but I didn’t like it.” (Note: the song “Ma Tong” means ‘Toilet’ and is a song about toilets… I kid you not! x_x I don’t particularly like the song.)

I, of course, wanted the CD since it had one of my favorite Andy songs on it ("Bing Yu” ~ Icy Rain) and a duet of him with the late Anita Mui ("Bie Shuo Ai Qing Ku” ~ Don’t Say Love is Bitter), so I listened to all the tracks. When I came to the last one, I was startled. Ejecting the CD, I shouted, “Mom! Mom! You have to hear this,” and ran downstairs to put the last track to play on the large speakers in our living room.

When Andy’s voice started, my mom’s eyes lit up. “Ohhhhh, NOW I remember why I bought this album!”

It turns out, the last track was written by Wu Bai, and is Andy’s one and only Taiwanese-language song. Interesting, no? ^_^

It’s called “Shi Jie Di Yi Deng.” Tee hee, I downloaded the MTV too! :}

I was browsing my favorites, and came across this site. Ack! I haven’t posted an entry since June?? And, to top it off, I only posted one entry in June. I guess I haven’t had much to say lately, and without people’s comments, there’s not really much for me to talk about.

I think the only Asiapop in my life right now are the CDs I’m listening to, and they’re the same ones I’ve already talked about. Andy Lau, F.I.R., Shino Lin, Karen Mok, Faye Wong, and Jill Xu are all in my CD booklet, for me to listen on the bus to and from my workplace.

I’ve been busy, I’m sorry. But I don’t think anyone’s really missed my absense. ^^;;

Oh yeah, and don’t you love the new Ting Dong? We’ve been getting a lot of requests for song translations, and I apologize for not being able to get to them all in time. I’m a recent college graduate (yayyy~~) and have been actively seeking work (or grad school, whichever comes first).

BTW, do you know anyone who wants to hire a biology major who has a strong background in genetic research? Couldja pass my name along, maybe? *^_^*

I personally like it when Asian celebrities advertise for famous clothing companies. I buy most of my clothing in Taiwan because I like the style better than what I find here in America. Hang Ten, B.U.M. Equipment, and Baleno. Yummy.

I guess there’s no question that out of those, my favorite brand is Baleno. But it’s not hard to tell because… well, because of the man who’s been Baleno’s spokesmodel for quite some time. Plus, Baleno is very gung-ho about saving dolphins and whales.

http://www.baleno.com.hk/

I love how the waves move in the background of the header images.

Check out the “Gallery” page– Andy looks pretty interesting with his hair bleached. And, is it just me (I can’t tell on my tiny laptop screen), or Faye Wong modeling for Beleno too?

Has anyone else heard of 增山裕紀 Yuki Masuyama? He’s a half-Chinese, half-Japanese singer who only put out one album called “Yuki’s First” (all songs are in Chinese), about three years ago. He’s fluent in Mandarin, English, and Japanese. Anyhow, he has one song called “Say I Love You” on that album in which he murmers some words in Japanese. Here’s what I got:

“Hajimete mita toki, suki ni natta no wa, (something)de imashita. Anata no doko ga suki na no ka? Oshiete kudasai. Kotae wa boku ga suki na no ha tada hitotsu dake. Kimi no zenbu.”

Does that make sense? Any suggestions to missing lines or corrections? My Japanese listening skills aren’t the best…

Wow, check it out– the Golden Melody Awards actually made it to the CNN news…

CNN: Asia pop stars sing Golden Melody

Star-ecentral: Taiwan’s pop in solid gold

I’m a big fan of Mandarin-language dub version of Disney music. Not all of it’s good, for sure– but the Mandarin versions of “A Whole New World” from Aladdin, “Reflection” from Mulan, and “Colors of the Wind” and “If I Never Knew You” from Pocahontas are really lovely. In fact– I love them much more than the English versions! In my opinion, the poetic imagery and the beauty in the meaning of the Chinese lyrics surpasses the English versions.

In any case, one of my friends from China really loves Disney music, so I lent her the Chinese Disney CDs I’d purchased from yesasia.com (they’re out of print now). She was really excited, but get this– her response was, “It’d be even better if they were in English.”

Sigh, lah. Guess that’s what they call hitting a cultural barrier. ;p

P.S. You can find the lyrics to some of them, translated by me in Ting Dong. ^^;;

http://www.miramax.com/infernalaffairs/index.html

This isn’t all that big a deal for me, since I purchased the DVD from yesasia.com already, but it’s nice to see that Miramax is releasing the Hong Kong version in America. I wonder if they’ll dub it in English or change anything… let’s hope not…

I wonder if Brad Pitt is still signed on to make an English-language version?

Oh, wow– I have no idea how, but F.I.R. reminds me of Elva Hsiao, Karen Mok, and Evanescence all wrapped up in one lead singer and band. I love when Chinese bands (and not just singing groups; they don’t count!!) make their debut, since they’re such an under-represented genre in Asian music. Asia’s got pop singers galore; it always seems like bands were more popular here in America than the pop singers. Or at least, more respected, perhaps?

In any case, I’m hooked on their sound and hope to get their CD sometime soon.

Click here for some sound samples and music videos from F.I.R. on the Taiwan Warner page.

Click here to purchase the F.I.R. CD at yesasia.com.

It’s been over a year, and still 張國榮 Leslie Cheung Kwok-Wing fans seem to be grieving. This is a link I came across recently, something which revives a lot of the feelings his fans had when they first heard the news.

http://chinahp.com/leslie

It’s a beautiful song composed and performed by an anonymous fan (I think). It’s only credited to “有心人” which translates to “Someone who cares.” I’ve been listening to this song a lot lately. Not being a Leslie fan myself, I’m really amazed by this song. Listening to it and reading the lyrics at the same time makes me almost want to cry (it’s in Cantonese though, so I only understand some parts). It packs a lot of emotions and you can definitely tell it’s sung with the sad longing for a celebrity whom we’ll never be able to enjoy future works from.

A definite download for anyone, Leslie fan or not. <3

I need to start making a list of songs people want me to translate, ‘cause I’m not sure but I think I’m heavily backlogged and I can’t remember what was next. o_O If it seems like I forgot to translate a song, or haven’t gotten to it yet, I apologize and reiterate that I really do try to translate all the songs you request, even though some of them can be very difficult and time-consuming.

Please vote on a song to translate. Please note these are all songs that I myself am interested in translating, so feel free to continue to request other songs if you are so inclined.

By the way, if you like my translations, then by all means VOTE!! Since these are all songs that I am interested in, I consider the votes to be a token of your appreciation for my work at Ting Dong.

Chinese Actor Andy Lau Shuns Hollywood

Andy Lau Tak-Wah deserves massive respect. I agree with him, Hollywood needs to learn to appreciate Hong Kong movies for what they are! I was horrified when I read the changes that were made to Shaolin Soccer after Miramax bought it, and am stunned that years later, they still haven’t released it in the U.S. Nor, for that matter, have they released Hero even though they had the rights to release it even earlier than it was shown in Asia!

(Surprisingly, the American version of Hero is actually longer than Zhang Yimou’s original. Weird.)

Anyhow, back to Andy Lau. I’m not sure, but it seems like Infernal Affairs made both he and Tony Leung Chiu-Wai much more popular amongst a younger generation. Although I would have to say that career-wise, more people probably respect Tony’s work than Andy’s.

In any case, Infernal Affairs is one of my favorite HK movies (actually, it’s many people’s favorite HK movies!) and I can’t believe Hollywood is even considering remaking it. Especially when names like Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio are attached. No. Just, NO.

Actually, if it were Edward Norton and Brad Pitt together, that would be okay in my book. I’d relive happy Fight Club memories. Just no Leo, please…

Help stop Disney from butchering Asian films!

I know I take requests for translations at Ting Dong, but sometimes singers and songs that are being requested really get on my nerves. I’d love to translate something like “Xin Yuan Yang Hu Die Meng” (新鴛鴦蝴蝶夢) by Huang An (黃安), but no one listens to that song anymore, and the Chinese is far too poetic to make sense of it in English. It even has a line taken from a Li Bai (李白) poem (the line is: “抽刀斷水水更流, 舉杯消愁愁更愁")! I love how oldies used to use Tang and Song poetry in their lyrics.

Unfortunately, when I asked my boyfriend (he’s from China) what a different line in the song meant, his only response was: “It means… ah, you know… AAARRRGH IT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE IN ENGLISH!!”

How could I ever hope to translate something like that? Sometimes there is meaning behind words that you don’t see when you’re only reading the letters. Do people out there reading my translations realize all the nuances, the puns, the “heaviness” of sad lyrics and the “deepness” of the love they’re singing about?
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Has anyone else noticed the multitude of remixes made from Tension’s “One Life One Love” that are appearing all over the ‘net? It’s pretty scary how many people love the rap versions of the song, and don’t realize that the ‘girl’ voice on the track is actually the pitch-enhanced version of Tension’s original song (note: Tension is a singing group composed of 5 males)!!

The original “One Life One Love” is a moving love song (find it on Tension’s “Gotta Be Your Man” album), what the heck have people done to it?! I wonder if the rappers even realize what the chorus is about! The translation of the part they use ("One life, one love, 為你付出我所有, 要讓快樂永遠都在你左右") is actually this: “One life, one love, I’ve given my all for you, to let happiness always be by your side.”

You can find the aforementioned remixes on the site below, listed under the track name of “1 life 1 love"…

http://www.soundclick.com/

Sigh… I feel so sorry for Asia-based music artists whose works have no copyright authority in America. I mean, these remixers didn’t even do so much as mention Tension as the original artist. C’mon, people, give credit where credit is due!

Okay, big apology to Leslie Cheung (張國榮) fans out there– prior to April 1st, I had plans to post a little about my thoughts on his life, his career, and his death, but somehow I missed it altogether. A new school quarter started for me last week so lately I’ve been busy figuring out my life outside the internet. Forgive me, my loyal minions!

So… what are your thoughts on Leslie Cheung? I actually saw one or two of his movies before, but none of them have left a deep impression on me. Although I love his song 《當愛已成往事》 (Dang Ai Yi Cheng Wang Shi; you can find a translation of it in Ting Dong) from “Farewell My Concubine,” I have yet to hear anything else that enraptures me in the same way.

I was in China when he passed away, and I was astonished to see how all the stores near my dorm could suddenly be putting out tons of his CDs and DVDs the next day. It made me NOT want to listen to Leslie’s music, since the idea of becoming a fan of someone because of the way they died actually kind of sickens me. I met people who never thought much of him, but were intruiged by his suicide and became hooked on his music. Despite these people’s protests that, “We’re not celebrating his death, we’re celebrating his life"… I can’t bring myself to see it that way. I guess I’m just not a terribly big fan of Leslie Cheung, though I was of course saddened to see him leave the HK entertainment world.

Leslie Cheung, may your soul rest in peace.
張國榮，願你靈魂安息。

This video is definitely worth watching. It was produced by Johnnie To and directed by Andy Lau. For those of you non-Mandarin speakers, it has English subtitles, so don’t worry!

mms://202.123.216.124/rthkm9/special/showbiz20031201.wmv

My comments:

• I know he’s a great actor, but… Wow, I didn’t know Anthony Wong (黃秋生) could sing too– and in Mandarin. o_o
• I love the part where Andy Lau (劉德華) comes in and the girl sings: “哈，好帅，好酷的你是谁?” (Considering the fact that he directed this short clip…
• Kelly Chen (陳慧琳) must have the most recognizable voice in all of HK pop, ‘cause she’s the only one I recognized by voice first and not facial features.
• I’m glad they used the folk song melody for Louis Koo (古天樂) and Karen Mok’s (莫文蔚) singing parts. It’s nice that they threw in some Chinese-style music in there amongst all the other remixes, lol~

I got the link from the HKVP Radio Forums.

My favorite tracks on this album are:

1. 女人不壞 (Nv Ren Bu Huai)
3. 發覺 (Fa Jue)
4. 後悔了吧 (Hou Hui Le Ba)
5. I Believe
9. 受不了你 (Shou Bu Liao Ni)

As far as the music goes, it’s a bit different than her previous album. Her voice seems to have improved and her style has matured as well. And, as always, she writes meaningful lyrics (here’s a translation of my favorite line in track 3: “I’m not afraid to give, I only fear I won’t have the chance").

In some ways, I think her style is actually somewhat similar to the Chinese pop singers emerging from Malaysia and Singapore, though I can’t exactly pinpoint why I feel that way. Jill Xu is one of my favorite female singers, and it would be nice to see her music become just a little more popular now that her 2nd album is out. ^_^

I recently borrowed the DVDs from my cousin, so here’s my review of two Johnnie To films, Running on Karma and Turn Left Turn Right. Don’t continue if you’re afraid of spoilers.
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I finally made an all-star male mix CD for a friend that I’d promised her for a long time. Here is the song list for those of you who would be interested.

1. 王力宏 - China White
2. 謝霆鋒 - � 不會了解
3. 劉德華 - 沒有� 的城市
4. 張衛健/劉德華 - 高高在下 (國)
5. 劉德華 - 愛情新活力
6. 陶喆 - 飛機� �的10:30
7. 王力宏 - 不要害怕
8. 劉德華 - 忘情水
9. 梁朝偉 - 為情所困
10. 劉德華 - 我不� 愛� (獨唱版)
11. 增山裕紀 - 一開始…
12. 許紹洋 - 花香
13. 王力宏 - 不可能錯過�
14. 金城 武 - 標準情人
15. 劉德華 - 木魚與金魚
16. 劉德華 - 當我遇上� (粵)
17. 張衛健/劉德華 - 高高在下 (粵)
18. 金城 武 - Love Me Once Again (日)

First song is in English. The bulk of them are all in Mandarin, then there’s two Cantonese ones, and the final one is in Japanese. Y’know, for that multicultural experience. Even though these singers are all Chinese– no wait, two of them are half Japanese… ^^;;

So, do you think CD album sales are rapidly decreasing because everyone can find what they want on mp3 instead? Do you you think it’s an infringement on the artists’ rights to be listening to their mp3s instead of buying their CDs? Keep in mind, most artists don’t make any money from CD sales– they get most of their income from touring and advertising.

I still love buying and listening to CDs, but mp3s are really much more convenient. What do you think? Is it “wrong” to download mp3s?

Copyrights of Chinese artists aren’t really heavily enforced even within China or Taiwan. Do you think that the government should be more concerned about all the pirated DVDs and CDs sold on the market?

Hey there all you Asiapop fans~

One of my friends gave me this link to a music listening site. The quality is decent, and the download speed isn’t bad either (although I’m on a Uni ethernet line, so download speed for ANYTHING isn’t bad for me ^^;;). It’s in simplified Chinese, so hopefully you can read just barely enough to navigate in and start an Asiapop music experience. If you get confused, you can also ask me questions, I’ll help you as best I can.

http://www.musictea.com/

I’ve been using musictea to listen to B.A.D.’s newest album… I like their hip-hop/R&B sound. Other Chinese singing groups (like F4 and S.H.E.) are too poppy for my tastes, and I don’t feel as if they have any real ability to harmonize their voices OR sing solo (unlike B.A.D.!).

and her name is 陳文媛 Bo Bo Chan (or Bobo, maybe BoBo; I’m not exactly sure how she spells it).

Sadly, I find myself overcome with the desire to purchase one of her CDs. Unfortunately, the last time I ordered from yesasia.com, it cost me around $45 (American), and I haven’t even listened to the Faye Wong one at all (maybe I’ll sell it or something). *sigh*

Bo Bo only sings in Cantonese, but her voice is deep and throaty, like Sammi Cheng’s. In fact, they even kind of look alike to me. She’s also remade the Kiss song 여자이니까 “Because I’m a Girl” but her version is called 野種子 “Wild Seed.”

Well, if you trust my opinion, I think this is an artist worth checking out. ^_^

(Looks like I might end up having to put in some extra hours at work to continue paying for my addictive CD collecting hobby…)

On 10 January 2004, 林原めぐみ Megumi Hayashibara made a public announcement on her radio show that she’s pregnant.

Congratulations, Megumi-san!

(Info obtained from Jessie’s Megumi World)

Here’s something interesting– 曾寶儀 Bowie Tseng is 曾志偉 Eric Tsang’s daughter.

Shocking. o_o

Moreso for me, I guess, than people who just listen to Asiapop but don’t follow Hong Kong movies. Eric’s voice is all… well, y’know… and Bowie is a TV show host in Taiwan… weird.

(Similar to the deal with Liv Tyler, eh?)

I can’t really think of any music or movies to write about right now. Since I don’t know who or what this “AYU” in the blurb above is, I thought it might be appropriate to ask readers out there: what kind of Asiapop music do you like? Other than Asiapop, what other music do you listen to?

Most of my friends either don’t or won’t listen to Asiapop; foremost because they don’t understand the language, and second because they just don’t like the music in general. I myself used to only listen to Jpop and Anime music before Final Fantasy VIII came out and I fell in love with Faye Wong’s “Eyes on Me.” Yes, my friends– that song may very well be the only reason why Cpop is practically the only music I listen to anymore. Since I can read, write, and speak Chinese, there’s no problem in understanding the lyrics (but if the song’s in Cantonese, it’s much harder).

So, what do you listen to? Why do you like it? Is there anything you’d like to share about the artists that you enjoy? Please don’t be shy, feel free to comment…

So, those CDs I told everyone about finally came. Oddly enough, I’ve been listening to the 金城 武 Takeshi Kaneshiro one much more than the 王菲 Faye Wong CD. His music is more mellow than Faye’s, it probably suits my mood more right now. I’ve heard that “Takeshi is not a good singer, but is damn good looking” several times, but I like his music and I will continue to listen to it despite criticism.
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I’m a college student, and have been heavily involved in an international exchange program between my university and a university in China. As a result, a lot of my cpop influence comes from my friends in the program that I met last year while I was abroad in China, friends that are now studying with me in my university here in America.

One of my friends always introduces really interesting music to me. Recently, he played a song for me called 白桦林 “Bai Hua Lin” (white birch forest) by 朴树 (Pu Shu). I think my friend considers this song to be “college music” because it was sung by a college student. The music accompanying the singer’s voice includes an accordian. Anyhow, it’s a really sad song, worth listening to.

I haven’t been able to find accurate lyrics, but when I do, I might translate it on Ting Dong.

Heck, I might as well just type out the lyrics myself, with my friend’s help.

When 徐婕兒 Jill Xu comes out with a new album, all I can think is:

“Dang it, I wish I were still in China/Taiwan.” :p

Technically, 女人不壞 “Nv Ren Bu Huai” doesn’t really translate to “Woman’s Heart"… Literally, it means “Women arent’ bad.” (Bad as in misbehaving, or naughty).
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Hey, this is awesome. I get my own little space at ps.net… sweet!

For my first entry, I’d just like to say:

In her music video, “Bye Bye,” don’t you think that 李心潔 Angelica Lee (a.k.a. Lee Sin-Je, pinyin = Li Xin Jie) is trying too hard to imitate 王菲 Faye Wong? I’m not sure about the singing itself, but all the camera shots and facial expressions… not to mention that 重慶森林 Chungking Express hairstyle… hmmm?

I did like her in the movie, 見鬼 (Jian Gui, literally “meeting ghosts") The Eye though (recommended to anyone who is interested seeing what HK can do in the horror movie genre). In my opinion, some scenes were impressively frightening.