FAZIOLI International Piano Recital Series 2015 Review: Nikolai Demidenko on Chopin

Courtesy of Sly's Piano New Zealand, I was invited to The FAZIOLI International Piano Recital Series 2015 that starts off with the legendary Russian pianist Nikolai Demidenko playing Chopin.
You can click here for the details.

The night started with me being seated next to the New Zealand Herald Music critique, click here for what he thought about the night.  

The stage.
LED lights reflection on the keys changes throughout the first section of the recital and turned off in the second section.

The first half of the recital, the "dancing" LED lights started to catch my attention as I noticed the colour projected off the ceiling was different to the colour casting shadows on the white piano keys.  When it was purple from above, it was green on the keys.  This, to the sensitive genius was a very distracting fanciness at the end of a 6 weeks long tour away from the family.

The second half of the recital allowed me to immerse myself in the reverie of the Ballades.  It is every single Chopin lovers' favourite.  Somehow, Nikolai told a complete story inside the complete Ballades.  I am mesmerised at the interpretation and the piano's support for the depth of contrast needed from what Chopin wrote.
This cannot be achieved on other pianos.  1 single note on Fazioli is enough to set its standard apart from the rest.  Let alone a breadth of repertoire from such celebrated composer.  I was romanced.

The night ended with 3 encores.  Nikolai was cheeky when he gave the popular Minute Waltz for the second encore.  Just a minute more I heard he says in his mind.

What a treat, definite moment of elevated bliss for the heart and soul.  Perfect instrument paired with the perfect maestro.

The programme

Book Review: "1Q84" by Haruki Murakami

Front cover and binding

Back cover

 I read the blurb of this particular novel at the Hong Kong airport bookshop's rack back in April 2012.  That's right, I had to put the book on the rack for support as I read because it would just create too much scene if I had damaged it somehow by juggling my grip between my carry-on cabin bag and the 1157 pages thick novel.

So it was a pass for me.  I had a 6 year old girl that runs on solar power (and sugar fuel) with me, that was enough to occupy my entire time while waiting for the next flight.

Fast forward to 2015, that strange thick novel crept up in my head, it's been a while since "Cloud Atlas", so I ordered that 0.897 kg novel to be delivered.  Thank universe for technology.  

This Vintage International publication put the trilogy of 1Q84 into 1 "compact" book.  I agree with them that it is quite clever to do so rather than publishing it separately as Book 1, Book 2, and Book 3.  Which I have seen it done in other languages' publication.

That is right, 1Q84 was originally written in Japanese and has been translated into English (the one I read, if you have not yet established) and several other languages such as Chinese and Korean.

I must say that with each languages, translating such big works must have posed a degree of difficulty in emulating the Japanese emotion (or the non-emotion but the overflowing unspoken thoughts) and way of thinking.  Kudos to Jay Rubin and Philip Gabriel for undertaking such mammoth task and executing with finesse.

This book is in a class of its own and is by no way in comparison to the much hyped "50 Shades of Grey" although the author let us in on some insight on what the 1980's Roppongi was all about, but not too much as to be classified 'trash' or not recommended.  If you could not pass chapter 2 of "50 Shades of Grey" like me, then "1Q84" is the book for you.  It has no fluff and carries a book within a book.

If you do get the same copy as mine, you'll find the page numbers rather odd looking.  Almost as if it tries to play with the reader's perception.  Which reality are you in now?

Then on page 512, you're posed with the basic chicken and egg question on love.  I reckon that paragraph itself, right at the top of page 512 is the crux of every human being's problem and solution.  This is quite amusing if you do get a copy like mine because you'll find that that paragraph is located sort of almost right at the balance of the book when opened.  

Overall for me, this book is a very good read and quite easy to just cruise by it on a long weekend (I started on Friday and finished it Tuesday).  Perhaps because not only Murakami describe things so eloquently but also the fact that I can relate so much to the 1980's that it is as if I was in the characters themselves.

No wonder it is a national best seller, how I wish I continued with my Japanese and so to read it in its original version.

KnitPro Waves Aluminium Hooks Set vs Tulip Etimo

Knitpro Waves

Tulip Etimo Rose

The test.  Who's the winner?

I bought the KnitPro Waves set for a hefty price, thanks to the exchange rate and the fact that it has to be imported to the country.  Packaging was ok, not flash, simple plastic window and zipper.  Nice colourful grip, very very light (aluminium) and nice sharp point.
Downside is when it was put to the test, it failed miserably.  Into row 4, I'm screaming in pain.  My wrist and the finger joints are writhing in pain wanting Tulip Etimo or a break altogether.  But I had to finish the test.  So I went on with it.  I have to admit, I did change a few times with the same size Tulip hook, but I found Tulip runs just a tiny bit "bigger".  Was it my imagination?

I'd say the winner is definitely Tulip Etimo Rose.  I bought it loose (without box and not as a set) probably second hand, as the grip on some of it was a tad dirty, hence the cheaper price. But I'm still in love with it.
I did the entire dress in the test with Tulip Etimo and I came out of it still wanting to crochet, I felt like an Energiser Bunny advertisement.  I can just keep going and going and going with Tulip.

Disclaimer:
This is just entirely based on the test and my opinion only.  Maybe it's different for others according to the size of their hands and their grip strength.  I like mine strong and steady, hence Tulip works really well since it's steel and provides a bit more weight onto my grip and I feel like I'm actually in control.  With KnitPro, I feel like it's too light to my liking hence I'm actually exerting more power on my grip that makes my wrist more tired.  It's a pity since I put high hopes on KnitPro.  Mind you, they do have other types available.  I'd label this Waves set "an expensive mistake" for me.

"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" (2013) Review

I finally saw Ben Stiller's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" as per one of the reader's recommendation (*wink*).

"The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" is actually a short story written by James Thurber and was first appeared in The New Yorker in 1939.
A movie with the same name was made in 1947 with a plot line that was current for that time.
The 2013 movie was in the burner from 1994 with Jim Carrey in mind and somehow ended up with Ben Stiller cast in the lead and also directing.

It is one of those feel good movie for the zombies of this generation (i.e. 9am-8pm work time, no after hours bonus, go home, sleep, wake up, rinse and repeat generation) with breathtaking views of Stykkishólmur, a village on the Snæfellsnes peninsula in Iceland, Höfn, a village in southeast Iceland, Skogafoss waterfall and in Vatnajökull National Park.
The plot is current and simple as it revolves on the change that Walter Mitty is going through as an employee of Life magazine that is restructuring from print to online digital magazine.  As a negative assets manager, his job will no longer exists along with a bunch of others.

I would think that this movie would appeal to anyone who ever asks "What is their purpose of life".

The motto of Life magazine, inscribed inside the wallet given to Walter

It promises adventure and comedy, with a dash of innocent romance from a boring life of a negative assets manager going through restructuring.
This movie is certainly a graphical representation of what goes through the mind of a Mittyesque person.

With wanting love as the starting point, Walter ended up in places he never imagined before.  How many of us had really done that?  We often just say "NEXT" when the object of our affection presented us with a choice.

What I really love about this movie is the message that it carries.  Perhaps it awakens something in everyone differently.
Maybe the changes isn't going to be so rapid like Walter's but the only thing that's stopping the change from occurring would only be ourselves, as Walter clearly showed in the movie.


 

"World War Z" Review

I am not drawn to movies with zombies, but the fact that it was partly shot in Malta, I'll give Brad Pitt another chance to redeem himself after 6 children with Angie.

The movie centered on 'Gerry' (Brad Pitt), a United Nations employee and how he alone saves the world from a pandemic that turns humans into flesh eating animal like creatures.

To me, the plot is predictable (inspired from Max Brooks' 2006 apocalyptic horror novel "World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War") and the way the zombies behave, i.e. throwing themselves onto their prey (were they replaced by dolls for those actions? hence the throwing themselves movement?), was unsavory and to have the thought "Walking Dead" perhaps is a better representative of this zombie actions makes it more uncouth.  The teeth clacking part were truly comical.

The funny part came when the story moves to Jerusalem (shot in Valletta, Malta's capital) and the Maltese native who's watching the movie with me started pointing out the streets he often passes and the fact that those extras playing the crowds was shouting "ejja, ejja" (Maltese for "come on, come on"), of course it could've been one of those universal sounds like "oh" or "ah".

For me, the message was too clear for mass subliminal messages.
"Get vaccinated always".
The movie shows that Pitt injected himself with a deadly pathogen to escape being bitten, then when UN develops an anti virus, he's injected again with that anti virus.  Wow, how many times are you going to get yourself injected, Pitt?
For a fact, I never get a flu shot, and I hardly ever get flu ever!  Compare myself to my siblings who do get a shot, they've been sick all year long with flu or cough in and out all the time.  What's wrong here?  Something clearly doesn't add up to me.

To sum it up, I don't like this movie.  Firstly for the cheap body (dummy) throwing zombies.  Secondly, for the underlying mass brainwashing fear induced message of get yourself a jab or die.  The movie end by saying that we need to help each other, well, that's all true, but help each other in what?  Reminding your neighbour to get vaccinated?
Give it a pass if you don't like to be blatantly brainwashed.


Disclaimer:  I do not own the photo above.

"Man of Steel (3D)" Review

Watching a movie in a fully packed theater, everyone wearing 3D glasses and you coming in late with burgers, coffee and popcorn to share with your group, is certainly a unique experience in itself.

Book all the seats on your row and fill it in with your male friends.  The more the better, the younger the better.  The youngest I went with last night was two 10 year old boys and I suspected they are having the most fun out of the group.  The oldest was early 40's male and I strongly believe he enjoyed it as much and was thankful for the capuccino.

It's a pity I missed the first 5 minutes of it, thanks to the snack bar people who decided to upload pictures of our orders on their social networking pages while they were preparing it.  Yes, they were caught snapping pictures of my orders!  Ok, 13 popcorns, 10 burgers, 2 hotdogs, 10 coffees, come on, that's normal for a girl like me isn't it?  Work is stressful.

Thankfully we were just in time to catch the conflict between alive Jor El and Zod.  The first hour consists of a lot of flashbacks and at one point it got quite exhaustive.  The moment the beard was gone and the suit was on, that's where the jam packed action started and superman seriously got hotter.  With the beard he just looks more like Wolverine minus the Edward scissorhands apparatus.

That's Clark Kent before the cape.  Wolverine's brother perhaps in another franchise?

Ah, this picture is so smooth I would've slipped off that chin.

Be prepared to get shaken from the loud noises that comes from the surround sound in the second hour.  I tell you, I felt every POW and BAM that was happening on screen.  In fact, I feel a bit hung over today morning.  The second half of the movie was literally just hard core fighting and I really wondered how many people will get hurt if that actually happens in real life.  I prefer peace talks than jungle rule.

The ending was interesting however, (spoiler beware) Superman we once knew, never kills, but Kal El, just choose to snap off the neck instead of rescuing the family in danger.  Hmm.  Choices choices perhaps.  Easier to eradicate from root. Aye well chosen, the world is changing afterall.
Then, Kal El trashing the satelite drone because the government has been snooping on his communication line?  That reminds me of a certain PRISM and Snowden's confession.  Ooohh, the veil between Holywood and real life just became thinner and thinner.

Overall, I would say, see it for the action and technologies.  Don't expect anything new, we know the story for the longest time, maybe there are lights shed on certain issues, but nothing new.

Oh!  No more red undies display, that's new :)

Disclaimer:  I do not own any of the pictures above.

"Epic" Review

"Epic" 

Yesterday was dark and gloomy, the supposedly dry season took a sudden turn into what looked like a start of the monsoon season.  That old rule of months ending with "ber" like September, October, November, and December are cold, windy, rainy months still hold true.  But now we get those "ber" months in non "ber" months.  Sunny and hot one day and cold and rainy the next.

After an epic fail of showing nicely in front of my old relatives (who showed up unexpectedly, we're talking about people who live in another country and out of town, coming in unnoticed and they think that's just awesome, NOT), especially when I was so busy, I might've missed out combing my hair (ok, not might've but actually did not).

On to the review!  The little girl started bothering me about seeing "Epic" since she saw online that it premiered on 24th May.  So, that was 4 days of nagging and screaming about "Epic".  I used that opportunity to teach her about going with the flow and letting go of obsession on outcome.  I would say that it's the hardest lesson to learn and not surprised that many adults aren't able to do that still.

Set during the day at the time of the summer solstice which coincide with the once in 100 years' lunar eclipse at the night of the full moon, immediately throws the audience for a magical ride.
Despite the deja-vous that I had from certain scenes, like oh, that's like "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids", or hmm, that feels like "Alice in Wonderland", I must say that when you watch animation in 3D, there are so many things to focus on that it just takes your breath away and this movie is exactly that, the backdrop were the lush forest somewhere out there and with it, were all the weird and wonderful creatures that inhibit the magical place.  Queen Tara for example was so much Barbie like that I wonder, is that really how Beyonce would look like, animated?

Queen Tara choosing the pod.

The messages that has been coming through to our little audiences are these:

- "just because you haven't seen something, it doesn't mean it's not there", Bomba the Stomper (Jason Sudeikis)

- "many leaves, one tree, we're all connected", Ronin the Leafmen (Colin Farrell)

- "I'm going to destroy the forest, I'm sick of balance, the forest belong to the darkness, you can't stop the rot", Mandrake (Christoph Waltz)

- "you're here for a reason, sometimes the connection aren't clear", Queen Tara (Beyonce)

- "if our world dies, your world will die, too", Nod (Josh Hutcherson)

Now, in light to the recent Public Disclosure on UFO, I feel that our children are being prepared for something huge.  As seen in the "Croods" before as well, the same messages prevail.  It may be another decade until we actually being shown anything solid, to do with colonies living in another dimension, vibrating at a higher frequency than us, but these animators are laying the brickwork for our kids so they won't be surprised.  We are so waiting for that day to come, but remember, only those ones who believe will experience the magic first. 

Disclaimer: I do not own the pictures above.

Cloud Atlas Movie vs Novel

The challenge in this, is to read the novel before the movie airs.
That is, a 509 pages thick book, in between being a mom, a driver, a maid and an employee.
Stressful much?  Not at all.  In fact, I enjoy the book more than the movie to be honest.  I came out of the theatre feeling that I've been robbed of experiencing the wholeness of the novel.  Am pretty sure it was because of the saturated censorship here that caused my incomplete experience of the whole movie.  Although there is much enjoyment in watching the main characters came alive and the amazing music that it has, I just felt that I need to see the movie in its complete form without censorship at all to enjoy it fully.
Citing from Wiki: "The movie was released in cinemas in China on January 31, 2013 with 39 minutes of cuts, including removal of nudity, a sexual scene, and numerous conversations.".

My feeling is that Tykwer and Wachowskis, the film maker, would've been able to do a much better rendition in making it as a trilogy, like their (Wachowskis') Matrix Trilogy.  However, the downside of making something as a trilogy is the need of surety that the first one will sell to make people want to see the second, and then it has to sustain its steam to make the public aware of the third and therefore buying the complete trilogy DVDs, etc.
Since many of the ideas in this novel is in itself very novel, i.e. a clone, who has no soul, starting a revolution,- it might flop in the first 20 minutes, let alone getting sequels' fund or interest in merchandise.  Unlike other trilogies, which are purely categorised as science fiction with simple theme of good vs evil, journey to the middle earth, etc.

Honestly, this novel and movie are not for the masses.  It challenges everyone's beliefs and forces you to question whether we really are all connected somehow.
When I went to see the movie, a family actually walked out after the gay kissing scene.  I wonder how that got the tick from the censorship department.  Ha ha.

The novel has 6 different stories, broken into halves except the one in the middle, with the comet birthmark and the mentioning of the other chapters as a binder to make a book as one.

The movie is a story with these characters that have the same comet birthmark on different parts of their body, living in different eras, somehow learning what they need to learn, differently throughout their various times.
The scenes are shot jumping from one era to another.  Seriously, if the directors are trying to convey to the public the idea that time is not linear, then they've succeeded.  I did not feel confined to a specific era at all but actually connecting with the different incarnation of the person with the comet birthmark.

It was quite fun to point out the similarities and differences between the various scenes of the movies and the parts of the book.  The ones that stood out to me were:
- The comet birthmark:
In the book, Robert Frobisher's on shoulder blade, but movie, at his back, shown just before he climbed out Rufus Sixsmith's window.
- Relationships:
Movie does not explore Jocasta's affair with Frobisher.  Or perhaps it was censored?  I don't know.
- Different executions:
Movie does not explore Sonmi's study time at University and many characters were cut out.  Totally left out the scene where a doll is thrown off the bridge.
In the book, Catkin was cured by a pill from Meronym but in the movie, it was a quick jab from Meronym's tool by Zachry.
Cavendish never had a stroke in the movie.
Mr.Meeks was picked up in the movie, but he's already inside the car in the novel.

The movie need a lot of dramatic scenes to capture the audience's attention, graphic portrayal of  Finch being thrown off the balcony, the Kona's brutality, etc.  The book captured my attention by the different ways of how each chapters are written, as soon as I go into another chapter, I felt transported into that era and the style of writing changes to suit.  Ingenious!

In conclusion, I must get the movie's complete version, unabridged and uncensored.  I'm glad I read the book first before seeing the movie, although I felt cheated intelligently, but the soundtrack and the special effects for the make up (how they turn Zhou Xun into Rose, Doona Bae into Tilda, Halle Berry into Jocasta, etc) patched up all the disappointment.

Disclaimer: I don't own the picture of "Cloud Atlas" above.

The Croods

"The Croods" first caught my attention when my daughter started screaming about it (yes, literally screaming out loud that she wants to watch it).
On how she came about to know the movie was another mystery.
Apparently, she was taken in by the advertisement for it on her Poptropica page that she got hooked on ever since she read "Diary of a Wimpy Kid".  Hence our discussion on the vicious circle of marketing.
When I wiki-ed the movie, it said that it was made in 3D and so I unconsciously murmured my thought out loud, "If it's made in 3D, then we have to see it in 3D...".
Brilliant!  She heard it clear enough and sealed the agreement.
Where did kids nowadays learn how to negotiate?

The Croods are not that crude after all, if you don't count the moment where the story clearly shows the difference between how Guy (the modern-ish man) eats his dinner (as a prisoner) and how the Croods eat theirs.

These Croods are the perfect example of most old fashioned Asian families.  Sticking together, kids will grow up to continue their parent's legacy, work in their family business, marry off to a guy of the father's taste, yada yada yada.
I laughed so hard because of this parallel to most modern Asian families.  That apparently seems so crude, haha.

The funniest lines that really tickled me, came from Grug (Nicholas Cage):
"Fear has kept us alive, so, never not be afraid, be really afraid!".
Then later towards the end of the movie, it was hashed and changed to this:
"Don't be afraid!".

Other lines also came from Grug:
"New is bad!"
"Stick to routine!"
Now, this is funny since my daughter, being in the spectrum, hates exactly what Grug hates.  She even pointed out to Sandy's (the baby Crood) behaviour, "Hey, that's what I do!".  Sandy must be in the spectrum, too!  Ha ha.

The Crood's world came crushing down as the shift of the world's plane was happening to their part of the world.  Striking parallel to the recent end of the world 21.12.12 Mayan prophecy.  That was crude interpretation, people!  LOL.
No, I'm telling you, it was for real, only that 21.12.12 was the beginning of the end and we haven't got to the end of the end.  See the movie, you'll understand.

My take on this movie is that these pre-historic people are the representation of us as sleepers.  We have been forced to always be afraid because of circumstances and had never been allowed outside of our 'designated' territory, without having to bear the consequences of being labelled.  It's as if there's an unseen barrier of tradition, culture, religion etc, that prevents us from feeling 'alive' instead of just living.
Then the modern-ish prehistoric man is the representation of us that wants to be awaken.  The promise of a better tomorrow that keeps us going for uncharted territories.  Gaining survival skills as we learn each day disregarding the unseen barrier mentioned above.  Taking a leap of faith, trusting in our intuition.  Yes, easier written than done.

A cute conversation that speaks more than it really seems:
Guy (Ryan Reynolds):  "Ok, now you can look.  I call them: Shoes."
Eep (Emma Stone):  "AAAAAHHHHHH!!!  I love them.  Where are my feet? (looks around, worried)".

What makes you think that something unseen, makes it non existing?

Disclosure: I don't own the picture of "The Croods" above.