I am Your Sunshine

I’m officially no longer the youngest in my company.

and e04, one of my coworkers thought I am over 30 all this time.

What the hell.

she then tried to make amends by saying “I didn’t expect any 20 sth people to be around my life anymore, so I just assume everyone is over 30 blah blah blah…” and “… I was thinking, you’d have to be 22 or 23 when you finish college, 2 years for grad school, and you’ve been working for 3 or 4 years…”

Geez, never met a efficient person?

So there was a point why mom rushed me thru college and grad school, that is, when I got out, I’d be younger than what I was supposed to be. But now everyone just asumme I’m older than I really am while I get carded more than anyone else.

Life is a freaking road of no return and I’m really pissed.

20070616 @ Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA

We got to GAMH just in time.

Jason Hart (on keyboard) and a friend (on bass. sorry, I forgot the name) opened for Keren Ann. His music was pretty nice.

And then Keren Ann showed up. She’s so cute!!!! And her voice was more powerful live. It’s a pity that she didn’t sing Ailleurs and Midi dans le Salon de la Duchesse. However, listening her live made me wanna take a different look at her latest album [Keren Ann]. I didn’t like it very much the first time I listened to it, but now I’m ready rediscover another face of Keren Ann.

Travis 2007 的新專輯繼大受好評的單曲 Closer 之後, 仍舊大受好評.

靜靜失眠的夜裡 (睡了一小時忽然醒來睡不著, 也許是 caffeine 現在才 kick in…), 我打開螢幕, 丟掉聽完的 Aqualung, 想說 Travis 應該比 The Polyphonic Spree 要來得溫和些 (再聽那麼歡樂的歌我想我更不用睡了.)

The Boy with No Name 在靜靜的失眠夜裡聽起來跟在白天辦公室裡不能開太大聲地聽有很大的差別,

(為什麼現在打字那麼痛苦呢? 關節轉動都覺得不太舒服有點接近疼痛, 尤其是左手大姆指扭下去按 ctrl 鍵時更是難受. 手臂靠在桌上覺得桌子好硬, 腳踏在電腦上也弄得腳跟好痛. What is this? 睡不著的其中一個原因之一也是我找不到任何一個不會不舒服不會扭到脖子同時不會後腰懸空也不會呼吸困難的姿勢. What is this? 如果真是 caffeine 的把戲, 那真是太不值了. 今晚喝的 Illy 不是很合我胃口. 不得不服老, 年月在身理上終究是有無可抗拒的影響, 那些仗著青春揮霍的精力, 通宵隔天補個眠就又能活蹦亂跳 (現在稍微熬個夜, e.g. 兩點睡四點起來搭飛機, 當日就像要死了一樣.), 不管多晚喝咖啡喝茶還是照樣睡得很香 (雖然說失眠是我從國中就有的困擾.), 隨便亂破壞的皮膚沒過一陣子就恢復像什麼事都沒發生過一樣, 而今上周運動之後的酸痛竟然持續到現在究竟是怎麼回事呢? 一定是外星人搞的鬼吧!)

回到靜靜失眠的夜裡 (雖然桌子還是壓的我手很痛,) Fran Healy 的聲音好漂亮, Closer 聽了那麼多次還是很可愛, 像是暖暖春日, 又是那種一派天真而誠摯的付出自己那樣 (但這次不是強烈的, 不像 Fratellis 那種熱情澎湃, 也不像 The Delays 那樣山無陵江水為竭冬雷震震夏雨雪天地合始敢與君絕的粉身碎骨的屬於少年的激情.) Travis 總是清淡舒適不給你壓力, 有的時候, Fran 好像雲淡風清地在跟你閒話家常, 坐在竹湖邊, 月亮輕輕地掛著, 因為已經熟稔到一定的程度, 即使是有一搭沒一搭的你們也不會尷尬, 然後忽然莫名其妙一瞬間, 你發現你愛上他了. 當他自顧自地唱著沒有發現你的注視, 你著迷了…

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Debra Messing 在 USA 的新 mini-series. 中午不小心看到一點, 覺得好像還蠻有趣的.

6/28 2pm-7pm
6/28 9pm (latest ep)

會注意到 Polyphonic Spree 是因為 Nick Hornby 的第一本 What I’ve been Reading 專欄結集而成的書 The Polysyllabic Spree, 就是從 The Polyphonic Spree 的團名玩文字變化來的.

今天在 Brit-pop 板看到有人介紹, 說 The Polyphonic Spree 的現場表演非常棒, 其中一個原因是因為他們的編制很大 (往往有 10-25 人), 而也是因為這樣, 他們不太可能來台演出, 整團交通食宿器材運費不是目前台灣音樂生態負擔的起的.

初聽 The Fragile Army 就能感受到一股熱鬧歡樂的氣氛, 沒有讓我馬上愛上, 但也不會討厭或是覺得很沒特色. 或者我應該說, 他們的音樂不像前陣子在聽 Hope of the States 與 The Delays 一樣, 讓我無法克制地一遍又一遍的重聽, 就 Nick Hornby 的說法是, 曲子當中有什麼東西我需要 resolve, 而 The Polyphonic Spree 聽起來就是很舒服, 走的並不是讓人瘋狂著迷無可自拔的路線. 不過我真的很想感受一下他們的現場功力. :)

他們七月中將來 Great American Music Hall 開演唱會, 我懷疑他們要怎麼擠上小小的台子.

(本來都穿袍子, 在這張專輯之後他們改穿黑色戰鬥裝上面縫有愛心, 十字, 還有他們的新logo)

Knocked Up (2007)
C
Pro: lovely Katherine Heigl, pretty Leslie Mann, cute Paul Rudd
Con: freaking hopeless loser. don’t make a comedy fucking 2 hour long.

During the whole movie I was thinking… why the heck do you have to be with the person who knocked you up? The same question haunted me while I was painfully watching Denise (Boston Legal) trying to make it work with Brad, the person I dislike most in the show, just because she had his child. When Denise realized the baby is Brad’s, we saw how disappointed she was. When she revealed the news to Jeffrey, we saw how disappointed he was, and when she revealed it to Brad, we saw how panic and “gosh, I’m so screwed.” he was. Alright, granted that there’s a high chance Jeffrey wouldn’t wanna raise Brad’s kid; still, do you have to compromise yourself to the point that you make believe you love that person who is obviously infatuated with you while you’re way out of his league and just because you made a stupid mistake, now he’s got a shot, or maybe more than a shot, he’s in! Ergh!

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) B+
Pro: I love Ioan Gruffudd, lovely Jessica Alba, cute Chris Evans

highlights: creator of the Silver Surfer, Stan Lee, showed up on Sue/Reed’s wedding ceremony and was knocked back cos he wasn’t on the list. (It was in the comic, too.)

all married, all merry~

Buddy youre a young man hard man
Shoutin in the street gonna take on the world some day
You got blood on yo face
You big disgrace
Wavin your banner all over the place

上班的路上聽到 Queen 的 We Will Rock You, 讓我想起畢業沒多久那陣子跟我走很近的一個男生. 我們就只是很單純的好朋友而已, 像是我跟其他男生女生一樣的關係.

但在某個有微風輕輕撫去渾身躁熱的傍晚, 我跟幾個同學還有老師沒有特定目的地在林木稀疏的大安森林公園散步. 老師悄悄地將我拉到一邊吩咐, 不要太早陷入感情, 而埋葬了自己的計畫與夢想. 她說, 有同學看我到跟那個男生一起走在街上. 我再三請老師放心, 我們真的只是很單純的好朋友而已, 就像跟其他同學一樣. 老師的眉頭仍因擔心微微蹙起, 我想老師太習慣學生對她心口不一, 然而她不明白的是, 我從不對老師說謊的啊.

總覺得老師很關心我, 雖然我相信她對每個學生都是一樣的照顧一樣的希望他們有美好的人生, 但她因材施教的關懷與期許, 讓學生覺得自己是特別的. 有些小事現在回憶起來還是會胸口暖暖的, 像是歷史老師曾憂心忡忡地, 小心翼翼地對老師說, “這個學生是不是腦筋不太好.” 老師吃驚地闔不攏嘴, 有那麼一刻歷史老師一定誤會了, 認為自己講了不得體的話. 卻聽到老師接著對他說, “這是我最聰明的學生之一.” 後來老師把我找去辦公室, 告訴我她與歷史老師之間的對話. 沒有責怪, 只是很認真的告訴我, 以我的天分, 若是沒有考上第一志願, 我會很遺憾的. 那時候, 我很感激老師的賞識, 受激勵大概三天, 又回復我吊兒郎當的個性. 說真的, 有沒有上第一志願我並不是很在乎, 我對”第一名”一向沒有很大的執著, 除了滿足我的虛榮心之外, 沒什麼其他的用處. 我倒是比較喜歡當別人眼中的黑馬, 但一切最好都是在不甚費力的情況下完成, 不然我覺得, 人生有比社會上一般定義的成功更重要的事, 比如說, 人創造出來的虛幻世界 – 小說, 電視, 音樂.

我還記得那時天色漸昏暗, 老師告訴我她的故事. 一個關於太早戀愛太早結婚太早生小孩的故事, 有遠大夢想也有實現夢想的能力, 卻早早被婚姻家庭綁住的無奈與不甘. 她語重心長地對我說著, 在落日與地平線交界時分她似乎也是對著年少的自己勸諫, 濃濃淡淡說得說不得的遺憾, 下一代身上閃爍著重生的希望, 而歷史輪迴的陰影讓她不由自主地恐懼… 而那時, 我們也還只是在巴士上合聲唱著 We will we will rock you 的小毛頭而已.

◎本篇文章或許有許多錯誤的地方…

– Trip to North Coast, Part I

For the past memorial weekend, 6 of us took a 3-day trip to the north coast of California. It’s really hard to refer to the places we went in a general way. No Cal? We’re in No Cal right now.
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– Trip to North Coast, Part II

Day 2 – Back to the Nature Continue Reading »

Paris, Je T’aime (2006) A

Please don’t read on if you haven’t watched the movie. Don’t read even if you don’t intend to watch the movie.

Alright, alright! I’ve watched it! Okay, please Continue Reading »

Sunday: church, club sport (work out + A’s v Giants game, A’s won 2-0), grocery shopping, nap, made dinner, watch Tony Awards with chun, Flora, Ping and dessert wine + honey cake.

Monday: club sport (aerobics), no game today, read Songbook, Moneyball and wrote 1/3 of submission for Winged, watched Friday Night Lights(2004).

Tuesday: club sport (work out + A’s v Astro, A’s lost 4-5 in a very long 11 inning game), Jazz on the Row, read Hit List, watched Revelution Girl Utena. See the art of…

Wednesday: watched A’s v Astro at home, A’s was behind til the 8th inning, with 2 outs (Bobby Crosby and Jack cust), Jason Kendall a single, Marco Scutaro another single, Mark Kotsay a double sent Kendall home and Scutaro to 3rd base, Mark Ellis another double sent Scutaro and Kotsay home, Nick Swisher was sent to first on an intensional walk, Ellis stole to 3rd, Swisher stole to 2nd, Eric Chavez a single sent Ellis and Swisher home. A’s had 5 runs at the 8th inning!
went to Great Mall, and by the time I got to the parking lot, A’s closed the game beautifully with 3 up 3 down by Santiego Cassila. What a game!

Had free hot dog on a stick and a free cinnomon roll, went to D&B with chun, Ethan, yohowo, Flora and Ping. played Mazan, was no.1 of the day; played group car racing twice and was 1st/6 one time. Had some fingerfood, chat, drinks and went home.

Finished The Falling Dusk.

Thursday: Club sport at noon with Ellen, work out + listen to A’s v Astro game 3 on KFRC, A’s went ahead, tied, behind, tied to the 6th inning, got a one point lead at 11th and won the game. had some hot links at work (man, do Americans love bbq XD) later went to The Fratellis concert @ The Fillmore, SF!

Friday: A’s v Cardinals at home. A’s Ace Dan Haren pitching! A’s won 14-3

Saturday: Sonoma Lavender Festival, Charles M. Schulz Musuem, Sonoma Horticultural Nursery, sonoma for dinner, Keren Ann @ GAMH

Sunday: church, Santana Row Farmer’s Market, World Music Fest, movie @ CineArts too tired, went home have lunch, watched A’s v Cardinals, nap, watched The Rookie.

The Grifters (1990) B
Predictable but fun. 有一段超像抄 Hustle 的, 不過其實應該是 Hustle 抄 The Grifters :p
Annette Bening 年輕的驚人, 我只覺得這演員笑得真漂亮, 沒想到是熟人.
Pro: John Cusack, Annette Bening, Anjelica Huston

Runaway Bride (1999) B+
not bad.
Pro: Julia Roberts + Richard Gear
Con: 可怕的小鎮風故事結尾

Paris Je T’aime (2007) A
awesome.
Pro: Alexander Payne, Cyril Descours, Steve Buscemi, Gaspard Ulliel, Rufus Sewell
Con: Sin City + false oriental illusion

Friday Night Lights (2004) B
not as good as i expected. All thru the movie I was thinking “what kinda couch is that!” I guess I just cannot stand American football. Seriously, what kind sport it is that gets players drenched in blood after every play? After consistently watching football (okay, soccer) and baseball for a while now, I found my tolerance toward American football is getting smaller and smaller. Anyways,….

The Rookie (2002) A
I like the feel of the movie from the very beginning. How the director told the story is really endearing. I love the performance of Trevor Morgan in particular. And I think Dennis Quaid was way better than Kevin Costner.

20070614 @ the Fillmore, San Francisco, CA

Oh my goodness. It’s been 2 and a half month since I last went to a concert! (20070401 Blue Octber) I missed it so much!
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到處都是奇怪的線條好討厭啊!!!
練習衣也好醜, 我還是最喜歡去年的長袖有姆指洞的練習衣, 好好看啊~

還好主場球衣穿兩年 T^T

<- 有比這更可怕的東西嗎?

雖然我不認識他 (誰叫他一直浸在 DL…) 但這段 quote 實在是太帥了.

Every kid who has dreamed of being a baseball player has stood in his front yard with a bat and said to himself,
Bottom of the ninth, Game 7 of the World Series, the bases are loaded,
and then envisioned hitting a home run to win the game.

My job is to shatter that dream.

– Huston Street

Please Continue Reading »

周末才被 Tony 頒獎典禮上 Raúl Esparza 的表演打動, 今天就看到消息說 Company 將在七月一日下檔. 真感傷. 看來是沒有機會看到了…

Raúl Esparza’s brilliant performance

最近我聽的廣播又多了一台, 106.9 KFRC Bay Area Radio, 因為他們是”你的 Oakland A’s電台!” 這陣子只要沒法看電視轉播, 我就會轉到這台聽戰況. 從一開始專業術語太多追不太上, 常常有聽沒有懂, 到現在可以一邊聽一邊自己在腦海裡將戰局重現. 當然再怎樣栩栩如生的描述都比不上親眼見到 Ellis 假摔 飛身 (dive) 美技, 不過非常時刻只能用非常手段, 就別挑了.

昨天下班後在 work out 與 Santana Row 之間掙扎, 其實正確一點來說應該是在球賽與 Jazz Festival 之間掙扎. (現在 work out 已經成為我將看一堆球賽正當化的理由.) Santana Row 一到夏季每周二在 Maggiano Little Italy 前面的廣場 (Park Valencia) 都會有 Jazz 表演, 比起其他隨意抱個琴架支麥克風的走唱 (常常也有很棒的表演), Jazz on the Row 算是比較正式而盛大的音樂饗宴, 草皮上往往都坐滿人, 非常熱鬧.

我在 Club Sport 待了一個小時, A’s 對 Astro 的這場比賽實在讓人難以忍受. 後來就決定還是去 Santana Row 聽 Jazz, 最後因為塞車加上停車位超難找, 我只聽到最後半小時, 但非常值得. 坐我旁邊的老先生一度離位, 叫我幫他看他的狗, 還有 “不要讓小孩碰牠!” 我覺得這老先生真兇, 本來想回他 “那我能不能碰啊?” 但還是作罷. 之後有一次我們不小心目光相會, 老先生先對我靦腆咧嘴一笑, 我嚇了一跳, 一邊回笑心想卻想著, “老伯這與你的兇惡形象不合啊!!” 後來廣場上的一個小鬼發現了老伯腿上的小小狗, 興奮地跑過來要摸牠, 小小狗看到小鬼便呲牙咧嘴地怒吼起來, 老伯得圈住小小狗的臉, 一邊窩在牠耳畔對牠說話安撫牠. 然而小鬼若不會不識相就不叫小鬼了, 她還硬是想要摸小小狗, 最後還是小鬼的老爸把小鬼牽回去的 (也沒跟老伯道歉, 嘖!) 等到小小狗不怒了之後, 老伯才轉過來對我說, “這就是為啥我叫你幫我看著不要讓小鬼碰牠.” 真是謝天謝地老伯去買咖啡時沒有小鬼接近, 不然我還不知道該怎麼辦咧!

結束時天色已經漸漸轉暗, 我邊發抖一邊走到 Borders. 本來想要在聽完之後去 Pasta Pomodoro 吃個 Chocolate Souffle 的, 但之前因為太餓忍不住買了塊花生餅乾, 搞得我不想再吃甜的, 偏偏 Santana Row 只不便宜的餐廳沒有 finger food 可以買. (來到這區我總想吃 Fish & Chips, 但我不想放棄好不容易找到的停車位再跑到 Valley Fair 吃 Fish & Chips 再跑回來…) 我只好挨著餓, 想說去 Borders 看書喝咖啡. 沒想到 Borders 裡的 Seattle’s Best 用黃帶封了起來, 我覺得這天實在非常不順. 不過至少這家 Borders 的 Hit List 還在 (Milpitas 那家缺貨,) 我可以繼續我看一半的 Keller 故事. 但找不到 Moneyball 實在有點令人沮喪.

回家的路上打開收音機還停留在 KFRC, 發現除了轉播棒球之外, KFRC 主打 Classic Hits. 沒想到在 95.7 Max Radio 變身成為唱鄉村的狼人之後我還能找到專門播 Classic Rock 的電台, 真是可喜可賀! 於是我二話不說地把最少聽的 Star 101.3蓋掉!

我一邊聽著有七八零年代風味的懷舊搖滾樂, 一邊計畫著下周二要找親朋好友一起來 Jazz on the Row. 我們會準備毯子, 帶瓶酒已及沙拉, 火腿, 甜點… 想起來就很幸福啊~

結果我又下手了… 上周看完 Paris, Je’taime 之後心情很複雜, 本來決定最近不要把錢花在書跟CD還有DVD上, 於是沒有標看了很久的 Muse, Travis, Third Eye Blind 等 CD. 然而今天收到 McSweeny 的電子信, 說由於某家 distributor 倒閉, 連帶讓它們會損失不少, 於是他們要拍賣一些庫存來補貼. 本來一本 $14 的 Nick Honrby 專欄結集現在兩本只賣 $15, 我當然是二話不說地買下手啦! 雖然最後加稅加運費之後的價錢跟 Amazon 上 (免運費) 只不過便宜了一兩塊, 但能幫到 McSweeny 也算是好事一樁! 雖然… 我的第一本 Believer 到現在都還沒收到 /_\

前陣子訂的東西都陸續收到了, 包括 Fratellis 的票, Hope of the States, Better Than Ezra 的 Friction, Baby, Understanding Enneagram (翻都還沒翻), Ivanhoe 以及 Nick Hornby 的 Songbook (31 Songs).

昨天看了幾篇 Songbook, 讓我也有機會檢視自己的音樂經驗; 另外也翻了一下 Michael Lewis 寫的 Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game (講豆爺 Billy Beane 如何帶領 Oakland A’s 成功的故事), 好想買啊…

Hornby $18