6/1~6/7

Recently, many of my college mates were talking about having a mini-trip to Taipei in summer vacation and wanted to ask me to be their guide. I was exciting to introduce my friend my city and special spot especially for youngsters. I began to search for some information about the stores and exhibitions with unique style, of course some delicacies. I found a very interesting and attractive exhibition at Taipei Fine Arts Museum. That is “Mobilité, sons et formes”, ”Curated by the Centre National De Création Musicale in France, Mobility, Sound, and Form is a sensory experience comprised of ten audio-visual works, which transform sound through digital media.” This exhibition, which also includes video, installation and performance art, presents new forms and ideas while challenging our preconceptions of music. http://www.tfam.museum/Index.aspx
Next, I thought of a restaurant that I loved so much. That is “ZABU”. It is a small but delicate coffee shop with counter meals. Located across the National Taiwan Normal University night market, ZABU is popular in college students. The store also cooperates with some indie music company and original hand-made market. The atmosphere in ZABU is cozy and pleasant. Providing creators with free space, the founder build an arts space to both the consumers and artists.
http://zabustudio.blogspot.com/
If the meal is not enough for you, we still got dessert! “Coffee Alley”, is now the most famous dessert store in Taipei. It is recommended by many ladies in high society such as 孫芸芸 and 曾馨瑩. Despite of the fact that the price of the dessert there is not too expensive but the meal is extravagant. Especially the flavored waffle with fresh fruits and ice-cream, I just cannot help but become mouthwatering as soon as I think of the picture of the cuisine.
http://www.coffee-alley.com.tw/Home/Welcome.html
After googling for those information, I feel that I just cannot wait for the summer vacation anymore!

5/25~5/31

This Sunday, May 30, is the presentation of our Cloud Gate 2 curriculum. Before the performance, we have been attending the class for two weeks and working together every night. At first, our teachers, the professional dancers of the Cloud Gate 2 taught us to explore and get familiar with our body. And then fall in love with every inches of our body, even finger tips. During the process, we found many possibilities of our physical limitation and the relationship between man to man and man to environment. We also did many experimental minor performances and improvisations. For instance, at the first weekend, we tried to make a presentation which was one of the works in the performances of Cloud Gate 2 this spring. The dance was called “the floating room”. The work conveyed the relationship between a person and his or her room. The objects were influenced by their owner and became emotional and alive. In our own presentation, we combined the impromptu and the original edition. I thought it was an amazing experience. We learned not only dance but also the team work and listen to other’s body. We worked together and helped one another. The cooperation made us become closer. On this weekend, we are going to do our major performance at gym. Precisely, we will dance in the whole building, at every unexpected corners and spaces. The presentation will last 2 hours and the idea of it is about the relationship and spaciousness between man and environment. Combined with unpredictable potentials such as weather, light, passerby and other conditions, our presentation will be full of surprises and creativity. It is a whole new innovation and challenge to both students and dancers. The original idea carves out our imagination and physical limitation. I can be very sure that this performance will be worth expecting!

5/18~5/24

Recently, I read another book that I loved very much and wanted to recommend it to my friends. Actually, I had already read it when I was a junior high school student for so many times. That is “Battle Royale,” which is the master piece written by Koushun Takami. It is a realistic and horrible but extremely spectacular novel. However I do not think it appropriate to all the readers since its description is bloody and disgusting. The setting of the story was in Japan, after World War II. The government raise a project which is applied to the junior high school students in the whole country. First, they would draw lots and choose a school as the experimental subject. During the graduation trip, the students will be taken to an island and start the massacre competition. It sounds ridiculous but no one dare to rebel against the government. After all, the only way of survival is to put all your classmates into death! The novel is very photographic and the plot is bloody but vivid. The author stretches the mental conditions and personalities of each character, as well as their relationship with other classmates and their family background. In the book, I can see the deepest evil in human’s heart and the psychological state of people in anxiety and thorough crazy. When human expose in the danger, they will behave irrational and become skeptical. Whereas, there are still some expression of good side of humanity, some roles sacrifice for the one they love or help each other to get through the difficulties. The weakness of humanity in this book is clearly embodied and so do the struggle in human’s heart. Although the book is a bit disgusting and the slaughter is terrifying, still think it a good story for the profound meaning behind and outstanding description. It is indeed a book worth reading.

5/10~5/17

Recently, I have read a book called “69, sixty-nine”. Written by a significant writer, 村上龍, the book is hailed as the a most popular and best-selling Japanese novel in that age. “69” is also adapted to movie version and cause a great sensation. The setting of the story is based on 1969 (that’s also the reason of the name of the novel.), a remote, coastal town in Japan. 1969 is a year of controversy since it’s duration of the Vietnam War and the holding of Woodstock Music Festival, an age of anti-war, hippies and rock ‘n’ roll. In the remote small town of Japan coast, three high school students come up with some crazy ideas. They decide to make their own carnival, just like the music festival in USA, and raise the revolt toward their school as well as the whole educational system. Being inspired western culture, such as rock music, literature and the New Wave, those youngster determine to start a small revolution. With simple motivation, bold action and excessive energy, the small revolution cause an incredible aftermath. The plot is very incentive and interesting and so do the dialogue. I think the Japanese-Chinese translated novels are inclined to have a unique intonation, especial at the end of the sentence. For me, the particle and speaking tone are both the most intriguing parts of Japanese novels and movies. The story is full of imagination and creation. The setting and the plot are all innovative. The combination of a lag-behind small town in Japan and the colorful and exciting western culture are queer but remarkable. 村上龍 is an amazing pioneer and a talented writer. His works always bring a whole new vision to literary and movie field. The story “69” is one of the best models. No matter the text or the movie, this story shares both great popularity and the value of literature.




http://images.plurk.com/5341719_7a1081a9ad7ab40f3109faac435171a5.jpg

5/2~5/9

Last weekend was Mother’s day. Usually, on the Mother’s day, we will have our family dinner party at a restaurant. In fact, the routine of Mother’s day bores me. However, this year was very special and I really had great fun during the weekend of the Mother’s day.
On Friday, we had the motorcycle trip along the way to Tainan. First, we came to the Taiwan literature museum. The atmosphere of the museum was very graceful and the decoration and the traditional Taiwan literature and art were combined with new technology. Therefore, an innovative feature was born. Next spot, we came to Anping street and hung around there. The attempting cuisine that you should never miss was Chow shrimps roll and toast coffin. The unique taste was ineffable. The ending spot was Da-Don night market. Vapors and smells of cooking meals spread everywhere. There were so crowded and noisy but very “Taiwanese”.
On Saturday, I went to my aunt’s home and had barbecue party with my relatives. The warm breeze and the firecrackers were awesome. Summer and beer were always the best partner. We chatted and laughed out loud on the front yard. I was extremely full at that day but so did my heart-- full of love!
On Sunday, after finishing the delicious lunch, our family and my relatives went to hypermarket for free cool air. Although it was a common thing for a normal family to go shopping at hypermarkets, but I never did that with my family before. I felt very excited even if our purpose was weird.
After going to the college, I barely saw my parents, grand mother and other relatives. Within three days, I saw all of them and spend a wonderful time together. I think that was the best mother’s day I’ve ever had.

4/26~5/1

On April 25, a significant festival was created by some creative and fantasy-loving youngsters. That is “mmNA boyz&girlz festival”. The central spirits of this festival were love, peace and fantasy. We spent three days for all the schedule arrangement, activity planning and former preparation. That was crazy but interesting. Before the festival, we made an application for those who willing to join the activity. In the introduction of propagandistic information, we made a few rules for the people who wanted to attend the festival.
1. wearing the clothes with bright color, pink is even better. Girls are skirt or dress only.
2. bring a teen-book with you
3. bring a heart of young and light!

Whoever qualified with above three rules were welcomed to join us. We even prepared the efficient food and beverage for them. At the morning of the mmNA boyz & girlz festival, we staffs made some “special meal” for the picnic activity and the food included “mmNA exclusive sandwich” and “exciting, surprising but a little bit terrifying rice roll”. The ingredients were toast, lettuce, meat floss, roasted seaweed, tomato, sweet potato chips and, last but not least, our whole heart and soul! We also made little surprise in some rice roll, hoping those lucky stars would enjoy our painstaking and innovative heart.
As for the flow of the whole festival, we also made thorough plan. Including staff opening, secret sharing, guitar playing, singing and playing group game such as “traffic light” or “一二三木頭人”. The spring breeze and the warm sun at the afternoon were really suitable for such a wonderful event. We were completely immersed in the cozy and easy atmosphere, wishing that we could never call it a day. Raising this picnic festival was a fabulous experience and also my first time holding an activity. This was one of my beautiful memories during college years.

4/5~12

Today, I’m going to introduce a fabulous website that I have been using it for a while. That is INDIEVOX. The function of the website is similar to APPLE STORE. It sells mp3 file of music legally. All you need to do is applying for its membership with your e-mail address and then you can store value into your account. It is convenient and easy to operate.

Unlike normal music download websites or software, Iindievox cooperate with many indie music companies and underground bands. As a result, you can say that this website has exclusive access to the indie music and it’s especially designed for indie music lover. The music in the website is well categorized and the data of every album or singer is explicit so that you can easily find the information you want. Every songs charge for 15 to 20 NT dollars and some of them are even for free(it is called “pay what you want”, 隨你付.) since the original intention of establishing this website is not for making money but for promoting indie music and encouraging sunrise bands. Also, almost every song has about 1 minute listening service. Before buying the whole album impulsively end up find out that there are only a few songs worth listening, you can have a trail listening first. It’s also a function that fixes the problem on the current album market. We can choose the songs we really enjoy it in one album rather than buying a delicate crap! Other than that, they also offer the service of selling live shows’ tickets, online radio program, personal blog and social net work.


I think Indievox is far beyond an online music store. It is a dream for all the indie music lovers and musicians.

3/29~4/4

I’m a music fanatic. I, especially love rock music and indie music. Today I’m going to talk about my favorite Japanese singer, Shina Lingo and her band, Tokyo Jihen. She’s a marvelous singer that I was in love with her and her music since the first I heard her songs. Her music is so unique and so does her voice. Her voice is astonishing and powerful that my heart is always vibrated and excited. Centered on rock music, her creation are productive and diversity. As time goes by, many elements are added in her music, classical, blue, jazz, punk and so on. The musical of her song and the coordination of her band are completed and harmonious. The remarkable skills of the members of band are so amazing. They are professional and experienced but full of creativity and courage. Also, the atmosphere and theme of her song are vivid and distinct. Language is not the barrier anymore. Although I cannot understand the meaning of the lyric, her songs still release lots of emotion and energy. The themes of her songs are closely related to the society and culture. Her works and creation even take an important role in literature and art field. People even compare her with some great writer such as 芥川龍之介 and 三島由紀夫. The live performances of her and her band are also a fascinating part. Through the live performances, the power of her music can directly shock audience.
Although she’s only 30, her life experience is full of ups and downs. She faced and overcame those challenges and difficulties then become profound and mature. Her perseverance and enthusiasm toward music and her life are encouraging and worth respecting. She is such a talented musician that her music influences the whole Japanese society and music field.

journal 3/22~3/28

This is week, I want to introduce a movie that I love so much and have watched for many times. It is a French film that released about 8 years ago and the name of the movie is” Le Fabuleux Destin Amelie Poulain”, the Taiwanese translation is 艾蜜莉的異想世界. The director is Jean Pieiie Jeune and the main characters are Andrey Tautou and Mathieu Kassovitz. The movie talks the story about Amelie’s special life, fantasy and the struggle within her heart. When she was a little girl, she had no friend and her parents were squeamish and odd. Her fantasy became the core of her life and made her be more and more autistic. She could not open her mind and embrace a sincere love. Until there was a thing change her and made her understand the meaning of helping people to gain happiness that she had opportunity to meet her Mr. Right, a young man who is as odd as she is.
The movie’s photography technique is surreal but at the same time, the color tone and the atmosphere of the film tends to be old school. I think, besides the plot, the unique style and the exquisite performance are the important factors of the success of this movie. Moreover, in the movie, there are lots of metaphors. That makes the whole film become intriguing. Another reason of why I love the movie so much is because of the main actress, Andrey Tautou. She is not merely a beautiful woman but has a tempting temperament. Her acting is so delicate that whenever I watch the movie, I can have some new discoveries. In the film, she is a little bit tricky, sensitive as well as tender woman. You can hardly resist her charisma.
I think the movie “Le Fabuleux Destin Amelie Poulain” is like a fairy tells. Those lovely characters and the beautiful while fragile humanity made me deeply fall.

journal 3/15~3/21

Last weekend, during March 12 to 14, I went to Kaohsiung for Mega Port Music Festival with my friends. The performance was held in the Pier-2 art center. There were many stages with different types of bands, including rock, folk, metal and so on. People could whichever stages and bands they like. Apart from live bands performance, there were outdoor radio broadcast. You could directly seat in front of our idols and see them being on the air. Moreover, there were films exhibit and campo market (creative designer piazza). Though there were lots of novel activities and concerts, I still thought the place is not suitable for these big scaled activities. Since the performances would interact one another and the vendors in the campo market was inadequate for audience. The space’s factor would limit the audience will to keep enjoying the performances and other activities.
However, I thought the performances were great and the atmosphere there was awesome! The Kaohsiung’s peculiar climate and temperature were quite agreeable at night and they totally fitted to the “sweaty types of music” With cold beer and warm breeze, the music seemed to be more appealing than recording version.
Among all the performances during these three days, the one I enjoyed the best is “silver bus”. The bands like ”1976”, “Bear Babes” and “Staycool” have always been my beloved one and I have been very familiar with their music and performances. As for “Silver Bus”, I roughly knew their music for certain extent but not that acquainted.
This time, I was glad that I went to Mega Port Music Festival and found something precious. Formed by three people (trio), with profound lyric and soft voice, their music was warm and harmonious. Besides, unlike the electrical music which mushroomed in recent years, their music presents original instrumental sound and exquisite emotion. If you love folk or soft rock, I strongly recommend you this band. You can never miss it.
Silver bus live performance:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rICb-f7PM44&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uClJ0QFqfrQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac7p2m8m_Gg&feature=related

Mega port music festival’s official website:
http://www.megaport.com.tw/

journal 3/8~3/14

Previously, Dr. Gina introduced us a website for both entertainment and listening practice but I didn’t feel like using it. Until the winter vacation, I happened to browse the website; as a result, it carved out a whole new vision for me. The name of website is ”Ted”. Literally, the term means spreading out things and drying them under the sun. The interesting thing is that the slogan of the website is “the ideas worth spreading” and the picture of each lecture fan out on the page. It is exactly what “ted” means.
The latest speech I have watched is “Five lives of an artist”, addressed by Raghava KK, a famous Indian artist. When he was about a teenager, he dropped out of school and started his own business. At first he painted for people and then he paint for himself. His painting is original, innovative and pioneering. He raised a holistic idea for his future, which includes discipline, curiosity, learning, hard work and sustenance. His painting style was always changing. He even combined painting with fashion and dancing. Also, he taught children painting, worked with them and raised art schools at the age of 18. From the children, he learned how to be spontaneous, mad and crazy. Through traveling, he met many interesting and talented artists which helped him on his work and his life.
I never heard of him before seeing this speech, but now I think Raghava KK is really an amazing person. He is confident but humble. As the holistic idea he has mentioned, he works very hard and always stays curious. For a celebrity, those are not easy at all. He treasures his family, his friends and every relationship with each person during his journey of life. His painting shows his full emotion thoroughly and makes every endeavor to live up to his criterion. His attitude toward art as well as life is admirable. I think his experiences and the one who he is are both inspiring.

week14

Q1:
I personally think those task are interesting and inspirational. Although sometimes a little bit bothering, they are indeed really enlightened. The weekly tasks force me to make valuable comment on specific issues and try to reflect it to my personal experiences. I especially love the speech watching part. During watching speech, I can broaden my horizon and enrich my imagination.


Q2:
I think group talking is better. At least if one of them cannot give responses on time, I can still expect other group members’ responses. Otherwise, if my key pal always procrastinate he or she’s work, I will be like have no key pal. (In my own case, my key pal often becomes invisible!) Besides, having group talking helps us absorb different perspectives and learn from others’ experiences.


Q3:
Communicating with remote friend through Internet sometimes make me feel helpless because we have a hard time supervising on each other and the quality of the writing are difficult to maintain. Furthermore, I think the scheduling is hard to control. Whenever our counterpart delays their work, we cannot get feedback on time. Though it has no impact on our next schedule, without receiving responses still make me feel upset.


Q4:
I think Blogger system is quite friendly to a fresh user. The functions of it are easy to familiar with. Moreover, there are multiple choices of the background and themes, including both old school type and fancy type. Also, Blogger have cooperated with many other blog website so we can find many link spots on other website.


Q5:
Besides the training of critical thinking, I also learned the skill of how to express myself. In order to avoid some cliché remarks and boring topic, I have to rack my brain to make my talking more attractive. As for me, honestly, it is hard to jump out of the frame and view things with different angle. I think it can be so called an individual breakthrough. Concerning to the word choice part, I think “Mr. Google” do me a great favor. Those tips of googling are really useful on writing and I gradually get use to it.


Q6:
If I can start over, I think I will still do the same. After all, I did out effort on it. However, I still want to have more interaction with my key pal since through it I can get much edification from her. Also, I hope I can use some new vocabularies to enrich my articles.