8 posts from September 2008

He is a man that stood fast to his principles.
He is a man that never backed down in the face of obstacles.
He is a man that was truly for the people.

We will miss you, JBJ. And I sincerely hope your legacy will continue living within the future generations of Singaporeans.

Initially, I was skeptical as to how well it will work - music fancies have always been almost in the realm of the mysterious, with subtle rhythms and nuances that determines an individual's liking for the song. And Apple now claims to "create perfect playlists"... wow.

As a test, I took Coltrane's Nancy (with the laughing face) and press the Genius button. I was blown away, it was *almost* a perfect playlist, and i just sat there for the next 4 hours listening in mellowed moods.

What the Genius picked out :

• Nancy (With The Laughing Face) - John Coltrane
• The Nearness of You - Esquire
• You Are Too Beautiful - Sonny Rollins
• My Romance - Various Artists
• Blue In Green - Bill Evans
• You Call It Madness - Diana Krall
• Stop This World - Diana Krall
• The Man I Love - Ella Fitzgerald
• I Wanna Be Around - Tony Bennett
• Manhattan - Sonny Rollins
• Wild Is The Wind - Nina Simone
• When I Fall In Love - Various Artists
• Prelude To A Kiss - Duke Ellington
• CD6:01 Directions - Miles Davis
• Corcovado (Quiet Nights of Quiet Stars) - Cannonball Adderley
• My Foolish Heart - Bill Evans
• Tequila - Wes Montgomery
• Lover Man - Billie Holiday
• Perdido - Duke Ellington & His Orchestra
• My Little Brown Book - John Coltrane
• The Beat Goes On - Buddy Rich
• Menina Flor - Stan Getz
• Night Train - Oscar Peterson Trio
• Soulful Strut - Grover Washington Jr.
• Tupelo Honey - Cassandra Wilson
• My Funny Valentine - Chet Baker
• East Of The Sun (And West Of The Moon) - Diana Krall
• Maputo - Bob James & David Sanborn
• Nature Boy - Nat King Cole
• All The Way - Celine Dion and Frank Sinatra
• Fever - Peggy Lee
• After The Rain - John Coltrane
• All Of Me - Count Basie & Orchestra
• You Don't Know Me - Shirley Horn
• Is This America? (Katrina 2005) - Pat Metheny with Christian McBride & Antonio Sanchez
• What A Wonderful World - Stacey Kent
• Deep In A Dream - Sonny Clark
• Blue Moon - Various Artists
• Killer Joe - Benny Golson
• Soul Eyes - John Coltrane
• Maybe You'll Be There - Diana Krall
• Desafinado - Antonio Carlos Jobim/Stan Getz/Joao Gilberto
• Samba Saravah - Stacey Kent
• It Had To Be You - Billie Holiday
• Tonight (Nicola Conte New Jazz Version) - Koop
• Memphis Underground - Herbie Mann
• I'm Thru With Love - Diana Krall
• The Nearness Of You - Norah Jones
• Ain't No Sunshine - David Sanborn
• Chameleon - Herbie Hancock

I'm gonna start having a lot more playlists on my iTunes now - and what used to take monotonous hours of browsing and skipping music, is now automated. Bravisimmo, Apple, bravisimmo.

I guess this pretty much confirms again why alot of people think I'm gay.

Don't worry about needing to purchase books to read, as Stanza through its very intuitive interface allows downloading of several high-quality free e-books. And it is my opinion that there are so many copyright-free literary classics, you would hardly ever need to buy the latest trash read.

Just completed re-reading George Orwell's 1984 (still one of my favorites after all these years), also Animal Farm by the same author, The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli and finally, Utopia by Thomas More.

It's crazy, you just lie in your favorite chaise lounge and tap tap on the screen, page after page. Either that or its tap tap in your daily commute. You devour ardently the words that shall bring your mind to new places, and seeds of new ideas take root in your psyche.

I have always believed reading to be one of the most rewarding experience ever - however the choice of books MUST be governed! Unlike being spoonfed by the movies or TV, reading allows your imagination to soar, your vocabulary to improve, your ability to express yourself increased and the scope of your mind to widen.

And right now, it has never been easier. So whatever your mobile platform is on, go download Stanza. And then download Orwell or Dickens as a start. The beginnings might be rough, your fingers long for the rustic feel of real paper, or your nose misses the pulpy, moody smell of papyrus - but you'll get over it, and most importantly, you save the environment and you keep up the reading habit.

The day I stop reading, the day I become just a robot in this world.

Note : As a tip, on most electronic reading devices, I find that the screen brightness is extremely glaring and actually tires your eyes out in a very short while. Couple of pointers to elevate that problem :

1. Dim your screen to a comfortable point - not too bright, not too dark.
2. Reverse the colors - Smoke White text on Black works best for me.
3. Use a serif font - Stanza's default Georgia is lovely, some may prefer Garamond or Times New Roman though
4. Adjust the font size! - probably the most overlooked and most helpful tip, because it's electronic, you can actually adjust the font size. Make it big, make it comfortable. Unless you are reading erotic literature, it doesn't matter if the person next to you could probably see what you are reading.

Unless Mr Ms Edwards here really meant that our designs are gonna be some fireworks exhibitions @ Venice, methinks she meant "flair" instead of "flare".

As a real working journalist, you have to be especially careful with the choice of words, and also proper spelling, syntax, grammar, etc. You are representing as much your article as your professionalism, and your publication.

Though mistakes are very commonplace in a world of words, this ranks as one of the more unforgivable ones due to how it changes substantially the meaning of the article.