Priscilla Chan, Queen of Musical Soap Operas

I came across this gem of a music video on one of my nostalgic romps through Youtube. If you were a child of the eighties who also happened to be a Cantopop fan -- like me -- you would instantly recognize the song as Priscilla Chan's mega-hit Thousands of Songs (陈慧娴 千千闕歌). Or you could just read the caption.

It is an oldie but a goodie - enjoy!



I will spare you all the boring details of how big a hit this was for Priscilla, and how many awards it won. Mainly because I don't know, and I'm too lazy to google-research it. Suffice to say that I'm certain the song was a huge hit - even my friends who are children of the nineties and double-o's are familiar with it.

It was the first time I'd ever seen this music video, and it left a deep impression. What had me entranced from the get-go, more so than the song - which is great, don't get me wrong, but I'd heard it a thousand times - was the visual style. I can't let it go without making some comments about it.

Let's start with Priscilla's outfit. Not something I'd ever seen on the streets of North Jersey, yet it looks strangely familiar. Of course, my suspicions were confirmed with a quick flip through some Japanese manga comics. (By the way, many answers to life's eternal questions are found on the pages of Japanese manga.)

A frenzy of google-wiki-search settled the argument. There is no doubt she's sporting Lolita fashion. Not your average run-of-the-mill Lolita outfit, mind you. Hers carries the trademark virginal white of shiro(white)-Lolita. However, Lolita fashion alone doesn't account for all her stylistic influences. There is something else I can't quite put my finger on. For now, I'll call it "burn victim couture" - how else do you explain why just about every inch of her body is covered in fabric?

Now that we've got the discussion of her outfit out of the way - let us proceed with an an in-depth analysis of the video itself.

It is obvious that the director is a scholar of the classics. The video draws heavily from traditional Cantopop playbooks. Many of the classic elements are present: soft-lighting, blood red long stem roses, staring longingly out of one's raindrop-covered window pane, resting one's chin on one's white-cotton-gloved hand and tilting one's head, pouring two glasses of champagne at a table for one, strolling by the sea-shore at dawn, and the sine qua non of Cantopop parting-with-one's-lover-love-song videos: letter-writing.

To its credit, the video does more than just follow a well-worn formula. The director's true genius is revealed when he takes the classical elements, melds them and creates something that captures the zeitgeist of the late eighties.

A case in point: in one scene, Priscilla lines a letter with rose petals and folds it, ostensibly to be delivered to her long-distance lover. Seeing that, I can't help thinking, "How many times have we all been there and done that?" Am I right, guys? Speaking for myself, I'm still getting used to the idea of sending off an envelope that I don't have to fill with rose petals.

For those fans out there that aren't fully fluent in Chinese, let me give you the low-down on the lyrics. They are written in a first person narrative, from Priscilla's perspective. The person she's addressing is, of course, her lover.

徐徐回望,曾属于彼此的晚上
红红仍是你,赠我的心中艳阳
如流傻泪,祈望可体恤兼见谅
明晨离别你,路也许孤单得漫长
一瞬间,太多东西要讲
可惜即将在各一方
只好深深把这刻尽凝望

Slowly reminiscing, looking back at all the evenings we shared
Time and again, you were the one who lit up my heart with joy
If I were to shed foolish tears, I beg sympathy and forgiveness
Tomorrow we will part, I see a long stretch of loneliness ahead
All of a sudden, I am overcome with all the things I want to say
What a pity that we will soon be at opposite ends of the world
Let us live deeply in the final moment that we have together

来日纵是千千阙歌
飘于远方我路上
来日纵是千千晚星
亮过今晚月亮
都比不起这宵美丽
亦绝不可使我更欣赏
ah..因你今晚共我唱

Even if there were thousands of songs
That may cross my path in the future
Even if there were thousands of stars
That are brighter than the moon tonight
They will never match the beauty that I see now
They will never make me happier than I am now
Because tonight we sing together.
(I wanted to write "make music together" but that might be too cheesy)

临行临别,才顿感哀伤的漂亮
原来全是你,令我的思忆漫长
何年何月,才又可今宵一样
停留凝望里,让眼睛讲彼此立场
当某天,雨点轻敲你窗
当风声吹乱你构想
可否抽空想这张旧模样

Only on your departure's eve, do I realize the beauty of sorrow
As it turns out it was you who I will never forget
I don't know when we will have another night like tonight
Let's pause in each other's gaze, let our eyes say what's in our hearts
On a certain day, when rain drops fall gently on your window
When the sound of the wind rouses you from a daydream
Would you find the time to recall this old memory

The chorus then repeats a few times, with only minor differences between each one.

Here's a video of Priscilla performing in a different get-up, although it's similarly Japanese-inspired.

Griffin Clarifi Case for the iPhone 3G - A Review

I've had the Griffin Clarifi case for the iPhone 3G for a couple of weeks now. It was a real pain in the ass trying to decide which case to get for my iPhone. There are so many choices out there!

After I’d decided on a hard case, instead of one of those silicone gel covers, the decision turned to: which hard case? Clear ones? Candy-colored teeny-boppy ones? Plain black corporate ones? Then, to further complicate matters, I found out there are hybrid hard/soft cases that offer the protection of a rigid shell but are flexible enough that you can stretch and bend to get them to fit onto the iPhone. Oh, the agony of it all!

Over the years, I’ve become one of those people who tend to over-research every single purchase I make. It wasn’t always like that. In my teenage years, almost every thing I did was spontaneous and on the spur of the moment. Every decision was made in under five seconds. Could it be that I’m now over-compensating for all the mistakes I made in the past? That would be a great discussion for another time, another place -- preferably a place that has a couple of glasses and a large bottle of brandy.

Let’s cut to the chase, shall we? In brief, the Griffin Clarify is a slider style case that is very similar to the InCase Slider. With one major upgrade - it comes with a close-up or macro lens that allows you to take much clearer close-up photos with the iPhone camera. Without the lens, Griffin contends, you're gonna get sucky close-ups on the iPhone.

I've been told that the selling point of the case is that corporate types can use the lens to take photos of each other's business cards, as they are wont to do. I know! I've learnt not to be surprised anymore by what corporate types get up to when a bunch of them get together like that. Better that than screwing around with the economy, right?

The good news is this: the Clarifi close-up lens really does work. Let's compare some photos. I took a couple of shots of the little insert that came with the case.

Here it is with the close-up lens:


Here it is without:


Here's a couple of my watch.
With the close-up lens:


Without:


You can see the finer details with the lens in place. Without it, close-ups are more or less a blur.

Now for the bad news, the Griffin Clarifi case is a lint magnet. I carry my iPhone in my pocket. I've come to realize, since I started carrying my mobile phones that way, my pockets are lint factories. I have so much lint in my pockets I'm surprised other stuff are able to fit in there.

Of course, after the iPhone takes a lint bath in my pockets, it looks a mess. Lint collects in all the nooks and crannies where lint loves to collect. To start with, take a look around the edges where the case meets the screen in the next two photos.



Here's a closer look at all that lovely lint.



Now for the lint's favorite watering hole - it is literally a hole.



The slider that houses the lens doesn't stay very firmly in place. It moves and slides open easily and lint gets trapped in there. It looks disgusting, doesn't it? The linty little hole is next to impossible to clean.

It might not be pretty, but it's not a big deal. It's certainly no impediment to the proper function of the case, which is to protect the iPhone from scratches and perhaps more serious damage - I shudder to think what possible misfortune could befall my treasured iPhone.

Overall, I'm fairly happy with the case. It is a well made case, the materials are of decent quality, but it is expensive at about $35 retail. You can pick it up with a reasonable discount on the 'Bay or other on-line retailers.

Sally Yeh - Cantopop's Nonpareil Siren of Song

It's been too long since I've listened to some good Cantopop. By good Cantopop, I don't mean those pretenders on the scene who half-whisper lyrics, sounding more like they're speaking than singing. No, sir. I'm talking about the old-school artistes, those whose work have secured them preeminent positions in the Cantopop constellation of stars; singers who can carry a tune. When one peruses the Cantopop canon, the same names appear again and again: marquee performers like Priscilla Chan, Anita Mui, and the quintessential paragon of pop in multiple dialects and languages, Sally Yeh (叶蒨文).

It's been too friggin’ long since I've listened to Sally Yeh. The four time winner of the Hong Kong Best Female Singer award rightly deserves every ounce of adulation she receives. Ignore the doubters and naysayers. Her body of work speaks for itself. Even if she doesn’t utter another note for the rest of her life, her decades-long career as has made her an enduring and fervently worshipped icon in the high-turnover world of Chinese idolatry.

It was a recent Apple iPhone purchase that got me re-acquainted with her music. Loaded up iTunes with Sally Yeh mp3’s and boom, a stream of her silk-soaked-in-honey vocals are flowing from my earbuds. Life is sweet. Listening to her also made me realize reason why I don’t listen to her more than I should -- my proficiency in Mandarin and Cantonese is -- optimistically-speaking -- about grade five-ish. It's barely enough to get by ordering food at a Chinese restaurant without running the risk of poisoning the entire table.

How could anyone with such feeble grasp of the lyrics gain an absolute appreciation and enjoyment of her art? It’s no mystery really. She possesses the ability to convey the emotional essence of every song through her voice alone. Words no longer matter; language no longer matters.

Over the years, however, I’ve often wondered -- how much more juice could I squeeze out then, if I could actually understand the lyrics? I thought it would be interesting to find out.

With the help of online dictionaries and baidu.com, I'm going to translate my entire Sally Yeh playlist, verse by painful verse. Consider it a community service to all the Chinese-language-challenged Cantopop fans out there. I can't be the only one, can I? Or can I? Either way, I think it's gonna be fun, even if it benefits no-one else.

I’m gonna kick it off with 哭砂 (ku1 sha1): it's near the top of my all-time faves. Could this be the most tear-jerky song she has ever sung? I don't know. She sings a lot of tear-jerky songs. Hmmm... why does saying tear-jerky make me hungry?

Right out of the gate, the title causes me to stumble. I have no idea how to translate “哭砂”. If it is a metaphor, it’s one I’m not familiar with (along with probably a million others). Weepy sand? Teary gravel? If anybody out there has an idea, please speak up. For now, I'll go with "Tears in the Sand".

哭砂 "Tears in the Sand"

你是我最苦澀的等待 讓我歡喜又害怕未來
Waiting for you is a bitter experience; I feel at once hope and fear of the future.

你最愛說你是一顆塵埃 偶而會惡作劇的飄進我眼裡
You love to say you’re a speck of dust; Every so often, you playfully blow into my eye. (Clumsy, and weird - you can tell I have a lot of trouble with this line)

寧願我哭泣 不讓我愛你 你就真的像塵埃消失在風裡
You want to make me cry; You won't let me love you; You disappear like dust in the wind.

你是我最痛苦的抉擇　為何你從不放棄漂泊
You're my most painful dilemma; Why don't you ever give up your wandering ways?

海對你是那麼難分難捨　你總是帶回滿口袋的沙給我
It's tough for you to part with the ocean; You always bring me back pocketfuls of sand

難得來看我　卻又離開我　讓那手中瀉落的沙像淚水流
Visits from you are rare; We’re more often apart; Let sand flow from the hand like tear drops.

風吹來的沙落在悲傷的眼裡 誰都看出我在等你
Wind-blown sand lands in my sad eyes; It's obvious that I'm waiting for you.

風吹來的沙堆積在心裡 是誰也擦不去的痕跡
Wind-blown sand collects in my heart; Which is impossible to clean out.

風吹來的沙 穿過所有的記憶 誰都知道我在想你
Wind-blown sand scatters through all my memories; It's obvious I am thinking of you.

風吹來的沙 冥冥在哭泣 難道早就預言了分離
The wind-blown sand; I'm crying in the dark; could it have long predicted our separation?

The last two verses repeat.

Whew! I’m glad I got through that with dry eyes. Okay, I might’ve misted up a little there… in one eye.

Okay, obviously I didn’t do a literal translation of the song. I took some poetic license here and there. Some parts could be more elegant - your constructive criticism is welcome, of course. Until my next post, happy listening!