we are waiting...

it's been weeks after the fall of leaves, and yet, there's still no snow... and now, with Thanksgiving come and gone... we are still waiting.

it is a wet november day here... and i have Simon&Garfunkel's Kathy's Song lingering about my mind... it's awfully trying to get beyond this point in my programming... and while wandering in my restlessness, i am reminded by this poem selected by Garrison Keillor last tuesday... i am hoping that the snow might arrive...

"in search of... talented intellectual musicians!"

i am "in search of... [dashing] talented intellectual musicians!", i declared to f the other day... musing over the fact that i DO have an utterly deep soft-spot for such creatures. of course, f was adamant that such persons are very rare, indeed. i refused to be dissuaded... challenges are attractive in ways we know far too well; that the rewards are reaped with more enjoyment when sought with fiery passion.

i was really only embarking on my 'wee' mission, which germinated in my subconsciousness possibly since infancy... but i seem to have discovered one, not quite a week since i professed about it! not bad for progress, eh?

the musical knight is Yevgeny Sudbin, russian by birth, and a rising star in the world of piano soloists... his performance last sunday provided a refreshing musical discourse on the influences that modern composers derived from their predecessors. progressing through the baroque, to the classical and romantic eras... he introduced lesser-known post-romantic Scriabin's rather flamboyantly emotional sonatas... suffused with the quirks and idiosyncracies of Chopin's tenderness, the angst-ridden Beethoven, the folksie-rhythms of Liszt... and the romance of Rachmaninoff... mingled into a nearly modern classic-jazz fusion... utterly mind-blowing stuff.

i was also rather taken by the fact that Yevgeny reflected on the life and influences of the composers, who penned some of the technically challenging pieces he chose to perform... trying to appreciate their intentions... the experiences that shape their musical creativity, and his interpretations of those pieces that he studied and played... this added personal touch kind of bridges the distant formal communication of a concert programme and the actual performance... and it's certainly something quite positively refreshing.

Mutter's Mozart...

i've been extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to hear some incredibly talented artists (e.g. András Schiff, David Helfgott, Sarah Chang, Alfred Brendel, Ralph Kirschbaum, Leon Fleischer, Anne Akiko Meyers, etc.) render some profound interpretations of the great masters...

although, i think, it is even more incredible when they are able to offer you a reassessment of your pre-conceived partial view of the works of those classical masters; e.g. that of Mozart, who is hailed as the child-prodigy and who is known to have penned heavenly music... yet despite the fact that his works are very often prettily composed and diverse in similar (but never the same) themes and variations... they don't always pull my heartstrings, for i feel that they are often played, coldly (whether intuitively or interpreted as such)... and somewhat distant.

what violin virtuoso Anne-Sophie Mutter did in her performance on wednesday was quite refreshing... adding colour, texture and depth to the notes of Mozart's violin sonatas and making them more rousing and alive than i've ever thought his music could be capable of.

i first heard of Anne-Sophie as a little girl/ teenager growing up in singapore... i heard her name being annouced over the radio programme (very likely the short-wave BBC world-service that my papa fiddles with...) and then her playing... and always wondered who this incredible person, and where germany might be... and whether i will ever get to see her and hear her play, live... someday.

i did so last wednesday evening... saw her walked onto the stage in her beautiful blue floral-print mermaid dress with her accompanist Lambert Orkis. they only briefly took their positions and began their repertoire without hesitation... there's something powerfully alluring in her playing which kept me captivated... (even when some audiences left their wretched cell-phones on! utterly annoying twats...) ... and even made me reconsider my partiality towards Mozart's composition.

perched up on the closest balcony, with a splendid view of the musicians, i could admire Anne-Sophie bowing, and fingering all the notes across the finger board of her beautiful instrument, and watch her anticipation of various phrases... i love the intimacy... which one doesn't really get in a larger orchestral setting. pity though, that there aren't many such performances throughout the year... although, it is probably good for my wee pocket... =C) for i am a sucker for inspiring artsy stuff...

nearly reaching the end of her Mozart tour... her last stops are in the US... with 3 different programmes to choose from, she delighted the audience with a selection of violin sonatas in A, C, E flat, G, and B flat. i particularly enjoyed her 2 encores... when she played the Menuetto from Mvt 3 of the Divertimento in D (K. 334) with such passion, and the lyrical slow movement of the sonata in E minor (K. 304)... it was perhaps where Mozart meets Bach... soulful and penetrating... and even more wonderfully so, because Anne-Sophie Mutter enjoyed herself too.

snippets of fun...

i did quite a lot of fun things last week... while trying desperately to concentrate on work, which proved exceedingly challenging... i blame it on SFN conference spoiling the work momentum i had.

in any case... we ought to embrace the fun things that come our way... ahem... methinks. hee.

so i went to visit the Boeffs (D very kindly let me practice driving in his car -- i drove to their place from work) and their fuzzy dog Bailey and listened to a debate on bio-ethics at the high-school that K is attending... and got to see C, who seemed rather stressed out with university and i couldn't really help her with quantitative chemistry because i have long forgotten how to do it off the top of my head (sob, age is certainly catching on) ... their mommy, T, fed me scrumptious lasagne and even packed the left-overs for us to take away... i feel utterly LOVED... =C) especially when they helped me find the snoopy-stuffed-toy for Raeanne!

i tried to capture sleepy Bailey with my camera... but the delay makes it nearly impossible...

i rented a car for the weekend... zipped about in it and tried to fight my fears of highways... hee... it was a little embarrassing though... i couldn't get the gas-cap out and had to ask for help at the gas-station... i don't think i could ever return to that place again... darn i need portable rabbit burrows... i never fail to embarrass myself in silly situations... anyways... i made my way to the Mall of America via interstate 494 and caught The Prestige because Borat was sold out... but saw the latter the next day at Southdale Mall after battling my wits through highway 62 which involved tricky lane-changes... i didn't really like the movie -- it was too graphic and vulgar for my liking... although my company, DC, who was my course mate in Tuebingen and currently here to run his high-field imaging research, was in such a hilarious fit, i ended up laughing at him... i also drove to ballet and to United Noodles to stock up on asian goodies... and to Mother Courage, a very long (!) musical-play adaptation of Bertolt Brecht's work that my former colleague A, is currently in... i loved the singing though but wished it were much more abridged... to be engrossed for nearly 3 hours is a little challenging for one's attention!

sigh... i wish i had more time to explore the country-side and do some walks... perhaps next time!

this morning, i brought teddy to say hello to the metallic-blue chevy... and drove it to work... it's real nice to have that bit of driving fun... and much-needed practice, which i don't get enough of! it's really quite reassuring too, to hear from some of my colleagues and DC who were the royal guests of my royal carriage that i am quite a safe driver (minus the one instance of running through a red-light! because i very absent-mindedly forgot that they only have lights AFTER the lines and it was exceedingly dimly lit!!! thankfully there wasn't anyone coming in the perpendicular direction! SCARY! hope there wasn't a camera! eeks) ... but i have to say, i am grateful for the invention of automatic cars... =C) as i am for dish-washers!

i returned the sporty car this evening after work... it's sad to say goodbye... but i am sure i'll rent another automobile again some other time, and explore a wee bit of this crazy country!

some bits and pieces...

i have been pretty distracted by various things... by the many bits to tidy up for my thesis and new analyses to start and it's always hard to get everything going at once. or rather, it's almost impossible to 'literally' multi-task. but things have to take a serial-order (Karl Lashley, 1951) ... otherwise something or everything might go berserk!

then there are other things like illness and friendships... and they all help you to put things into perspective, like this poem... which was aired on the Writer's Almanac on my mummy's birthday last week... and very aptly:

How to Live by Charles Harper Webb, from Amplified Dog. © Red Hen Press.

"I don't know how to live."
–Sharon Olds

Eat lots of steak and salmon and Thai curry and mu shu
pork and fresh green beans and baked potatoes
and fresh strawberries with vanilla ice cream.
Kick-box three days a week. Stay strong and lean.
Go fly-fishing every chance you get, with friends

who'll teach you secrets of the stream. Play guitar
in a rock band. Read Dostoyevsky, Whitman, Kafka,
Shakespeare, Twain. Collect Uncle Scrooge comics.
See Peckinpah's Straw Dogs, and everything Monty Python made.
Love freely. Treat ex-partners as kindly

as you can. Wish them as well as you're able.
Snorkel with moray eels and yellow tangs. Watch
spinner dolphins earn their name as your panga slam-
bams over glittering seas. Try not to lie; it sours
the soul. But being a patsy sours it too. If you cause

a car wreck, and aren't hurt, but someone is, apologize
silently. Learn from your mistake. Walk gratefully
away. Let your insurance handle it. Never drive drunk.
Don't be a drunk, or any kind of "aholic." It's bad
English, and bad news. Don't berate yourself. If you lose

a game or prize you've earned, remember the winners
history forgets. Remember them if you do win. Enjoy
success. Have kids if you want and can afford them,
but don't make them your reason-to-be. Spare them that
misery. Take them to the beach. Mail order sea

monkeys once in your life. Give someone the full-on
ass-kicking he (or she) has earned. Keep a box turtle
in good heath for twenty years. If you get sick, don't thrive
on suffering. There's nothing noble about pain. Die
if you need to, the best way you can. (You define best.)

Go to church if it helps you. Grow tomatoes to put store-
bought in perspective. Listen to Elvis and Bach. Unless
you're tone deaf, own Perlman's "Meditation from Thais."
Don't look for hidden meanings in a cardinal's song.
Don't think TV characters talk to you; that's crazy.

Don't be too sane. Work hard. Loaf easily. Have good
friends, and be good to them. Be immoderate
in moderation. Spend little time anesthetized. Dive
the Great Barrier Reef. Don't touch the coral. Watch
for sea snakes. Smile for the camera. Don't say "Cheese."

more soon... there's quite a lot hiding in the attic of my memory... which needs salvaging before they metamorphosize into something mysterious...