Crazy Notions...

It just dawned on me that we are not living in the present!

We are in fact living in the past!  Everything now and in our future had happened already and we are merely "acting" our parts to make it fall into place!  Our future had already took place because no matter what we tried to do, the results have been crafted for us.  Why?  Because it had happened!  So we are living in the present which is in fact our past!

One of my former students mentioned to me once, "Time equals space."  That means, if we can travel in space, we can also travel in time.  Somehow, we had made our choice before, perhaps in another dimension.

Just think again.  Jesus had prophesied that one of his disciples would betray Him.  He also prophesied that Peter would deny Him thrice.  If Judas knew that Jesus knew one of the 12 disciples would betray Him, he would have guessed that Jesus would know who that disciple was.  Then why couldn't Judas change the fate by changing his mind during the last moment?  No, he couldn't, because it had already happened and Judas had to finish acting his part correctly by betraying Jesus.  The same applied to Peter!  I really think we just travelled back in time to act our parts.

Also, we were, we have been and we are told about the end of the world will happen one day...and the Bible even describes it in the Book of Revelation as if it had happened already and someone just wrote it down for records.

Another notion is that we are actually actors and actresses living on a world stage playing our parts.  But our parts have been written out already for us.  Oh yes, sometimes it seemed that we were given a few choices in life, but those are equivalent to ad-libs on stage; we couldn't be far off.  Somehow, the director(s) would send other actors to correct us so that eventually we would still go into the right direction, or else our part(s) would be eliminated!

That explained why we sometimes didn't want to do certain things; but somehow we did it and we couldn't understand why on earth we did what we did!

Then there were places we never had been before, and yet when we first saw it, it seemed familiar!

Somebody out there is watching us and He also directs the play and guides us along - He is our God!

My Space Adventure

Ever since Star Trek NG, there hadn’t been any good Syfy shows on TV except, maybe Babylon 5.  Then there was Star Trek Enterprise, with Scott Bakula as Capt Johathan Archer.  That was good in the first 2 seasons, but as time went by, the storylines became weaker and weaker.  So it ended without a boom!  My guess is,  Gene Roddenberry wasn’t around to provide good scripts for the show!  The show ran from 2001 to 2005, and Roddenberry went to Space Heaven in 1991!

Andromeda came about in 2000 and stayed for 5 seasons with Kevin Sorbo (the former Hercules) playing Capt Dylan Hunt.  Of course, Sorbo was good as the Captain.  But what a drag!  The space ship was run by him and a few of his crew members who dressed themselves as a high school rock band!  After about 2 seasons, I simply dropped it.

I wasn’t any fan for Battlestar Galactica, the series, old or new.  The original movie was good.  In fact, the original movie was too good that whatever stories that ensued on TV were too pale to compare to its predecessor.

So I spent most of my time watching Stargate SG-1 with Richard Dean Anderson, Michael Shanks and Amanda Tapping.  For 10 seasons!  Not bad at all.  But the spin-off series such as Stargate Atlantis and Stargate Universe were not the same without Anderson.

Now there is Defiance, premiered April 15, 2013.  I only started to watch episode 5 the other day and found it intriguing.  Thus, I went to the Showcase website and finally caught up with all the previous episodes.  I think the pilot was done  badly for it never explained how and why the aliens and humans came to live together in Defiance.  So much history was not accounted for!  They can’t expect all of us know its history before watching the show? 

Because the pilot was so badly done with a lot being unexplained, it made you want to find out more.  So people will tune in again for the second episode, and the third, and …   Suddenly there’s a Romeo and Juliet situation, and then the old fashioned conflict between a father and son, and the love and hate between two sisters…   Cliché, cliché, cliché…  Yet people will still want to see more…

Also, the show was supposed to base on the MMO video game with the same name.  However, the storylines are so different between the game and the show, except for the names of a few characters that appeared both in the game and on the show.

By watching Star Trek for so many years, I have already familiarized myself with names of different species and races such as the Ferengi, Bajorans, Klingons, Romulans, Vulcans, Cardassians, etc.  Now with Defiance, I’ll have to learn to know names such as the Votans, the Castithans, the Aranthients, and so on and so forth…

After reading the above, you must think I come from another planet.  And maybe I did.  But which planet did I come from?  Let me see…I can’t seem to recall…  My memories must have been erased!  By humans?

The Cantonese Opera - The Goddess of Luo (洛神) -

The popular Cantonese Opera - The Goddess of Luo (洛神) is based on a Chinese legend which is loosely based on our Chinese History.

The time when it all happened was the period of the Three Kingdoms (around 220 AD):

Below is a brief outline of the story according to the Cantonese Opera which showed on Dec 29, 2013 at Ko Shan Theatre starring Hong Kong's young Cantonese Opera actors/actresses.  They all gave a brilliant performance, good singing and good acting - very commendable!

The cast:    黃寶萱飾宓妃, 黎耀威飾曹植, 阮德鏘飾曹丕, 梁煒康飾太后, 王潔清飾陳德琼, 黄金堂飾陳喬.

The story exploited the complicated relationship between the 2 brothers, in the Kingdom of Wei.  The 2 brothers were the sons of Emperor Cao Cao, Cao Pi and Cao Zhi.  The story started when the elder brother (Pi), was so jealous of his younger brother (Zhi) because their father, the king wanted to give his throne to Zhi.  

Meanwhile, Zhi was in love with Lady Zhen (also known as Fu), daughter of a captured war-prisoner.  Both the king and queen didn't want Zhi to marry  Fu because they thought a prisoner's daughter would not fit to be the future queen.  They had arranged Zhi to marry a girl of noble birth; and Fu to marry Pi, the elder brother.

On the wedding night, the queen went to see Fu and told her to cut off her love for Zhi and be faithful to Pi.  But Pi was half drunk that night and swore to Fu that he would kill his younger brother one day.  Fu was afraid for Zhi, because Pi had killed 2 other brothers before.  Fu tried to notify Zhi by writing a note to him, asking him to meet her in the garden.  Somehow, Pi found out about the meeting and drew up a plan to destroy his younger brother, Zhi.

Fu met Zhi in the garden and warned him about his elder brother's intention in getting rid of him, but unfortunately their meeting was discovered because Pi took the king and queen to the garden.  They were accused of having an affair although both Zhi and Fu pronounced they're innocent.  The king was so mad at Zhi and changed his will at that moment by giving the throne to Pi.  The queen pleaded for Zhi and eventually, he was banished from the palace.

Having succeeded his father, Pi still tried to find a way to do away with his younger brother.  In reality, Zhi wasn't really interested in becoming the king; he's a poet and he's more interested in literature and art.  He had made a name as the most talented literary figure of the time.

Meanwhile, Pi's Chief Secretary then convinced him to put Zhi's literary talent to a test.  If Zhi failed the test, it would be excuse enough to put him to death.  So Pi asked his wife to write a letter to get Zhi back to the palace.  Knowing Pi's intention, Lady Zhen, Fu wrote a letter without any punctuation.  One sentence went like that: "...Your brother tries to reconcile with you safety guarantee no need to worry come back not dangerous ... (real meaning - Your brother tries to reconcile with you; Safety guarantee - no; Need to worry; Come back not; Dangerous ...)  Of course, the lovesick Zhi saw his lover's hand-writing, he didn't bother to read the letter carefully and rushed back to the palace.

Pi agreed and held audience with Zhi, and he told his brother to compose a poem based on their fraternal relationship, without using the word "brother".  And with one condition - it must be completed within 10 paces.  To his request, Zhi recited:

煮豆燃豆萁，	Cooking beans by lighting a fire with the beanstalks,
豆在釜中泣。	The beans weep in the pot and ask,
本是同根生，	We were born from the same root,
相煎何太急！	Why so eager to destroy one another?

Zhi did it within 7 paces.  Everybody in court clapped for Zhi.  Pi was moved but in his heart, he still wanted his brother dead.  Lady Zhen then showed Pi how wrong he was to want to kill his only living brother by cutting off the handles and one leg of a wine cup, telling Pi that he had already killed two brothers by removing the the left and right handles.  If he should remove one leg, such as killing his only younger brother, then he would not be able to stand on his own, like the wine cup!  Then she jumped into the River Luo to end her life.  Pi now understood how wrong he had been wanting to kill Zhi all this while and finally decided to make up with Zhi.  

The last scene of the opera showed Zhi dreaming of Lady Zhen returning as the Goddess of Luo.

A Stroll Along Queen Street West, Toronto, Ontario

I took a stroll along my old neighbourhood, Queen Street West today...OMG, a lot has changed...Silver Snail is now moved to 329 Yonge, the bookstore that used to sell small-press books is gone, the 360 Club (where Nicole sang there one Saturday night) was closed...many new trendy shops are now in their place including a huge Shoppers Drug Mart...Steve's Music Store is still there, so are Drake Hotel, Condom Shack, Starbuck, Sushi Time (where I took Ileana to try out her first Japanese food). City TV - of course now - is the home of CP24 and Much Music (City TV has since moved to Yonge and Dundas). But like before, it's always fun to walk along here! I saw a great-looking young man wearing a fur coat today (it's 16C with sunshine)...a pretty lady dyed her hair in bright red colour...another dyed hers in bright green (they don't know each other)...a guy in the old mohawk hairstyle...a band singing on the street (they sound better than the subway musicians who are usually quite boring to listen to)...old hippies, young urban weirdos...except this time, I didn't see any girl wearing any nightie, (trust me, a few years ago at the same Starbuck on Q St W, I did see one wearing a pink night gown sipping coffee with her friends!)

Yangqin (洋琴) - A Chinese Hammered Dulcimer

What is a Yangqin?  Where did it originate from?

Below is an excerpt from Wikipedia (I cut out some redundant words or phrases from the original article for easier reading):

"The trapezoidal yangqin is a Chinese hammered dulcimer, originally from Middle East and Persia (modern day Iran).  It used to be written with the characters  洋琴 , but over time the first character changed to 揚  (also pronounced "yáng"), which means "acclaimed".  It is also spelled yang quin or yang ch'in.  Hammered dulcimers of various types are now very popular not only in China, but also Eastern Europe, the Middle East, India and Pakistan.  The instruments are also sometimes known by the names "santur" and "cymbalom".

The yangqin was traditionally fitted with bronze strings (some older Chinese stringed instruments used silk strings), which gave the instrument a soft timbre.  This form of instrument is still occasionally heard today in the "hudie qin" (蝴蝶琴) played in the traditional silk and bamboo genre from the Shanghai region known as "Jiangnan sizhu" (江南絲竹), as well as in some Cantonese music groups. 

The Thai and Cambodian khim are nearly identical in their construction, having been introduced to those nations by southern Chinese musicians.  Since the 1950s, however, steel alloy strings (in conjunction with copper-wound steel strings for the bass notes) have been used, in order to give the instrument a brighter and louder tone.  The modern yangqin can have as many as five courses of bridges and may be arranged chromatically.  Traditional instruments, with three or more courses of bridges, are also still widely in use.   

The instrument's strings are struck with two lightweight bamboo beaters (also known as hammers) with rubber tips.  A professional musician often carries several sets of beaters, each of which draws a slightly different tone from the instrument, much like the drum sticks of Western percussionists."

我崇拜的一位現代詩人及散文作家 - 易君左

 {我崇拜的一位現代詩人及散文作家 - 易君左 (易家鉞)，和我最喜歡的一篇散文 - 可愛的詩境：}

"多謝西風！
它把後園的桂花一齊吹放了。桐葉的飄零與黃花的憔悴，是詩人的形容詞。這裏只有花的芬芳，水的澄清，天的莊嚴而純潔，以及一切秋蟲的歌唱。 

我曾徘徊池邊。我把秋波當做鏡子，照見了她嫣然一笑的朱顏，比什麼花枝還美麗。那池中的游魚，兩兩三三，交頭接耳的過去了；戲水的白鵝，清影在波中浮耀，紅掌兒翻向青天，年輕的魚兒羞躲了。綠衣仙女似的翠鳥兒，嚶然一聲，彷彿報道晨妝才了；白鷺有時飛到堤邊，靜悄悄的站著，恰似一個披蓑衣的釣叟。 

我曾小立斷橋。天末彩霞，倒影池塘之中，一片紅光似火。我小立橋端，銷磨了幾度黯淡的黃昏，癡等新月的東升，驚醒了棲鴉之夢。垂楊倦了，桂花在隔院送香，黃橙添蓋了顏色，青藤橫橕了纖腰，天上的星兒搖搖欲墜。 

我曾慢步登樓。郭外的山光，郊外的村莊，遍野的牛羊，淺水湖中，尚有殘荷點點：不是殘荷，彷彿是落花片片；莫不是荷花又重開了？哪裏是秋天！樹葉青青，有如春草之爭妍；雁兒陣陣，有如夏雲之飛翔。蒼煙渺渺，和著輕雲裊裊，是誰在那兒噓氣如蘭？望不斷的天邊，也許有蝶兒成雙的飛舞，也許有鶯兒歌唱，燕子裁衣。 

在這些可愛的詩境中，平鋪了一幅絕妙的圖畫。我與她，變成了畫中的詩人，詩中的畫家，變成了燦爛的流霞，變成了團圞的明月，變成了並蒂的山花。" 


                                     *******************************

以下是從網上搜習來的關於易君左生平：

"易君左出身書香世家，一門都是詩人，其中最著名的是他的父親易順鼎，他曾刻有“詩人之子”的印章，足見他對其門楣的看重。半個世紀前，因為一本小書《閒話揚州》，易君左惹下官司，弄得沸沸揚揚。那時候的人要比現在單純得多，擱到現在，這是一個絕好的炒作機會，藉此暴得大名，增加書的銷量，感謝揚州人民還來不及。可這老兄是怎麼應付的呢？在以揚州婦女界為主的聲勢浩大的“究易團”威嚇下，易君左惶惶不可終日。第一次未敢到庭，第二次，終被拎到被告席上。後經調解，除了賠錢外，還在報紙上道歉，一時灰頭土臉，在江蘇成了過街老鼠。

　　也就是這件事，讓我知道了易君左的名字。他成名很早，交遊廣，於詩詞、遊記、傳記、隨筆、劇本、繪畫等無不涉獵，被目為才子詩人，這樣的頭銜在民國，大概只有鬱達夫當得，這樣的人讓人不感興趣都很難。我在香港的舊書店裡，買到了他的不少書，詩詞、遊記、自傳和學術著作都有。台灣有人封他為中國現代遊記寫作第一​​名家，這個高帽子他戴起來大概有點吃力，遊記平平，多為平實的記敘，遠不如鬱達夫的《屐痕處處》和今人黃裳。他在行的還是詩詞，這也是我感興趣的部分。

　　他和郁達夫有很好的友誼，達夫的“傷亂久嫌文字獄，偷安新學武陵漁”，大概是詩讖吧。抗戰爆發後，毀家之前，達夫果然移家到武陵源邊上的漢壽。漢壽是易君左的家鄉，鬱氏移家，也是君左安排的。“朱字勻抄烈女篇”的憤激詩句，就是達夫在《避地漢壽賦寄君左》裡寫給他的。同是才子詩人，感覺易君左是空負才子之名，才情遠比不上鬱達夫，他的詩集中很少有達夫那樣才氣縱橫的名句。他應該是捷才，詩寫得很流暢，取材也廣，大凡江上清風、山間明月，信手拈來都是詩材。他喜歡寫篇幅很長的古風，讀來很讓人頭疼。他晚年說他一生寫詩愛寫斜陽和鴉，我能記得他有限的詩句也正是這些，如“寒鴉數點秋風裡，好趁斜陽看六朝”，“六代豪華鴉背冷，九邊烽火夕陽紅”等。無端地覺得，喜歡寫這兩樣衰颯東西的詩人，人生都難得意。

　　易君左一生寫了幾千首詩，《君左詩選》選了五百多首，前後跨越了二十年。抗戰勝利後，毛澤東的《沁園春·雪》在山城發表，引發兩派文人的筆墨酣戰，國民黨身份的詩人易君左自然不免技癢，但雖有技巧，終不是霸王，詞的意境和氣勢都遠遜毛氏原作。他大概有自知之明，這首詞沒有收集到《君左詩選》中。他在香港還出了一本《中國百美人圖詠》，品位不高，這大概是為稻粱謀寫的遊戲之作。流寓海島，迭經喪亂，去國懷鄉，痛往傷逝，詩應該“老更成”才對，可見到他晚年的許多詩篇，仍然大多是無病呻吟，或口號式的豪語大言：“不信終貧聊自慰，只知漸老奮為歡”，“故鄉夢境昏如霧，志士心情艷似花”。雖然是名詩人之後，但在民國詩人中，確實不能算出眾。以名詩人之子，而未能克紹其裘，這是很遺憾的。

　　易君左是上世紀五十年代南下文人中反共極右文人的代表。作為軍旅文人，他長年在國民黨軍政界從事文化宣傳工作，其立場可想而知。像他這樣在國民黨時代過著優游生活的人，被趕到海角後，大概做夢都希望復闢他們失去的好天堂，對新政權刻骨仇恨是完全可以理解的。那個時期港台反共文人的文章，調子基本上都差不多：被仇恨弄得毫無理性，滿篇的惡毒謾罵，歪曲事實胡說八道。極右派文人的偏激往往能和極左派文人一決雌雄。易君左寫了很多反共文章，內容的顛倒黑白，在極右派反共文人作品中堪稱翹楚。比如他的自傳《烽火夕陽紅》記述淮海戰役，倘不是看到國軍因“戰略需要撤守”，你簡直懷疑不是解放軍而是所謂的國軍贏了這場戰爭。不過，他一些懷人的篇章識見不壞，臨去世前寫的回憶田漢和郭沫若的文章，對兩人的評價就比較客觀和公允，遠比孫陵《浮世小品》那樣胡說八道的東西高明。

　　1949年底去台灣後，易君左一直輾轉港台的學校任教，詩和遊記寫了很多。一代才人，被政治播弄，晚境難堪，心境應該是落幕和悲涼的，看他描寫逃離大陸的一批文人，在港島辛苦輾轉謀生，很能讓人掬一把同情之淚。易君左1972年死於台灣，享年75歲。"

Opera - Richard Wagner

Recently, I've been to see one of Richard Wagner's (1813-83) opera called Die Walkure.  It was quite impressive with its very powerful music all the way through, from beginning to end.  And it's the first time I ever knew about German mythology or Norse mythology; all the names of their gods and goddesses are completely different from the Greek gods/goddesses and the Roman ones.  I always had thought that all European gods and goddesses were very similar, but to my surprise, these German ones were very different.  It seems to me that they even accepted incest, for in this opera, the brother and the sister were allowed to get married and to have children.

Anyway, Die Walkure is only one of the 4 epic operas called The Ring of The Nibelunge written by Wagner.  I didn't see the first one (Die Rheingold), but I'll go to see the 3rd one and the 4th one which will be performed in the next season/next year.

When I have a chance, I really should read about the Norse Saga and German Mythology.

"Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung) is a cycle of four epic operas  (1813–83). The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied. The four dramas, which the composer described as a trilogy with a Vorabend ("preliminary evening"), are often referred to as the Ring Cycle, Wagner's Ring, or simply the Ring."