Movie: Whip It

"Whip It" is a light-hearted sports comedy movie directed by Drew Barrymore.  It is her first attempt at directing, and she does a fabulous job in it, surpassing my expectations for sure.

The movie stars Ellen Page as Bliss Cavendar, who is a rebellious high school teenager from a small town in Texas called Bodeen.  Her mom (brilliantly played by Marcia Gay Harden) works for the United States Post Office, but tries to get Bliss to attend the local beauty pageants, apparently the "proper" thing for the teenage girls to do in the town.

Sound clips on Youtube

What a great invention, Youtube!!  I guess all this talk about Baroque music and no sound clip can still be very vague.  I've therefore started to attach sound clips of some of the CDs I've been reviewing.  Hope these pieces find whoever is interested well.

Youtube實在是好東西。可以上傳音樂，也不用擔心自己blog的空間有限。因此，開始在每篇介紹巴洛克音樂的文章裡，將上傳至youtube的連結，放在最下面。有興趣點閱來聽的朋友們，希望你們喜歡那些曲子。

Zavateri: Concerti da Chiesa e da Camera (Freiburg Baroque Orchestra)

Lorenzo Gatetano Zavateri 生於1690年，逝於1764年。他是當時波隆那(Bologna)音樂文化興盛時期下的產物。他的音樂訓練是在當地，相另一位作曲家Torelli學習 小提琴，並和Predieri學習合聲和作曲。在年紀輕輕的27歲，他便成為Accademia Filharmonica的會員，由當時義大利音樂界裡地位最高的音樂家所組成。由此可見，Zavateri在小提琴上的修為一定是令前輩們刮目相看。

Geminiani: Op.3 Concerti Grossi (Hogwood/Academy of Ancient Music)

傑米尼亞尼是巴洛克晚期的作曲家，與巴哈，韓德爾，還有韋瓦第等同輩的作曲家。出身於Lucca，他的爸爸是當地教堂 Cappella Palatina的小提琴家，也很有可能是他的啟蒙老師。他後來又先到米蘭與Lonati學習音樂。接下來，今天公認的說法是他到羅馬時應該有當過 Corelli的學生，在拿坡里時又有拜師Alessandro Scarlatti，雖然這都沒有明確的文獻記載。1707年，20歲的Geminiani回到自己的家鄉，從父親手上接下了教堂小提琴手的工作，任職有 兩年。 1711年，他再度回到拿坡里擔任某樂團的小提琴首席。不過，他愛過度即興的個性與喜歡將音樂的節奏弄得太有彈性，使他從小提琴手被貶為中提琴手。

NP Stamps

Starting to upload the National Park stamps at the units I've visited....   I'm a stamper after all !!!
開始附上去過的每個國家公園的單位所蓋到的章~~~     有些沒蓋那麼漂亮就是了~~~

Movie: Away We Go

Away We Go is a nice little piece by Sam Mendes, director of critically-acclaimed films like American Beauty, Road to Perdition, Jarhead, and Revolutionary Road.  It's a nice little departure from his normal films and very refreshing.

The film is about a couple, Burt and Verona, in their mid 30s trying to figure out what to do with their lives when Verona becomes pregnant.  Still leading college student lifestyles, they realize the need to change their lifestyles and environment to welcome their newborn baby. 

Schmelzer: Sonatae unarum fidium (John Holloway)

Johann Heinrich Schmelzer(c1620 - 1680)是17世紀中在德語系國家中相當重要的音樂家。雖然他早期的生平多不可考，不過許多文獻都指出他在1635就已在統治Holy Roman Empire(神聖羅馬帝國)的Habsburg王朝的宮廷禮拜教堂(court chapel)下當樂手。儘管1643的正式婚姻文件記載他為cornett(角號)的演奏家，他最終是以高超小提琴家的名氣傳播至整歐 洲。

Post Date Change

Thanks to I-Kang, I now know how to change my posting dates of my entries.  Therefore, I will be changing my posting dates of my very old National Park conquests.  I will then only leave the latest National Park entry, which I will change when a newer entry comes out.

Movie: (500) Days of Summer

(500) Days of Summer is a movie I recent saw over the winter break. It had a very good lasting impression that I watched it again with some friends (had them watch it with me would be more correct :) ).

This movies retraces Tom's (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) relationship with Summer (Zooey Deschanel) in nonlinear fashion. It details how the love blooms, and in the next scene, jumps forward in time, to show you how a same movie date has become boring and the relationship falling apart. The first few lines spoken by the narrator cooly says "This is a story of boy meets girl. But you should know up front, this is not a love story." So don't get you hopes up about a happy ending.

Handel: The Eight Great Harpsichord Suites (Paul Nicholson)

2005底開始學大鍵琴以來，也開始大量收集大鍵琴的CD。以前小時候，甚至到大學的時候接觸和收集的巴洛克音樂，以室內樂和管弦樂為主，獨奏的音樂仍比較少，而且也以巴哈為主。雖然上研究所有購買巴哈和Francois Couperin的大鍵琴曲全集，但因為對樂器的了解有限，所以一次有辦法專注地聽完一整張CD的次數不多。

Vivaldi: 9 Concertos (I Musici)

I Musici 義大利音樂家合奏團，是於1952年由12位主要來自於羅馬的音樂家所組成的室內樂弦樂團。他們1955年所錄的韋瓦第的四季小提琴協奏曲，不僅是當初市 面少數買得到的錄音之一，也是多年來銷售相當好的唱片。1983年，在Philips所灌錄的這張四季，全世界銷售量超過1000萬張而被發行一張白金鑲 鑽的紀念唱片。這50幾年來，他們會將這耳熟能響的曲子，共再錄七次之多。

J.S. Bach: Brandenburg Concertos (Pinnock/English Concert)

這兩張CD是我還在念小六的時候買的(當然是爸媽出錢的)。自從學鋼琴以來，就對古典樂相當有興趣，尤其是對巴洛克時期的音樂有有種莫名的偏愛。以 那時接觸古典樂的我來說，與其說是偏愛，應該是說給與相同的愛好。日後認識同是古典樂愛好人，鮮少會對這時期的音樂產生任何興趣。

Durante: Concertos (Concerto Köln)

我相信許多聽古典樂的朋友，甚至有在聽巴洛克音樂的朋友，可能對Francesco Durante這個人都會是相當陌生的名字。Durante是生於1684，逝於1755的一位義大利作曲家。他的名字與音樂今天多數人已將它遺忘掉了， 不過他在世的時候，在Naples的音樂界裡算是一位相當有名氣的老師，其中最有名的學生莫過於Pergolesi。

Movie: Sin Nombre

This is a recent movie I saw that deals with two issues, one being illegal immigrants coming to the US from the Mexican border and the other about gangs in Mexico. Unlike "Crossing Over," which tries to do an ensemble cast and is in a typical Hollywood fashion, "Sin Nombre" is portrayed very realistically. I think Ebert sums up the mood best with "Yes, the issue of illegal immigration is a difficult one. When we encounter an undocumented alien, we should not be too quick with our easy assumptions. That person may have put his life on the line for weeks or months to come here, searching for what we so easily describe as the American dream."

台灣好像翻作「無名」，也是直接從西班牙文翻過來的。主要有兩個故事線，其一是宏都拉斯少女Sayra與失散多年的但剛從美國驅逐出境的父親，要再坐火車偷渡進美國，一圓美國夢。其二是在南墨西哥幫派混的年輕小伙子Caspar，在密秘女友被大哥失手打死後，又被大哥一同差遺去火車上向這些偷渡客打劫。兩個故事線，就在火車上接在一塊了。

First Post

This will mark the day I start blogging. I just realize I've got a pretty wide spectrum of interests, which I actually take up seriously. For the past few years, they mainly comprise of Baroque music, movies, U.S. National Parks, table tennis, and tennis. Of these, the ones I think are worth blogging and sharing on cyberspace would be the first three.

I have played the harpsichord for about 4 years, but my interest in Baroque music has started long before that. I love watching movies, and I love traveling to U.S. National Parks Service units. As a blog, I not only wish to write and record what comes to mind but also share with the world people of the same interests, so here we go!

在下只是位在美國認真培養興趣的窮台灣學生。從國小開始聽古典音樂，心中一直對巴洛克音樂這一時期的音樂有個特別的愛好。自從四年前學大鍵琴以來，對於巴洛克音樂的熱情，更是達到前所未有的境界。跟同樣愛聽early music的一位台灣朋友聊到，並沒有很多中文網頁介紹巴洛克時期的音樂，因此在一時衝動之下，決定開始著手寫此blog。

本人同時也熱愛看電影，新片與Hollywood經典老片都有在觀賞。AFI的美國影史最有影響力的100部片，也都有一一看過。另外，我也喜遊玩美國各國家公園單位，美國東西岸去過的地方數十個不在話下。此blog，即是將這些樂趣，好好分享給網路上有興趣的朋友們吧~~~