"Pain is Temporary..." (It's Not About The Bike)

I just finished the book "It's Not About The Bike" by Lance Armstrong and Sally Jenkins over the weekend. Although I'd bought and had a copy with me for two years, I somehow wasn't motivate to read it until last week, after I realized Lance is also an INTJ (a MBTI type) like me. There aren't many INTJs I can choose to model after. After all, this is the rarest of all of the 16 MBTI types and I'm particularly particular about choosing a model.

I've tons of other books and things to read and do, but thought why not give this book a couple of minutes of reading and see how far I'd like to go. What's this guy's story? I already knew what Lance is all about: his survival from cancer and comeback to triumph in seven Tour de France championships. I knew the story in this book had inspire millions. But I'd never approach reading an autobiography from the angle of MBTI type, especially a fellow INTJ. This would be the first.

The first paragraph of the first page caught me instantly, which begins like this...

"I WANT TO DIE at a hundred years old with an American flag on my back and the star of Texas on my helmet, after screaming down an Alpine descent on a bicycle at 75 miles per hour. I want to cross one last finish line as my stud wife and my ten children applaud, and then I want to lie down in a field of those famous French sunflowers and gracefully expire, the perfect contradiction to my once-anticipated poignant early demise.

"A slow death is not for me. I don't do anything slow, not even breathe...."

...and with that I decided I'd never put down the book until I'm done with it.

The book didn't just inform or entertain me. Inspire would also be an understated word to describe it. I just needed a book like this for this particular time in my life.

"There Are No Good Guys"

Just finished watching the finale of the TV series 24 Season 8 (Final season) over the Chinese New Year. I had watched each and every episode of all 8 seasons (probably the only TV drama series which I watch EVERYTHING).

I'm glad that the ground-breaking, "real-time" TV series has finally come to an end (end of an era in network broadcasting). I had thoroughly enjoyed the previous seasons, particularly its Emmy Award winning Season 5. This is the TV series where the world is in danger, but saved and lost and saved again, all in one day (24 hours)! But it has become more and more unbelievable in recent seasons, all their brilliant story plots exhausted, most of their greatest characters (heroes and villains) killed or ousted from the story. And when will the terrorists ever learn that there is only one way to defeat the US, and that is to kill off one man: Jack Bauer. But Jack never dies, not in the hands of Islamic terrorists, Chinese, Russians, even his own fellow Americans (including the unforgettable, evil American President!). He has survived every kind of danger, from countless of bullets, stabs, tortures, even radioactive radiation. He simply never dies. Unbelievable! If you put him half way around the earth, bury him alive deep in the grave, he'll somehow crawl and find his way back and keeps fighting. How many times has he quit, only to be caught up in more actions, again and again?! So many of his closed ones and beloved colleagues murdered throughout the seasons. One can only wonder how much pain this man can take. How much is enough?

Burn Money Burn!!!

I've been having a good Chinese New Year celebration so far. Especially with family and friends. Had a great time playing with baby nephew especially, while my baby niece was kinda moody but still so cute nevertheless (wished I could snap some photos). Welcomed old friends and YAFers to my house on the second day. Visited a couple of homes. Celebration this year has been kinda muted.

So why the title above? It's not about the many ang pows I happily gave away, nor money lost in gambling (I won some actually)! But about a certain movie which I thought was a total disaster and waste of money, opportunities and talents.

The hype of Red Cliff 's release last year was muted because it was only the first half of two parts, and all the attention was on The Dark Knight. I've been anticipating the grandest battle in The Romance of Three Kingdoms to be played on the big screen for far too long. I thought John Woo would finally make my dream come true but the first movie was kinda let down for me. But I withheld my judgment and criticism until I watch the second part. It's finally here and I watched it last weekend.

After the first movie, my expectations were lowered considerably but I didn't expect to feel so disgusted by the second movie. Sure, I never expect it to be strictly faithful to the novel. I found out the movie was supposed to be based more on the Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms (historical) rather than the Romance of the Three Kingdoms (fictionalized, romanticized historical). In the process, the writers wrote and rewrote the script many times to mix the two, add in some of their own stuffs to create their own version (maybe to suit certain actors/actresses). It was nowhere near as brilliant as the original novel. I was wondering why rewrite what's already brilliant if you can't make it any better?

Of course if you had no foreknowledge of the story, you'll enjoy the movie tremendously and may be impressed even. But it's a big NO for me. USD80 million was burnt like how the red flames licked the black sky in the movie. Mr. Woo had the highest privilege to showcase the best war scene (its brilliant build-ups to the climax) ever written in any history on the big screen, but he totally blew it. He reduced it to the size of his vision, and the popularity of his stars. What a shame, what an extravagant waste!


(To avoid spoilers, I won't comment further until a later time. Perhaps I'll hint why the original novel has been an endearing story to me. Just maybe)

Three Kingdoms

Watched the movie 'Three Kingdoms: Resurrection of the Dragon'. Will write about the movie in a while. (Warning: Spoilers ahead!)

The semi-fictional 'Romance of the Three Kingdoms' has always been my favourite epic story of all time. Though I've only read the English version since my school days, I came to appreciate the complexity of its many mini-stories and characters. For me, it's richness surpasses all war stories, making the western counterparts totally forgetable. Ultimately, I was intrigued by the hugeness of the story, to unify China during the chaotic era of the warlords. And the many valuable lessons in it.

Last year, I was extremely delighted to learn that the Battle of Red Cliffs is being made into a movie 'Red Cliff' by renowned director John Woo. You see, I've been anticipating a RTK movie for so long. It will star famous actors like Tony Leung, Takeshi Kaneshiro and Zhao Wei. Initially Chow Yuen Fatt was supposed to be in, but sadly he pulled out. The Battle of Red Cliffs is probably the best battle sequences I've ever come across. The grand battle of all battles. For me, it's definitely the biggest climax in the novel. That's why I can't wait to watch this on the big screen.

Much to my surprise, another movie 'Three Kingdoms' was quietly made and released, starring Andy Lau. It's pretty much focused on the character of Zhao Zilong (better know as Zhao Yun). Much to my disappointment, the movie was absolutely terrible. Andy did not portray Zhao Zilong's character well at all. His acting skill was okay, but he just did not have the physique and presence needed for Zhao Yun's character. The story telling was horrendous. Basically, the movie was directed in such a way, to lead to the inevitable confrontation with Cao Ying (Maggie Q). Btw, Cao Ying was a male in the novel. Sammo Hung's character Luo Ping An was not based on the original story, among many other inaccuracies. The rescue of Liu Bei's son was actually a very moving part of the story in the novel but here it's heavily modified, missing all the essential and best parts of the story. What are they thinking! Perhaps they wanna have a fresh take on Zhao Yun's story but this was a hit and (definitely) miss. And they did not provide an adequate background story to the overall Three Kingdoms at all.

For me, the biggest disappointment was their portrayal of Zhuge Liang. Zhuge Liang has been my No.1 favourite character. He was the ultimate military strategist, the exceptional and unparallelled war genius. In this movie, at a critical point of the kingdom's survival, he used divination as the sole basis for his decision (or non-decision!). What nonsense! And he's so boring in this movie, sorely lacked imagination.

At the end of the movie, I was like "Huh??! Why did they make this movie?"

I hope John Woo's Red Cliff will do justice to the story and the characters, although it focuses on a different part. It will be splitted into two movies, though I think a trilogy may be better for the story development.

And maybe we'll see Zhuge Liang in his true glory. Hopefully!

Switchfoot Concert Review: Part 2 & Photos

Finally, I've managed to carve out some time here and there to write and put this up. So far, this is the most challenging entry I've written.

Wanna portray a true impression what SF is about and what the songs meant to me. And to do justice to the amazing concert. Warning: this is a really loooong post.


The Background

Switchfoot is a band from San Diego who love surfing. "Switchfoot" is actually a surfing term. Jon Foreman said, “We all love to surf and have been surfing all our lives. So to us, the name made sense. To switch your feet means to take a new stance facing the opposite direction. It’s about change and movement, a different way of approaching life and music”.


Christian?

The popular question is this: Is Switchfoot a Christian band? Btw, what is a 'Christian' label anyway? Let's get this straight.

Tim Foreman said this: "We're Christian by faith, not genre".

Jon wrote this sometime back in a SF board:

"To be honest, this question grieves me because I feel that it represents a much bigger issue than simply a couple SF tunes.

In true Socratic form, let me ask you a few questions: Does Lewis or Tolkien mention Christ in any of their fictional series? Are Bach's sonata's Christian?

What is more Christ-like, feeding the poor, making furniture, cleaning bathrooms, or painting a sunset?

There is a schism between the sacred and the secular in all of our modern minds. The view that a pastor is more “Christian” than a girls volleyball coach is flawed and heretical. The stance that a worship leader is more spiritual than a janitor is condescending and flawed. These different callings and purposes further demonstrate God’s sovereignty. Many songs are worthy of being written. Switchfoot will write some, Keith Green, Bach, and perhaps yourself have written others. Some of these songs are about redemption, others about the sunrise, others about nothing in particular: written for the simple joy of music. None of these songs has been born again, and to that end there is no such thing as Christian music.

No. Christ didn’t come and die for my songs, he came for me. Yes. My songs are a part of my life. But judging from scripture I can only conclude that our God is much more interested in how I treat the poor and the broken and the hungry than the personal pronouns I use when I sing. I am a believer. Many of these songs talk about this belief. An obligation to say this or do that does not sound like the glorious freedom that Christ died to afford me. I do have an obligation, however, a debt that cannot be settled by my lyrical decisions.

My life will be judged by my obedience not my ability to confine my lyrics to this box or that. We all have a different calling; Switchfoot is trying to be obedient to who we are called to be. We’re not trying to be Audio A or U2 or POD or Bach: we’re trying to be Switchfoot. You see, a song that has the words: “Jesus Christ” is no more or less “Christian” than an instrumental piece. (I've heard lot's of people say jesus christ and they weren't talking about their redeemer.) You see, Jesus didn’t die for any of my tunes. So there is no hierarchy of life or songs or occupation only obedience.

We have a call to take up our cross and follow. We can be sure that these roads will be different for all of us. Just as you have one body and every part has a different function, so in Christ we who are many form one body and each of us belongs to all the others. Please be slow to judge “brothers” who have a different calling and thank you for reading. "

Elsewhere, SF music has been labelled 'Honest Music for Thinking People'. I liked that. I couldn't agree more!


The Concert

Overall, I thought SF performed really well, a little better than what I expected actually. Great showmanship. Jon had good charisma. Communicated well with the crowd. Not with some usual cliche lines, but honest stuffs about their music. His vocal at live performances has improved. The band's cohesion was very tight and clean. The lightings were good enough.

Above all, SF were genuinely themselves, not what they were not supposed to be. Other bands could learn something about authenticity.


The Songs

For the summary of songs order, see my earlier post.

SF only started at 8:28pm and finished in less than two hours. Wished they played a few more numbers. Even a couple of their songs were not sung completely. 'Only Hope' was one of their best-loved songs and the second verse was one of my favorites. But it was skipped altogether, to my disappointment. I also wished they played 'Head over Heels'. That is one honest love song I really like.

I'll go through the songs and what they meant to me. And write parts of the songs:

'Oh! Gravity'. The concepts of Newton's gravitational law, combined with the law of thermodyamics to describe the social fallout and entropy. A theme that is echoed in some of SF's other songs.

Oh! Gravity!
Why can't we seem to keep it together?
Sons of my enemies
Why can't we seem to keep it together?

'Stars' to me, is about putting things in the right perspective in this insane, chaotic world.

Stars looking at our planet
Watching entropy and pain
And maybe start to wonder how
The chaos in our lives could pass as sane
(In the concert, Jon sang "chaos in our heads", pointing to his own head)

I've been thinking about the meaning of resistance
Of a hope beyond my own
And suddenly the infinite and penitent
Begin to look like home

When I look at the stars...

'Politicians'. I'm surprised they really played this song, one of the less known number. Jon commented halfway that this song is about the politics in our hearts.

'This Is Your Life', echoes the cry in our hearts looking for a purpose and direction in our lives. To be who we really want to be, with no regrets. Jon sang into his guitar at the end, and the guitar strings resonated and sang back "who you wanna be? who you wanna be..."

This is your life
Are you who you want to be?
This is your life
Is it everything you dream that it would be
When the world was younger
And you had everything to lose?

'Lonely Nation', is about our lonely generation. Disenchanted, disillusioned. Remnant of lonely souls wanting more than what we can buy with cold, hard cash.

We are the target market
We set the corporate target
We are slaves of what we want
We're just numb and amused
And we're just used to bad news
We are slaves of what we want

Singing without tunes
Screaming without lungs
I want more than my lonely nation
I want more than my lonely nation
Desperate we are young
Separate we are one
I want more than my desperation
I want more than my lonely nation

'We are One Tonight', is a song about unity in this upside-down world. I always dream of singing and dancing to this song played live. Having SF themselves played, was perfect!

We are one tonight
And we're singing it out
We are one tonight
And we're dreaming out loud
Though the world is flawed
These scars will heal
We are one tonight

'The Shadow Proves the Sunshine'. The song title said it all. In a way, it's quite a comforting song.

'Only Hope'. The popular song sang in Mandy Moore's movie 'A Walk to Remember'. Fans used to argued whether Mandy's version or the original SF version was better. I certainly enjoyed the version I heard in the concert where Jon started with his accoustic guitar. If only he sang the full song...

I give You my empathy
I'm giving You all of me
I want Your symphony
Singing in all that I am
At the top of my lungs
I'm giving it back

'Learning to Breathe'. This song always sounded better played live, and I particularly enjoyed the extended intro version. One of the first SF tunes I heard years ago, which made me a fan. It was like a breath of fresh air in the midst of other 'christian' songs.

I'm learning to breathe
I'm learning to crawl
I'm finding that You and You alone
Can break my fall
I'm living again
Awake and alive
I'm dying to breathe in these abundant skies

These abundant skies

'Gone'. SF teased the crowd by playing Beyonce's 'Crazy in Love' intro (check out their cover version in Youtube, really funny). It's remarkable how they seamlessly switched the two songs in the intro and bridge parts. This funny but serious song reminds of our temporal lives on this planet. It cleverly made references to Bono, Elvis and Al Pacino etc.

'American Dream' bites into the truth about our materialistic world. It questions the standard of success. This is the song when the SF fellas were 'frozen' for what it seemed like a very long time (I had no way to tell how long exactly, but probably less than 2 minutes). And how did they 'unfreeze' and continued the chorus without any glitch, was simply awesome! Really cool!

When success is equated with excess
The ambition of excess wrecks us
The top of the mind becomes the bottom line
When success is equated with excess

This ain't my American dream
I want to live and die for bigger things
I'm tired of fighting for just me
This ain't my American dream

'Dirty Second Hands', a song about the dehumanization that comes with technology. Jon thrashed the cymbal around the stage towards the end. Kinda amusing to watch.

'On Fire' is another of my favorite. It was a brilliant touch to squeeze in Radiohead's 'High and Dry' chorus at the bridge, a song I really love ten years ago.

I'm on fire when You're near me
I'm on fire when You speak
I'm on fire burning up these mysteries
You're a mystery

'Awakening'. The song I had been waiting for! It was almost unreal to hear this live. Jon made us sing the intro which was originally a synthesizer part, I think. Towards the end he said something. Couldn't remember what he said, but I think it had something to do with 'waking up'. I was totally caught up with how he said it....he was imitating Bono! And the atmosphere the band created with the effects was almost like the U2 of the early days. But it was no secret U2 was one of their early heroes.

'Meant to Live'. One of their most played songs in the radio. The crowd really got wild for this. I liked how Jon allowed us to sing the bridge instead of him. Deep down inside, this is the cry of everyone.

We want more than this world's got to offer
We want more than this world's got to offer
We want more than the wars of our fathers
Everything inside screams for second lives

We were meant to live for so much more
Have we lost ourselves
We were meant to live

SF left the stage, but everyone knew it wasn't over. Cos they haven't play their arguably, most famous song of all. Their defining song that appeared in two of their albums and the soundtrack of 'A Walk to Remember'. As expected, they returned for the encore.

'Dare You to Move'. I recorded this song on video. Well, most of it anyway. Many SF fans have their DYTM stories. I have one too. Among so many things, this inspiring song is about redemption, daring to pick yourself up and move on, facing the reality of what happened with courage, facing the reality of yourself.

Jon said this during the song, "For me, I see so many inconsistencies in the way I want to see the world and the way it is. There is a tension that exist between who I am and who I want to be..."

Maybe redemption has stories to tell
Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell
Where can you run to escape from yourself
Where you're gonna go? Where you're gonna go?
Salvation is here

I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself...

In this fitting finale song, Jon thanked the crowd for being part of their music, for the night that he'll never forget. I certainly won't forget that night too! Thank you Switchfoot. Please come back to KL!

Finally, some pictures...

Sherene smiling in her new SF t-shirt!

Nobody seemed to heed this warning

The long queue before the concert. We somehow got to the first 1/4 of the queue

This is Switchfoot. Jon's hat reminded me of The Edge of U2

Jon touching the fans

Jon singing into his guitar at the end of "This Is Your Life"

Jon singing into his guitar kneeling down, "who you wanna be..."

I like the yellow light beaming down on Jon

Jon going besserk with Chad's cymbal in 'Dirty Second Hands'

SF kaki: With Wei Loong, Sherene, Hosanna, Penny & Catherine

'Meet & Greet' session with the fans

Closer view

Switchfoot Concert Review: Part I

I described the concert to someone in one word: Breathless.

I'll skip writing about the opening acts. But just a note of apology to the local bands. At times we were waving to SF members at the window upstairs rather than paying attention to them performing.

I think in all my life, this is the only concert where I know and could sing to all the songs. And I danced and sang at the top of my lungs, in the first few rows right up in front. Sardine-packed and sandwiched with all the crazy youths of all races. Seriously, it was so packed that we had to fight for breath (and space!) sometimes. Two guys behind us were floored at times, squating down, gasping for air, in danger of passing out! During the middle of the concert I had to consciously pace myself, only to sing and jump at certain highlights of the songs. When they played the extended intro to "Learning to Breathe", I got excited and told Sherene "It's Learning to Breathe!" She turned around and gasped something like "I'm trying to breathe!" Lol!

Here's the overview of all 16 songs that were sung. Call me fanatic, but I actually remembered the songs in sequence!

1. Oh! Gravity (with Meant to Live intro)
2. Stars
3. Politicians (yeah, maybe someone read my blog)
4. This is Your Life
5. Lonely Nation
6. We are One Tonight
7. The Shadow proves the Sunshine
8. Only Hope
9. Learning to Breathe
10. Gone (with the intro and teaser mix of Beyonce's "Crazy in Love")
11. American Dream (with THE "frozen" act towards the end)
12. Dirty Second Hands
13. On Fire (with Radiohead's "High and Dry" chorus)
14. Awakening
15. Meant to Live
16. Dare You to Move (encore)

I don't have the time now, but I'll write more details on the concert later with some pictures, ok?