University or life?

Sometimes I get stuck in that momentary phase of ponder. I ask myself whether my decision to attend university was an act of self interest in education, or an indirect forced decision influenced by my school ethos and unknowing parents who believe in the industrial education system.

Looking at my interests, I know that my passion lies within the arts; most notably painting, sculpture making and spending vast amounts of time imitating singers with my piano. So my decision to undertake a management degree at London School of Economics seems quite daft, and so it is.

I remember asking people from my workplace about their thoughts on the future; more specifically about whether they were going to attend university. Their abrupt answer of 'no' startled me, because I come from an academic institution where education is all and end all. But now I feel like it definitely is a viable option, seeing as the greatest members of our society, Steve Jobs, Jay Chou, Bill Gates, are all either college drop-outs or didn't attend university at all. Maybe in life there's just a need to remain focused and feed your passion, I guess that is the most important way to guarantee success and fulfilment in everyone's future.

We often get trapped within a cycle of life that we took no part in deciding. Rushing our applications for university because that's what everyone else did, and selecting the best course that supposedly suited us, expecting to pick up the interest once there. But this is probably the worst decision of all, because we don't listen to our wants but rather obey the wants of others. I don't know where this rant is going, or if anyone will read it with great interest, nor will anyone reply with their opinions, but I hope at least someone will get a grasp on this subject of desperation to achieve something beyond the status quo.

Human Evolution

According to the theory of evolution only the fittest will survive, a conclusion drawn with reference to the centuries of animal evolution as well as man's growth itself.

But as a majority of the world's population draw nearer to the bright city lights, the more we follow the mediocre path of school and "careers", the more we lose the ability to truly survive if catastrophe occurs. The capitalist mindset we all share today will be the final doom for our race. Our desire for money and materialistic items drives us to succeed in specific areas of expertise, but the truth of the matter is we all work towards attaining higher wealth. When looking at this system, one can see human individuals (particularly those in cities) as only living money-making specimens. Do many of the young know how to cook? And even if we do, are we at all educated on producing the ingredients used in order to make our dishes?

But why bother if the supermarkets provide all this in cheap and convenient packages? It makes sense, because this exchange of money will only help us to save time on irrelevant duties like cooking, in order to make space for more money generating ideas and actions. What if one day, perhaps soon in the future, when the collapse of the oil trade leads to an exponential growth of food prices, are we as a human race going to cope? Will the knowledge of calculus or trigonometry help us in our survival, or are these tools which only render useful in our current luxurious lifestyles?

Life and Music

The grand piano is probably one of the best inventions by man.

If you are fortunate enough to be able to play piano well enough, and know enough expressive pieces that can elevate your performance instrument to the grand piano, you should feel very content.

As far as I know, nothing cures stress, anxiety, sadness, depression, worrying (to name a few) better than sitting down for a few hours and submersing one-self into musical heaven. Add a microphone only if neighbours are not around to really reach those emotional notes. If they are around, don't, because it sounds gay and needy.

But I do wish more people didn't quit their instruments when the going got hard. For young readers especially, perhaps it's best to stick through with it until everyone else drops and fails, then that makes you the succeeder. That's my logic of the situation and so far it has worked quite well.

Jay Chou "Broken Strings"

Sometimes in life you just want to sit down, chill out and play some music to soothe yourself. For me, there's no one better than Jay Chou when it comes to that, and one of my favourite slow jam songs has to be Broken Strings. Released on 11th November 2003, this old track brings back some of the originality of Jay's composing that got him famous. With his signature unclear pronunciation of words, the track belongs to no other singer other than himself. It's this originality that makes me greatly admire him and continue to support his new ventures.
The music video is simple in story and the filmography, but I think that greatly accentuates the attitude of people back in the early noughties. It was a carefree lifestyle, very un-materialistic and makes me wish I could have grown up in that era.

BIGBANG BLUE

After all the controversy, after all the wait, the boys are back - and what a comeback it is. A totally new image for all of them including new hairstyles, dress style and changed looks. The most surprising is Daesung who currently rocks G-Dragon's famous full blonde locks. Taeyang has an updated haircut which stands even higher than before, perhaps this is an indication of his age in the industry. But the most important bit is that BIGBANG is back, and the unfortunate events with Daesung and G-Dragon have been for the better. The group explained earlier on in an interview that these events have strengthened the group, making them go back to what they love, re-evaluating their passion to remain a boy band. This shows in the music video, particularly because it reminds of us scenes from "Haru Haru" and "Lies" where the boys drive around cars, lots of running scenes and unconventional to the industry standard of bright lights and dance moves.

But enough of the background check, the song BLUE is a chilled piece including guitar and a synthetic piano and beats. Overall it is an easy listen, reminding me of some American soft rock tune. It's chilled, I'll give you that. What's most surprisingly is T.O.P, who actually sings more and does quite a good job of it with his rusky voice. Hats off to the boys, expecting more things when their album officially drops on March 2nd.

Astiere Apparel Launch

Astiere Apparel is soon launching their first tee and it's something I'm definitely looking forward to! Firstly it's because it is something I took part in, but also that the design is amazingly great! Below is the teaser for the launch, so please stay tune as the site drops on 29th February 2012.

Jay Chou Merchandise

It seems everyone cannot get enough of Jay Chou. Although this may be slightly old news but his laptop cover designs and overall composition of every sound the computer makes (from turning on, beeps, to turning off) this is another masterpiece by Jay Chou. I love his incorporation of traditional Chinese patterns, mixed with a western musical style to have a fusion between the East and West.

If you have an iPad I am envious of you also, because he has released an application which includes piano scores for his music as well as countless other Jay Chou goodies. Link is provided below:

http://itunes.apple.com/om/app/jay-chou-score-sheets/id451920457?mt=8