Month: August 2009

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Once: A Totally Mesmerizing Video AND Audio Experience!

I first heard them on NPR last Friday.  Check their video interview/concert out!  So I was intrigued by their rather memerizing and VERY original works.  Then I learned that these two called “The Swell Season” were brought together because of a “small” movie called “Once“.  It was released in 2006 and since it was on Netflix, I decided to check them out.

Boy, was I glad I did it!!  I can’t stop enjoying the movie!!  And the music was even more so!  It was mesmerizing and haunting, in good ways!  The songs are just so original!  If they had to be compared to something, dare I say it’s comparable to Simon & Garfunkel’s work!  The movie story is rather simple of two people who cross path because of music.  The songs are sooo original that it’s refreshing!  I loved the soundtrack so much that I ended up buying it on Amazon.com!  I have listend to it 4 times already!

The guy’s voice (Glen Hansard) is very gritty and his lyrics are very honest.  The woman’s voice, Marketa Irglova, is gentle but not boring.  And their combination is just very explosive!!  I really recommend this to everyone out there!  Go watch it and listen to it!

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Adventures in Childhood

Article: Review of Wilderness of Childhood

I may not remember a whole lot about my childhood, but I remember lots of little adventures.  It’s in men’s nature to seek adventure.  We like going to new places, seek new challenges, and find out what is out there.  I realized that when we lived in England.  First few months in Harlow, once I had learned how to ride a bike, I used to ride around the little town trying to find out where each roads led to.  That sense of adventure never left me.  I think that’s why I loved driving.  Even in my four years of college in New England area, I drove to Vermont by myself before school began to take in the countryside.

Now, I am a parent and every area and people seem like dangers to my kids.  It’s true.  Fatherhood changes you.  The world is truly scary place.  Ok, it probably has always been that very same scary but we just never knew about it.   Now, thanks to the media and the Internet, we know bit too much.  No, way too much.  🙁  I want my kids to be able to play wherever and whenever they want.  However, part of me says it’s too dangerous.  The book review of The Adventures in Childhood points out the very same things I worry about and what the kids would miss out on…

I hope that I will do well in keeping the balance on kids’ safety and allowing them to develop sense of adventure and their imagination.  Sometimes, we just have to say “No, I won’t deprive them of what is due them as kids!”  Say it with me!!