Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Quote ~ Courtship ~ Build & Choose

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Beware the boy who builds a lousy nest... 
and...woe to the girl who chooses blindly. 
~ PGA (2010)

Click HERE for details on this quote.

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Monday, April 29, 2013

Kit Kat - Japanese Version

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Original Post
Date: Mon, Apr 29, 2013 at 2:01 PM

Kit Kat - Japanese Version

This Japanese Version must be the best version I've tasted so far. 
Not too sweet and chocolate... dark... like how chocolates should be.



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White Tiger

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Thursday, April 25, 2013

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Someone just sent this story to me...

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A long time ago, there was a huge apple tree. A little boy loved to come and play around it everyday. He climbed to the treetop, ate the apples, and took a nap under the shadow.

He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him. Time went by, the little boy had grown up and he no longer played around the tree every day.

One day, the boy came back to the tree and he looked sad.
"Come and play with me", the tree asked the boy.

"I am no longer a kid, I do not play around trees any more" the boy replied.

"I want toys. I need money to buy them."

"Sorry, but I do not have money, but you can pick all my apples and sell them. So, you will have money."

The boy was so excited. He grabbed all the apples on the tree and left happily. The boy never came back after he picked the apples. The tree was sad.

One day, the boy who now turned into a man returned and the tree was excited.

"Come and play with me" the tree said.

"I do not have time to play. I have to work for my family. We need a house for shelter. Can you help me?"

"Sorry, but I do not have any house. But you can chop off my branches to build your house." So the man cut all the branches of the tree and left happily. The tree was glad to see him happy but the man never came back since then. The tree was again lonely and sad.

One hot summer day, the man returned and the tree was delighted.

"Come and play with me!" the tree said.

"I am getting old. I want to go sailing to relax myself. Can you give me a boat?" said the man.

"Use my trunk to build your boat. You can sail far away and be happy."

So the man cut the tree trunk to make a boat. He went sailing and never showed up for a long time.

Finally, the man returned after many years. "Sorry, my boy. But I do not have anything for you anymore. No more apples for you", the tree said. "No problem, I do not have any teeth to bite" the
man replied.

"No more trunk for you to climb on." "I am too old for that now" the man said. "I really cannot give you anything, the only thing left is my dying roots," the tree said with tears.

"I do not need much now, just a place to rest. I am tired after all these years," the man replied.

"Good! Old tree roots are the best place to lean on and rest, come sit down with me and rest." The man sat down and the tree was glad and smiled with tears.

This is a story of everyone. The tree is like our parents. When we were young, we loved to play with our Mum and Dad. When we grow up, we leave them; only come to them when we need something or when we are in trouble. No matter what, parents will always be there and give everything they could just to make you happy.

You may think the boy is cruel to the tree, but that is how all of us treat our parents. We take them for granted; we don't appreciate all they do for us, until it's too late.

~ Moral ~ Treat your parents with loving care…. For you will know their value, when you see their empty chair…We never know the love of our parents for us; till we have become parents.


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Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Turf ~ Slow Walk Dance

I just love this 'Slow Walk Dance'.

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Turf ~ Slow Walk Dance

He did this at about 2:18 of the video below.

YouTube Video

Amazing Street Dancer On America's Got Talent! (Homeless) Turf / Retro



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Thursday, April 11, 2013

Singapore Skyline 2013

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Original Pix

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Width Sides (Left & Right) Cropped

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Tuesday, April 09, 2013

Korean Songs Listening Pleasure

Updated:
2013 Apr 09, 1721hrs

Highly recommended!

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{live version of this song ~ Lee Haeri!}
130330 Davichi - Turtle [1080P]


SNSD TTS - Baby Steps May 6, 2012 E671 GIRLS' GENERATION Live 1080p H


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Monday, April 01, 2013

Paraphrasing the text of the Responsorial Psalm

Paraphrasing the text of the Responsorial Psalm.

I guess you can't please everyone... and only pleasing myself is actually a sinful thought.

My bottom line? I intend to keep it as minimal as possible... and mostly to refrain from doing it.

I must admit to paraphrasing in my compositions, especially to fitting in the music. That's why I prefer chants... but somehow find it difficult to compose chants for various reasons.

I try not to paraphrase but here are some paraphrasing I've done are...

Original: My lips will tell of your help.
My Paraphrase: My lips will tell of your help. I'll proclaim with my lips.

Original: The Lord upholds my life.
My Paraphrase: The Lord upholds, the Lord upholds my life.

Original: O Lord, it is you who are my portion.
My Paraphrase: O Lord, it is you, it is you who are my portion.

I think what I've done is quite harmless and I think some of you might agree with me. I take comfort that others are taking bigger liberties.

Just recently... by other composers...

Original: Preserve me, God, I take refuge in you.
Paraphrased: Keep me safe, O God, I take refuge in you.

Original: I will sing to the Lord, glorious his triumph!
Paraphrased: I will sing, sing, sing, to the Lord, Lord, Lord, for his triumph is glorious!

However, some are very angry that this is done (see below).

But in the end, if there are check and balance... I think.... at least there's some discernment going on,.. which is good.

Below is an excerpt of a discussion in a forum which triggered this rant from me.

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{... And, I am quite sure that the paraphrases of OCP and other publishing houses "have not been approved by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops or the Diocesan Bishop...}

{Why, I ask, should priests be strictly not permitted to vary the text of the Mass and yet the Responsorial Psalm which is the ONLY proper to be preserved intact and, the only proper through the strict instructions of the GIRM must be included in EVERY Mass then be mauled beyond recognition by the act of paraphrasing it. The test of any composer...or artist...is the ability to be creative within the limitations of a structure. Masses have been composed for centuries with this understanding, but OCP and others really dropped the ball and the powers that be weren't able to get it together to say, "Wait a minute here..."}

"This may come as shock, surprise and dismay, but chant is the perfect compliment to maintaining text intact while setting it to music. To me, as a composer, paraphrase means, "let's rewrite the text so we can fit it to the MUSIC WE WOULD RATHER COMPOSE." The music becomes the driving force and the text secondary. Now, if we widen this philosophy of thinking to include all aspects of the liturgy this is where being "creative" or "self-expressive" disrespectfully trumps the form and essence of the Mass itself."

{I agree that chant is the perfect complement to singing the text and letting the text be primary. One of the reasons that composers alter the text is to claim copyright to the text and double their royalty. If they set the text of the lectionary, they have to give the 5% text royalty to the copyright holder(s), leaving them only the 5% music royalty. 

Question ~ {what psalm in particular areyou talking about, Noel- 23rd?}
Answer ~ {All of the paraphrased psalms in Breaking Bread, for example.}

{It is worthwhile to distinguish a genuine psalm paraphrase from other Scripture-based songs. A paraphrase would respect the psalm's integrity: it would represent a single, specific psalm without adding imagery, concepts, and phrases from other sources. It would, at least in general, place ideas and images in the order found in the original psalm. In contrast, some songs found in "missalette" booklets are based on multiple psalms or other Scripture texts, and it would not be correct to consider these as a "psalm arranged in metrical form".}

{You make an excellent observation. But who would make the determination on each and every paraphrase? The pastor? The DoM? The Liturgy Committee?!}

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