Xin Yun by Jimmy Lin

Uploaded by: ChocolateYiChen375

Old song but still very good and soothing to listen to. I wasn’t much of a Jimmy fan back then but now, this reminded me so much of the old days. It makes me appreciate this song so much more. Because of this song, I feel that it is all right to reminiscent.

This song also makes me appreciate Jimmy Lin more as a singer and an actor. I realize that his style is different others and should not be compared to others who I come to like better than him in those old days. Perhaps this new wave of actors, singers, and who knows what else is attached to their title have made me realize this more and more. Too many are trying too hard to compete against each other for the first place or to be recognized yet in an attempt to shine, they missed the point. Jimmy is one of those who delivers his best because he believes in the performance. (Or at least he makes it seem like so.)

Those who sing and act with their hearts give an impression more than those who only seeks for ways to shine or to climb up. (Not that it’s wrong but they will never achieve or master the art at its best or will ever capture the essence.)

Just a reflection post since this song just gives me a feeling of needing to drift a bit.

 

ICAC 2009

I especially like this approach to investigation dramas more than the dragging storyline of the same characters over and over. It could be nice to watch when the storyline is good with a mix of crimes and personal life, but in these cases, it’s better not to have too much of randomness. This was 5 episodes long so 1 episode per case.

Anyway, the ICAC Investigators included:

Jessica Hsuan as Annie (Episode 1)

Raymond Wong as Henry (Episodes 1-4)

Pakho Chau as Kenny (Episodes 1-4)

Gregory Lee (Episodes 1-2, 4)

Fiona Sit as Sam Sam (Episodes 2-3)

Maggie Siu as Carrie (Episodes 3-4)

Mariam Yeung as Matilda Yeung (Episode 4)

Andy Hui (Episode 5)

Sammul Chan as Ka Ming (Episode 5)

Cases:

Episode 1 was about the crafty handling of money between a couple and one of the assistants at the husband’s company. There were also others involved in the acts (including Ellesmere Choi). Bowie Lam and Crystal Tin portrayed the husband and wife while Vivien Yeo was the assistant. Jessica was leading the case while Raymond Wong, Pakho Chau, Gregory Lee and various other ICAC investigators were following the suspects. Lau Kong made an appearance as Crystal’s father.

Episode 2 involved a conspiracy between a group of friends who had inside information regarding a building project in an attempt to benefit from the compensation fees. Sonjia Kwok, Yoyo Mung, and Halina Tam were best friends while Derek Kwok portrayed Sonija’s husband and Raymond Cho was Yoyo’s boyfriend. The ICAC investigators involved in this case were Raymond Wong, Pakho Chau, Fiona Sit, and Gregory Lee.

Episode 3 was about three guys trying to con the insurance company by faking a death with all the legit information throughout the whole process of buying the insurance policy to the death scenes. Johnny Ngan was the guy who posed as the deceased’s brother. Maggie Siu was leading the team this time around with Raymond Wong, Fiona Sit, Pakho Chau, and the others involving in the case. Jason Chan also made an appearance as Fiona’s boyfriend.

Episode 4 was dealing with some clever tricks between the construction workers, the agents (which could be called middlemen), and the actual company that needed people to work on their projects. Kenny Wong portrayed the middleman. Maggie Siu was leading the team again with Raymond Wong, Pakho Chau, and some others as the investigators. Mariam Yeung also made a special appearance as one of the madams of ICAC.

Episode 5 was trying to shoot two birds with one stone since it involved two cases – one major and one side one though it intesected with each other, affecting one’s progress and both had to do with cars. Evergreen Mak and Louis Yuen were the bad guys this time around while Stephen made an appearance for the other case. Andy Hui was the person in charge while Sammul Chan and others were investigators.

*Note*: Detailed episode summary and analysis will be posted up in the future.

 

Khoanh Khac Doi Toi: Gratitude

Majority of singers – if not all – often write their little message of gratitude within the album to show their appreciation to all who has contributed to the production process and the fans who have been supporting them all along. However, I think Luong Tung Quang’s one of those that actually mean it without being too over the edge or plain down fake. Yes, there was a long list of people who he wanted to thank and yes, the message sounded repetitive and/or routine, but he made it so sincere that you couldn’t help supporting him even more after reading the messages. What made it significant was he actually listed out what each helped him with, not just providing a list after saying, “Thank you to all who contributed to this album.” It was not like that at all. He actually took time to mention all those friends and crew helping him with the tasks needed to be done to make this album happen. Here’s a copy of the message and translations:

It read:

Thank You Message:

First of all, Tung Quang* want to thank God for always protecting and blessing me. Dad,Mom, brothers and sisters**, CJ and all nephews/nieces*** have always been my foundation for through all the hardships. Thuy Nga Production, Bro and Sis Thuy, and Thi for your continuous efforts of providing me with chances, allowing me to pursue the artistic road.

To all the composers, lyricists, and mixing engineers for your contribution in this CD.  To all the recording engineers for spending days and nights recording for Quang*. Especially Nguyen Nhan for putting in a lot of effort and time to help Quang complete (the album).

To all the singers Van Quynh, Nhu Loan, Ngoc Lien, Ngoc Huong, Tam Anh, and Thanh Vy for lending Quang your voice to spice up this CD even more.

To Huy Khiem, Gordon Phong, and Tieng Dung for helping Quang coming up with all the high quality pictures and artistic designs.

To my friends Tam Doan, Kristine Sa,  Minh Tuyet, Ho Le Thu, Duong Trieu Vu, Dang Minh Thong, Dan Phuong, Andy Vu, Dung Trinh (Vancouver), the band Tuyen, Van, Tuan (IAH).

To my brothers Quang Kiet**** (Sydney), Ut, Trong Thang, Binh Ngo, Bro and Sis Chau Ngoc (Meb). To Luu Vinh Kha, DMT, Boon, John and Jenny (Dallas), Truc Van (Portland), Cuong Van, Uyen (Philadelphia), and everyone who has encouraged and supported Quang all these times.

Lastly, if there are no love and support from you all, then Tung Quang would not exist. Please accept my deepest gratitude here.

- LTQ

Notes:

*Vietnamese likes to refer to themselves by their first name when wanting to bring upon a feeling of familiarity and friendliness.

**He’s probably referring to his brothers and sister-in-laws (or just being respectful to those older than him). I will exclude the part where he refers to them as seniors for the rest to make it sound a bit smoother for the purpose.

***I’m doing a rough translation since I don’t know how many he has and of what gender.

****Quang Kiet is his real brother and the rest are probably close friends.

I haven’t followed his recent activities along with the rest of the Vietnamese Entertainment as vividly so I could not account for those incidents but in the past, when he actually came on for interviews, he sounded really sincere – full of emotions in his voice. (Maybe a nice personality does help one’s career?) I really like the descriptive words that he used but I could not do it justice through the translations.

What’s another bonus for this album? The little message of confiding with us about the intention of the album as well as a little introduction into the theme of the album.

Translations:

Confide Message:

In our life, love is something that is very mystical. It could raise us up to the peak of happiness and at the same time, it could push us down to the lowest pit of pain. “Moment of My Life” is a collection of 12 songs written about love. Tung Quang want to use this CD to share and sympathize with those who have and are going through those moments such as that of the ‘Moment of My Life‘.

The message was a bit subtle, only pointing out that it was his intention in making this album with its theme, but it still reserved the mystery for us to just listen to the songs and interpret it ourselves of the theme as an overall.

What’s up for next time? Probably Lyrics translation since I haven’t done that yet.

*All images and translations were scanned and translated by DTLCT

 

Only Want To Be With You

I was quite excited in getting this album, however, I think that I actually like the last two albums (In The Name Of…Love and So Far, So…Close) better because of its style. This one, though trying to etablish a new style – mixing in traditional songs with new music but is not as appealing for some strange reason. Though I must give credit for the efforts done with the album.

I must add that it actually takes awhile to sink in since it sounds better the second time around, especially the song ‘Only Want To Be With You’.

The MVs were quite interesting and creative, especially with the song ‘West Dowager’ with its complexity of imagery and other illustrations set in.

YesAsia Link: http://www.yesasia.com/us/only-want-to-be-with-you-cd-dvd/1014022031-0-0-0-en/info.html

 

Peter Pan’s Dreamer

Having listened to him several times on Bai Wan Da Ge Xing (The Million Star), I have a good impression of him since I guess live performances always say something about a singer. The fact that he could actually danced and still kept his voice stable while singing made it even more impressive. So the album was not a disapointment at all.

Since he already passed the ‘One Million Star’ radar and made his name known, I guess it would be safe to say that he really deserves it and probably even more in the future. Hope that his road will be a smooth one.

To get back to this album, it was actually worth it. I bought this version and it contians a notebook with pictures of him in it and there’s also the typical lyrics book included. However, I thought they did a nice job of the cover illustrating his dream coming true. It was very creative with the glass cover.

In regard to the song selection, good choices since it seemed to prove that he could sing a variety of songs, just like he had been doing on different shows.