Chinese New Year in London, New York and Sydney

London, one of my favourite cities, is all geared up for a China In London 2006 season, organised by London's Chinatown Chinese Association, the Royal Academy of Arts and Visit London.

First off this Chinese New Year celebration, the Mayor of London Ken Livingstone officiated at the lighting up ceremony of the huge red Chinese lanterns along the premier shopping Oxford Street. He pronounced, "We want Londoners and the capital's visitors to sample just a little of that vast country's rich cultural history."

The Chinese New Year celebrations proper in London commences with a parade, fireworks, and other festivities in Chinatown, Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square on Sunday, January 29 2006. It also launches the China in London 2006 3-month season, which includes landmark cultural and historical exhibitions at the London museums, performances at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and other programmes. The CNY programmes are organised with support from the Chinese Embassy, Arts Council England, the Mayor of London, Westminster Council, Metropolitan Police and others. (Picture of lantern in Trafalgar Square from BBC website)

More interesting information and news regarding CNY in London are available at the BBC website:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/features/events/chinese_new_year/


Elsewhere, such as in Sydney and New York, CNY festivities are underway, celebrated in style. The New York Empire State Building is specially lit for the occasion, while major fairs, performances and parades are part of Sydney's official CNY celebrations organised by the Sydney city administration. According to the official spokespersons of Sydney city, the Chinese New Year is the second most important and celebrated public holiday there, after New Year's Eve, joined in celebrations by all people. (Picture of Empire State Building from Sina news website.)

Article regarding Empire State Building:
http://news.sina.com.cn/w/2006-01-28/14548103367s.shtml

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:
What do you think are the underlying driving forces in the current global recognition of Chinese cultural heritage and festivals?

POSTLUDE to 'Winter's Roads' and REMINDERS

'WINTER'S ROADS' [See Post Below]
MORE QUESTIONS TO PONDER UPON

Having written your reflection essays on the Poem 'Winter's Roads', it is perhaps appropriate now that you ponder upon the following questions (to be discussed in class):

1) In our life journeys, will slowing down one's pace of life and smelling the roses along the way not distract us from a more purpose-driven life? Will it not result in a lazy and laidback lifestyle that will assign us to the category of the 'non-achievers'?

2) What do you understand by the concept of 'smelling the roses in life's journey', and the concept of 'embracing and enjoying life'?

3) How can we live LIFE to the fullest, so that we would not lament, when we die, that we had not lived?


REMINDERS:
PLEASE do remember to register (free) for the online edition of the New York Times (www.nytimes.com) if you have not done so.
PLEASE do regularly browse and select articles for more in-depth mulling over in the online versions of the New York Times (www.nytimes.com), BBC News (news.bbc.co.uk), CNN News (www.cnn.com) and Channel News Asia (www.channelnewsasia.com.sg).
You have to INDEPENDANTLY keep abreast of world current affairs, and develop your individual intellectual maturity.

remember ... FOCUS
EdwinHeng

LES MISERABLES ... Imageries in the musical

Les Miserables, written by Victor Hugo, is one of the greatest literary works of the western canon. It has been successfully presented as one of the longest running musical of the same name, running continuously for 20 years in the West End (London) and Broadway (New York), as well as resident and touring productions all over the world.
Story Synopsis and more are available on the official website of Les Miserables The Musical.



Victor Hugo was the greatest French writer who ever lived, revered by both the French nation and the world. His greatest works include 'Les Miserables' and 'The Hunchback of Notre Dame'. Hugo died in 1885 at the age of eighty-three. Although he left instructions that his funeral be simple, over 3 million spectators followed his cortege to the Pantheon, where he was buried amid France's great men. Hugo's death came at the end of a century of war, civil conflict, brutally repressed insurrections such as the student rebellion in Les Misérables, and social injustice. Because of his belief in the triumph of good over evil and his pleading for tolerance and non-violence, Victor Hugo was the herald of the new democratic spirit.

ACTIVITY:
For the following song numbers from the musical Les Miserables, examine and appreciate the figurative expressions and imagery presented about love/romance and friendship in the lyrics.

A Mother's Love: Come To Me (Fantine's Death)
http://les-miserables-lyrics.wonderlyrics.com/Come-To-Me-(Fantine's-Death).html
Fantine entrusts Cosette to M. Valjean on her deathbed, with all her hopes and aspirations for her beloved child.



Unrequitted Love: On My Own (Eponine) Eponine sang of her unrequitted love for Marius, as she paced the loneliness of the night.

Final Love at Death's Side: A Little Fall of Rain (Eponine/Marius) Eponine risked her life to bring news to Marius, dying in the arms of her beloved. Pain and rain intertwined amongst the emotions of both Eponine and Marius in this bittersweet scene.

A Father's Love: Bring Him Home (Valjean) Valjean saved Marius from the clutches of death in the aftermath of the Revolution. Marius had little life left in him, and Valjean prayed in supplication to God that Marius, the beloved of his daughter Cosette, might live.

Of Friendship In The Last Days

Drink With Me (Students) The student rebels passed their final night before the attack drinking to their friendship and to the passing of innocence and a life gone by, for none knew if each will witness the coming of the next day after the revolution.

Empty Chairs At Empty Tables (Marius) In the days after the failed Revolution, and after his recovery, Marius revisited the site where he had drunk the last drink with his brother comrades that night before the attack. The sight of the empty chairs and empty tables provided a poignant backdrop to his reminiscence.

Passion & Compassion for Humanity:
Human Dignity and Freedom

Do You Hear The People Sing (All) As the revolution gained momentum, the people at the barricade chorused their hopes for dignity, freedom and libertie la France - pouring forth their heartfelt pride and love for their nation. The fire in their hearts burned with a fury and passion that they would willingly lay down their lives as martyrs for their aspirations for the motherland.

Epilogue (All) The revolution had failed, and in this final epilogue scene, the martyrs and the survivors sang in a common spirit of the everlasting legacy of a national freedom that they leave behind. It was a failed revolution, but it was not a lost cause.

all pictures are taken from the lesmis official website www.lesmis.com

EBook Download Site: Gutenberg Project (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/135)

Extract from Les Miserables (translation), final paragraphs:

In the cemetery of Pere-Lachaise, in the vicinity of the commongrave, far from the elegant quarter of that city of sepulchres,far from all the tombs of fancy which display in the presence ofeternity all the hideous fashions of death, in a deserted corner,beside an old wall, beneath a great yew tree over which climbs thewild convolvulus, amid dandelions and mosses, there lies a stone. That stone is no more exempt than others from the leprosy of time,of dampness, of the lichens and from the defilement of the birds. The water turns it green, the air blackens it. It is not nearany path, and people are not fond of walking in that direction,because the grass is high and their feet are immediately wet. When there is a little sunshine, the lizards come thither. All aroundthere is a quivering of weeds. In the spring, linnets warble inthe trees.
This stone is perfectly plain. In cutting it the only thoughtwas the requirements of the tomb, and no other care was taken thanto make the stone long enough and narrow enough to cover a man.

No name is to be read there.

Only, many years ago, a hand wrote upon it in pencil these four lines,which have become gradually illegible beneath the rain and the dust,and which are, to-day, probably effaced:

Il dort. Quoique le sort fut pour lui bien etrange,

Il vivait. Il mourut quand il n'eut plus son ange.

La chose simplement d'elle-meme arriva,

Comme la nuit se fait lorsque le jour s'en va.

He sleeps. Although his fate was very strange,

He lived. He died when he had no longer his angel.

The thing came to pass simply,of itself,

as the night comes when day is gone. (Translation)

SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE

Shakepseare & English Literature

William Shakespeare at eNotes
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
Information on Shakespeare
Shakespeare Online
Elizabethean England











Plot Summary for Shakespeare in Love (1998 )
http://www.cinetropic.com/shakespeare/index.html
A Romantic comedy set in London in the late 16th century: Young playwright William Shakespeare struggles with his latest work "Romeo and Ethel the Pirate's Daughter". A great fan of Shakespeare's plays is young, wealthy Viola who is about to be married to the cold-hearted Lord Wessex, but constantly dreams of becoming an actress. Women were not allowed to act on stage at that time (female roles were played by men, too), but dressed up as a boy, Viola successfully auditions for the part of Romeo. Soon she and William are caught in a forbidden romance that provides rich inspiration for his play.
Summary written by Armin Ortmann {armin@sfb288.math.tu-berlin.de}





Extracts of the screenplay

7 Academy Awards Winner

4 British Academy Awards Winner
Memorable Lines from the film 'Shakespeare in Love'


Cast overview, first billed only:
Geoffrey Rush Philip Henslowe
Joseph Fiennes Will Shakespeare
Simon Callow Tilney
Judi Dench Queen Elizabeth
Gwyneth Paltrow Viola De Lesseps
Imelda Staunton Nurse
Colin Firth Lord Wessex
Ben Affleck Ned Alleyn
Rupert Everett Christopher Marlowe


ACTIVITIES:

(I) LOVE - Discuss the following manifestations of love?
Compassion for Mankind
Romance
Parental / Sibling

(II) Food for thought -
Can Love be programmed into artificial intelligence?
Will artificial intelligence be capable of Love?
What is the true essence of Love?

(III) Write an original story or an exposition essay based on the title 'Love'.
You should write in prose of about 600 words.


all pictures taken from http://www.cinetropic.com/shakespeare/index.html

WELCOME TO CATHOLIC HIGH SECONDARY 3 ENGLISH

Lesson 1: Poetry Appreciation

Roads in Life's Journey

Winter's Roads

by Ron Carnell

...

I cannot speak for all who stem

'Long roads less traveled as their way,

Nor question choices made by them

In days long past or nights long dim

by words they spoke and did not say.

...

Each road is long, though short it seems,

And credence gives each road a name

Of fantasies sun-drenched in beams

Or choices turned to darkened dreams,

To where each road wends just the same.

...

From North to South, then back again,

I followed birds like all the rest

Escaping nature's snowy den

On roads I've seen and places been,

Forsaking roads that traveled West.

...

This journey grows now to its end,

As road reflections lined in chrome

Give way to roads with greater bend

And empty signs that still pretend

They point the way to home sweet home.

...

But all roads lead to where we go

And where we go is where we've been,

So home is just a word we know,

That space in time most apropos

For where we want to be again.

...

For even home, it seems to me,

Is still a choice we all must face

From day to day and endlessly,

To choose if home is going to be

Another road - or just a place.

...

I came across this poem yesterday. It's a poem about life and choices in life. It reminds one that many a time, when we travel along our planned paths in life towards our destinations, it is the places along the way that makes up the journey, not the destination itself.

...

I like this thought. Afterall, our lives are made up of the little experiences, people and events that we encounter at different moments of our lives.

Sometimes, we tend to place our vision only on the destination far ahead, that we forget to look around and indulge a little in the things around us. This applies even when we just walk ahead on a road on a normal day.

...

Sometimes, we should just dally a little along the way and smell the roses. Life is more than mere purpose-driven paths towards pre-defined success. The excitement of life comes from the riots, discoveries and inspirations along the way. The journey process makes us who we really are, not the destination. We determine who we will be as we make choices along the way. We must savour every moment of life, than to discover at the end that we have not lived.

...

Below is the background to the poem, as given by the poet Ron himself:

The Winter of 1998 was the first time in over two decades that I found myself immobilized by heavy snow of Michigan. For three very long days. One result of that enforced isolation was a poem called Winter's Threads. Not being one to repeat past mistakes (I much prefer the excitement of making new ones), I packed my motor home the day after Christmas, 1999, with the intention of spending winter in California. I made it only as far as Louisiana, where I stopped to visit family (and instead became involved with family). Nonetheless, I stayed warm, renewed some familial bonds, and learned I'm really not very well suited to the travelling life. Eight weeks later, with warm weather breaking in Michigan, I again headed North. While on the road, with little else to occupy my mind, I penned this sequel to Winter's Threads. And like its precursor, the poem is less about Winter and more about the choices we make in life.(With apologies to Robert Frost, who also wrote of choices, in a very similar format - and did it much, much better.)

...

JOURNAL ASSIGNMENT:

With reference to specific stanzas and words, explain the poem, and comment on the poet's perspective about Life. Do you agree with his views? What about your own perspectives - how do you view and approach your life? (400 words)