Posted on 16 December 2004 @ 13:23 in Janis Ian, Music, Opinion
So, she’s been around like forever, but then so have I. And my brother’s comment that she’s still around made me wonder whether he’d thought she got married and then faded from the music scene. I guess that’s what’s usually expected of us “girls”, right? Maybe that’s why in the “good” old days, families don’t invest much in educating their daughters cuz it’d be wasted cuz they’d eventually marry, settle down and have babies, etc., etc. Besides, their husbands will be supporting them, right? Yeah, right … not.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think my brother’s comment shows that he shares such ancient views. I think he said it cuz she’s not had very many commercial hits since “At 17″, which may mean she’s not been successful. Well, not by mainstream standard. But she’s been quietly chugging away and has her own circle of fans, a cirrcle that includes me, and Dinesh and Sylvia, the husband-and-wife team behind Greenhorn Productions that’s bringing Janis to Singapore in February.
Hi, Dinesh & Sylvia!
*waves*
Er … but that’s not what this post is about. I want to talk about my Janis Ian collection (all three of them – one cassette and two CDs, one of them a double), and link them to where you can have a listen to some samples online. (To listen, just click on the album pictures to go to their respective pages at amazon.com, from where you can click on specific song titles to hear a sample.)
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Posted on 7 December 2004 @ 07:01 in Opinion
Beth sent me this:
“Don’t argue with an idiot;
people watching may not be able
to tell the difference.”
I’d modify the second line to read “people watching, reading or listening in may not be able”, so here’s the old Chinese proverb according to Chet:
“Don’t argue with an idiot;
people watching, reading or listening in
may not be able to tell the difference.”
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Posted on 21 November 2004 @ 17:37 in Opinion
It’s probably just me (yes, it is, Chet) but I’m very particular about being accurate with details. Well, it’s also the line of work I’m in, as I still remember the horror of spelling a client’s product wrong (not me, tho, na ah, honest), or a client misreading a sponsor’s name. So, yes, it’s a combination of me and the line of work I’m in.
But as a wannabe fiction writer, I think it’s important for writers to be accurate with facts and details. Unless it’s a make-believe world, then you can get away with a made-up language and place names, historical facts, even.
Yesterday, I heard the most horrendous story of how Malaysia has been grossly misrepresented in a work of fiction. Yes, work of fiction, but when set in a real place in an early part of the last century, then there’s no excuse for making mistakes about the most basic facts about your country. Yes, your country cuz apparently the author is Malaysian.
“Facts” like:
- there was a country in the 1920s called Malaysia
- Kajang satay was already available in the 1920s
- the unit of currency for that country was the ringgit
No, lah!
We screamed out in laughter when we heard the above “facts”. frickangel said she’ll never forget “Kajang satay” in the 1920s. As for me, I’ll never forget “ringgit” in the 1920s.
Yet, the work of fiction that carries the above mistakes is a best-selling book in England! With its author’s picture plastered in the bookstores there! And news of a second book in time for Christmas!
What will it be in the new book? Snow in Malaysia? Genting as the place to go for your winter in Malaysia?
*blood boiling*
Here’s a clue as to why the book has been so popular, its gross inaccuracies overlooked …
Apparently, the author is young, pretty, very presentable, and female.
Well, that’s something for us writer-wannabes to learn from. And dang, no hope for any sales for me, no agent or publisher will look at me twice! I’ll just spend the rest of my life participating in NaNoWriMo challenges year after year.
Excuse me while I go cool off my blood with a bowl of ice cream.
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Posted on 3 November 2004 @ 17:12 in Opinion
I’m usually not a very political person (cuz a lot of the time, I don’t understand what’s going on), but I just want to say something about the US Presidential Elections 2004.
When the votes were just coming in, the incumbent was leading by quite a wide margin. Over the next few hours, the margin narrowed, and at one point, it was as low as just a difference of nine votes. Now it’s widened again.
An image of a neck-to-neck, photo finish comes to mind. The two US presidential candidates as horses? Funny image.
Whatever happens, I hope what happened in the 2000 US Presidential Elections doesn’t get repeated here.
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Posted on 1 November 2004 @ 08:40 in Opinion
When you have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything at all.
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