Spring is here already. When you don't have to get up early and fight traffic, you really appreciate the poem: 春眠不覺曉, 處處聞啼鳥. Around 5am, the mockingbirds are calling, & then the doves follow. I got awaken, but I know I don't have to get up, so I fall asleep again. But mockingbirds are tenacious. They arm with at least 10 different calls & easily make good music. Spring is such a nice season, full of life & energy. The followings are some things I remember related to spring while we were in school.
春, by 朱自清,
盼望著, 盼望著, 東風來了, 春天的脚步近了. ....春天像小姑娘,花枝招展的,笑着,走著 ....
康橋, by 徐志摩
春,這勝利的晴空彷佛在你的耳边私語. 春,你那快活的靈魂也彷彿在那裡回响.
四時田家苦樂歌, by 鄭夑
細雨輕雷驚蟄後, 和風動土, ....漸茅簷日暖,小姑衣薄.
Longing for Spring, by Mozart
This is a little piece of song longing for spring, especially delightful sung by Vienna Choir Boys.
Concerto Spring, by Antonio Vivaldi
This is the first concerto from Vivaldi's Four Seasons. You can sense all the spring environment in the first movement.
Spring Symphony, by Robert Schumann
Schumann composed this symphony right after he married Clara, one of the best time in his life. You can hear all the high spirit of spring season. Especially the first movement with title: Visiting of Spring.
Voice of Spring, by Johann Strauss
Everyone knows this delightful waltz. It sounds as if the dance occurs right at the mid-spring with everything in full bloom. I happened to watch a new year program two years ago. It featured this Voice of Spring with Ballet dancer from London Royal Ballet. You will always remember that performance if you watch it.
Rite of Spring, by Stravinsky
This is a heart-pounding music used in that famous movie Fantasia. You can exercise a much wider area of imagination in painting music. The movie shows all volcano erupting, the earth shaking & sends all dinosaurs into extinction. It is a very powerful portrayal.
Spring Song, by Mendelssohn
This is a short piece of gem, a song without word. It fits the mood of late spring. Although the melody is sweet & light, you just feel that you miss or lose something at the end of the song: 淡淡哀愁,若有所失.
Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson
This book is the forerunner of the current Green Movement. It is the warning of using pesticides uncontrollably in our environment. Carson also wrote that famous bestselling book: The Sea Around Us. There is a Chinese translation by 夏道平: 海的故事.
論語, by 孔子
莫春者,春服既成,冠者五六人,童子六七人,浴乎沂,風乎舞雩,詠而歸.
This sounds as if everyday is a holiday, what a good life. Our life should be like this, especially in spring. By the way, this text gives the hint that Confucius really had 72 disciples, 30 (5*6)adults & 42 (6*7) boys. Don't get serious, this is just for fun.
5 comments:
Then, there is the violin sonata "Spring" by Beethoven.
The significance of the spring may be different where I live. Though it has not come just yet, it will soon. And when it comes, it signifies the urgency of the unavoidable yard clean-up, the start of allergy season, and the start of the GOLF season. The first two are somewhat dreadful, while all winter long I had been looking forward to the NEXT golf season. I would happily share golf stories if any classmate is interested.
All in all, spring sure beats winter. And walking outdoors beats doing the treadmill.
A quick golf story. My 83 years old golfing friend just bragged that he got a new set of irons, and was all pumped up to better his 2007 scores. What a wonderful game golf is.
Yes, you are right, I forgot Beethoven's Violin Sonata #5, Spring. Its first & fourth (rondo) movements are especially brilliant.
If you live in a cold country, it makes a lot difference between winter & spring. In California, you work on yard all year long. The only thing unique in spring is allergy. It is the side effect when everything is blooming, nothing is perfect.
As to golf, it is a good sport but hard to master. It is much more expensive & time-consuming comparing to tennis. Also golf people are more arragant & sometime snobbish. There are a lot of unwritten rules & etiquette you have to follow or abide. I found tennis people more fun & relax. My experience tells me that one hour single or two-hour double in tennis get more exercise than 4.5 hour golf.
I used to setup a golf net in my backyard & bought a speed meter to check my swing & speed. It went out very well. I can swing my clubs all day long. After a while, I can really hit the ball straight. However, my short coming is distance. My best dirver can only go about 160 yards & #7 iron only go about 110. I eventually took some lessions, but just improve a little bit, not much. I consider golf is a frustrating game if you get serious about it. For exercise (no cart, no boy of course) or killing time, it is fun. I rather playing tennis these days while I can still run well. I play golf occasionally just to keep up so I can still enjoy playing it when I can't run or getting too old to play tennis.
One other thing, golf is a financial black hole if you are crazy about the tools. One of my friends spent $600 for a titanium driver. Since then, I haven't seen his score improving. I have tried several type of clubs for 3iron. For some reason, they all help a little bit in the first week. After one month, they all behave the same. What really matters is in your mind, not the clubs. In most cases, the clubs are good enough, you just need your skill to keep up with your tools.
Just like tennis, you don't have to be a low handicapper to enjoy the game of golf. I prefer golf to tennis based on,
1. Golf is less prone to injury.
2. If you had a bad game, it's not because someone did you in.
3. You can play the game as long as you can walk.
True. There are snobs, but you don't have to hang out with them. I met many of those around silicon valley courses. They are so status conscious, it is almost laughable. But then, there are lots of snobs in every private tennis club also.
True. Golf is quite time consuming, so I didn't get serious about it until time was not an issue for me. In Rochester, golf courses are so easily accessible, generally, I can finish a round of 18 holes including round trip from home within 5 hours. And if I play by myself, the record is 2 hours for 18.
Up until 4 years ago, when I hurt my back 3 times in 2 months, I always carried my own bag. Nowadays, I use a pull cart. I believe walking the course is part of the game.
True again. It does take lots of practice (hopefully with a good teacher - free or otherwise) to attain decent skill, i.e. swing. Not that you have to have decent swing to enjoy the game, it's that with decent skill the game becomes more predictable and manageable.
You are absolutely right about the equipment. Without improvement in skills, even the most acclaimed equipment won't help much. But some people would get a new driver just to have a right to show off.
By the way, I have two brothers who played tennis a lot when they were younger. Neither of them can play golf now, because they have damaged knees and ankels.
Dear All:
Indeed, our blog is a little bit quiet. I'll resend an e-mail to all of our classmates and remind them to visit the site and make contributions.. I have 2suggestions as follows:
1. Please avoid discussing the politics about Taiwan. After all, in our age, our political view-points are pretty much set. It's
very unlikely, if at all, that any
one of us could persuade others to
change their minds. The moment we do that, we might open up the Pandora box and hurt each other.
2. Please avoid critisizing on personal matters. As we are mature and old enough, any personal matter
is really his own choice. No one is entitled to critise it.
The above suggestions are my personl viewpoint and there is no intention to offend any one.
We live in different weathers, i.e., no season, 2, 3, or 4 seasons. Please enjoy your life in the weather you live in.
Cheers,
A. J. Chen
介紹一部好小說 寶狐。
我喜歡看小說, 但水準不高。 我覺得故事比文學哲理是更重要 。 如果能把故事講給我的孩子們聽，我認為它是一篇好小說。 因此, 我把西遊記放在紅樓夢之上。把基督山恩仇記看得比戰爭與和平高。 不論如何, 寶狐狸是我一看完就講給孩子聽的故事。 他們聽得津津有味 。 很久以來我就想告訴大家。 我現在分享它, 因為在網上有免費版本。
http://www.cnnovels.net/kh/nikuang/bh/index.html
寶狐 是科學幻想小說。 出版商說這是倪匡最稱心快意之作。並且倪匡自己也說在多年的小說寫作中, 沒有這樣的一個令人驚嘆的故事。 每人知道倪匡已經寫數百本小說。 我也讀了不少, 沒有一本是令人感到如此暢快的。 大多數倪匡的科幻小說都有一個非常令人激動的開始。 它深深的吸引住你。 但往往沒有一個合理的科學解釋來結束。 搞成虎頭蛇尾。寶狐不同。它全篇合情合理 。 在我的第一次看的時候， 愛不忍釋， 但是我總是警告自己, 這是不可能的。 他不可能有一個好的解釋。 但是他做到了。
我認為我不該說一句本書內容, 只希望你喜愛它並且也想要與你的孩子同享。
楊照崑
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