Boris Garnder: I Wanna Wake Up With You

For George

I wanna wake up with you

I wanna be there when you open your eyes

I want you to be the first thing that I see

I wanna wake up with you

I wanna lay by your side, baby

I wanna feel every beat of your heart

And throughout the night I wanna hold you tight

I wanna wake up with you

Chorus
All the love inside me has been sleeping

Waitin' till the right one came along

You can share the love that I've been keepin' (baby)

You can put the music to my song

I wanna wake up with you

I wanna reach out and know that you're there

I want you to be the first thing that I see

I wanna wake up with you

And throughout the night I wanna hold you tight

I wanna wake up with you

Heart 'Alone'

A great 80's video / song.

Let's see what this video has going for it shall we...

A rock power ballad with big hair, overblown production, , soaring vocals, drum machines, screeching guitar accompanied by elementary piano, a lack of any coherent harmony, and topped off with an unnecessary application of mascara!

Awesome in every sense of the word. Enjoy!

Words of Warning

You shoot me down in flames
You put me down a lot
I'm giving you my heart
go on take it
Please be carefull not to break it
Just remember it's the only one I've got
it's the only one i've got

(chorus) Don't break my heart (3x)

You make me laugh a lot
and by me silly things
I'd rather be with you than anyone else

But if you make me mad
But if you make me mad
You wish that you had not
You wish that you had not

(chorus) Don't break my heart (3x)

The roses and whispered sighs
The compliments and dreaming eyes
I know you love me real basic love never dies

(chorus) Don't break my heart (3x)

The roses and whispered sighs
The compliments and dreaming eyes
I know you love me real basic love never dies

But don't break my heart (7x) fade

Medals Table

Position 1 2 3
Country China USA Great Britain
Gold 45 27 17
Silver 15 28 11
Bronze 21 28 11
Total 81 83 39

Can this really be true? Great Britain in third place overall in the medal titles? Ahead of Russia? Ahead of Japan, Germany and Australia? What on earth is going on? Not being particularly renowned for sporting excellence in many fields and more at home to facing the fact that we always lose, this is the best performance by our country in over 100 years! For once the country known as GREAT Britain is finally living up to its name! Great job!

Former President on Corruption Charges

So it would appear that Chen Shui-bian, his wife, and half his immediate family had been dealing in rather questionable financial issues over campaign funding whilst he was mayor of Taipei. "I cannot continue to cheat myself and others" the former president declared as he stepped down from the DPP last Friday. A little late for that don't you think! Especially after trying to blame your wife for the whole affair before finally accepting responsibility yourself. Apparently transferring as much as a billion NT Dollars to a Swiss bank account, this whole affair is bound to play havoc with such a young democracy. Such an unfortunate incident which one hopes doesn't affect the people's faith in the political system.

Fleet Foxes: 'Fleet Foxes'

Describing your own music as “baroque harmonic pop jams” appears a rather pretentious statement at best, yet even this understates the depth of Fleet Foxes self titled debut offering. Hailing from Seattle, this quintet embark upon tight effortless vocal harmonies and woozy folk influences. Musically the band has derived influence from the 1960’s giants as well as more traditional pop influences all of which is dealt with in a level of sophistication well beyond their years.

Opening this album with a statement of intent, it starts as it means to go on. With a host of unlikely instruments the results are rather stunning and a complete antithesis to any mainstream indie stadium rock from which they appear to have arisen from. It’s uncanny resemblance to the Beach Boys or CSNY immediately transport you to the Californian beaches before being launched across the Atlantic, and back in time, to ancient Scotland. Some of this music wouldn’t sound out of place on the soundtrack to the Wicker Man. It’s an added joy to listen to an album that is neither ridiculously compressed nor overlong.

Definitely an album where single tracks are impossible to highlight; easier instead to enjoy this album in its entirety. Of course there are flaws, the production seems a little overstretched at times, and the tightness of their vocal harmonies does diminish in places. However, time is on their side. If this is their debut I can’t wait to hear what comes next!

Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush: Don't Give Up

Hope your lonely time comes to an end soon.... A song for you, be happy and enjoy life.

In this proud land we grew up strong
We were wanted all along
I was taught to fight, taught to win
I never thought I could fail
No fight left or so it seems
I am a man whose dreams have all deserted
I’ve changed my face, I’ve changed my name
But no one wants you when you lose
Don’t give up cos you have friends
Don’t give up
You’re not beaten yet
Don’t give up
I know you can make it good
Though I saw it all around
Never thought I could be affected
Thought that we’d be the last to go
It is so strange the way things turn
Drove the night toward my home
The place that I was born, on the lakeside
As daylight broke, I saw the earth
The trees had burned down to the ground
Don’t give upYou still have us
Don’t give up
We don’t need much of anything
Don’t give up
Cause somewhere there’s a place
Where we belong
Rest your head
You worry too much
It’s going to be alright
When times get rough
You can fall back on us
Don’t give up
Please don’t give up
Got to walk out of here
I can’t take anymore
Going to stand on that bridge
Keep my eyes down below
Whatever may come
And whatever may go
That rivers flowing
That rivers flowing
Moved on to another town
Tried hard to settle down
For every job, so many men
So many men no-one needs
Don’t give up cause you have friends
Don’t give up
You’re not the only one
Don’t give up
No reason to be ashamed
Don’t give up
You still have us
Don’t give up now
We’re proud of who you are
Don’t give up
You know it’s never been easy
Don’t give up cause I believe there’s the a place
There’s a place where we belong.

Erin and Ruby Come to Taipei

Last weekend Ruby and Erin decided to pay a visit to Taipei. Unfortunately, it will probably be one of the last times I get to see Ruby before her big move to Finland so we decided to make the most of the time we had. So on Friday, after work, Ruby came over to my house and we both, along with George, had pizza before heading out to an all-you-can-drink bar near Zhong Xiao Fu Xing called Darts One, which is owned by one of Erin’s friends.

We met Erin there at around 8:30 and wasted no time in taking full advantage of their generous offer. Ordinarily the place is not all-you-can-drink and so the drinks were very strong. Due to this fact, along with some of Erin’s crazy friends who were drinking like prohibition was being initiated the next day!, we were drinking at an alarming pace. One drinking game after the other, they showed no mercy, relentless in their desire to see us all passed out in a self-induced coma!

Ruby and George seemed to have more sense and control of the situation and managed to escape to Roxy99 to try and find Ruby a guy. Meanwhile, Erin and I stayed in this public house of decadence and continued drinking. I don’t really remember much after about 1 but I’m sure a good time was had by all.

Apparently when I got home I was sick and left poor George to clean it up, ewww, thanks hon! The next thing I remember is waking up the next morning with the mother of all hangovers and supposedly kicking Ruby out of the bed in the middle of the night. We all managed to make our way to the diner for lunch and then rest for the remainder of the day.

On Saturday evening we met up with the Canadians and headed to JR Café for some preliminary drinks. Then we headed to Roxy99 for some dance action. With my hangover now gone I could enjoy the night and certainly did enjoy the music there. Thank God it wasn’t a night of hip-hop! Determined to continue the party after Roxy closed we went to the Vibe which was similar music. We finally left at around 6ish and headed home. Needless to say Sunday was pretty much a do-nothing kind of day. Great weekend and good fun, a nice way for Ruby to say goodbye to Taiwan, although there maybe one more to come!

Fork in the Road

Modern Toilet: Shi Lin (8.8.08)

Friday evening saw George, Andrea, Lindsay, Mavis, Adam, and I head to a themed restaurant called 'Modern Toilet'. As the name suggests, everything is based around the bathroom. The seats were toilets, the tables were baths, and the food came served in various guises of toilets. Here are some pictures from the evening

Hua Xi Jie (Snake Alley)

Yesterday evening saw an impromptu trip to Hua Xi Jie with George and two Canadian friends, Andrea and Lindsay. Both Andrea and Lindsay are leaving soon and are trying to do as many crazy things as possible before they leave! I’ve been to snake alley before, with my parents, but had never fully enjoyed the whole experience of eating snakes and everything entailed with such an endeavor. We scoured the alley trying to search out the best place to eat. Having the wonderful George to make inquiries for us, we decided not to eat at the place which appeared to show no mercy towards decapitating live tortoises with more brute force and malice than anything I have ever seen. Instead, we settled on a place just along from there.

The girls’ intention was to go the whole way and try everything that this damn snake had to offer. This included; the snake’s bile, blood, cum, and obviously the meat too. Thankfully we drew the line at not eating snake venom which is surely wrong on a number of levels.

The snake soup arrived first. This was not much of a challenge as I have tried this before and actually there is not much to eating snake at all. Devouring the soup unscathed it was time for the snake blood and bile filled with cum. When they arrived they looked like two shot glasses of some alcohol, actually it reminded me very much of the aftershock shots of old, the red and green varieties. This image was only compounded when I smelt them, vodka! Yes, vodka was the overriding smell of both of these concoctions.

To cut a long story short, down the hatch they both went (between all four of us of course) There was no taste other than alcohol and a slight taste of iron, which was of some relief. The taste of blood I could have handled, the taste of bile is another story altogether!

After this we went to another restaurant to eat raw shrimp. I must admit I was highly skeptical of the whole thing. Shrimp are cooked for a reason, raw shrimp just seemed wrong! The more humane explanation of what happens is that the shrimp are soaked in alcohol until they become ‘drunk’ then you can peel them and eat them. The more realistic view is that they are poisoned to the point of death in a bath of alcohol then you rip them to shreds whilst apparently still alive (to what extent I couldn’t really make out). Anyway, despite the dubious preparations, the actual taste of raw shrimp was absolutely delicious. In fact, I could have eaten a whole lot more and it is definitely something I would love to try again, good one George! Quite an interesting night all round.

Kate Bush: 'Sunset'

Not one for being particularly direct about my feelings I'm taking to expressing it via a song. This may be cryptic to everyone else, but it pretty much sums up my feelings right now!

Written and produced by Kate Bush (from the album Aerial)

Could be honeycomb
In a sea of honey
A sky of honey
Whose shadow,
long and low
Is slipping out of wet clothes?
And changes into
The most beautiful Iridescent blue

Who knows who wrote that song of Summer
That blackbirds sing at dusk
This is a song of colour
Where sands sing in crimson, red and rust
Then climb into bed and turn to dust
Every sleepy light
Must say goodbye
To day before it dies

In a sea of honey
A sky of honey
Keep us close to your heart
So if the skies turn dark
We may live on in Comets and stars

Who knows who wrote that song of Summer
That blackbirds sing at dusk
This is a song of colour
Where sands sing in crimson, red and rust
Then climb into bed and turn to dust
Who knows who wrote that song of Summer
That blackbirds sing at dusk
This is a song of colour
Where sands sing in crimson, red and rust
Then climb into bed and turn to dust

Chorus :Oh sing of summer and a sunset
And sing for us, so that we may remember
The day writes the words right across the sky
They go all the way up to the top of the night

Taichung Shenanigans

This weekend saw an impromptu return visit to Taichung to see all my old friends who i haven't seen for such a long time and miss lots! George came along with me as well as my friends Lester and Daniel. As i didn't have to work on Friday we decided to leave on Friday afternoon. Daniel kindly drove us all to Taipei and we arrived in good time by about 7. We decided to have dinner at Chilis. Finally, i got the meal I have been looking forward to for ages! Cajun Chicken Pasta! It was just as good as i remembered, albeit a little pricey! Then George and I went to meet little Steve while Lester and Daniel went to met their friends. We then headed to Steve's place, which is very nice; wish i had a place like that! He kindly lent us a spare key and a room so we were basically free to roam which was great.

Freedom beckoned for the evening, it just had to be done! We got there at about 11 and met Willie, Erin, and Kyle. Although freedom has changed a lot and was not as good as it used to be, I think we more than made up for that with great people. I think I speak for everyone when I say that we all had a great time. I probably had one Long Island Ice Tea's too many due to my poor performance at drinking games. I'm really out of practice! We then headed to Scorpion afterwards and apparently I sang My Heart Will Go On by that horrific woman Celine Dion. I'm not sure what possessed me!! Glad that I have little to no recollection of the song, i can only imagine what a car wreck it was!

Saturday got off to a slow start, George and I didn't arise until early afternoon and slowly stumbled around the house for a couple of hours deviously deciding what to do for the rest of the day, we decided on Fingas as George had great recommendations about the place. Although I feel it's just an average place, it was good to eat there with friends again, and I'm sure George was satisfied. It was the first time to see Peter in a long time too! Afterwards, George, Kyle, Peter and I went bowling and then back to Kyles to relax.

To be fair, I think we would have stayed in on Saturday night but I really wanted to see the guys who I didn't get the chance to see on Friday. So we decided on Pig Pen! Although we didn't drink much it was great to see Daisy, Nell, Charity and some of the others again. Had a nice time there and then off to my old favorite breakfast store, how i miss that place!

We headed back to Taipei Sunday afternoon where George and I went for Cantonese food at a nice little place called Hong Kong. The rest of the evening was spent relaxing at home. Great weekend overall and was so good to see everyone again!

The Last Shadow Puppets: The Age Of The Understatement

Appearing without any fanfare whatsoever, this first side project from the Artic Monkeys front man, Alex Turner, is a truly superb and, predictably epic, affair. Bold and exhilarating, this album is inspired by the wide screen orchestral pop scene of the sixties; with nods towards Scott Walker and early David Bowie as well as the legendary David Axlerod. The result is emphatically triumphant. It owes as much to the romanticism of Richard Hawley and the eclectic approach of The Coral as much as any sixties precursors. The thundering title track is a cinematic patchwork of Morricone-esque themes and rhythmic motifs topped off with a hint of Northern wit. We are then led twisting and turning frantically and energetically along a road of brilliant and bombastic orchestration ('Meeting Place') and genuinely exciting music ('Standing Next to Me'). This album is by no means uplifting, many of these songs are dark and moody yet 'The Age of the Understatement' is a wholeheartedly convincing album that proves the adaptability of Turner and marks him out once and for all as one of the great singer-songwriters of his generation.