My idea of a Friday night well-spent: watching epic, overblown musicals extolling the virtues of the Chinese Communist Party and praising Mao every other verse. Even better, watching said propaganda musical with a friend from Taiwan whose grandfather fought in the Chinese civil war on the side of the KMT. It helped that she knew every detail of Chinese history and could fill me in when the onstage propaganda became a little bewildering.
Everybody should watch '东方红 - 大型音乐舞蹈史诗'. The East is Red is gaudy, operatic, classic, and oh-so grandiosely Chinese. The songs are rousing, the performers dead-serious, the history seriously whacked, the praise for Party and Chairman never-ceasing. It's really quite incredible. After we finished both VCDs (it's a long musical) I was tempted to get drunk and maybe stagger around the Main Green singing '东方红，太阳升，中国出了一个毛泽东' at the top of my lungs. But, of course, I don't drink.
My Taiwanese friend and I had the time of our lives, laughing our heads off. She found it even more hilarious than I did, mainly because she had the requisite Mandarin background for appreciating the inanity of the words (oh the words) being sung or declaimed while the music swelled triumphantly.
words were spilled on Saturday, February 25, 2006
Comments:
i went out for dinner with enjun just now, and when we passed nydc he said he still remembered your expression when he paid for everything. he says you should get used to it; boys will be lining up to take you out.
i told him brenda's idea of fun was sitting in her dorm catching up on weird nerd obsessions.
(... hah.)
he says he has a senior on the same scholarship you have who will be going to brown next year. this chap is, according to enjun, a boy who speaks before he thinks, appears to have no sense of irony, and asks out every girl he meets.
he's looking for fellow scholarship holders at brown. i'm told i should warn you, and so i am.
meanwhile i hope the bad luck has stopped. love, and take care.
i told him brenda's idea of fun was sitting in her dorm catching up on weird nerd obsessions.
(... hah.)
he says he has a senior on the same scholarship you have who will be going to brown next year. this chap is, according to enjun, a boy who speaks before he thinks, appears to have no sense of irony, and asks out every girl he meets.
he's looking for fellow scholarship holders at brown. i'm told i should warn you, and so i am.
meanwhile i hope the bad luck has stopped. love, and take care.
# posted by 
: 9:04 AM
: 9:04 AM
hey brenda!! doing unusual things on friday nights? it's more original than 99% of this world, so you rock.
jy: are you with that guy?
jy: are you with that guy?
# posted by : 11:40 AM
: 11:40 AM
jy: thanks for the warning. do you, or does enjun, know his name?
nerd obsession? watching (and laughing hysterically at) 'the east is red'? my. i can think of nerdier obsessions.
it was certainly entertaining, though.
am: i embody the new cool. thanks, amanda. :)
nerd obsession? watching (and laughing hysterically at) 'the east is red'? my. i can think of nerdier obsessions.
it was certainly entertaining, though.
am: i embody the new cool. thanks, amanda. :)
the chap is his senior from chinese orchestra. he told me but i forgot; will check.
... there is no prize going for extra nerdiness, brenda.
yes, it did sound entertaining. you should have just borrowed an empty beer bottle, filled it up with green tea and stumbled around singing and taking occasional swigs; it's a good drunk song. and nobody would pay any attention because, hey, university students and alcohol.
... there is no prize going for extra nerdiness, brenda.
yes, it did sound entertaining. you should have just borrowed an empty beer bottle, filled it up with green tea and stumbled around singing and taking occasional swigs; it's a good drunk song. and nobody would pay any attention because, hey, university students and alcohol.
# posted by : 2:28 AM
: 2:28 AM
oh i want i want i want! ive heard of that production! *grin* i even went to the production website to do research during one of my 'red' crazes...
any chance on getting my hands on it?
*hint*
any chance on getting my hands on it?
*hint*
i think u can easily get it in china for dirt cheap. that's how i got mine.
or, u could watch clips at http://www.morningsun.org/film/index.html
along with english translations :)
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or, u could watch clips at http://www.morningsun.org/film/index.html
along with english translations :)
