William Chong

This song by Damien Rice singing “Cold Water” caught my attention today for two reasons: music and spirituality (favourite topics of mine).

Firstly, you have to hand it to Rice for pulling off a unique blend of acoustic singer-songwriter and lamentations-style folk music. The passionate modernity his band puts into the performance definitely comes close to drawing out some sort of religious experience (particularly in this longer version where the band whips into glossolalia: it’s furious, almost Pentecostal). With an artist-driven song like this (i.e. radio-friendliness not considered), you’ll either listen entranced by the music, or shake your head in bewilderment/confusion.

On spirituality. When Rice is grievously singing “Lord can you hear me now? Or am I lost?”, he offers a glimpse into an oft-hinted-at, seldom-mentioned truth: that human beings all want answers to spiritual questions. The “O God wherefore art thou” theme is repeated by vocalist Lisa Hannigan, followed by a bridge where Rice sings this seeming reply from God:

“oooo, I love you
Don’t you know I love you
And I always have
Hallelujah
Will you come with me?”

Obviously each person will ascribe their varying opinions on the real meaning behind Rice’s lyrics, but I personally found there was a fair bit of insight in there by a non-Christian artist. For Rice, the answer to “Are you there God? It’s me, Damien” is essentially “I am a loving God, come with me” – a theme certainly echoed in Scripture (e.g. Isaiah 55:3).

It’s also the way Rice sings this section in a Leonard Cohenesque, basso profundo register (not sure what God’s voice sounds like, but I know he can sing – Zephaniah 3:17) that’s made me think about this song all day.

So what do you think “Cold Water” is about?

Looks like I’ll be driving the long way home.

From the AA Roadwatch at 2.29pm:

SH 1 Sh 1 Southbound Between Northcote Rd And Onewa Rd

Motorway Closed At Northcote Southbound Due To Serious Crash At Onewa Rd -

Expected Resolution >2 hours
Alternative Route Use Sh 18 – Sh 16, Or Northcote Rd Via Lake Rd Rejoin At Onewa On Ram

I guess it’ll be a good chance to sermon-jam, among other iPod-related pursuits.

Have a good weekend everyone!

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Hope you’re all doing well as the inclement spring weather introduces itself!

I put in some pretty good runs this week. The durations start gradually extending and I start building in the distances, as per the training programme.

Did my first night run on Tuesday…

… and there’s not too much that beats being in your own space running towards old Howick under a clear night sky, amber hues cast from various electrical monoliths that one takes in their running strides, those veritable progress markers.

And then there’s the dawn run (Thursday), where you bounce along the Eastern Beach esplanade as if the waves and the sand wake up to your footsteps – “and though the clouds may hide the sun”, on Thursday morning it peeked through just in time to usher in the working day.

Read more »

Oh well. Maybe next time.

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NZ freelance health writer Noel O’Hare recently wrote about a weight-loss study published in the New England Journal of Medicine in July 2008. In his stuff.co.nz opinion piece, O’Hare, who reads as a vocal supporter of the Atkins method of low-carb dieting, champions the Israeli study as strong evidence that a low-carb diet is superior to a low-fat diet.

Before everyone starts jumping on the worship Dr Atkins bandwagon, I’d just like to point out a passage in the methods section from the article itself, which outlines what the low-carb diet actually was:

Low-Carbohydrate Diet

The low-carbohydrate, non restricted-calorie diet aimed to provide 20 g of carbohydrates per day for the 2-month induction phase and immediately after religious holidays, with a gradual increase to a maximum of 120 g per day to maintain the weight loss. The intakes of total calories, protein, and fat were not limited. However, the participants were counseled to choose vegetarian sources of fat and protein and to avoid trans fat. The diet was based on the Atkins diet (see Supplementary Appendix 2).

So here are a few points that I thought up:

1) The total caloric intake wasn’t regulated (in the other two diets, it was at 1500kcal/day for women and 1800kcal/day for men). Fair fight? Perhaps the low-carb group were consuming fewer calories than the other two groups and therefore lost more weight.
2) Is it really a genuine Atkin’s diet if participants were “counseled to choose vegetarian sources of fat and protein and to avoid trans fat”? When I think Atkins, I think steaks. Lots. of. steaks. mmmm.
3) The fine print at the bottom of the article has this to say: “Supported by the Nuclear Research Center Negev (NRCN), the Dr. Robert C. and Veronica Atkins Research Foundation, and the S. Daniel Abraham International Center for Health and Nutrition, Ben-Gurion University, Israel.” Other than the fact that this blogging correspondent sounds like he could be working for the Atkins Foundation, this study seems to be receiving direct support from the Atkins Foundation. Bias, anyone?

I could say more, but I think it’s probably a good idea to read the NEJM study carefully – “Think before you swallow”. And I guess that goes for anything that we’re asked to believe, in any context.

This has been a story that’s boiled over in the Asian community over the past few weeks, and the national media have been able to get a fairly robust stream of headlines from the antics of the Asian Anti-Crime Group and its maverick founder, Peter Low.

Here are some of the recent headlines:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4610264a6160.html
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=30&objectid=10520648

And some screenshots from the Asian Anti-Crime Group website:

And a telling radio interview: http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/mnr/mnr-20080707-0708-Major_Shocked_at_Suggestion_of_Triad_Security-048.mp3

A few points:

• While I can understand that there’s immense frustration over, advocating an eye for an eye is definitely not Christ-like example (Mt 5:38-39). One fact that the AAG won’t point out is that Joanna Wong was run over by the thieves that stole her handbag when she chased after the vehicle – turn the other cheek, perhaps?
• I like Raybon’s writing, but by now surely even he must realise that he’s backing a particularly errant horse in Peter Low’s AAG, who in this video advocates killing someone who’s wronged you because “life is more important than law” and also concedes to employing Triad members at last resort – two wrongs don’t make a right.
• The AAG website could also be argued to advocate bad English, using terms like “scarred kaning” and Singlish-grammar phrases such as “do you have true story to share?”. Talking about a “suspicious far following you from behind” is probably not particularly useful either.
• I think the fervour that’s mobilised knee-jerk groups such as the AAG will eventually subside, and common-sense will prevail – yes, the Police are stretched: so put your hand up and join them, or work with them to stem the plague of violent crime. I don’t see any great benefit in reporting crimes and suspects to the AAG themselves. A great example of this would be the Guardian Angels concept, where groups patrol dodgy areas and fully liaise with the Police.

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On a fairly unrelated note, I was at the police station on Monday making a vehicle hit-and-run complaint (yes, I too am the victim of crime) and managed to be lining up behind a Chinese woman who insisted on seeing a Mandarin-speaking police officer. She then proceeded to rail on about how two Housing New Zealand workers came into her house and had stern and threatening words with her, and demanded that the Police file her description of these “perpetrators” – never mind that they hadn’t legally committed any crime. The woman’s line of questioning even descended into a “so how long have you been in New Zealand? Where did you come from?”, as if some justification was required for why she wasn’t being treated favourably by the Chinese constable.

Yes, violent crime is an issue. Yes, let’s be more vigilant. No, let’s not complain bitterly about everything that aggrieves us, and let’s not hype up Asians as the only victims of crime in New Zealand. Look, I like some of the advice on the AAG website (things like protecting your bag, being careful about PIN numbers) – but an Anti-Crime group that advocates using criminals and criminal means of retaliating is no better than the thugs who commit the crimes in the first place.

If you think about it, Asians are more likely to be victims of crime in… wait… Asian countries. New Zealand ain’t perfect, but I’m nonetheless happy to be here.

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There was a big blast of cold air as we stepped out of our cars at Dressmart Onehunga. I hadn’t been clothes shopping in about a year, and this showed particularly in my work attire. So I thought I’d better update some of my clothes. I was a little disappointed that business pants were so hard to come by (and not cheap), whereas they couldn’t sell enough shirts every where I went in the factory outlet centre.

In the end I settled on 3 business shirts and 1 pair of business pants – I’ll have to look harder for another pair of pants but hopefully these will put me in good stead in the meantime.

It was good fun doing long drives from place to place and not a single destination being work-related for a change! We had a look around the Appliance Shed in Papatoetoe, as well as visit my sister who’s currently pulling shifts at the Buddhist Temple my mum used to be an active member of.

Hope you’re all wrapping up in these atrocious conditions!

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*sighs* “Times are tough.” – NPC, RPG World Comic #9.

The above picture shows what you can get for NZ$40:

• a loaf of bread
• 2 bags of onions
• 6 assorted muffins
• a bag of tomatoes
• 500g minced pork
• 1kg NZ rose apples
• 35g of mesclun salad
• 200g brie
• 2 boxes of biscuits
• Philips energysaver light bulbs

OK, this has got to be the most inane song ever. I’m talking about it from a musical point of view – from its earthy Dsus9 chord on the piano, it flips back and forth between that and B, giving it a very unorthodox feel to it. If you keep listening it’s definitely complex in its harmonies, and throws interesting modulation to C Minor at you (about 1:41 in the video, Vanessa Hudgens kinda just slides into it; this book explains how odd a semitone modulation is to achieve).

Rhythm and melody-wise it’s somewhat catchy, if you can get past the distraction of a particularly nasal singing quality by Hudgens, who nevertheless is trying her best. Whether it’s an attempt to try a different vocal style/music genre or not, her voice does doesn’t have that depth or soul-feel. I could picture someone like Alicia Keys, Joss Stone or Mary J Blige pulling this off better. But then again none of them would really be singing about shoes, would they?

Thanks to this High School Musical alumna, I’m picking this song to create a fashion-craze that involves young girls going clubbing in sneakers. Bonus points if your shoelaces glow in the dark.

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Lots of people having exam stress at the moment. I can’t say I envy any of you, though I myself seem to have caught something from one of my students. Should request they all wash their hands before class or something! So for some reason I ended up staying home on Monday and today. However, I actually did more work at home than in the office yesterday, thanks to the ability to access my work email.

It’s when your sinuses clog up that you appreciate their role in giving you a voice that doesn’t sound idiotic. Am enjoying reacquainting myself with this large music collection at home though. And I can’t say I don’t enjoy saving that driving-to-work petrol money for a better cause.

A couple of movie characters making appearances in cinemas, they all sound interesting: Prince Caspian, Zohan, Kung Fu Panda, etc. I wonder if I’ll have the time/health to go see any of them.

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