Friday, December 31, 2010

Dream Of The Red Chamber

'Dream Of The Red Chamber'  
http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~dee/CHING/DREAM.HTM  , rendered into Spanish as  'Sueño en el Pabellón Rojo' is a two-volume (1250 pages each) Chinese classic I enjoyed reading for over three weeks.

It left such a deep feeling of pleasure in my soul that I couldn't help going on to another classic I had just bought, 'Jing Ping Mei'. It's another two-volume set, but don't worry, this one is shorter (only 2000 pages). I think I'll finish it in a couple of days ( http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s7134.html ).Then I'll take a short break to let it settle on my mind and will start another trove (to me), 'Journey To The West' ('Viaje al Oeste' in its Spanish translation) -  http://www.chine-informations.com/fichiers/jourwest.pdf  -   I'm sure its nearly 2300 pages will not be a problem.
Take your time, turn off your TV set, sit comfortably and enjoy yourself. Remember that some books may lead you a lot farther away than the Internet. And after all there's plenty of time for everything if we want.
Best Wishes.

Maset del Lleó

Gran Reserva Cabernet Sauvignon 2004 de Maset del Lleó 
This is my favourite red wine. Yearly awarded, not advertised (which keeps it very affordable), brought to your doorstep free of charge... a real bargain. And it's DELICIOUS.
By the way, I am just a customer.
Cheers.

BEACH HOUSE


BEACH HOUSE, a fresh and outstanding contribution to the impoverished world of popular music.
Calm and inspired sound for the Season. 
Victoria Legrand's sexy vocals are hazy and androgynous, like a stoned
late-night heart-to-heart in which no one's sure who is sleeping where. Beach
House sharpened their sound and hooks on their third album — what's surprising
is that it only made their music more mysterious, more magical. (From Rollingstone Magazine)
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/30-best-albums-of-2010-20101213/beach-house-teen-dream-19691231
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-wfb25WmV4  (Use this link for the official video).

THE DRUMS



LET'S GO SURFING, it's chilly (but NOT everywhere around the world).
THE DRUMS, a 'nice' band to pay attention to.

MAY YOU HAVE A BETTER YEAR



It's common knowledge that when one devotes most of his time to one thing, there's very little time left to devote to the rest.
I've read a few (just a few indeed) thousands of pages over the last months and I haven't found the time I needed to say hello. I'll tell you about in future posts.

Now it's time to wish you all the best for the new year, which is the same wish we all got 12 months ago and it seems it did not work much. I hope it does this time. I hope you have fun, learn a lot  from those who know by reading them or listening to them and then use all that knowledge to improve your quality of life.

Picture Info: Nativity scene and fine buildings from Brussels' La Grande Place (Big Square).