Music and I: August 2008

Monday, August 18, 2008

George Bush calls Michael Phelps after his 8th Medals : Find out what he said...

Sunday evening in Beijing, about nine hours after Michael Phelps made Olympic history with his 8th Olympic medal at the 2008 Games, he sat down with Lester Holt and Jenna Wolfe of the Today show to discuss his victory. After asking Phelps how "awesome" this all was, to which the swimmer replied "crazy," Lester asked Phelps to describe the phone call he received before coming on the set. Phelps replied:

I just got a call...and was on the phone with President Bush. So uh...it was pretty cool...uh...he actually told me to give my mother a hug and say it was from the president. So, that was pretty cool and we just talked for about five minutes.

Lester then asked him if Bush he asked "any specific questions about any of the races." Phelps responded:

Nothing really, no, he was... I actually met him after the 400IM and he came down onto the pool deck and we got to take some pictures so it was pretty cool.

Here's the account of the phone call from the China Daily:

US President George W. Bush on Sunday telephoned Michael Phelps and told the US Olympics swimming sensation "if you can handle eight gold medals, you can handle anything," the White House said.

"Laura and I are proud of you. Our family is proud of you, but most importantly, America is proud of you," Bush, who was here on his Texas ranch, told Phelps, whose eight gold medals at a single Games are unmatched.

"We're excited for you. You handled yourself with humility. Give your mom a big hug for me. 41 and I were honored to get a picture with her," Bush said, referring to his father, George Bush, the 41st US president.

Bush really refers to his dad as "41"?

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Michael Phelps for Men's Journal

American Swimmer and world record holder, Michael Phelps appears in the latest issue of 'Men's Journal'
in some of his arousing poses yet. Grab a hold of yourself cause his body will completely throw you off balance.

Phelp relentless quest for perfection is to inevitable crown him the greatest athlete
of all time, though he is already number one in all human's heart.

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Phelp carves name as Games' greatest

Michael Phelps (USA)

Michael Phelps became the greatest Olympian of all time Wednesday winning two gold medals in the space of an hour to lift his career total to an unprecedented 11 on his charge to Olympic immortality.
As world records continued to tumble in the pool, Phelps passed the halfway point in his drive to be the first person to win eight golds at one Games when he blitzed the 200m butterfly final and led the US 4x200 freestyle relay team.
The champion American has now won five gold medals in Beijing, all of them in world record time, to go with the six he won in Athens.
In a stunning performance in the butterfly final, Phelps was barely able to see as his goggles filled with water.
"It just kept getting worse and worse through the race and I was having trouble seeing the walls to be honest. I wanted to go 1:51 or better but for the circumstances I guess it's not too bad."
Phelps had to settle for 1min 52.03sec while his relay team slashed 4.48sec off their record setting a new time of 6:58.56.

Monday, August 11, 2008

中國節隨想

看了郝同学写的《圣诞引发的思考》，还有那天助教在班上提及中国传统的节日，颇有感触的。

我第一次在北京过圣诞。确实，很惊讶的，这个节日在北京欢腾的气氛远远超出了我的想象范围。在圣诞期间收到的祝福，远远要比在冬至那天的多很多。

冬至，在我马来西亚的家里，是一个很重要的节日。大人们一大早起来就会很忙，准备着中午在祖宗牌前祭祖。到了晚上，便是一家大小团圆的日子。最重要的，是每个人当天都必须吃汤圆。据妈妈说，小朋友们过了冬至、吃了汤圆就算长一岁了。

可以很骄傲地说，作为海外华人，我从小到大过的中国传统节日要比许多在大陆成长的小孩过得都齐全、过得都热闹！从春节，到清明，到端午、中秋、冬至……除了春节是法定假日之外，其他诸如清明、端午、中秋和冬至等等，其中有两到三个节日一定是中文学校的假日。

在这里，实在不是为了炫耀。只是，希望让中国同学们知道，在南洋一带，有成千上万的华人至今都珍视着自己祖国的传统文化。这些传统文化也一直在海外流传至今。这与我爷爷那一代人早期被迫离乡背井去到南洋的那段历史是有相当密切的关系的。

听家里的长辈说，当时在闽粤一带，许许多多人的生活再也过不下去，只好被迫到南洋去“淘金”。许许多多的人，是到南洋去当矿工的。还有一些，是靠自己白手成家。离开了自己出生、长大的地方，含着无数辛酸的血泪，艰苦地在异国的土地上奋斗，无依无靠，为的就只是自己和家人的一口饭粮。还有许多人在离开中国的时候，手里捏着一把家乡的泥土。在异乡无数黑暗的岁月里，家乡泥土的香味便是精神的支柱、心灵的慰籍。

我的爷爷这一辈子唯一的愿望便是回到中国来，回到他的故乡。而且，只要一攒到钱，便从马来西亚寄回老家。准备着在他晚年的时候携着一家大小重返祖国。只可惜，这个愿望从来没有实现过。（而现在，由我来替他实现了。）因为，爷爷一辈子工作太劳累，以至于没有办法兼顾三餐，最后得了胃癌，客死在马来西亚。其实，许许多多的老人，都跟我爷爷一样，再也没有回国自己的祖国……

在异乡无数艰难的日子里，祖国的文化成了确认自己的身份的依据，成了唯一可以追寻并抓住不放的心灵依托！当一个人飘泊在外，什么都没有的时候，他能做的就只有牢牢地抓住自己的根。所以，在马来西亚，祖辈们无论在什么艰难的情况下，都捍卫着中华的文化传统！所以，直到今天，我们依然过着中国的许多节日。

记得初中的时候背过一首新诗：叫《南方的灯火》。能记得前面的几句：“当/故国的山水/成了记忆中的风景，/ 当/风景/成了美丽的憧憬，/我不灭的信念/遂放袅袅灯火，/在南方/延续疲惫微弱的小小光和热/ 燃亮另一片山河！”