Goodbye To Love

27 years ago on 4 February, Karen Anne suddenly suffered a heart failure in her parents' house. She was brought to the hospital but pronounced dead 20 minutes later. The cause - complications due to eating disorder. She was just 32. Her full name - Karen Anne Carpenter.

Together with her brother Richard, the Carpenters sold over 100 million albums and singles worldwide, which is quite a feat if you consider this was way before the age of downloads and pirated copies.

Aside from their distinctively soft musical style and beautiful ballads, the main reason why this duo is well-loved is of course Karen's soothing deep alto voice. There was just no comparison in the richness of her lower register and she used that to her advantage.

One of the Carpenter's most memorable song is Goodbye To Love. At the time, it was heavily criticize for infusing fuzz guitar in the middle of the song, something never ever done before in a love ballad. Many of the Carpenter fans were not happy about this. Even radio stations refused to play this song, which is the reason why it never became a number one hit. Mr. B. also mentioned to me that there are passages in the song where Karen sang long verses without stopping to breathe! Looking back now, one can really appreciate the uniqueness of this creation, thanks to the wonderful vision of brother Richard.

27 years on and a whole new generation may still be listening to Top of the World or singing every sha-la-la-la. I think Karen Carpenter is one of the greatest humans who ever lived because of her unique gift and the generations of people she influenced with her music.

The world will never forget Karen Carpenter.

Video : Goodbye to Love by The Carpenters

The Tower Of Babble

According to the Bible, humans once decided their city should have a tower so immense that it would have its top in the heavens. This Tower of Babel was to be dedicated to the glory of humans, to make a name for the builders and not to worship God. So God was not happy about this, came down and confused their languages and scattered the people throughout the earth.

Fast forward to modern times. Still so confused are humans that they don't even understand each other even when they speak the same language. Worse, some humans continue talking regardless of whether they are understood or not. The point is to say what they have to say, and not to communicate their thought to another human.

I learn that in the world of humans, there are those who can only talk, there are those who listen but do not understand, then there are those who don't talk but only do. The first one is called the Talker. The last one is called the Doer. The middle one is just stupid.

Mr. B. said he is more of a Doer than a Talker. I believe him because he doesn't like to express himself too much. Someone he knows is a Talker. That person talks, and talks, and talks yet accomplishes very little else. The other person he knows only listens with blank stares, so you know the words do not travel right through the ear canals. Put the 3 of them together and you have 2 Energy Suckers and 1 whose energy is being sucked up very rapidly.

"Why do you have to put up with that, Mr. B.?" I asked him.

"I am not sure," Mr. B. wondered aloud. "Maybe that is just my role in life."

Poor Mr. B.

Photo credit : The Tower of Babel by Pieter Brueghel the Elder (1563)

May - December

Today, I am sharing a short writing by a friend of mine who doesn't want to be identified. He said it is just random thoughts he put down on paper. I think regardless of how good or bad the writing is, it is a great reflection of the human heart. Mr. B. told me to go ahead and publish it so here it goes.

Bigger And Becker Part 2

How did I spend my 11th birthday? I just sat around at home because Mr. B. had to go to work. I was able to do a lot of contemplating, actually a bit too much contemplating for a bear. I was thinking what I want to be when I grow up.

I thought of the great humans that made great contributions to the world. I thought I want to be like one of them.

Maybe I can be as great as Leonardo da Vinci. He is a polymath, painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, botanist and writer. Then I thought that is a bit too much to handle. It may take a few lifetimes for one to accomplish all of that.

Perhaps when I grow up I could be another Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and influence an entire era with my music. Maybe not. Mr. B. once mentioned that I could be tone deaf.

Something more contemporary maybe. I could be a David Beckham and be popular in sports. People make a lot of money there. Then I thought I have to run and run and run around the entire football field and I got tired just thinking about it.

James Cameron! He is a great role model! I can make 3D animated movies of brown creatures in a make believe land named after a Greek goddess who opened a jar and was forever blamed for releasing all the evils of mankind, and make billions of dollars! Maybe not.

How about Michael Bloomberg? He is a politician, media magnate, billionnaire. But I heard that he is not a nice person, so I don't think I want to be like him at all.

Mr. B. came home with lots of food tonight - barbecued meat and duck, sausages, beef noodles, fried rice and vegetables. D. came to join us for dinner too. D. did not forget to buy me a cake because today is my 11th birthday. Mr. B. said I can have the cake all to myself because today is a special day for me.

As I look at the red cherry topping on my cheesecake, I thought of my other bear friends. I promised myself that someday, I will buy a bigger cake on my birthday so we all can eat together, I gave Mr. B. a bear hug and told him that when I grow up, I want to be just like him.