David Tao 陶喆. He’s the godfather of Chinese R&B and my favorite singer. I thought I should dedicate an entry to him because I love his music so much.
Here’s a quote supposedly said by the man himself taken from a David Tao Facebook group:
“You have to be passionate. Music should have a positive effect to help others, like for example, Peter Gabriel or John Lennon. I think that their music has affected and helped a lot of people all over the world. Music should be therapeutic but you don’t have to do that on purpose. When you speak your inner most feelings or put your own life experiences in your music, the honesty will come through and your music will move people, besides love songs of course.”
Whether he said it or not, I think he really succeeds there. No matter how I’m feeling, there’s a song that he wrote for it. I don’t feel alone in this world knowing that he’s felt the same way.
I can’t wait for something new to come out. The most recent song he released is Free. David Tao doesn’t release things very often. New albums come out about every 2 years. And I hear he’s trying out directing films. But the magical thing about his music is that it is timeless. I’ve been listening to David Tao since middle school (since you guys don’t know how old I am, it’s been a few years since middle school), and I’m still listening to the same songs.
His voice isn’t super duper special and he’s not exactly a pretty boy, but his passion, lyrics, and melodies will touch your heart. Everybody should take a listen to his music.
David Tao news is slow but for frequent updates on him, check this blog out: http://taozhe.blogspot.com/
There’s this drama that I really want to watch. It’s called 孽子/Nie Zi/Crystal Boys and it was released in 2003. It’s based on a book by Kenneth Bai Xianyong who, thanks to this book and several others, is considered one of the most sophistocated and groundbreaking authors of his time. The book takes place in Taipei during the 1960s (the drama takes place in 1973). There was also a 1986 film based on the book called Outcast. The basic plot is a young man named Ah Qing is kicked out of his house after his affair with a male custodian at school was discovered. He winds up in “New Park” and meets a group of gay men. The story explores how they deal with the rest of society who basically shun them for their sexuality. 
Today I took a trip to my local art museum to see an exhibit on Frida Kahlo. Her 100th birthday passed and museums around the world have been opening up art exhibits for her lately. It had some of her works and “never-before-seen” photographs. It was pretty impressive.
