Dedicated to Michael Learns To Rock

It's been forever since I posted on my blog. Time really flies and I don't know what I've done with all that time. Or if I've done too much. I do miss my blog these days and I want to post something, though I don't know if anyone ever reads it :). So I changed the blog's design a little, just to get some inspiration. I made it look simpler, to be exact. Maybe simpler is better. Or, as a slogan of a product that my favorite Chinese actor once was the model for, "simple is cool".

Right when I wanted to post something, I checked the website www.mltr.dk and saw something new. FYI, that's the website of the Danish band Michael Learns To Rock. They've been my favorite band forever. I've listened to their music since I was a high schooler. Now I'm married with kids and I'm still in love with their music. Actually, I'm not a music fan. I prefer movies and books. I'm not really interested in any kind of music. But I love MLTR's songs. Basically because of their simplicity. The tunes are simple and the lyrics are too. But those simple words are incredibly beautiful. And they always, always have some meanings. If you're in the US, you may not know this band, but we in Asia are so familiar with MLTR's lovely songs like "Sleeping Child", "Paint My Love", "That's Why" etc. I grew up listening to those songs, which must have been 10-20 years old. Many years have passed, but until today, I sometimes still find myself humming the tunes of their old songs like "Judgement Day", "Love Will Never Lie", "Complicated Heart", "The Actor" and so on. Sometimes in this busy life, I don't think of them as much as I used to. But MLTR forever has a place in my heart and every time I hear their songs somewhere, I still can't stop smiling. It's so nostalgic and and sentimental to hear their songs sometimes in some stores I walk in. That really brings up a lot of memories and believe me, MLTR's songs always make your walk a little slower so you can enjoy the simple beauties around...

The later songs of MLTR are also very good, like "Take Me To Your Heart" or "Blue Night", but unfortunately I've never had time to listen to them as much as I did with their old songs. I even listened to Jascha Richter's solo album "Planet Blue" (Jascha Richter is the lead vocal of the band) for a while, but as I said, I listened to the songs not much enough to let them remain in my heart like the old ones. You can't believe how much I listened to their old albums. I listened to them all day, all night. Thousands of times, I guess. I remembered every tune and every word in their old albums "Michael Learns To Rock", "Colours", "Played on Pepper", "The Greatest Hits". I love each member of the band too. Jascha, to me, is always the shy guy. A private family man. He's so artist-y and he's the genius, who I've been admiring a lot. I always think that he's the one who loves to stay alone in a room to think and create; and it'd be a sin if anyone tries to disturb him. I don't know if that's true but that's what my imagination tells me. Kaare Wanscher is my favorite type of guys with his lovely smile to everyone. His smile is so bright and it can light up a room. He seems to be friendly, down-to-earth and nice, the one that can bring joy wherever he comes. I read that he's now also working as an advocate. That's amazing. On stage, Kaare is always the one who stays a bit behind because he plays drums. But Kaare, you don't know how much attention you've got, though you always take the farthest place on stage :). Kaare looks like he's always passionate and enthusiastic about what he's doing. I do really love him. Mikkel Lentz, the guitarist of the band, is the cool type. He's so very friendly too and I think the talents come to him so naturally. It seems like he never has to try too hard because he's a natural artist. I mean, it's like he was born with talents. When he plays his guitar, it looks like he puts all his mind, heart and soul into it. I really, really love this trio and I do wish the best for them always. They deserve that.

Back to "something new" that I found on the website of MLTR. They've just released a new video with their new song "Any Way You Want It". If you have time and want something fresh, please head over this address (their official YouTube channel, I think) to see the video: http://youtu.be/mJ_eFOvFeRs
There you can enjoy some great music and, if you want, you will see the three great guys I wrote about. And you may fall in love with Kaare's smile too :).

One of the wonderful things about this video is that there're some images of Nepal, an attractive country to me. I read some bits about this country in the book "Into Thin Air" (Jon Krakauer), one of the best books I've ever read. It's about the disaster on Mt. Everest and Nepal was mentioned a bit. Not much at all, but it did make me feel that Nepal is appealing in a mystical way. Seeing a MLTR's live concert in Nepal? Oh, that should be a beautiful experience. Yes, I saw MLTR-in-concert once (NOT in Nepal of course), a very long time ago, and I do hope to do that once more. Never know if I can see them in person ever again, but let's keep hope alive anyway :).