I've to admit: the Biography channel on cable is my latest guilty pleasure. The recent changes made to the cable channels my family subscribes to have resulted in the cancellation of old personal favourites like Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network & Disney and the addition of new ones like Animax, Channel V, Discovery Health and of course, the Biography Channel. I thought I would have difficulty adjusting to the sudden disappearance of my favourite channels, but with the recent discovery of how devilishly fun the Biography channel is, it looks like I wouldn't have to worry about having nothing to watch on television again!
The Biography channel (as its name suggests) is a television channel dedicated to screening real life stories: life stories of the rich and famous, life stories of the not so rich and famous. Any kind of life story that is interesting can be screened on the channel, just as long as the stories featured in it are REAL. And I love it! There is nothing more interesting than to learn more about the life stories of these people, to discover the god-awful way they grew up, to find out how they struggled and crawled their way to the top, how they managed to walk onto the right (or wrong) path to success (or non-success) that they are currently enjoying (or not) right now. Insights to the lives that we can never have. Sigh... Just the right amount of material for us to keep dreaming and fantasizing.
Its the kind of channel that potential paparazzi and gossips love. And I, being a gossip myself, absolutely relishes the chance to learn about the lives of all these well known people. It makes me happy to know that they had to pay their dues to make it big, and that some of them, in choosing horrible choices like drugs, sex, violence (i.e a general life of debauchery), actually ended up getting what they deserved, which usually equates to them looking horribly awful or becoming exceedingly broke. I mean, it goes to show that there REALLY is a principle of equivalent exchange in life: what you reap is what you sow, every action generates an equal opposite reaction, there's no such thing as a free lunch ... and blah blah, the list of comparisons goes on. And you learn something from listening to these stories. Its definitely better to work hard first and taste the sweetness that is the fruits of your labour, than to squander everything you have on some quick high.
And speaking of the learning about the lives of the rich & famous, I went to "The Kangxi Emperor: Treasures from the Forbidden City" exhibition held at the Asian Civilisations Museum. Its an exhibition that I've been dying to visit since it started its run on the 13th of March, and I've only gotten down to doing so today.
Isn't he a handsome man? Anyway, the exhibition featured some of the many priceless treasures from the Forbidden City in Beijing, which is of course, now converted into the Palace museum. Most of the exhibits are from the Kangxi era, some of it being Kangxi's personal items. It was a fascinating exhibition, and it offered the visitor just a small glimpse into the life of a giant of an Emperor. The Emperor Kangxi was one of the Greatest Emperors ever in the History of Imperial China. He, along with his son, the Emperor Yongzheng and his grandson, the Emperor Qianlong, were the three Qing Emperors whose successive reigns witnessed the rise of the Qing Empire to the zenith of its power. And as the first of these three Emperors, his reign sowed the seeds for the Qing Dynasty to undergo this transformation. He was well known to be an enlightened and truly intelligent ruler, a mighty military strategist, a patron of the Sciences and the Arts, an Emperor who truly cared for his people. And just being able to look at some of the artifacts that he commissioned was just fascinating - you really get an impression that this was a man who genuinely sought to improve the lives of his people.
This exhibition allows you to get a small measure of the intelligence and maturity that this great Emperor had, and also the kind of life he lived. Unfortunately, the significance of most of the exhibits would probably be lost if the visitor does not possess some form of knowledge about Kangxi's history in the first place. While the exhibit does allow you to learn a little about the Emperor's story, its offers the visitor too focused and too myopic a view of his amazing life. A full understanding of this amazing man's life and his numerous achievements can only be reached if one is willing to hit the history books. A daunting task, I know, but the lessons learnt, the dividends earned from this investment would surely be worth the effort.
After reading or watching some documentary regarding the life of someone famous or influential, I always wonder what it must be like to be that person. I have fame-envy, I know. But there's no harm in dreaming! In fantasizing! It adds so much colour to our lives and makes it so much more livable!
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