My Top 5 Songs at the moment

Viva la Vida, Viva la Vida or Death and All His Friends, Coldplay

This was a super, massive commercial hit but, who cares? What I love about this song is its sad, yet uplifting momentum. When you do what I do every day, throwing 500 things against the wall and hoping one sticks, canned hope in the form of a very catchy tune goes a long way.

Time to Pretend, Time to Pretend, MGMT

I love the unapologetically cheesy but effective minor key synthesizer riff on this song. It feels morally and aesthetically wrong to enjoy this song. But I do. My 12-year son turned me on to this band.

Glitter Freeze, Plastic Beach, Gorillaz

Actually, after I saw the Gorillaz in concert in December, I became totally obsessed with Plastic Beach. I'm not actually a huge fan of vocal music in general, so it's not a surprise that I love this addictive song so much. That album is a near-faultless mash-up of blues-rock-pop-digital-world music influences. The sophistication and catholicity of the Gorillaz's references doesn't exist anywhere else. If only more music-makers were this adventurous and masterful.

Shadow of the Day, Minutes to Midnight, Linkin Park

I'm someone who loves to listen to music which makes me cry. It's the reason I could listen to this anthem a hundred times in a row. (I'm absolutely crazy about Linkin Park, by the way, because of the sheer power of their melodies and execution which toes the line between too catchy and hard rock.)

Beethoven's Symphony No. 3 ("Eroica") Symphony

I grew up immersed, even submerged, in classical music. No pop music can beat the pay-off of a symphonic climax. In that regard, this symphony is a paragon of psycho-aural redemption. If I had more time, I would spend my life attending Beethoven and Chopin concerts.

Can't breathe today? Buy some Fresh Air from Daniel Wu --

English: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmH3xCpOSW8

Chinese: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9KB9-LzALPk

On a serious note, watch Professor Anthony Hedley explain how air pollution can cause permanent and short-term damage to child health,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q76-gICUoBU

Joanne Ooi

CEO

Clean Air Network

Room A, 2/F

The Standard Chartered Bank Building 102-106 Queen's Road West

Sheung Wan, Hong Kong

(852) 3971 0106

CAN is the #1 resource for health, news, policy about air pollution with a special focus on Hong Kong policy and events.

www.hongkongcan.org

Follow me @joanneooi

Follow us @cleanairnetwork

(Sent by Blackberry, so please forgive infelicities of style or grammar.)