gambitch - now available in blue

Saturday, August 26, 2006

Ah yes... Being bitten by the show all over again. And stronger this time than the first.

Now, I'm noticing every little detail better than I did the first time. Every little expression now means more.

I'm not sure what's changed my view of the show, but it's great!

What show is it? That's a secret! Can you keep it?

gambitch [ 11:14 PM]

Friday, August 25, 2006

Sometimes, happiness can be just two tabs of Panadol (or aspirin) away.

I'm not saying this because I am an advocate of drug abuse, even if the drug is Panadol. I'm not an advocate of drug abuse to start with. Rather, I'm just saying it because sometimes, falling sick may not be such a bad thing. Especially if you've been up to your neck in work or other troubles.

A nicely-timed flu can just make you drop it and forget the frenzy for a day or two. Of course, your colleagues at work won't necessarily like it, but if they're close enough to you, they'll probably get you something. Like herbal tea, for instance. Or a carton of water (now that's kinda pushing it...).

Unless of course you're the serial masochist type, who likes to think about stuff all the time. Now that's not such a great idea, I know, but some people are born like that. I should know; I'm one of them. Somebody's going to have to grab me by the wrist and make me drop it. And even then it's not that easy either.

Still, illness isn't always a bad thing. Look on the bright side!

In other news, Chelsea and Barcelona are set to meet in the Champions League group stages. Great news story? Perhaps. Great football? I'm not so sure. Does this mean anything to me? Less than it used to. Which is kinda alarming for someone who's in the football writing business, but European football has lost its beauty somehow. Maybe it's because I'm based in Asia and now I'm a football writer, not just a spectator who picks and chooses what to watch. The job requirement exposes me to stuff I don't usually see, the things that don't have so much glitz and glamour. And that makes me wonder how to elevate the standards. So it's become a problem-solving exercise watching the game.

Still, I might watch a couple of games on the telly. Or I might not.

gambitch [ 10:42 PM]

Thursday, August 24, 2006

See what I told you? I didn't bluff you, right?

That was a good picture!

gambitch [ 11:44 PM]

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

It's back to the YouTube!

I just thought I'd pull up this song by Utada Hikaru called Distance. For some reason I really liked the song when it came out in her second album (of the same name). It was really a nice song, so when I saw a copy of it done for an NHK television show, I figured I'd do the obvious thing and share it!

Here we are...

And in case this song sounds familiar, albeit with a different arrangement altogether, that's because the song was remade with a slightly different title. Hikki put the remake into her third album (Deep River), under the title "Final Distance". Here's the MV for that.

gambitch [ 11:39 PM]

Sunday, August 20, 2006

On occasion, you have to see things in a slightly different medium. Even if the reason is simply to have a little bit of variety.

So that's what I did, catching Snakes and Lovers over the weekend, a play which was performed... not in English. And it's something pretty cute too, a play about putting together a play, and getting a peek into the inner workings of a group of theatre folks trying to put together a show even as "real-life relationships" cause all sorts of fun, mischief and, much of the time, little problems.

A little background: Several years ago, this same theatre company had put together a play that was based on the Chinese tale of Madam White Snake, a snake spirit who turned into a human being and fell in love with a young, handsome and admittedly timid scholar. They married, only to be torn apart by an old monk intent on subduing the spirit - believing it to be evil. The production at that time was thought to have been a little bit ridiculous. I wouldn't know - I didn't watch it. But good ol' English diet-consuming theatre reviewers thought poorly of the show back then.

So now this company decides to put up a new show, based in part on the experience of that production, and, in this new script, weaves in elements related to that show. So we've got the stage manager-cum-assistant director coming in talking about the experience, and trying to get the cast and crew working.

The only problem is that the cast consists of a rather odd mix - a pretty actress of some repute (who is also a singer-actress in real life), her technically more accomplished but lucklessly less famous bosom friend, a blockheaded guy who is involved in a hopelessly one-sided love affair with the latter woman, and the rather suspiciously insincere new boyfriend of the actress. Throw in a stage hand who idolizes the lead actress, and the colleague who can't put up with his silliness (some harmless bickering like this is always fun to watch), not to mention several other odd crew members, and you've got a bit of a riot.

The four main roles in the actual Madam White Snake story - the White Snake Spirit, the companion Green Snake Spirit, the scholar Xu Xian and the monk Fa Hai - are clear and familiar personalities to those who know their Chinese folk tales. In some ways, these four characters are jumbled among the four actors in the 'production', creating a rather fascinating sight. Imagine seeing the dejected blockhead (who oddly is supposed to play Fa Hai) sigh as he speaks of being rejected by his dream girl for the 100th time. Talk about perseverance, yes. And then there's the silliness of the lead actress (who obviously takes the role of Madam White Snake) behaving a bit more like a muddle-headed Xu Xian. Only the Green Snake Spirit seems to fit into the person taking that role, and there's a tinge of sadness in that part.

So said lead actress suddenly announces her marriage to her new beau, who seems to be up to a few tricks. And things get into a bit of a tangle as "Green Snake" is revealed to have had a one-night stand with this guy, a secret accidentally learnt by the stage manager and that male stage hand - who suddenly have to keep it secret from the lead actress. There's the feel of "oh the betrayal!", but it's only as the play progresses towards the end that we see a new and rather eye-catching twist.

Sometimes, it's not easy being 'sisters'. Especially when there's love involved.

Overall, a decent production. Not superb, and not about to win bucketloads of international awards. It's not that kind of show. But it's a simple enough piece that says its piece in a way that is easy for even the newcomers to digest. Good for ordinary school students, certainly. And the selection of music to go with the show is not half bad either.

A very different change of pace, a pleasant change in taste. Some laughs along the way, but an ending that draws sighs and maybe the odd tear.

Not bad, not bad, I have to say.

Why is it
Snakes act as if they're so stiff
And people love in circles?

Postscript: I read this rather interesting theory from somewhere. It says that the Green Snake Spirit was originally male, and madly in love with the White Snake Spirit. One day the White Snake Spirit challenged the Green Snake Spirit to a duel. If White Snake lost, White Snake would marry Green Snake, but if Green Snake lost, Green Snake will turn into a female snake spirit and be by White Snake's side eternally as a servant. Green Snake, knowing the chances of victory were too remote, accepted the duel anyway.

You can read some other comments here. For those who see some weird characters, try reading the page in Unicode.

gambitch [ 11:22 PM]