gambitch - now available in blue

Saturday, May 26, 2007

Do you know your pop music?

Do you remember the songs you used to sing, just ten years ago? Or were you too young to sing, but maybe remembered hearing these tunes?

The Japanese certainly did, and they even have a television programme for it. The show title translates simply to "Our Songs".

They've got lots of songs. Some very nice. Some very, very nice. Some so nice, it sounds new! And some, simply iconic.

So here's one song that I happened to have heard before, absolutely loved it, and still remember today. It's done by this group called Dreams Come True. They were around then, they are still around now. Oh, Miwa Yoshida is probably pushing 40 now, but she's got great energy and presence. As for Masato Nakamura? Absolutely fun seeing him on stage.

They were famous for many songs, one of them being this one. It's a classic, I tell you. They even had it for a Japanese drama theme song - too lovely for words.

And they decided to re-present this song, but of course it's not so simple. They decided to bring BoA along to sing it, and as you can see, she had plenty of fun doing this song!

So, without further ado, from the great YouTube, I give you...

Enjoy!

gambitch [ 12:44 AM]

Monday, May 21, 2007

Back to the YouTube!

Well, actually I found this MV partly because I had a music assignment to do this week. Had a few things I wanted to verify anyway.

But it turns out that, as usual, this MV was too out to move! You've got to feel a bit touched, against your cold and better counsel.

Michael did pretty well with this one, honestly.

Enjoy...

gambitch [ 11:59 PM]

Saturday, May 19, 2007

I did mention that I had gone for some work-related stuff yesterday. What I omitted to indicate was that, prior to the evening, I had actually spent the afternoon elsewhere, watching a play. I'm not entirely sure why I hadn't said it the first time, but perhaps it had to do with the slightly different motivations I had for watching this one.

Anyway, the play I watched was Momo, based on the novel of the same name by Michael Ende. It's a pretty well-known text, although the main reason I knew it was because I had to study this book as part of my literature course in school. When I was twelve. Yes, they do terrible things to kids in this country. Well, not really, but that's quite besides the point.

I hadn't touched the book since finishing it as a kid, but I will always remember the book - and the movie, which rather fortuitously was screened on television the same year I had studied the book. Yeah, little experiences like that, getting the interpretations from print to screen. And now, of course, to stage.

What must be said is that when a book was chosen as a schoolchildren's literature text, the content of the story cannot be so deep and profound as to be difficult to understand. So when you have the book turned into a play, you can't expect too many fundamental changes as far as depth issues is concerned. It remains a nice, simple story, with a nice, simple point. As for what that point is, I'd suggest you go read the book.

All I want to comment on was what I got to see from this afternoon visit. Well, for one thing, much of the crowd that turned up consisted of schoolchildren, which shouldn't be too surprising. One reason why it's not that surprising is that the play had been specially promoted to schools, encouraging them to form student groups that would entitle them to discounts. Then there were also some older folk, who aren't usually noted for coming out to watch this sort of plays. No real harm in that, though.

It is funny to see how some of the different characters are represented, although one or two are a little odd. Take, for example, the little tortoise Cassiopeia in the original story. Cassiopeia, for those who don't know, has the interesting ability of communicating by showing words on the back of its shell. Of course, in a theatre where the stage is elevated, it would be unrealistic to expect the character playing Cassiopeia to be crawling on the floor - because how would you see the words? So instead, Cassiopeia becomes a bipedal character whose 'shell' is replaced by some kind of manually-scrolling display. Kinda like the Teletubbies' bellies, come to think of it.

Oh, and there's something else about Cassiopeia. I neglected to mention this earlier, but the play was not done in English. Which means, of course, that Cassiopeia's name had to be translated. Due to some truncation problem, or maybe just out of sheer cheekiness, Cassiopeia's name turned into Casio - a rather well-known Japanese watch brand. Which relates to the concept of time in a slightly different manner, of course.

I found that funny, but what I didn't quite enjoy was the representation of Professor Hora, a key character who emerges in the latter half of the show. From reading the text and watching the movie, I've had the image of Professor Hora as a wise, genial old man with a thick, long white beard and greying hair, a little like Santa Claus. So it took plenty of adjusting when I had to be presented with a different Professor Hora, who just sounds like a cranky old professor with an odd sense of humour. Okay, maybe without so much of the crankiness. But no white beard either.

I should also mention that a fair number of people in the production team, including the cast, are actually from the youth branch of the theatre company putting up the show. The whole idea of it is to promote the practice of theatre among youths. A good initiative, to be sure.

Did I enjoy the show? Well, it wasn't a bad way to spend the afternoon. It could probably have been better, granted, but I guess I'll make do with this.

In any case, I have another show to catch later this afternoon. Until then.

gambitch [ 10:38 AM]

Friday, May 18, 2007

Whoa! I expected a close fight, but certainly not a bloodbath like that!

Two seeing red, fierce tempers all over, and a really good amount of organized noise!

Might have been the right decision to stay around, too. Especially with that technical glitch.

Good evenings, good evenings.

gambitch [ 11:25 PM]

Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Well, the drama over United's tour - or more correctly, Malaysia's part in it - gets bigger and bigger.

So now the Malaysian Prime Minister weighs in, their football authorities finds the courage to stand up to Mohammad bin Hammam, and a showdown looks imminent.

And I'm here, enjoying my popcorn, watching this show unfold.

Glorious!

gambitch [ 10:48 AM]

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Once in a while, I do run off and do my own thing. I just did that, having a real crack-up watching a local musical that's all about some Broadway style fused with typical heartlander content. And the effects are laugh-a-minute hilarious!

And I have to say, Seb did great!

Getting three girls in all-so-over-the-top feather boas and stuff was also a nice, glam touch.

Too bad I can't be doing the reviewing here, because it'll just lose all the flavour. You should really go and catch it in person.

A note about Seb. It wasn't until I read through the programme that I realized just who he was. I always thought him a little familiar, but it didn't strike me that he's had plenty of achievements in the past, having participated in this talent show that got him noticed and all in line to become the next local pop star. Guess things didn't work out for some reason or other. But then to switch tack and do Broadway? Was that a stroke of inspiration or what?

Should have got a few friends to come along. Then we can share the laughs.

Maybe next time?

gambitch [ 12:27 AM]

Saturday, May 12, 2007

(yourname at organization dot org)

i saw this coming
from the moment you carelessly left
your name behind on your own work
telling everybody "look for me"

i saw it coming
i thought you didn't

and so i told you

but it was too late
between you putting up your work
and me suggesting the alteration
time did pass
and somebody already picked it up

so now everybody has a name
to attach your work to
and they all start knowing
"oh so i can look for this person"

and you know what happens next
don't you?
maybe you don't
but
and i'm not proud to say this
i do

the danger of having a name to point to

they start looking for you for everything
you
not colleague X or colleague Y
whose name they have never seen before
but YOU
and ONLY YOU

not just this project
but the next
and the next
and the next
anything they don't know
they just look for you

even if it's
none of your business

that's where all the junk starts

you said you didn't want
to be a civil servant
maybe one of the things
you don't want
is how the civil service
is nameless and faceless
and perfect in its anonymity

you like being yourself
being your own individual
standing out
like a blue mountain
amidst the lesser long blacks
and you like seeing
your own creativity
lead to an end product

that's fine
it really is

but perhaps
what you need to realize
(whether you want to or not)
is that at least in public
even though you can showcase your work
you don't have to put your name to it
and sometimes
it's better not to
leave your name behind

or perhaps
leaving your name behind
is
exactly what you want?

gambitch [ 5:57 AM]