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Tuesday, January 16, 2007

VIDEOS: Old Jazz Band At Peace Hotel, Shanghai... The Oldest Jazz Band In The World?

I went to the Peace Hotel two nights ago to watch the Old Jazz Band, which, according to Peace Hotel's webpage, is one of the most famous jazz bands in Shanghai. They have also performed for (from the webpage) former USA president Mr. Carter and Mr.Reagan,the French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin,the Australian Prime Minister Paul Kyten, the Hollend Prime Minister Viam Kirk. And the presidents from Italy, Portugal, Israel, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico.

I myself saw a photo they took with Bill and Hillary Clinton hanging on the walls.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

JAPAN SINKS 日本沉没

Japan Sinks


Also known as The Sinking of Japan, Japan Sinks 日本沉没, the most expensive Japanese movie ever (I heard), is Japan's answer to Korean and Hollywood movies that usually appeal to international audiences. It is a soulless, propagandistic blockbuster that sang praises of Japanese culture (and the country), displaying the sheer Samurai-like courage of Japanese people and their subtle and ridiculously honourable approaches in romance for the not-too-intelligent audiences. The opening credits were played over various famous landscapes and sceneries of Japan, all my years of watching Japanese films and never have I ever seen that many Japanese landmarks crammed in one film, let alone one montage.

Saturday, January 13, 2007

VIDEO: Yue Fei's Tomb | Lingyin Temple | Six Harmonies Pagoda


Video of my second day in Hangzhou, China


Part 1 of my adventures in China is here.

What you'll see in this video:

Friday, January 12, 2007

VIDEO: Arriving at Hangzhou


Edmund Yeo in China 2007 (part 1)


Well, I'm currently in Shanghai, turned out that I wasn't able to get Internet access at my hotel in Hangzhou, thus the lack of updates.

But as I've promised, I'll be posting up videos of my vacation in China so I can share the wonders I've witnessed with everyone else.

Anyway, here are what you'll see in the video.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Koda Kumi - Black Cherry


I have my problems with Koda Kumi. Apart from her lacking a certain...how to put this tactfully, star quality (i.e. if she wasn't famous already...) and relying on an obvious gimmick (feigned sluttiness), I've come around to much of her music, even if it struck me as undistinguished at first. The production is often good, befitting an Avex artist; and KK is talented, even if the hooks sometimes take a while to sink in. She tried out for Morning Musume and was rejected, yet that actually reflects well on her: no one in H!P can really sing like her; their voices need to be massed together to achieve any real resonance or tone. But KK is more than capable of carrying a track, and her voice is distinctive.

Sunday, January 07, 2007

Judy and Mary



Listened to their entire discography over the course of like six hours. Think I just found my new favorite band. Can't be bothered to write an in-depth entry. Just...wow. As much 'ink jizz' as a site like Pitchfork expends over a band like Deerhoof, you wonder what they'd make of JAM or (the previously discussed on this site) Ego Wrappin'. I mean, 'Judy is a Tank Girl'? Just brilliant...
Get Warp or The Power Source if you want to hear Japanese music completely overstepping national bounds and stacking up against anything on a world stage.

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Craig Reviews Junichi Tanizaki's Naomi



On my recommendation, Craig of Your Opinion Doesn't Count has just read and provided a three-part review of Tanizaki's Naomi, analogizing the novel to the idol world. His interpretation is highly original and provocative, and there's definitely some kind of graduate-paper potential in there somewhere about idol-continuity in Japanese culture over the course of the twentieth century. Was Tanizaki a proto-wota?

NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM

Night at the Museum poster


Night At The Museum is the last film I saw on 2006, not a spectacular way to end the year (it's not on my top 10 favourite 2006 films list), but not exactly a bad way (it's not on my top 10 disappointing 2006 films list) either. It's just what it is, popcorn entertainment meant for an entire family.