Month: April 2009

  • Remember VH1’s Divas?

    Remember that VH1 segment where women sang? You know, that one show that gathered Gloria Stefan, Mariah Carey, Shania Twain… etc, etc~~ Sorry, I’m a little weak in the mind right now. xD

    Well, Divas’ is making a comeback~~

    Look, I get Divas~ I love talented women… Sophia Loren to me is a legend, whom we could call Diva, I guess~ How about calling the show Legends? LOL, Let’s face it! Divas is now synonym with bitch, hard to work with, and high maintenance.

    Anyway~~~ I have issues with VH1’s announcement. First, “Pop, R&B, and hip-hop” – Heck? How about country music? How about rock? Then, VH1 is also asking listeners to pitch in. Let’s face that too! That’s rubbish. *sighs* Why? Britney Spears and Lady Gaga are being suggested! What the…

    Who would you suggest? I dunno, howz about a duet by Joan Jett and Reba McEntire… or~~~ hmm… Regina Spektor with Pink? Woah, bizarre. I’d better quit thinking of duets. xD Just naming people~~ Alicia Keys, Christina Aguilera, Alanis, Alison Krauss, Amanda Palmer, Adele, Emily Loizeau… Bjork? xD

    How about mixing music!?!?! Shiina Ringo!!! Or okay… Utada Hikaru… Faye Wong!!! Andrea Echeverri! Bibi Chow? Salyu!!!

    ZOMG! A duet between Marit Larsen and Regina Spektor? I’d die~~~

    Or one with Bjork and Salyu??? Alanis with Shiina? Amanda Palmer with Andrea Echeverri? Adele with Bibi Chow? Utada Hikaru with Christina? Faye Wong with… Loizeau?? Faye Wong with Bjork?? Utada with Keys? LOL

  • Coupling (UK) – Shows You Should’ve Watched

    Coupling (uk)Though it wasn’t overly lasting, Coupling (the UK version, not its abominable US remake… ugh much?) should be included into anyone’s list of  “I should have watched this”. This is the case for me, I don’t get BBC comedies on my cable system (only the news, and they recently began showing BBC Entertainment), so the first time I saw this was on Eurochannel a few years back. In fact, they were already showing the final season… even then, I fell in love with the show.

    I think of myself as a bit of a mix between Susan, Sally and Steve. LOL’ But all characters were equally hilarious in their own way… and unlike FRIENDS, I never ended finding a character annoying. Perhaps, it’s because it only lasted 4 seasons, so I never got around to growing to hate them… okay, maybe I hated Oliver – but that’s because he is too much of Joey, and I ended up hating Joey.

    Steve (Jack Davenport) is hilarious… and man! His voice!! His voice and the monologues… like the one for “Lesbian Spank Inferno” LOL’ Jeff is also hilarious with his explanations, theories, women-related situations and many words on “breasts”.

    And more than Richard, I love Richard and Sally’s interactions, because well… Sally is gold. LOL’ “I finally understand why you called him ‘donkey’.” And totally missing the point. I think that my favorite episodes of the show, revolves around these two~~ with episodes like the one and the Spiderman theme, and the one where Sally ends up singing “Susan the Happy Trotting Elf” – *snorts*

    Then there’s Jane who is hilariously just out there… where? You know… there~~~ with the talking snakes, or improvising the traffic report… showing up naked to a dinner, or saying she’s a vegetarian that eats meat… you know, almost like a bisexual. x’D

    And Susan! I love uptight Susan, and I love it when she says “apparently”, and her French accent. LOL’ “Giselle, the French bitch” xD and her history with Australian men~~~

  • The Big Read – Because Everyone Deserves to Learn How to Read~~

    The Big Read - 2009

    Nelson Mandela, Queen Rania, Paulo Coelho, Luis Jaime Cisneros V. have come together with others around the world like Natalie Portman, and Dakota Blue Richards (The Golden Compass) on this global project for education.

    You can head over here to read some of the stories (in English, Francais, y Español~~ some even in Arabic… but why not in Chinese, Japanese and Korean? I could do some Japanese easy to read stuff~~), and add your name to the list~

  • Yu Aoi – Portugirl by Yoko Takahashi – Kodansha

    Yu with braces!!!

    Ok… moving on~~ Portugirl is in my hands!! Or actually, on my desk now, otherwise I wouldn’t be typing. HMV Japan is pretty good~ even though they delayed my order, they sent it 5 days ago and it’s here already! And considering I don’t get Free Shipping with YesAsia anymore… also noticed? Prices are higher in YesAsia now, for example Portugirl would have cost $20ish bucks more with them. Should you be doing YesAsia now?

    Anyway! Here it is!!!

    Yu Aoi - Portugirl

    Proper fan-ish review, after the break~~~ For a ‘pro’ review, you’ll have to wait. LOL

    (more…)

  • 10 Years of 10 Things I Hate about You

    10 Things I Hate About You PosterToday I was re-watching BBC’s Shakespeare: The Animated Tales… particularly Macbeth and The Taming of the Shrew. Despite it’s misogynistic theme, it reminded me of the teen comedy 10 Things I Hate about You~~

    How do I loathe thee? Let me count the ways.

    Some time in 2003, on one of the many Writing classes I had, we got to ‘study’ the script for this film, which I had seen back when I was 13 or 14. I’m almost sure that I saw this film at the theaters… oh the times! And oh how innocent were teen comedies back then~~~

    Anyway, back to the topic~ my teacher pointed out that the film was a modern adaptation of Shakespeare’s Shrew~ Back then I thought, WOW! That’s so cool. LOL, she also mentioned at how much the script sold, and I was most impressed. Hahahaha~~

    For those not so familiar with the film, or the Shakespeare story… here are some of the references:

    • Kat (as in Katarina) and Bianca are sisters. Bianca can’t date (or marry, in the case of the Shakespearean tale), before Katarina does.
    • Patrick Verona is the contemporary version of Petruchio of Verona.
    • Padua, the city, becomes Padua High School.

    You can check more references here.

    It’s so hard to imagine that the film is already 10 years old!! – Turned 10 about 20 days ago on March 31st – and that this film was the American debut of Heath Ledger (RIP) who’s got a remarkable career with great films… awards *sighs(, Joseph Gordon-Levitt has a broad array of films as well more on the indie flare – and whatever happened to Andrew Keegan? I’m pretty sure he used to date LeAnn Rimes, whom we all know what’s going on with her~~

    Julia Stiles had a breakthrough with this role, and had a bunch of films out during those years, but eventually just settled for lesser roles. I did enjoy seeing her on The Bourne Trilogy~~ and Larisa Oleynik~~ I read she was seen on Without a Trace, but I don’t watch the show so can’t tell. I should go on the hunt for a few Oleynik flicks. Gabrielle Union is doing a big better on the more “commercial” work, as I’ve seen a few projects with her. Not really MY type of films, but she’s been active.

    I wonder if someone would be interested in a “collector’s edition” of this film. Would like to see them together…

    How do you feel this film is aging? I think it’s okay… I had a laugh watching it this afternoon. I was surprised how innocent it is compared to teen films now. I don’t know if I can call this the best teen romcom of the 90’s (or the last 20 years?), but perhaps… I could do a bit more research.

  • Record Store Day…

    was today~~~


    recordstoreday.com

    Damn. I must admit I haven’t stepped on a record store since… since… maybe perhaps 2006? I do most my shopping online now, mainly because Peru overprices too much, and takes to long to get stuff. For example, I wanted to buy the Surrounded Bjork collection, and the store here decided to split the collection per album and wanted around $30USD per album because they were all dual discs – so considering it had 7 discs at $30 each… they wanted me to pay $210 bucks instead of the $130 price tag it has on Amazon. And it’s not only the music… I have the same issue with books and dvds.

    Also… there weren’t any events in Peru anyway. There were, however, events in Canada, Sweden, Japan, and even Hong Kong. And I am still looking for the Asian-version of Pitchfork… any suggestions??

  • Shiina Ringo and Superficial Gossip!!

    Shiina Ringo’s new music!!!

    One thing for sure… HMV.co.jp Newsletter Updates > YesAsia Updates.

    I just got the email from HMV listing Shiina Ringo’s new upcoming album. Sanmon GOSHIPPU, which translates to ‘cheap gossip’ or as CD Japan puts it “Superficial Gossip”. This is Ringo’s new material since she began collaborating with other musicians, and performing with Tokyo Jihen. Last year, she released a bunch of compilations commemorating her ten years in the music entertainment business…

    The album includes 14 tracks, but apparently the first single is not there which is called Ariamaru Tomi (Superfluous Fortune) [HMV Japan], main theme of the Jdrama Smile, and will be released on May 27th.

    The album is set to be released on June 24th.
    [HMV.co.jp][Amazon.co.jp][CD Japan]

  • One day like today five years ago…

    I bought my own server and domain, and opened by first ‘proper’ blog. sighs~

    And damn it! I lost that domain because the stupid company I was using, didn’t automatically renewed my account, and they never sent me an email notification. Dumbasses!!!

    So I spent 1 month without knowing why my domain wasn’t working, and when they finally confirmed my thoughts it was too late~~~ someone had taken my domain and was trying to sell it to me at a higher price. Assholes!

    April 18th is siutou-amy.com remembrance day~~~ LOL

    siutou-amy.com website - April 18th 2004

    Emo-est website ever? True. But that site had pretty nifty content like faux-interviews~~~ I should do those again! LOL’ Had some phunny lists like “You know you’re Peruvian when…” or “I hate it when…” – there was music, a lot of fanart icons and wallpapers, and my favorite of all~~ there was a movie faux-database. It was actually all .html and nothing fancy, but I did take the time back then to write as many reviews as films I got to watch each week. Sometimes once or twice a week, sometimes I wrote more than four reviews~~

    Now I watch and listen to too much stuff to write individually… sighs.

    too the long-gone siutou-amy.com!!! *raises glass* Cheers!

  • Design and Politics – The Obama Era

    Despite whatever views I may have on Obama’s policy, decisions… or the lack of a firm position (and how much his ideas reminded me of the traditional Latin American candidates during their campaigns) – I do agree with many designers who point out how good his campaign is. The most throughly article I ever read (mind you, I read this a long time ago~~~ perhaps almost a year ago) was Expertinent: Why the Obama “Brand” Is Working – not only the thoughts and critic people involved in graphic design did, but also the comments on the article. Yes, there are a few bad-mouthing the article pointing out how they are not voting for Obama for his marketing, but there are a few others that are quite insightful too. Doing a quick search, you end up with articles such as The Hardest Working Presidential Candidate Logo, which show the pretty awesome use of the Obama-branding… crazy I tell you. As well as NOTCOT’s Obama design post, Ten marketing lessons from the Barack Obama Presidential campaign, and How Better Marketing Elected Barack Obama.

    So we all agree. Now, moving on…

    So I’ve been Mood: Political for the past week, and I’ve been watching a lot of political shows (which I’m tired off, because I always end up grumpy and cursing interviewers to hell and back), but I’m S&M like that sometimes~

    Anyway!!! I got curious, went online and looked up websites of the main political parties here in Peru. APRA, Unidad Nacional, Partido Nacionalista Peruano and… is Peru Possible still relevant? Anyway, I did search for them. I’ll just let you look at my captures instead…

    Very 90’s… compared to Obama’s right? Lack of sophistication, graphical quality… but let’s even forget about apperances and focus on the content and its organization. These political Peruvian websites lack ANY information architecture, perhaps interface design needs… a lot of work?, and a total lack of interactive design. But my main problem with all of them is the amount of information, which obviously hasn’t been edited. So in short~~~ They lack structure, and they lack strong content. And don’t even mention the Unidad Nacional website which is just a placeholder saying it’s the website, it has a few links linking to .htm pages with NOTHING on them!

    SHAMEFUL.

    So now that we are in the Obama Era… the times of globalization, will the political parties take notice of this, and begin minding their design and content? Will good marketing finally matter here?

    I may have to agree with something I remember Simon Cowell said~~ that politics in America were great because they were very engaging. Something to that extent… I remember, but can’t find the quote. LOL’  But I remember! That was the reason I watch a lot of CNN, and the voting results with their graphics. There was so much design to be seen there! And I had wished that Peruvian politics took their job that serious and stepped it up with their marketing. *sighs* If only!

  • Interesting One Million Yen Girl Brief Review

    I found this curious review of One Million Yen Girl in Italian… now my Italian, actually I don’t have an Italian to speak of, but I will try to translate as best as I can. Or you know… you can Google Translate.

    Road films with a female protagonist are quite common, but Tanada Yuki’s film takes an unusual direction. Instead of embarking in a self-liberation and self-discovery journey like the protagonists on the big screen have done since the women’s liberation movement on films like “Thelma & Louise” and “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”, Suzuko (Yu Aoi) decides to leave simply because she no longer stands the human race, including her family and friends.

    Tanada, who also wrote the screenplay, tells the story of Suzuko with mocking humor but also with perception on the difficulties and dangers usually found in human relationships. Her protagonist who is not bitterly disillusioned nor naive by her own self-delusion, has the confidence and is aware of herself, which is comforting, despite continuing to run into funny and embarrassing situations.

    Her journey begins with the wrong choice of roomate, which leads to an absurd process in court and the unfairly smear of her criminal record. The incredibly heartless family, and the insufferable moralist brother don’t support her at all, so Suzuko decides to leave home without goals, except for saving one million yen (roughly $10 000 USD).

    Why this sum of money? According to her calculations, it’s enough for renting an apartment and living alone – which is rather expensive in Japan, where tenants often have to pay a large deposit before they can move in.

    After being on the road with the money, she ends up in a seaside resort, where she finds employment in a “sea house” (“umi no ie”, or a temporary shelter for bathers at the beach) and begins to restore her bank account immediately.  The next stop is in the mountains, where she finds a job as a peaches collector and lives with her employers. Finally, she arrives to a city of the province, where she begins working at a market for home supplies.

    I haven’t seen Hyakuman-en with subtitles yet, but I didn’t think her family was heartless. I thought her parents were a bit spinless… they lacked the attitude to tell her off and/or protect her. And her brother being a moralist? He’s what? 10 years old maybe? He’s a pompous brat at home because he is being bullied in school… I think. I would find his fault if he were the big moralist brother… but he is not. I thought he did care for Suzuko.

    Also… I was under the impression she was saving money to pay her debt… no? I thought part of her fine was paying that sum of money to make up for what she had done to the roomate, and when she told her parents they didn’t have the attitude to do anything so she took matters in her own hands, and decided to pay the debt herself. Was I so wrong? Anyone who understands Japanese has seen the film, or subbed?