• My Reasons Why the 90’s Ruled or Not – Part II

    Last time we talked about various Japanese shows that became part of Peruvian’s 90s. If you were a kid in Peru, you would’ve known 95% of my references, if not all of them~~ So we’re gonna be talking about more of those.

    Afternoons with the Small Wonder show (1985) was a show I remember… even now, I can get some re-runs of it. And, oh yeah~ I pity the fool! Hahaha, I used to own a Mr. T piggy-bank hahaha. What else? Full House, or as people call it here… Tres por Tres (3×3) – Step by Step (Paso a Paso)… and the seldom episode of Baywatch, back when Erika Eleniak was there. Aw, man… those were the days… before anything was sexed up. Erika Eleniak was pretty cool, so for those who wanna know, just google her. She’s got a website, not a cool website per se… but she’s got one. She’s married (I think), she’s got a baby, living in Calgary, and she’s happy. Good for her. =D

    Alf was also part of my growing up, as well as Bewitched and I Dream of Jeanie. A lot of re-runs in my life… like Perfect Strangers and The Munsters! I still get to watch those re-runs thanks to Nick @ Nite xD.

    Okay, enough with the TV people say…

    Did anyone get to catch El Show de Julie? LOL’ I was a big fan… I still got those little sock monsters, and I found her tapes. Does anyone know what happened to her? Some day, I might be in the mood to transfer my tapes to mp3… but until that day, I will have to depend on some other fan that is willing to do that and share online~~~

    Something that I’ve already been working on is… Capitanes de Lata, a play about kids that live in the streets of Lima, with Gloria Maria Solari. My transfer sounds like crap though, that’s why I’m wondering who else knows about it, and who else is willing to share their digital transfers. Los Cuervos was a fun gang, LOL’ the whole tape brings so many memories… and I totally sing along to it. I’ve totally no idea if they had the rights (probably not) to use the Frank Sinatra song Love and the Marriage (a.k.a Married with Children theme) or the Star Wars theme… so I might be getting them into trouble now hahaha. Or maybe they made it similar, but not enough? Capitanes de Lata, a triunfar! Al ataque, que la Fuerza los acompane! Todos con sus armas, naves en sus puestos! Alerta, vamos marchando sin descansar. LOL’

    I also remember being really into the tape I got of some play of the Wizard of Oz. Can’t find that tape though… so it will fade into my memory, until it blurs into just my imagination…

    So now, let’s talk some music. My father was a big fan of music, so I grew up with loads of oldies. Los Doltons were a big milestone on my life with the song El Ultimo Beso, a cover of Last Kiss. The English lyrics are pretty crappy though, hahaha. Or Puerto Mont by Los Iracundos… and some Rock & Rolling with El Rock de la Carcel (Jailhouse Rock), La Mantequilla, Popotitos, Rebelde sin Causa… I also recently found out that I know many of the songs Miguel Bose sings. But what about me?

    I was a kiddo, so no making fun of it. I was a big fan of Nubeluz (apparently… yeah, Almendra Gomelsky and Monica Santa Maria), as well as El Show de Julie, and man, my cousin and I were big Jordi fans hahahaha. Jordi, the little French boy… with his song about how hard it was to be a baby. Oh yeah – I’ve probably got my tape still, though there are loads of digital transfers on the net already!

    I was also a biggie on Locomia, lol… I know, I know… shame on me. Some of the members of my family will deny ever fancying them. hahaha… And since my English wasn’t top notch, I would hear “Locomia chuchuparin” HAHAHHAHA – instead of “Locomia get your body rockin’” xD Funny.

    I was also a big Pandora fan… me gusta como llevas el ritmo, oh~~~ me gustaria bailar como tu! ^^ Vamos al noa, noa, noa, noa… LOL’

    Well, I think that’s all I got for today.

    Links to other Parts:
    Part I
    Part III

  • Good Music for a Good Cause

    After feeling guilty over hearing Britney’s Blackout, I checked on iTunes and found a good compilation from one of my fave actresses… and for a good cause!

    Big Change: Songs for FINCA was initially just a celebrity playlist that ended up as a one big project. This will probably be one of the best deals with music that you’ll get… not only you get 16-tracks that include Tokyo Police Club, The Shins, and Norah Jones just to name a few… it’s only $7.99 on iTunes Canada -and if you buy the whole album, you get a digital booklet with some pictures. Best celebrity playlist ever.

    $$ is going to help FINCA, an organization that helps individuals (mostly women) with microcredit and financial support, so they can improve their quality of life, and that of others. Here are some small pictures of the digital booklet!

    Songs for FINCA 2

    (more…)

  • November’s Begun

    Wow, hard to imagine the year is almost over, eh? What a waste it was… mostly, really. I feel like I’ve achieved very little to nothing, and such small pleasures in my meaningless life have been stripped from me maliciously in a year.

    I’m still looking forward to seeing Bjork in Lima, though still my hopes are not up. Anything can happen in 11 days… – I went to see The Invasion, much to my displeasure. I was supposed to watch The Brave One for free, but like I said… anything can happen – and we got a change of plans the same day of the show. The film wasn’t as bad as I was expecting, I truly enjoy watching Nicole Kidman on screen. Though I can’t help compare her face in the film, which was flawless to the one she’s got on red carpet events.

    The Invasion was predictable, and wasn’t really suspenseful… kinda gross when all those people/aliens were spitting and puking that stuff in the coffees and teas… yuck! And I guess I must be sick or something, since I was the only one laughing when Nicole grabbed her on-screen son’s friend and shoved him inside to trap him. If you’re expecting a night of goof around with the friends, watch it for the few laughs. 2/5

    Another Nicole/Daniel Craig film I’m anxiously awaiting is The Golden Compass (real title: Northern Lights) – though the boards seem to be bombarded by reports of New Line Cinema butchering the books… which if they are doing due to religious/marketable reasons – well, they would suck. I really dislike Christians who complain about fictional books that touch religious subjects, and more so when such people attack verbally to people that work in a project. I mean, what does Nicole Kidman have to do with promoting atheism? If you are only too stupid and lack the gray matter to compensate for the white in your brain to do something because a fictional character does it, then too bad.

    Instead of this people bitching about why Nicole Kidman chooses to make a movie that touches on religious themes and maybe makes you question the world we live in, why not complain over the fact that the Paris Hiltons, Lindsay Lohans, Britney Spears are the role models of today… because oh yeah, that’s like hot. Totally.

    Like I said a few hours ago, I blame it all on Disney… All Disney new stars are doomed to get their crotch shots, or nudie pictures in their late teens or early twenties. Britney, Lohan… that girl from High School Musical that I don’t even know her name.

    Look at me, starting from a simple review to end with a rant. LOL’ – Amazing.

    On other news, kinda… have you guys heard Britney Spears’ new album? I was decided not to download, but reports of it being #1 this week, as well as rumored ‘good reviews’ made me curious. I just think it’s funny how Gimme More it’s on like #1 or something, yet when I ask anyone on my MSN list their thoughts on it, they tell me they hate the freaking song. LOL’ – Me thinks there’s too many closeted Britney fans out there. So, I downloaded the thing to listen to it and judge myself… which makes me think all of you out there are freaking retarded. I hated it. It’s not even danceable, I couldn’t find a single catchy tune… Britney sounds more robotic than ever, and every freaking song sounded the same. Oh, I also thought the song Piece of Me reminded me of the bomb that was Madonna doing her rap song in whichever year she did that.

    Who’s new album was enjoyable? Juanes’ new album – La Vida Es un Ratico – was pretty enjoyable as was the newest Backstreet Boys album, Unbreakable. Though I bet neither will show on charts…

    Britney Spears is like weed, she’s not as dangerous as cocaine… but you can get curious and it gets you hooked to other more dangerous stuff.

  • Decent on Search Engines’ Rankings!

    This post will not be fun. LOL’ – that’s a warning xD

    I did a little Googling, and Yahoo-ing……. by typing ‘amy’ – my blog showed up on page six! Not bad really, if you count that I have to compete with Amy Winehouse, Amy Smart, Amy Lee, and a bunch of other Amy people… and most importantly, Amy Wong from Futurama. Now, I’m just hoping my porfolio climbs up in the following weeks, since turning it from Flash to WordPress.

    By googling ‘amy wong’ on Google I showed up as #2 or #3, both my portfolio and blog – and did #1 and #2 or #3 on Yahoo! which was pretty nifty. Amy Wong from Futurama is pretty tough competition! That’s for sure.

    Even though I do better in ranking on Yahoo! – I think Google is the best searching tool, by searching for ‘amy wong chan’ I was pretty much the only one showing up in Google, yet a few bunch other non-related stuff showed up on Yahoo. And for sure I’m the only ‘amy sue wong chan’ which was pretty nifty., except for the non-related Yahoo results.

  • Celtic Woman DVD Reviews

    First, before anyone complains about my opinion, I’m writing this reviews not only as a person who listens to Celtic Woman, but also as someone who’s bought tons of DVDs, and even has made some in her short career.

    I’ve got my complete Celtic Woman DVD collection, of sorts…
    – Celtic Woman
    – Celtic Woman: Live at Slane Castle
    – Celtic Woman: A Christmas Celebration

    First, some facts on Amy relating to Celtic Woman:
    – Saw them on a PBS (Public Broadcasting SOMETHING SOMETHING hahaha) in Canada
    – Were in Vancouver, but missed them coz I had classes.
    – Fiddling is cool, Amy thinks.
    – Saw clips of the Slane Castle show, and bought the DVD.
    – The 2nd DVD was the first in my collection.

    Reviews (more…)

  • My Reasons Why the 90’s Ruled or Not – Part I

    E! Entertainment Television Latin America is re-broadcasting or did a re-run of their 101 Reasons the 90’s Ruled like at 3 a.m. – that was a longggggg time ago, back when Dave Navarro was still married to Carmen Electra and sharing the same on-air space… or when Nicole Ritchie was not pregnant, even way before she went all eating-disordered on us.

    I think those are the bits that I can recall at the moment. Also, one of my cousin’s favorite America’s Next Top Model contestants (if not THE favorite) – Kim… Holtz – was that her last name? You all know who I’m talking about. Was she on cycle 5?

    Oh, the 90’s. Those were 10 years of my life. From the beginning of 1990 when I was turning 4 years old… until the end of 1999 when I was about to turn 14. Now, the 90’s in Peru was a whole different thing. For starters, since there wasn’t much technology, or cable TV… and the world was basically not really global – everywhere in the world was different.

    Liveman - RaibumanBefore there were Power Rangers… my cousins and I (and all Peruvian kids at the time, for that matter) got Liveman. Known by the Japanese (according to imdb, anyway) as Choju Sentai Raibuman – get it? Raibu ~ Live? According to imdb, this show is listed in the year 1988… BUT, it is a Peruvian 90’s treat. At first, we had our three Liveman ~ Red Falcon, Yellow Lion and Blue Dolphin. We had the bad guys, the monsters, our giant robot. My cousin would be more than happy to elaborate on that… and then two more Liveman were added to the bunch, making the magic number FIVE!

    After Liveman, we got Flashman! Though according to imdb, this is a 1986 show, we got it after Liveman. Choshinsei Furasshuman was about 5 young people (three guys, two girls) who were kidnapped when they were babies and raised and trained in different planets. I think that when they were young adults, the planets were attacked or something and they all went back to Earth – this is the bit where the bad guys and monsters arrive, and you know the drill. There was the Red Flash, the Blue Flash, the Green Flash, the Yellow Flash and the Pink Flash. =D

    Another memory of childhood was Jiban, or Kidou Keiji Jiban (according to Wikipedia) – or the sucky English title, Mobile Sheriff Jiban. I mainly remember it as plain Jiban. To make things simple, Jiban was like Robocop, but the inspector or detective could switch robot-mode on and off as he wanted… and well, there were robo-monsters. The show is listed as a 1989 release… another example of the 90’s in Peru.

    If we continued to take a look at shows, we notice a LOT of Japanese shows. On TNP, every afternoon we got Noppo & Gonta, also popularly known as Puedo Hacerlo Yo (I Can Do It) or by its Japanese (this is a NHK show) name Dekiru-kana which gave its ‘classical’ tune haha… Dekiru-kana, dekiru-kana – Zate Zate ho ho! – oh those were the times. I even found some other links about this show, take a look at them:

    Everyone loved Noppo and Gonta. Noppo’s codename (meaning, his real name… Takami Yoshiaki) – Take look at it here… Noppo-san is a famous Japanese! and even Gonta-kun made it to the list of famous Japanese!

    Maybe other favorite Japanese shows in the early 90’s in Peru were also 1, 2, 3 Matematicas (1, 2, 3 Maths) with the alien called Tap (I’m pretty sure) who came to our planet… specifically Japan, to learn more about us. He meets with some dude… I think his name was Nico. And together they went around town, counting fruits or how many fish there were in your fish tank, and learning things like that.

    There was also a marionette show, you could say they were like The Muppets, only more artsy. haha – This other NHK show was called Me Lo Contaron en Japon (They Told Me That in Japan), which told different Japanese folk stories… some with demons, other with magical animals in the forest, and so on. It was a pretty nifty show, kinda reminds me of this other animated show called Shakespeare The Animated Tales – but that’s another show for the end of my 90’s.

    There were other nifty shows, TNP used to broadcast… some probably not so popular. I mean, TV Peru is really lame now, nothing really cool and unique to watch… without nothing really interesting showing in it, kids juts turn to Cable TV now. I remember watching Las Fabulas del Capitan Oso Azul, or Käptn Blaubär Club from Germany (1993) – German clip here – imdb link here – Also, The Family-Ness from the UK (1984) and Penny Crayon another UK cartoon (1990) -and Los Hermanos Tucan… that’s all I could find out from that show.

    Other shows from the 90’s that I remember are Count Duckula (1988) from the UK that was part of the animation programming during the broadcast of Nubeluz, which was also a big 90’s program. Count Duckula was a vegetarian vampire duck, that lived in Transylvania with servants Nanny and Igor. Another one from Nubeluz was ReBoot (1994), a Canadian show that now looks like crap. LOL’ – I didn’t watch the show, but I know it by graphics. My Canadian roommate had a lot to say about this show, haha. He didn’t like it much.

    America Television, aka Canal 4 (Channel 4), had anime. Who can forget Saint Seiya (1986) known to us as Caballeros del Zodiaco – American and Canadian audiences… or at least Canadian ones could watch episodes of Knights of the Zodiac on YTV. Though, English dubbing sucks! And my cousin and I were all about watching Captain Tsubasa (1983)… like the old school version, not the new one. I mean, we loved playing Supercampeones in the garden hahaha. I still have some of my collectible D’onofrio plastic cups. There was also Candy, Japanese name in katakana Candy Candy from 1976! It’s so big here in the 90’s that many people will respond “uhh / ooh” when you mention Candy. hahaha.

    Frecuencia Latina, aka Canal 2 (Channel 2), had The Storyteller… which all my life, I thought was a show! But it’s actually a mini-series, thing I learnt when I got the DVD. The Storyteller is a 9-episode-mini-series that has a storyteller that tells, most of the times, east-European folk stories with the help of the talking dog, and the amazing Jim Henson’s puppets. This mini-series is followed by a 4-episode-series The Storyteller: Greek Myths – both excellent watch.

    —

    End of Part I

    —

    Links to other Parts:
    Part II
    Part III

     

    —

    Part of the Time Machine: Back to the 90′s Blogathon

  • Documenting Every Step of the Way

    Ok, so it was like yesterday or something that I made a post about Bjork’s news update on the gigography. Now, Lima seems to be getting their own Bjork fix this week with a TV special on Plus TV’s musical show “Nadie Nos Escucha” (which translates to “Nobody Listens to Us”) – Now, Somos (El Comercio’s own magazine suplement) shows a shot of Bjork’s face from a Corbis photo. xD

    The cover reads;

    Bjork
    The beauty freakie fairy from the north comes to Peru.

    Now, I will probably be documenting all that I catch from Bjork in the media in here… since it was not very often I heard or read about her in everyday’s life. So I will be exercising my translating skills with this…

    Bjork
    Polar Star
    ‘Miracles. Bjork, one of the most original and still working in the music scene of today, comes to Lima’

    + The most important Icenlandic performer in history comes to our country to perform in a one and only concert, this November 13th in El Vertice del Museo de la Nacion, on her world tour to promote her latest album, VOLTA. While they announce that tickets are almost gone, the Limeño fans count the days for such an unexpected visit.

    >Tour 2007. Edited on May this year, Volta made it to the #9 spot on the Billboard 200, her best spot to date. Her current tour mixes instruments, dances, and African outfits with electronic music of edge.

    The Icelandic singer has always played the seer of what pop music will sound tomorrow. Unlike many avant-garde musicians, Bjork’s not motivated by misanthropic airs nor elitist: she’s sold without shame over 15 million albums; she’s got a similar number of fans around the world and has achieved, throughout her decade and a half of solo career, a prestige colleagues her age would love to reach, even for a while. With her, the word timeless finds meaning: Bjork doesn’t seem to belong to any period. Sometimes, which is the weirdest, she doesn’t even seem from this world.

    And we’re not talking about her recurrent fantasies, put together splendidly on videos of the French Michel Gondry, where she experiments various transformations from girl to bear, insect or robot. We’re not even talking about her eccentric personality, which lead her to use the swan dress in the Oscar 2001 Gala. There’s that something very earthy in her albums coming, most likely, from her indescribable voice, capable to go from a soft lullaby to a powerful holler in a split of a second. Bjork’s tone is unique and distinctive; her range can also be impressive, but it’s her original phrasing which gets us. It doesn’t seem from here nor there, and no one really knows. Yet, there lies the mystery.

    Soy Tu Fan

    I'm Your FanHer full name is Bjork Gudmundsdottir but with the precise sense of shortening things, they’d rather call her “China” (Chinese Gal). “I love my China,” says 24-year-old Barbara Garcia Ramos, moderator at the Bjork Peru forums, that gathers local fans of the singer. They confess everything in there: from their unrequited love to the dreams they assure to have, sometimes, with her. They’re young. Most of them between 6 and 10 years of age when the muse began her solo career. The so-called “Bjorkholic” for the chronic musical addiction. Also for the kind of beverages that enlightens their meetings.

    “Her voice is something that you listen to, and you get goosebumps”, Rolando Anton admits, the webmaster of the Bjork Peru site.

    There’s 150 members subscribed in their forum, and few more in the site of Bjork en Lima, opened for the upcoming performance of the singer in our country.

    “There’s people from Ecuador and Bolivia that have written to say they’re coming over here to see her”. Like all of them in the group, Rolando bought his ticket on the first day. Others, like Eduardo Palomino, have to make wonders to be able to pay for a ticket, pricier than the average. “I do anything to see her.”

    According to Lalo Ponce from Phantom Music Group, one of the people responsible for the event, this visit was possible only for Bjork’s desire to visit the country. “Our offer was way below from what she usually gets per gig”, says without revealing the actual sum. Bjork will perform in Lima, in el Vertice del Museo de la Nacion, as part of her Volta world tour. She’s supposed to take a few days for pleasure touring. The show includes new versions of old classics with new arrangements, female choir, and the famous Reactable, a new electronic instrument created by a Spanish university that can be listen to in the album and is central to the show. All in all, just to not repeat herself.

  • zomg! Dumbledore is gay

    I just had to share that bit of headlines today.

    straight from the headquarters of E! Entertainment!

    First reaction? Burst out laughing, and fell of my chair. Mind you, I haven’t slept in the last 24hrs… so THAT might be a reaction – hahaha.

    This post by Scout made my day, and most likely many people’s!

    So that’s why ol’ Dumbledore was always looking at Harry with madly twinkling eyes!!!!

    The perv!!!

    But I don’t understand why Hermione didn’t figure it out?

    eowyn83 said;

    This is why she wrote Harry naked in the King’s Cross chappie in DH–Dumbledore still perving in his next great adventure

    It all was foreshadowed by this bits of HBP (Half-Blood Prince) from an article in India about double sense sentences…

    There was no need to stick the wand in that hard,’ he (Dumbledore) said gruffly, clambering to his feet. ‘It hurt.’ (p 64)

    …a hole opened in the middle of all the tentaclelike branches; Hermione plunged her arm bravely into this hole, which closed like a trap around her elbow; Harry and Ron tugged and wrenched at the vines, forcing the hole to open again… (p 281)

    Lupin burst out laughing. ‘Sometimes you remind me a lot of James. He called it my ‘furry little problem’… (p 335)

    ‘I dunno,’ said Harry. ‘Maybe it’s better when you do it yourself, I didn’t enjoy it much when Dumbledore took me along for the ride.’ (p 355)

    ‘You see?’ Dumbledore said quietly, holding his wand a little higher. Harry saw a fissure in the cliff into which dark water was swirling. ‘You will not object to getting a little wet?’ ‘No,’ said Harry. ‘Then take off your Invisibility Cloak… and let us take the plunge.’ (p 556)

    Hope you all laugh

  • High on Tea!

    xD

    One more hour and it will be 24hr without sleep. I spent all night updating my portfolio, so you better give it a look!!!

    Still not done, but will be in a day or two. Sleepiness is kicking in….

  • Comiencen a Pedir en Eventful

    Están cansados de que nunca venga nadie que les interese musical o de manera artística? Ahora con Eventful pueden tener la falsa idea de que los están escuchando! lol’

    Por favor, click en estos links y demanden al artista en su ciudad.

    The Ropes en Lima, Peru

    The Sounds en Lima, Peru

    Lily Allen en Lima, Peru

    Darren Hayes en Lima, Peru

    Regina Spektor en Lima, Peru