Pop Culture: A name called Beckham
Jul 15, 2008 Sounds Like Pop
So I am sitting in the training room at work learning how to use a new system the office is implementing and I am, ahem, a bit faster than the rest main ‘cos I’ve been experimenting with the software from last week. Okay, action moment over.
Anyway, we are at the moment learning how to look for wire stories (as in wire news from agencies such as Reuters, AP, AFP and Bernama to name a few) and the new system has an amazing new search option (either that or I never knew how to do it using the old system).
So, the trainer decided to use the word “MALAYSIA” as a search criteria but since I am bosan with Malaysia news already, and don’t want to read anything more about Malaysia if I can help it, I decided to improvise.
I went with “Beckham”.
Only four stories came out but interestingly, one one was David or his former-Spice Girl wife Victoria. Sure, there were references to the football, sorry, soccer player but most are popular culture references and not about him personally, per se.
For example:
1. A Washington Post review of the movie Wanted makes a reference to him by saying “bending bullets like Beckham”.
2. A Los Angeles Times story talks about Bulgarian sumo wrestler Kotooshu and how he is referred to as the “David Beckham of sumo”.
3. One more LA Times story makes a reference to the movie Bend It Like A Beckham, which although named after him, had little to do with him, really.
The only story that was about David, also from Washington Post, is one about how little impact he is making in Washington. Boring stuff really.
Incidentally, all these stories were published in June, the first on June 12 and the last on June 27. Two weeks of silence? Gasp.
This post was not about Beckham, but maybe now it is … Might as well, since apparently no one else is writing about him (although I have to establish here that The Star only subscribes to selected sort of stories from selected agencies so it’s not an exhaustive list of all stories in the world).
:(
3.09pm Malaysian times (+8 GMT)
Tags: David Beckham, football, lat-wp, los angeles times, soccer, victoria, victoria beckham, washington post
Indiana Jones: My thoughts
May 22, 2008 Sounds Like Pop
So much happening today. I missed American Idol final performances cos I was at Cineleisure Damansara to watch the new Indiana Jones movie. So, I have the performances loading on YouTube as I write this (should have fully loaded by the time I’m done). And the reason why I’m not in bed is cos I’m waiting for the United vs Chelsea game. And then up to watch the Idol result show at 8am tomorrow. Oh my God!
But who cares about me. I want to talk about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
I was actually really excited about the movie ‘cos, like for everyone else I guess, I never thought we’d see Indy and his hat again. Except on repeats that is. Heck, it’s been almost 20 years.
The good news is that the excitement stayed on throughout the show. I was extremely entertained - I loved how edgy it was, I loved how there were bits of humour, and I loved seeing Harrison Ford donning that hat again.
Performance wise, the show was brilliant. Harrison Ford is a legend. Not that I want to take his talents for granted but we’ve seen what he can do with Indy, and he’s done it all over again. But Shia LaBeouf was quite spectacular. When he first appeared on screen, I was thinking - oer, he looks a bit young for this part, too clean cut - but then when it came down to being dirty, boy, did he get dirty. I thought he was great (and if any of the rumours flying around is true, I look forward to seeing him as the next Indiana Jones!).
But of course, it was Cate Blanchett who stole the show. That woman is amazing, she can do almost anything! She plays this Russian scientist (evil at that) and she played it to the T (except for one moment when she first appears, I thought I heard a hint of her Aussie twang). But my god, that woman can act!!!!!
I liked that Steven Spielberg didn’t overdo the effects etc - Indy has always been very raw that way - and except for the moments where he had to, I think he stayed quite faithful to the legacy.
Now comes the part that I didn’t like - try hate - about the movie. It’s a spoiler so scroll down if you don’t want to know.
* SPOILER BEGINS *
I can’t believe they made the plot based on paranormal activities. I mean, it’s Indiana Jones for crying out loud. He’s an archeologist. It’s supposed to be about tombs, and dust, and dirt - not clean, shiny spaceships!
Of course, this was only revealed almost to the end so I enjoyed most of the show but I have to say this spoilt it for me. I can take insinuation, but this was pretty full on aliens and more to the point where I was expecting Octimus Prime to fly out to save them all.
Totally ruined the show for me. Sigh.
* SPOILER ENDS *
That said, I can’t say that I dislike the show. I enjoyed it for what it is. Plot aside, it was everything I expected it to be. I’m actually quite excited about the next instalment now. By then, Shia would be much older and I think he’ll fill Indy’s shoes pretty well.
Can’t wait.
Tags: Cate Blanchett, Harrison Ford, Indiana Jones, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Shia LaBeouf
All for unity: Malaysian Artiste for Unity
May 16, 2008 Sounds Like Pop
So, a bunch of Malaysian artistes called Malaysian Artistes for Unity came together to create a music video on unity. The song is called Here In My Home. At their website, they asked people to spread the video around. So I’m doing my part.
Not that my opinion counts for alot, but if it does, then I’m going to prove rather unpopular following this post. You see, I just really don’t get the video.
It’s a nice song and all, but really, what is the purpose of coming out with it? The video for Here In My Home invokes memories of such efforts like USA for Africa’s We Are The World in 1985 and Band Aid’s 1984 Do They Know It’s Christmas?
But the difference is, I feel, that both the efforts were addressing something direct, namely the famine in Ethiopia during the drought period in 1984/85. With Malaysian Artiste For Unity, I’m not quite sure what they are trying to get yet. My thoughts may be naive, but are we Malaysians that racist? Okay, so we have racial politics, and maybe some covert racism … I don’t know. I just don’t see it.
I don’t see the such racism in the country that requires an “anti-racism” video, to quote the Malaysian Artistes for Unity website here.
And just watching the video, I don’t even feel a sense of unity to be honest. Sure, every race was represented (including a couple of artistes from Sabah and Sarawak) but I didn’t feel it. In fact, I thought the group of performers at the Ikhlas concert a long, long time ago - which included Sheila Majid, Amir Yusoff, Afdlin Shauki, Azman Warren among others - singing the bi-lingual version of Ikhlas Tapi Jauh evoked more emotion than this one did. I don’t know if a Bahasa Malaysia version that Afdlin is supposedly working on will come across better.
The only part I really enjoyed, and feel was the best part of the song, was the bridge (is that what it’s called?) when there was rapping in Chinese, BM, Tamil (I think) and English.
The video on YouTube also had comments questioning the concept of “multi artistes” (I wonder if the person is addressing multi-background artiste). At the moment, the video appears very urban and very “English-speaking”. This was even addressed at the press conference yesterday, which my colleague attended, when a reporter point-blank asked somethign like: “Why are there no Chinese artistes?” (as in Chinese-music industry, I think) only to be given a some vague answer (or so I’ve been told).
Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for unity. And yes, I do believe there is some work to be done. But perhaps this ’cause’ needs a bit more direction, or explain better what it’s intentions are. Or maybe talk about what they hope to achieve with this video (other than spreading the word that artistes are concerned about racial unity in this country, and they are trying to do something about it, and that yes, there is a need for a more united Malaysia).
Incidentally, a colleague of mine actually commented: Everyone in the video looks like they are with PKR (Two points to note here: The website does that that the group is politically neutral, and yes, some members of the arts fraternity were quite vocal during the recent general elections behind Subang MP R. Sivarasa).
Many of my friends are featured in the video, so I do feel kind of bad. But really, I think that songs like Sejahtera Malaysia and the likes invoke more sense of unity (whether you want to call it propoganda, or like Pete Teo, who wrote Here In My Home, said at the press conference: “cheesy and stereotypical”.
Or maybe it’s just me. What do you think?
Tags: Band Aid, Do They Know It's Christmas?, Here In My Home, Ikhlas Tapi Jauh, Malaysia, Malaysian Artiste For Unity, Pete Teo, Unity, USA For Africa, We Are The World
Sing like there’s no tomorrow
May 7, 2008 Sounds Like Pop
In anticipation of this week’s American Idol (and hoping that Jason Castro gets the hell off finally get the boot), I decided to blog this post.
Every now and then, when I get some free time, I like to scour Yahoo! News for strange stories which we don’t often read about - smaller stuff that are never headlines but quite interesting. That’s when I came across this article in USA Today headlined: No Idol advice about what singing can do to your vocal cords.
I suppose from the headline, you’d get the idea that the article is about how singing affects ones vocal cords. And apparently, it affects it pretty bad.
The article, written by Rita Rubin, revolves around the research of a professor of communication siences and disorders at the University of North Carolina-Greensboro Celia Cooper/Hooper (the name appears in both spellings in the article). Apparently, C/Hooper and two grad students wanted to see what goes on in the throats of young singers so they brought together 20 middle-high school students to sing three genre of music - opera, gospel and pop.
And apparently, the pop song was the most stressful on your vocal cords.
The conclusion? Well, without proper vocal training, these people will grow up to have ‘rough’ voices - which I assume means raspy - like that of Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia and Brooke White who was just voted out of Idol last week.
I wonder if that’s how Idol season 7 hopeful David Archuleta previously paralysed his vocal cords? It was well-documented in the early episodes of Idol. But then again, as the video below shows, singing like that as a kid, it’s no wonder your vocal chords are screwed up.
What is most interesting, however, is that pop tunes are the main culprit, over such ‘big’ genres like opera and gospel. Which means that anyone going to the karaoke belting out to Christina Aguilera or Mariah Carey better watch out. Maybe you should sing a Pavarotti song instead.
Maybe it’s time I stop singing in the shower and to the radio when I’m driving. If not to save my vocal chords, but to spare my neighbours with my wailing - or the people in other cars thinking I’m having a seizure.
Tags: American Idol, David Archuleta, Singing
Out of jail, into the real world
May 5, 2008 Sounds Like Pop
I see the signs but I’m not sure what it’s telling me. Neither do I think that there has to be a hidden message somewhere, but sure coincidences like this happened for a reason. Or maybe I’ve been reading one spiritual book too many.
Whatever it is, I’m intrigued.
I don’t know if you’ve managed to catch it but I am hooked onto this new TV show (well, at least new to Malaysia) called Life. It airs on Astro (StarWorld I think) every Tuesday night and is basically about this police officer who has just been released after being wrongly imprisoned for 12 years.
It stars Damian Lewis (pictured, right) in the lead role as Officer Charlie Crews, Sarah Shahi (pictured, left) as his new work-partner and Adam Arkin (he of Chicago Hope fame). Basically, the story revolves around how he is fitting back into life in the police force (obviously spending so many years in prison means he’s learnt a thing or two about how criminals work). Along the way, he is piecing together new clues and evidence hoping to find out who was it that framed him and caused him to be imprisoned in the first place. But essentially, the story is about one man dealing which freedom.
I was hooked immediately after accidentally catching the first episode. Incidentally, at the time I started watching Life, I was also in the midst of reading a book called Boy A. It is written by a British author named Jonathan Trigell and the book was turned into a BBC movie last year.
Boy A tells the story of Jack Burridge, a 23-year-old youth who has just been released from prison - he, together with his ‘accomplice’ B, was imprisoned for the murder of a young girl when he was 10 years old. While the book flip flops between then (when he was a kid) and now (after his release), it basically was the story about a young man trying to find his place in the real world again. His discoveries, like with Detective Crews in Life, were similar - Jack came out wondering what the hell DVDs were, Crews didn’t know that mobile phones could take pictures.
Jack is released with great opposition from the public (the media was on his case) as they did not believe that such a ‘monster’ should be released. As such, the authorities arranged for him to be released with a new identity (yes, Jack is not his real name). As he rediscovers life outside the bars, he struggles with his conscience whether or not to tell his new best friend (and colleague) as well as new girlfriend (of whom he enjoys his first taste of sex) about his real identity. He wants to be honest with them, but is not sure of the repercussions and if they will be able to accept that he is not the monster he has been labeled.
I am not going to tell you more about the book as not to give anything away but I will say that I tremendously enjoyed the book. It was good reading as it wasn’t one of those feel good books - it was refreshing for me because it explored so many issues without being judging anything morally. I really enjoyed the way it was written too.
Anyway, having finished reading it, I thought it was really interesting, the parallels that I could pull between the TV series and the book. And then I came across this article in last week’s The Star.
Headlined Freedom in sight for NZ’s youngest killer, the article was written by Charles Chan. Eighteen-year-old Bailey Junior Kurariki is expected to be released from prison come September, four months before completing his seven-year jail sentence for the murder of pizza-delivery guy Michael Choy. According the the report, Bailey was not one of the five others who killed Michael (using a baseball bat), he was the lookout kid.
Still, aged 12 then, he had gotten the most coverage as he was the youngest of the six who attacked Michael.
In the article, Charles ask: “Who will hire him? Will society spurn him? Can he stay out of trouble?” - the very same questions that I feel Boy A addresses.
I just thought that it was strange that all these stories appeared in my life over the short span of less than a month. Like how I accidentally found out about Life, I had also stumbled upon Boy A. I was heading to the cashier in the bookstore when when I saw the book (I actually noticed it because I thought the image of a young man wearing a hoodie smiling seemed interesting - yes, I know, judging a book by its cover and all that).
Thinking about all these three stories though - fiction and otherwise - I start to wonder if the ‘message’ I was talking about at the beginning of this post is redemption (Sure, there’s also the question of readjusting to life - but I think that one’s pretty obvious). Can one ever redeem himself, and will others give one a chance? Does one deserve a chance or should one be condemned forever?
I’m not quite sure. There is a large part of me which is sympathetic - Jack Burridge and Bailey Junior were both so young when the incidences happened. What drives people to commit the crimes they, well, commit? Are people born evil or is it the circumstances in which they live around the drive them to such actions? And surely people change, and should not be forever condemned? Isn’t imprisonment supposed to be about punishment and rehabilitation?
But then, I read about what Michael Choy’s mother Rita Croskery said in the article, “It’s soul-destroying.” and wonder if I’d feel the same if the crime was committed against someone I loved.
Worth thinking about, no?
Tags: adam arkin, bailey junior kurariki, boy a, charles chan, damian lewis, jonathan trigell, life, michael wong, murder, redemption, rita croskery, sarah shahi
