Day 21: Good Lord, What's Happened to Pop Music Today???

Yesterday, a Chinese coworker was listening to music on his tablet, and it sounded pretty good. "It's Lorde," he said. "She's No. 1 on Billboard."

Oh. Never heard of her. No. 1, you say. So i checked her out. Listened to her song. Listened to her EP. Listened to her LP. Read her Wikipedia page.

And wow, she's rad. I can hardly believe music this good could climb the charts. The songs are all catchy, clean and intelligent. No shit songs hiding amongst the hits. She cites the writings of Raymond Carver as a lyrical influence. Her lyrics critique consumer and pop culture.

Kinda reminds me of a catchier Grimes, but swapping the fairy voice for one reminiscent of Amy Winehouse.

Anyhow, I haven't been punched in the face by music so hard since, maybe, Washed Out, who i frankly got bored of kinda fast. Hmmmmmmmmm...

Grimes in Beijing

Grimes played Beijing. Yup, the Canadian who music snobs say made the best track of 2012 came out to Beijing, and i somehow landed on the media list. Yaaaay! (can't say there's really any other performers who'd top my list of wanna see concerts.)

Here's what some punk at CRI said about it.

Unsurprisingly, the sold out show at Mao Livehouse was packed to the gills, Beijing's international contingent out in full force to hear the Canadian perform what the New York Times hailed as "one of the most impressive albums of the year." Fears that the music which Grimes slaved over in post-production might not stand up in a solo live performance were quickly allayed. She twisted synth knobs, flung out her arms and pranced about the stage. Her shimmering falsetto whispers swept through the mic and soaked people in reverberated harmonies that sounded too good to be real. Through the performance, Chinese dancers ground their hips on the flanks of the stage, and somehow only proved that Grimes alone was the sole focus of the night.

Beforehand i was feeling kinda exhausted. All week i'd bn kinda dreading standing for hours on end squished in between sweaty strangers. But by the time my fears came to be, i was totally into it. So i'm not too old quite yet, i guess.

Here's somebody's fuzzy vid of the live performance if yr interested.

Day 28: Movie Roundup.

Here's a bunch of movies i've seen in the past few months, and some deep analysis to accompany each one. 

Prometheus. The Aliens prequel. 3/10. Costumes and set design are awesome. Dialogue and script suck. 

Date Night. 2.7/10. Steve Carrell romantic flick, which was a lot worse than i'd expected. i actually wanted to turn it off 5 min in. i'm just not into that brand of humor. 

Kingdom of Plants 3D. 8/10. Saw this in amazing 2D! Not much else i'd rather do than smoke up and watch this sort of thing w/ my gf. 

To Live. 8.2/10. Since i'd just finished the book, some friends did movie night w/ this one. Pretty darn good rendering of the book. Interesting to see how they pumped up the drama for the screen by adding elements. But (y'aint never heard this one before) … the book was better. 

Cinema Paradiso. 4/10.  Well, i watched 1/2 of it, but then i fell asleep. When i get around to finishing it, i'll let you know if the second half is much better than the first. It's apparently a classic (!) But i was tired, so sue me. 

Day 6: To Live

Yoyo recommended i read a book by Yu Hua. i looked for it in Canada, but could only find his new nonfiction release, China in Ten Words. Which was pretty awesome. Super readable, and it did indeed inform my understanding of the country i live in, tying pretty much everything happening today to the cultural revolution in some way. 

But that also inspired me to pick up his book To Live. Plus i wanted to read it before seeing the movie, which is also apparently great, directed by Zhang Yimou. The book was great: the kind of book that makes storytelling seem unnaturally easy. I was warned it would be a tear-jerker, and yes i was crying on the subway yesterday as i paged towards the end. But in a good way. 

Ok, i admit i couldn't get onside w/ the protagonist, Fugui, for the beginning, considering that he was a real ass at the start, but we came around, didn't we? 

Yu is skilled at telling stories without blasting you with opinion. Yes, there was horrible shit happening during the great leap forward, during the cultural revolution,  but he doesn't harp on anyone about it: just continues on about the family living through it. 

Anyhow, it's good. i haven't seen the flick yet, but you might check it out if you don't have time for the book. 

Day 19 - Cold Weather

Saw this movie a while ago and really dug it. My bro saw brief intermittent moments of it and thought it seemed dull. Q left about an hour into it.

This is the movie that convinced me to read Sherlock Holmes (also, Haruki Murakami mentions Holmes stories now and again in his novels). And there's no doubt that there's this all-pervading sense of normalcy that manages to stick to even the most Hollywood aspects of the stripper, heist and chase scenes. I absolutely love the way the adrenaline has been pried out of every moment.

The dialogue is achingly mundane. But not boring. Just like regular ol' good conversation. And this sense of the everyday is what makes watching inevitable turns of events so interesting to watch when they play out.

Also, i feel like i know these people. Working graveyard shift of a Prince Rupert salmon canning factory puts me right at eye level with the sort of environment these characters live in. Also the protagonist is weirdly similar to the guy who used to drum in my band.

Well, that's just my opinion. Frankly i was kinda weirded out to see a review whereupon Roger Ebert positively drooled all over it.

So anyhow. As the December approaches and the temperatures drop, you may (or may not) enjoy this lovely piece of indie cinema.

Jojo Mayer

Having established himself drumming w/ the likes of Dizzy Gillespie and Nina Simone, Mayer has been hammering out drum and bass riffs for a long time since. I caught him last night in a performance w/ his three-piece group Nerve.

The hype in the sardine-packed joint was tangible, and Mayer's riffs inspired people to hoot and holler throughout the set. Even though there were a couple of times when the music seemed pretty holycrapthisongisolamespeciallytheterriblekeyboard but at other times, my jaw was on the floor wondering how Mayer was producing beats that usually require supercomputer-generated algorithms, and my best efforts couldn't keep me from busting out a bit.

Day 22: Barefoot Gen

For my birthday, i was stoked to receive from my brother a couple graphic novels which i've been interested in for a long time, about life in Hiroshima before and after the holocaust.

He read the largely autobiographical Barefoot Gen some time ago, and reported that he had to stop reading it before bed because it started giving him such bad dreams. i heard a detail or 2 about a physically and emotionally devastated population of people who had no idea what radiation was or the sickness it inflicted. Anyhow, my interest was piqued.

i finished book one recently, and concur, the book is hard to put down. Even before the bomb, life in wartime Japan was hellish enough, particularly if your father doesn't support the wall, your family is labeled traitors, the father is badly beaten by the police, children are constantly fighting over food, etc etc.

It's all pretty intense, and the narrative is overflowing with details about the stress and trauma of wartimes. And that's all before Little Boy, made its descent on its unsuspecting victims, whereupon life takes a turn for the horrific. An immense flash of heat turns people into monsters with their skin all dripping off their faces and bodies, stumbling through a flattened city to find water, loved ones, and racing fire.

Anyhow. Sorry if i spoiled it. There's a big bomb that happens near the end. Of book 1. There's 9 parts more to follow.

Also, i'm keen to go to Japan sooner or later, and Hiroshima was already pretty high on my list of locales.

If you can find it, it's def worth a read.

The Shock Doctrine

I just finished reading Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine. Having also appreciated her 1st book, No Logo, a book touted as the manifesto for the new left, i was keen to get into this one, which was getting great reviews. The Shock Doctrine is a much much better book.

The book focuses on how the use of shock has been used both on individuals and societies, and how right wing groups have learned and practiced how to push their capitalist schemes on people and governments who have lost their footing in times of disaster.

It's very very scary. And also terribly fascinating. Never before have i read a book which has so dramatically shifted my understanding of the world we live in. When i saw the planes crash into the twin towers i had this dirty feeling that a handful of people were gleefully rubbing their hands together. And now i know who they are how they came to be.

i admit that somewhere in the middle of the book i was becoming rather frustrated at how pervasive and deep the roots of the problems go: right wing ideologies using populations of people as testing grounds to see how conflict and disaster can put heaps of money into the pockets of a few, while millions get pushed (often violently) into poverty. (The chapter on South Africa was particularly heart-breaking). But by the end of the book, i felt oddly comforted by the relatively brief final chapter, optimistically showing that societies and people can recover, rejecting what was once known as the only game in town, as touted by the IMF and World Bank.

The book has deservedly won accolades from the reviewers who you'd expect to love it, but weirdly enough even sources like Dow Jones Business News is saying The Shock Doctrine is "the most important book on economics in the 21st century," Go figure.

Anyhow. i should also mention that while i appreciated reading No Logo, i would often look at it sitting on the table and sigh, "i guess i should read it." But i was always keen to pick up The Shock Doctrine. It's immensely readable, full of crazy amounts of information. i am truly so happy that someone has found a way to bring this story to the public sphere. Ms Klein, i take my hat off to you.

ps. Here's a quick vid film about it.

Modern Sky 2008

In my opinion, this music fest is one of the best things BJ has to offer. 3 days of local indie bands and djs in the sun and smoggy air.  Except that this year 2 of the 3 stages got moved indoors. Oh well.

Aside from the problem that i waited in line for 2 hrs to get in on day 1, it was good to see such a big, hip, and fun crowd. I think it was about... 4% expats.

It's crazy to think that you can get into a well-set up festival with decent soundsystems, a swinging camera video system, and tons of bands for less than $10. So you might think they'd claw back some profits at the bar. But with some bartenders pouring massive unmeasured highballs (redbull vodka, gin and tonic, etc) for $1.40 a hit, i don't know how they managed.  But it makes for a fun festival.

Except that was just this one little problem.

The bands were pretty lacklustre.

Last year Modern Sky was one of the funnest music fests i'd ever been to. But this year, even the bands i really like didn't get me going. Once in a while i could say, "hey that song wasn't so bad!" but not much more. 

Bands which don't impress, kinda impact things like... music festivals. Don't ask me how, but i know it's true.

Also, this year the festival didn't bring in any international acts. Too bad, since the ones they were looking at were Lou Reid and good ol'  anguished but sweet Connor O'berst.

At least the dj stage wasn't half as monotonous as it was last year, but by day 3, i wasn't willing to stick it out late to see the electropunk djs i actually wanted to see.

Well, at the very least it was a nice place to hang out for a few afternoons and evenings. On day 1 i hung out w/ C, my new friend who i met in the art district. On day 2 i hung out with H. And on day three i hung out with... both of them, which was ... happily unweird.

Michael Moore Hates America...?

H's friend was telling us about how she saw Michael Moore in a new light after watching the docuflick Micheal Moore Hates America.

When she was telling us about it, i noticed a strong reaction in me, saying NO I DON'T WANT TO WATCH IT. And then i was like sheesh, what's up w/ me? i'm like those rt wingers who don't wanna watch Michael in the 1st place, so then i was like ok, i'll watch it before trying to slam all of your arguments.

Then i watched it.

And i still found myself trying to pick apart the movie at every turn, and was disappointed at how un-open i was to the experience of watching it.

But in the end, i just don't think it's a very good movie. Fair enough, Mr Moore isn't the most ethical film-maker. Not that we really thought he was: we know he's a master media manipulator but it is interesting (and a touch disappointing) to see how he's twists things up sometimes.

But at least Moore has the lofty goal of shifting the political will of the american public, whereas this Wilson guy uses many of the same pathos tricks just to blab about how Moore is hypocrite.

He accuses Moore of being a hypocrite for making corporate money off of a movie which is counter corporate, and he's a rookie film-maker who sees a niche to make a flick, knowing that popular media would jump on a movie to counter Moore. So good on you Wilson. You made a movie, stated some facts, and made your money. It's the American Dream! except for the stating facts part: that's not the dream, is it?

1/5 communist stars

Movie Overload

i don't think i've ever watched so many movies in my life. It's too easy. Work often leaves me and Heza a touch braindead, so we've acquired quite the stash of $1.40 flicks gently whispering to us, "watch me, watch me, watch me you f'ing couch potato whom i love so well."

Anyhow, for lack of anything better to write, here's the quick and nasty list of reviews. (note: the availability of media in China is largely inexplicable. Lots makes it over, and lots doesn't)

1. North Country: an amazing flick that got me and H all pissed off at the awful male characters in it.
   
2. Pursuit of Happyness: Will Smith and his kid show that a big heart and determination will make you a rich mofo.
3. Lost in Translation. What? you haven't seen it yet? You're joking.
4. La Haine: gritty movie about life in the Paris ghetto. Good flick, but no characters to care about.
5. No End In Sight: great doc about the excruciatingly badly planned Iraq occupation.
6. Hairspraty (2007): pretty good, but i wish i'd just seen the orig John Waters flick.
7. The Kid: Charlie Chaplin classic. Pretty universally entertaining, but admittedly not as good as i'd hoped.
   
8. Nanking: a rather depressing and rather touching doc about the atrocities committed by the Japanese in Nanking during WWII. i chose not to mention it to my dad after all, since he'd likely get all mad and racist towards the Japanese.
9. Sideways: intelligent romantic comedy (far and few between) w/ a sympathetic protagonist, even if he's a jerk.
10. Yi Yi: An awesome Taiwanese movie that broke the int'l scene bigtime. Very intelligent, and totally captivating.
11. Destricted: wtf? I can't believe that an art flick about porn and sex, with moneyshots et al, somehow slipped across the border. "oh it's Art, is it? Well alright then."
12. Cashback: Just because it gets lots of int'l film fest attention doesn't mean the plot or characters are interesting.
13. Hot Fuzz: UK cops go from comedy to comic ultra-violence, in the good way.
14. Singing in the Rain: Some very impressive production in this 1952 movie, but sorry i'm just not into that dance style. And the story? weaakkkkk.
15. Life is Beautiful: a romantic comedy about the holocaust. I liked it a lot better this 2nd time.
    
16. Casablanca: Holy shit, this movie is HOT. i wish i'd seen it earlier since every hard-nosed cop/detective today seems to be influenced by Bogart. I was so inspired i taught a film study unit on it. One 12 yr old (who's a frighteningly sincere fellow) wrote "Casablanca is one of the best movies ever made".
    

That's about it. And the In Box is still plenty full.

Day5: Singin' In the Rain

A pretty uneventful day. So, in honour of rainy-season Vancouver, heeeere's Gene!

Gene Kelly, that is. H and i got Singin' In the Rain a while ago. H thinks it's legit, but i think it's bootlegged.

Anyhow, i was pretty disappointed in it. Sure there's some crazy tap dancing and some comical routines. But, "the greatest movie musical"? Uh we think not. Ever heard of The Sound of Music? Grease? Cabaret?

Well, for 1952, the visual effects are really impressive, and the colours are Charlie and the Chocolate Factory super-saturated.

But the characters are 2D, the acting is mediocre, the songs are hit and miss, and the final plot twist bordered on pathetic.

Anyhow. You could pbly better spend your time watching Naked Lunch or something.

Slightly More Than Meets The Eye

My brother's friend apparently couldn't stop raving about the new Transformers flick. And i do realize that this is the guy who waited hrs in line to watch Batman on its first TWO opening nights. But hell, i was Transformaniac when i was a wee one, and the trailer looked pretty explosive in that Hollywood way.

Anyways, onto the review.

The first half hour: pretty god awful. The set up for the robots to reveal themselves, the 2D characters, yadda yadda.

Then the robots started talking and everything became so unbelievable that the movie finally started working, know what i mean? Considering how ridiculous the premise is of cars turning into robots, i thought they did an impressive job cooking up a story behind it.

There's more human characters and interaction than i expected, so that was decent, and the characters were entertaining albeit shallow. (the "highschool" badgirl w/ the unwavering makeup, and the countless sexy poses: mrow)

Anyhow, if you have no inclination to see this movie, don't. But if you're curious, i don't think you can realistically expect anything more than this.