Marky Mark was one of my first "bad boy" crushes. His most recent flick "Shooter" may be a damp squid of a movie, but as far as sex appeal goes, hes still got it :D
Friday, April 20, 2007
Flavour of the week - Mark Wahlberg
Marky Mark was one of my first "bad boy" crushes. His most recent flick "Shooter" may be a damp squid of a movie, but as far as sex appeal goes, hes still got it :D
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Theres Always Tomorrow (Except for Haley)
I'll have to stop watching Idol while sitting by my PC, as I found myself distracted during some of the performances. Or maybe they just weren’t interesting enough to hold my attention! Biggest surprise this week was that I ended up LIKING J. Lo. I'm nowhere near her biggest fan. I despise her movies and have never bought any of her albums (even though I enjoy quite a few of her singles) and I totally believe she makes all those crazy diva demands. However, she came across damn well on the show. Not only did she appear normal and funny, but for someone who isn’t the best singer in the world, I think she managed to impart upon the Idols some valid and useful words of wisdom!
Like I expected, it was basically a Gloria Estefan week. I'm pretty sure they had one of those last year (or maybe it was the year before, seasons of Idol blend together after a while). And one thing about her songs is that they are deceptively difficult to sing. After hearing so many of the Idols mangling her songs last time, I had a newfound respect for Gloria. Shame that the current Idols this year didn’t learn from previous Idols mistakes.
And its not as if there’s a shortage of Latin themed songs for them to sing. Someone could have done an interesting take on a Shakira song (that is, SING one of her songs instead of wailing like a goat on it), but no. And no one even touched Ricki Martin or Enriqué (I'm not counting the group song in the finale). I'm probably forgetting tons of other obvious Latin artists. And what about poor Jenny from the Block herself? I know its a stretch to classify anything but her latest album "Latin", but I think they could have modified at least ONE of her old singles into something that came close to a Latin flavour. For me, everyone played it safe and almost everyone was boring as hell.
The girls...........blah blah blah. I normally cant fault Melinda, but her choosing of that song shows that she’s incapable or afraid to touch something even remotely modern (I'd have even taken an Estefan song in place of "Sway". While I do LOVE the song, I've heard a million better versions of it). And the rest of the girls all did Estefan. Lack of effort all round.
The boys were split. Phil and Chris R were simply boring, both choosing Santana numbers. Phil HAS to go next week, he just HAS to. Sanjaya made me hate myself just a little by being halfway decent. Which of course is going to guaranteed his safety. If he keeps this up, he'll be in the fecking final *sigh*. And Blake finally FINALLY decided to sing a song, instead of the usual "slow mime" he does and as a result, he sounded great. His was the only performance of the night I can say I actually enjoyed. Of course this means that it'll be doubly annoying next week if he goes back to his weird way of singing, now that we know he can actually sing properly.
The results.........well...........it had to happen, didn’t it? I really do think that if Haley had picked a different song, a more manageable song, she might have stayed this week instead of Phil. I love the song to bits, but it’s ridiculously hard to sing, being more of a vocal sprint than anything else. At least she held it together admirably for her performance at the end.
J. Lo gave the first truly memorable mentor performance of the season. Even though I haven’t a clue what she was singing, the meaning behind the words still managed to come through loud and clear, a testament to the passion she infused into the song. She showed up the Idols good and proper!!
And did Ryan say "country" is next week? I better break out my GEE-tar and get a-courting my cousin.
Like I expected, it was basically a Gloria Estefan week. I'm pretty sure they had one of those last year (or maybe it was the year before, seasons of Idol blend together after a while). And one thing about her songs is that they are deceptively difficult to sing. After hearing so many of the Idols mangling her songs last time, I had a newfound respect for Gloria. Shame that the current Idols this year didn’t learn from previous Idols mistakes.
And its not as if there’s a shortage of Latin themed songs for them to sing. Someone could have done an interesting take on a Shakira song (that is, SING one of her songs instead of wailing like a goat on it), but no. And no one even touched Ricki Martin or Enriqué (I'm not counting the group song in the finale). I'm probably forgetting tons of other obvious Latin artists. And what about poor Jenny from the Block herself? I know its a stretch to classify anything but her latest album "Latin", but I think they could have modified at least ONE of her old singles into something that came close to a Latin flavour. For me, everyone played it safe and almost everyone was boring as hell.
The girls...........blah blah blah. I normally cant fault Melinda, but her choosing of that song shows that she’s incapable or afraid to touch something even remotely modern (I'd have even taken an Estefan song in place of "Sway". While I do LOVE the song, I've heard a million better versions of it). And the rest of the girls all did Estefan. Lack of effort all round.
The boys were split. Phil and Chris R were simply boring, both choosing Santana numbers. Phil HAS to go next week, he just HAS to. Sanjaya made me hate myself just a little by being halfway decent. Which of course is going to guaranteed his safety. If he keeps this up, he'll be in the fecking final *sigh*. And Blake finally FINALLY decided to sing a song, instead of the usual "slow mime" he does and as a result, he sounded great. His was the only performance of the night I can say I actually enjoyed. Of course this means that it'll be doubly annoying next week if he goes back to his weird way of singing, now that we know he can actually sing properly.
The results.........well...........it had to happen, didn’t it? I really do think that if Haley had picked a different song, a more manageable song, she might have stayed this week instead of Phil. I love the song to bits, but it’s ridiculously hard to sing, being more of a vocal sprint than anything else. At least she held it together admirably for her performance at the end.
J. Lo gave the first truly memorable mentor performance of the season. Even though I haven’t a clue what she was singing, the meaning behind the words still managed to come through loud and clear, a testament to the passion she infused into the song. She showed up the Idols good and proper!!
And did Ryan say "country" is next week? I better break out my GEE-tar and get a-courting my cousin.
Saturday, April 14, 2007
His strength is in his hair
Life in Cartoon Motion ~ Mika
I had set myself up as a die hard Mika fan long before the album came out, having completely fallen in love with the man when I first heard his single “Grace Kelly” last year. Mika comes across as a pure pop artist whose unique vocal style and brash songs are a breath of fresh air at a time when music is becoming dominated by the resurgence of the ever so slightly same-y “reputable rock bands”.
Life in Cartoon Motion is an explosion of colourful ditties and maintains an unashamedly upbeat tone throughout. Though at times, the persistent cheeriness of the songs can wear on even the most tolerant of ears :P Mikas voice is quite a marvel to behold, able to leap tall octaves in a single bound and his wry lyrics suggest there’s plenty going on upstairs.
The album is unquestionably heaps of fun, but for me it lacked substance and didn’t quite live up to the potential of the first two singles. It tries way too hard to be different from the norm and the end result feels slightly indulgent in parts. Having musical freedom is all well and good, but some people can actually benefit from a little restraint :P
I think once Mika gets over trying to prove a point (“ooooooo, I refuse to conform and my sexual orientation is ambiguous, how you gonna deal with THAT?!”:D), we’ll be graced with a truly classic album from the man.
Standout Tracks:
- Grace Kelly
- Relax (Take it Easy)
- Any Other World
- Over Your Shoulder
The future is thin
During the week, SONY unveiled two new super-thin TVs at its "Display 2007" show in Tokyo. The OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diode) screens on display were bearly there, at just 9mm and 3mm thick respectively. Watching Cowboy Bebop just yesterday (a show set in the distant future), I noticed that there were using similiar screens on their spaceship :P So for me at least, these kinds of screens are the epitome of what a futuristic product is. At the moment, the cost of manufacturing is prohibitive, so dont expect to see them in the shops any time soon. But when they do finally arrive, I'd say they'll be an absolute nightmare to package safely!
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Wave goodbye to Sligh
I found it pretty hard to get at all enthusiastic about this weeks Idol. When the standout performances are delivered by Gina and Phil, then you KNOW something’s just not right! The theme was “No Doubt songs, and artists that inspire Gwen Stefani”. Talk about contrived! :P I’m guessing that the No Doubt back catalogue alone wasn’t enough to sustain an entire show. But with themes as vague and malleable as this, it makes you wonder why they even bother having them at all at this stage.
The original reason behind the themes (before they started trawling in musical guests each week) was that it gave the show a bit of diversity and we got to see how the contestants could hold up when challenged with different musical genres. But lately they have found a way to make sure that most of the Idols never have to leave their comfort zone. As a result, you get similar performances from them, week after week. I’m all for artists putting their own spin on classic tracks, but when they doggedly refuse to try something different, then it smacks of laziness and they come across as a one trick pony. I’m betting the producers of the show are mostly to blame for this, but whatever the case, you end up with a show without any real surprises.
Besides the aforementioned Phil and Gina, the rest of the contestants were bland and uninteresting this week. Chris S’s performance was a disaster, and I was thrilled he was finally shunted off to hell, where he belongs. But Sanjaya (whos performance was one of the most uncomfortable couple of I’ve ever been witness to) appeared to sail through once again. Hes yet to even grace the bottom three! Its just so darn perplexing, what DO the American public see in him? >:(
Next week we will be subject to the annual “Big Band / Tony Bennet” theme. I’m convinced that Bennet has some SERIOUS dirt on Cowel :P Theres just no other way to explain his frequency of appearances on the show. I like “Big Band” alright, but hows about we get the likes of Michael Buble (who even has an upcoming album to promote!), instead of someone they have to defrost and defibrillate before each performance ;)
The original reason behind the themes (before they started trawling in musical guests each week) was that it gave the show a bit of diversity and we got to see how the contestants could hold up when challenged with different musical genres. But lately they have found a way to make sure that most of the Idols never have to leave their comfort zone. As a result, you get similar performances from them, week after week. I’m all for artists putting their own spin on classic tracks, but when they doggedly refuse to try something different, then it smacks of laziness and they come across as a one trick pony. I’m betting the producers of the show are mostly to blame for this, but whatever the case, you end up with a show without any real surprises.
Besides the aforementioned Phil and Gina, the rest of the contestants were bland and uninteresting this week. Chris S’s performance was a disaster, and I was thrilled he was finally shunted off to hell, where he belongs. But Sanjaya (whos performance was one of the most uncomfortable couple of I’ve ever been witness to) appeared to sail through once again. Hes yet to even grace the bottom three! Its just so darn perplexing, what DO the American public see in him? >:(
Next week we will be subject to the annual “Big Band / Tony Bennet” theme. I’m convinced that Bennet has some SERIOUS dirt on Cowel :P Theres just no other way to explain his frequency of appearances on the show. I like “Big Band” alright, but hows about we get the likes of Michael Buble (who even has an upcoming album to promote!), instead of someone they have to defrost and defibrillate before each performance ;)
Lean, green, mean fighting machines
TMNT
Ah Turtles; now that takes me back. I remember being mad about the toys (I had “Raphael” and my brother had “Leonardo”). We even had the “Turtle Van”! :D Of course I used to LOVE the cartoon as well, with its exceptional use of dangerous weapons and its killer theme song. And who can forget the classic Sega Megadrive Turtles game, closely modelled on “Streets of Rage” with its brilliant two-player co-op mode! Even the live action movies (with their freakishly realistic animatronic heads) had a huge impression on me when I was a wee lad. So you can imagine that I approached this movie with a certain level of nostalgia brewing in my bones.
The film wasn’t what I’d hoped for, but in saying that, I certainly wasn’t its intended audience. I hate to face facts, but I’m just not 10 anymore! :P From an adult perspective, I could scrutinise it and tear it apart, but I think that would be a little unfair to the movie. It would have been nice if they’d made it appeal to both kids AND adults (a small allowance for the hoards of original Turtle fans flocking to see it). But I certainly can’t take from it the fact that it was a fun movie and the writer/director Kevin Munroe stayed very true to the spirit of the original comics and cartoon :)
Ah Turtles; now that takes me back. I remember being mad about the toys (I had “Raphael” and my brother had “Leonardo”). We even had the “Turtle Van”! :D Of course I used to LOVE the cartoon as well, with its exceptional use of dangerous weapons and its killer theme song. And who can forget the classic Sega Megadrive Turtles game, closely modelled on “Streets of Rage” with its brilliant two-player co-op mode! Even the live action movies (with their freakishly realistic animatronic heads) had a huge impression on me when I was a wee lad. So you can imagine that I approached this movie with a certain level of nostalgia brewing in my bones.
The film wasn’t what I’d hoped for, but in saying that, I certainly wasn’t its intended audience. I hate to face facts, but I’m just not 10 anymore! :P From an adult perspective, I could scrutinise it and tear it apart, but I think that would be a little unfair to the movie. It would have been nice if they’d made it appeal to both kids AND adults (a small allowance for the hoards of original Turtle fans flocking to see it). But I certainly can’t take from it the fact that it was a fun movie and the writer/director Kevin Munroe stayed very true to the spirit of the original comics and cartoon :)
Brave first steps
Massive, huge, gargantuan news people! EMI, one of the biggest music publishing companies in the world, has taken a brave step forward and is allowing its music to be sold online without DRM encoding built into the tracks. DRM (or Digital Rights Management) is a copyright protection feature enforced by all major labels when selling their musical wares online. It’s a restrictive piece of encoding that puts many people (myself included) off purchasing digital music online. Only downside is the slight increased price ($1.30, as opposed to $0.99 per track). But to offset this, songs will be encoded at a higher quality :D If this takes off, there’s a good chance that the rest of the major publishers will follow suit.
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