To fully appreciate this video, you have to know some background.

We'll start with autotune. To know what autotune is, just think of Cher's song Believe. That effect was originally used to correct some off notes in singers' voices, like an audio version of Photoshop. Then Cher, and later artistes like T-Pain, began to use it as a vocal effect. And then it became easily available to the Internets, and people discovered that they could apply it to things like Obama and the news and Winston Churchill. (I find the Churchill pretty awesomely catchy, but rather unsatisfactorarily short.)

Then someone had the brilliant idea of applying the effect to documentaries, in this case a 1980 TV series called Cosmos, hosted by the late Dr Carl Sagan. The result is an incredible new-agey piece of art, both music and video-wise. The already poetic lines chosen become transformed into amazing lyrics in every sense of the word. Have a look and listen for yourself. (It even features Stephen Hawking on vocals. :D )



( Lyrics )

I am currently very, very strangely addicted to this... song.

In 1973, an Italian entertainer recorded a song in a pseudo-English language. This may well be the forefather of rap... or house... something. Whatever it is, it just about floored me. And the hip thing the guy does? Hypnotic. Move over Elvis.



(In the beginning the girl says: "Professor, why did you write a song with strange words that don't mean anything?" It's taken from the original version of the music video where the professor explains that "prisencolinensinainciusol" means "universal love".)

In honour of the hopefully impending release of The Marionette, I present to you.... lots of cool Youtube videos of marionettes!

First off: a video set to the tune of Jackie Cheung's 你好毒 (You're So Toxic). The subtitles are a little obscure so I won't try to translate them with my limited Mandarin, but it's basically a comedy sketch parodying period dramas. As far as I could tell, it's about a king's failed love life. Anyway, even if you don't understand Chinese, the marionettes are pure eye candy.



Of course, having posted that I must also post the original music video. The original vid also featured marionettes of the same style, also parodying period movies.



The little girl giant... an oldie but a goodie.



Did you know she also has an uncle?
"Nantes is the home town of Jules Verne, is situated in western France. Here, near the river Loire a giant deep-sea diver sleeps gently, waiting for his task to begin. Sadness marks his face even as he sleeps. He has been searching the world over for his missing niece and although he may not know it, the end of his search is coming. The diver or scaphandrier as he is known in French will be paraded through the streets of this historic city at the arts festival."



Bonus: apparently the first video above is from an entire SERIES of videos. I have no idea what this show is besides the fact that it has some of the prettiest marionettes I've ever seen, as well as some of the coolest fight scenes and special effects I've ever seen. Also some of the weirdest Hokkien I've ever heard. Anyway, prepare to be blown away! (Warning: slight puppetly gore towards the end of the video; a couple of them get decapitated in the most exaggerated way)



edit: it's a Taiwanese puppet company, and those aren't even marionettes - they're HAND GLOVES. Yes, you read that right. No, I can't believe it either. Here's their site in English for more info: http://www.pili.com.tw/en/ They've been making period martial arts dramas since 1985(!!!!!) and this is the newest one: http://blog.pili.com.tw/apocalypse/articles/2512

The concert was fantastic. Much, much much better than the PLAY! concert a couple years back - not because of Arnie Roth, who was charming as always, but because of the orchestra. AND add the fact that NOBUO UEMATSU WAS IN THE HOUSE. I am eternally kicking myself for not having been fast enough to get his signature - but enough of that. I attended the last performance, on the evening of exactly one month after my 9th anniversary of having met my husband (yes, we celebrate every month).

Highlights:
1) Liberi Fatali, the opening piece. Although it was a little shaky, the nostalgia drove me to tears. ;_; The choir (consisting of alumni from a rival college *shakes fist*) was pretty good, but I maintain that the soprano section was a little lacking in terms of volume.
2) To Zanarkand - always a good tune.
3) Love Grows - if only to see my favourite scene of Laguna on a giant screen :D There's the guy that got me my husband. Yup.
4) Swing de Chocobo - CHOCOBO LOVE
5) Nobuo Uematsu finally taking the stage and saying "Ni hao! (Hello!) I can speak Chinese. :D (reads from notes) Wo hen xi huan pi jiu (I like beer very much)." XDDD
6) The "scientific poll" for the next two pieces of battle music to be included in the future programme :D
7) Arnie Roth: "Nobu-san said he wanted to sing for us! Solo!" Nobuo Uematsu: "Estuans interius ira vehementi... ahaha!"
8) AND THEN HE WENT ON TO JOIN THE CHOIR TO SING ONE WINGED ANGEL. OMG. The sight of him in his bandana bouncing along to One Winged Angel is just too much.

Video taken by someone else of the performance of One-Winged Angel. No view of the choir unfortunately.

I'm leaving this public because I'd like some answers if anyone from PayPal ever stumbles upon this.

Yesterday one of my Malay co-workers got an email from PayPal asking him to prove that he is a Singaporean citizen by sending them copies of his identification card and bank statement/credit card statement/utilities bill. At first I thought it might be a phishing scam, but then the email knew his real full name, knew that he's from Singapore and there was a security icon next to the PayPal address on the sender line (this was in Yahoo email).

AND the email made reference to something about an anti-terrorism funding act or something. Basically, that it's acting under a policy not to fund terrorists. Which is fine, except that you know... not everyone with an Arab/Muslim-sounding name is a terrorist. My co-worker asked around and discovered that several of his Malay friends had received the same email. His non-Malay friends (including myself) who use PayPal have not received anything.

So? you might ask. If he's innocent he should have no problem sending off the relevant info. Well, here's why I'm all riled up over this:

1. Racial profiling has, time and again, been shown to be a weak, ineffective, lazy way of dealing with terrorism and other crimes. Look at this report from Amnesty and this one from the Progressive Policy Institute. I quote specifically from the latter (adapting slightly): "The problem with racial profiling is not that it targets 'dangerous people in dangerous places.' It is that it targets inaccurately and in ways that breed resentment and mistrust between the [majority] and [minority communities]."

2. Linked to the above point is the way that this specific example of racial profiling puts the onus on the customers to prove his innocence. In other words, contrary to the noble aims of Western law, customers are presumed guilty until proven otherwise.

3. PayPal has a Singapore HQ that supposedly deals with all accounts outside Europe and America. You'd think this would prevent such a scenario of blatant racial profiling to occur - either because it should be easier to prove one's citizenship here, or because we understand the sensitivity of racial issues, or - if you want to be really cynical - because we have been trained never to pick on one racial group, and to carry out the pretense of being fair to everyone even when targeting one racial group. In other words, if a Singaporean department were to carry this out, they'd send the email to everyone who has spent above a certain limit.

4. Events like this give a very bad impression of America to the rest of the world. It leads one to conclude that Americans see Muslims, Malays and Arabs as one common "other" to be targeted.

I'm very disappointed in PayPal's actions.

I got Silent Hill: Homecoming (aka Silent Hill 5) over the weekend. We've not played much at all, but so far I'm not terribly impressed (actually, not impressed at all) with it. :( Which is sad, because I'd hoped it wouldn't suck. It doesn't suck, but it falls very flat. It's like eating something really bland after being presented with a sumptuous feast.

On the other hand, do keep in mind that many reviews compared this game to SH2, saying it was the best SH game since that one. And keep in mind that I wasn't blown away by SH2 either. Even then, I think SH2 outstrips this one by far.

#1 complaint: The graphics have taken three steps backwards. Even taking into account that I don't expect the graphics to exceed those of MGS4 or GTA4 (the other two games I own for PS3), I seriously think this game has the graphics of SH2 or worse. The characters' teeth shine pure white in their mouths as they talk, so that every time they open their mouths you can see this slit of white. Their hair is plastered to their head in a blob (this is especially so for the female characters). I'd taken for granted that all modern games are able to render hair in layers that move in a semi-realistic way. Not this one, even on a Blu-Ray disc!

( cut for spoilers )

#4: The glitches. OH THE GLITCHES. My copy is supremely buggy. The controls keep changing. It's driving us nuts. Never, ever have I seen a game this buggy, much less a Konami game. How can this be? When I bought the game the first thing the salesman told us about was this bug. He told us how to change the button config to avoid the bug. Yesterday I didn't set the buttons because I thought I didn't have to if I didn't start a new game. WRONG. Somehow the X button kept turning into the defense button and Alex ended up ducking and rolling when we wanted him to examine or do something.

THIS IS UNHEARD OF.

I'm trying to think of something nice to say about it, but so far there seriously isn't anything. I'm not particularly impressed with Alex's supposedly superior combat skills either.

I know I sound like I hate this game, but I don't. So far "meh" would be a good word to sum up my feelings about it. It's not a bad game, it's just not Silent Hill. And maybe that, by itself, is already pretty bad.

I'm placing my hope in the storyline. It's still early, may turn out well.

Israel "Iz" Kamakawiwo'ole singing "Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World". More about him at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Kamakawiwo'ole . I was shocked to find that he died of weight-related respiratory problems at age 38. What a terrible waste. :(

DaShan (big mountain in Mandarin) is the stage name of Canadian entertainment Mark Rowswell. He is supposedly the most famous foreigner in China for his impeccable grasp of Mandarin and even Cantonese. He specialises in xiangsheng, a form of stand-up comedy usually done as a dialogue.

I found this xiangsheng particularly funny. It doesn't have subtitles, so I'll provide a rough translation under the cut for non-Mandarin speakers.



( translation )

So, I've made many video game related posts but no one ever knows what I'm talking about unless you happen to be a gamer... right?

Well, I've discovered this wonderful phenomenon of video walkthroughs on Youtube where you can basically watch a playthrough of a game like it was a movie. I've been watching MGS1 to refresh my memory, and it's as captivating as ever.

I'm posting them here, in case anyone is interested to watch as well. Be warned that many games need about 3-5 hours free time to wade through.

Metal Gear Solid 1 (with the ending where Snake rides off with Otacon)
It's a stealth action game, but that's not the point. I love it for TEH DRAMA. Lots and lots of it. It's a 1998 game so watch out for oldie graphics.
Meryl ending:
Part 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nh03dvPpmuc
Part 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6dFlHi-Lb4

Silent Hill
Needs no introduction. But to be clear, this is the original Silent Hill game.

Silent Hill 2
The second, and arguably the most popular in the series. The storyline is absolutely haunting.

Silent Hill 3
This is where Silent Hill is at its most awesomely scary, and the storyline is at its most confuzzling.

Silent Hill 4: The Room
Famously known as The Silent Hill That Wasn't Meant To Be Silent Hill So Has No Right To Be A Silent Hill Game. Or something. But still good.

Bonus: Final Fantasy 8
The game that got me my husband.

And while I'm on the MGS4 kick, I give to you: the main theme from Metal Gear Solid 4.

Ok, I've been totally missing from life in general since I returned from the trip (thanks for your well-wishes, those who commented on my previous posts - I appreciate them muchly, I just haven't been online much at all!)

First there was the rush back to school (augh), and then - WE GOT A PS3.

Our very first PS3 game was Metal Gear Solid 4. And oh man, WHAT a game. WHAT a game. Although, it wasn't really a game so much as it was a 19-hour long movie to me - Fenglei was playing it all the time. Except for the last boss, which he spent 1.5 hours on and then threw down the controller in frustration. I picked up the controller for the first time, died once, and then beat the game. XD

MGS was a really epic series. I loved every minute of it. A bit iffy about some of the revelations in MGS4 (and some of the characters pair up! but there might be MGS players among you, so I'm not spoiling it) - but overall it was AWESOME.

Oh, and: this!



An older Duane, with glasses? XD

No, it's the brand new Otacon! The details of the hairstyle are exactly the same though. Right down to how the hair sweeps over the ears. It's amazing. I've seen lots of hairstyles that look like the one I created for Duane, but this is the first time I've seen the exact same hairstyle. Amazing. XD

http://news.livejournal.com/106909.html

I am angry at LJ as I've never been before. In the past, the servers were unstable and slow and so on, but they were working towards an ideal. Now the ideal is lost and I can see that whoever is in charge (at LJ Inc or SUP or whatever the hell they call themselves now) obviously doesn't understand the meaning of "community".

I'm thinking of cancelling my paid LJ account and moving into my own Wordpress blog on my site. After all, I hardly blog here anymore.

I know, I've said before that I won't leave LJ, but I never counted on LJ being so shitty so soon. So I think very soon I'll cancel my paid account here. If it reverts to a free account with no ads I might continue posting random rubbish here. If not then that's it. I haven't been posting much in here lately anyway.

So - we'll see.

happy noo year efferybody!

may all your noodles be straight and your handkerchiefs spotless this year. :)

I still like her with curly hair.

Experience 42nd Street, New York

CLICK the play button. Then CLICK and SCROLL on the video screen to pan across the 360° view.

An example of the technology that's even more well-done and presents various possible applications: http://demos.immersivemedia.com/index_directorfound.php?scene=GS

it didn't turn out well.

http://www.shamusyoung.com/twentysidedtale/?p=612

Lord of the Rings as a Dungeons and Dragons game. Even if you've never played Dungeons and Dragons before, it's hilarious. XD

(edit: DM = Dungeon master, i.e. admin)

The download version of the album is finally available, and of course I bought it! :)

http://cdbaby.com/cd/justinking3

I'd already known all the songs on it, but some were new versions.

This man really needs to be made known to the world. I don't know how the drivel on radio can be any better that his music. It is very radio friendly in the old-fashioned way, but it's not just pointless crap because you can hear his soul in his lyrics and his voice. True, the lyrics are not often cheerful, but I would imagine that his songwriting is driven by his down moods rather like how my drawings are a product of my depressions. And of course, there is the fact that he is a guitar virtuoso in his own right. He gave that up for his band music, because that's what he likes better.

Epic Records doesn't know what they lost when he broke up with them.

And now I really ask that if you, all the people on my friendslist who's been patiently suffering through all the JK material that I've been posting... if you've ever liked any of his music that I've posted, anything at all, all I ask is that you tell me so. Of course, if you can, please buy a copy of his album too, but if not, I just ask that you tell me if you like his music, so that I can buy you a copy.

Don't feel bad about it, I really strongly want to send the message to him that his music is GOOD. And I would gladly pay more than US$10 for it.

If you're not sure about his music, here's where you can listen to three tracks off the new album:

http://www.reverbnation.com/artist_51648?current_active_tab=widgets (select all songs and then click "Play Selected")

The CDBaby link also has a sample of the song Change.

Please, please if you like his music, help to spread the word. Justin King and the Apologies have nothing to be apologetic for.