Archive for the 'Media' Category
October 7 2009: The BEP E.N.D. World Tour: 6/Oct/09
Filed under Media with 8 Comments
Last night was a good night. With my cheaparse ticket in hand, I found myself sitting literally side-on to the stage at the Black Eyed Peas concert. Not ideal for a full view, but nicely situated next to a side podium that the dancers and Peas stood on to get closer to the crowd. For the $20AUD I paid for it, it was pretty good.
Everyone has a favourite Black Eyed Pea. That’s a given. Mine has always been apl.de.ap because of his breakdancing moves and the track Bebot (which I personally thought was one of the best on the Monkey Business album), though I’ve also had a soft spot for will.i.am and his lyrical genius. Fergie surprisingly, has never really appealed to me because (and I’m going to be superficial here), her nose has always bothered me. Taboo never even rated on my radar, but all that changed last night.
Taboo has the most electrifying charm ever. He’s not a conventionally good-looking guy, but when he was striding up the stage to the podium near my seat and he gave the crowd around me a wave and a smile…oh my god. I don’t know how he does it, but he has this animal charm once you get within fifty feet of him. He is by far my favourite Pea now.
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August 27 2009: Chicago!
Filed under Media & Uni/Work with 4 Comments
Last night, I received what is bound to be the only perks of working in a non-profit organisation. I’ll never receive Christmases bonuses, or a company car, or anything like that – that’s not the nature of the NFP sector. We work for the benefit of our clients, not for any monetary gain.
However, last night I was invited by the Mirvac hotel chain to a cocktail party, and then to a showing of Chicago at Her Majesty’s Theatre. Our company has previously made bookings with their function rooms for events like our annual two day conference, the annual general meeting, and other seminars and lectures by visiting guest speakers – the invitation to myself and the executive officer of my organisation was really a “thanks for giving us your business, we hope that you continue to book your functions with us”. Which, fair enough – we’ve given them tens of thousands in business over the years, a couple of hundred spent in entertaining us for the evening is a good investment on their part.
We started off with a cocktail party at the Hotel Lindrum. My champagne glass was constantly topped up, and I was fed delicious canapes – oysters, an eggplant dish, an amazing fetta puff pastry, topped off with creme brulee for dessert. Transported to Her Majesty’s Theatre by coach, we received a free program (they’re expensive!), and excellent front row seats in the dress circle for the show. In the interval, we had free snacks from the concession bar, our own private entertainment room, and ongoing drinks. Overall, it was an excellent boozy evening with lots of schmoozing.
And Chicago, oh my god, Chicago. I love the movie, and I’ve seen it a million times – as a result, I was afraid that my experience would be coloured by my blow-by-blow familiarity with the film. It was to some extent; I was surprised by how musically driven the play is (there’s little dialogue), whereas in the film, the musical numbers were spectacular, but by no means all there was to the film. The set and costuming too were surprisingly spare in comparison to the movie, with no costume changes, and hardly any props other than a few chairs. The play on the whole was driven largely by its individual powerhouse performances (Caroline O’Connor is amazing as Velma), whereas the film is driven more by spectacle, colour, and visual effects – the whole experience, rather than the singular character.
I kind of want to become a theatre actress for real now.
August 8 2009: Jay Chou As Kato
Filed under Asian-ness & Media with 7 Comments
This entry will possibly not be of any interest to anyone who’s unfamiliar with the Chinese entertainment industry, and who has no interest in the type of movies that Seth Rogen makes, but: Jay Chou has been cast as Kato in the remake of the Green Hornet.
Now, this film has been in the works for months now – it was first announced that Stephen Chow (this man is a genius in the Hong Kong movie industry, my childhood was spent ROFLing to his films, and I still delight in them now) would both star as Kato, and direct the film too. I was absolutely ecstatic when I heard the news – Stephen Chow crossing over to Hollywood, and working with Seth Rogen who I adore equally? Fantastic! Now with Stephen entirely unattached to the project, this announcement of Jay as Kato is equally as exciting, especially considering how disappointed I was to miss his Sydney concert early last month. It means that since Jay is crossing to Hollywood, there’s every chance that in his promotion obligations for The Green Hornet’s release next year, he’ll return to Australia, and I can see him there. There’s a silver lining!
Plus, considering that the role of Kato in the remake is rumoured to be written as more of a equal crime-fighting partner, as the real brains behind the operation rather than a silent partner to the comic Green Hornet, Jay’s role is bound to be as prominent and prestigious as Seth Rogen’s. It could do a lot in improving the depiction of Asians in mainstream Western media and removing the Asian geek, bad accented Asian, Asian mail order bride, etc. stereotypes.
Heck, the release of the movie next year might even encourage me to change the layout on the Jay Chou fanlisting.