Archive for the ‘Entertainment’ Category

Key on Letterman

John Key did a top ten list on Letterman. It should be on Prime in few days, however, here 's the clip anyway.

And here's the list.

10 The Auckland Airport now has a cinnabon
9 We have the loosest slot machines in the Pacific Rim
8 Only a convenient 20-hour flight away
7 It’s like England without the attitude
6 Down there Leno’s on at 9 o’clock
5 Get the whanau together, stay in a bach, crack open the chilly bin and slap on your jandals
4 Visit in the next 30 days, I’ll pick you up at the Airport
3 70% of our energy is generated through renewable hydropower – look they don’t all have to be jokes
2 We drive on the left side of the road, like the British and Lindsay Lohan
1 Unlike most of the world, we still like Americans

Number one is clearly my favourite:)

Michael Jackson Dies at 50

I have to admit I'm not a very die hard fan of his (I was too young to do that), Jackson is more of a mystery to me. From a child star to the king of the pop, then to an alleged child abuser,  his 50 years of life was full of surprises and mysteries.

He was a loner in later part of his life, but it's not entirely his fault, a childhood full of unhappiness and sorrow, behind the shine of a star, I don't think he had a fortunate life, and that incomplete life eventually leads all the weird things happened at the later stage.

Death is not an end, as Madonna says, his music will live on forever. It's also kind of relief for him, he is now free from encumbrances in this world.

Rest in Peace, Michael Jackson.

If you enter this world knowing you are  loved & you leave this world knowing the same,then everything that happens in between can be dealt with.

Michael Jackson

off topic ...

I've been blogging serious topics for too long (especially in my Chinese blog), and the atmosphere is starting to make me choke. Not that bad, but the recent topics really made me want to keep myself away from here for a bit, nobody always "on" forever.

I think its time to go off topic a bit. What I usually do in my Chinese blog is to dig up some video clips from youtube, and introduce them here. I tend to turn my attention to the ads on TV ... for no apparent reasons.

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First one is a promo from National Geographic Channel Australia. If you watch other versions of the channel, the chance is, you have never seen the following clip before as it is for the Australian version only.

This is the most beautiful, in fact, most elegant piece of art I've ever seen on all the television channels you can get in New Zealand. But sadly, as a lot of wonderful things in New Zealand, this promo is also made in Aussie.

Second one is an ad of gorilla drumming and trying to sell you ... Cadbury Chocolate.

I understand this "gorilla campaign" débuted in the United Kingdom some time in 2007, and New Zealanders saw this ad on their tellies a year later. The ad was a huge success in the UK and it was so prominent, there is even a Wikipedia article for it. In New Zealand, the ad helped the song in the ad (Phil Collins, "In the Air Tonight") re-enter the NZ singles chart and briefly reached #1.

However, I am still having difficulty of understanding how this ad is suppose to work. What's the connection between a gorilla drumming and chocolates? This ad appeared on TV many times but I still cannot recall which brand the ad is for before the brand name appears at the end.

Third one is a Kiwi classic - "we don't know how lucky we are". I doubt if there is need for me to introduce this song to New Zealand audiences.

This is a remake version as no original version is available on youtube at the moment. Sadly, again, as a lot of good things in New Zealand, they are either made in Australia, or become Australian later like John Clarke.

The last one is an example of how not to do your TV ads. It's in Chinese so I'll explain it a bit later.

If you were suspecting your computer crashed like how a video tape jams a player, you are far from alone. It's in Chinese, and there are basically three parts:

恒源祥，北京奥运会赞助商，龙龙龙！

Heng Yuan Xiang, sponsor of the Beijing Olympics, dragon dragon dragon !

First part is the brand name, second part is very self explanatory. The phrase has been repeated 12 times in the ad, and only the last part is different in every loop. Like in the example, the ad went on to read every Chinese zodiac animal three times in every 'loop". Hardly innovative, but highly annoying. When this ad first appeared on Chinese TV, most people I know got up from their couch and had a very close inspection of their TV just to make sure it is still working.

There were also people who went further and called their local TV Stations, besought the station to take off the ad. I wasn't in China at the time but I understand for the business, it was a huge campaign and the ad appeared in almost all channels.

not bad, but just that.

It's weekend so I didn't mind to spent pretty much whole night to watch the Olympics opening ceremony.

I didn't expected a lot out of Director Zhang Yimou（张艺谋）,so I must say it was better than I expected.

It got lots of things in it, Four Great Inventions of ancient China, the great voyage of Zheng He, teachings from "Analects" ... etc.

I don't know, non-chinese may think them as very interesting, but at least I think, the performance lacked "real substances", just 2008 people wearing ancient chinese dress or tai-chi suit running around - without a objective.

TV ONE didn't prepare well for the live coverage, it lacked commentaries. Even I found it difficult to understand what are all those people running around suppose to mean; for people who have little or knowledge on Chinese history, I imagine there is no possibility that they well ever understand any parts of the ceremony.

What I liked was the first theme - use of drums to count down.  Great light effect, very majestic, yet it is still closely linked to Chinese culture - well, if my memory serves me right, drumming in the night, or dusk traditionally is a gesture of sending the deceased on the final journey, the road to burial.

Anyway, it's not too bad  though, TV ONE should have highlights today, have look if you got time, or here.

Great telly tonight

When people talking about BBC made drama, the first thing jump up in my head is that old "coronation street".

Life on Mars is quite different, though.

It's about police procedure, but with a bizarre twist: a 21st century DCI found himself woke up in 1970s after a car crash, become a DI, and confused whether he is really back in time or just in a deep comma that everything he experiences is not real.

It has a right mix of policing, fun, history, love and self discovery. The modern DCI, Sam Tyler, is in the journey to discover what happened to his family, and himself in the past.

The drama is not an attempt to portrait the 70s accurately, but has a quite wide range of music and references to current affairs and events in the 70s.

I usually only watch documentaries and news on telly, but this one is too good to miss. Season one of the series finished airing on TV ONE last year, Season two starts tonight at 8.30pm.

Highly recommended.

New Year...

I'm not the "party type" of person who usually go out and go crazy in holidays. I more prefer to travel around, or at least sit in front of TV and have a lazy ... and a relax new year.

What really saddens me is the programmes on New Zealand Television and radio. Vienna New Year's Concert is a must for my new year since when I was 8 or something.

I don't know how New Zealand TV looked like when I was 8, but for all the years I have been here, I haven't seen anything rather than outdated movies and usually soaps on tv during the New Year holiday.

Even the Radio New Zealand Concert won't play anything impressive for new year.

I don't want download programmes through torrent network, but I'm tired to listen to BBC radio 3 online every year for the concert, without seeing any pictures.

Aussies, even african countries can enjoy the concert live on TV. I guess this is just another reason why the grass in greener on other side of the ditch.