Singapore Advertisements

Singapore tv has some excellent adverts; they have a great sense of humour. Here are some of my favourites:

Tiger Beer

Subway

Whatever

Smooth E

Marriot Hotel, All You Can Eat

My New Music Love: Yui

I've recently been addicted to Japanese alternative artist YUI. Her songs are amazingly catchy, even if I can't sing along: I can still hum their tunes. I think she's doing an excellent job of changing the image of J-Rock, which has always been that its a little odd and perhaps not as good as American or British music. Her albums all stand up brilliantly against more popular Western artists; the sales in Japan are incredible figures. I hope that by posting this I can create at least one more Yui fan. Here's some of my favourite songs:

Yui - Again
 

Yui - Goodbye Days


Yui - Rolling Star 

 Yui - Life

The Best Zelda Music Videos Online

I'm a big fan of soundtrack music, I seriously have half my itunes full of music from films, tv and games. Zelda music is always so excellently composed and perfectly captures the mood of whatever is happening in the game. So its no wonder really that it has inspired so many people to learn the songs and perform them, Youtube is literally crawling with videos of people playing Zelda music, but here are a few of my favourites:

Legend of Zelda Majora's Mask: Song of Healing Cello Quartet


Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time: Song Theme

Legend of Zelda The Wind Waker: Opening Theme

 

Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time: Gerudo Valley on Marimba

Legend of Zelda Link to the Past: Darkworld on Ocarina

5 Reasons To Read Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim

Of course, by now everyone knows Scott Pilgrim, or at least they know of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, the excellent film by Edgar Wright, starring Michael Cera. But a few years ago, my brother handed me a copy of Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life, and I've been hooked on the six volume series since. So, here for you are five reasons to pick up a copy of Precious Little Life and enter the bizaare world of Scott Pilgrim.

1. Character Development
The Scott Pilgrim series boasts a large cast of brilliantly weird characters, each with their own subplots and complicated relationships/histories. Of course, with the length of an average feature film being as it is, this all had to be cut from the film version. Inevitable as it was, its a shame, because they're so interesting and they really make the graphic novels what they are. There are some excellent moments including the secondary characters in the novels; Young Neil becoming isolated from his friends, and when accused of being an asshole, stating "Im young, I'll grow out of it"; Lynette Guycott, the cyborg drummer of Clash at Demonhead; or Joseph, Kim Pine's rude gay roommate who makes Stephen Stills realise he is gay.


2. You'll Actually Like Ramona
This is connected to the last point, but still, my one and only complaint with the film is that you never really see Ramona in a positive light, until perhaps the very last moments. The graphic novels tell a slightly different version of Ramona, who whilst at first is very distant and maybe even cold towards Scott, warms to him and his friends. She's really a character that I had a lot of sympathy for when reading the graphic novels, in love but still tangled up in her past. Definately the superior Ramona.

3. The Geek References

Of course, this won't appeal to everyone, however, if you appreciated the Fairy Fountain theme from Zelda playing in Scott's dream sequence, or Final Fantasy "Item" sound effects, then you will love the graphic novels. They're riddled with nods towards classic videogames, music and comics. Its only a little thing, but everytime I got a reference I had a little smile to myself. But don't let this put you off if you don't play videogames; my brother didn't get any of the references and he loves the series.

4. You'll Appreciate The Film More
This may seem an odd thing to say, but you really will. Many of the scenes are superbly shot to imitate the frames of the graphic novels; the scene where Scott and Ramona meet at the party and the Garlic Bread scene spring to mind. But perhaps the most impressive is the fight scene between Matthew Patel and Scott, which is so faithful to the books I couldn't stop smiling after seeing it. Edgar Wright really went to great lengths to retain the tone and magic of the graphic novels, and it shows.

5. Comedic Timing
It will perhaps be one of the funniest books you'll have read in a long time. You'll go for a few pages of what seems like serious conversation, and then a character will come out with the oddest thing imaginable. There are several moments that will make you read the same page again and again. The artwork compliments the comedy in just the right places. Perhaps the most important thing to say about the humour of Scott Pilgrim is that it is clever. It doesn't insult the intelligence of the reader, and you won't get all the jokes on your first read through.

Which is why you won't read this book once. You'll keep picking it up, and that is its magic.

 

Currently listening to:    The Blood Brothers: Young Machetes