Coldplay: The VIVA LA VIDA Tour 
Singapore Indoor Stadium
Monday 23 March 2009


The euphoria in the air as the lights finally went off, and the strains of Life in Technicolour filled the stadium, is unforgettable. After over an hour of waiting, the glow of golden twirling sparklers wielded by four figures steadily moving onto stage sent everyone in a frenzy of screaming. Shadows of the band, jamming on their guitars and instruments, cast themselves onto smokescreens. "Was a long and dark December" Chris sang - and the crowd erupted into song. 

Truly, the fan fervour, the earnest charm and honest singing of Coldplay and the simply electric atmosphere that came out of this made the night for me. 

A simple review:

The set list - 25 tracks in all according to Coldplaying.com - struck a good balance between the fast and slow, the popular and not so well-known songs. Favourites off Viva La Vida - Violet Hill, 42, Strawberry Swing, Lost! and Lovers in Japan - were intermixed with pieces off the Prospekt's March edition like Glass of Water and earlier hits like Clocks, In My Place and of course, Yellow. 

Visually, the stage was simple; a large ball and 2 screens hung from the ceiling, overseeing platforms jutting out into the left and right of the pit. But the lights were gorgeous - from the soft blue glow illuminating a huge backdrop of Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People, to the red and green laser lights lashing across the stadium like titular hands of Clocks, to the multi-coloured balls and other permutations of the lighting system. "Props" like the giant yellow balls bouncing out of nowhere for Yellow, and the butterfly confetti for Lovers in Japan added to the spectacle. 

I was impressed by the humility of Chris Martin - lead singer and hence de facto spokesman for the group - whenever he spoke to the audience. There was not so much banter - though of course, obligatory compliments were made, lines were changed to "And the night over Singapore Bay" in Cemeteries of London, and attempts were made to rouse the crowd. But there seemed a genuineness in the voice and words. And many in the crowd bitterly rued not getting seats in the far section diagonally on the left where the band bounded over to for a brief set before the interlude. In a refreshing change, Will Champion took over the singing for Death Will Never Conquer before a light-hearted rendition of I'm a Believer. Then came the Coldwave! (But more of that later)

What I enjoyed: 

• The awesomeness of hearing Coldplay LIVE, and singing - really, almost shouting - the lyrics of the songs I know
• Hearing the stadium reverberate with the voices of fellow fans doing the exact same thing together 
• Throwing inhibitions to the wind to groove-move to the music - like almost everyone else (Essentially, the opportunity to behave and look like an idiot in the safety of a 12,000-strong and very noisy crowd) 
• The instinctive eruption of joy at the opening notes of familiar songs.

Favourite Moments:

• Every chorus and verse of Coldplay classics (or soon-to-be classics) which the crowd sang united, word for word 
  Seeing gigantic yellow balls bouncing across the pit as the lights flashed saffron yellow to herald the start of the very 1st Coldplay hit, Yellow 
• The crowd echoing "oh-oh-OHH-oh-ohhhhhh-oh" around the stadium - first, hesitantly during Viva La Vida itself, and then, hopefully and persistently to coax Coldplay into an encore (which was rather amusing and yet moving).
• All the slides of Japan and old black-and-white snaps that played in the opening to Lovers in Japan, and the sudden confetti rain that showered down the centre. 
• Chris playing a beautiful Postcards from Far Away on the piano, emblazoned with the VIVA logo, that had been shifted out onto extreme end of the right platform.
• The 'Coldwave' - when Chris asked the crowd to hold up their cellphones in a Mexican wave, for only the 2nd time in the tour
• Having Life in Technicolour II play as an encore
• Chris tinkling the ivories for the last time to play The Scientist. 

 . . .

And so, despite the long wait, the strange pre-show intermission of 25 minutes when the crew set up the stage after Mercury Rev's opening set, the endless strobelights of camera flashes blinding from every angle, the light of thousands of phones and cameras held up to record every little thing - it was a fantastic experience.  :)

Just wanted to jot down my thoughts on Episode 11 before I watch the raw for Episode 12 that lies waiting - and my views are forever coloured by the end.

No summary for now, since far better bloggers have already released their reviews of this.


Thoughts & Analysis

The final moments of Toshokan Sensou 11 left me in a complete state of shock. Even though I had found out through forums that Genda had been shot, I was totally taken aback to see Genda pelted with bullets like a rag doll, and flopping over onto the ground. It was so excessive and now, on my 4th or 5th viewing, I wonder "Didn't he have a bullet-proof vest?? He's the head for goodness sake!'

And Dojo - how can I forget the boxes falling over him in a tidal wave, the flames leaping up in orange flashes? I scrutinised the trailers several times, trying to determine if the figure in a martial arts gi (uniform) was Dojo, but concluded, sadly, that it was Kasahara and the legs that came in belonged to Shibasaki. I wondered what state he would be in, how injured he would be - but thought, surely, he MUST survive - it's just a question of HOW he emerged from the fire. And I shall say no more for I have seen the teaser and spoiler for Episode 12.

Artistically, I've started appreciating the greyness of the morning, as 6.00 AM struck and the maroon truck came bursting onto the scene, for it sets up the contrast to the predominant oranges and reds that steadily encroached as the battle built up to its climax. Kasahara's visions (hallucinations?) as she panics somehow brought to mind Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaa - the Media Enforcement soldiers appeared as menacing as the omu bugs. And then of course you have the fire in the warehouse.

Character-wise, I found the exchange between Komaki and Enoki (the Media Enforcement guy from Episode 6 who shot Komaki) actually interesting, as it shed light on the men on the Media Enforcement side and made them more human, more realistic. For all his smiling niceness and laughing, Komaki does have a serious side too; it's nice to see that he does have serious views as a Library Force member.

Finally, IkuXDojo (thanks to haya5h1 at toshokan_senso for this 'proper' 'ship name):

I was quite amused to see how Kasahara and Dojo seemed to be ALWAYS together when the Task Force was preparing for battle - whether it be setting up a table or taking up battle gear - and somehow she was assigned to be Dojo's "messenger" during the battle itself, meaning that she had to stick to him. (Hmm, I wonder if Dojo had something to do with that :p)

Kasahara was really pro-active this episode - actually inviting Dojo to come with her to "see something"! As some have commented, the scene of them with the chamomile flowers was sweet. Dojo looked so genuinely delighted to see the flowers! On his side, Dojo's concern still shone through the little things, even if they were not so obvious as Episode 9's. I liked how he told Kasahara that a bullet-proof vest (?) a size bigger would be better and how he took over the shield she was struggling to hold up to tell her to retreat into the art museum. (Kasahara of course refused to leave her Prince's side, uttering a quote-worthy phrase of wanting to watch the same scene with Dojo till the end) And oh, the expression in his eyes before he tells her to protect her own life first in the greenhouse the night before.

A review of Toshoukan Sensou's Episode 10.

Postscript

My apologies for this review being so long - it's my very first anime review and I just got carried away scrutinising all the details. I did enjoy it though despite the very long time it took. If I do write another one soon, it'd definitely be shorter - no time!

Anyway, this review was born out of frustration over the very few resources/blogs there are out there for Toshokan Sensou, despite me frequenting AnimeBlogger.net Antenna and Google.  It's based on my poor understanding of Japanese as well as reading of Chinese subs. Please forgive me for any errors and let me know!

Hope to hear your thoughts and discussion on this anime!

What remains with me is the image of teardrops of rain flowing behind the stained-glass portrait of a madonna and a crutch,  at the window where Neville Longbottom had stood staring, before "Mad Eye" Moody came to lead him away. Something I think no one else saw fit to remember. And so this isn't your typical movie review. Only the impressions of a fan from a literary point of view. 

I read Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire for the second time in five years on Saturday night. It improved greatly on re-reading, and was something my mind kept flickering to as I watched the film today. Many things changed; I am not sure for better or worse. Delighted as I was to slowly discover that there was no Dobby, his role in giving Gillyweed being pushed to Neville, there were jarring gaps as we were pulled, Portkey-style through an often-times stop-gap series of events. 

What was wrong - wrong in the sense of lack of faith to the story? - What was simply different? 

Let's start with the cast: 

The main ones - Harry, Ron and Hermione. Ron is simply getting tall (and muscular if his opening bed scene in a singlet is anything to go by). Though my friend insists it's just that Daniel Radcliffe is short - even Neville is taller now! Emma Watson, it has been said, is too pretty for Hermione; I reserve judgement - she's pretty and that's all. 

The contenders: Cedric Diggory fit well - the actor was handsome and natural enough, though more intelligent than the book had painted. Viktor Krum was not what I had imagined him to be at all - too beefy and muscular though again my friend(s) assure me that he is authentically Bulgarian. And yet there is little sulkiness or gawkiness, just the caricature of a jock. He is too clean-cut, but certainly military-looking as were his schoolmates at Drumstang. But this is my personal preference. And Fleur Delacour - not seductive or siren-ish enough as befitting her Veela blood, but certainly graceful if that is the contrast the producers wanted to convey: grace (Beauxbatons) vs strength (Drumstang). She grew on one, even if she was more English-looking than anything and was made out as a damsel in distress. Don't get me started on the rather ridiculous entrance that Mike Newell made the two schools' students do: rather overdone, especially for the girls, with the fluttering feathers of the birds from under their blue capes. The boys militaristic march, apart from the ending acrobatics, was not so bad. 

Who else? Much has been said about the choice for Cho Chang. She's alright, but not really pretty. The new characters such as Barty Crouch (rather English old-school prim schoolmaster), his son Barty Junior, "Mad Eye" Moody, Rita Skeeter... weren't that outstanding. Of the old, Michael Gambon, as Dumbledore, lacks dignity and gravitas somehow. I reserve a special comment that Arthur Weaseley is NOT supposed to be pudgy! 

And now back to the story:

This story is all about the Quidditch World Cup, the Triwizard Tournament and of course the return of You-Know-Who. The rather draggy opening of the novel is resolved in fifteen minutes flat by Mike Newell, leaving out the joys of wizarding tents, Muggle torture, and Quidditch - in fact anti-climatically not showing any part of the Ireland vs Bulgaria match. Of which maybe the ending minute or so might have sufficed. Anyway, there was no Winky (Barty Crouch's house elf), an omission which should have prepared us for the total mauling of this vital but still non-Harry subplot. "Mad Eye" Moody, you see, was an imposter, played by Barty Crouch Junior with Polyjuice. This latter person receives a fair bit of attention in the movie, where he gets introduced and shown in his younger and handsomer self rather than the scared teenager or wrecked adult in the book. The failure of the movie to adequately explain (or re-explain) the connection between Senior, Junior, Moody and Voldemort is confusing certainly to non-fans; with no hints apart from the obvious ploy of having Barty Senior stare at "Moody" once before he is discovered dead by Harry on some unexplained excursion by the trio and Hagrid to the Forbidden Forest. 

As for the Triwizard Tournament itself, there is no doubt that the special effects are stunning. Monsters are rendered as strikingly as possible, with lots of additional melodrama such as a Hungarian Horntail dragon breaking free of its chains and chasing Harry all over the rooftops of Hogwarts, pecking at him while our hero strives valiantly to reach his firebolt. The Grindylows were also horrific, and much of the second task is carried out in murky water. These dull shades in fact permeate and start spreading throughout the colour palette of the movie, culminating in the third task of the maze. A truly scary part, jazzed up by crushing hedges that suddenly close in on our unsuspecting champions. This innovation on the movie's part added much fear and suspense, what with the greyish fog and usual digetic music. The Yule Ball earlier was a welcome break from the monotonous colour scheme, with the humour of Ron's dingy Edwardian robes and much celebratory dances taken from many angles of many characters (there was even a modern club-feel with a wizarding rock band). Hermione's Cinderella moment on the stairs, where she sat crying like a soap opera heroine after telling Ron "you've ruined everything" tearfully with dishevelled hair, was... too much. 

When it came to the crunch, Ralph Fiennes' Voldemort did not stand up to the stature of the Dark Lord. His voice was neither cold nor mysterious, merely lukewarm rather than chilling. His behaviour in the duel further diminished any fear one had of him - indeed, I later overheard comments that his pronouncements of "I shall destroy you" (sic) and "Noooooooooooooo!" (when Potter escaped) were reminiscent of Star Wars(!) and rather inappropriately funny. 

The movie ended as abruptly as it started - having left out plot points that would have led into the next novel/film: Madam Maxine's giant blood (which reminds me that this Madam Maxine is too thin, and stereotypical - in a negative way), Harry giving Fred and George his Triwizard winnings to set up a joke shop, etc. 

Having written so much, you might think that I disliked the movie. That is not true. Actually, I rather enjoyed the movie! It is certainly a Hollywood blockbuster, with (as mentioned) wonderful special effects. The emergence of the Viking ship from the waters and the appearance of the flying horse-drawn Beauxbatons carriage were lovely, for instance. Cinematograhically, I loved the way many of the shots were framed - a medium shot of Harry and Hermione talking on the bridge, the classic top shot of the dancing couples, some mirror reflection shots, Cho standing looking up at Harry at the pigeon tower, her black hair standing out against the white, and so on. Though I have to admit that most of the styling was CHC (classic hollywood cinema). I think. Perhaps the main fault might be the editing - for many of the shots I felt were cut too soon to the next, leaving us rather breathless and bewildered at times, particularly at the beginning.

On the whole,  Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire is an entertaining movie that will do well at the box office. Just don't expect to understand everything and prepare to be scared ;)

My favourite childhood cartoon, finally unearthed from the bowels of the eighties... :)

If you have ever reminisced over the golden days of childhood with me, switching channels to talk of cartoons, I would inevitably have gushed to you about this one particular cartoon which I remember liking very much but somehow could not remember the name of. All I could describe was that it involved three friends - a bear, a caterpillar and a third party - who were on a journey looking for blue crystals in a magical land (much like Inuyasha and gang are searching for the Shikon shards). And there was, of course, the evil villain and his sidekick - which I remembered fondly as "Sharky", being a sorta creature with a shark-like or stubby fish-like body, and one foot with which he hopped around on, and a single horn sticking out of its forehead with a turf of hair around it. I remembered him as blue, and as the sort of bumbling villian who can be bad but good too at some times, helping out out our heroes inadvertently. That's really all I remembered, but no one, of course, had heard of it - it was too obscure. So I continued wistfully mentioning it when I got the chance of it, and put it aside in the storehouse of childhood memories the rest of the time.

Until yesterday, when I was reading a friend's friend's friend's journal entry on her Remembrance of Things Past, which recollected, amongst other fads, fashions and feelings of our generation, cartoons. Including two words. "Teddy Ruxpin". Hmm..., I thought. A bear in a catergory of "cartoons I'm sure no one elserememb ers" ... Could it be??

It was! :D

The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin, as the TeddyRuxpin Supersite and other sites my search engine threw up, was the longlooked-for cartoon I had forgotten. So I finally have a title for you. I found out that the mysterious third friend was actually a "human" professor, absent-minded and fussy; that "Sharky" wasn't called "Sharky" but "L. B. the Bounder" :( and was red, not blue - and that his master was Tweeg, a trying-his-best-to-be-bad villain who has been voted one of the best-loved villains of 80s cartoons online. Viewing the pictures in the gallery, which were much more muted and dated than my rose-coloured/technicoloured memories would allow, was dampening somehow. Not to mention I was really quite disappointed there was no "Sharky"!

I also discovered the The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin actually sprang from a toy, Teddy Ruxpin, the first animated-talking bear which would read stories when fed tapes. Now this I definitely do remember - after all the hours watching tv and ads! Even my friendrememb ered this toy when I mentioned it to her.  Also, the cartoon series apparently has a good reputation as a series with a story :) So I had good taste from early on! hee  (... just joking! :P)

Well, that's all for today! I wonder if anyone else remembers this cartoon now...

What Inuyasha Hero Are You?
Hosted by theOtaku.com: Anime. Done right.

I don't know much about Sango, especially since she just "officially" appeared on the scene in tonight's Inuyasha episode 24, but from what I know of her, I like her - and I really admire her. A woman warrior, she is strong, able to hold her own amongst the men of her village - perhaps her father's claim that she is the "best in the province" is not mere boasting. She has skill with her - what is it, really? - 'boomerang' weapon, and she can really take care of herself. And yet, she is thoroughly feminine as well, and caring. The tragedy of Sango lies in the annihilation of her village and before that, the man-slaughter of her father and his fellow-slayers by the boy-brother Kouhaku -- and the troubled relationship between them thereafter. Because Kouhaku really was controlled by Naraku, and as we come to see, he is struggling too, as much as she is. They are both struggling ... for each other...

It's so sad really. Watching the story unfold and unfurl, the secret province of the slayers opening up to reveal the little family scene that I had already witnessed, in Sango's flashback in episode 48 thereabouts^, knowing the sheer tragedy that was going to happen as Kouhaku is caught by a silver thread and slashes away at his father, at the uncles that had helped him earlier when he was so scared - "it was Kouhaku's first battle experience," Sango remembers - and Sango's horror at it all... And then when she feels a hack at her back, we see Kouhaku's weapon embedded there as he, on the other end, finally seems released from his spell and falls sobbing crying for his sister. He was only - or is only - eleven years old. The Lord (aka demon in disguise) gives the orders, and the arrows pierce and kill them off, one by one. But not quite...

(^ I somehow downloaded 48-54 - and that's all I have. If only some kind soul could point me to a fast and consistent source!)

Anyway, I just tried the Inuyasha quiz and was quite surprised - and honoured?? - to be 'selected' as Sango. I'm not sure if I "deserve" it - everyone knows how these online tests are - but I would like to be like her :)

I am now the proud owner of Kodansha's furigana Japanese-English Dictionary (Asian Edition), which I have seen on the shelves of Kinokuniya for ever so long, and finally fixed on buying today :) Flipping through the pages, it's pretty clean and clear-cut, with a few examples per entry, and it's quite palatable to the eye. Learning-wise, it's probably better for me to force myself to search via hiragana/katakana, rather than relying on romanized dictionaries. And it's actually affordable really, at $33.50 - considering Neil Gaiman's Sandman: Endless Nights cost $27.90 - and why not now, with a 20% voucher? So I paid for it and brought it home.

*bestows a fond look at jisho next to her on the table, notwithstanding the not-so-favourable reviews googled up*

Well, maybe it is limited - even as a learner's dictionary - and its vocabulary not so varied. (I stopped reading the reviews so as not to dampen my shopping spirits too much) But I think it's enough for me. I may not even need it, or use it much. And my knowledge is really completely basic.

I had dreams when I came back of trying to translate the latest chapters of Fruits Basket or something like that on the bus back, of writing down the lyrics to my favourite songs like 'sunny day holiday' and 'LOVE LIFE', which I have never found translations for, and even 'Paradise', the latest PoT (aka tenipuri) opening theme. Actually, I probably won't get round to doing it unless I'm in the mood for it; I am too ambitious. I can hardly tell how to translate the simple line of "kimi wa sunny day boku no holiday" (which I understand perfectly without a dictionary, duh) into a sentence that makes sense. And in the new year, there won't be time... But one can hope.

Jaa ne, it's time for Inuyasha... 

Advent Children

The blackened ruins of an old city. Footsteps echo through the stained-glassed interior of a church where once flowers bloomed. A man with spiky golden hair walks, turns, looks you in the eye – and is off: zipping away on a bike evading tentacles of firepower, clashing swords with silver-haired opponents, battling the demons of a past that did not end with the water-burial of a dear friend.

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‘Reunion? You feel it too, then.’

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Welcome back to the world of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, the DVD-movie sequel to Final Fantasy VII that will be released this summer of 2004, the latest incarnation in a long line of Final Fantasy games since 1987. And perhaps it is this very feeling of ‘reunion’ – of a get-together of long-lost friends – that accounts for the very emotional experience that watching the trailer described above was for me. Seeing how the comically chunky SD (super-deformed) characters of the 1997 Playstation game translated into their virtually life-like modern forms of Square’s cutting-edge graphics illustrated how much the series has matured over the years – and reminded me of how I too had grown up along it. I have hardly played Final Fantasy in the five years I have known it, but that hardly affects my appreciation of its aesthetics, and the very real emotion that the stories and characters inspire in me and other ‘normal’ gaming fans. Every Final Fantasy is really a journey that we share with a party of protagonists whose outlooks are so much like ours. Cloud, Squall, Rinoa, Zidane, Garnet, Tidus and Yuna are all the children of our times. In their worlds we see a reflection of our own, in their struggles is written the story of our own lives (or how we would like it to be). That Final Fantasy’s popularity stretches from Japan to Singapore to the U.S.A simply shows the universality of its Japanese creators’ concern – a testimony to how its themes speak to us all, the advent children of an uncertain age.

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What do you think you’ve found? … Here, in this dying world?’

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An apocalyptic vision confronts us with every Final Fantasy. Worlds fall apart wrecked by war; the earth is dying under the hands of men. Dreams of empire and world domination by Emperor Gestal in FFVI, the sorceress Edea in FFVIII and Queen Brahne in FFIX surely remind us of the wars in our own time.  Perhaps it is not surprising that such a plea for peace should have come from Japan, which suffered the utter defeat of its imperial ambitions in WWII. Such anti-militaristic sentiments as we see expressed by Squaresoft’s designers are deeply held by the only major nation today to have a constitutional clause forever renouncing war, and forbidding the maintenance of offensive forces. The anxieties of society in this rapidly changing age come to extend to the Japanese fascination with technology as well. Futuristic machinery and gadgets used by the likes of the Al-Bhed tribe in FFX are often held in suspicion. A fear that technology can destroy the natural environment is often present, and indeed realized in FFVII, where the relentless extraction of Mako energy – the vital energy source of the Planet – reduces the capital Midgar into a murky inhospitable hell.

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’Why do people depend on each other? In the end you’re on your own.’

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Like the samurai warrior of old, the Final Fantasy hero stands often alone – at least to begin with – in these brave new worlds. His is the “Way of the Warrior”, his code of conduct very much resembling the traditional bushidō ethic of stoicism, self-sacrifice, and non-attachment to both the material world and life itself. Often an outsider to his own community, he is the epitome of the “tall, dark and handsome” man so celebrated by contemporary culture. The broodingly-handsome Squall Leonhart of FFVII (who never smiles until the very end of the game’s epilogue), the solitary mercenary Cloud Strife of FFVII, and the taciturn older man Auron in FFX are all models in this pattern. What makes them – and the Final Fantasy heroines – so compelling, however, is the constant process of growth, maturity and self-discovery that even the older characters experience. ‘Who am I?’ asks Cloud – a question we have no doubt asked ourselves many times as well in forging our own identities.

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‘I decided to live for your sake. Yes, it was my decision...’

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All we have is each other, to help us through the conflict and confusion of this contemporary world. Friendship is a great support, even if your friends are as ditzy as FFX’s Rikku or as depressed as FFIX’s Vivi– and so is romantic love, a key focus in the later Final Fantasies. Final Fantasy VIII – the one FF you must surely know if you know FF at all – was, after all, the game whose love theme between Squall and Rinoa hurled Final Fantasy fully into mainstream consciousness in 1999. What draws us FF fans back to the game time and time again, therefore, is ultimately a sense of human connection to their extraordinary worlds, which are so much like our own and yet not like it.