My blog
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Coldplay X AudioTraffic X Captain Lu X Journey !!!
Monday, Mar 30, 2009 8:23PM / Standard Entry
This month I was lucky enough catch some great shows that came into town and now I really can't wait to get my CD out. It was really inspiring watching Coldplay, Mercury Rev, Audiotraffic, Captain Lu, and Journey play their best songs and just kick @ss. Hopefully more people will continue to support live and original music in HK. Peace!This was my second time watching Coldplay (the first time was when they came to HK in 2006) and they still put on a great show. They'll turn any casual listener into a big fan in one song!The band rocked their big hits with some of the new material from their "Viva la Vida" album. Despite all the hype you can tell its well deserved from their performance, musicianship, and enthusiasm.Got big yellow balls? Check.
During the show they also went out into the back of the venue and did a few acoustic tunes before ending under their Viva banner.
Mercury Rev were the opening band and they were awesome. It was unfortunate that it took so long for people to get to their seats but by the end of their set they won them over.Coldplay's "Life in Technicolor" video. So funny!
A week earlier we went to Macau to watch Audiotraffic play with Journey at the Venetian. The guys played a good set and it was awesome to see them open for such a legendary band.
Adrian and Don rockin' the tele's!
After a short break Journey came out and took us all back to the 80's with their hits like "Don't stop believing" and "Open Arms" !
I pretty much knew a good amount of the tunes just from hearing them so much in my favorite movies. "Hey I know that this song from that scene where........"
Arnel Pineda was the focus of the night because he was picked to sing for the band from playing in a Journey cover band who's footage was on Youtube. He also used to play in Hong Kong clubs regularly so a lot of his peeps were in the crowd supporting that night. Amazing!
Captain Lu (盧廣仲) also made it to town and killed it!
Easily one of the best voices I've ever heard live! When I saw his CD in the store I didn't pick it up since he didn't look like someone I would be into but after Rozy & Race gave me his CD I became a big fan. Great songwriting and great singing. Don't let his looks deceive you!
Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ro_d6435psCaptain Lu (盧廣仲) "我愛你"
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Nine Inch Nails+Jane's Addiction+Street Sweeper= NINJA!!!
Thursday, Mar 26, 2009 2:25AM / Standard Entry
Nine Inch Nails, Jane's Addition, and Street Sweeper (featuring Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine) are going on tour in May for the "NIN/JA Tour" and it looks like it's gonna be a pretty awesome show. To celebrate they just uploaded a FREE EP with two unreleased tracks from each band. You can get it here. I wish I can make this tour.....
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Groovisions "MGR"!!!
Monday, Mar 23, 2009 11:42PM / Standard Entry
I picked up the new Groovisions book "MGR" recently and it's awesome. It features pretty much all the work done by the super talented design team since they formed in 1993. I first noticed their work when I started recognizing their chappie characters and their popular Brockmann figures. Check it out!What makes Groovisions' work so recognizable is their use of clean designs, color palette, and light humor.This book gives you a look at the books, shirts, special edition packages, and CDs they designed which also include album artwork for bands like Pizzicato Five.I just dig their Brockmann figures that also included skaters, snowboarders, musicians, and animals.
Design work that also included Takashi Murakami and Beat Takeshi.Chappies!Halfby's "Rodeo Machine" video shows a great example their motion graphic style.
We were fortunate enough to check out their exhibition "Groovisions HKG" last time they were in town (2006). Hopefully they'll be back soon.
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Sapporo !!!
Monday, Mar 16, 2009 11:00PM / Standard Entry
After our five days in Hirafu we decided to swing by Sapporo and look around before heading back home. It was nice checking out another town and unfortunealy we just missed the world famous Sapporo snow festival by just a few days. Oh well next time.....The Sapporo tower!Under the tower I saw a father and son having a snowball fight on one of the mounds that used to be a snow sculpture. So funny.The dad showing no mercy........"Take that son" !The best part of walking around there was going to Tokyu Hands, Tower Records, and Mandrake toys! Yeah!!Sapporo clock tower....Got crabs?
The Big Boss guitar shop shared the same space with MI (musician's institute)/ESP. There's some pretty interesting ESPs on display inside too.Of course being in Sapporo we had to do a bit of tourist stuff so we checked out the world famous Sapporo Beer Factory!There's a cool museum in the original building with old distillers and memorbilia displaying their history.The original plaque!Some old school beer ads!One of the coolest places was the "Creators Stage" next to the factory that featured all sorts of local one of a kind jewelry, clothing, and pottery. Each booth had a unique style and the artists were right there making the products!I picked up a Suso bag (www.hitohari.com) and watched him put it together right there using various jean materieals. Dope!I think I had some sort of katsu everyday of the trip. I just love japanese food and I got hooked on these caramels and sweet bread too. I need to diet so bad now....
After everyone left I had one full day with me, myself, and I so I took the JR to the old port city of Otaru. They have a famous canal and some pretty cool parks and museums but unfortunately it was so cold and snowy that everything was closed and covered...d'oh!While waiting at the Chitose airport hoping my flight wouldn't be cancelled due to the heavy snow (it was shut down the day before) I managed to pick up a huge Hokkaido crab for the fam. It looks like some sort of alien...haha.
Kingsley was sooo happy we were finally home!! But don't tell him we didn't want to leave the mountain and snow so fast.....haha!
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Niseko Snowboard Trip !!!
Wednesday, Mar 4, 2009 10:30PM / Standard Entry
Its been five long years since I went snowboarding and when the possibility of meeting up with some friends in Hokkaido (Dan, Lisa, Eddie, Simon, Cleo, Justin, Pete, Eric) came up I didn't think twice. The thought of going to Japan and flying down a mountain sounded like so much fun. So after a few days of planning we booked a place, got our tickets, and it was on. I always heard that Niseko had some of the best powder in the world and after checking it out I would have to agree. You have to check it out sometime....After the flight, bus ride, and lots of snow we finally arrived at the bottom of the Hirafu Village chair lifts!Good times!It felt soooo good being strapped onto a board while heading up a mountain full of fresh powder.The view from the top!During the first couple of days it was snowing all day and night and on the third day the skies cleared up so we rushed to the top to get the goods. Check out the untouched knee-high powder!! Sweet!Simon is one of the fastest guys around. He can bomb the slope like there's no tomorrow!It was definitely one of the coldest conditions to board in so I had to buy a "ninja" mask. Sometimes the wind and snow got so strong that you would get a ice cream headaches in the gaps between your googles and your beanie/helmet.The gang! Guess who's in the posse.....(check the tags..)
Warming up during lunch at the bottom of Annpuri!A little clip I filmed while waiting of the rest of the gang.Since I love Japanese food I was in heaven. I'm used to cheap tasteless hotdogs and watered down cokes during breaks so this was a awesome change. I think I gained 10 pound just from all the good food up there!It was -10 with strong winds so these little heating pads were a godsend.
Our home for five days. Check out that view from our window....I miss it already..We saw some sled dogs chilling in their ice cubbies with the "please take me for a ride" look. Maybe next time..Check out this bbq lamb restaruant. I think it only had one table in there but it smelled freakin' good.This place is a perfect place for night skiiing too!After two days of snow....Some memorable snowmen around town.On our last night we had a big dinner at the Bang Bang restaurant.
"Grilled Salmon Sperm"?... Not sure what it really is but no thanks....Since we were in Hokkaido we had to have some real deal Hokkaido crab! So tasty!
There was some shrimp, beef, chicken, clams, squid, and of course chicken hearts!Dan showing us that the octopus' suction pads are still fully functional after they're long and gone.
Pete next to Justin rockin' the handycam!On the way back we hit the vending machine and got a warm drink on the way back to the hotel. They also have warm corn soup too!
So that was our awesome trip to Hirafu. If you ever want to hit up some great powder I would highly recommend it (look at the slopes outside that window!). Dan and Eddie also posted their pics too so check it out.
