Shadow Puppets Gone Wild

Just a quickie to tide you over. I've been sick as a dog these past few days and am just starting to feel like I'm recovering. Had to go back to work today because I could just feel it all piling up. Sad huh? Anyway, here's some cool shadow puppetry by a group called Pilobolus on the Conan Show. Is this modern dance, acrobatics or street art?

Paper or Plastic?

Los Angeles, one of the most polluted cities in the U.S., has announced that it's banning all plastic bags from retail stores beginning July 1, 2010. L.A. joins San Francisco in its effort to decrease pollution. This is an interesting move, and I wonder if/when Hawaii will follow suit?

You'd think that someplace like Hawaii, which lives on tourism and an idyllic representation of the land, would be first on the list to do this. It makes sense financially and ecologically, but I think it'll take a while for us to jump on the bandwagon. It always takes a while for things (ideas, fashion, technology and change) to make it across the Pacific and into the minds of islanders.

But, is this lack of desire for change or extreme loyalty to tradition good or bad?

Naked Boys Singing!

Don't ever accuse me of false advertising or extreme exaggeration (well, not about this anyway). Fresh out of my dvd player is a musical theater performance-turned-movie called Naked Boys Singing! (2007). I stumbled upon it while browsing through random dvds on Netflix. Of course, the catchy title drew me, just like those darn Brangelina twins and the Madonna/A Rod affair.

After reading the first three reviews, I realized that the movie was marketed to about 82 percent gay men, 13 percent closeted gay men and 5 percent straight women. We'll, I'm proud to say that I indeed fall into that 5 percent so I quickly added it to my queue and waited anxiously for it to come on over.

When the dvd arrived, I ripped open the package and shoved it in. Interestingly enough, the dvd label was of a naked guy with the center diecut discreetly over his junk. This may well be the only discreet thing about the film.

The opening number, called "Gratuitous Nudity," quickly got the show swinging, and I really do mean swinging. After the initial shock of seeing 10 naked men dancing and singing wore off, I have to say that I really did like the cleverness of the lyrics. The songs were equally funny, touching, poignant and outright in-your-face (as was every anatomical part of the male body).

The show spared no expense and cast actors who could definitely let loose vocally. By the end of the first song, the show wasn't so much about naked guys but more about the art of it all. The message of being naked (physically, emotionally, psychologically) and setting yourself free to live and love was communicated loud and clear.

I'm not sure how gay men would view the film, but as a straight woman I'd give it two thumbs up. The performers were all attractive and very fit. There was a wide range in ethnicities so I guess you could say there was a flavor for everyone (I swear one of the cast members looks like Doug Savant of Melrose Place, another looks like Mark Espinoza of Beverly Hills 90210 and one even looks a bit like Rob Schneider).

The guys weren't hulking with muscles (like Chippendales performers) but many were definitely ripped. Their performance ability was definitely ten times better than any "male revue" out there, which I totally appreciate. I mean, can you believe they actually sang on key and their dance numbers were in sync? And there wasn't any of that corny hip thrusting or crotch grabbing; no unnecessary snake-like undulating or smokey, bedroom-eye gazes. It was basically a good theater number that happened to be about nakedness where all the performers were, well, naked.

As a side note, I attended a Chippendales performance when they were in Hawaii a couple years back when we went out for a friend's hen party. While those guys are good to look at, they couldn't sing or dance worth a damn. They had no rhythm and probably no soul either. I was definitely disappointed. You come to be entertained, but unless you throw yourself into their arms and have an outrageous number of dollar bills for lap dances, the show is not worth its weight in gold. Naked Boys Singing!, on the other hand, was a gem, even with a small budget and limited production time (as noted on the "Making of" video that can be found on the Special Features).

Naked Boys Singing! Trailer

Image sources:

http://www.impawards.com/

http://www.offbroadway.com/

Hola, Que Tal?

I've been meaning to learn another language for a long time, especially with all the resources you can find online these days. I took Japanese in high school and college and actually completed through Japanese 302 (quite a feat in my book), but not having used it since that last class and never having lived in Japan, all that I learned has slowly slipped away. Replacing that useful piece of linguistic knowledge are a bunch of pop culture do-dads that couldn't help me to save my life.

But, yesterday I was talking to a co-worker who speaks Spanish, English, French and Italian and I was inspired. So tonight I subscribed to Coffee Break Spanish on iTunes. The first podcast wasn't too bad, considering I've never studied any Latin languages before. We'll see how it goes though. I wanted to do Italian or French, but I thought Spanish might be a bit easier to start with. It seems to have the same rolling Rs that's in Japanese so I'll be able to pronouce at least that much. I also listened to one of the French podcasts but I think the rounded sounds will give me a problem before I even start, so I'd better save that for another time.

After just one podcast, I gotta say that the best part is that the instructor and the student both have Scottish accent. For some reason Scottish, Irish and British accents are just sexy (and I can totally understand them without learning a new language)!

10,000 Grains!

Took a while but I answered enough questions to donate 10,000 grains of rice. Didn't take as long as I thought. I encourage you to do the same.

Saving the World One Grain at a Time

I discovered this cool website that rewards your brainpower by feeding the world's hungry. Free Rice is part trivia, part non-profit (although they say they're not technically registered).

The idea behind the site is that you're given a multiple choice vocab lesson. When you select the right definition, you earn 20 grains of rice. The more correct answers you submit, the more rice you can earn. Money to purchase the rice is generated from the site's banner ads. The rice is then donated to the UN World Food Program. Pretty awesome don't you think?

While I may not be trading in my car for a bike, going completely organic or even recycling as regularly as I should, at least I'm doing my part to save the world (and getting smarter in the process). What are you doing?

Chick Lit Hotties

Here's a quick list of chick lit authors that I love:

Meg Cabot:
http://www.megcabot.com/
I love her "Boy" series, which are The Boy Next Door, Boy Meets Girl and Every Boy's Got One.

Jane Green:
http://www.janegreen.com/
She writes some great stuff: Jemima J, Mr. Maybe, Bookends and Straight Talking

Sophie Kinsella:
http://www.randomhouse.com/bantamdell/kinsella/
Anyone who loves fashion and shopping to the point of incredible debt will love her "Shopaholic" series.

Honorable Mentions:

Marian Keyes
Jennifer Weiner
Jennifer Crusie

Chick Lit Only for Chicks?

As I sat in my car waiting for the light to change at the intersection of Piikoi and Kinau, something caught my eye. Crossing the street was a guy in his 20s-30s who had in his hand a copy of P.S. I Love You. I found this quite intriguing.

While I haven't read the book myself, I've seen the movie, which stars Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler. Now, for all intents and purposes, it seemed like the movie was targeted toward women. I'm sure not many men would willingly watch a flick that focused on how a woman overcame the grief she felt from the death of her husband. Described that way, even I don't think it sounds all that appealing.

With this said, I'm going to assume that the book was also targeted toward women and probably labeled "chick lit." So, you can see why it surprised me that this guy was walking around with this book in his hand for all eyes to see. Granted, it wasn't the original cover but you still gotta give this guy some credit for even reading it.

This new revelation brings up the question: Is chick lit only for chicks? I don't know many guys who would read something that wasn't sports related, let alone read chick lit, but it would be interesting to find out if men really did get into chick lit when no one's watching.

For the most part, these types of books all similar and have identical story arcs. Most deal with the fields of public relations, marketing, television, fashion and journalism. The main character is always looking for love and usually experiences some rocky moments before finding her true love.

Do guys find this topic appealing as well? Who's to say that only women have these issues when society seems to be pushing family life later and later in the game? Maybe guys can relate to this too and it's a universal theme? Maybe they just like the quick read (like I know I do)?

In any case, to that guy on the street proudly clutching his copy of Cecelia Ahern - Bravo!

Image source: www.barnesandnoble.com

Weekend DVDs

I watched a ton of DVDs this weekend, and they were all pretty great in their own way. I thought I'd share them with you.

Image Source: http://www.filmcatcher.com/

Lars and the Real Girl (2007), starring Ryan Gosling, is about a shy and somewhat troubled man named Lars who orders a life-sized doll and proceeds to fall in love with her. I must admit that this concept sounds off the wall, but you have to look beyond the surface. The movie is really about a community pulling together to help a man heal. It's about treating people like human beings and doing all you can to help them. The movie is filled with moments - funny, touching, heart-warming. I think this is one of Gosling's best works. He is genius in it.

Image Source: http://www.movieweb.com/

La Vie En Rose (2007), starring Marion Cotillard, is the life story of Edith Piaf. The movie is brought to life with her music and Cotillard's wonderful acting. It portrays Piaf at her best and at her worst. Throughout the movie, there is always just a thin line between the fragile, unsure child that she was and the confident, demanding diva that she became. She lived life to the fullest, regretting nothing. She loved whole-heartedly and embodied life. This movie is almost two and a half hours long but is well worth it.

Image Source: http://www.moviemaker.com/

Rashomon (1950) is one of Akira Kurasawa's masterpieces and tells the story of a murder from three different points of view - husband, wife and bandit. The movie deals with many themes, such as the idea of truth, good vs. evil and human nature. The plot is an intricately woven fabric that is stretched and pulled in many directions as the audience attempts to sift through and devise the truth. Filmed in black and white, the movie also experiments with different lighting and camera techniques. The movie stars Toshiro Mifune.

Image Source: http://www.allposters.com/

August Rush (2007), starring Freddie Highmore of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory fame, is about an orphaned boy who follows the music he hears in search of his parents. It is a touching tale of hope and the beauty of music. Keri Russell and Jonathan Rhys Meyers play his long-lost parents. While this movie could have been preachy and obnoxious, it wasn't. Instead, it was a tale of what dreams can do and a story of timeless love.

School Reunions - To Go or Not to Go

I've been participating in Dave Vinton's blog about his class reunion, and I wanted to further explore the topic here.

He and other bloggers advise that I go to my 10-year reunion (not till 2009) because people change in 10 years. They say these changes are good and bad, so I suppose that means some get fatter (I'm definitely one of those), some get skinnier, some get better looking (hopefully me again . . . haha), some people's looks regress, etc. And while I am sort of curious about how people look and what they've been doing, I also feel as though not enough time has passed.

Granted, it'll have been a decade (geez, that makes us sound old!) but personally, I don't even feel like I've accomplished much since graduation. Oh, I've done what many people may have done - graduated from college, found a job, living on my own and whatever else one can do in 10 years - but I feel like at the core, I'm still that 18-year-old kid that was happy to finally get out of high school. All the hopes and dreams, the I-can-conquer-the-world feeling I felt then is still with me.

Also, I wonder about if going to your high school reunion somehow makes you revert to how you were in high school. These are the people who saw you all snotty-nosed and zit-faced. Ok, well maybe I'm exaggerating. But they are the ones who were with you when you went through a lot of changes - physical, mental and emotional - and this is probably how they remember you. Do you fall back into your stereotypical niche once you step foot back on the metaphorical campus? Or does the 10 years spent as your "real self" away from the high school peer pressures and preconceived notions win out in the end?

When I was in school, I had a core group of friends but wouldn't say it was a clique (although there was plenty of that going on too). I wasn't in the popular crowd, by all means, but I wasn't at the bottom rung of the social ladder either. I think this has to do with what you participate in throughout your life. For instance, I played soccer growing up so I knew the "jocks." I took two years of band in intermediate school (it was either that or chorus and you don't want to hear me sing) so I knew some "band geeks." I took some AP classes so I knew the "brainiacs." And everyone takes PE and Health, so I knew everyone some people in between.

When you go to your class reunion, are we still relegated to these stereotypes? Or do people see you as you are now and not who you used to be?

Chinese Jump Rope

No, this is not the local game of Chinese jump rope. These are real Chinese people (kids really) jump roping. Only they can take jumping and ropes and turn it into an art form.

Where The Hell Is Matt?

Seriously . . . why didn't I think of this first? I mean, geez! How bad could this be right? Traveling around on someone else's dime doing a funny dance? Man, this is genius!

Chinese Backstreet Boys

Just thought I'd share this hilarious vid of Asian kids lip singing to the Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way."

Filipino Chamber of Commerce Installation

What exactly does that mean? Yeah, I wanted to know too. I was invited to attend the Filipino Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii's Installation Ceremony by my boss. Apparently we purchased a table and needed people to fill it.

So, it turns out that this is basically a banquet to say out with the old and in with the new regarding the chamber's leadership. (Good thing I went to Ross and bought a frou frou dress because those Filipinos sure know how to get dressed up! Some of the dresses were gorgeous; others were a bit revealing; some just awful. In any case, it was a festive occasion. Get this, I found a dress for $10! How's that for a steal?)

It took place at the Hilton Hawaiian Village's Tapa Ballroom. Nice. The food was okay - chicken and fish, rice and veggies. The dessert was delish! Think it was raspberry (could've been strawberry) cheesecake. Yum!

It was an interesting experience, but I don't need to go to one of those big events again. It was awkward because I didn't know anyone other than my co-workers. Also, most of the people were older (a lot older) than me. For me, it was sorta like going to prom as a chaperone - you fit but you don't fit and you basically go for just the food. It did give me a chance to get dressed up, but even that's not something I'm too fond of doing.

Image Source: http://filipinochamber.org/

Scene Unseen Podcast

I just stumbled upon the greatest podcast ever - Scene Unseen. I was browsing through iTunes' free podcast and found this gem. Basically the idea behind this podcast is that one commentator watches the movie and one doesn't, then they discuss it. The two guys are Chris and Jimmy, but the ones I've heard (the most recent ones) have guest speakers. Not sure what happened to Jimmy.

In any case, they talk a bunch about the movies, what they liked and disliked, wander into other movies and topics but always bring it back. It's great. They seem to be real insiders too, so that's pretty cool to get hints about future films. I've listened to three of them so far and they're really entertaining. They're funny in a sometimes cynical way. Oh, and there's a bunch of swearing splattered throughout.