So what's new with you ?

I had an extremely surreal experience watching a traditional Japanese "butoh" play a few weeks back. Hibiki -Resonance From Far Away by Sankai Juku was playing at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre. One word: Bizzare.

It had these bald men all dressed up in white body paint and robes , performing this painfully slow dance ( If you can call it a dance, it's more like really dramatic miming )

It was especially odd because the butoh experience feels like someone is messing about with the slow and play button on the remote. They sort of slow down and pause. Then the next thing you know, a burst of activity ensues.

There was an obvious lack of narrative but as far as I can tell, it had to do with some funky saucers , dripping water, rebirth and the eternal cycle of something.

Watched any good movies lately ?

Well, against my will, I was asked to watch the new Bond film, Casino Royale. www.sonypictures.com/movies/casinoroyale/.

I guess I have to eat my own words. It's not too bad.

It's about time they distilled out the trashy "pulp" 60s elements of Bond movies. I.e No distracting gadgets, no pointless hotties steaming up the screen, Bond doesn't have the libido of a jack-rabbit anymore and does a lot less posing and more killing .

I know I'm not really convincing you but I like it. It's gritty and a bit darker than the usual Bond movies. Plus, yes the lead isn't exactly very suave but let's face it, am I the only one who thinks that the Pierce Brosnan Bond was a bit gay.

Read any good books lately ?

Not really. Honest.

http://www.nealstephenson.com/

Okay okay.... I'm currently starting Neal Stephenson's System of The World. I am however struggling to get past the first few pages as it is soooooooooooooo dull. It's like a history lesson disguised as a novel.

At first I was all excited about this book that had Newton and Liebnitz interacting with fictional characters and then I realised that this was supposed to be historically accurate. Read : No steam punk , No time travel , No aliens, No explosions or saucy pent-up Victorian sexual innuendos ( Wait a sec, anachronism there.... I mean Elizabethian sexual innuendos erm.. nevermind )

Will get back to you once I manage to get past at least half of the book. And yes to anyone who has actually read the series, I know I am reading it out of order, System of The World is in fact the last book in the trilogy.

Bought any new albums ?

I haven't actually bought anything but thanks to the internet I've been listening to Regina Spektor via her website. This artist has made ALL of her material available for free via a streaming player on her site. How cool is that ?

www.reginaspektor.com

She sounds a bit like Tori Amos but a bit rougher. She does this "warbling" thing that is rather annoying though in some of her songs but in general, most of her stuff is quite listenable.

On a side note, I attended "The Great Escape" at Little Havana down at Tengkat Tong Shin. It's a gathering of local post/progressive rock (I.e what some people call shoe-gazing rock ) musicians. The line up was quite cohesive except for The Ferns who were the only "twee-pop" people the whole night. Plus I think I stepped on the keyboardist's foot a few times because the venue was so tiny the musicians were actually milling with the crowd at the same time.

Bands of note that night:

Citizens of Ice Cream - Cool keyboards.

http://www.myspace.com/citizensoficecream

The Ferns - They didn't really sound that great on stage but I got their album anyway. It's got this cool astro-turf on the cover. I don't think it's on sale at any of the stores though... Plus if anyone knows the keyboardist, tell her I'm sorry I kept stepping on her feet the whole night through.

http://www.myspace.com/fernfrens

KLPHQ -These were the most professional of the lot , they even had a projector and their own fluorescent light would you believe ?

http://malaise.malscene.net/klphq/

You may also want to check out my sister's webpage for a seperate review on the event. Check out the entry on 7th Dec 06. I would have pasted the photos here but I got a bit lazy.

http://keropok.blogdrive.com/