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mtv get off the air!

June 15th 2007 04:22

thanks to wiki for the image

jello had it right when he spoke of this all those years ago.but last night, never was it driven home so much.

after a hard day of assessment, followed by some farewell drinks, i decided to call it a day and watch some television before i went to bed. unfortunately, i choose mtv to watch. now i know we live in a post modern world, but mtv talking about bad film clip conventions? c'mon they started most of them.

the show was titled something about the 100 worst film clip trickeries. i am down with taking the piss out of big hair, 80s snare drum sounds, and 'the girl that ran away from the country and and ended up in l.a. to become a big star but really ended up doing porn to support her heroin habit' type scenarios. but when mtv start talking the ugly girl makeover or incorporating homeless people into the film clip to increase 'popularity' i have start pointing the finger.

i remember years ago when mtv had a stronghold on the music film clip industry and had this massive power of the way records were sold. with this power they also had certain conventions that they themselves created for film clips. it was not unlike the way hollywood has a recipe to churn out movies. but now in 2007, we see an episode of mtv being all high and mighty and still trying to get the popularity vote by saying 'oh all those things we force feed you in the 80s, how like, stupid are they?' aaahhhhh makes me mad!!!!!!

i think the saddest part of the entire program however, was that weird al was one of the commentators. i can handle these 'almighty' comments from the middle class white boys that mtv seems to have 1000s of, but to hear weird al get in on the action made me nearly choke. his film clips are always pure gold! and it was an indicator that you were someone if weird al took you off. but there he was talking about all of these conventions and going for the cheap laugh. shame weird al, shame.

anyway let's see al yankovich in his better days:

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Posted By: Jonathon - Category: Fashion, Art, Attitudes, Music

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words don't mean nutin', korean cinema

June 9th 2007 17:58

coming to end of the semester, it also brings with it the finalization of all of the deadlines, late night cram sessions, and frantic time rescheduling to try and fit in all of those group projects that we have embarked upon. it also brings a certain amount of joy and fulfillment knowing that the projects we have created are both successful and completed.

having just completed one of my korean cinema projects, of which was to create a 20 minute short film, the best part of the semester happened last night. as much fun as it was to create these films with groups of truly creative people, it is more fun to spend four hours watching the fruits of our collective labour. it was a truly great night and a really great chance to see who the next big names in the korean cinema world are going to be.

my korean language skills have improved notably since my arrival here, however i still have major problems when it comes to listening to it. what korean i do know is spoken at record speeds by the koreans, and still leaves me spinning for at least five minutes - even when they do simply ask me what i would like to order! so needless to say watching korean films without subtitles is a more than hard chore.

whilst watching all of these films last night, i realised that i could understand what was going on really easily without actually being able to understand the dialogue (apart from one which was heavily dependent on the words). it starting me thinking as to why i was understanding them so well.

as with general conversation, cinema relies on so much more than just dialogue. let's just think about the aural stuff on its own first. we can have a blend of ambience - to set the location, time, and a small amount of emotion; music - to definitely set the mood and maybe heighten location; fx - allow the viewer to be absorbed into another world completely if done well; and lastly the dialogue - even if the words don't make sense to the viewer can still understand what is trying to be communicated by the tone or level at which the actor speaks. and that's just the audio!

then comes the imagery. without talking for days about this, you can imagine that framing, lighting, and movement are only some of the components that make up this component of film making. acting also plays a major part (obviously) but not so much in only the dialogue. looks and movements tend to enhance the script far more than the words do. there are so many more attributes also that make up movie making - far too many to attempt to discuss in this blog entry.

after watching 10 films, non of which were in english, but being able to understand all but one, i have really come to the decision that words hold so little impact in communication. communication is an all encompassing process that stems from the background knowledge that we bring to the table, and only holds the meaning that we give it. how we portray that to the listener is the real trick.

thanks to u.t.a.s. for the image

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Posted By: Jonathon - Category: Language, Art, Media/Communication

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ci kim - the (solo) artist

May 16th 2007 01:45

i went and saw ci kim's exhibition, 'sad tiger's self navigation' at the arario gallery last week. some of his pieces were really quite nice with the overall flow of the exhibition telling a very detailed story as i walked around the space. one of his pieces struck me as my favorite which i earmarked to read about after the gallery, and as i was sitting having a cigarette and a latte after the show, i read that a friend nearly ruined this piece after a night of drinking and art 'creation'. funny, my favorite piece wasn't even done (partially) by the artist i went to see.

this started me thinking about art in general. is it ever created for anyone other than the artist? this exhibition was written up as the artists 'self journey' to discover his own art style while telling a story about the children's alphabet book 'trauriger tiger toastet tomaten' by nadia budde. and i think back to standing in the gallery, interpreting the pieces as i was, giving it credit, appreciating the works for what they were, when i realised i had been suckered into one mans self indulgent art realm. he was showing me where he had started, his journey through, and finally where he had ended up during this self development stage. but is that the idea of art generally i wondered?

i believe art should be funny, should tell a strong narrative (albeit a loose one), should be able to be linked to a certain time, and should represent an area within respect to a global ideology. that is only my opinion and probably my favorite type of art. but that made me think is art always created as a self indulgence by the artist? is there any art that has been created by the artist that they didn't feel a connection to? could it be said that artists should always wear their hearts on their sleeves when they create something?

this exhibition left me pondering many questions after i had consumed it, which is something that is synonymous with good art. at first i felt not completely satisfied with seeing one man's journey through 'his' mid life crisis, but then was appreciative that he had stirred other questions and emotions within. i guess he had in essence done a trick on me after all.

thanks to arario gallery for the images

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Posted By: Jonathon - Category: Art

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a picture tells a thousand words!

May 4th 2007 05:55

what more needs to be said? this is pepsi's latest advertising campaign on the subway system in seoul.

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korean b-boys are the worlds best.

May 2nd 2007 04:42

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Posted By: Jonathon - Category: Fashion, Art, Music

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this weekend - insadong

April 23rd 2007 04:11

sunday provided us with the chance to check out insadong province in seoul. this is an area that is aimed at western tourists, so i had mixes emotions about the entire day. even at home a i generally stay away from areas that are aimed at these kind of markets, but when in rome... although it is quite a beautiful area that reeks with korean tradition, it is also quite plastic in that it is catering for the mass audience from the western world - and that is indeed who was there.

we did stumble across some nice galleries and i could have spent millions of won on many of the contemporary pop art pieces that were on offer, and there were of course many places to eat and nibble and refresh. one thing that i had to ponder over was why are we traveling to these places to see different cultures, yet these different cultures are trying so eagerly to accommodate and assimilate to our culture? but then who are we to tell them not to? i also had to wonder where it will all end up in a few decades from now

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Posted By: Jonathon - Category: Art, Media/Communication, Attitudes, Politics

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banksy - you're a god!

April 3rd 2007 14:04

in case you can't read the picture in the forefront, it says ' i can't believe you morons actually but this shit'.

banksy is a god! his ability to pick the art world and always seem to stay ahead in it is pretty special. and his art is good too! the above picture has reviews like 'the death of modernism' and 'reflects a paradime shift in perception'. is that art speak for 'take the piss

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Posted By: Jonathon - Category: Art

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things to do in cheonan with no money

March 21st 2007 16:13

it seems on the weekend, all that koreans want to do is climb mountains. it is the weekend thing to do and i wondered what was so fascinating about walking up these big hills after a belly full of pork from a sunday feast. but then after this weekend, i now understand what all the fuss is about.

it is the best way to digest your food, and also when you arrive at the top the views are spectacular. often there is a temple at the top of most routes, which is good for a bit praying, or simply taking photographs. and it's free

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silence is sexy - everything you should know

March 20th 2007 10:06

image by frank beenackers

i just stumbled across a fantastic band from amsterdam and wanted to share the wealth with all you anthroblogogy readers. they go by the name of silence is sexy and have just released their first full length album titled 'everything you should know'. you can listen to it here.

my first thought is that joy division have reformed, and honed their sound for the 21st century. it is this dramatic sound of 'off key' guitar riffs not unlike something that sonic youth would compose their pounding sounds of. all the while being driven by a big fat rickenbacker-esque bottom end, complimented by suitable rhythms of snappy snares and rolling toms rounding off the pulses. sitting on top is an aural delight of harmonies in vocals, with a slight dutch accent encroaching on the character and charm of them

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korean b boy music is all a bit gayo

March 14th 2007 04:56

let me start by explaining that gayo in this sense is not in relation to its sexual reference, but more to the meaning of any music within the korean language. but since we're talking about gay-o, let's focus on a form of korean music that is humungous in south korea, and is part of the korean wave that is taking over the neighbouring asian areas.

gay-o music is super!

korean boy bands are simply the biggest thing in the younger generation, particularly with the ladies! or little girls anyway. andk-pop is one of the largest things in this culture, engulfing both the boys and the girls. not a day goes by where you can't see a poster, or hear a song being broadcast on a bus, shopping center, or through the uni public address system (for real!), or god forbid you watch a music program that is centered on pop music, that is featuring the latest installment of all of the boy bands love misfortunes

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Posted By: Jonathon - Category: Art

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emocore is stupid

March 9th 2007 15:50

i think the worst movement around these days, particularly if you have ever walked out of flinders street train station in melbourne, would have to be emo. just everything about it is wrong wrong wrong. and it seems to continually contradict itself time after time. if you are unsure what it is i am speaking of, check this out, and then your eyes will be open, although you probably still couldn't see because your fringe would be in the way.

anyway, if you don't believe me that it is a stupid movement, i have others to back me up in what i say! ian mackaye of the beloved 'minor threat', 'fugazi', and now 'the evens' fame, also says that emo is stupid, and he stated it way back in 1986

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korean comics - manhwa

March 7th 2007 12:09

from the earliest days when i was a youngster, one of my fondest memories was when my cousin showed me my first wolverine comic. my passion for comics - how they are written, the images, the layout, the sheer graphic nature of these books - started here, and this resulted in many hours of reading other peoples imaginations and being taken into some other reality that was far from my own. it appears that this is something that also is similar with my eastern brothers and sisters, who also share a passion for novels of a graphic nature. however with all things here, it is done in a 'to the x factor'.

this is the culture that is manhwa comics. it seems to be somewhat related to manga, but also is mixed with its other asian neighbour manhua. they are generally related to the not so happy recent history of korea , and with most art reflect on the current issues

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Posted By: Jonathon - Category: Art

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samullori - korean drumming

March 1st 2007 13:42

so after last nights happenings, i decided to do a little research into what i was actually doing. it turns out that this is called samullori and is an invention from 1978. it was formed by a band of that year in an attempt to recreate traditional dance and music that had been lost over the times. it is also said to be a dance of korean farmers, and the group that i was doing this with could have easily been farmers.

you can find out more here about it.

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Posted By: Jonathon - Category: Art

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samullori... beat to dis!

February 28th 2007 13:41

last night was one of those nights that was just meant to be. we decided that we would go out for diner at one of the local bbq houses in cheonan. we went to one that unfortunately i can't say the name of as i couldn't read it, but i can say that it is going to be one of the our regular haunts from now on as the food was exceptional and the price was very well within our budget. i even managed to meet a fellow student that works there from sangmyung university who, once we established we were studying together, was more than accomodating for our every need.

after a hearty serve of samgyeopsal (bbq bacon type pork), bap, and a couple of bottles of makgeolli (this ultra cheap unstrained rice wine that tastes like water with a hint of alcohol - but certainly does the trick), we wondered off home to revel in our coolness. as i stood at the kitchen window, consuming a well deserved marlboro red, i was suddenly overwhelmed by a sound unlike anything i had ever heard before. a rhythmic beat consisting of a pulsating bottom end complemented by high almost piercing 'gong' sounds. all moving in a progressive waveform that was too tantalising to pass by

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Posted By: Jonathon - Category: Art

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