Spring Bank Holiday, Part Two: Flaming Lips

For the end of my rather pathetic bank holiday weekend, I decided to do something cool ... so mid-afternoon on Monday I brought a ticket for the rescheduled Flaming Lips gig at the Roundhouse. I had intended to go the previous Tuesday, but half an hour of migraine induced blurred version at work convinced me that maybe I wasn't quite up to attending a gig that day. Nevermind.

Rolled over to Camden to collect ticket and spent an hour dossing around before the gig.

It was pretty busy. The markets were packed. Decided to head into the venue when it open at seven. Found a good spot. Sat down. And read my book for a while. Yup, rock 'n' roll all the way. It was a manga called Bunny Drop. Can't remember how I came across it. Kinda slice of life (although a bit too plot heavy to accurately fit that description) about a thirty year old bachelor who takes in his grandfather's illegitimate six year old. Really good book. Read the first two volumes, so far. Need to pick up the next couple.

Anyway, support was provided by Black Books. They were from Texas. I don't want to say that's all I remember about them, but ... that wouldn't be far from the truth. They were reasonably good. Not sure I'll be rushing out to buy their album though.

The crowd seemed pretty chilled, although I did end up standing next to some fairly idiotic students ... alas it's likely that I sounded idiotic when I was 18/19 and I'm probably just jealous that I'm no longer a student. Nothing will beat the crowd from the Jodrell Bank gig in July 2011. So friendly. Especially remember the bumble bee who was seeing them for the third night running. I was only on my second night. And the two guys who wore massive dog costumes all days (despite the searing heat) and were always happy to stick their heads on for photos. The Soft Bulletin gig at Alexandra Palace was pretty special too.

Back to 2013. The stage set they used was pretty interested. Wayne microphone stand was linked to the back of the stage via ... umbilical cords, which shimmered with light in time to the music. He was also on a podium. The rest of the band faded into the background a little.

The histrionics have also being toned down. Alas, no space ball to start the set with. To be honest, it did make sense. The Terror isn't really an optimistic album. It's quite downbeat at times. Even the confetti was black! There sure was lots of it though. I've been finding that confetti about my room, bag and person for nearly two weeks now. Seriously, there was some in the bathroom yesterday.

During the gig, the focus was firmly placed on Wayne ... backed up by a spectacular use of lighting.

Not sure he'd completely recovered from his illness the previous week, but he's such a magnetic stage presence that it was fairly irrelevant. His voice seemed to hold up fine.

The set list focussed on songs from The Terror. Some old songs from the 90's were thrown in, although I wasn't so familiar with those. Race For The Prize was slowed right down, until the final chorus. There were also a couple of songs from Yoshimi. All We Have Is Now was a particular highlight. The songs from The Terror stood up really well though. Try To Explain is a masterpiece.

If the gig lacked the euphoria of the previous two times I've seen them, it still packed an emotional punch. The Flaming Lips are definitely a band that aren't content to rest on their laurels. The light show was pretty spectacular. Wayne stopped the gig for five to ten minutes to allow one girl to receive medical assistance. Presumably a reaction. I saw another person getting treatment as I left the venue. I'm not sure that's an endorsement, as such.

So, the setlist ... as taken from setlist.fm:

* Look...The Sun Is Rising (The Terror)
* The Terror (The Terror)
* The W.A.N.D. (At War With The Mystics)
* Unconsciously Screamin' (In a Priest Driven Ambulance)
* Try to Explain (The Terror)
* Race for the Prize (The Soft Bulletin)
* Moth in the Incubator (Transmissions from the Satellite Heart)
* Butterfly, How Long It Takes to Die (The Terror)
* Heroes (David Bowie cover)
* Turning Violent (The Terror)
* Do You Realize?? (Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots)

 Encore:

* Virgo Self-Esteem Broadcast (Embryonic)
* Silver Trembling Hands (Embryonic)
* All We Have Is Now (Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots)
* Always There, ... In Our Hearts (The Terror)

Obviously, I'd always love to see more songs from the Soft Bulletin and Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots. Yoshimi is the first Flaming Lips album I brought. It'll probably always be my favourite. It was good to see songs from The Terror performed live.

This is the rather cool poster that I brought at the gig. It even has Wayne scribbles on it.

Ah, naked guitar women. You are so very cool.

Will definitely go to see the Flaming Lips next time they're in town, although don't think I'll make it to Bestival in September ... probably not.

Spring Bank Holiday, Part One: Films

So, last weekend was the spring bank holiday. Three days with no great plans. Shining sun. London to explore. Alas, I finished work on Friday with a fever. Awesome timing. Still, managed to do a couple of cool things ... despite spending most of the 3 days chilling in my room.

Decided to head out on Saturday afternoon to see Star Trek Into Darkness. I really liked the 2009 reboot. It was a great blockbuster film. Not so sure about Into Darkness. Suppose my expectations were much higher. Although there was lots to like and I did enjoy it, ... upon leaving the cinema it just all felt a bit stupid. Characters didn't really develop. Any actions felt like they were taken to further the plot, as opposed to having a logical basis in terms of the individual character. Consequences lasted for a matter of moments, before everything was kind of okay again.

In the evening I watched Baseketball with my flatmates. Late 90's film, starring Trey Parker and Matt Stone of South Park fame. It's pretty funny. Most importantly, Reel Big Fish are the half-time band:

Never used to be fussed about ska-punk, ... but the influence of others and seeing Reel Big Fish live a total of three times now has converted me. Beer is probably up there with my favourite songs. If you ever get chance to see them play, do it. So much fun.

um, hello [waves]

Okay, so I say this every few months or so ... but I really intend to start updating this blog more often. Maybe once a week or so. Probably. At least, so that I can mention some cool things that I've been up to. This seems like a good week to start.

Technological woes, resolved

Finally brought a new laptop a few weeks ago. It's a HP Envy ultrabook. Seems pretty nice. Plus, I'm writing this post on the iPad 4 I received for Christmas! Liking it a lot so far. Hopefully this means I can achieve a belated New Year's resolution to update this blog more often. Did see some cool stuff during the month of January.

Let my lazy Saturday afternoon continue...

Zipangu film festival

So, ... this year's Zipangu Fest (ジパング・フェスト), a UK-wide Japanese film festival, was held between Friday 14 and Sunday 16 September at the Cinema Museum in Kennington, near Elephant & Castle.

On a side note (despite the fact I've hardly started), the Cinema Museum is a really interesting place. It's the former Lambeth Workhouse, better known as the childhood residence of Charlie Caplin. Appears to be some really interesting memorabilia there and the volunteers seem pretty invested in the place. I should definitely keep an eye on upcoming event. Only problem, it's slightly out of the way.

Last year, I saw We Don't Care About Music Anyway when the Zipangu Fest was held at the ICA. I loved it so much, as can be seen by this handy blog entry from back in May. This year I figured I would attend a couple of segments, the Beyond Anime section (returning for its third year and featuring two mid-length works ... and a bonus short film, due to technical problems on the opening night) and the closing film (Saudade).

[Note: It is around seven weeks since I attending these screenings. If my memories of details are vague, ... please forgive me. Thanks.]

Encounters (エンカウンターズ)
An exuberant one-man labour-of-love defies all expectations!

[Takashi Iitsuka - 30 minutes - HD - 2011 - Action, Animation]

Puppets. Action figures. Childhood memories, right. I had a Thunderbirds duvet and received a Captain Scarlet airbase for Christmas when I was a kid. Even made a paper-mache Tracey Island. Ah, Blue Peter. Iitsuka takes those childhood memories and uses them (with his 'Super Organic Battle Action' technique) to make a wonderfully inventive 30 minutes action flick. Soon you'll forget that you're watching action figures and puppets moving around on wires, as the nuances of this big hearted story of two guys, their adopted pooch, monsters and the obligatory evil scientist takes over. I won't say much more about the plot, as it's definitely worth trying to watch this film without knowing too much. Just enjoy the mad ride.

Takashi Iitsuka introduced the film and stayed for a question and answer session following the Beyond Anime screenings.

Review:
* Nishikata Film Review

The Great Rabbit (グレートラビット)
A magical hand-drawn animation that is also a profound conundrum.

[Atsushi Wada - 7 minutes - HD - 2012 - Animation]

"If you believe in the Rabbit, you'll believe in anything. If you don't believe in the Rabbit, it means that you wouldn't believe anything."

Apparently the Great Rabbit won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival. It really didn't do much for me. It's surreal, sure ... but it didn't make me feel anything.

Review:
* Nishikata Film Review

Midori-ko (緑子)
A university researcher protects a human/vegetable hybrid in a dystopic dark fantasy that took ten years to complete.

[Keita Kurosaka - 55 minutes - HD - 2010 - Animation]

It's the dystopian future. That place belonging to Orwell and Huxley. That time when disaster or greed has taken humanity to the edge. That canvas upon which we pour all of our deepest fears. In Midori-ko, the world is facing chronic food shortages. A group of scientists strive to create the perfect super-food. They create an edible creature. It escapes from the laboratory and is rescued by a young researcher named Midori.

This film is truly beautiful. Brightly coloured crayon drawings introduce us to a child called Midori, who decides that she cannot eat animals. She grows up. The world changes. The bright colours are replaced by shadows. Yet more beautiful hand-drawn artwork. Monsters strive to save humanity, as you can imagine ... this film questions whether that humanity is worth saving or whether it has already consumed itself.

Midori-ko is a really interesting film. Slow paced, ... it's a film that washes over you and leaves you with deep questions. The relationship between Midori and the creature develops slowly, yet conflicts remain within the girl ... despite her best efforts to protect the creature.

The best description I've seen describes this film as a 'paranoid fairy-tale'. I honestly can't better that, as it's a beautiful phase for our times - our world, where everyone watches their backs and cameras watch the backs of everyone.

Reviews:
* J-film pow-wow
* Nishikata Film Review

Saudade (サウダーヂ)
A vivid and often vivacious portrait of small-town dreams and prejudices in the provincial multi-ethnic melting pot of Kofu.

[Katsuya Tomita - 167 minutes - 35mm - 2011 - Drama]

Saudade was another interesting choice to close the 2012 Zipangu Fest. It captures the nuances of small town life perfectly, although (at two and a half hours plus) it feels a little too unfocussed for its own good at times.

Katsuya Tomita (director) and Toranosuke Aizawa (scriptwriter) introduced the film and stayed for a question and answer session.

Reviews:
* Hollywood Reporter

Festival reviews:
* Mostly Film
* Rhythm Circus
* International Review

My Zipangu Fest poster, signed by Takashi Iitsuka (Encounters), Katsuya Tomita and Toranosuke Aizawa (Saudade)

Time flies by ... and I WILL SUUURVI-VE, ... LIGHT THE FUUU-SE, ... NEVER LOOO-SE

Will use this quiet Saturday evening spent listening to Muse updating my blog with some interesting events that I've attended over the past month or so, ... until I get bored or sleepy or both.

Oh, it's the Olympic song now. I like the Prelude. Perhaps more than the song. Heard this so many times during the summer. I attended a lot of events.

Okay, I don't do patriotism. I don't really care about Great Britain or England all that much. I'm glad I was born here. I'm glad I grew up here. I'm glad I live here. We're very lucky, ... but I don't immediately feel attached to other people because we share nationally. I'm quite proud of my German and Polish anchestry, sure. It's all fairly irrelevant though. Despite all that, who can't watch this video and think ... god-dammit, we rocked this whole Olympics/Paralympics hosting business. Seriously. London ruled for a few short weeks in summer 2012. People were happy. They spoke to each other on the tube. It was totally weird, ... but pretty great.

Perhaps I will write a proper blog entry about all my Olympic experiences at some point. Bit late. Would be kind of nice to look back though.

Technological woes ... and cyber-funk

Have been without living without my laptop for nearly five weeks now. It just stopped working. Retrieved it from the repair store yesterday. They can't fix it, ... or it would be prohibitively expensive to do so. Apparently the logic board has gone. I don't really know what that means. It sounds pretty crucial. They also found blu-tack in my system. What the hell!? Pretty sure that no would've been able to open it up since I brought it. Why would they want to? Hmm, Dell. This does not reflect well on you.

So, I need to buy a new computer. What a pain. No idea what to get.

Currently sitting in my (old) room at my parent's house. Using my Dad's laptop hooked up to my old monitor. He's having some problems with his screen. Listening to the new Muse album. Panic Station is pretty cool. Quite funky. Surprising. Doesn't sound like Queen. I like it. Is that a trumpet? Only three songs in, bit early to make a judgment ... but, hopefully it continues to impress.

My sister still needs to grow up...