The gig is from 9pm on Monday the 14th of April, at 303 High St Northcote. Entry is a modest $5 (totally worth it ya'll!).
Get down there and check it out!
Monday, April 7, 2008
The Nathan Liow Quintet - Debut Gig (14/04/08)
Our very talented friend Nathan Liow is performing his debut gig with his new quintet next Monday night. You may be familiar with some of Nath's more electronic work (he won last year's Triple J Bloc Party Remix Competition), so this is a great chance to see some of his more jazz based work!
The gig is from 9pm on Monday the 14th of April, at 303 High St Northcote. Entry is a modest $5 (totally worth it ya'll!).
Get down there and check it out!
The gig is from 9pm on Monday the 14th of April, at 303 High St Northcote. Entry is a modest $5 (totally worth it ya'll!).
Get down there and check it out!
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Music Video Joy
Micah P Hinson - Yard of Blonde Girls
Beautiful song, interesting animation, parts are slightly odd but some parts are lovely. The background effect behind the black line drawings reminds me of an effect titled the "Mirror Train" that Steph and Chris worked on whilst I was away. But really I'm just posting it because of that bat. It's all about the bat.
Yael Naim - New Soul
Yep it's that song from the Mac Book Air advert from a quirky French-Israeli singer called Yael. Despite it's success being due to a big old fat commercial it is definitely a very smile-making pop song. And a cute video clip - who wouldn't want a room on a lake? Unless that lake has crocodiles...
Apple definitely knows its demographic and has some very intelligent marketing strategies - first Feist, now this, they seem to be hitting the wave of other artist's emerging/peaking careers just at the right moment. Well, they haven't sucked me in with their cunning advertising ploy! (...as she types on her Mac Book Pro listening to Yael.)
Beautiful song, interesting animation, parts are slightly odd but some parts are lovely. The background effect behind the black line drawings reminds me of an effect titled the "Mirror Train" that Steph and Chris worked on whilst I was away. But really I'm just posting it because of that bat. It's all about the bat.
Yael Naim - New Soul
Yep it's that song from the Mac Book Air advert from a quirky French-Israeli singer called Yael. Despite it's success being due to a big old fat commercial it is definitely a very smile-making pop song. And a cute video clip - who wouldn't want a room on a lake? Unless that lake has crocodiles...
Apple definitely knows its demographic and has some very intelligent marketing strategies - first Feist, now this, they seem to be hitting the wave of other artist's emerging/peaking careers just at the right moment. Well, they haven't sucked me in with their cunning advertising ploy! (...as she types on her Mac Book Pro listening to Yael.)
Ok Ok Ok @ The Paris Cat (8/4/08)
I accidentally posted the wrong details for the Ok Ok Ok gig.
It's actually on the 8th of April, starting about 9pm.
My bad! Get down there and check it out!
It's actually on the 8th of April, starting about 9pm.
My bad! Get down there and check it out!
Friday, April 4, 2008
They Might Be Giants - Friday Night Podcast for Kids
Keeping on the topic of stuff for kids, my uncle recently showed me some of the video podcasts by the band They Might Be Giants. I haven't listened very extensively to the TMBG back catalog, but I have to say that this stuff is really great.
Each podcast features the two dudes using puppets (things are already looking good!). The songs are great fun and feature some really cool animation.
As you'll see, there is also a fair bit of humour in there for adults. (Check out the start of the second video I posted. Straight up awesome!)
You can sign up for the podcast through iTunes. Go to the iTunes store and search for They Might Be Giants. It's free to join and there's a new podcast (for kids and families) every friday night (in whatever time zone TMBG is in).
I am very very impressed with what these guys have put together here. If only children's television was like this.
You can buy the TMBG kids album at amazon!
Each podcast features the two dudes using puppets (things are already looking good!). The songs are great fun and feature some really cool animation.
As you'll see, there is also a fair bit of humour in there for adults. (Check out the start of the second video I posted. Straight up awesome!)
You can sign up for the podcast through iTunes. Go to the iTunes store and search for They Might Be Giants. It's free to join and there's a new podcast (for kids and families) every friday night (in whatever time zone TMBG is in).
I am very very impressed with what these guys have put together here. If only children's television was like this.
You can buy the TMBG kids album at amazon!
Thursday, April 3, 2008
The Spiderwick Chronicles
_
I just saw the Spiderwick Chronicles and I have to say, I thought it was pretty awesome. It's been a damn long time since I saw a live action children's movie I liked this much.
Yes, the film is to some extent formulaic. I could predict the emotional movement of the film, and Spiderwick shares similarities with plenty of other childrens films/stories. But it was still a lot of fun.
The magical characters are fun and have great personality. It was very entertaining to watch them interact with the human characters. The design of the magical creatures was also very well done. The goblins etc were a little different than the stereotypical designs I'm used to seeing, and I think that was a great move. It was refreshing to see something a little different, but in and of themselves the designs were very cool and imaginative. This applies to both the goblins and the fairies. One scene involved fairies that looked like dandelions which was a really beautiful contrast to the ugly frog-like goblins. Really stunning.
In true children's story fashion, the magical story also had a human/personal one running parallel to it. I thought this element was also very well done. It brought up issues about divorce and also child behavior problems without being cheesy.
All this points to a film that doesn't talk down to children. This includes some scenes that were a bit scary, and even a bit of violence. It was a real pleasure to see a children's film that didn't feel dumbed down, as this is a problem I see with almost all the children's TV I see at the moment. In my opinion, we don't need to talk down to children. If we keep producing stories that are dumb we're only going to breed less intelligent future generations, or at the very least teach kids that ignorance and stupidity is something to be accepted and revered.
If I hadn't know it was based on a book series I would have thought the story was custom made for film. In my opinion, Spiderwick suffered none of the adaptation pitfalls apparent in the Harry Potter films and the The Golden Compass (which also don't talk down to children, but have a few other problems trying to squash so much information into a feature length film). The narrative was presented quickly & directly but without feeling rushed. I felt satisfied with the amount of information and character development I got from the film. It didn't feel underdone, or overdone.
The Spiderwick Chronicles might not be totally groundbreaking, but it was certainly very enjoyable - both visually and narratively.
I just saw the Spiderwick Chronicles and I have to say, I thought it was pretty awesome. It's been a damn long time since I saw a live action children's movie I liked this much.
Yes, the film is to some extent formulaic. I could predict the emotional movement of the film, and Spiderwick shares similarities with plenty of other childrens films/stories. But it was still a lot of fun.
The magical characters are fun and have great personality. It was very entertaining to watch them interact with the human characters. The design of the magical creatures was also very well done. The goblins etc were a little different than the stereotypical designs I'm used to seeing, and I think that was a great move. It was refreshing to see something a little different, but in and of themselves the designs were very cool and imaginative. This applies to both the goblins and the fairies. One scene involved fairies that looked like dandelions which was a really beautiful contrast to the ugly frog-like goblins. Really stunning.
In true children's story fashion, the magical story also had a human/personal one running parallel to it. I thought this element was also very well done. It brought up issues about divorce and also child behavior problems without being cheesy.
All this points to a film that doesn't talk down to children. This includes some scenes that were a bit scary, and even a bit of violence. It was a real pleasure to see a children's film that didn't feel dumbed down, as this is a problem I see with almost all the children's TV I see at the moment. In my opinion, we don't need to talk down to children. If we keep producing stories that are dumb we're only going to breed less intelligent future generations, or at the very least teach kids that ignorance and stupidity is something to be accepted and revered.
If I hadn't know it was based on a book series I would have thought the story was custom made for film. In my opinion, Spiderwick suffered none of the adaptation pitfalls apparent in the Harry Potter films and the The Golden Compass (which also don't talk down to children, but have a few other problems trying to squash so much information into a feature length film). The narrative was presented quickly & directly but without feeling rushed. I felt satisfied with the amount of information and character development I got from the film. It didn't feel underdone, or overdone.
The Spiderwick Chronicles might not be totally groundbreaking, but it was certainly very enjoyable - both visually and narratively.
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Ok Ok Ok @ The Paris Cat (8/4/08)
Our good friend & collaborator, Josh Holt, is playing at the Paris Cat next week with jazz/improvisation ensemble, Ok Ok Ok.
Ok Ok Ok consists of Nick Martyn (drums), Josh Teicher (guitar), Josh Holt (bass), and Sophia Exiner (keys). It will undoubtedly be a quality gig, so get down there and check it out!
The gig is from around 9:00PM, Tuesday April 8st, at the Paris Cat Jazz Club (6 Goldie Pl, CBD).
You can check out their myspace page here: http://www.myspace.com/okokokband
Ok Ok Ok consists of Nick Martyn (drums), Josh Teicher (guitar), Josh Holt (bass), and Sophia Exiner (keys). It will undoubtedly be a quality gig, so get down there and check it out!
The gig is from around 9:00PM, Tuesday April 8st, at the Paris Cat Jazz Club (6 Goldie Pl, CBD).
You can check out their myspace page here: http://www.myspace.com/okokokband
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Be Kind Rewind Website
_
I just checked out the official website for Michel Gondry's new film "Be Kind Website". I gotta say, the website might actually be better than the film!
If you don't know the basic premise of the film, it involves Jack Black & Mos Def "sweding" classic films, i.e. making new 20 minutes ultra low-budget versions that star themselves.
The website takes this premise one step further by sweding the internet. You really have to see it for yourself! They've got trailers for the films they made in the movie (in the sweded version of YouTube). You can even swede real websites yourself and submit them to the sweded version of google.
I'm not kidding.
A lot of work (and fun) has gone into this website. Check it out at: http://www.bekindmovie.com
(The version of the official Be Kind Rewinded trailer that's sweded by Gondry is pretty awesome. If you've seen the movie you will definately get a kick out of it! Garbage matt anyone?)
I just checked out the official website for Michel Gondry's new film "Be Kind Website". I gotta say, the website might actually be better than the film!
If you don't know the basic premise of the film, it involves Jack Black & Mos Def "sweding" classic films, i.e. making new 20 minutes ultra low-budget versions that star themselves.
The website takes this premise one step further by sweding the internet. You really have to see it for yourself! They've got trailers for the films they made in the movie (in the sweded version of YouTube). You can even swede real websites yourself and submit them to the sweded version of google.
I'm not kidding.
A lot of work (and fun) has gone into this website. Check it out at: http://www.bekindmovie.com
(The version of the official Be Kind Rewinded trailer that's sweded by Gondry is pretty awesome. If you've seen the movie you will definately get a kick out of it! Garbage matt anyone?)
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