6 hot guys, 1 phone call.

From a (slightly abbreviated) conversation I had last night - with my mum. Leave it to me to find a way to weave 6 uncommonly attractive men into one phone call.

"Mom, I'm crazy about a Korean singer."
"Your brother told me. I told him that's not possible because you were just obsessing over Soler last night."
"Don't worry, I'm still crazy about Soler. In fact, when I went out today, I was looking for their studio again." (It's hidden somewhere in my neighborhood.)
"So who is this new guy?"
"He's from a Korean boy band. You said Korean guys are cute so you should be happy with my choice. He can sing, he can dance, he's quiet, sweet. His English is okay too. Much better than Hong Kong pop stars these days. They're not like the older generation. Tony Leung has good English."
"Really?"
"Yeah! I'll send you a YouTube clip. I wanted to buy Duke of Mount Deer today when I went past the bookstore."
"What is that?"
"It's a wuxia novel."
"I don't read."
"I know, Mom. I'm not sure how you have a double English major daughter. Anyway, it's been made into a tv show many times. Tony Leung was in a TVB version in the 1980s. Even Huang Xiaoming was in the most recent one. Did you know he's also going to be in a new movie with my other crush, Donnie Yen."
"Who?"
"I didn't tell you about my crush on Donnie Yen?"
"Who's Donnie Yen? I've never even heard of him."
"Oh my goodness. Don't you watch Hong Kong movies? He's the top martial artist right now. Among Hong Kong martial arts legends, there's Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, Donnie Yen."
"I've never heard of him."
"Ai! His mom's a wushu sifu who helped bring martial arts to America. They moved to Boston when he was young. Then he started getting into trouble -"
"Like Bruce Lee."
"- so his mom sent him to Beijing. After his studies, he took a detour in Hong Kong on his way back to America and ended up working with Yuen Woo-Ping."
"Who?"
"Mom! He's one of the most famous action directors in Hong Kong!"
"Oh, wasn't he in a Danny Chan movie?"
"Yes! He played the goofy suitor to Paula Tsui in Merry Christmas. Anyway, they started working together and the rest is history. I'll send you a link so you can see who Donnie Yen is."
"Okay, whatever."
"Do you want me to send you the link to a music video of this Korean guy?"
"No."

Your loss, Mum, your loss. But credit to her for listening to me spout nonsense, which I've been doing since I first laid eyes on Joey McIntyre. My birthday's coming up, a reminder I need to grow up. But I'll do what I'm best at and procrastinate.

Soler + '陪我飛'.

Soler, I can't quit you! Just when I thought I had scoured every last corner of youtube for their interviews, covers, gigs, I uncovered this gem. The song is 陪我飛 ('Fly with Me') and was written to support kids who don't have the opportunity to go to school. Bless. The video below is from a March 2007 performance but also check out another appearance from around that time. The guys looked a bit - a lot - scrubby just a few years earlier, though surely the song makes up for any sartorial failings. Anyway, age and experience seems to have sharpened them. (Last.fm has a clearer version + free download!)

'Ip Man 2' and throwback Donnie Yen interview.

You might notice that I haven't posted much on Donnie Yen in the last couple weeks. Okay, I haven't posted much at all, though that has affected nary an amoeba in the universe. One reason is that I gave up movies. I'd like to say I did it for God and will be abstaining throughout Lent, but alas, that would be a lie. Truth is, the overdue thesis has taken priority and I banned myself from all movies and movie-like entertainment until the thing is lock-boxed in some oral defense purgatory. Therefore I can't really go on about Mismatched Couples or Bodyguards and Assassins because I still haven't properly seen either. (The other reason is that my small head only has room for one massive obsession at a time, and at the moment Soler is clearly filling the void between my ears. In a bit of a coup though, Donnie Yen directed Soler's MV for his movie Dragon Tiger Gate. Oh, how the gods conspire!)

But I think it's about time to re-enter Donnie territory as news regarding Ip Man 2 is coming fast. With an April 29 release date, the coming month and a half should be filled with Donnie wing-chun-ass-kicking goodness. The folks at Sina have a brief set of photos with the Ip Man looking serene - and talking about all manners of loving his wife. If you want to see the less domesticated side of him, however, there is a long interview from before I knew he existed, which would be ~11 years ago. It's a bit dated but there's still a lot of juice - Donnie cries at movies. Donnie is a shoddy actor. Donnie likes Armageddon. Whoa - wait a minute. Let's hope he and wife Cici aren't partial to animal crackers. Anyway, good read.........And now the last page of the thesis!

Soler + 天才白痴夢.

Still March, still wading in my shit creek, still hoping to get out super soon, and still listening to Soler to make things better. Video for today is also from the way back machine. It's from their first CD, Intuition, which is out of print but at least available for digital download. The song is 天才白痴夢, which Google tells me translates into 'Genius Idiot Dream'. Sam Hui sang the original and there's a notable cover by Danny Chan, but methinks I'm partial to Soler's version. All are worth a listen and a $0.99 download though.

Vintage Soler @ Fringe Club, 'Tears in Your Hands'.

March! Still paddling up my poo creek, but at least I think there's a neat little bend in the river where I can get off and on with my life. I'm trying to reintegrate by listening to a LOT of Soler. Wait, that doesn't make sense. Doesn't matter because this is possibly my favorite song from my favorite Italian-Burmese twins, ever. It's on their Intuition concert DVD which, as life would have it, is no longer in print. Very luckily, I became obsessed with them way back in the way back (~5 years ago) and snatched a copy. Unluckily, it's collecting dust in my mum's house on the other side of the planet. Luckily, there is youtube.

Soler - 細味 MV.

Update: Ahh, if I'd actually read the title of the video I originally posted, I would have realized it was the tv version. TVB is notorious for crap videos, usually of crap songs, though this is not the case. I thought the whole lamp-bed-paper bit was sparse and repetitive - pouty. Maybe a good match for Joey or Stephy but not for Soler. Anyway, here is the better version. Sound is not synced on this or any other upload but it's not too distracting.

I may have posted this song before but not the MV. This is Soler's 細味. Not the most exciting video ever, but gorgeous song and gorgeous singers.

Brits, Eurovision, and Soler

Watching: crap Chinese music playlist on youtube
Listening: crap Chinese music playlist on youtube
Reading: American Anticommunism by M. J. Heale

News of the Day:

• Damn, British students revolt because unis are skimping on teaching duties.
• Damn, British poets revolt. Actually, they don't but they do get their pants in knots over sexual misconduct - of the harassment sort and the kind that involves a kitchen, honey glaze over a supermarket duck, and a fuck. All because of some poetry post at Oxford. American poets don't fight over this stuff......because who ever heard of an American poet?
• Damn, British would-be terrorists revolt. Actually, this is a revealing a revealing article from the inside about how British youth are being recruited by terrorists.
• Damn, British protesters revolt (hence, protester). In classic Looney Toons style, they spread carpet tacks along the roadway of a charity bike race.
• Stupid criminal alert: teenage robber pulls the my banana is really a gun trick.
• Humans eat Neanderthals, so say some scientists.. Sounds like next summer's blockbuster.

Eurovision........Oh, my music IQ might equal that of Sarah Palin's real IQ and I may subject myself to endlessly to Cantopop, but is there really a good excuse for Eurovision? I blame the fog machine and laser light lobbies for this saccharine spectacle. It's cheesy, camp, and amateur, which I think is kind of the purpose. But that formula works in say Hong Kong because the market is small, people outside the city would rather watch their movies (the really good ones not the crap Wong Jing ones), and who really understands Cantonese anyway? It's a bit unsettling to watch the entire European continent indulge in this, however. Eh, maybe I'm an unfair critic, which is probably the case. Judge yourself.

Norway's winning entry. Really, what are those other 3 guys doing?!!



Britain's 5th place entry. Lyrics by Diane Warren, music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, winner chosen by a tv talent contest.......



The after dinner mint to a shitteous entree and side dish - Hong Kong music that doesn't suck! I think the name of this song by Soler is: 惹我. It's not the original video but it kicks the original video's ass.