Chatter Of The Squirrel

The Portal Song

This song is just so… erm… difficult to define?

A little funny. A little poetic. Very geek. The voice is sweetly haunting. It’s like… Lex Luthor with the voice of Charlotte Church. It doesn’t make sense. But it’s a piece of creative genius… I’m listening to it over and over and over…

The Flash animation is a parody of Portal, a PC game where you match wits with an AI to ultimately destroy the Computer. And this is the Computer’s song.

There’s also a Flash version of the Portal game, like here. It’s a very well done game. And I’m stuck.

Bad News, Good News

News are depressing. Makes me think that our country is a bitch in heat, and it’s completely surrounded by a pack of in-bred hairless mutts. Will the country still be worth anything after the gang-banging stops?

Well, there are other things on the net that brings a smile to my face.

A random Johorean talked about her dating disasters. Found it most amusing. And also a little sad. Chivalry seems to be dead, and some nice girls have quite despaired of meeting decent men.

Also, someone sent me this YouTube link. It’s one of The Pillows‘ MTV. Was immensely amused by the video.

I started listening to this Japanese rock band since I watched FLCL, the all time best Jap anime. The band was approached by Gainax (the producers of FLCL) to get the rights to a few of their albums. Then, the director proceeded to mold the theme and flow of the cartoon to the songs.

It’s like Fantasia, with rock. I love it.

Hmm, a complete discography of The Pillows will be 2GB…

Music: Third Eye Blind

3eb just released another album 2 days ago. But there’s nothing new, it’s just “A Collection” of the music they’ve done since their career took off.

This is only their 4th album since their success in 1997, with a song about crystal meth. They have no desperate need to cash in on their success while they’re famous, and took their time writing their music. Their last album, Out of the Vein, was 3 years ago, and a true 4th album isn’t due until next year maybe.

For some unfathomable reason, I’ve had a liking for their melody though I don’t pay much attention to the lyrics. It’s my ‘thinking music’. This stuff works better than Mozart for me.

You can sample a few songs at their mySpace.

Musical: The Producers

Just watched The Producers at the office…

Yeah…. That’s quality of life isn’t it?

Caught Nathan Lane on Letterman years ago when the musical was still doing its rounds on Broadway with a star cast. That’s how I came to hear about it.

Grabbed the songs. Not particularly impressed, but it has its merits: you don’t see something like Springtime For Hitler very often.

Glad that they got Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick and Uma Thurman for the movie. The show would be less without any of them. Especially without Uma.

“Ula dance again!”

(That’s probably the most enjoyable part of the show.)

For me, musicals began with Cats.

One and a half dozen years ago, I heard Mr Mistoffelees on the radio. Took a few moments for the magic to take hold of me before I slapped the record button. Only caught a fragment of the song, but I played it back over and over. Broadway musicals not being a popular radio dedication song, it was months before I heard it on radio again in its entirety.

Came University days, and came Napster. During that window period when Napster was still legal, I grabbed tracks of a few dozen musicals. Cats, Les Miserables, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Miss Saigon, Phantom of the Opera, Starlight Express, Man of La Mancha, etc… Those collections even helped me recover the cost of my CD burner.

I have a treasured DVD of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, which I asked my sister to hunt down for me in Melbourne.

Then four years ago, a South African troupe revived Cats for one last world tour, that happened to hit KL!! Managed to catch the event at Istana Budaya with some of my best friends.

After that day, I was pretty much done with musicals. I’ve already experienced the best of plays with the best of company.

For me, musicals ended with Cats.

Nathan Lane is an incredible performer. Uma Thurman was great to watch. Nazi pigeons are all too hilarious.

But as a musical, The Producer doesn’t have the magic that I felt in Cats. And a musical without magic, is little different from a Mentos commercial.

Thinking again… My fascination for musicals might date even earlier than Mr. Mistoffelees…

There was one episode of Quantum Leap, where Sam Beckett leapt into the life of a broadway understudy. At the end of the show, Sam performed Man of La Mancha in the nude, (with naughty bits strategically hidden by stage props of course). I’ve not heard many songs more powerful than the song of Don Quixote. Nor a love song so full of sweet pining, as Dulcinea.

Dracula from Houston

Sometimes it feels amazing when you find a piece of music that speaks to you on a personal level.

I’ve been playing Butthole Surfers’ Dracula from Houston on a loop the entire time I’m blogging…

Well, I’ve already got my blue bike. But I’ll probably wait on that doctor’s appointment.