Melbourne Freeze Frame Project 2011

18th of June, 2011 at Bourke Street Mall, Melbourne CBD

That was a flash mob in cold winter. Was not well to pose, so I decided to take photos of the flashmob instead on my newly won iPod touch 4th generation.

Melbourne Freeze Frame Project is organised annually by Stephanie Lilithia Chin.


Ang moh girl is wearing oriental outfit! You like or not?


Some dudes took off his shirt. But they just kept moving here and there, hard to take photos of them haha.


:)


Ouch! I got punched in the face!


Enjoying my game on a PSP while I freeze!


You looked like a cool Johnny Bravo!


Oh my gosh I got pinned down!

Watch a video of the event:


credit: Jodie Lee Becker

Be sure to join the group STEFASAURUS PRODUCTIONS ★ on Facebook to get notified on upcoming flashmobs around Melbourne. See you next year!

Drew Barry's "Breast Stem Cells" wins Imagine Science Visual Science Award

Fellow biomedical animator of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research Dr. Drew Barry and his student Etsuko Uno has won the Visual Science Award at the Imagine Science Film Festival for "Best short that depicts science in a visually engaging manner".

The award carries a cash prize of 1000 USD and is sponsored by Imaginal Disc.

Check out their winning title, Breast Stem Cell:



Description: An overview of the human mammary gland with a focus on the role of breast stem cells during pregnancy. The primary function of the mammary gland is to produce milk to nourish young offspring. The mammary gland is comprised of three main cell types; alveolar, ductal and myoepithelial cells. During pregnancy, the mammary gland increases in size due to the action of breast stem cells, which can mature into any of the three mammary gland cell types.

Check out other winners of Imagine Science Film Festival.

Source: Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

MoA's K-pop and J-pop English covers are now back!

A couple of months ago, I was upset to find out about the deletion of gimmesomemoa's Youtube channel. Along with the deletion some best English covers of popular K-pop songs were gone.

Thanks to her loyal fans who kept her vocals in their possession, part of her covers are now reuploaded!



Listen to her covers!

Jumping (KARA cover):


Going Crazy (Song Ji Eun cover):


What's the reason behind her account deletion? The main reason was her 2NE1 Lonely Cover Contest controversy. Sources can be found here and here.

Check out more covers of her through these Youtube channels:

MissingMoA
MoAmelodyFan
ForTheMelodyOfAngel

I agree with the opinion that MoA won't be uploading K-pop and J-pop covers again to entertain us. Meanwhile, check out some other worthy song cover channels like ashilia4life!

Orange Caramel 橙子焦糖 attracts attention for culturally mismatched stage outfit

A week ago, After School subunit Orange Caramel 橙子焦糖 attracted attention for being the three cutest female Bruce Lee. With the same title "Shanghai Romance 上海之恋", their stage outfit caught netizens' eye, this time with a culturally mixed up outfit.



During their performance at KBS Music Bank on October 21, 2011, they were seen wearing headgear reminiscent of Chinese drama My Fair Princess 还珠格格 and qipao aka cheongsam.

Knowledgable netizens immediately pointed out that the headgear is characteristic of Ching Dynasty 清朝 and qipao (cheongsam) belongs to the era of Republic of China 中华民国. Other comments from netizens include cute and ridiculous at the same time and the stylist really went out of the box for the outfit.

Historically, Manchus ruled China in Ching Dynasty from the 1640s to the early 1900s. Dr Sun Yat Sen launched a revolution and replaced Ching Dynasty with Republic of China in 1911.

.

On the same day, Girls' Generation 少女时代 made their comeback with "The Boys" and SECRET with "Love is Move".

Epic fail - "Taiwanese Girls' Generation" Super 7

[UPDATE] Super 7 drew flak for accusing SNSD as "plastic"

After the epic failure of K-pop group wanna be HEART2HEART for heavy plagiarism, we have another Taiwanese girl group doomed to the same destiny.



On October 15, Super 7 revealed the music video for their dance pop track in native Taiwanese language "Mai Luo Suo 麥囉唆. The music video featured identical concept as worn by Girls' Generation aka SNSD in Hoot.



The music video attracted angry responses from fans of Girls' Generation with tons of dislikes and comments like "this is just plain terrible. beyond funny, what a disgrace.", "Taiwan SNSD ? What the shiat ?!", "what the heck is it FUCK YOU SUPER 7" and "Epic fail to imitate SNSD. Please la. Don't bring down SNSD image. SNSD are definitely not bitchy. Still say what SNSD of Taiwan. Make me want to puke only."




Apart from the costume controversy, the ten-member group has also been criticised for boring song, sub par vocal ability and mediocre dance move.



What I dislike is that they are promoting themselves as "Taiwanese SNSD". SNSD is more than a name for the nine-member South Korean girl group, it's a brand now. They are known for their strong vocals and versatility in the entertainment industry. Each member has their role to play in the group, be it lead vocalist, main vocalist, main dancer, lead dancer or rapper.

I didn't hear the vocal talent of Super 7. There is no distinction of roles to showcase each member's strength. I do not understand what they're trying to communicate in their song other than flaunting their assets.

Apart from the epic failure of their title track, I strongly dislike the poor camera composition and boring choreography. The cameraman has failed to provide us an engaging experience with the singers when I watched the MV; if you watch the dance moves carefully individual members are stuck to their position in most parts of their MV.

Do watch the music video for yourself. SNSD Hoot MV attached for comparison.






What copycats!


p.s. It's said that some Super 7 members were Taiwanese group "Hey Girl" members. Oh shame on you!

Queen of covers NAVI 나비

You need to stumble upon a gem by yourself. Don't look at # of views but sample it by yourself - you be the judge and decide if anything appeals to you, who knows!

Check out her other covers by visiting MardiLuminosity2's Youtube channel.

miss A's Jia 孟佳 amazing cheerleading performance

Wow since when miss A's Jia become a cheerleader? She claimed to learn everything about cheerleading in 2 hours! Really she rocked the stage with professional cheerleading team BigTide.

This clip is from a Korean variety show named Star King.

Luckyboommini 豆花妹 蔡黄汝 challenges IU's three high notes

Luckyboommini, to challenge IU Lee Ji Eun's three high notes in the latter's hit song Good Day, takes on extensive stamina training so as to improve her performance.

IU's three high notes in Good Day has sparked "high note war" which fans frantically searching for high note singers and compared them. What are your other favourite high note singers?

Jess Lee Kar Wei is absolutely the best! Listen to her debut single Suffering for her 15 high notes :)

Orange Caramel "Shanghai Romance 上海之恋"

Was expecting this piece featuring a new Asian city from Orange Caramel since their hit, Bangkok City.

“Shanghai Romance” is the second project from Orange Caramel’s “One Asia Project”, which began earlier this year with “Bangkok City“.

When asked to describe the “One Asia Project”, Lizzy replied half-jokingly, “It’s a master plan to take over the Asian market.” “When I’m on Twitter and YouTube, it seems like we get a lot of attention from overseas. Every time I read their tweets about wanting to see us, I’m amazed and make myself work even harder,” she said.
Source: allkpop

I really like Orange Caramel said "I love you" in Chinese in the end. I can hear Korean accent, but it's cute!

Where's the next city?

15Malaysia Healthy Paranoia

Starring: Dato' Seri Liow Tiong Lai (Minister of Health, Malaysia)
Director: Khairil M. Bahar

Overzealous public relation officers advises the Minister of Health on discouraging unhealthy lifestyles in Malaysia.



Absurd public relation campaign lol!

Jess Lee Kar Wei special guest at One Million Star 超级星光大道

Jess Lee from Malaysia guested at this year's Chinese singing reality show One Million Star with her latest single "Suffering 煎熬. She is the defending champion of the last season of the reality show.



The show host, Matilda Tao, remarked that nobody can sing her song at karaoke unless they scream aimlessly when drunk, to which Jess Lee retorted, "It's ok."

Matilda asked Jess, "In order to reach those high notes, do you need to warm up?" Jess answered that she practised and warmed up backstage prior to her performance. Matilda asked how did Jess warm up.

"I stretched my tongue, and [my face] will look ugly (showing an ugly face) as if my tongue will get pulled out. It felt like my throat is opening."

Matilda commended Jess for her wide vocal range and opened the floor for the performance of Jess' first single "Suffering".

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Her voice is so powerful live. I don't need to perform an MR removal to prove to you she is the best!

Wang Lee Hom 王力宏 reveals MV for "Still in Love with You" 依然爱你

What I like is the cute music video. The song is soothing.

What's more, Lee Hom is praised for making use of young talent in the like of Wong Fu Production.

Subscribe to officialwangleehom on Youtube for the latest update.

I have "Korean twitter" me2day!

At the beginning of this month, me2day has introduced English* interface. Thanks to the likes of allkpop, huge number of English-speaking users are signing up for me2day account for the past one week!

*also Chinese Traditional, Chinese Simplified and Japanese



me2day is known as the Korean equivalent of Twitter. It was first available in Korean and catered Korean users for their microblogging needs. Now, huge wave of foreign language speakers (English, Chinese & Japanese) are colonising me2day thanks to marketing campaign.



Instead of following users unilaterally, you send a friend request to the user you want to follow. After the friend request is approved, you can view each other's updates and send each other private messages. If you choose not to "friend", the unilateral "follow" is still available, but you don't get to interact on a more intimate level.

In the world of me2day, you are actually friends with your celebrity of interest instead of only "following" him/her. How cool is that!

As usual, I followed my favourite celebrity. Take UEE of After School as my celebrity of interest..


I recognise UEE by face but I don't understand a single word of her update! What should I do?


Fret not, follow me2stars to get updates translated into English! I'll still follow my celebrity to show my love, even though I can't understand what they say.

Which celebrities are on me2day? IU, T-ara, miss A, Big Bang and many more. Oh yeah, don't forget to follow allkpop too.

Despite encouragement to sign up for me2day, there remain language barriers to be crossed. Most English me2day accounts belong to Kpop fans; they may not understand what their stars are saying; we are forming our own group and randomly adding each other. It has never been this fun before!

What are you waiting for?



Already have a me2day account? Follow me at biopolymath

Technorati tags: social media, Internet

English translation of Oh Khang Jee's Hobi Saya

This Malay essay has gone viral. I'm translating this piece into English with annotation so as not to reserve this to Malay speakers. Truth be told, I would like to share its information content with you.

By far the most perverted piece from a primary school student.

Oh Khang Jee
Question: My Hobby

I am thankful to God for putting two eyes on my face. There starts my hobby. My hobby is to use my eyes to stare at people.

One day, I was staring at a girl. But, the girl was overpowering me and stared at me. From that day onwards, whenever I see her, 010 (he meant, his penis) erects by 120 degrees. I was so embarassed, so I pressed on (my penis) more and more. I enjoyed it!

So, my hobby is to press and press (on my erected penis). But, my grandmother disliked my hobby. My grandmother always beat my hand when I pressed.. This caused pain in my (ahem!). Feels like it was going to be broken!

so, I changed back to my old hobby. That's all!


Seek counselling after this!!!

Epic right? :P

Suffering 煎熬 - 李佳薇 Jess Lee

Quoting Joshuaongys, this is the most disgusting music video with quite a number of explicit sexual scenes, featuring a girl living in her messed up life but back on track in the end.



When this song was aired on radio, listeners complained about high pitch of Jess' voice. She was too good! It's said that Jess Lee used 15 high notes in Suffering. For comparison, I've heard IU's three high in Good Day.



I've not only watched the video, but read the comments as well. These are good:

Quite an provocative MV. Definitely not your typical MV-friendly material. This video is RAW. Lots of raw images, raw emotions and raw connections. All I can say is whether this video is appreciated or not by music gurus, Jess has made an impact in her new music career. Good for her.

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MV的意境別只看表面, 在噁心的蟲中穿插激情，是為了襯托出當時熱戀的激情是多麼得噁心­­，他"分手"後，受到了多少的煎熬，如此痛苦難熬，連自己是不­是­活著都不知道，吃著腐爛的食物，也許是表達空虛的愛，久了只­會腐­爛吧，過著行屍走肉的日子，也覺得麻木了，什麼都不想管，­後來突­然清醒，脫胎換骨，讓觀眾體會到活著真好，沒必要對這種­無聊的東­西讓自己受到傷害，也不是用自殺的爛方法來解決，那沉­重的"煎熬­"貪婪的映像深深刻在我的心裡。看到這麼多人沒深入­了解這MV的­意境，顯然這種MV根本不適合在台灣放映，一看就­只注意男女激情­和蟲子，不斷批評，臺灣素質又低了嗎? 文學造詣跑哪去了，只看表面，真夠膚淺。【噁心什麼人看什麼東西­永遠都只有噁心兩個字，因為他的大腦只有充滿噁心的東西，而不知­道該怎麼轉向思考】。

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那些所谓恶心的画面大概是想体现女主角的心已经死了。活在这种恶­劣的环境肯定是很煎熬的，女主角却若无其事，表示她的内心已经煎­熬到一种境界，外在的一切都算不得什么了。热恋时的激情让她将自­己无条件交给对方，失恋后过着地狱般的生活脑中还不断重播那些画­面，那该有多煎熬。 ！高音的部分就如悲伤至极的怒吼。这是个人的解读啦~很棒的歌，­很棒的mv! 

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很多人覺得這支影片拍的令人作噁，因為太逼近於現實，所以人們無­法接受，眾人都喜歡看美好的，浪漫的，濫情的.....這支影片­太寫實，打破了沒有轟轟烈烈愛過痛過傷過的人對於失戀的看法，沒­有真的痛過，所以無法想像才會覺得噁心。這影片的表現手法對於那­些曾經撕心裂肺的人，日日夜夜以淚洗面，哭完就睡，醒了在哭，借­酒澆愁麻痺自己，食之無味婉如僵屍的人來說，是很強烈的映象，彷­彿一幕幕都在投影自己的過去。尤其對一個女人來說，更是深刻，不­能停止想念，想念對方的一切，想念激情時的模樣，想念那個人的笑­，與自己現在的可悲作強烈對比。數不盡次數的嚎啕大哭，數不盡次­數的告訴自己已經不在乎，數不盡次數的想離開這個世界，數不盡次­數的想念與徘徊在愛恨交錯之間，而就在某一次，某一次大哭過後，­突然的醒來，承認自己的存在，並面對現實，再次重生，重整再出發­，再次體會生命的美好。

The disgusting scenes are meant to show the wrecked state of the girl living in her self imposed suffering. To take it further, the director meant an allusion of the peak of romance - the girl gave everything she had to her man, to the point of being disgusting. After her man has left her, she was living in hell. Expired food signifies expiry and emptiness of her love. The scene of a pest insect got stepped on meant the worthless and purposeless life she was leading.

Many of the scenes in the MV are raw and unedited. Many were not able to take it for the disgusting and explicit scenes. All has been carried to extremes in this MV to carry the message across, but that makes me appreciate this piece more!

We have been served with sugar coated materials, why not take a look at the reality of life? I must praise the director for portraying this facet of life!

To view the 10 minute full length MV, click here.

I'm so happy - miss A to debut in Chinese market

I am so happy to hear this. miss A is going to release a Taiwan special edition of their A class album!

After garnering success in their country, debuting in Japan seem like the way to go. Japan debut is overplayed by too many Korean groups, I'm growing sick of it.



Chinese ethnicity of two members, Jia and Fei has garnered attention. I'm sure Chinese fans are proud to hear miss A penetrating the Chinese market! Much praise to Suzy and Min for making the effort to learn Chinese.



I am so delighted for their Chinese debut since I grow up listening to Taiwanese songs. Taiwanes pop has defined my taste for music throughout the years. I have been looking forward for Korean stars to debut in Taiwan since Wonder Girls and Super Junior M.



Group member Suzy and Min are making accurate Chinese pronunciations, I don't really mind hearing their Korean accent in it. Some Chinese remakes of their songs sounded so much better, as if they're written for Chinese lyrics and reminded me of Taiwanese pop!

Here are some tracks in their A class Taiwan special edition:

My all time favourite, Good Bye Baby:


Bad Girl Good Girl


Breathe


Love Again


p.s. f(x) under SM Entertainment have Chinese members as well. Should I ask for a Chinese version of "Hot Summer"? :P

Additional links:
Allkpop: miss A makes their Chinese debut!
Soompi: miss A to Target the Chinese Market in November

The Limelight @ Miss Libertine

16th of August 2011

A short note: By the time I wrote this, Ellie is no longer in a relationship with Leon. But let's see things as they happened, shall we?

Thanks to Ellie Chee, I watched her performed live with Leon Marcus Zachary at Miss Libertine.


The duo called themselves "Leonells".


Ellie has strong vocal talent. Other than praise, I'm just full of praise!


I was quite blown off by Leon as well.

My favourite song was Lucky. Lucky I'm in love with my best friend/ Lucky to have been where I have been/ Lucky to be coming home again/ Then I remembered Leon serenaded Ellie with a Marry Me. Romantic!

We have a friend visiting from afar...


She's Chammaine Tan!


Follow her on Twitter.

Wanna know more about Leon's music? Like him on Facebook and watch his covers on Youtube channel.

A revelation from Negarakuku

In the early part of his rap he talked about durian being fragrant or foul smelling, depending on the "nose trills" you have. He was speaking in metaphor - an issue, depending on your point of view, may delight you or offend you. He was preparing your hearts to receive what's in his rap as you play it further.

Years later, I watched the controversial rap music video again. After these years, conditions in Malaysia have not improved. A monster will always be at its ugliest before its fall - you get what I mean?

In the late part of his rap, he talked about Visit Malaysia 2007 and promotion of cultures belonging to Chinese (and other races). Immediately, he continued asking [Chinese] not to blame the government for all discrimination on them, in the literal sense.

So this is a revelation that come to me:

You are proud to promote the exotic cultures of various racial groups, showcasing to foreigners about how diverse your country is; but you pay little attention to the plight of those racial groups! You are more interested in doing outside jobs to look good but you have neglected about the more important inside jobs.

A loyal word can be against our ear, but it is for one's own good. Who understands that?