A tour of Japanese rap - Kyou no Koe

Japanese rap is real talk. Lyrics that blow your mind with truth bombs. Soundbites that sink their teeth into the harshness of reality. Here's an exquisite sample, selected to expand your mind. Ready to jump in?

Wings of change - Indigenous beats

Change is in the air. After decades of being overlooked, ignored or swept under the rug, Indigenous matters are coming out under the public eye and are taking center stage in social discussions. Everywhere around the globe, the word Indigenous has become synonymous to resilience. Surviving and preserving their culture and language. Today, these communities are bubbling with youthful energy and Indigenous now also means hope and success. For instance, Indigenous music has adapted marvellously, drawing inspiration from ancestral roots and seeking out avant-garde forms of expression—it hasn’t just broken the Wall of isolation, it is thriving.

Let’s listen to what the winds whisper, on the 🦅 wings of change!

OTYKEN (ОТУКЕН)

Otyken is an Indigenous band from the Siberian Steppes. The band sings in their tribal tongue, Khakas, and in Russian. They’ve grabbed international attention through their presence on TikTok. Get ready for an intense dive into Earth music. Grab your headsets  🎧 and enjoy 🎶.

“Coup de coeur” - 2020 - personal favs

2020, what a year! Good or bad, it was unmistakably tremendous! With so much happening worldwide on the pandemic and social unrest front, art kinda went under the radar. But there were cool things happening too in 2020. Here are some of my personal favorites that helped pass the time during the various stages of lockdown.

The Boys, season 2, an Amazon Original

Season 2 of The Boys did not disappoint and took the effed-up super-hero series to cult level thanks to the inlaid social commentary on boiling contemporary issues in North America such as race, immigration, harassment, foreign policy, mass persuasion and skewed (or screwed-up) politics. In essence, the show asks how people with superpowers would fit today’s society, how they’d be marketed, weaponized and exploited or how they’d exploit their advantage, either way exploring the darker sides of human nature. It’s gore-a-plenty, not at all watered down to flow mainstream. But beyond all the blood, bone and brain, it's an incredibly intelligent and tongue-in-cheek show.

Watch a vast collection of original TV shows and movies on Amazon Prime.
Enjoy Amazon Originals, new releases or old-school classics.

Don’t cover your ears

Greetings to ya’ll! How’s it hanging?

Well, as the planet coughs and puffs, I thought some music might help feed and heal the soul. This blogpost will cover the much loved and equally much hated category of song covers.

Yeah, covers. If they don’t sublime the original track, they chainsaw massacre it. Ain’t no two ways about it.

So, I hopped on a quest to share some golden finds. Don’t cover your ears, you’ll want to take a listen.

“Oh wah ah ah ah!!!”. If you are remotely familiar with metal music, you know the vocal gimmicks of David Michael Draiman—the lead “screamer” of Disturbed. But here’s the thing, Draiman is an awesome singer with or without screams and shouts.

Here are the covers of two very deep and well-known songs. These covers, both performed by Disturbed, will make you think twice before dissing the voice of metal.

Disturbed - The Sound of silence
Original by Simon & Garfunkel

Disturbed – Land of confusion
Original by Genesis

And now a little twist on how to cook up a great cover. You can stick to the recipe and follow the original vibe or—like the British black metal band, Cradle of Filth—you can make it your own thing. Whichever way you go, the secret is to respect the essence of the original track.  

Cradle of Filth – Hallowed be thy name

Original by Iron Maiden

I know black metal music might not be everybody’s cup of tea. So, bye, bye darkness my old friend. Let’s lighten the mood with covers of one of my favorite songs of all time, You Spin Me Round (Like a Record) by the great Sir Pete Burns, lead singer of Dead or Alive. RIP Sir!

Jessica Simpson’s take on this world-famous hit really gets down and dirty. She got the sexual energy down. It oozes out of the vibes, no question about it. Give your ears a treat and give it a listen.

It’s always been a flirty song. A song for the nightlife. A song that Danzel made his own by surfing that wave.

Into more aggressive mating rituals? Dope also caught on to the forwardness of the song and applied it to their stroke.

 

There are literally hundreds of versions of this song. But, once again, what essentially makes a good cover is simply how the soul of the song is grasped and rendered back in a new form. 

To end this musical adventure into the world of covers, here’s a pretty good take on one of the hardest songs to cover (and another personal favorite), Dolly Parton's Jolene. Hats off to IMY2 for such an incredible rendering!

Explore more about Dolly Parton on Amazon

The 4 horsemen of Drowning Pool

Little known fact 

Did you know?

The first singer of Drowning Pool, Dave Williams, was found dead in his tour bus, reputedly in a pool of his own vomit. At least that was the version back in the days. An ill-fated band name perhaps, but a very metal way of signing off. RIP.

(2001-2002) With Dave at the helm, Drowning Pool achieved worldwide fame. His most (in)famous song? Bodies. Of course...

(2003-2005) Then Jason Jones stepped up. But he didn't quite get along with the other dudes.

(2005-2011) Ryan McCombs was the prodigal son who kept Drowning Pool afloat. And his song Feel Like I Do is the reason why I'm writing this post. Somehow this gem went under the radar and the world of Metal missed something. A little known fact that needs to get out there.

Feel like I do

Though he was a perfect fit, Ryan eventually rejoined his earlier band, SOiL. The fourth horseman and current lead singer of Drowning Pool is Jasen Moreno, only one finger and a fist away from the greats. 

At the gates of Rashōmon

If the works of one — and only one — filmmaker had to be passed on to a distant future civilization as a legacy of what we would have achieved in the art of great cinema, then the choice would be as clear-cut as the clean slash left on a bamboo stem by the Katana blade of a seasoned Samurai.

One man rises above the fray to claim legendary status among the fine fleur du 7ème art. That man was born in Tokyo on March 23, 1910, and he lived to create some of the greatest movies of all times. Films that inspired other movie directors throughout the world in shaping our collective cinematic consciousness.

In this post, we'll delve into the works of filmmaker genius Akira Kurosawa whose influence still permeates TV screens in the West and in the East.

Da man!

Don't mess with spaghetti...

Kurosawa is the grand master of Samurai movies. Little known fact: that genre heavily inspired its counterpart in the West, namely spaghetti westerns. If you're a fan of For a Fistful of Dollars or The Magnificent Seven, then you are a Kurosawa fan without knowing it. But I digress. We'll get to the spaghetti later.

Back to the man. Kurosawa was a prolific filmmaker and his career spanned nearly three decades. As a young man, he witnessed the pre- and post-war eras of Japan. Crude realism and bleakness are the canvas against which his films are thrown. Despite the roughness of it, this melancholy is beautifully and delicately interwoven into the fabric of human nature laid bare. Kurosawa's movies are timeless windows into the Japanese soul, its ideals of grandeur and the cruel irony of life's tricks. 

Time to explore some of Kurosawa's greatest masterpieces in our artistic quest for truth.

In 1950 came Rashōmon, the movie that first drew worldwide attention on Japan's potential to influence arts & culture on a global scale. The story of Rashōmon is in essence that of multifaceted reality or that of perspective and perception. Without revealing too much of the plot, Rashōmon is the story of four stories resulting from the extremely unfortunate encounter between a wayward rogue, a samurai and his spouse, and a passer-by. Four contradictory stories will emerge out of this single event, yet all of them true from the perspective of its narrator. How can four people perceive the same turn of events differently? The movie tackled this issue with such brio that it gave rise to the concept of the Rashōmon effect in journalism as to the nature of truth(s).

Note: Masaki Kobayashi's Harakiri (1962) also comes to mind when talking about the impact of perspective and perception in cinematographic storytelling. But that's a story for another day.

Kurosawa's most famous film is probably the Seven Samurai (1954), which is, as the name suggests, the story of seven Samurai coming to the rescue of the weak and giving the baddies a tougher chew than expected. The cast of the Seven Samurai included actors of tremendous talent of the likes of Takashi Shimura and Toshirô Mifune. Despite being filmed over 60 years ago, you can still enjoy it today as one of the best movies you'll ever watch.

The Beast Unleashed

One cannot talk about Kurosawa movies without mentioning Toshirô Mifune, the actor whose incredible screen presence made these movies come to life. Toshirô Mifune takes the lead in Yojimbo (1961) as a clever and ballsy ronin for the hire, who enters a village and cunningly plays two local gangs against each other in a bid to free the people of their tyranny.

Whether a lawless vagabond or an unsung lonesome hero, Toshiro Mifune will get under your skin. I've never seen such animality on screen. Toshirô, he's the man, he's the animal - he's the first manimal.

A Manimal screen presence
that will not be chained

    Toshirô Mifune perfectly grasps the essence of the unbound beast, whether for good or bad.

    The actor's relationship with Kurosawa despite their shared success was a rollercoaster ride. One thing however always remained true, their encounter gave rise to perfection made into film.

    As the filmmaker once said of his muse: "I am proud of nothing I have done other than with him."

To conclude this blogpost, here's an interesting video I've found which gives insight into Kurosawa's mastery in the use of frames for his vivid visual storytelling.

Explore the works of Kurosawa

Howling Metal, s'il vous plaît

Time to bash your ears again with an explosion of raw music. With a French touch.

Métal!

Most readers wouldn't be surprised that the French metal scene exists, but there is a saying that goes Nul n'est prophète en son pays meaning that it is sometimes harder to gain recognition in your own homeland. This saying is particularly true for French metal as most French-speakers tend to think of it as a pale imitation of American heavy metal. Nothing could be further from the truth.

French metal has a unique je-ne-sais-quoi. A distinct flavor in the lyrics. Rich like red wine.
The songs abound with double entendre and are often socially engaged and enraged.
 
Enough talking. Let me introduce you to some of the leading misfits.

MASNADA - Metal's most underrated band ever

Their album Maîtres du Je is a true gem. Unfortunately the band never quite came into its own. They remained underground even in France. C’est triste, as they are on par with the biggest bands, French or otherwise. To this day, that’s two decades after and counting, their album still stands as a monument of creativity for the music and the completeness of its concept.

LOFOFORA - King of the ring

Lofofora is nothing short of being the biggest name in French metal for the last 20 years. My personal favorite: Vice et Râle. Getting the drift about the double entendre now? You might wanna check out the lyrics for this song. They are exquisitely libertine to say the least.

This post doesn't delve into subgenres such as gothic, death or black metal. So no mention of, well the more obscure bands. Pun intended :)

Guess who's in town?

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Breaking the mold

We've reached an interesting time in music. And I'm not talking about bottle-blondes twerkin' dat booty or reality shows to find the next talent or turd. Nope, drop the dope. I'm talking about real music made by real artists.

I remember thinking when I was a teenager in the 90's how on earth could music evolve further. Well, it never stopped evolving, and it dawns upon me now that it always will. As our brains grow more complex (well at least for some humans), a world of infinite possibilities opens up for us to relish the delicate intricacies of the ever-blooming garden of sound.

The system is going down. Big time. The rigidity of genres can no longer contain creativity unleashed. Conformity to genres is a gonner. As the Revolting Cocks would put it: We don't need no cock control. So preacher, leave those kids alone. They've grown up anyway. Lemme introduce you to some of them:

Aesthetic Perfection

Aesthetic Perfection is driven by the genius of Daniel Graves. The music is a complex blend that draws mostly from electronics, dancefloor beats topped with neo-metal echoes. It oozes a unique energy that is well-rendered by equally creative clips. "Aesthetic Perfection’s Daniel Graves is not one to allow himself, or his music, to stagnate. On the new album, ‘Til Death, we find an artist who, despite an overwhelming outcry for a return an earlier sound, refuses to conform to anyone's expectations[...] With each new release Daniel has shown artistic growth and a fearless approach to songwriting. The result is something all too rare in music; an artist who has developed a unique, recognizable sound, but has escaped the trappings of clichéd formulaic songwriting." As the label Metropolis would put it.

Blue Stahli

Blue Stahli's music has been described as electronic rock and its sole member Bret Autrey as a multi-instrumentalist. What can be said with certainty though is that Bret is one crazy muthafucker and his music is a flurry of aggressive beauty and intensity. Blue Stahli's sound also has a cinematic dimension to it and has been licensed in a number of movies and video games. Things are going well for Bret, but that doesn't stop him from being very close to his listeners. The dude actually personally replies to you on his Facebook page and he keeps it real. I'll let you read and appreciate the artist's vision of his art:

"Music and art speak a wordless language that go far beyond vocabulary and dialect, taking on new meaning with each singular person. Some of the bleakest of these expressions can sometimes be the most beautiful, as they show an understanding and articulation without judgement. My reason for being is to create art for others to connect with, no matter how black the ritual."

Respect.

Requiem pour les âmes damnés

Aujourd'hui chers lecteurs et charmantes lectrices, je m'apprête à vous emmener faire une balade en Enfer !

Restez bien auprès de moi. Ne vous éloignez pas trop, car il me serait fort pénible de vous retrouver exsangue à l'ombre d'une ruelle. Aussi méfiez-vous de certains sourires fauves...

Cap sur Résurrection. 

Pour un plongeon délicieusement morbide, 

dans l'univers torturé et tordu 

de Pat Mills et de Olivier Ledroit.

Résurrection est un monde décadent et baroque à souhait, un lieu où la mort est une longue fête. 

Résurrection est l'outre-monde. Là où les âmes damnés prennent corps et mort. Tout y est bien sûr inversé. On rajeunit avec le temps jusqu'à la sénilité infantile, les continents sont des mers de sang et les océans ne sont que territoires belliqueux et dangereux. Les lois du Karma y tranchent sec. Plus votre conscience est lourde et votre Karma infecte, mieux sera votre résurrection. Il est important d'être bien-né sur ces terres où votre mort ne tient souvent qu'à un fil. 

La caste la plus noble est celle des vampires. Élitiste jusqu'au bout des dents, cette caste ne tolère que ses plus forts et féroces représentants. Seul un vampire sur dix survit à l'initiation de l'inquiétant Sire Cryptus afin de se mériter le titre de Chevalier Vampire. Les dystopiens vénaux de Sa Reptilienne Majesté, les goules ultra-féministes, la fanatique bande de loups-garous et une multitude d'autres créatures vomies d'une purulente et féconde imagination complètent la lutte des classes. En bons derniers, les hordes de zombies tiennent lieu de populace abrutie à l'image de leur vie antérieure. 

Requiem, vampire tatoué aux croix gammée et inversée.
Pire encore... c'est un romantique désespéré.
Le genre de protagoniste qu'on ne croise pas souvent.

Mais, j'oublie les bonnes manières ! Laissez-moi vous présenter notre protagoniste, Requiem. Né Heinrich Augsburg, ce blond officier pâlot du 3ème Reich est mort au combat sur le front russe pour ensuite renaître vampire. Baptisé Requiem après son initiation, notre anti-héros refuse d'oublier son grand amour à la vie, à la mort - une jeune et jolie juive nommée Rebecca. Celle-ci périt sur Terre aux mains peu délicates de la Gestapo et réapparaît sur Résurrection consumée par le désir de faire la peau à son tortionnaire, un certain Otto Von Todt, qui n'est point étranger à Requiem.

Bon, je vous rassure tout de suite. La bande dessinnée Requiem n'a rien à voir avec l'idéologie nazi. C'est certes une oeuvre sans tabou, un imaginaire débridé qui n'a que faire du politiquement correct et qui campent les personnages dans des postures qui mettent mal à l'aise dès le début - mais il s'agit bien là d'une plume artistique qui se rattache à une tradition littéraire française puisant ses racines dans Les Chants de Maldoror du Comte de Lautréamont et les écrits philo-lubriques du Divin Marquis. Comme on le verra plus loin, Requiem Chevalier Vampire est - du moins à mes yeux - une oeuvre d'une rare qualité littéraire. Le maniement de la langue est subtil, les traits d'esprits acérés et les références culturelles qui y abondent témoignent d'une grande érudition et d'une ouverture d'esprit peu commune. Seule la religion en tant que concept creux en prend une sacrée volée. Si c'est cela qui vous choque, tant mieux ! Ne lisez pas des oeuvres qui vous font peur, vous risquez un brusque réveil de votre torpeur liturgique. Je m'égare, obscur brebis que je suis. Revenons plutôt à nos tourtereaux ! 

Requiem et Rebecca se donnent la petite mort à coeur joie

Outre, cette sensualité féroce et animale qui parsème cette oeuvre si française, l'humour y est aussi particulièrement délectable ! Qui de mieux que Sire Cryptus pour vous y faire goûter...

ou alors une petite allusion coquine...

Traits d'esprit ou de grotesques drôleries, vous y trouverez bien votre tasse de thé. Faites juste attention de ne pas avaler l'oeil flottant par mégarde, c'est juste pour donner un soupçon de tonus. Mais de grâce, refusez énergiquement le nuage de lait !

Bon, trêve de plaisanteries. On ne lit pas Requiem Chevalier Vampire comme une vulgaire histoire. On en profite aussi pour se cultiver. Comme je vous le disais plus tôt, cette oeuvre est truffée de références culturelles - certains évidents, d'autres exigeant une connaissance générale assez poussée et de la perspicacité à les dénicher.

Voyez par vous-même ! Dans l'extrait ci-dessous, Black Sabbath emmène Requiem faire un tour dans les entrailles de son antre secret afin de fomenter un coup contre Dracula. Un extrait certes important pour la suite de l'histoire, mais qui mine de rien, nous parle de Rablais, d'un culte de l'Ancienne Égypte, de l'architecture de la Grèce Antique et de l'occulte selon Aleister Crowley.

Quand on parle du loup... Voici Crowley en personne, aussi féministe que dans le temps !

Mes compères collectionneurs seront ravis de découvrir, au gré des pages, certaines pièces de toute beauté, comme la magnifique Rapière Trident offerte à l'Électeur Christian 1er de Saxe par l'exubérant Vincent 1er de Mantoue en 1587. Cette pièce unique, témoin de l'Histoire, repose paisiblement dans un musée à Dresde en Allemagne. 

Cependant, la Rapière Trident n'est pas aussi exotique que l'Urumi, ces lames d'acier légendaires du plus ancien art martial au monde. Le Kalaripayattu se pratique encore dans le Sud de l'Inde où certains étranges mystiques se souviennent encore de quelques bribes de ce qui fut autrefois un art foudroyant de destruction.

Je prend congé de vous en vous laissant profiter de ces quelques belles images. Mais avant que je ne me retire pour la nuit, permettez cet écart nostalgique ! Car je m'en souviens comme si c'était hier, le début de cet épopée. Ce fut à l'ombre ribaude des sapins des Vosges que je découvris l'univers de Pat Mills avec les yeux pleins de rêve. Une décadente décennie s'est écoulée depuis. Et c'est à l'ombre paisible des sapins du Québec que les derniers tomes de cet aventure se profilent. Le temps passe vite.

Croquez la vie à pleine dent !

Canadian Values 

Even though this blog is dedicated to Art, I've been feeling the urge recently to share my vision of what it means to be Canadian and to be living in a truly free country. I've lived and been to many places on this planet and seen many things, good and bad. I've seen how the absence of true liberty and the lack social consciousness bring out the dark demons of mankind.

I feel tremendously privileged to be living in a lively, participative society based on genuine human and humane values. A society where we smile to each other everyday, hold doors for the next person, greet strangers, and take care of one another. A transparent society where each individual is encouraged by all to develop his/her full potential as a complete, serene, happy and creative human being for the benefit of all. We are a rich society, not because of dollars and natural resources, but because we produce formidable individuals within the close-knit family of human bonds.

If I can encompass in just one sentence what it means to me to be Canadian for my fellow citizens, it would be -

"I am ready to die to defend your right to think differently than me and to be different."

"Je suis prêt à mourir pour défendre ton droit à penser et à être différent de moi."

Two Pints - addendum

My last blogpost on British TV comedy classics was shamefully incomplete. Of course such lists cannot be expected to be exhaustive, but I did leave out two major classics and for that I must repent. Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Keep the lions at bay as I make amends!

Mind Your Language

Mind Your Language was a show which ran in the late seventies. The first season was broadcasted before I was born, but I did get to watch it as a kid in Mauritius since the show was immensely popular in the entire Commonwealth. The humour in Mind Your Language is universal and as such it has aged like fine wine. I reckon it is just as funny today as it was back then, if not more given the quality of the puns - a bull's eye each and every time. 

Be warned though, the show is thick with stereotypes. Mind Your Language was produced in those days where being politically correct didn't matter as much as being artistically creative. The racial stereotypes - which might make Americans uneasy - are also accompanied by generous splashes of sexual innuendo here and there. That notwithstanding, the show remains very bon enfant. It was the spirit of the times. The seventies. Anyway, as I see it Mind Your Language celebrates multiculturalism through laughter. Everyone gets their share and all the characters in this show are quite charming.

You'll quickly want to fit in that class of looneys too. 

Witty humour in all good fun. 

Spitting Image

Spitting Image was a puppet show which ran in the eighties through the mid-nineties. It was a satirical depiction of royalty and politics. The show inspired the French equivalent Les Guignols de l'Info which currently enjoys similar popularity in France as Spitting Image did in the Commonwealth. Most other satirical puppet shows on politics and current affairs find their roots in Spitting. To be fair, this type of humour - heavily contextual and culturally specific - doesn't age very well. In fact, it's so not funny anymore that I'll spare you the clip. But it deserved to be mentioned as a classic.

Two pints please!

It's been quite a while now since I wanted to write something on British humour - that dry, wry and witty thing which charmingly reveals the warmer features of the otherwise phlegmatic and pragmatic folk of Great Britain. As you are aware, the United Kingdom is quite foggy. It is an island grey, dank, and cold. Yet or perhaps because of this, I've always been pleasantly surprised by the cosy feel that permeates the carpeted indoors of British households. Unmistakably so, every time I curl up with a funny British book or watch British comedy, this familiar feel gets conjured up much in the manner of a overly friendly blob monster oozing out of nowhere.

As the winter spell still huffs and puffs outside, grab a cup o' tea and cuddle up as I decant some of the finest gems of British humour. One blogpost to crack you up with the best of Britannia in a nutshell!

What's on the telly?

Yes Minister

I clearly recall the trumpeting opening theme of this programme which would gather family members around the telly. If you were living in a Commonwealth country in the eighties, you must have heard about Yes Minister and its sequel Yes Prime Minister. If not, well this is your opportunity to discover what to this day still stands as an ageless monument of exquisitely intelligent humour.

The plot satirically depicts power plays between the cynical public service and calculating politicians. It is about government – or the lack of it. And shows how the country manages to run itself while everybody is selfishly running after the ball under the guise of national interest.

Sir Nigel Hawthorne as Sir Humpfrey
in Yes Minister was no yesman

The outstanding character of the show, Sir Humphrey, excellently played by late Sir Nigel Hawthorne, stands unrivalled to this day for his sarcasm, wit and... excessively lengthy and über-coherent sentences. Salut l'artiste indeed!

Yes Minister is one of the most brilliant pieces of humour ever made. And it hasn't taken a wrinkle. Relish it!

The Black Adder

Rowan Atkinson is famous all over the world for his iconic character, Mr. Bean. A show which has its merits of conveying humour beyond the barriers of language and culture, and honours the legacy of Charlie Chaplin and Laurel & Hardy.

However, there is so much more to this formidable artist that it is profoundly ironic that one of the most eloquent and witty comedian ever to grace national television be world-renowned for a dumbo character who almost never utters a word!!! So let me introduce you to my personal favourite of Rowan's fictional characters - The Black Adder. An infamous, vicious and calculating mind that you are bound to like!

The Black Adder spans over the history of England. The first season is set in the Dark Ages, where we find Black Adder as a medieval prince lurking and plotting in the obscure nooks of a Norman keep. In season two, we follow the turpitudes of his descendant Lord Black Adder as he manoeuvres in an elizabethan court for power and survival, under the erratic rule of a mad queen. Season three is a delicious excuse for an aristocratic Black Adder to hatch nasty schemes while he butlers for the brainless Regent (played by a young Hugh Laurier, yes that's Dr. House for ya!). In the last season, we find captain Blackadder knee-deep in the trenches. Throughout the series, Black Adder is accompanied by his servile sidekick Baldrick, “an oppressed mass” of humble origins.

'Allo 'Allo

“Listen carefully, I will say this only once.”

'Allo 'Allo is one big feast of laughter. The show is set in occupied France where we find René, the owner of a small Café. René is your average French bourgeois of the times - striving to earn a decent living while the world is going berserk. René doesn't like trouble and has managed to keep his business afloat by catering to the German officers. His main concern is to conceal his ongoing affair with Yvette, the seductive lead waitress (Awwwww René!). While also hiding his affair with the lovely junior waitress from both his wife and Yvette. 

This is the tranquil life René aspires to. Then a twist of fate wreaks havoc in the plans when the French resistance decides to hide two British airmen in René's private apartments above the Café, which suddenly becomes the hotbed of intringue. Things get more complicated when the Gestapo dispatches steely and cunning Herr Otto Flick to investigate...

Private Helga Geerhart (Kim Hartman)

Our reluctant Résistant and héros malgré lui is supported by a whole bunch of notable characters who wonderfully pepper this series to give it its warmth and flagrance.

Now that I think about it, it is probably 'Allo 'Allo which gave me my first insights in European accents and in the wealth of marked cultural differences in Europe. The little boy inside still clearly recalls the sultry French waitresses, Yvette and Maria, the feline Fraulein Helga, Michelle from the Résistance,... Thank you René!

Fawlty Towers

At its peak, Fawlty Towers towered over national television like no other. The show stars Monty Python's John Gleese, and though not in my personal top three – I'm the first to admit that it is the British classic par excellence. Fawlty Towers is less elitist than Yes Minister, less offensive than Black Adder and less “politically incorrect” than 'Allo 'Allo. The genius of it, however, is that it is brilliant humour whilst appealing to the broader audience.

Remember the cosiness I was talking about in the intro. Well, I'd definitely spend a weekend in Fawlty's hotel just to relish that feel. John Gleese, in the role of the Basil Fawlty, magnificently plays the part of the cynical hotel owner who is so despicable that you can't help but like him.

Basil The Rat is renowned as being the funniest episode of the lot. I dare you watch this without laughing out loud or “lolling” as it goes nowadays.

Two Pints of Lager and Pack of Crisps

After the classics, a breeze of the contemporary lifestyle. Two Pints of Lager is about the daily tribulations of a small group of friends in their mid-twenties. Set in the industrial town of Runcorn, the storyline sticks to the décor and is about the simple lives of ordinary blokes. What is unexpected though is how easily one gets attached to the characters – Donna, Gaz, Janet, Johnny, and Louise. Effective acting and quick humour makes this show quite addictive. Must be the reason it ran for ten years, which is quite a survival feat in today's TV jungle.

The Misfits

Now what would happen if a random group of young people doing community service suddenly gets struck by lightning and develop superpowers?

Well, in the US, they'd become superheroes.

But in England, they remain a bunch of simple lads suddenly endowed with superpowers. And all sorts of silly things ensue. Basically that's the plot in Misfits. A plot which won the show a BAFTA award and many nominations. The acting in Misfits has to be highlighted. Watch out for Nathan (Robert Sheehan), he'll come across as an irritating prick and he is definitely the star of the show, even though there are no lead characters as such in the gang. Kelly (Lauren Socha) is also wonderfully refreshing in her role as a chav.

Alan Partridge

I'm Alan Partridge.

The ordinary bloke thing seems to be a recurrent aspect in contemporary Brit humour. But allow Alan Partridge to make it sub-ordinary and lower all your expectations... as to humanity itself. If there ever were words to describe Alan, amoebic would most likely come closest. Alan works in a local radio - Radio Norwich - where he runs a live show airing at around 4 a.m. This is just how exciting Alan can be. You'll hate him. But somehow, inexplicably, you'll absolutely love to hate him. Alan Partridge is played by British comedian and writer Stephen Coogan.

Well off you go. Indulge in that porridge of funniness. Aha!

Minor criticism. More distance between the eggs and the beans. 

I may want to mix them, but I want it to be my decision.

My personal favourite. 

p.s. The movie Alpha Papa based on Alan Partridge series was released in August 2013. Haven't watched it yet though, so you'll have to tackle this one on your own!

UPDATE: Alpha Papa watched and my advice: Watch it!

Men behaving badly

To finish with the ordinary bloke string of shows, here's the classic in the genre. Men behaving badly is about two roommates and how badly these everyday joes go about with their lives. The show is probably the trend-setter which inspired those aforementioned, and encapsulates life in the 1990's.

Absolutely fabulous

Ab Fab is about cougars and milfs before the terms were coined. A feminine take on humour, the show is very entertaining. The show delves mostly into family relationships from a surprisingly sarcastic and hilarious perspective.

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That's it for the shows I'd recommend to cheer you up on an icy day. Hope you'll enjoy each and every one of them. The list is certainly not exhaustive and there are also a number of other shows like Little Britain (trash humour), Red Dwarf (sci-fi comedy), Only Fools and Horses, The Office and the like, that might also be your cup of tea.

Cheers!

Of Epic proportions - The Meme phenomenon

The Meme is here. It lurks everywhere, crawling all over the Web. You've seen it, read it and probably thought that it was some sort of obscure gibberish. But the Meme is not to be taken lightly. It is not merely some nonsensical secret language or code; it is an invisible bond that today unites entire Web communities. It has shaped an underground network that connects individuals in climes remote, shrinking the world to yet newer proportions.

This blog post explores the Meme. As you delve into secrets untold and learn to decipher a whole new worldwide web of creativity unleashed and humour gone wild, you will notice that my tone will ping-pong between that of the stoical lecturer and that of the dreamy back-bench student. But, I'm only sticking to the dichotomic paradigm of this blog. On one hand, the Meme is a very elaborate abstract concept fertile in philosophical intricacies, and on the other hand the Meme is a very contemporary humour phenomenon in Web culture. So please bear with me!

The Meme as an abstract concept 

What is the Meme, you will ask. Well, Merriam-Webster will tell you that a Meme is an idea, behaviour or style that spreads from person to person within a culture. The Meme can be broken down to a unit bearing a cultural significance,transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, visuals, gestures, mimics or other repeatable phenomena. The Meme is, by definition, an interesting thought to dwell upon. One fertile with philosophical considerations and musings.

The term 'meme' is derived from the Ancient Greek word 'mīmēma', meaning 'to imitate'. Both the word and the concept are relatively new and sprung from the mind of British evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins in The Selfish Gene (1976). Dawkins coined the abstract notion to encompass the set of evolutionary principles in explaining the spread of ideas and cultural phenomena. Thus, Dawkins makes an analogy between the spread of ideas and biological evolution through the process of natural selection. Meme ideas or memes spread through the behaviours that they induce in their hosts and undergo variations along the way. Some become extinct while others proliferate.

Food for thought, aye? Ideas have always spread like wildfire, bringing forth changes, good or bad, as they trigger irremediable chain reactions in the brain and in society. Once an idea is out of Pandora's box, there is no stopping the Domino effect. This is why some will have it that you do not think outside the box, that you don't bite into the apple of knowledge or that you don't google the word freedom. They can shoot the messenger, but they can't shoot the message. Interesting thing, this Meme. In today's world where an idea can be shared to hundreds of millions across the globe in a matter of seconds, what are the implications?

Humans have evolved to produce ideas, what now if rapidly evolving ideas are driving humans to evolve even faster? Far-fetched? Not really. Look at the world around you and see how it has changed. Remember the rotary dial telephone, the walkman, the VHS, USSR, the Berlin wall, Apartheid, life before Internet? You don't have to be a venerable sage or an old-timer to remember all that, being in your late twenties would suffice. Ideas are rushing by, carving out within our lifetime and in front of our bedazzled eyes, not one but several brave new worlds. 

Memes - ideas diffusing rapidly and evolving through behavioural changes induced in their hosts - is one theory that you are bound to encounter again as it gathers momentum, shedding light and delivering critical insight on today's age information and technology. 

The Meme as Web phenomenon

The second part of this abstract is way less academic and much more...fun! If you're a well-rounded consumer of entertainment and pop art, into geek culture, an Internet addict, or simply a curious fella, then you've probably already heard of the Meme Theory through The Big Bang Theory. TV shows and movies are major generators of Internet Meme. "Hope you're hungry", "Still a better love story than Twilight", "How you doin'?", "This is Sparta!" are but a few examples. Get it? Well, this is what the Meme is about - getting it. 

If you don't, you're not in the loop. But fear not, you'll be shouting out loud "I see what you did there" soon enough given that you've knocked at the right door for insider information. I'm handing out red pills to the other side for free. Memes have always existed wherever you have a decent or indecent community within which the members share common cultural codes which intentionally or unintentionally sounds like plain gabble and vain goobledygook to outsiders. Internet Memes however, have the particularity of benefiting from visual support and instant worldwide propagation capacity. An epidemic of epic proportions, it is Sir.

Web-based Memes have steadily risen in popularity with the advent of a generation born in and raised on the Internet Culture. A community to be reckoned with, as Nescafé found out only a few weeks ago when a member of the 9GAG community expressed his despair online after the unfair disqualification of his handicapped brother from a competition organized by Nescafé Hungary. The 9GAG army literally gagged Nescafé's Facebook page, forcing the company into some action to save its public image. Nescafé found itself donating 5 million Hungarian forints to charity for disabled persons, out of sheer Internet pressure. 

And I must say, having witnessed this moment live on the Web, there was something comforting in seeing youngsters from all over the world, united by a shared sense of humour and an odd sense of community,  gang up on a multinational to seek justice for their brethren. A new, budding community at play, one that knows no frontier - physical, racial or of creed, and one which is already shaping its own future world.

Share the joke

I recently overheard this joke and felt like sharing it with my audience. It's not Art-related, but what the heck, a good laugh is never one too many. By the way, this joke is brilliant because you don't actually have to say the punchline...

Hint: try reading it aloud.

What is the difference between a nun praying and a nun bathing?

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One's got hope filling her soul, 

while the other...

Basilisk: The Kōga Ninja Scrolls

Basilisk Kōga Ninpō Chō or Basilisk: The Kōga Ninja Scrolls is a Japanese anime based on the manga bearing the same name. For neophytes, a manga is a printed cartoon, i.e. the Japanese version of Western comics. Contrarily to North American comics, the manga genre is more rooted in arts and has a higher cultural standing in Japan much like the bande dessinée is valued in France. The anime is simply the animated version for TV. Japanese anime is often coined as Japanime. Most Otaku, i.e. aficionados of Japanese manga and anime, tend to prefer the manga, probably out of some degree of pedantry. I, for one, really enjoy and recommend the anime, be it just for the beautifully crafted and truly immersive music that accompanies the animated version.

Basilisk, the manga was written by Masaki Segawa and published in 2003. The manga itself is based on the novel The Kouga Ninja Scrolls by Futaro Yamada in 1958. The anime, produced in 2005, is relatively recent considering the three to four years' delay for Japanese artworks to impact the rest of the world.

Now that I've given you some background, let's indulge in this rare delicacy that is Basilisk!

Basilisk stands out as a particularly violent anime, depicting a cruel time and world. It is overtly gore, sensual, and delicate at the same time. Ruthlessness sublimed to an art form. Not that I'm taking an easy ride on the Japanese stereotype for cruelty and war. Far from that, I'm talking about the finer details. The fall of sakura (cherry) leaves in the opening scene for instance gives you a perfect insight of the Japanese eye for beauty. The images, whether dark or enlivening, and the symbolic turn of sequences marvellously illustrate Japanese Aesthetics. The anime is also greatly enriched with constant references to Japanese history and culture.

The story is set in 17th century mystical Japan. In a nutshell, it is about two Ninja Clans pitted against each other in a bitter blood feud as a result of schemes for power being played out from afar by an indifferent and calculating ruling class. The aim of the game for each Clan is to eliminate ten ninjas belonging to the opposite faction, listed on a scroll. The first Clan to eliminate its ten targets secures the Shogun's favour. For the Shogun, this exercise serves to decide which of his two grandsons will be heir to the throne, without spilling royal blood or risking civil war. The Ninjas are outcasts gifted with extraordinary powers. By having the two Clans serve death to each other, the Shogun also reduces their threat potential. Intertwined with the plot is a powerful, romantic love story of the likes you'll rarely come across. A twisted tale of ill-fated lovers told in tears of blood.


The way Basilisk's plot unfolds is rather unique to say the least. This fast-paced anime lasts only 24 episodes, lavishly dealing out death to its characters. Herein lies the beauty and uniqueness. As soon as you get attached to a protagonist, the latter gets killed and the story goes on. Bearing in mind the historical background against which the plot is set, it's a powerful metaphor for the unrelenting course of History - stopping for no one.


Without any further ado, here is the first episode for your viewing pleasure:
(IMPORTANT: Don't miss the little bit after the closing credits, that's where the real story starts!)

*Basilisk Episode 1 - English subs*

Below are some historical events related to Basilisk's plot.

Both Iga-ryū ("the Iga School") and Kōga-ryū were historical schools of ninjutsu, i.e. dealing with the stealth Ninja arts of warfare and espionage.

• 1579: Oda Nobukatsu (son of Oda Nobunaga) attacked Iga Province and was beaten.
• 1581: Oda Nobunaga attacked and destroyed Iga Province
• 1582: Incident at Honnōji - Oda Nobunaga died.
• 1603: Edo period started. Tokugawa Ieyasu re-established the shogunate (third and last in Japan's history) and became the first shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate.
• 1605: Tokugawa Hidetada became the second shogun.
• 1614: Winter Campaign of the Siege of Osaka - Tokugawa attacked Toyotomi Hideyori.
• 1615: Summer Campaign of the Siege of Osaka - Toyotomi clan perished.
• 1616: Tokugawa Ieyasu died.
• 1623: Tokugawa Iemitsu became the third shogun.

It is also worth mentioning that the powerful opening theme Kouga Ninpou Chou is the work of Onmyouza.