Ahhhh Monday

so, here it is Monday morning. I've just jumped off of the commuter bus, stepped into the office, plopped down on my ball and flipped on the computer. So, what's been happening at the Samok abode over the weekend? Interesting stuff, of course.

Goobs put on some jeans this morning, and suddenly they're too short for him. It's true, they do grow up fast. He's becoming really slim and tall. Of course, I'm referring to a four year old, so you have to forgive my lack of perspective on my own progeny. The Bun has been watching a great deal of Dora and Diego. Three weeks ago, she was running around, saying Daddy, Mommy, Help me! Now, she's becoming a little bilingual. Instead of saying it in English, she is now saying it only in Spanish. We hear "Ayudeme" at least 50 times per day. J and I were up watching TV in the livingroom on Saturday night and we were surprised to hear a small girl's voice and "Ayudeme" come out of her bedroom. We waited to hear it again, but there was nothing but silence...It was kind of funny...I know she's watching Dora and Diego, but I am kind of hoping that some Bisaya will pop out of her mouth sometime soon. It's just a small hope.

We've started this kind of goofy habit on Saturday nights. At 10:00, we turn the channel to AZN and watch Music Bang. AZN is a cable channel that brings over Asian programming, from news and soap operas to movies and music programs...all from various countries throughout Asia. Music Bang is produced in the Philippines and predominantly has videos from the Philippines, Korea, and Japan. The VJ/Host is a young woman who seems like a US hapa, by the name of Malaya Lewandowski(the name's pretty darn Polish, if you ask me). J says that Malaya's got a really irritating voice...It doesn't bother me that much...of course, she's gorgeous and I'm a guy, so I'm not too overly focused on her voice. I don't know why we watch this show on a regular basis, but it seems like a little bit of a lighthearted time where we can just hang out on a Saturday night. We're on the sofa just watching...sometimes not listening to the music a whole lot, but just commenting on what we see. Besides, J usually gets a footrub if we watch Music Bang, so she's not complaining.

We've come to the conclusion that a lot of the Korean videos (mostly the ballads) are overly mellodramatic and cheesey. We saw one a while back about a girl in a wheelchair/mermaid and her boyfriend that went way incredibly over the top. Some of the filipino videos are a little on the weird/funny side, with visuals and symbolism that I'm just not gettin', but I'm okay with that. They're fun for the most part. Some of the Japanese videos seem like the directors are trying new cinematic stuff...Again, I'm not sure what the messages are, but hey...why not enjoy them anyway.

This last Saturday eveing we say two things that made me stand up and notice. There is a very unique group of women/musicians (I want to make that distinction, because I think too many people in the music industry today are not musicians) from Japan. The name of the band is "Pistol Valve." It is a ten woman group of former music school students. This is a combination ska/hiphop/ brass band that really rocks. After seeing them, I dialed them up on youtube and saw a live performance of a tune called "Fo Fo Fo". I don't understand a damn thing, but those girls really put it out there on stage. I also saw an underground hiphop group from Korea. I can't remember the name of the group, so all I can do was describe the video. It seemed like it focused on the feeling of alienation that most people have...certain actors in the video were walking around with clouds above their heads. Suddenly the clouds would spout rain on those folks...so there were multiple people in the video being followed around by mini rainstorms. I thought it was quite creative. Much better than the balladeer who was waltzing with his broom throughout his pretty little cottage (another cheesey Korean video that we actually like to laugh about)

I think we'll keep watching Music Bang. It's goofy...cheesey...and the VJ has that irritating voice, but it maybe takes away a little homesickness we get now and then. I like the routine...So I guess I know where we'll be most Saturday nights.