Team Conan

Happy 20th Birthday, The Simpsons!

Happy 40th Birthday Sesame Street!

Watch some more (ok, more than a hundred) of my favorite Sesame Street moments here:http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=CE87738442069E41

1984: The year of pop

Where were you in 1984? Were you in college? In high school? Or in elementary school perhaps, just like me? A yuppie? Heck, even if you were not born yet, if you just remotely happen to like pop music, there's no way you could have escaped 1984.

For 1984 was the year of pop. If there's one single year that plotted the course of popular music of the '80s and beyond, this was it. The year left no doubt who would define the music of the decade -- a triumvirate the like of which has never been seen again -- whose influence on pop culture extends to this very day. You'd be surprised to learn that most of the songs that you associate with the '80s were actually released in 1984, eternal reminders of our youth, or at least of that last '80s-themed movie you saw or that last '80s-themed party you went to.

Though the album Thriller was released in 1982, it was in 1984 that Michael Jackson cemented his reputation as the King of Pop. Christmas 1983 saw the release of the Thriller video. But just in the first quarter of 1984, Michael: officially released "Thriller" as the last single off the album; saw Thriller certified by the Guinness Book of World Records as the biggest-selling album ever; infamously burned his hair and scalp while making that Pepsi commercial; won 8 Grammys including record and album of the year; and was the subject of a TIME cover illustrated by Andy Warhol. Later in the year he got his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and had the then-largest-grossing tour ever with The Jacksons. Definitely not shabby.

Madonna released her debut album in 1983, its popularity carried over to the following year with the release of the classic singles "Lucky Star" and "Borderline." But it was in September of 1984, at the first-ever MTV Video Music Awards (in which The Cars' groundbreaking "You Might Think" video won the top award) when the world truly first took notice of Madonna, when she writhed onstage wearing a wedding dress. Her second album and smash single Like A Virgin was released a few weeks later, accompanied by that video shot in Venice, Italy.

Michael Jackson may have ensured his status as the King of Pop, and Madonna may have proven to be the most enduring, but there's no doubt who owned 1984. In 1984, the world turned purple with the release of Prince and the Revolution's Purple Rain, arguably the year's best album and an instant classic. Out of the album -- a melding of hot funk, rock, and polished pop -- came tumbling classic after classic: from the first single "When Doves Cry," to "Let's Go Crazy," "Take Me With U," "I Would Die 4 U," to the live recording of the ballad "Purple Rain." The album, and the accompanying hit movie, established Prince not just as a star, but also arguably rock's finest frontman, and a songwriting genius, not to mention being pop's most enigmatic and prolific.

Apart from the triumvirate of Prince, Madonna, and Michael Jackson, 1984 saw a multitude of artists release their signature hits: Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time," Bruce Springsteen's "Born In The U.S.A." and "Dancing In The Dark," Van Halen's "Jump," Billy Idol's "Eyes Without A Face," INXS' "Original Sin," Phil Collins' "Against All Odds," and Sade's "Smooth Operator."

1984 also saw one of the best musical comebacks ever, when Tina Turner strutted onto MTV in high heels, denim jacket, tight leather skirt, and that hair with the hit "What's Love Got To Do With It," inspiring a hundred thousand drag queens the world over to do the same. The year also showcased the staying power of several acts, most noteworthy of which were Lionel Richie (with a bunch of singles from the best-selling album of his career, winning the Grammy album of the year award in 1985), Chaka Khan with "I Feel For You," Paul McCartney with "No More Lonely Nights," and Queen with the anthem "Radio Ga Ga." Speaking of comebacks and staying power, 1984 also saw the release of Bob Marley and the Wailers' posthumous classic compilation Legend, introducing Marley and his music to a new generation, and the album eventually proving to be everyone's favorite entry-level initiation to reggae and Jamaican music.

Hip-hop was still at its formative stage and would not gain mainstream acceptance until two years later with Run-D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys, but in 1984, one of hip-hop's most enduring classic -- Grandmaster Melle Mel's "White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)," an anti-drug anthem -- filled the airwaves in America and Europe.

But not all the pop that the world consumed voraciously came from America, for 1984 was also the peak year of the so-called Second British Invasion (the first being in the '60s), not seen again until the rise of Britpop in the mid-'90s. Leading the pack were the golden boys of MTV -- Duran Duran -- who unleashed "The Reflex" and "The Wild Boys" to the world in 1984. Culture Club memorably burst onto the scene, led by a cross-dresser in shockingly red hair and kabuki make-up whom I really thought was a woman until I read the name ("Why is her name Boy George?"), prancing across TV screens with "Karma Chameleon," "Miss Me Blind," "Mistake No. 3," and "The War Song." The Police released "King of Pain" off Synchronicity, won the Grammy song of the year award for "Every Breath You Take," then broke up. Wham! (George Michael and that other guy) told us to wake them up before we go-go, then also unleashed the immortal "Careless Whisper" and "Last Christmas." Eurythmics gave us "Here Comes The Rain Again." Depeche Mode came out with "Somebody," "People Are People," and "Master and Servant." Tears For Fears made us "Shout." Spandau Ballet, The Cure, and Bananarama all had new singles. The Smiths came out with their self-titled album and told the world that they're miserable now (but when was Morrissey not?). U2 uplifted us with "Pride (In The Name of Love)." And before the year ended, Bob Geldof of The Boomtown Rats had corralled most of them in a studio as Band Aid to sing the second British invasion's glorious anthem, "Do They Know It's Christmas?," which directly spawned 1985's similarly stellar (if inferior) "We Are The World" by USA for Africa, as well as the defining concert of the '80s -- Live Aid -- the crowning glory of which was Queen's set, with Freddie Mercury leading a sea of people through "Radio Ga Ga."

(But where was rock during this time of boys in make-up and hairspray and ladies who looked like drag queens? In America and the U.K., hardcore punk and post-punk were still in full swing, and alternative rock was taking roots, with memorable releases from bands such as the Minutemen, Hüsker Dü, The Replacements, Minor Threat, Meat Puppets, R.E.M., Dead Can Dance, This Mortal Coil, and Cocteau Twins. In the last quarter of 1984, Tommy Tanchangco formed the hardcore label Twisted Red Cross in the Philippines, releasing tape compilations the following year featuring bands such as Urban Bandits, Wuds, Betrayed, Dead Ends, and Ethnic Faces.)

By 1984, barely three years after it was founded, MTV had already become the taste maker when it came to music consumption, with bands wanting to be in it, not only to be heard but to be seen. Suddenly, singers had to be attractive, fit, young, and trendy. Along with radio, MTV gave exposure in 1984 not just to established acts, but most especially to memorable one-hit wonders that the '80s have become known for, like Frankie Goes To Hollywood's "Relax," The Psychedelic Furs' "The Ghost In You," Dead or Alive's "You Spin Me 'Round (Like A Record)," Shannon's "Let The Music Play," Sheila E.'s "The Glamorous Life," Robin Gibb's "Boys Do Fall In Love," Talk Talk's "It's My Life," Thompson Twins' "Hold Me Now," Torch's remake of "(Build Me Up) Buttercup," and Nena's "99 Luftballons." The first MTV generation bought music in droves, mostly in cassette form. At that time, cassettes had already been outselling vinyl due to the popularity and portability of boom boxes and the Sony Walkman. In the same year, CDs were first manufactured in America.

In Asia and Latin America, 1984 also signaled the start of Menudo-mania, with the boy band from Puerto Rico (featuring lead Robby Rosa and later on new member Ricky Martin) releasing hugely popular singles within the year such as "Like A Cannonball" and "If You're Not Here (By My Side)."

In the Philippines, the youth culture zeitgeist of 1984 was not only ignited by American and British acts. In the same year, the movie Bagets was released, featuring a popular teenage cast, and the soundtrack spawning not only Raymond Lauchengco's "So It's You" and "Farewell," but most especially "Growing Up" by Gary Valenciano, who had another hit that year with "Reachin' Out" from the movie Hot Shots. (Gary V. would go on to become the country's very own Michael Jackson, releasing hit songs and albums and routinely selling out venues for his energy-packed concerts). Bagets also sparked a fashion craze in the country, when teenagers and kids started wearing clothes in primary and secondary colors like the characters in the movie (I certainly remember wearing shirts and short pants in a combination of red, yellow, blue and green, sometimes with the Bagets logo).

Whoa, what a year! There may come a time when a year like 1984 might come our way again -- a rare moment when talent, mass appeal, positivity, youth, and commerce aligned -- but I certainly doubt it. In the meantime, let's hit the boom box and say happy 25th birthday to the hits of 1984.

Goodnight angel.

Farrah Fawcett
1947 - 2009

Happy 75th Birthday Donald Duck!

Conan's back!

http://www.tonightshowwithconanobrien.com/video/clips/cold-open-of-the-first-show/1116061/

Glad to see Conan (and Max Weinberg and LaBamba) on TV again. And a not-so-good bye bye to Jay Leno. I thought he was deeply unfunny.

It is never too late

Articles:
Here's why we love Susan Boyle
Just who is the singer Susan Boyle?

08 : Circus

My favorites for 2008.

D-D-DON'T STOP THE BEAT

The ladies ruled my music player.


1. Estelle feat. Kanye West - American Boy



2. Rihanna - Don't Stop The Music



3. N.E.R.D. feat. Julian Casablancas and Santogold - My Drive Thru



4. Amy Winehouse - Love Is A Losing Game




5. Amy Winehouse - Tears Dry On Their Own




6. Madonna feat. Justin Timberlake and Timbaland - 4 Minutes



7. Kylie Minogue - Wow



8. N.E.R.D. - Everybody Nose (All The Girls Standing In The Line For The Bathroom)




9. Keane - Spiralling




10. Shelby Lynne - Anyone Who Had A Heart

11. Coldplay - Viva La Vida



12. The Pussycat Dolls - When I Grow Up



13. Vampire Weekend - Oxford Comma



14. Rihanna - Disturbia




15. Madonna feat. Pharell Williams - Give It 2 Me



16. M.I.A. - Boyz



17. Duffy - Mercy



18. M.I.A. - Bird Flu

19. I'm From Barcelona - We're From Barcelona



20. Carrie Underwood - All-American Girl

21. Dengue Fever - Tiger Phone Card



22. Black Kids - I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You




23. Ne-Yo - Closer




24. MGMT - Time To Pretend




25. Om Shanti Om soundtrack - Deewangi Deewangi

INNERVISION

It's still too early to know what really were the best films of the year. Here are some that are supposedly excellent and that I'm really looking forward to watching (of course, we'll hopefully get to see them after weeks of being subjected to bad Indiana Jones rip-offs and unnecessary horror sequels this holiday season).

Ponyo On The Cliff By The Sea (Hayao Miyazaki)



Milk (Gus Van Sant)



Slumdog Millionaire (Danny Boyle)



Che (Steven Soderbergh)



The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky)



Man On Wire (James Marsh)



Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman)



Happy-Go-Lucky (Mike Leigh)



The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (David Fincher)



Frost/Nixon (Ron Howard)



Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Woody Allen)



Doubt(John Patrick Shanley)



Waltz With Bashir (Ari Folman)





My favorites among the non-2008 movies I saw this year:

1. Phantom India (Louis Malle) - This landmark, but little known, 1969 7-hour opus by Louis Malle (Elevator To The Gallows, Les Amants), resurrected on DVD by Criterion Collection, is perhaps the greatest documentary on India ever filmed. This is not your typical BBC or Discovery Channel routine job. It is a highly personal account of the filmmaker's journey across India, with a narration by Malle himself. While watching it, I felt there was something oddly familiar about it. Then it hit me: oh my god, it sounds like a blog, perhaps the best travel blog you'll ever come across. The film reveals as much of India as the filmmaker's soul, with a camera that sees everything, and a narration that is reflective, inquisitive, judgmental at times, funny, and ultimately, beautiful. (Phantom India's companion documentary, the of-the-moment "Calcutta," is more typical of a western documentary on Asian poverty, and doesn't benefit from the filmmaker's insightful narration, therefore a less enduring work). Like its subject, Phantom India is timeless, massive, intimate, surprising, challenging, quirky, and utterly, achingly beautiful. Required viewing for everybody interested in India, if not for the entire human race.

2. Syndromes And A Century (Apichatpong Weerasethakul) - I don't know what it means (yet), but like Wong Kar-Wai's In The Mood For Love, I'll probably watch it again and again to find out. Intriguing, intoxicating.

3. Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg) - Of course I've seen it before, but not on DVD. It has lost none of the excitement and fun.

4. Days of Being Wild (Wong Kar-Wai) - One of those movies that took me forever to see. Wong Kar-Wai's star-studded 1990 film, a sort-of-prequel to In The Mood For Love, reveals that the director's hopeles romantic stylings have been there all along. Immerse yourself in Christopher Doyle's cinematography, Xavier Cugat's "Perfidia," and the charisma of the young cast, but the romance and yearning are all Wong Kar-Wai's. The movie was partly shot in the Philippines, and I've never seen Manila so lovingly shot in a movie as in this one (perhaps the only other time I've seen Manila photographed in such a manner was in Jim Libiran's "Tribu," but that was set in the slums). Tita Muñoz makes a cameo as Leslie Cheung's Filipino mother. Go see it.

5. Network (Sidney Lumet) - "I am mad as hell, and I am not gonna take this anymore!" Also, still the most acidic fuck-you to corporate media in the history of corporate media and fuck-yous.

6. 3 Days To Forever (Riri Riza) - The main characters spend the movie driving from Jakarta to Jogjakarta, passing through Puncak Jaya, Bandung, and other Indonesian towns, stopping to party, smoke stuff, get laid, enjoy the views. It's the fantasy road trip I haven't taken! Yet!





ENTERTAINMENT!

AMORICA








ARE YOU EXPERIENCED?

The hits:

1. The whole Nepal experience (finally coming to this blog very soon, I think!) - to top it all off, I was able to visit/see the country's UNESCO World Heritage Sites, all 10 of them!

2. Finally stepping on Indian soil - a dream come true

3. My brother's wedding

4. The Eraserheads reunion concert

5. Nearly passing out becaue of the heat, hunger, and exhaustion in Ayutthaya, Thailand - I'd prefer to pass out because of travel anytime, than because of, well, anything else!


The pits:

1. People moving on - sad, but inevitable

2. The doctor's diagnosis that reminded me that I'd been living a very sweet life indeed

3. When the most stupid and rude mechanic was sent to fix my computer and wiped out almost all my travel photos - like your whole family dying on you, at least for three days (silver lining: there were backups, but not for everything!)

4. Prices just keep going up, up, up...while the salaries stay the same.

5. Cory Aquino apologized to Joseph Estrada for EDSA II?? I'm sorry, but was she out of her mind? She should then apologize to all of us who went to EDSA for four straight days to hopefully drive away the drunken, womanizing, stealing, good-for-nothing bastard out of office. Early this month, I attended a screening of the Mike de Leon (et al) Ninoy-era documentary "Signos," and after the screening, a middle-aged former street activist stood up and voiced out his disenchantment and dismay over those people whom they counted on during the Marcos era, who had/have not really done anything --and in fact, they themselves--did/have done harm to the Filipino people. Well, I'm 32, and I feel the same way now. God bless this country.

Before the merriment, a song

And kids, SANTA CLAUS DOESN'T EXIST! It's all a LIE!

Beam me up, Wolf Blitzer!

On U.S. election night, CNN debuted its new technology, supposedly a hologram by which they could put anybody -- in a remote location -- right there inside the studio using dozens of cameras. Totally quaint, modern and retro at the same time, though I'm not sure if it's really hologram in the Princess Leia sense.

But think about this. Wouldn't it be nice if everybody can harness this technology? Here are some things that this hologram thingy can probably make possible:

1. No more recorded acceptance speeches in award shows. ("We're sorry we can't be there tonight...wait, we're here.)

2. No more excuses to not attend Senate hearings.

3. Video conference? How jurassic.

4. You can just hologram yourself to the office.

5. You can just hologram yourself to family gatherings and meeting future in-laws. ("Mom, Dad, this is Ken, he's in Antarctica. Say hello, Ken.")

6. Preside over a cabinet meeting or attend to a national disaster while vacationing in a ranch.

7. Attend a huge parade held in your honor while being secretly ill or dead.

8. Osama bin Laden will probably be finally caught by Bush before his term ends in January.

9. Jaded actors can just hologram a performance instead of phoning it in.

10. You can actually be indicted and not be there.

11. Thousands buy tickets to a secret "reunion gig" by The Smiths.

12. Mislead the paparazzi with your hologram while you and your same-sex lover duck into a waiting car.

13. Attend simultaneous movie premieres in four continents without leaving your house.

14. You can be an extra in your favorite movies, including Jenna Jameson's.

15. "It wasn't me. It was my hologram you saw on the kitchen table with her."

16. David Blaine can finally pull off a successful stunt without nearly dying.

17. Headline: CHINA LANDS MEN ON MOON AND MARS EARLIER THAN EXPECTED

18. Headline: SPIDER-MAN--HELL--THE MARVEL UNIVERSE, SPOTTED IN CENTRAL PARK (Yehay!)

19. J.D. Salinger and Elvis on a winged white unicorn jumping over a rainbow in London.

20. Black man wins U.S presidential election (people still pinching themselves, but hmmm...)