Archive for June, 2008

Check out Neocha.com for Chinese indie music

 
Neocha image
 
Are you tired of Chinese popular music? I am. Over all, it stinks. I mean, I’m a huge Jay Chou fan, and I like almost everything Sun Yan Zi and Wang Li Hong put out. But for the most part, Chinese pop music - like pop music everywhere - all sounds the same, and it’s all pretty mediocre. No creativity, no individuality. I really appreciate the traditional Chinese value of putting the group over the individual and not rocking the proverbial boat, but sometimes it just doesn’t work. It absolutely fails when it comes to music. Music is supposed to be creative, so just following along with the crowd definitely doesn’t cut it. Thankfully, in every culture there are always those independent people who like to experiment with new sounds and ideas and create something fresh. (Really, if you haven’t checked out InLove, do it. Yes, Lu, I’m always advertising your music!). I recently came across a post at Lost Laowai reviewing a great site called Neocha (aka “new tea”). I won’t go into what the review says since that would be totally redundant. Just check it out for yourself or head on over to neocha.com to get connected with great (and of course some not-so-great) Chinese indie music.
 

Japan has either huge closets or tiny homeless people

 
Japanese Closet
I wouldn’t mind living in there…
 
From the ‘only in Japan’ file……If I were a 58-year-old homeless Japanese woman, where would I take up residence? I have no idea, but one lady in Japan moved into someone’s closet. According to the article, she slipped inside a man’s house and took up residence in his closet’s top cubby area one day when he left the house unlocked. Apparently the guy never uses that part of his closet because he didn’t notice anything suspicious until food began mysteriously disappearing. Eventually, he set up cameras in his house and had the images transmitted to his cell phone. The lady showed up on camera, the police were called, and she was nabbed and charged with trespassing, which is a lot lighter a charge than she would probably get in America. The article also says that she “moved a small mattress into the closet space.” How gigantic must the closet be to fit a mattress inside it?! Or how small is the mattress (and thus the lady)?! Either way, that’s crazy. Another cool ‘only in Japan’ note on the article: She took showers at the guy’s house and was described by a police spokesman as “neat and clean.” Hmmm…that sounds familiar.
 
Link to article