And in the Land of the Rising Sun, where cute meets kinky and weird to give birth to the downright bizarre....

A little overdue but now the Japan edition....

If you want a place where you can scratch your head, nauseate, then run for your lives - you won't go far wrong with Japan. Most of the time you probably won't want to know what's REALLY going on in those TVCs they do.

From the land of a thousand smiles, spots of a thousand laughs....

Thailand has one of the biggest and most established media and film industries in Southeast Asia. But when it comes to slapstick comedy, I have to say that Thailand is truly unique in this particular respect.

Something New, Something Want Away

Since I hadn't been particularly satisfied with the makeshift blog template I had previously put up, just thought I would spice things up a little.

The new template and layout probably looks a little snazzier, but already I can't wait to be shot of it.

Sure it looks good (better anyway), but it's pretty much useless as I can't play around much with the layouts or add anything fancy like a proper, decent sidebar (for crying out loud!).

Oh well, till I get my second wind... enjoy....

The Power of the Commercial - Top 3

One sure thing when you surf Youtube is that you will come across lots of TV commercials - from the latest to those that hark from even decades back.

I have been thinking of doing a collection of my favourite TVCs, but to be fair, you would likely have seen many of them if you have been doing the same thing as I have - which is to search Youtube for commercials or advertisements.

Nonetheless, I noticed that there are certain trends in TVCs from say, different countries, or different products. For example, Thailand has a penchant for coming up with the most comical commercials you'll see around; while Japan has some really weird offerings to boot.

But before I do a feature on any of those, here are my 3 favourite TVCs - rare gems that will not turn up so easily in a search these days - unless you have something more specific to look for.

In no particular order:

Mr. W
The sheer idea of this just blew me away. I am jealous.

Pantene 
Truly extraordinary commercial. The concept behind it, the metaphors used - are just brilliant. The only thing is the absurdity of it - Music is visible - apparently.

Reunion Dinner
One among a long series of Chinese New Year commercials commissioned by Petronas in Malaysia. Made by the late Yasmin Ahmad I believe.

Top 10 Samurai Films

At last it is out of cold storage - my official Top 10 Samurai Films.

It took me a really long time to get this out - over a combination of work, writer's block, and pure lethargy.

So who made the list? Who are the usual suspects? And who's the biggest suspect of them all? Just click on the damn link will you?

No Matter What You Do

I had been listening to this Electro House number by Italian DJ Benny Benassi on the airwaves, called Satisfaction. Thought it sounded sexy, and yeah, when I stumbled on the music video at Youtube - it WAS.

But that's not the reason for this post, because the real gem is this surreal voyeuristic piece No Matter What You Do.

Enjoy.

The Lonely Island

I always knew it would come to this - shamelessly ripping off YouTube while I slag off writing real articles because I haven't really gotten the time to do so (or rather, the energy).

But a couple of colleagues recently introduced me to The Lonely Island who aren't shy about what they rap - at all.

Here's a couple of favourites from this sensational group - in the meantime I'll just chill in one corner, pretending I'm actually as cool (sick) as these guys.

Maybe I ought to get them to do a video - "I Need A Life" - featuring Moi - yeah that would work....

And of course there's the one they wouldn't let me embed.. Jizz In My Pants....

Hilarious....