The VCR is bowing out this year

Believe it or not, I currently have in my collection, 6 units of VCRs, still in good working conditions, although I can't say much for the tapes which by now would have collected fungii through the years.  Anyway, the curtain is coming down on this medium of entertainment and all too soon, it will be part of a unforgettable memory that will remind us greatly of the 70s to the 90s.

Funai Electric Company, the last remaining Japanese manufacturer of VCR devices – sold under various brand names, such as Sanyo in North America – has announced an end to production this summer. 

The manufacturer reported sales of 750,0000 video recorders worldwide in 2015. This latest nail in the coffin for the VCR spells the end of a technological era spanning over 40 years. 

Philips and Sony presented their first reel-to-reel videotape recorders in the 1960s. The first home devices followed in the 1970s, showcased at the CES technology show. 

Over the years, several formats sprung up to compete in the consumer market, such as Sony's Betamax and the widely adopted VHS (Video Home System) format developed by JVC. This was officially launched in 1976, with the first compatible video recorders released in Japan before rolling out worldwide. 

VHS cassettes could record between 30 minutes and five hours of video footage such as TV shows. Over time, VCR recorders were even capable of doubling this capacity, recording up to 10 hours of video on one cassette. 

Although considered better quality among specialists, Betamax never managed to rival the VHS format, which offered higher-capacity and lower-cost cassettes. 

At the end of 2015, Sony announced it would stop selling Betamax cassettes commercially this year. Its last VCR devices date back to 2002. Funai has been making VHS recorders since 1983. 

The DVD, which launched in 1996, followed by the Blu-ray in 2003, has now definitively overtaken the VHS. However, the VCR still holds a strong place the world's collective memory as the first means of recording video for home users. 

Although the device has been obsolete for several years, the death of the VCR still marks the end of an era. — AFP Relaxnews

HRH the Sultan of Johor is also a fan of K-Pop.

Sultan of Johor, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, posing with members of the K-pop group T-ara, who performed at his week-long coronation celebrations, recently.

Can't wait to hear what those religious bigots out there going to say about this. Salam GST 1Msia!

A TRIBUTE TO AMRIN MADJID

Today is indeed a sad day for me to learn that my friend, FB friend and a great musician, Amrin Madjid, has passed on.

I first met Amrin when he was the lead guitarist with The Strollers and some time in 1967, my group, The Strollers and a few other local groups performed at the Chin Woo Stadium at a musical variety show. It was during this time, I became acquainted with him and we chatted quite a bit before and after the show, exchanging notes on musical interests. I was truly taken in by the awesomeness of his guitar playing. I always thought that he was not the one doing the thinking, but his fingers while playing. As we were leaving the auditorium, we bid each other goodbye and hope to meet each again in the near future. We never did.

Then in 1969, The Strollers released their first single, "I Wanna Thank You" c/w "It Ain't Nothing But a House Party". I told myself, this is definitely a must album for me as it would be great to see how Amrin sounds like on vinyl. To my dismay, he was not featured in it, but in his place was Michael Magness, formerly with the Blue Dominoes of Klang. At least Hassan Idris, Ramli [can't recall his full name], Billy Chang and Jimmy de Olivero were still there.

I started to ask around and was told that Amrin had left the group and had returned to Jakarta. I was a bit confused because all along I thought he was a Malaysian having schooled at Bukit Bintang Boys School in PJ.

Fast forward to 2013 when I joined the "Down Memory Lane" group on FaceBook, and lo and behold, Amrin started to respond to my postings. We have been in touch with each other since then and his last chat with me was only two days ago, and this morning I heard he is gone. Just can't believe it.

Not only will I always remember him for his musicianship, but his narratives on his version of Malaysian history.

Herebelow are two pix of him and The Strollers.  The top photo is the original line-up of the group. Amrin is the one at the front.  Below that, is the pix of The Strollers first SP which I am still having it in my possession.

Rest in peace, my friend and may God bless your soul.

Whether he deserves it or not, let's give Jackie a break ....

Forget that Jackie Chan for a moment that he is a famous movie star. Forget for a moment that he has a son who has been caught for drug abuse and sentenced to imprisonment. Forget that his contributions to the well being of Malaysia is negligible except for one movie made in KL years ago much to the annoyance of the KLites due to the road blocks for the shooting of the film that resulted in massive traffic jams. Much as I disagree that he is deserving of the 'Datuk'ship award, but others have really gone overboard accusing him for many things. Was it necessary? After all as a person and an individual, he worked very hard for close to 40 years, making good himself in the movie industry both in Asia and the States, and risking his life in the process with all the self performed dangerous stunts.

In the same token, did we hear Malaysians complaining about the 'Datuk'ships and 'Tan Sri'ships awarded to recipients whose background have been quite dubious and some who even paid to enjoy the status. What was their contributions to society, that is something we would like to know.? Some who were even later caught for all kind of criminal activities but still have their titles intact.
A couple of commentators even said that the Hongkies wouldn't even know what the title is all about, and therefore would be a waste giving it to Jackie. Be rest assured, the Hongkies are well informed. There was even one TVB TV series where one of the leading stars was called a 'Datuk'.
I may not agree with the idea that he should be awarded the title, but let's be fair to him, give credit where it is due. At least, he did not 'buy' it or did he?

Do you remember this piece of news that made headlines for days?

It was December 1961, and the air was filled with excitement for the fans who flocked to the Stadium Merdeka to watch Cliff Richard and The Shadows in concert.

Quite frankly, that was not the only excitement created by the stars, but what followed a couple of days later.

Cliff made the headlines when he kissed a Malay actress at Paya Lebar airport, Singapore before leaving for England. Serah Abdullah, the actress from Cathay Keris, told the press that Cliff promised to bring her back to England. The kissing scene brought hue and rage from the Malay community in Singapore. Anyway, she waited and waited for so long, but Cliff didn't turn up again. [Ooooh, that's so sad]. Cliff even learned how to say 'I love you' in Malay.

KEEP YOUR OLD VINYLS. THEY ARE WORTH A FORTUNE.

About 2 or 3 years ago, I came across an article in a British music magazine highlighting the worth of old records sold world wide. One of the records was the 7" SP "Living Doll" by Cliff Richard, recorded in 1959. It was valued at almost RM200!!!! I quickly made a check with one of my boxes containing these 7" vinyls and what do you know, I still have the copy.

I do not know how many of you still keep old vinyls because these items certainly worth a lot, and you will never know you will be sitting on a gold mine in time to come. It is indeed a good investment for our kids and grandkids. To think that I bought it for only RM2.50 in the early sixties.

This "Living Doll" release was the only one listed by the magazine. Strange they didn't mention Cliff's other releases.

A close-up shot of the vinyl

The blogger and his RM200 Living Doll

 

 

As I end my posting for the year, may I take this opportunity to wish all my friends out there a very Happy New Year and may 2014 bring renewed hopes to you.

For the die hard Shadows and Ventures fans

Back in the good old days of the sixties, forming a 4-piece was a popular past time amongst us school boys. In my school alone, SMK Jalan Cochrane, I believe we had four bands. 

 

Now one of the interesting things is that to get a band going..., one of the first tune we must be able to play was "Apache" by The Shadows from the UK, or if you are unable to form a band but wished to join one, you be "auditioned" by members of the band, and again it is "Apache" irrespective whether you play the lead, rhythm or bass.  "Apache" became a staple piece for all the bands in the country.

 

The Shadows

Later, the American group, The Ventures released their own version, but still many of us preferred The Shadows version. However, some other groups held the view that The Ventures was a better version.
 

The Ventures

 Anyway for the many diehard Shadows and Ventures fans, I have a video clip here of the two bands playing the same tune alternating one after the other demonstrating their individual style and technique. Now we can make the comparison.

 

 

An inspiring moment at the Ellen DeGeneres Show

"I am just very tired" - Namewee

First, it was Ambiga Sreenevasan .  Then followed by Anwar Ibrahim.  Now it's Namewee's turn to have his citizenship revoked, a call made by PERKASA just because they don't agree with his views on the screening of the film "The New Village".  Their reasoning is that Namewee was glorifying communism  [huh?] and for that, he ought to be made persona non grata in this country.  If that is the case, then Khairy Jamaluddin's citizenship should also be revoked since his UMNO Baru Youth movement has close ties with the Communist Youth Movement of China.  Of course, Khairy defended his move by saying that the Communist China is not the same as the Communist China of yesteryears.  If that is the case, how about Tun Abdul Razak for his visit to China in 1974 to set up diplomatic ties.  At the time of the trip, people like Chairman Mao Tse Tung and Premier Chou En Lai were still very much alive and these guys were hard core communists.  Furthermore, who do you think supported the Communist Party of Malaya at the time of the Emergency from 1947 to 1960 in terms of arms and guerrilla warfare?

For the information of many of UMNO Baru's leaders and pro-UMNO Baru groups, the youths of today just want to make a living and to 'glorify' communism is the furthest from their minds. I doubt they even know what communism is all about.  I would have agreed to the ban if the film [for the sake of our sensitive PERKASA and certain UMNO Baru leaders] was an autobiography of Chin Peng or any of the CPM leaders, but about love between two persons caught on the wrong sides of the ideological and political divide?  Come on, open up your minds to see the greater good of the story.

So, Namewee is kicking up a fuss, but can we blame him?  His complain about the 'New Village' was, after all the permits have been obtained, why the sudden ban just because of some people who thought otherwise?  This was the question posed by him on his video "017 Double Standard",

Now about his experience with the Film Censorship Board, here are his grievances, but you will have to excuse the English as it was taken verbatim from the subtitles of his video, "017 Double Standard".

While nobody questioned the lucky headmaster who demanded his students to eat in the toilet.  I've tried so hard to apply funding for my first movie 'Nasi Lemak 2.0'.  After 12 long months, you rejected me.  Simply, because I am Chinese, right?  Then why don't you reject all the Chinese votes?  Since you've rejected to fund my movie, I was forced to raise money by myself.

Still remember what happened during the screening?  A few idiots who claimed they're from the NGO tried to create havoc in the cinema to stop the screening.  And immediately, you called for an emergency meeting to ban the movie.  Apparently, Nasi Lemak 2.0 has not been taken down.  It went successfully to beat the box office.  I'm proud of myself.  Only for you to claim that Nasi Lemak 2.0 was classified as non-local movie and will be charged 20% of tax, how insane is that?  Both Adinah Noor and Afdlin Shauki appeared in the movie and it was classified as non-local movie?

Next, was my second move, 'Hantu Gangster'.  You've filtered and removed 17 scenes and classified it as '13PL'.  What's your problem?  You should have given me a 13PL classified without censorship, or a 'U' (publice) classification since you've censored 17 scenes, but you've done BOTH!  Isn't that unfair?  You claimed 'Hantu Gangster' was sensitive.  What is so sensitive?  My thigh is sensitive and I know your nipples are sensitive too.  We've put in so many efforts and hard work, and now you're targeting my third movie, 'Kara King'

'Kara King' was supposed to be a Chinese New Year movie.  You came up with your own rules on which movie should or should not be released.  Now the movie will not be screened during Chinese New Year.  Are you happy with that?  You better watch out for our Golden Left Foot.  How am I supposed to explain to Ng Man Tiat and Frankie Gan?  Rules and system are created to help the people, but you are manipulating the rules and enjoyed the benefits on your own.  Since the movie won't be shown on Chinese New Year, we've decided to release the movie in August.  Because its festive season and there's a school holiday.  Even though it would not be the same as Chinese New Year, but at least there's Hari Raya.  But you remember what you said?  You said, "NO".  You ordered us to bring backward the date!  Your lame reason was because you need to reserve the slots in August for Malay movies.  No Chinese movie is permitted.  But did you ever realised that Malay movies are given permits to release their movies during Chinese New Year?!

There are Malay actors and crew in our production.  We worked so hard for this movie unlike people like you. We've planned for this movie to be screened together in Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore, but due to the unfairness in managing the movies and late notifications on our screening date, all our plans in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Thailand and Singapore are ruined because we no longer able to launch the movie at the same time.  Are you satisfied with this now? Are you happy with what you have done?  The last minute notification was so crucial that we're now not able to run our promotion campaign.  No one knows when 'Kara King' will be released.  Only you alone knows.  I was notified a few moments ago.  Without proper promotion who is going to watch my movie?  What should I do?

Coming back to the 'New Village' issue.  Since you've approved the script, why ban it now?  We've submitted the script for approval before shooting.  We're only allowed to shoot if the script is approved.  You better don't play, play.  I've done shooting my fourth movie, "Bangrasia".  You better not fool around with the movie because you've already approved the script and shooting.  I will not tolerate this unfairness because I've followed all the correct procedures.  You should inform me earlier if you wanna fool around and don't tell me the approval was given by another department.  It doesn't make sense.  If you fool me, I will spray you with my pee.  If it happens, than you can lodge a police report on my pee.  It's none of my business and its not my fault but my pee.  My pee is the one attacked you, not me.  Am I right?  You shouldn't say Chinese don't support you, so you would like to take opportunity to revenge.  Where is your evidence showing that Chinese don't support you?

There is an idiot in every single religion.  Everyone is asking me to bang you with my songs.  But I'm sick of writing that all the time plus I don't really have the time to waste right now because 'Kara King' will be released today.  I have to go inform everyone or no one knows.  Since I don't have the time to write a song, I would like to deliver this special song from the movie, 'Kara King'.  If you are not happy with me, please complain on YouTube.  It's YouTube and Facebook's fault, not mine.  You deal with YouTube.  I learned this from you, double standard principles.

JUST BEFORE RETIRING, DR MAHATHIR ADMITTED, SAYING THAT THE CHINESE WERE DISCRIMINATED, AND HOW RIGHT HE WAS!!!!

The foll.owing was what Namewee had to say when interviewed by The Malaysian Insider yesterday.

Uh, uh, I’m so *&%^*%^* tired  yo’all,  Namewee raps Perkasa

For a rapper who is no stranger to controversy, the last thing one expects Namewee to say is he is tired.

“I am just very tired. I have put in so much effort, wasted so much of my time and youth to promote unity through movies, yet they are doing this,” he told The Malaysian Insider, referring to attacks from Umno-backed newspapers and rights groups.

He has made the news over and over again for about the same reasons – he raps about people and things one doesn’t normally expect to turn up in a rap song. And this has incurred the wrath of the authorities from time to time.

But this time, it is different. This time, Namewee is in the sights because he has come out in support of a movie that was slammed by the weekend newspaper Mingguan Malaysia for glorifying communism.

Yesterday, Malay rights group Perkasa even demanded that his citizenship be revoked.

Perkasa deputy president Datuk Abdul Rahman Abu Bakar said it had lodged countless police reports against Namewee but the Attorney-General had done nothing.

Namewee said, “They can call me racist. They can call me anything they want. I don’t have to defend myself or answer to them.”

Namewee was heavily criticised by Mingguan Malaysia columnist Awang Selamat on Sunday, calling the rapper racist, childish and someone who didn’t know his history.

Awang, a pseudonym used by Utusan's editors in the weekly edition, also called him an extremist for speaking out against the decision to halt the screening of the movie "The New Village".

This came after the actor and director had posted a YouTube video called "017 Double Standard", saying that the demand to halt the movie showed double standards.

He said he found it strange that the Film Censorship Board had approved the movie in the first place.

“What is the point of approving the movie only to have it banned later? I don’t know why this is happening. But this is a serious problem,” he said.

“This will only just incur a lot of costs to the movie production.”

Namewee studied mass communications in Taiwan. That is where he first made headlines in 2007, as a foul-mouthed rapper in a music video called I Love My Country Negarakuku. It was criticised for ridiculing the national anthem and the Islamic call for prayer. He was questioned by the police a year later after he returned from Taiwan.

He had another close shave with the law when he posted a video in 2010 containing his trademark vulgarities and obscenities in response to an incident involving a Johor school principal, who allegedly made racist remarks to her pupils. He was probed for sedition over that YouTube video.

In 2011, Namewee again grabbed the headlines after Utusan Malaysia’s writer Fauziah Arof wrote that she would not watch his movie, Nasi Lemak 2.0.

Namewee, in a return to his usual style, responded with a video on YouTube saying that she should not be writing about the movie if she had not watched it.

When asked if he was worried that the police have responded vigorously recently to controversial videos, Namewee said, “I think the police should go catch the real bad guys.” 

Not only is Namewee tired.  I am also tired and so are many Malaysians who are getting fedup with the antics put up by PERKASA and others, and yet PERKASA is mooting the idea of an inter-racial grouping?  Despite all that is happening to the Chinese community, isn't it clear why UMNO Baru lost the Chinese votes or are they so dumb as not to see it at all.

My, my, what do you know?

The Bogey Man

Many of you must have heard of the song, "Me and you and a dog named Boo", made popular by Lobo in the early seventies. Now, you've got to listen this version by the Comedy Court.

Theme songs of 'The PKFZ Scandal' and 'The Missing Jet Engines'

Hell hath no fury like Malaysians scorned

Upon receiving news that Michelle Yeoh has openly expressed her full support for Najib Abdul Razak, a Facebook page supporting the Malaysian opposition drew more than one thousand comments condemning the actress as a traitor and a government stooge.

As an entertainer who relies on the public for support, common sense dictates that she should have remained neutral instead of taking sides.  If foreign artistes like Psy from Korea and Gigi Leung from Hong Kong could decide not to mess up their careers with our local politics by turning down the engagements, why as a local couldn't she have done the same.  Even Alan Tam, a leading entertainer and singer from Hong Kong who appeared at last week's concert organised by BN, was quick to apologise and have reminded himself to be a little more careful by doing a proper background check on the organisers   Come to think of it, our local artistes too have better senses.  They quit their respective careers and entered politics.

Michelle explained, “This is a democratic country. We're all free to voice our opinions. I think people shouldn't be personal. I think all of us want to do good for our own country. And I believe they want to do the same thing.”  Personal?  This is not personal.  This involves the future of our nation and our children.

She is not constantly in the country and the only media she would be reading will be The Star or the NST.  Does she actually know what is happening in the country?

So what does all these tell on Michelle, a beauty with no brains, I supposed.

In other words, the "good" here means :

1. It is okay to kill Altantuya, Teoh Beng Hock, Ahmad Sarbani Mohamed and Kugan, just to name a few.
2. It is okay to commit high treason by allowing foreigners to become citizens without going through the proper channel.
3. it is okay to be corrupt to the tune of billions of ringgit.
4. It is okay to tell the Chinese to "balik Cina" and be called "pendatang".
5. It is okay to burn Bibles and torched the churches.
6. It is okay to persecute the Christians and Hindus.
7. It is okay not to recognise the UEC when other countries do.
8. It is okay to discriminate smart Chinese and Indian kids from entering local universities.
9. It is okay for Najib to buy votes with last minute handouts.
10. It is okay for our great grandmothers, grandmothers and mothers who came to this land to survive, are called "prostitutes".
11. It is okay for us to be educated under a mediocre educational system.
12. It is okay not to have free and fair elections.
13. It is okay to see dead bodies piling up while in police custody.

If these are "good", than I would certainly like to know what "bad"  is in her context.  

Her family is well connected to MCA and for that, I respect her right to support MCA.  But to come out with a lame-o of an excuse surely takes the cake.

Now if I were to see the film, "The Lady", again, I could just see Michelle in the most farcical role ever.  The real  Aung San Suu Kyi is a leader who fought against a tyrannical military regime while Michelle on the other hand, supports all that is evil.

The swing of the Chinese votes to Pakatan Rakyat is now at an all time high of 80%.  Michelle, you just lost it.  Please don't bother to send your films over here anymore because less people will be watching them except those oxymorons from MCA.  It is so sad that you have lost a fan base here which you have been trying to build for years, over a 2-hour pleasure with Najib.

East meets West - Celine Dion sings a CNY song in Mandarin with Song Zuying

The world-renown French-Canadian singer Céline Dion joins Chinese singer Song Zuying in singing the Jasmine Flower (Mo Li Hua 茉莉花) in CHINESE on China's Central Television's Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) Grand Gala. This year's Spring Festival Gala presents a variety of interntional artists, including Greek musician Yanni, American Chinese pop-star Lee Hom Wang etc. Céline also sang the classic My Heart Will Go On to the Chinese audience, in English of course.

It happened 50 years ago

Fifty years ago, on February 11 1963, The Beatles recorded "Please Please Me" at the Abbey Road Studio which went on to become a world wide hit for the Fab Four.

Aiyoh, Najib, so embarassing lah

Not only did the crowd gave a big NO to Najib, Psy declined to join the BN leaders on the stage to "loh sang".  These certainly came as a slap on Najib's face.

So, Mr Prime Minister, now that the show is over, can we get down to serious business of having the GE ASAP?

Our Sunday Girl - CHICCHI

Back in the 60s, there was this trend where it was common for boys to form their own rock bands due to the influence of pop music at that time.  These bands would go on to emulate their favourite instrumental group they best they could and then proceed to appear in band competitions across the country.  Music by groups such as The Shadows, The Ventures, The Jumping Jewels and The Fentones were the favourites and many of us could play their tunes note for note without having to go for proper music classes.  But out of these many groups, The Shadows and The Ventures stood out and we guys have to decide which of the two would be the mainstay in our repertoire.  My group, The Larrikins, decided on The Shadows.  In between, we played some Ventures' numbers just to please some in the crowd who were Ventures fans.



The Larrikins performing at the Mak Yee Restaurant, BB Park.  That's me on the right, and I was only 16 already trying to earn my keeps.

So, what has all these got to do with our Sunday girl, Chicchi?  For one, she is Japanese and secondly, she is only 13 years old and is a hard core Ventures fan.  She started performing playing Ventures music at the age of 8 and have gone on to make a name for herself.  She became so well known that Nokie Edwards, a member of The Ventures, flew to Japan to present to her a Mosrite guitar, the type used by The Ventures themselves.  One thing for sure, she is cute and adorable

Her fans have uploaded many videos of her performances but I am only going to select four for your viewing pleasure.  Enjoy .....

Chicchi playing "The Cruel Sea" with band, The Hotstyle.

Chicchi meeting members of The Ventures [still photos]

 

Chicchi [centre] with her [all girl] band, Strawberry Paefait.

 

 

Playing "Walk Don't Run" with Nokie Edwards

 

 

 

This is a good example of how music can transcend nationality, gender and age. It fuses people together.  American pop music of the 60s, played by a Japanese girl born in the new millennium.  It is really hard to imagine that when we were playing these numbers, Chicchi and her friends were only to be born about 40 years later to continue with the Ventures musical legacy.

Our Sunday Girl - CATHY

Our Sunday Girl - SUZANNE

Our Sunday Girl - SHEILA