dave: May 2002 Archives

OK, I've made quite a lot of changes behind the scenes and some changes to the style sheets. I'm going to try and work on more new content over the next few weeks. As always, if you have comments on the look or find broken links, send email. (Even if you just want to comment on some of the content.)

Well, we decided on a name for the impending baby. Nope, I'm not going to reveal it here. We'll wait until he's born, just in case he is a she. Due date is around the end of July, although Roxanne was a few weeks late.

We've just come back from seeing the new Star Wars movie: Attack Of The Clones. It's really, really good. Far better than Phantom Menace. It's visually stunning. It's full of great references to the later movies and really fills out the back story very well. You tend to find your self going "Oh so *that's* why Boba Fett hates the Jedi" and "so that's what Owen Lars meant in Ep IV."

Some observations:

• Coruscant is amazing - it's so big and complex it just couldn't have been done without the most recent technology. (and if you like it, try playing "Jedi Knight II" from Lucasarts.)
• Jango Fett is great, as is Boba.
• Temeura Morrison is excellent. That part of the story line is good.
• Yoda kicks butt (or at least prods some serious buttock). Really. People started giggling when he whipped out his light-sabre, but you could almost hear jaws dropping when he started fighting. Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Jet Li and Chow Yun Fat all rolled into one three foot high package. They call him 'Master' for a very good reason. If there's one thing a Hong Kong audience will appreciate, it's good old fashioned kick-ass gong-fu. Yoda being a Jedi master is very different from Yoda being a teacher. He's great.
• There's a reason for Jar Jar. And, no, you won't like him any better.

Watching the first film again (I've got the original trilogy on VCD), the advances in computer graphics are amazing. They could barely manage a simplified dot image of the Death Star in 1977, in 2002, several of the main characters are computer animated. The first film really resonates with references from Ep II. The initial Tatooine sequences especially are very evocative and much more meaningful when you know the background shown in Episode II.

Well, that was fun. I'm referring to Wanchai Live, of course. Twenty four hours of noise, beer, noise, heat, sweat, more noise, more beer and the occasional musical interlude. Next year I'm definitely not carrying around that GT-5 again. The damn thing's way too heavy. Also, I think I'll play the ukulele instead. Or maybe the triangle.

As of this moment, the timetable is as below. This will probably be subject to change over the course of the days, as people sleep in, fall over, run away, etc.

It's less than one week to go until Wanchai Live VII. Taking place in The Wanch and Carnegies pubs on Saturday 11th and Sunday 12th of May, Wanchai Live is twenty four hours of live music. From noon to midnight both days, a new band every hour. If you're in Hong Kong and feel like a beer and some music (or even lunch - the pub grub in both places is ok), stroll along to either venue and check things out.

The Wanch is at 54 Jaffe Road, Wan Chai, and Carnegies is at 53-55, Lockhart Road, Wan Chai, just around the corner or so.

I'm playing in the afternoon on both days, and there should be a list of acts pasted up on the windows of both pubs.