Veronica Mars - The Movie (Cue excited little happy dance)

So those of you who know what I am talking about will instantly realize the momentous occasion that is 'The Veronica Mars Movie'  - of which I am excited to report will be out this year in 2014. The official release date for the US is March 14th, 2014. I have no idea when it will be out in Korea; I can only hope that it comes to theaters as it would be awesome to see on the big screen.

So for those of you who don't know what I am talking about (it's hard to imagine but there are probably a few people that missed the whole phenomenon, I know that my sister is only watching it now because I made her and of course she is loving it), Veronica Mars was a television series about a girl in high school who was also a private eye. It ran for three seasons from 2004 to 2007 and stared Kristen Bell as the title character. It was witty and smart and like many good programs got canned for no good reason. Since then there has been talk about a movie, all the actors and the creator Rob Thomas were enthusiastic about the possibility but it never got the backing - that was until the invention of a little thing called Kickstarter.

Kickstarter is a website resource for financing creative endeavors, it's called crowd funding and basically you submit your proposal just like you would if you were trying to get funding from investors anywhere but you are submitting it to the world. If people like your project they can donate. There are rewards offered for investors on some projects depending on the amount donated - for example if the fund was for a book the author might offer to name a character after someone if they donate $500, for other projects you might get the finished product. It's a great idea and has helped some really worthwhile projects that may not have been able to get funded get up and going.

Rob Thomas basically went to the studio and asked if he could get the money would they back the making of the Veronica Mars movie, being a situation where they couldn't really lose, of course they said yes. Surpassing every ones expectations the Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign became one of the most successful in the sites history, it raised the needed 2 million dollars in pretty much the first day and then every thing after that was what could make the movie even better. The final amount was about 5.7 million dollars raised from over 90,000 backers. True to their word the filming began over the summer and now almost a year later the movie is slated for release in March.

The first looks at the new movie are out now, so here it is 'the trailer for the Veronica Mars (2014) movie, I hope you are as excited as me to see it. It looks like it is going to be good, and if it does do well perhaps the studio will pick up the tab on the next one.

2014 - Happy New Year!

Well another year is over and now we are well and truly into 2014. I just wanted to say Happy New Year to everyone and I hope you all had a safe and happy festive season.

I am not sure how the blog will go this year, I will continue to update when I can and I can only hope to be a bit more vigilant than 2013. I am still in Ilsan and I am coming up to the end of my third year in Korea. My current contact will be up in March/April. I will probably be staying on for another year if my school continues my contract. Hopefully that will mean lots more things to blog about over the coming year so please keep coming back or follow the blog using one or more of the options off to the side.

Happy New Year
XOXO

Japanese Artist Riusuke Fukahori - Amazing

I just watched a video that is being shown on the Bus TV here in Korea. Was simply amazed by this artist so looked it up when I got home.  

His name is Riusuke Fukahori and he paints fish using a layered resin technique that makes them look 3D. 

Check out the video on YouTube below and also for some more pictures of this amazing artwork check out this article.

Shopping: Tmart.com - Haul and Review

As I enjoy shopping (both online and in person) I am always on the look out for new stores.  I recently heard about Tmart and thought I would have a look.  Tmart.com is an online shopping site that is based out of Hong Kong - some of the reviews that I read and watched on YouTube were favorable and it is cheap with the added bonus of free worldwide shopping.  I thought I may as well give it a go and see what they were all about.

Tmart offers a wide range of products such as electronics, clothing, makeup and toys and they offer Drop Shipping also. According to the website Tmart claims to have a comprehensive Customer Service including pre and post sale service and they say that they offer an 100% safe shopping experience including adhering to e-commerce safety standards and encrypting all payments. They have a lot of deals and offer a points reward system and there is a 90-day money back if there are problems with the merchandise according to their refund policy which is listed on the site. Tmart has websites based in different locations such as USA, Germany and Russia and also different warehouses. There are warehouses in America, Singapore and in Hong Kong so depending on where you live you can select the closest warehouse and presumably get your items quicker.

I chose a range of items - most of them under ten dollars with the most expensive item being NZ$11.95. I chose items across a few different categories so I could do a review.  I ordered some iPad cases, some camera gear and some jewelry.  I figured this would give me a good indication of the quality and service of the site.

Everything went well at first, the site is all in English as it's based out of Hong Kong so is marketed to an international market.  Registration was straightforward, they ask you to sign up for email marketing and promise discounts and coupons for this. You can pay through a few different means such as paypal, Webmoney or Credit Card. I used my New Zealand credit card for the purchase and again it all seemed pretty simple and worked as well as can be expected from an online store. Worth noting here that although I could see everything in NZ dollars the site charges in US dollars so my credit card was charged a small foreign exchange rate along with the charge.

This is where my experience with Tmart went downhill. My order was placed on the 31th July 2013 for about 12 items. Then on the 3rd of August I received a 'Back Order' email from Tmart informing me that the items I had selected were out of stock.  I was informed I could wait 2-3 weeks for the stock to be refilled and if they did not hear from me this would be what would happen.  On the other hand I could choose to cancel or change my items.  Now I would not have been bothered by this if one or two items had been out of stock but the fact that all of them were really irked me.  I think that it should have been noted on the website if something was out of stock, I did see some other things that had this note on them so they must do it but it seems that they were not up to date which for a big organisation such as this just seems ill-managed. So I decided that I did not want to wait for these things and spend money at a site like this so I cancelled most of the items - I did keep a few of the purchases because I did want to do a review on them and see what the site was like.  

The cancelling process was a bit more difficult that the ordering process, I was not sure if it had even gone through and I had to try twice to get it done. They did send me an email after that to indicate that my items had been cancelled. I also just noticed going back into my order history that all the items still show on my order history and there is nothing to indicate that they were cancelled so this gets marks off in my book.  It should clearly show that these items were cancelled and not shipped.

So I then got two emails on the 6th of August 2013 - one to say that a partial package of items had been mailed and the other to say that a partial refund had been made. The package eventually arrived to my apartment in South Korea on Monday 26th of August - that's about 20 days later so it was quite a long wait. The refund came through on the 7th of August 2013 and it was refunded back to the original credit card.

Well all that aside lets get down to it and see what I got:

1. 14mm Ball Shaped Rhinestone Pendant Necklace (pink)

Price: NZ $5.28 (discounted from NZ $6.81)

I did not really think about the size of this and find the ball a bit big for my taste, but that's more my fault.  I bought it because I got some earrings as a gift that are similar and thought they would go nice together.  It is of medium quality, it looks a bit tacky and just not quite up to the standards of something I would wear.  I will probably give it as a gift to a young girl.

2. Elegant Irregular Turquoise Rhinestone Necklace

Price: NZ $7.57 (discounted from NZ $9.77)

I bought this one because I liked the design, it looked really nice in the photo but to be honest it looks really bad in real life.  It looks cheap and plastic and the back of it has some kind of glue in patches that is sharp on the edges so would scratch if you wore it.  I still like the design but the materials are horrible, very poorly executed, I will probably just give it away as costume jewelry to someone.

3. Turquoise Water Drop Earrings with small round stone

Price: NZ $2.95 (discounted from NZ $3.81)

For the price these are what they are, they look a little cheap but the design is pretty. I would not wear them myself but I will probably give them away to a younger girl again. One of my tween cousins will probably wear them.

4. Petunia shaped diamond earrings (purple)

Price: NZ $6.50 (discounted from NZ $8.39)

These earrings are the pick of the bunch and I was more than happy with them. If everything had been this quality I would not have had a problem. They look really nice and seem solidly made. They don't look cheap at all and I will be happy to wear them. It was nice to have something wearable out of the lot but I ended up paying a bit for this one good product if you add it all up.

5. Magic Bun Hair twist styling tool care clip (black)

Price: NZ $3.68 (discounted from NZ $4.75)

Hair styling tool, makes a bun pretty quickly and seems to be secure.  I have not worn it out for a day yet only tried it out at home.

6. Stylus Touch pen for iPad (Free Gift)

Price: NZ $2.26 (discounted for Free Gift with purchase)

This was just a small free gift that was included with a certain amount purchased, you could pick from a few different items.  I certainly would not want to pay for it. It does not work very well at all.

Overall Thoughts:

I thought Tmart was a well executed site, easy to search and maneuver around. It was quite simple to register and purchase from and I liked that they have free world wide shipping. Their communication was very quick and my refund went through when they said it would.

The overall quality of the goods was very poor, I realize everything was cheap but I can buy jewelry cheaper than that in Korea and still have it be nice enough quality to wear as an adult.

I probably won't use this site again, they don't have anything that I can't get off Gmarket here in Korea and it comes a lot quicker (mostly).

Music Monday #24

This week I thought that I would introduce some New Zealand Punk, I've talked about a few New Zealand bands but not really the punk scene.

Punk was and still is pretty popular in New Zealand, there have been many bands over the years mostly on the underground scene but a few have been a bit more widely received.  It's pretty hard to make it mainstream at the best of times and if you add to that a very small country with a limited fan base and you can see the obstacles that face many alternative bands from New Zealand.

One band that did pretty well is Kitsch - (note there are a few bands in the world with this name), they are a Punk band from New Zealand and have been around for over fifteen years - on and off. They play the more melodic punk and have released a couple of albums over the years, they have also supported many international bands like NOFX and Bad Religion to name just a few.

Kitsch - Stay Right Here

Music Monday #22

This week I thought it would be nice to visit another country to look at some music, for the most part I have stuck to America, New Zealand or Korea.

This weeks band is from Japan, but they sing in English as the lead singer is Japanese/American. It is a band that I checked out from the listings of one of the recent festivals. I did not end up going as there was not really enough bands that interested me but it's a good way to find out about new bands and give them a listen.

The genre is the so called 'post-hardcore' - (think Linkin Park or My Chemical Romance) where screaming meets melodic singing hopefully in a harmoinic fusion.  I'm not a huge fan of these bands but for some reason I really like Linkin Park, its one of those guilty pleasures that you don't let on to your die-hard punk friends about.

So the band is Coldrain and they have been around since about 2007, they have been doing pretty well in the past few years over in Japan even though their lyrics are all in English. They have couple of albums and mini albums out; they seem to have a lot more international appeal than other bands because of the English element.

Coldrain - Die Tomorrow

A Little Bit of New Zealand - JGeeks

I was just checking out some New Zealand stuff on YouTube to see what was popular over there at them moment and I stumbled upon this group.

They are currently competing in 'New Zealand's Got Talent' as a dance group, well maybe dance/comedy group.  I thought they were really funny, totally fresh and with such a passion for their New Zealand culture but with a healthy dose of not taking themselves to seriously. 

I was thinking about putting it up for Music Monday but it's not really a song and I thought this bit from the show was pretty good.  They do have some songs so I might put one up in the future but if you are interested check them out on YouTube.

The group is called JGeeks and this video is from the Semi Finals of  the New Zealand's Got Talent competition.

Music Monday #17

A long long time ago my best friends, older sisters, boyfriend (I know, I know) gave her a dubbed double sided tape that changed both of our musical tastes forever.  On one side of the tape was Pennywise and on the other side was Rancid - it was some of our first real introduction to Punk music and it lead to seeking out more bands and trying to get hold of more copies of this awesome music (it was harder to find in NZ as it was not popular when we first started getting interested in it, if you could find it in stores it was expensive because it was not imported in bulk like popular music). 

The thing I loved most about it was it was so short and energetic.  We grew up on rock, grunge and metal - while I liked that stuff the main thing I did not like about it was the instrumentals.  I like vocals, I don't know much about music so I'm not really going to wonder at someones great guitar skills in a 1 minute long interlude.  Punk was short, sharp and to the point.

In honor of that first tape today's Music Monday is a Rancid song and is one of my favourites although to be honest the whole album '...And Out Come the Wolves' is pretty good. I really liked their earlier stuff but have not really continued with them into the newer albums as I did not like the sound as much. Ruby Soho is from '...And Out Come the Wolves', which was Rancid's third album released in 1995 (the video is from this time so shows a very young looking Rancid).

Rancid - Ruby Soho

Music Monday #15

Music Monday this week is a bit special because it's 'one plus one' as they say over here in Korea  - which means buy one get the second one free.

In my last post I talked about how one of my favourite childhood movies turned 25 last week.  In honor of that I'm going to give you a preview of some of the songs from the soundtrack. The soundtrack to 'The Lost Boys' is one of the better ones that I have heard, I'm not usually a fan of soundtracks but in this case it just fit the movie so well. It's a great reflection of the times too, with the ballards and the rock and its quintessentially 80's vibe.

I like lots of the songs on the soundtrack but the two I have chosen are probably my favourites - one is the theme song 'Cry Little Sister' by Gerard McMahon (aka. Gerard McMann or G Tom Mac) and the other is really like an unofficial theme song as it is almost as recognisable - it's by Foreigner frontman Lou Gramm and is called 'Lost in the Shadows'.

G Tom Mac - Cry Little Sister (Theme Song from the Motion Picture)


Lou Gramm - Lost In The Shadows

The Lost Boys - 25 Years On

I just read online that it has been 25 years since the classic vampire film - 'The Lost Boys' came out. I loved this film, it was a bit scary when I first saw it, I'm pretty sure I did not see it for a while after it first came out.  If I had seen it in 1987 I would have had nightmares, I still remember the sleepless nights after watching 'Gremlins' with my family.

I have an older sister and brother so they would probably have had the video out from the video store and at some stage I would have been allowed to watch it too. It is one movie that stuck in the mind - it was sexy and cool, it had so many cute guys in it and awesome lines.  "You'll never grow old Michael, and you'll never die.  But you must feed!" - David

It also had an awesome soundtrack, I know my sister had that on tape and I remember dubbing it and then listening to it many times during my early teenage years.

I'm just so very glad that I grew up in the 80's when Vampires were badass and didn't sparkle in the sun.

Music Monday #14

Another punk one this week, one of my long time favourites that is still going strong.  This song is off their latest album "Laugh Now... Laugh Later" which came out in 2011.  I've got many favourites from this band but I thought I would pick a newer one this time as I really liked their new album. I might put some of their older ones up in the future.

Please note the video here is not that great, I don't think it really goes with the song very well but it's the official video so we will go with it.  Also it has violent themes so if you are sensitive to that kind of thing please don't watch it.

Face to Face - Its Not  All About You

Music Monday #13

Music Monday today is the only one that I will be posting in August as I had a bit of a break while I was at home and then I was pretty busy with some extra classes when I got back to Korea.

Today's Music Monday is in honor of a great punk talent who recently and sadly passed away on the 31st of July.  Those of you who are into punk will know I'm talking about Tony Sly - front man for No Use for a Name.

No Use for a Name were one of my favourite bands during my teenage years, I had the album 'Making Friends' and it got it's fair share of thrashing (along with some of their other albums but that one is the one I remember the best).

If you want to know more about his passing this is the link to the YouTube coverage by ClevverMusic, there was no cause of death released and I don't think there has been any updates since then. Very sad for his family, friends and the punk world in general - he was a very talented guy.

The song I'm showcasing here is one of No Use For A Name's songs from the 1997 album 'Making Friends'.  It's called 'The Answer is Still No' but the video here is a bit of a different version  - it's from a live show and at the beginning Tony says this is how NOFX made them play it on tour with them, it's a bit faster and more upbeat.  Also please note there is some bad language in this video so if that's not your thing please don't watch it.

No Use For A Name - The Answer is Still No

Very Busy Teacher (for once)

Hi all, just a quick post to explain why there was no music Monday this week.  I had just got back from my holiday back in New Zealand on the Sunday and I have been super busy at work ever since then. 

I have a 'Summer Intensive' course running for two weeks.  It is in addition to all my other classes and is two hours each morning. I still come in at my contracted 30 hours but I am a bit put out as I don't think they factor into it the huge amount of work it takes to put together this course.  I have no resources and it is a phonics class which I have never taught before. I was given the book a week or two before vacation and on contacting head office about it found that it was only just published, (already found three mistakes in it, one of them quite major) and they had no resources or guidelines to go with it.  It is a very basic story and song (with 5 stories) for teaching specific consonant blends - not enough to make up two hours of class work with that is for sure.  So I have been doing lots of prep work, making crosswords, word searches, flash cards and anything I can think of to get through the two hours.

As such I just have not had time to do any posting, I have got some posts that I've been working on so as soon as I get some time I will get them finished and published.

Music Monday #12

A bit late -  but better late that than never.  In celebration of me being home in New Zealand for my vacation, this one is from New Zealand band Shihad.

Shihad - Home Again

Music Monday #10

Music Monday this week is another blast from the past.  It's nice to revisit songs that I have liked over the years.  This one is a bit outside of my usual fare - I never really went for the post-rock stuff but despite that Linkin Park have always intrigued me.  I think its' the energy and passion that their music seems to imbue - it always seems so lively.  I used to have one of their first Cd's in my car back home and found it great driving music.

So this is Music Monday Ten and I think it has been a great way for me to make sure that I am visiting my blog every week - I have been posting more but it's still a bit haphazard.  Hopefully I will keep thinking of things to share and hopefully people will find some of it useful.  Remember to post a comment if you like anything or just want to say hello, it's great to hear from you all and I appreciate your time.

Linkin Park - In The End

Music Monday #9

What's not to love about this one - New Zealander making good, Muppets and happiness.

Bret McKenzie (feat. Kermit the frog) - Life's a Happy Song

Music Monday #8

Just like all good boys and girls of the 90's I was a grunge fan - it was a music that defined our teenage years.  I liked Nirvana just like everyone else, even had posters of Kurt Cobain and the band all over my walls.  When I look back now I realise that I did not like them as much as I liked Alice in Chains. I thought I did but really that was just peer pressure becuase everyone loved Nirvana.  Truth be told during my teenage years I only had one Nirvana album that I bought (had a few dubbed tapes) but I had three Alice in Chains albums. 

I recently re-watched their MTV unplugged gig and was reminded of how much I loved and still love their sound, their songs and their music.

Alice in Chains - Rooster

Music Monday #7

Back to New Zealand for Music Monday #7 and this one’s an oldie but a goodie.

They broke up in 1997 but did reform in 2007 and have done some touring over the years since. This was the first live band that I ever saw so has a special place in my heart. If you are in New Zealand and any of their most popular songs come on you can guarantee you will have most of the kiwis singing along.

Although I went on to develop different musical tastes as I got older I can still appreciate that Supergroove are a classic act. They had a great sound and some catchy tunes and are still considered one of the best bands from New Zealand.

Supergroove - Sitting Inside My Head

Music Monday #6

I have to apologise because I actually almost forgot about Music Monday, that's why its a little bit late today.

So just quickly this one is by an independent artist that does all of his music through You Tube and iTunes - he does not have an agent or belong to any record labels yet he is doing unprecedentedly well. It's not really my kind of music but I can appreciate he has a nice voice and I'm really impressed with his work ethic and that he has done so well by himself.

Anyway the artist's name is Alex Day and his You Tube channel is under the name 'nerimon' and I would recommend it along with his friend 'charlieissocoollike' (which is where this video is as Charlie stars in it along with Alex).  Charlie is one of the top You Tube personalities on the web today with well over a million subscribers and Alex is not far behind.  They both do vlog type videos which are pretty funny.

Alex Day - Forever Yours



Also you can read about Alex Day in the articles below from 'Forbes' and if you like his music don't forget to check him out on You Tube and iTunes.

Forbes Articles:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanholiday/2012/06/12/is-youtube-and-chart-sensation-alex-day-the-future-of-music/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanholiday/2012/06/13/tracking-indie-musician-alex-days-next-big-move/

Music Monday #4

Today's Music Monday offering goes back to my favourite genre - punk which was where we began with Music Monday #1 and Bad Religion.

This band however is a new favourite, I'm really loving them right now and they are most played on my iPod.  Front man Dave Hause has an awesome voice and they have a great sound. The earlier stuff is a bit more punk and recently they have been branching out with a more diverse sound, they have always been more on the melodic side of the punk spectrum rather than hardcore (some might say pop-punk but I don't think it's quite there).  On their album 'Build and Burn' you can hear the rock and even a bit of country influence there.  They have also done some covers on an earlier EP - Springsteen and Strummer which they put their own sound into and sound great (I liked their version of Johnny 99 better than the original).  All-in-all they are a great well rounded sounding band and I hope they have a long future.  Also hope they come to Korea so I can see them live, I have to say I think they would play a mean live show.

So if you don't know who I am talking about - the name of the band is 'The Loved Ones'.  I had a hard time picking a song to showcase here (because I like quite a few of them) but I decided to go with one of their older ones as it was one of the first I heard.

The Loved Ones - 100k




If you like the band you can check out more of their music on their myspace page.