little. yellow. different. A weblog by Ernie Hsiung

i want my [UNICODE] TV 2

You know, I never did finish my comprehensive reviews on Asian music videos, did I?

HOW TO TELL IF A MUSIC VIDEO IS FROM…

HONG KONG: Admittedly, it’s been a very long time since I’ve seen a music video from Hong Kong, and let’s be honest - if you’re having a hard enough time distinguishing a Korean person from a Japanese person to a Chinese person, god help you if you’re trying to figure out the difference between someone from Hong Kong, Taiwan or the Peoples Republic of China. In a nutshell: Hong Kong pop stars are just like Taiwanese popstars, but they have alternate English names. Thank god for 100 years of Imperial British Rule!

Thankfully, my co-worker June came back from a recent trip from Hong Kong, where she promptly hung in my cubicle a GIANT poster of mega-girl group, Cookies. You can tell they’re from Hong Kong because of their names: Theresa, Miki, Stephy, Kary, Serena, Gloria, Helena, Angela, Kary and Elaine, obviously the black sheep of the girl group because her name doesn’t end in a hard vowel.

Having a giant poster of 9 teenage girls in skimpy tank tops has made for an interesting experience, especially because my cubicle faces a MAJOR conference room as discussed previously. There’s something to be said about multi-millionaire executives, making gadzillion dollar business deals and then walking out of the room and seeing the musical geniuses behind “COVET YOUR CUTENESS” staring back at them.

It also makes for some interesting stories.

Co-worker: Hey Ernie, are the updates ready on WHOOOOOAA!
Ernie: Heh, oh yeah. Just your typical Asian mega-girl group.
Co-worker: …
Ernie: Dude, they’re like, eleven.
Co-worker: … they’re kinda cute. Well, most of them; Helena has a weird face. If I had to rank them, I would put Miki before…
Ernie: Don’t you have a question?
Co-worker: …
Ernie: A technical question?

It what is a sad footnote, five members of Cookies were dropped and the band has been renamed Mini-Cookies. When I relay this bit of news to someone who comments on the poster, they usually ask how; this is where, in the most deadpan manner ever, I explain that they were flown to an island, given weapons, and told to kill each other off in a three day period.

Not surprisingly, most people don’t get the joke.

number one!!!!

I get all your jokes Ernie, you are one Fun-E guy, tell Yahoo’s HR, to look at my resume already…

seriously, I can’t believe they renamed themselves mini-cookies… it’s like Michael Jackson coming out as Jackson One.

Are mini-cookies sort of like Cookie Crisp cereal?

Not only did I get the reference (yes, I am down the with Asian peeps), but did you know O Ernie of Yahoo, that there is a snack called “Mini Cookies”? I used to buy them to take them to school when I was about 7-10 years old. They were small (hence the mini) chocolate chip cookies (hence the cookies) and were only second to Mini Cheddars (small cheesy cracker biscuits) in terms of playground popularity.

Awww, but that movie was entertaining! Whoever doesn’t get it should be sent to that island…LOL

Bravo on the blog, t’is fabulous!!

DAMN IT. I get it. The US needs a real release of Battle Royal.

Fight with great gusto!

Hang on. You work for one of the coolest web companies on the planet, and they’ve never heard of Battle Royale? oh sheesh!

perhaps you should say that the remaining girls in the group suddenly decided to simultaneously jump in front of a bullet train in Tokyo, which immediately started a trend among urban Japanese youth…

…after leaving Hong Kong first of course

Dude, consider yourself lucky. If I were to say the same joke here, they would answer something along the lines of “I didn’t know they were Colombian”, or perhaps offer money for missionaries for those savage lands. And they will be deadpan serious in this here the Bible Belt.
Cute. Aghh.

I’ve been to Hong Kong and the music there is smoking….I remember hearing my favorite pop stars in chinese…pretty cool.

i watched a lot of asian pop videos while in taipei last february. i couldn’t tell who was from where, unless they sang in their native language. i did get to go to a taiwanese pop concert with 4 big taiwanese pop stars, according to my cousin.

http://www.rmbrmb.com
http://www.rmbrmb.com/map.asp

Or, you might have said that the five who got laid off got their feet cut off by a crazy ballet dancer who keeps a guy tied up in a sack at home.

I suggest every comparison to be made should be to a Japanese movie from now on. Dammit. Itai!

Did they actually let Battle Royale be screened in the States???!!! They are so hard on some censorship, like Almodovar, I just couldn’t imagine it on…

Ooooooooooohhh, I forgot about DVDs and shit like that. Sorry. I loved it and tried to get my friends in Barcelona go and see it but they were shaking their heads at me, going ‘…what? japanese, original version film of teenagers killing each other and… hey, weren’t you supposed to be a left-wing-hippy-flower-power sort of person!!!???’

yes, BR has been on the college circuit recently . . . mmm, absolute bliss.

i got the joke immediately.

i read that book from cover to cover.