CANADA [not the country] is a production company based in Spain. I’ve been trying to come up with an adequate genre name for their music videos. So far it’s bizarre semi-erotic European hipster. What’s your take? Gotta love the director of photography Marc Gómez del Moral.

Here’s my own attempt at the bizarre hipster vintage vibe. My art direction, photography by Oscar Azahar:

Laura of Curious Doodles leaves tomorrow for Japan and we finally got crackin’ on our stop motion project. Here’s yet another (even more fun!) test we did today. The other parts will come with time

These are stills of Laura preparing the little bubble tea dude and the bobas:

Today, we did a bit of preproduction and lunch was amazing! Guacamole and Nachos and Hummus and Broccoli. We furthered our ideas about the stop motion video and realized we bit off more than we can chew, at least in the next few days. So, now that we’ve done a bit of motion testing and bought supplies to make cute titles we’ll try to churn something out piece by piece in the next few weeks. For now, check out our test and this fun, old school video of Hong Kong tourism.

On this second video, watch for the part where the Western woman hugs the Chinese man by accident.

30 seconds of Q’s 30th is a stop action style tram ride through Causeway Bay, Hong Kong featuring the infamous Queenie.
Photography and Music by yours truly.

Plus, two fun shots of the evening:

The Merriweather Deer had its last performance and CD release at a Flaming Lips show in Hong Kong late last year. Here’s their tune on a music video for Nikon titled “The Pair”
Gideon So plays keys for the Merriweather Deer as well as Noughts & Exes, who I periodically guest perform with on trumpet
Director: Jacky Tong jtgrafix.com
Art Director: Berry Pang bebloom.biz
Starring Ipyi

Fancl is a cosmetics company, infamous for their pursuit of perfection in skin whitening creams (read: bleach) and their stores and ads scare me as much as a horror film. Check out these two videos for an interesting perspective on a possible dystopic cosmetic future.

Fancl “Forever Young” ad (kinda sounds like being a zombie)

Umbrella Corporation Regenerate Cream (trailer for Resident Evil – eeek! Zombies!!!):

My neighbor Michael Leung is a product designer and urban beekeeper. He lives about a block away from me in Yau Ma Tei. This is a video profile about him and his organization HK Honey. I already knew he was awesome, now you can share in the awesomeness.

Today we say a final goodbye to Justin Yuen. He was my friend in Hong Kong and we played music together and talked design and innovating the Hong Kong arts scene before moving to the US after being diagnosed with cancer last year. He passed away just days ago. When we first hung out one on one – trumpet and violin, I gave him a very thorough music theory lesson and we talked about a Michel Legrand song which is the theme for the film Les Parapluies de Cherbourg also known as “The Umbrellas of Cherbourg.”

As Justin was getting steadily better at the end of January before his decline, he sent me a message that I am very thankful for: “Hi Michal – Just want to let you know that your music theory lessons are really beginning to sink in. I’ve started learning the guitar in the hospital (the music therapy people are teaching me, and were even kind enough to lend me a guitar) and am making sure to not just memorize chords, but understand their structure and why they sound the way they do. I am even more thankful now than ever for your kindness in teaching me, as the satisfaction I have gained from playing, listening to, and understanding music has healed me in ways that medicine cannot.”

In lieu of flowers at the memorial service today, donations in memory of Justin are being made to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, P.O. Box 27106, New York, NY, and will be designated for the Music Therapy Program in his name. Justin is not the only creative folk I know who has recently died of cancer. Maggie Chang, a really cool bass player, all around wonderful person and wife of a good friend of mine has also passed. They will be missed greatly by their familes, friends and the creative community of Hong Kong.

Considering Justin’s passing I felt the lyrics of Michel Legrand’s “Umbrella song” speak to me slightly differently than the first time around. Goodbye Justin. Goodbye Maggie:

Woman:
“I’ll never be able to live without you
Don’t go, I will die
I will hide you and I will have you
but, my love, do not leave me”

Man:
“You know it is not possible
My love
I have to go”

Here’s the spot being displayed and broadcast all over Hong Kong at the moment. It’s for the Rugby Sevens, which is coming at the end of the month. Agency: McCann Worldgroup, shot by RSA Asia.

This morning is preparing for the Noughts & Exes show here in Hong Kong on March 19th as well as being excited about the Industrial Light & Magic workshop I’m attending this afternoon as part of Semipermanent.

Pictured below, violinist at Hidden Agenda at a CD-release show with Noughts & Exes.