Agatha All Along: Con All Along

Episode 7 from last week was so impactful that the two remaining episodes released concurrently today on Halloween struggled to match. They were still good and answered a few remaining questions, regardless.

Episode 8 brings us full circle minus the witches that died on the way. Death isn't playing around. Dead is dead. But she is a professional doing her job, so there are no theatrics with her... well... Firm, but patient she allows Alice to rue how short-lived her curse-liberated life has been before asking, "Are you ready?". Rio/Death has also one of the most meta moments early in the episode when she uses her knife to slash the scene like it was a stage backdrop -- which it is -- and disappears into the rift.

As in the Wizard of Oz, Billy's shoes get them home, or at least to the site of the last trial. Agatha recognizes it as her basement, though it seems she is joking at the time. The final trial, though supposed to be for the green witch, is for everybody to pass individually. Jenn, High Priestess "unable or unwilling to use her power", pieces together who had put the binding spell on her (it was Agatha All Along) and frees herself. Having made a deal with Rio, Agatha helps Billy Maximoff get what he's missing even though it is specifically what Rio does not want for Billy to have. Agatha's busy betraying everyone left and right at this point. She passes her trial on a technicality, but what she is missing she does not get back.

The 3 surviving coven members finally return home. Back in William Kaplan's room, Billy realizes how alike he and Wanda are. The Witches' road and Coven Harkness' journey on it was entirely made up based on the items and knick knacks that decorate William Kaplan's room. Billy Maximoff has created a Wandavision-like hex bubble in Agatha's (or rather Ralph Boehner's) basement  through which the coven traveled. If not for Billy's imagination, the Road doesn't exist at all -- and Agatha has known it all along!

Which brings us to the finale. I was wrong about Agatha being secretly good. She's a very horrid person, perhaps due to her mother and original coven being dead set on killing her way back in the 18th century. Ever since then, she's lived with a persecution complex, surviving on preemptive strikes on any coven she discovers. Rio asks Agatha why she lets people believe she sacrificed her son for the Darkhold, to which she replies that the truth is much worse.

While it is not clear how Agatha and Rio became so close, Rio allowed Agatha's son, Nicholas, 6+ years of life although he was supposed to die at childbirth. The Ballad of the Witches' Road was cobbled together by Nicholas and Agatha while they celebrated their bond and their journey together 'down the wind-y road' which was Nicholas' original lyric. The Ballad spread as Nicholas performed it in public places to make money. After Death finally came for Nicholas, Agatha took the opportunity to use the song that once was about the love between mother and child, turning it into a con in which she traded the lives of entire covens for their power. This story doesn't explain the Darkhold, but it does show that Agatha betrayed the innocence, purity and beauty of her son's memory just to feed her addiction to power. The one good thing that came of her life corrupted into a scam.

In my analysis of this entire series, I never asked one very crucial question. If this story mirrored The Wizard of Oz so closely, who is the Wizard of Oz? The con artist. The trickster. The one with no power, but made use of the power of others to get his way. It is Agatha All Along.

Music box

A little souvenir from our staff bonding exercise today. We crafted our own music box diorama from a selection of figurines brought over by the vendor, Okdodoo, a local startup. My first attempt is messy with the use of too much glue. The residue is obvious in the shiny flecks on the display surface. I had my eye on a larger, more realistic looking tree, but was seconds too slow to grab it off the parts table. Hence this more stylized tree which I'll take as a metaphor for why we can't have nice things. Regardless, I'm pleased with the overall composition which avoids excessive symmetry, and things arranged along a straight line. The music is, of course, a couple of bars from the "My Neighbor Totoro" theme. The tone is pleasant, soothing even, and worth the wind-up, at least while the novelty still lasts.

A shout-out to the two partners of Okdodoo who are 'live' demonstrations of taking the path less traveled by foregoing their corporate careers to pursue a creative passion. Each item is hand-crafted by the two of them. They didn't detail their process, but it's clear they're fully committed to their craft and motivated by a love for what they do. Given today's activity theme of the future of work, these two gentlemen clearly embody some of the many traits that we would like to see in our kids as we prepare them for their futures.

Agatha All Along Ep 7: it's about time

As the season is winding down, the revelations are coming thick and fast. The trial is for Lilia, the coven's seer. My guess about the road under the Witches' Road proved correct. Lilia and Jen, having been hurled into the bog, get sucked under and deposited in an underground passage. The route to this trial, though, takes place within the fractured and improperly sequenced timeline of Lilia's centuries' old existence.

The creativity of this episode in telling the story through a disordered jumble of scenes -- that gives the audience a taste of the disorientating kind of life Lilia has lived -- and still making them all make sense to the overall narrative so far is amazing. When all the pieces fall into place for both Lilia and us, her sporadic and incongruous outbursts throughout the season turn out to be spot-on premonitions and warnings acquired from the future, but are too fragmented and devoid of context to be useful. This is exactly Lilia's gift and curse, and the reason she has chosen to neglect her power. Just because she can see the future does not give her any ability to alter it, so what's the point when all she sees is Death?

Lilia's trial helps her understand her true purpose, finally giving the lion the courage to face her visions and see them through to the end. When seen in their totality, her visions are not really as bad as when she just catches glimpses of incomprehensible bits and pieces which are scary because without proper context they seem so random, hopeless, and futile. This key realization gives her the means to literally turn the tables on the Salem's Seven with some apparent finality, and not a moment too soon. For Lilia, herself, it's bittersweet that the end of her trial gives her a new beginning too.

Also, it seems to me that each episode, like in Wandavision, moves our characters through time. In AAA, the movement is backwards through history. Episode 7 puts us in a medieval setting, but the costumes are based on contemporary Hollywood depictions of fairy tale witches. Agatha is the classical Wicked Witch of the West, which is the persona she projects in front of people. Billy is Disney's Maleficent (I admit I don't yet see the symbolism, though he does brag about having the cheekbones for it, referencing Angelina Jolie who played the role). Jen is dressed as the Disney version of Snow White's evil stepmom in disguise as the hooded fruit vendor bearing a poisoned apple as a reference to Jen being a shyster hawking toxic products prior to the Road. Lilia is dressed as the classical Glinda, the Good Witch of the North, who although takes offence at the cultural stereotyping heroically plays out the role for real by the end of the episode. While Agatha already knows who Rio is, Rio's true identity is revealed in this episode too, although among the rest of the coven only Lilia gets to see it.

What's the scene, drama queen?

Continuing with the witchy vibe from the last few posts, we get a storm in a stirring ladle from 'Wicked' star, Cynthia Erivo, who is upset over a fan edit of the movie's promotional poster. In homage to the 'live' Broadway poster of the musical, the fan casts the shadow of the hat's brim over Erivo's eyes to create a more photorealistic version of the same.

Erivo takes exception to her soulful eyes being "erase[d]", and by extension, the erasure of her entire being. Seriously? It's a movie poster, not a personal boudior portrait. The character being portrayed in the poster is Elpheba, supported by her best friend, Glinda (played by Ariana Grande). The Broadway poster sets an important scene focusing on the relationship between the two characters. There is the sense of closeness, of course, but also confidentiality, conspiracy, and with just a hint of a smile (and with obscured eyes), a sinister plot being hatched. Less is more.

What exactly is happening in the OG movie poster? With Erivo's face in full view, choosing "to look down the barrel of the camera to you, the viewer..." those eyes, beautiful as they are, "communicate" nothing of the relationship, or the scene the two characters are in. In fact, it looks like Elpheba is not even paying attention to what Glinda is whispering in confidence to her, and by looking straight at the audience, it's like Elpheba can't wait to spill the tea for us. Besides, Elpheba is not a fourth-wall breaking character like Deadpool or She-Hulk are (unless she is in the movie?), so if Erivo is promoting anything in the movie poster, it's not the movie, but herself -- especially since she is so perturbed by a fan edit that she takes so personally.

When you're in a movie poster, you are not you. It's distastefully unprofessional for a performer to put themselves above the production they're in. Get over yourself.

Agatha All Along Ep 6: Heeere's Billy!

I love that Episode 6 is a complete break from the pattern that began on the Road, and was starting to get repetitive. It's clear that Teen is Billy, Wanda's kid. And now we get some answers about how that came to be. The clues were there all along.

Half the episode is spent on connecting the dots of Teen's backstory which in itself is a lot of fun as we see fragments of the puzzle fall into place, explaining how a life conceived in a delusional woman's fever dream could possibly manifest itself in corporeal form, along with his true motivation for walking the Road. The other half is a complete re-shoot of Episode 1, but from Teen's perspective rather than Agatha's. It's hilarious as we get to see how her neighbours would have interacted with someone whom they would have rightfully considered delusional for the past three years. It's nice that they treated her kindly all that time while she behaved like a complete lunatic in their midst.

Although it's Agatha's show, this episode is almost entirely Billy's vehicle. Agatha survives her attempted drowning in the bog -- which seems to be her forte -- so she gets to be the sole audience to hear Billy's sigil-uncensored self-reveal. I'm not clear how she knows, but with Billy seemingly having killed off Jen and Lilia in the previous episode, Agatha senses a kindred witch-killing spirit in him. As the two surviving members of the coven that started this journey proceed further down the Road looking for the next trial, their relationship dynamic is now more unwilling master-apprentice, less owner-goldie. In the meantime, Rio's whereabouts are unknown and no one's looking for her anyway.

How will Coven Harkness pass the next trial if it's meant for Lilia or Rio? Could a resurrection be in store for Lilia if it's hers? Will we return to formula and the Oz motifs in the next and subsequent episodes? Only a week to find out.

Wait. I just realized that Billy has replaced Agatha as Dorothy. Like Dorothy who recognizes that her travelling companions on the Yellow Brick Road are people she knows and met in real life, so too has Billy/William Kaplan encountered the members of Coven Harkness before their journey on the Witches' Road. The Oz theme is still driving the story, but it's taken an unexpected detour. Awesome!

Agatha All Along Ep 5: you can't go home again

Consider me thrown. This episode has upset many of my expectations. First, we're no longer on a merry jaunt through the creepy woods. This episode is really leaning a lot more into the 80's horror vibe. The reintroduction of the pursuers, the Salem's Seven, puts them directly in contact with Agatha's coven, who manages to get away this time. We also get a backstory about the Seven's origins, as told by Lilia and Rio. It's interesting that Agatha, herself, neither confirms nor denies the story. After all, she was there when it happened, and was also probably responsible for how it turned out -- but she says nothing other than "mercy is overrated". Hmm...

The trial begins with the coven dressed like teenagers having a sleepover Cabin in the Woods style. They are comfortably dressed for bed but are made to commune with the dead instead. Surprisingly, this trial is Agatha's. Instead of it being the climactic trial like I expected, Agatha's trial takes place at the mid-point of the season. Again, the parent-child relationship is at the heart of trauma. The ghost that manifests is Agatha's own mother with whom she has had a very different relationship from Lorna and Alice Wu's of the last episode. It seems that Agatha had no love from her mother since birth. Instead of protection, Agatha's mom wants to punish her daughter and tells the coven to continue on the Road without Agatha.

In the tussle over Agatha's fate, history repeats itself and once again, Agatha gains power at the expense of a coven member. I'm not sure if Agatha passed her trial, but she certainly got what she wanted out of it. Her response, though, doesn't look like she was happy with the price she paid. Agatha is a complicated woman. I speculate that Agatha would rather everyone believe the worst of her, than pointlessly defend herself for her mistakes.

While Teen usually takes Agatha's side in arguments, this act of betrayal disillusions him. When Agatha spitefully tells Teen how much he and his mother are alike, she has clearly accepted that he is not her son. Her trial confirms what Rio told her in the previous episode, so Agatha's hopes are finally dashed. Having eliminated one possibility, Agatha suspects another witch who could be Teen's mom, Could he really be Wanda's?

We don't find out immediately as Teen lashes out with a power we never knew he had: mind-controlling the remaining coven to toss Agatha into the bog that threatened to drown Sharon Davis in Episode 2. He also uses telekenisis to toss the coven (sans Rio -- where is she?) into the bog too. These are Wanda's powers, though not her colour. It's a jaw-dropping moment as Teen stands alone, magical sparks crackling from his fingers, and wearing what looks like Wanda's headpiece, with Billie Eilish's "You Should See Me in a Crown" playing in the background.

If Agatha is Dorothy's parallel, in a way, she did go home to her mom, but found no welcome there.

I wonder if next episode, the journey takes us literally "down the Road" -- as in down underground -- since that's the direction the coven has taken, thanks to Teen.

Agatha All Along Ep 4

I have to be honest and ask if this series needs to be 9 episodes long. While it kicked off with an intriguing premise, and gathered a quirky, dysfunctional coven of mediocre witch people, we seem to be repeating a formula for each character's trial. Episode 3 was a scavenger hunt of common household items. This episode involved nothing more than singing a song. While it was a competent performance with the occasional dramatic moment, that was it. Trial complete and let's move on.

In performing the song, Alice discovers that her mother composed it as an expression of love for her daughter. It also functioned as a spell of protection over Alice, saving her from the fire that killed her mother. So, the tin-man finds her heart when before she was empty of belief, and had numbed her emotions (except anger) having never got over the loss of Mommy. It's a redemption arc, neatly summed up in the title of this episode.

We also learn that each trial represents an element that will kill the aspirants on the Road should they fail. The previous episode threatened them with drowning, while this one would have offered them to the flames. So far, both causes of death are common means employed to execute witches.

Perhaps the depiction of Alice's trial had to be shortened for scenes of the coven members starting to respect each other and begin the process of bonding over past trauma. But I feel that Sharon "Mrs Hart" Davis deserved better than a simple burial, which while mostly respectful was unceremonious. To also have her immediately and dramatically replaced by Rio Vidal (which was not unexpected) did her dirty. I suspect we're not quite done with Sharon yet, though. She's had too much build up to not return in perhaps a different form later.

As for Agatha, Rio more or less confirms our suspicions of her intentions towards the members of her current coven. As for Agatha's seemingly maternal behaviour towards Teen, Rio seems sincere in informing Agatha that Teen isn't Agatha's. But Rio also looks to be carefully curating these information drops, so if she inadvertently lets a proverbial cat out of the bag, it was perhaps no accident.

Overall, I found this episode exposition heavy while going through the motions of yet another trial. A show loses its fun factor when it repeats formula and becomes predictable Here's hoping that Episode 5 will do something crazy, or at least different, to throw my expectations for a refreshing loop..

Agatha All Along Ep 3 -- character notes

'Agatha' episode 3 scatters a lot of little clues about the company on the Road. Other than introducing the first trial on the Road, the Wizard of Oz theme takes a backseat. Good choice, as now we can follow each character's backstory without needing to forcibly connect them with their Oz doubles (oh, really?).

Let's start with Agatha. She becomes very unlikable as her cowardice and selfishness amp up in this episode. She is either lying about having walked the Road before, and she's just winging it, or judging by her behaviour on this current journey, she might have survived the last one at the expense of her travelling companions back then. While she has no inclination to face the dangers of the trial, she unexpectedly becomes very protective of Teen when he offers himself as her replacement. Could there be some maternal instinct kicking in? Possibly. Jen recounts a rumour that Agatha had sacrificed her child for the Book of the Damned (the Darkhold?), and if that were true, she doesn't seem willing to repeat the experience. The glimpse she has into her past suggests how horrified she is about what she did, but it's too early to say. Terrible friend though she is, she is a terrific coach, giving Jen a heartfelt pep-talk that snaps her out of a panic attack, allowing her to complete her crucial task.

Teen, the Gen-Z representative comes in clutch navigating the trial which is set in a modern yuppie house. Making use of the kitchen sink as a makeshift cauldron, Jen the Potions witch needs to bring her brew to a boil fast. Teen immediately comes up with a 21st Century solution. In fact, early in the episode, Teen figures out that the trials are meant to be faced without witchy magic but with practical magic, emphasis on the "craft" in "witchcraft". This realization opens up for us a glimpse into the witchy codenames for what are otherwise ordinary household ingredients like "eye of newt" referring to mustard seed, and "gut of a eusocial insect", meaning honey. We also learn that none of Agatha's coven can hear Teen's backstory either. It's been censored by a sigil that keeps his secrets secret from the witching community.

It is Jen's expertise that is under trial in this episode. It is up to her to remember the ingredients of the potion needed to save the lives of their coven. A vision of her past shows how terrified she is of a mysterious Victorian-looking man who calls her "an inconvenient woman", appears to have abused her and possibly stolen her power. When Jen freaks out, being unable to remember the last ingredient of the potion, Agatha reminds her that knowledge IS power. Jen the fraud, the scarecrow, finds her brains and completes the potion, ending the first trial. Jen is the first to name-drop, Mephisto, who is widely speculated to make his MCU debut in this series, but it could be just as well be a fan service red herring.

We get only a fragment of Lilia's past in her vision. Giving off a Renaissance horror vibe, her vision hints that her trauma has to do with survivor's guilt. "They're all dead", Lilia says in Italian when she returns to reality. If Lilia is the Lion, she may have stayed quiet and hidden while she watched some horrific event happen to the people around her. As such, her trial may have to do with confronting her act of cowardice. We'll see in subsequent episodes.

Similarly with Alice, her vision is fragmentary. It speaks of a generational curse, and hints at Alice's abandonment issues. She tells Teen that her mother "wasn't well", and in her vision, her mother drinks out of a suspicious-looking vial immediately after declaring that she was "next". Perhaps the heart Alice the Tin-man is looking for has to do with forgiveness for her mother.

'Mrs Hart'. The whole of this episode, she has been responding as a normal, non-magical person would, having been dragged unwittingly on a magical journey. She constantly reminds us that she is "Sha-ron" which is the identity badge she carries around with her throughout the episode. She is endearingly hilarious with her lines and behaviour. Her character is built up a lot, so what happens to her at the end is unexpectedly heart-wrenching. With Agatha simply responding "Who's Sharon?" to close the episode, I suspect that the human "Sharon" identity will take on a new magical form, which would be crucial at the trial of the Green Witch. Or if Rio Vidal is actually meant for this task, it's important for Sharon to be separated from this group so that she can transform into the Good Witch whose role is yet to be filled.

No sign of Rio or the Salem's Seven, but I believe their absence gives us a chance to understand the underlying motivations of our main characters before pursuit begins again.

Anticipating along with Agatha

Marvel's latest Disney+ series, "Agatha All Along" began with a 2-episode drop. The first 2 episodes set up what looks like a "Wizard of Oz" journey, leaving lots of references and parallels in the plot and characters they introduce. What follows is a list of "Agatha" characters that parallel Baum's classic tale.

Wanda's body is discovered. Cause of death: being crushed by something large and heavy. The Wicked Witch of the East (WWE) is killed by Dorothy's house falling on her. Wanda's body is repeatedly shown to have no shoes. Dorothy subsequently takes possession of WWE's ruby slippers and wears them for the rest of the story. Agatha finds a locket which she wears presumably for the rest of the series. The power Dorothy is looking for is in the slippers she wears. Presumably, the power Agatha is looking for resides in the locket. The power in both objects are unlocked at the end of the journey. Perhaps then we will understand the significance of the lock of hair in the locket -- a secret possibly closely connected to the character played by Joe Locke(!).

Agatha parallels Dorothy. Unlike Dorothy who wakes from her dream at the end, Agatha wakes from her dream at the beginning. She finds herself in the town whose inhabitants were terrorized by Wanda, like the Munchkins were terrorized by WWE. The locket and the lock of hair inside it are likely to be connected to the empty child's room in Agatha's house. Joe Locke's Teen says that what is "missing" is at the end of their journey, so perhaps what Agatha is missing is a son. It'll be too convenient for Teen to be Agatha's son, though. I anticipate further complications.

Agatha introduces Teen as "Toto", the name of Dorothy's dog, who is a silent companion on the journey. While Teen proves very smoothly loquacious, a spell keeps him silent about his origins. Teen is the instigator of Agatha's journey, just as Toto, for whom Dorothy is searching, keeps her from reaching shelter in time, thus resulting in them both being sept away by the cyclone that starts their journey.

Lillia, the Divinations witch, parallels the Lion. Agatha calls her "Coward" which is the Lion's identifying trait.

Jen, Potions, likely parallels the Scarecrow. Agatha calls her "Fraud", which is what a scarecrow is. It's job is to scare crows by pretending to be human.

Alice (and here I admit I'm stretching the parallels) is the Tin-Man. Agatha calls her "Disappointment", but the parallel I'm seeing is that as an ex-cop and the Protection witch, she carries a badge of law-enforcement that was once made of tin in the USA's early days.

Rio Vidal is probably the Wicked Witch of the West (WWW) who is Dorothy's pursuer. There is bad blood between Rio and Agatha, a love-hate relationship. There is betrayal between them, and I wonder if Agatha's missing son might have something to do with that. Jen accuses Agatha of child sacrifice, so could something have happened to Agatha's son, Nicholas Scratch, that might have given the impression that she had sacrificed him in the past?

Salem's Seven: for the moment I see them as the flying monkeys WWW sends after Dorothy the same way that Rio had informed the vengeful group of Agatha's whereabouts.

The one wildcard is Sharon "Mrs Hart" Davis whom Agatha brings in as a misdirect. It is likely that Mrs Hart is an undiscovered witch. She is a substitute for a Green witch required to complete the party (so Agatha isn't lying when she invites Mrs Hart to a "party"). Mrs Hart describes herself as having a "green thumb", and her dress is full of botanical motifs, so she could very well be as magical as her counterparts, she just doesn't know it yet. She is the only one wearing white, though. By process of elimination, Mrs Hart could be the equivalent of the Good Witch of the North, Dorothy's adopted fairy godmother along her journey.

It'll be another few hours before I can watch Episode 3 at time of publication. I really want to see how this series will continue and twist our expectations now that the players are set and the journey has begun.

Reviewing the much maligned Star Wars Outlaws

Played the Prologue chapter of Star Wars Outlaws which came free with the new PC. This Ubisoft game is currently receiving much flak. So few people have bought it despite it being a Star Wars property that it's being blamed for the company's stock nosediving significantly since its launch.

Apart from complaints about poor gameplay, dumb enemy AI, and other glitches, the central issue most critics take with it is the ugly female avatar you play as. Normally, players would have little problem playing as a female character, as long as there's an option to play a male character as well (like Shepard in Mass Effect), but nobody wants to play an ugly female character. To be fair, I think Kay Vess, while no supermodel, is still kinda' like a normal, somewhat athletic everyday woman. For a game that involves a lot of sneaking around, it makes sense that she isn't an attention-grabbing glamourpuss, anyway.

As for the game itself, right off the bat there's a lot to learn about the mechanics of character movement, the use of your companion, um, animal, the puzzle minigames (which can thankfully be switched off), and character and equipment progression. I'm not used to sneaking-around games, and having to keep track of which buttons do what messes up my pathetic attempts to scuttle undetected from cover to cover, so I end up running and gunning instead. The game does allow for that option too, but it's punishing in the early stages given the rudimentary state of our weapons and gear. Like I wish I had found out sooner to just get into the unattended spaceship, instead of dying so often, fighting off wave after wave of armed guards. You don't level up from killing people, so there's no point being a hero, anyway.

Is it a bad game? It's frustrating, at times, but I'm having a masochistic kind of fun learning from my mistakes, and redoing scenarios repeatedly until I don't die and can move forward to the next thing. There are layers of complex systems to master (skill specializations, and faction reputation management, for example), and I've barely scratched the surface. After leaving the home planet, I'm carrying around some backstory, a load of guilt, a substantial bounty on my head, not enough pocket change, and perhaps a score to settle with the Rebel Alliance for recruiting me under false pretenses. The whole setup is intriguing enough to see where it's all going to lead, plus the promise of open-world exploration once the main campaign is complete.

I don't believe Star Wars Outlaws deserves the cold shoulder. People should give it a chance for what it is, rather than allow prejudice to excoriate it for what it's not, and not meant to be. To play it as a fresh new experience, and not play it to find fault with it and use that criticism to discourage others from playing the game for themselves. As it is, I hesitated purchasing the game because of the criticism it got even pre-launch, and I'm only playing it now because I got it for free. I think I'm having a good time with it.

Lingering for lox

Went for my semi-annual teeth cleaning. They do a very thorough job, getting right into the crevices to eradicate food debris and stuff. So with a little guilt (and no prior breakfast) I sought out the nearest available nosh and the M&S cafe was it. Time to put back what the dental hygienist had taken out.

I immediately gravitated to the salmon and cream cheese bagel without thinking about it. My mouth already tasted bloody from the oral scouring not 10-minutes earlier, and I worried that the bagel might be so well toasted that every bite would erupt into shrapnel, as I've experienced in other places before.

Thankfully, the bagel here was soft and fluffy, with a light, super-fragile crust for the tiniest crunch. The salmon (lox) came in a generous portion, complementing the cream cheese -- an unusual combination, but somehow it works. The sandwich (?) included lettuce, dill and a pickle slice, subtly sweet-sour, adding a fresh flavour to every mouthful.

The cappuccino was milky and smooth going down. Good for sipping while people-watching, but because parking was expensive in the area, I couldn't hang around as long as I would've liked.

2 PCs, 1 monitor

Here's the solution to my 2 PCs, 1 monitor problem. An HDMI switch (not a splitter which would solve the opposite problem). The 2 outputs go into the main unit, while the attached 1m cable couples with the lone functional HDMI input slot in the monitor. Now I can have both PCs on and toggle between the 2 displays using the circular button on the main unit, instead of having to alternately plug separate cables in and out of the slot causing unnecessary wear and tear on everything. This switch is from Baseus and was the only model I found on the shelves at my local Challenger. So total budget overrun is now $23 for the extra HDMI cable, and $24 for the switch.

The new desktop powerhouse

A mostly easy and painless setup of the new Aftershock Ryzen 5 7600 + GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER rig. Essentially just plug and play. The problem I had was with my existing monitor which apparently has only 1 functional HDMI port. Maybe the other port needs cleaning, but my idea of sharing 1 monitor between 2 rigs isn't quite as seamless as I hoped.

Honestly, it's not the pretty lights and colours that attracted me, but the value I could get from each dollar spent. I do like the simplicity and neatness visible within the box through the plexiglass panels. Reminds me of a fishtank housing a family of tetras.

The corner of the monitor gives away the first game I'm playing on the new setup. Finally, Diablo 4 is running as quickly and smoothly as it should. It's currently Season 5, and I've been very lucky with the mythical drops of exactly the equipment I need from early in the playthrough. I picked up a Starless from normal Duriel, and an Andy's from normal Andy when the odds of any of them dropping from normal bosses are unrealistically high. Seasonal rewards give plenty of summoning materials to try for another mythical drop from Tormented Bosses, and I got a Tyrael's from Tormented Beast in Ice. Finishing the seasonal campaign with 3 separate characters provided enough crafting materials to manufacture my own mythic Shako. Now all I need to do is figure out which of the 3 characters is my favourite to bear this entire collection of treasures and blast the remainder of the season away to my heart's content.

Unboxing in the morning

My poor old PC has been struggling to deliver performance on the stuff I'm currently playing, and there's no way it'll cope with the new stuff coming up. He'll serve as my browsing and work desktop, but it's finally time to upgrade.

After holding off a little over 7 years, I finally decide it's time to get a new PC. I pretty much fell for the aggressive marketing that Aftershock PC puts out on social media. The timing was perfect, stars aligning along the return on an investment I made, and COMEX 2024 -- the time of year everyone who's selling IT stuff slashes prices like it's Black Friday. I shelled out for an AMD 5700 rig, with RTX 4070 graphics, upgraded to 32 Gb RAM, and 64-bit Windows 11. 

Aftershock wasn't kidding about next office day delivery. It's here, in a box, in my study, waiting to be installed. Thing is, although it arrived at about 8pm today (within 24 hours!), I wasn't ready for it to be delivered so soon. It stays in the box for tonight while I mentally prepare to roll up my sleeves for the grand installation come morning..

Headbanging (the night of gojuukyuu)

Earlier this year, I was faithfully checking the Babymetal tour schedule to see if the ladies were coming my way. The moment I took a break, I found out their concert at Capitol Theatre had already been sold out 2 weeks ago! The date was so perfect for me: 20 August, the night of gojuukyuu! I had no doubt I would be there regardless. It was written.

And here I am. I've been on my feet for a few hours, waiting in the queue with everybody else, waiting for the show to start, enjoying the rockout session with local metalcore band, Reserate, who had the honour of opening for Babymetal. For my ticket, I put my faith in Viagogo, a second-hand ticket online vendor that constantly indicated 'sold out' until just last weekend when a single ticket appeared -- at double the list price. It was clearly selling for a profit on top of the $50 vendor service charge. I grabbed it with no hesitation. They offer a refund if somehow the ticket doesn't work, so I was pretty sure my purchase would be legit.

This non-priority ticket put me in the midst of the standing only stalls -- the best place to enjoy Babymetal's high-energy performance, though the view, as you see, was blocked by arms raised to waggle kitsune handsigns, or cellphones for a video or still grab. Other than occasional glimpses of the performers emerging between heads and raised arms, and the distance from the stage, it was difficult to see any coherent form of performance. It didn't matter. I had a ticket, I was there, I know how the choreography works from repeatedly watching music videos and official 'live' footage. It was such chaos and noise and wonderment just jumping along with the ladies, yelling myself hoarse, badly singing along to the parts of crowd participation baked into every single song.

Here's an example of glimpses of the performance from where I was standing. This is a familiar pose from the iconic Megitsune.

And here's SU telling us to turn on our lights at the break in Monochrome.

The setlist was a compilation of Babymetal's most energetic songs, with loads of crowd participation throughout. I've reviewed them all before, including their latest offerings, both Metali and Ratatata. It was precisely these two songs that I was so looking forward to. They're such a vibe, and to wasshoi with them, and blow the roof off yelling 'Ratatata' (and 'fu fu') at the top of our lungs was so much fun, it had to be done 'live'.

The cherry on top was the first encore song, 'Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!' which is kind of like Babymetal's version of 'Happy Birthday'. I couldn't believe it when I heard the opening bars of a disturbing 'Ave Maria' as it was the perfect capstone to the night of my 59th. Ok, settle down, boomer.

As usual, what follows is the complete setlist. This one raised my BPM to 118. I know cos I checked my smartwatch. The whole thing was only about an hour long, but that hour was one of the best I'll be spending this week. Worth it!

Babymetal World Tour 2024, Singapore, Capitol Theatre, 20 August Setlist:

(Opening band: Reserate)

Death

Distortion

Pa Pa Ya

Megitsune

BxMxC

Metali

Monochrome

Ratatata

Gimme Chocolate

Encore:

Headbangeeeeerrrrr!!!!!

Road of Resistance

Deadpool & Wolverine review: more super than human

[Minor spoiler warning]

The long-awaited, much-promised Deadpool & Wolverine is finally here! I loved the first two of Deadpool's movie outings because of the very personal emotional stakes driving them. But with D&W, the scope went so broad, trying to cover so much ground that the overall flavour fell flat for me.

There's a lot to like about the elaborate set-pieces, spectacular fight choreography, and the always on-point sound and music design. There's plenty of fourth wall breaking, some quips eliciting 'ooh's from the audience for the burns delivered to all and sundry. Fight scenes were impactful, with I'll-burn-in-hell-for-laughing use of improvised weaponry, and every punch, stab and slash so viscerally sold, it's breathtaking. And when you have two main characters whose main super thing is healing fast, the action is non-stop, save for brief periods of exposition, and sometimes for interactions with an impressive list of cameos returning to the MCU stable.

What seems off about this latest Deadpool movie is that seeks to accomplish too much. It gives loads of flash and bang, but less of the heart and pathos that previously kept us sympathetic and rooting for what would otherwise be the erratic, annoying psycho that he is. For one thing, the colour palette really pops in D&W, making a clear departure from the moody, muted, grainy look of the earlier Fox-produced iterations. In addition, the stakes in D&W are set so high that it's easy to lose focus on the really important issue that's driving the plotline. Deadpool was a 'love story', Deadpool 2 was a 'family movie'. The unlikely narrative threads eventually and deftly wove themselves into exactly what each story promised to be. But in D&W, the foundational element wasn't clear, or if it was there, I didn't notice it.

The human element also took a backseat in D&W. The Deadpool franchise had strong supporting human characters -- Vanessa, Blind Al, Dopinder, TJ Miller's character, and Peter, but while they featured in the 1st act (minus TJ Miller), their presence was mostly reduced to a photograph Deadpool would look at now and then to remind himself and us what was 'real'. Instead, D&W tended to focus more on the superpowered folk, which is it's own kind of fun, but it's disappointing when there's more super than human in this sort of narrative.

Of the three Deadpool movies so far, I'll say that the first two have tied for first place as my favourite, while D&W clocks in as a close second. It's fun, there's lots of verbal and visual humour in the ridiculous situations D&W get involved with, there's lots of exciting 'whoa'-inducing scenes, and it's still not a movie to bring small children to, which is a big plus. Still, I wish it had more of a point other than being a celebration of itself as the latest arrival in the MCU.

An epiphany about happiness

I've had an epiphany about happiness. Happiness is the uplifting of the spirit when we encounter something good that we didn't work for, or didn't deserve. Many of us spend most of our lives putting time and effort into our work, hoping that it will somehow translate to happiness -- like it's a payoff from an investment. But when we eventually get what we've worked for, it's in exchange for the time and energy we sacrificed for it. That's not happiness. That's just a fair transaction: what we expect to bring us joy is simply getting back what we had put in in the first place.

When I say 'didn't deserve' I don't mean that we had either stolen or committed a crime for it. Theft and committing crimes are themselves a kind of work too. The plotting, the scheming, the execution, but mostly the guilt and fear from taking a risk of being caught and punished (which last even after we're caught and punished) also take a significant toll on our time and energy. So while a successful crime may bring some satisfaction in a job well done, that still doesn't amount to happiness.

To find happiness, we should look beyond ourselves and the work that we task ourselves with. Happiness is in appreciating the colours of a stunning sunset, the joy of freedom in a soaring bird's call, the acceptance of friends and family who take us as we are, warts and quirks, and all. None of these come with any personal effort we've put in. They're not anything we deserve. They're out there for anyone to take in when we open our senses to what is already in the world, and from the gratitude for being able to perceive them.

Happiness isn't a reward. It's the understanding that we've been blessed enough to see, hear, touch, taste, and smell the blessings life offers us every day. Yes, we still have to work hard to pay our bills, yet happiness isn't for us to enjoy tomorrow when all our bills are paid. Happiness is available for us to enjoy now. All it takes is to look up, especially when all we want is to look down.

Atarashii Gakko World Tour 2024, Singapore

Spent a lovely evening with Atarashii Gakko! It's not surprising that the gateway drug that is BABYMETAL has had me open up to more Japanese music, and this dance idol quartet inevitably pinged my radar. They have an impressive catalogue of groovy tunes, that while not metal, genre-blend a very wide range of non-metal music. Their repertoire of songs is as energetic as it is catchy, and the ladies, themselves, make great entertainment both performing for and engaging the crowd.

Lead singer, Suzuka, who shares the same first name as SU-METAL, does everything with her stage presence and vocal tones to distinguish herself from her metal sister. Where SU-METAL (on-stage) is always dignified and regal, Suzuka is zany and erratic with her movements and vocalizations. Vocally, where SU-METAL goes high and is precisely controlled, Suzuka goes deep and shouty with occasional bursts of high-pitched screams. She may seem random, but Suzuka is well-practiced in her stage persona, so there is discernible method to her madness.

From the pix (above), Suzuka is at 12 o'clock. At 9 o'clock is Rin. Sporting shaved sides and back, she is the group's rapper and her solo dance movements tend to comprise electric tics, like a short-circuiting robot. Suzuka and Rin provide the vocal punch to their songs. At 6 o'clock, is Mizyu (twin pony tails), while Kanon (untied long, flowing hair) is at 3 o'clock. These two add the sweet harmonies, rounding out the total package that AG delivers.

The group seemed extra hyped in this evening's performance. Maybe it's because after tonight, they go on a 3-month vacation before commencing Part 2 of their world tour in September. Suzuka had to be supported by the security guys a couple of times as she tried to pitch herself into the audience. With enthusiastic high kicks, she also launched two shoes into the crowd and I don't know how or even if she got them back. Well, maybe it's something she is known to do, and she keeps a stock of spare shoes handy upstage and out of sight. And for a surprise, during the encore, they walked into the audience and cheered with us from the stands.

This is Suzuka just two or three rows in front of me, while Mizyu surprised me as she drifted past my right shoulder and I only caught a fleeting glimpse of her passing by. Too late for a photo.

Atarashii Gakko are an idol group, but they style themselves like very down to earth people. They remind me of friends and neighbours, colleagues, and familiar faces like maybe in the supermarket or hawker centre that we encounter daily. It's this kind of affinity and affability they project that makes up much of their charm.

To round up this entry, let me put up the set list for Atarashii Gakko World Tour 2024 Pt 1, Theatre at MediaCorp, Singapore, 29 June 2024:

1. Toryanse
2. Omakase
3. Giri Giri
4. Pineapple Kryptonite (they didn't actually sing this, but the remixed instrumental played in the background while they interacted with the audience. A pity 'cos I like this song -- the lyrics are quite sad)
5. Otonablue
6. Arigato
7. Hello (from the Tiger's Apprentice)
8. Forever Sisters
9. Candy
10. Fantastico
11. Woo! Go!
12. Suki Lie
13. Fly High
14. Tokyo Calling
15. Nainainai (for the 'live' show, Suzuka adds lines about not wanting to go home, while Rin insists that they have to)
16. Free Your Mind (encore)
17. Que Sera, Sera

Back to work and already deflated

When you hear a steady flapping noise over the Japanese metal you're playing in your car, you know you've got a puncture. I hoped to make it to Knight Auto Accessories, the tyre shop I'd patronized once before, but the flapping got so loud and frantic that I had to pull over to a side road and park as it would have been too dangerous to continue driving. Glad I stopped as the damage to the tyre was pretty extensive.

Here's the leak. Judging by the scuff marks, I'd probably hit a kerb at some point earlier. I have a dim memory of having done something like that quite a while back, but I didn't notice any damage when I checked at the time. Back then, I'd probably created a weak spot and eventually wear and tear broke it down further until it finally ruptured today. I'm fortunate that it wasn't a dramatic blowout on the highway with tyre shards spewing everywhere while sparks fly as rim grinds against asphalt.

Didn't realize it, but M2 doesn't come with a spare tyre. I have the tools for changing tyres neatly stowed in the spare well, but no spare. So I call AA for assistance. Within an hour, a tow truck arrives for a free tow -- a privilege for people with more than three years of membership.

I complete my journey to Knight Auto via tow truck. Unlike the last time, Knight Auto didn't try to sell me new rims along with new tyres, but I wouldn't have bought them anyway. I like my stock rims too much. I have two new rear tyres now. Toyo, I believe, is the tyre brand that Mazda usually use for their factory rollouts, so I guess I've come full circle, pun intended. LOL. Cost for a pair of new tyres: SGD$260.

iPie by Apple

Behold the most expensive McDonald's Apple Pie ever purchased via Grab Food app. It cost a grand total of SGD$16.10, including a $1 tip for the delivery person. What? It wasn't their fault, and they did make the trip down on time.

I ordered an Extra Value Meal and added the apple pie for dessert. The app processed the dessert order, but somehow the EVM order never made it. So: $1.90 (pie) + $10.10 (small order fee) + $3.10 (service fees) + $1 (tip) = $16.10.

Not complaining about McD's or Grab. I'm recording my own dumbness for not checking the order before confirming it. And hopefully, I won't do it again.

I hereby dub this dessert the McDonald's iPie by Apple just to make myself feel better about the needless expense.

Finally seeing the light of a 'Brand New Day'

It's been a long time coming but since the studio collaboration between BABYMETAL and Polyphia in 2019, the two bands have finally got to play 'live' at Fox_Fest this year -- and we get to audit the official footage.

'Brand New Day' is not one of their heavier songs, possibly putting focus on the strings played by guest guitarists, Tim Henson and Scott LePage from Polyphia, but also sets the tone for the content of the song that features a moment in time within a relationship that is very seldom addressed -- and more often overlooked -- in contemporary media. Of course, I'm only interpreting from the feels I get from the music and staging, and based on translated lyrics, so I could be way off base.

Anyway, here goes: Stage lighting alternates between a dark theme and an unusual pale gold one, and the sun motif keeps popping in and out on the cyclorama, or backdrop. We're in a pre-dawn state. It's difficult to fall asleep. A special someone is in our thoughts and we're thinking and perhaps half-dreaming of the good times we've had and hoping for more good times to come.

But we're in the earliest stages of our transitioning from friendship to maybe something more. Our emotions are a blend of anticipation for a blossoming new relationship, and anxiety that perhaps we may be reading more than what is actually there. So like the way the pale gold light never intensifies, our expectations are more logically rather than emotionally driven. The muted colours and the lighter beat echo this state of rationalizing this new life development in which we are not yet fully invested.

The stakes aren't very high. I'll go out with you if it's sunny, but I won't put myself out if it's rainy when I'd maybe prefer to curl up with a book. At this stage, if nothing develops, it's no big loss -- but I'm open to possibilities. There's not a lot of drama, conflict, or emotion here, so this stage tends to get glossed over in most other media portrayals of budding romances. But for me, I've been there, which is what makes this particular song feel extra special. It's the feeling of picking up a promising-looking present from under the Christmas tree, but not yet having read the tag to see who it's meant for. If your name's on it, great! But if not, you're happy to pass it on to whomever it's addressed to. There's nothing to be possessive about, and no regret letting go. I love that BABYMETAL has immortalized this often fleeting moment in this song.

'Brand New Day' is about uncertainty. We don't know what the new day will bring, but while we may anticipate and hope for good things, we won't create such high expectations that will disappoint us if things don't go our way. And there's still tomorrow to come. Just take things 'step-by-step' and see what happens. Even if I'm wrong about this song being about relationships, it's still a very healthy attitude towards life in general.

Godzilla Minus One: Monster and Metaphor

One one hand, Godzilla Minus One is a classic monster movie. On the other, the monster is a metaphor for one man's war trauma and his struggle for redemption.

The monster movie is a breathtaking visual experience. Godzilla is terrifyingly portrayed. There is the slow build with the appearance of schools of dead deep sea fish. Fins appear out of the water, like in Jaws, but they are multiple, ominously spiked, and enormous. Where the fin in Jaws announces a presence of dread and terror, Godzilla's fins herald a force of nature that paralyzes us in our helplessness. This is a creature of sheer destruction. While apparently mindless, it is certainly indiscriminate, flattening buildings, machines of war, and people in its wake.

Toho studio once shot actors in rubber suits campily stomping on miniature city skylines. This time, it's moved on to much more realistic levels. Whatever effects -- practical or CGI -- are being used, we are present at ground zero, every impact a gut punch. As scenery is literally blown away, so are we. Watching Ginza getting destroyed is like watching a tsunami made of earth and rubble instead of water, and the aftermath is devastating to behold. Even if we weren't already invested in the human characters in this movie, we still feel the tragedy of each life lost to every 'holy s...!' moment. This is one movie that deserves a cinematic rerun. I'd buy a ticket right now if it got one.

Godzilla, the metaphor, is equally impactful as an exploration into trauma and survivor's guilt. Our hero, Shikishima, should have already been dead even before the start of this movie. A kamikaze pilot who makes an emergency landing on a friendly airstrip without releasing his ordnance is by all accounts a deserter and a coward -- and he knows it. Given a second chance to makes amends, he freezes instead, and watches as everyone dies around him.

A two-time survivor, it's painfully ironic that he has lived although he has nothing to live for. Arriving home to war-devastated Tokyo, he finds he has outlived his parents who perished in the air raids. Between the war and Godzilla, Shikishima is rendered passive and helpless, but also alive bearing an overwhelming load of guilt because of it  And like his guilt, Godzilla grows every time he survives another certain death moment.

Meanwhile, he has picked up a sort of family: a girl and a baby, neither of which are biologically related. They move into his place uninvited, but he does nothing to evict them. His passivity is also a kindness, and slowly they become important in his life. He takes on a risky but well-paying job for their sake. However, because of his trauma and guilt, he stops short as a provider but they never become a full-fledged family.

During Godzilla's attack on Ginza, Shikishima again -- and not of his own accord -- survives but suffers another painful loss. With the threat of yet another attack on Tokyo, Shikishima finally understands what motivates a person to sacrifice themselves. He had no real connection to his country before, so he couldn't die for it when he was a kamikaze pilot. Yet connection to country still isn't enough motivation to fly a plane into the enemy. It's one's connection to time -- someone in the past to avenge, and someone's future for whom he would give his life to ensure. It is at this point that he takes control of his life and makes a plan to defeat the monster rampaging through both his city and his psyche. When you have something to live for, then you will be ready to die for it. There are no heroes in such a sacrifice, only redemption. Yet, he will be remembered as a hero whose sacrifice mattered, instead of being one of his fellow kamikaze who sacrificed themselves for something that ultimately didn't.

Ratatata: perfection in collaboration

After some processing time, I'm ready to dive deeper into the BM-EC collab, Ratatata music video.

As I mentioned before, there's no undertone of a message other than how it presents a different take on metal music that is goofy, fun and 'excellent for dancing'. Nothing new there, as both bands are well known for their unique twists on metal. The music and video are an example of a perfect collab precisely because of this versatility and nothing-is-sacred attitude towards the genre they've made themselves at home in.

Perhaps it's something I've been thinking about lately, but Ratatata perfectly blends both EC's chaotic masculine energy with BM's feminine vibrancy into a pairing that literally makes beautiful music together. EC's Nico and Kevin break through walls that enclose first the masculine world of corporate power (yes, there're women in there too, but they're dressed in male power suits) and shake it up. Meantime, BM are having a girly tea-party comprising colourful cocktails, and posing for their Instagram feeds. In the translated lyrics, SU sings about being a temptress, luring men into her trap -- which is essentially kitsune lore. The boys abruptly break in uninvited, springing her trap unexpectedly. Still, with Vault 33 Lucy's 'okie dokie' spirit, the girls welcome the intrusion with a cheeky 'check out these dumb boys' look. But then the boys suddenly exit through the wall Stage Left mid-chorus, leaving the girls dumbfounded. Staring at the hole in the wall, their mouths agape, the girls can't believe the boys have escaped just like that. Closest to the camera, MOA is a total cartoon, all slack-jawed and blinking uncomprehendingly at the carnage. One by one, they peek through the hole... cue transition.

Like in Metali, there's a little interlude. Here the opposing sides are literally reflected in the mirror ball, with a bit of a role reversal. SU and Nico are on opposite sides of the giant ball, representing geographic east and west; Venus and Mars energies. Except SU is on the left, where west is supposed to be, and Nico on the right, technically east. The heavy instruments cut out and Nico's tone drops to a wistful longing for the friends he needs. He reaches up to the ball (the world?) with one hand, but hesitates before withdrawing his closed fist. When the instruments come in again, it's SU turning up the warmth in her voice and with open arms, she embraces his gesture like the big sister she is. SU exactly echoes Nico's lyrics but exudes confidence, committing to her offer of friendship. It's suggesting that despite all their bravado, men have a vulnerable and shy side too, and women can and do take the lead when they want to. BM unexpectedly takes the final 'Ratatata' putting their own feminine spin on their delivery, dropping a 'tata' (excuse me?) while they're at it.

Following Metali's narrative structure, the EC boys crashing through walls suggests that the music cannot be confined in any box. It's neither male nor female, one genre or another. Together, BM and EC appear on a stage large enough to accommodate EC's entire band, sparks shooting off an overhead flybar. Music has to be brought out to the world for everyone to enjoy -- clearly with the insistent repetition of the word "everybody" It's an invitation for everybody to go nuts, if they haven't already lost their minds since the song started.

When masculine and feminine energies flow with each other fluidly instead of clashing in conflict, we achieve the perfect yin yang state. 'Ratatata' is the sound of war, but in this track it's the sound of joy and harmony, with a touch of crazy. Perfection.

Ratatata hits the target Pt 2: the music video

Considering that both BABYMETAL and Electric Callboy (EC) are known for genre-blending, the MV for Ratatata portrays exactly that quite literally. Protective disco-ball / crash helmets on, EC's vocalists burst through walls like silvery Kool-Aid men, first shaking up industry suits having a meeting, then surprising SU, MOA, and MOMO who are off duty and out of character, just chillin' with drinks and being silly. While I was expecting full on choreography, this MV incorporates some theatrical acting which doesn't feature in BABYMETAL videos much. It's nice to see that little throwback to Sakura Gakuin days when there was a stronger narrative to their MVs.

I don't detect a lot beneath the surface of either the song or the video. They're both just outrageously fun, infusing a massive wave of energy that makes the listener throw up their arms like they don't care as they move, shake, jump, and stomp to the beat. I can imagine how deafening a 'live' concert featuring this song will be when the crowd chants along to 'ratatata!!!' at the top of their lungs. It's so infectious that you can't help yourself.

It's weird how every new song that BABYMETAL releases is an instant new favourite. I'll be listening to this one a lot, especially on my morning commute. When you can't get caffeine that early, the adrenaline jumpstart will be most welcome.

Ratatata hits right on target

BABYMETAL is not stopping anytime soon. A fresh drop today -- just the audio track for now -- but it's another terrific party anthem. Ratatata in collab with Electric Callboy (heard of them, never heard them... yet) turns the energy up to 10 from the get go, and never lets up. It has a very '80s disco mashed in with a '90s EDM vibe that picks a body up and makes it dance like nobody's watching -- and I hope to heck that no one was watching.

The English lyrics are simple enough -- end of the day, we're hyped to go to the club, meet our friends and dance our brains out until tomorrow. I'll check out the inevitable lyric video later to see what the Japanese lyrics say, but it'll probably be not much different. I think I heard a lyric that goes something like 'my body is a weapon', hence the onomatopoeic 'Ratatata' of a machine gun, like the sound effect YUI and MOA make in Gimme Choco, but the pace is slightly more spaced out than a chaingun would sound like, so I'm guessing it's more the sound of aggressive metal drums instead. Makes sense if we're imitating a wild dance rhythm.

Not sure what the metalheads will say, but despite the heaviness of the beat, it's more a dance rave than strictly metal. Radio-friendly. Regardless, it's so much fun to bop to, and as always, so positive in the anticipation of good times to come, no matter what we might have experienced earlier in the day.

As much as I like how BABYMETAL has matured in their vocal quality and choreopgraphy since The Other One, with the inclusion of MOMOMETAL, I'm equally glad that they have kept their fun, playful side and are continuing to crank out tunes that get the crowd crazy pumped with absolute bangers like Metali from last year (has it been that long already?), and this one.

If the official MV drops as soon as it did with Metali, that would be fantastic. I'm looking forward to check out the choreo as both bands are reputedly well matched in their emphasis on singing and dancing. Hopefully it'll be worthy of a more detailed second review.

Chop-chop and go

People like me are caught in the transition to the new In-vehicle Units (IU) from the old one that only accepts chipped stored-value cashcards. I'm not scheduled for a fitting of the new IU, but my chipped cashcard has expired, and I can't get it replaced as the most common stores, like gas stations, convenience stores, and supermarkets, only sell the new chipless type. Until I can acquire an unexpired chipped cashcard, I won't be able to drive through ERP gantries to get into town, and I won't even be able to park or leave public parking lots as tolls and parking charges get automatically deducted form the card. I will only be able to drive between work and home where I have season parking.

There is only one place to get an unexpired chipped cashcard, and that is the NETS Customer Service Centre which is fortunately near my workplace. Call it a lunchtime errand.

I must commend the lady at the counter dealing with the customer before me. He was relatively elderly, trying to grapple with these transport policy changes which are happening too quickly and suddenly for his liking. He kept asking questions, frequently repeating questions he had asked before, while the lady responded to every question with the patience of Job. Although I had a job to get back to and was running out of patience myself, she remained the epitome of calm until he finally left, a satisfied customer.

When my turn came, lets just say that she respected a customer who knew what he wanted, while I respected her efficiency and her together-we'll-get-it-done spirit. A couple of minutes at the counter was all it took. All chop-chop and go.

A fresh chipped card cost $10 with $5 value pre-stored. It would have cost $25 for the same thing, and I would have had to wait a few days for delivery if I had purchased it online.

Miko, Metalverse princess in the spotlight

Metalverse, BABYMETAL's baby sister, dropped this new, official MV a couple of days ago. This song wasn't featured in their debut concert, but the footage is from a 'live' show I don't know when. It's nice to hear some new stuff regardless.

Metalverse songs that aren't covers of BABYMETAL's have so far played a baby sister role. They're lighter, poppier, and maybe more playfully feminine, despite the heavy backing instruments that keep 'metal' justified in the name.

This song, 'Naked Princess', puts the focus on lead singer, Miko. The other four making up her team (it'll take me more time to remember their names and tell them apart) don't look like they're wearing headsets, so maybe they have a backing vocal track instead? Miko displays her range in this one. She does vocal fry -- which SU-METAL does not -- breaks the melodic line with a rhythmic verse, and crescendos effortlessly on a high note. She is literally in the spotlight as a great talent around which the band is built.

While they aren't apparently singing, her teammates are still a lot of fun. Coordinated and energetic, they frame their lead well. In contrast to their older sister band whose dance moves are grounded, powerful and heroic, Metalverse dance tends to be airier, and more ladylike. A hand to the cheek with a cute face tilt, skipping while wearing a crown made with raised fingers, and that mid-song pause as courtiers presenting their princess, these are fun little girl games that set them apart from OG BABYMETAL.

There are no subtitles, so I can't comment on the lyrics, but from the title alone, I guess it's the story of the 'Emperor's New Clothes', perhaps a social commentary on the emptiness of modern materialism. I checked the translation and, yes, it's that plus the advice to be your unadorned, authentic naked self. Makes sense.

I remember speculating what Metalverse was before their debut, and I think my initial guess was correct. Metalverse is Sakura Gakuin gone metal. *pats self on back.

Leave It All Behind: A dark 'Shake It Off'

A surprise drop today. F. Hero's "Leave It All Behind" in collaboration with Babymetal and Bodyslam. I don't know Bodyslam at all, but they provide the heavy instrumentation and some vocal bits.

The title pretty much says everything. It's a song about moving on after a disaster. Indeed the MV is set in an apocalyptic wasteland, meteor shower inbound representing circumstances beyond one's control. It's a barren land strewn with rubble. Dark clouds overhang, all shadows and gloom. Babymetal dance on a thick disk resembling a concrete chopping block, but only they and the other performers are well-lit as beacons of hope in troubled times. It can't get any worse for the Titanic run aground behind F Hero, with not a drop of water anywhere to float your boat.

Musically, it's a fun song throwing Thai, Japanese and English lyrics into a blender, and as always Babymetal picks up the catchy chorus split between Su, Moa and Momo, our favourite cheerleaders offering bright happy vibes that ward off the darkness. F Hero provides the angst and frustration though his lines are those of a Drill Sergeant yelling at his recruits to get off their butts and get back into the fray. Bodyslam's lead vocalist brings the melancholy, balancing off Su and F Hero's extreme tonal qualities. 

But this song falls flat in how literal the lyrics are. It could be a language thing, though, as maybe the English subtitles don't translate well enough, while the lyrics may hit harder for people who actually understand Thai and Japanese better than me.

Overall, while this collab isn't the crazy fun that 'Kingslayer' was, it still attempts to be uplifting and motivational. But, I haven't yet picked up an earworm of a hook, so this drop goes into my 'have to get used to it to appreciate it' category.

Horiginal Beef Noodles

Serendipitous discovery of this amazingly generous serving of beef noodles in gravy. This is from the amusingly named 'Horiginal Beef Noodles' located in the Koufu food court of Vista Point, Woodlands. Not a place I generally frequent, but there I was.

For just $6 you get beef slices, tripe, tendon, a beef ball, a beef hand roll that had an underlying ngoh hiang flavour, and probably one other thing that has slipped my memory. A rich, hearty beef broth on the side, and you can help yourself to the honest to goodness genuine chinchalok dipping sauce (with bits of raw onion thrown in) which you can see in the saucer just peeking over the bowl on the left. There's a choice of noodle, but the best option is kway teow, a broad, flat rice noodle, which provides just the right texture that brings out the best mouthfeel for the beef.

Maybe I went at the right time because although the place was packed with lunchtime diners, the turnover was fairly rapid. I very quickly found a table for four all to myself for the duration of the meal. Luxurious.

If I ever go back there, I have my sights fixed on the ox-tail soup and rice combo. It's been so long since I've had any.