How’s that for a post title? Heh, I’m getting a bit punchy, I think. I’ve already done my drowned rat impression once today, coming home from work in monsoon-quality rains, and now I’m waiting for it to let up a bit so I can do my drowned rat out jogging impression.
First, sodagreen has been promoting the movie Juno in Taiwan (if you bought their live album, you might have seen the ticket voucher in it and thought to yourself, “aha!”). The band sang the Chinese theme song for the movie, Qingfeng’s oh-so-slightly controversial “Lover Pet (愛人動物),” and they attended a screening at which they sang part of that song and “Little Love Song.” At the event they took some questions, and one male fan in the audience asked sodagreen’s only female member Xinyi whether or not she thought he was handsome. Xinyi was embarrassed, but finally managed to tell the eager student that he was quite cute.
Betcha this chart position wasn’t purchased: as of Saturday, the G-music and Five Music charts were topped by Lu Guangzhong (Vitas Lu) with his new album. He’s on Avex, which according to Wikipedia is “one of largest independent labels in the world.” I suspect that Qingfeng and Cowboy Jay are right about the big labels and the charts, and that makes occasions like this when the dark horse comes out and grabs the prize all the more thrilling. Well, either that or Avex bought him that spot, in which case never mind.
Anyone hoping to be the future girlfriend of Jam Hsiao must like cats, because he will not give his up for any girl. On the bright side, he only lets the cat sleep with him on weekends, so the competition won’t be too bad. His album will be out June 16.
Tizzy Bac has released a “live and unplugged” album called 聊聊吧 (which I sort of want to translate as Talk Amongst Yourselves, though I’m not quite sure what they had in mind). Tizzy Bac and Won Fu will be playing together in Hong Kong this August, which means that between that show and the sodagreen concert there in June, Hong Kongers can look forward to a summer of indie fun.
Okay, this one is new, but still pretty random (in keeping with our theme). Ding Dang will be releasing her second album in August, and Ashin and Stone are hard at work writing and producing songs for her. She returned to Taiwan determined to lose weight, and when the guys found out about this, they presented her with a gift of a large basket of apples. She’s lost five kilograms (eleven pounds) already. Um. I can’t imagine that at any point in her life Ding Dang has needed to lose five kilograms, so I hope the diet is wrapping up now. As for Ashin and Stone… well, as long as they didn’t suggest she lose weight, I guess there’s not much to say. On the album, Ashin and Ding Dang will be singing a duet he wrote for her, she’ll also have Stone’s contribution, amusingly titled, “Stone (石頭).”
Oh for pete’s sake. I guess it was only a matter of time before this started, but Taiwanese singer Tsai Chin has made a statement praising the Hong Kong music industry for all they have been doing for the earthquake victims, and scolding the Taiwanese music industry for not doing more. Come now, can’t we all just get along? Nope, never could. Anyway, many are fighting back, pointing to large contributions from Taiwanese artists. The article has a handy little chart showing how A-mei, Cowboy Jay, Leehom, Jimmy Lin and Angela Chang are contributing (i.e. comparing amounts given and actions taken).
I think the comparisons are a bit stupid; I mean, yeah Jay gave a lot more than Angela, but he also makes a hell of a lot more money, so in real terms who knows who contributed more. And then there are all the activities. What is better: donating to a charity auction? Answering phones at a telethon? Visiting earthquake-stricken sites in Sichuan? Recording crappy ballads with three dozen other stars? Shall we award points for how many of each activity each star has engaged in? (I’m tempted to subtract points for participation in the corny group songs/lovefests, actually.) At the end of the day, there are two things going on here: the first is that as human beings, stars from Hong Kong and Taiwan see the suffering happening in Sichuan and will do what they can to help, and the second is that of course they all get positive exposure and press from helping that in turn helps them sell albums and get name recognition, etc. It’s part generosity and part self-interest, though how strong each motivation is in each individual probably varies. But I don’t blame any of them for it, I’d only condemn the sanctimonious ones who insist on making comparisons.
Okay, I see a break in the clouds (I don’t mind running in the rain, but the lightning puts me off a bit), so I’m going to stop rambling. Finally. 
Update: ARGH. Got through most of the run all nice and dry, then a half mile from home the heavens opened and a deluge worthy of Noah was upon me. On the bright side, I don’t think I’ve ever made better time on that last half mile…
I look forward to Jam’s album. It seems that it keeps getting delayed. I heard him sing “三暝三日” on a video on YouTube the other day, and I found his voice quite impressive. Also, when he performed “霍元甲,” he did an excellent job on the opera part.
There’s actually a chart comparing everyone’s actions for the relief efforts? Such a waste of time. It’s times like these that should bring people together, not tear them apart.