Music and Lyrics

This Sunday was the first time I've seen two films in the cinema in a single afternoon in as long as I can remember. But it's been a long few weeks, and this short vegitative break was an excellent respite from the daily drudge.

First was Night at the Museum. Ben Stiller plays a divorced dad who has trouble holding down a good job (sounds familiar?). He's a good guy who wants to do good for his kid, but just hasn't had very many breaks and feel pretty down on himself (sounds familiar?).

Well, the rest of the movie is just silly fun, led by an all-star cast of character actors and lots of digital effects.

Of course, in the end, Ben proves himself a good guy, gets the kid's respect, a lovely new girl, and reintroduces the joys of the museum to the public.

Then we decided to catch another film, as we really didn't have much else to do, and we both were still feeling exhausted. Plus, as soon as I saw the hilarious preview "music video" for Music and Lyrics, I HAD to see that movie. Being an 80's guy, I still smile fondly in reminiscence of the 80's electropop scene, and I'm sure this won't be the last film about the era. "Has-Been" Alex Fletcher's (Hugh Grant) fictitious ex-band "Pop" mixes elements of Wham, Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran and Flock of Seagulls into a believable creation. I'm not a huge fan of Drew Barrymore, but... oh, well.

Actually, are there any actresses I'm particularly fond of these days? And -- I wonder how many of the Hong Kong people seing the film actually believed this band was real. I can imagine someone going up to the counter at HMV and asking the clerk, "Do you have POP?" LOL...

Anyway, the film reminded me so much of the days when I was in college in Fulelrton, and those weekends I would drive up to my best friend Floyd's dorm room in Claremont's Harvey Mudd College and we'd have lots of fun adding notes to the sequencer on his old Mac, and attempting to sing into the microphone and make something that we envisioned would vaguely sound like Depeche Mode. It was great fun, but I never had the drive to take it further than the handful of songs we wrote over the space of about a half year.

There were a few songs I was particularly proud of, especially one I wrote called "Lack of Understanding" that had counter-sung lyrics from the two sides of a relationship. Other songs were bits and pieces in various states of completion, though I really can't remember any of them, and I doubt I still have a tape hanging around (I'll have to ask Floyd if he still has anything).

One other song I was proud of was called "A Dream" that I wrote for my college sweetheart, Ai Yun.

As I said, seeing this film makes me reminisce about those days, and has given me an inkling of inspiration to pick up some tools for my Mac and start getting something new into the sequencer. MyMacBook is a good enough machine to get the job done. I've already got Garage Band, and I'm not sure how easy that is as a writing tool. And I'll have to pick up a MIDI keyboard, but as budget next month is tight (bad timing, Medeleine), I might have to put that on hold for a while.

And with all of the other stuff I've been concentrating on, like photography, and my two jobs, I doubt this thought will really get much momentum any time soon. Still... maybe, just maybe, I'll have a song one of these days. And maybe I can ask Ron to help me record and perform the live bits.

Life is good.