Y.O!

Hello all

WELCOME TO JAPAN - land of hello kittys, delicious takoyaki, manga and square watermelons.

Check out our Japanese film collection and win tickets to the Japanese Film Festival 2008!!

Hana & Alice
by Shunji Iwai (2004)
Call No.: Other 791.4372 HAN
Location: Film Village, library@esplanade

Hana and Alice are inseparable friends until Mark, a cute boy they spot at a train station comes between them. Tricking Mark into believing that he is suffering from amnesia, Hana claims that she is his girlfriend. A baffled Mark struggles to regain his memories as he is drawn to the prettier Alice. When their bond deepens, the girls’ lifelong relationship begins to fray, propelling them apart.

Bushi no Ichibun / Love and Honor
by Yoji Yamada (2006)
Call No.: Other 791.4372 BUS
Location: Film Village, library@esplanade

A look at the relationship between a young blind samurai (Takuya Kimura) and his wife (Rei Dan), who will make a sacrifice in order to defend her husband’s honour.

Onna ga Kaidan wo Agaru Toki / When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
by Mikio Naruse (1960)
Call No.: Other 791.4372 ONN
Location: Film Village, library@esplanade

The widowed Keiko manages a hostess bar in Tokyo’s Ginza district. She remains faithful to the memory of her husband and supports her mother, brother and his son. The mask she wears allows her to make a living, but the pressure to sell herself is unrelenting. Her business is failing and she must decide whether to raise the money to buy her own bar, or marry one of the admiring affluent patrons.

Hooked yet? Here’s how:
Review any Japanese film found in library@esplanade and the best entries will win tickets to the Japanese Film Festival 2008!! Clicky-click here for more information.

Posted by: Kaydence Chai
Assoc. Librarian, Young People’s Services

Hello all Manga fans

Do I need to elaborate? Let’s take a sneak peek at what will be available on the shelves of Jurong Regional Library very very soon!

Series Title: Castle in the Sky
Author: Hayao Miyazaki
Synopsis: Inspired by Gulliver’s Travels and set in the legendary days of the first flying machines in the 19th century, Castle in the Sky features evil pirates, power-mad secret agents, and Sheeta, a young girl wearing a mysterious blue stone around her neck. The stone lets Sheeta defy gravity and float down into the life of Pazu, a tough young orphan boy. Look out for imaginative settings, dramatic air battles, and memorable characters.

Series Title: D.N. Angel
Authors: Yukiru Sugisaki and Sarah Dyer
Synopsis: Daisuke Niwa is an ordinary middle school student who has an inherited a strange family ability. When he sees Risa, (a girl he adores) he transforms into a daring phantom thief. When the phantom thief sees his object of desire, he turns back into Daisuke. The only way Daisuke can cure this craziness is to get Risa to fall in love with him. But how can she love someone she can’t see?

Series Title: Dr. Slump
Author: Akira Toriyama
Synopsis: The creator of worldwide megahit Dragon Ball, author Toriyama is one of the giants of manga. Dr. Slump, which debuted in 1980, is Toriyama’s twisted Sesame Street; a slapstick romp with an endearingly oddball cast of characters. Dr. Slump is Dr. Senbei Norimaki (”little rice cracker”). He creates the perfect robot in Arale (”even littler cracker”), who looks like an adorable 13-year-old girl. Arale has her faults though - she is nearsighted and has to wear glasses, and has strange habits like talking to human waste. She is also strong enough to send a man to another planet with one punch. Dr. Slump, meanwhile, pines for Arale’s hot teacher, Ms. Yamabuki. The action takes place in small town Penguin Village, which like the Simpsons’ Springfield is the gateway to endless comedy.

Series Title: Dragon Drive
Author: Ken-ichi Sakura
Synopsis: Most of the clichés of the “versus battle” genre are present in the opening volume of Sakura’s fast-paced story, but so are some great fight scenes and intriguing technology. Reiji Ozora is a born loser, so his hopes aren’t high when his lifelong friend Yukino introduces him to a new virtual reality game called Dragon Drive. Played in an enormous theater-like facility, participants sit in chairs that connect them to the game computer; a giant video wall allows the audience to take in all the action. Each participant controls one or more dragons.

Series Title: Dragon Eye
Author: Kairi Fujiyama
Synopsis: The world has been infected with the D-Virus, a disease that turns people into demons upon contact. The Dracules, as they are called, have wiped out 67% of the world’s population. To fight the Dracules, super-antibody carriers called Vius have organized themselves to form a resistance. Using a combination of magic and martial arts, the Vius have become an army complete with sophisticated spells, weaponry and irreverent squad captains. The brash Issa Kazuma leads Zero Squad, a ragtag bunch of trainees. Armed with a large sword and a fistful of fish sausage, Issa takes his team into battle.

Series Title: Et Cetera
Author: Nakazaki Tow
Synopsis: Mingchao lives in the good-old American West with her grandfather and dreams of being part of Hollywood’s glamour. After her grandfather dies, he leaves her a strange gun - the Eto-gun that has mystical powers linked to zodiac animals. She decides to pack up and take aim at her goal of stardom. On the road to tinsel town, she learns about another gun called Zodiac, which is Eto’s twin. The two firearms share a powerful connection, and an underground organization will stop at nothing to lock and load on the guns’ secrets.

Series Title: Kamichama Karin
Author: Koge Donbo
Synopsis: Grade 5-9-Karin is an orphan living with a not very loving aunt. She is doing poorly in school and has no real friends. After her cat dies, she feels more alone than ever, until she meets strangers who help her to become a goddess using the power of her mother’s ring and her own inner strength. Together, they fight an enemy who tries to steal their powers. This unusual super heroine Karin is bound to be a hot favourite.
 

Series Title: Kitchen Princess
Authors: Natsumi Ando and Miyuki Kobayashi
Synopsis: Najika is a great cook and likes to make meals for the people she loves. But something is missing from her life. When she was a child, she met a boy who touched her heart. Now Najika is determined to find him. The only clue she has is a silver spoon that leads her to the prestigious Seika Academy. Attending Seika will be a challenge. Every kid at the school has a special talent, and the girls in Najika’s class think she doesn’t deserve to be there. But Sora and Daichi, two popular brothers who barely speak to each other, recognize Najika’s cooking for what it is - magical. Could either boy be Najika’s mysterious prince?

Series Title: Knights of the Zodiac
Author: Masami Kurumada
Synopsis: The series follows the adventures of five handsome heroic boys: Seiya the Pegasus Saint, Shiryuu the Dragon Saint, Hyouga the Cygnus Swan Saint, Shun the Andromeda Saint, and Ikki the Phoenix Saint. It begins when they first earn their armor and slowly learn the secrets and responsibilities of being Bronze Saints. Their first battle pits them against the Gold Saints (who represent the 12 major signs of the western zodiac) and the evil Regent that has taken over Athena’s Sanctuary. Their second battle is against the Marine Generals (who represent the seven great oceans of the world) of Poseidon, and their final battle is in Hell against the Specters of Hades.

Series Title: SGT Frog
Author: Mine Yoshizaki
Synopsis: This new manga series introduces a young brother and sister who are dealing with an uninvited houseguest, Froglike Sgt. Korero. He is an invader from another planet,  marooned in the Hinata family’s Tokyo apartment. Sergeant Keroro has come to Earth with the intention of taking it over. One day, a chance encounter with Fuyuki Hinata blows his cover and Keroro’s home planet cuts off all contact with him. Sergeant Keroro is left on Earth and is forced to live with Fuyuki, Natsumi, and their eccentric mother until he can re-establish contact with his home planet.

Series Title: Yotsuba &!
Author: Azuma Kiyohiko
Synopsis: Yotsuba, an energetic green-haired little girl, drives her neighbors crazy with her goofy adventures. Throughout the book, the author drops clues to let you in on how Yotsuba came to become this wild girl. In the end, readers are set up perfectly for what will happen in future series entries.

Posted by: Kaydence Chai
Assoc. Librarian, Young People’s Services

All of us are grandchildren. Some of us have had the good fortune of having our grandparents doting on us while some of us wish that we had the chance to know our grandparents better. However the circumstance, we all have unexpressed thoughts and feelings that we wish we could convey to our grandparents.

Now, we have a chance to express our unspoken words of love and appreciation!

To My Grandpa/Grandma Contest is organised by National Library Board for all of us to share our stories and memories about our grandparents.

Just submit a short video (a movie, a montage, an animation? Anything goes!) or a written entry.

What’s more, by participating in this meaningful contest, you can stand to win 1 of 6 Tokyo tour packages!

Simply send your submission to mailto: 75557@stomp.com.sg by 31 August 2008. All entries will be posted on STOMP at http://www.stomp.com.sg/talkback/grandparents/. Here’s your chance to see your video creations up on STOMP!

For more information, visit http://www.stomp.com.sg/talkback/grandparents/

Good luck!

(Ed.’s notes: So now we all know Rai (if you dont already). Here are tips 2 and 3. Everybody grab your guitars now…)

2) Engaging your audience

One of the most important things a band should know before hitting the stage is why they are there in the first place. This has always been one of my most introspective thoughts in the past decade. Personally, I remind myself that I’m up there to entertain; to bring the audience on a journey with me uisng the songs I’d like to share with them as the vehicle. That is the reason why people patronize a bar or go to a concert. They want to watch and be entertained and feel like they are in a big bubble together with others and the band. Plus bands owe it to an audience for being there and sticking around to watch them. It’s a lovely, flowery relationship (chuckle!).

I have been in gigs and watched bands go off on a tangent unknown to everybody but themselves, while members of the audience literally morph their eyebrows into question marks, resulting in complete ignorance of the band… well perhaps only as ambient noise.

Ways to engage the audience, aside from introducing the song title before every song you sing, are aplenty. Personally, I like to tell a funny story I read that day, or give some trivia that people couldn’t care less about but still incites a laugh or two. It sort of breaks the monotony of the songs, with a short variation of speech every couple of songs or so. It also makes people turn around and listen to what you have to say. Of course do refrain from breaking into a 5 minute monologue…. unless it’s ABSOLUTELY riveting.

A personal favorite of mine is to single out someone in the audience and say hello or compliment them on a lovely shirt, or for looking really happy all night and things like that. Aside from giving the audience a little break from the music, it helps make the distance between stage and the audience a little smaller and the atmosphere more intimate or friendly.

3) Quality and Practice

I cannot stress Quality and Practice enough. My message to those who gripe non-stop about the lack of support for local music is to look back at themselves and ask if they are a good enough band to be supported. Even I, as a local musician, sometimes cringe at what I hear at gigs. Don’t get me wrong, there are some great bands out there, like Electrico, Lunarin, Allura and several more, but alas, as with the laws of yin and yang, the will be a balance between good and bad.

A good band will have support. No matter how little, at least it is still support. Hence it is vital that a band has adequate practice and band members are good musicians themselves before attempting to ply a trade in the local music scene. No amount of antics on stage can disguise the quality of a band’s performance. This also points back to repertoire. A simple, well-played and tight repertoire is far better than a repertoire of complicated songs which can only be played to 50% their original quality. Audiences have ears too… and very discerning ears I might add.

So that just about sums up my entry. Like I mentioned, it’s not a Bible of must-do’s but hopefully it helps. Do drop us y.o.ur comments below or feel free to drop me a message on our facebook page, simply titled Jack & Rai. You can also find us at our website http://www.jackandrai.com/ Cheers!!!

Jack & Rai’s debut album ‘In Stores Now’ was launched on 2 July 2008. Look out for it!

(Ed.’s notes: SGEM Activist Syed Hyder of West Grand Boulevard gave us a little lesson on ’How do I market my band’ some time back. Here’s Rai from the duo of Jack & Rai (EIC) with ‘How to be a live performer’. At the end of these series, I’m pretty sure you’ll be inspired And soon we’ll have a new bunch of music talents in the Singapore scene.)

Hey one and all! Rai here from the duo of Jack & Rai (EIC). I just want to share a couple of thoughts about being a live performer, not that this is a ‘101′ or ‘The Ultimate Guide to being a Rockstar’, but hopefully this blog entry will give some of you tips on what to expect, especially in Singapore, as a musician/entertainer.

Just to provide you guys with a little background information about me:

I have been doing gigs in the ‘live’ circuit for about 11 years, having played with a 3 piece acoustic band first, then going solo for another 2-3 years before being one of the founding members of EIC in 2002. The venues I’ve performed at have primarily been bars/clubs such as No 5 Emerald Hill, Aubrey’s, Fat Frog, Off Quay, Barcelona, Swing!, Harry’s@Esplanade, Hard Rock Café, Indochine@Wisma, Acid Bar, China One/Baize, Muddy Murphy’s and presently, Timbre, Balaclava and Wala Wala. The Esplanade has also been a venue that has had the EIC band or the Jack & Rai duo perform at the Concourse, Amphitheatre, Nokia Powerstation, Recital Studio and Concert Hall. And of course there are the one-off gigs for private company functions, charity shows, parties in tertiary institutions like SMU, NUS and NTU and CDC shows in the heartlands of Singapore. In fact, as I’m writing this down I can’t help but feel really glad that I have had the opportunity to play for audiences from such diverse backgrounds, which once again reinforces my love for performing live.

So anyway, these tips I’m about to share are for those who are starting out and would like to know what to focus on to build their art. Here goes! 

1) Repertoire

As a band that is looking to hit the live circuit, it is of utmost importance that you have a good selection of songs. It would be good to have enough songs to fill a set of 45 minutes. For cover bands, it puts you in better stead with the crowd if they know the songs you are playing; in other words, they are popular songs. The songs are the first thing an audience notices, and whether their attention is sustained depends on the songs. Examples of good bets would be U2, Coldplay, Oasis, Green Day and Matchbox 20. Their songs are not complicated but yet effective and popular enough to sustain an audience.

For bands playing original songs, naturally it’s all that much more difficult to immediately grasp audience attention. It will be of benefit if the original songs are catchy, in terms of melody, lyrics or riffs. Perhaps these bands can consider this ‘secret weapon’: doing a really popular song but completely interpreting it different from the original. Those of you who know YouTube celebrity Marie Digby will know how she shot to fame with her acoustic cover of ‘Umbrella’… and even more recently David Cook from American Idol who covered a Mariah Carey song ‘Always be my baby’…  so these sort of covers can be a good trick to have up one’s sleeves. This would work for cover bands too.

We had a Read! Singapore 2008 discussion on Colin’s Lee’s short story ‘Yew Lee’s Wedding Woes’ from ‘Home and Away’ on 25th June, 3pm at Jurong Regional Library.

Check out the crowd!

60 students all the way from Kranji Secondary School (that’s Peter talking to the students about Read! Singapore 2008). We listened to an audio recording of the story and then there was a short discussion. One of the cheeky groups won applause from the floor with their ”better to not wear anything instead of worrying to wear red or white” comment. Go read the book to find out what Im talking about.

Then we got all excited playing our own wedding version of Bingo. 2 groups ‘BINGO’ed at the same time!

If you’ve missed this time, join us next time for more Read! Singapore 2008 discussions!

Other Sessions
4 July, 3-5pm
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress at Jurong Regional Library (programme zone)

18 July, 3-5pm
The Namesake at Jurong West Community Library (programme zone)

23 July, 3-5pm
Yew Lee’s Wedding Woes at Jurong West Community Library (programme zone) (Chinese discussion session)

25 July, 3-5pm
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress at Queenstown Community Library (meeting room, level 3)

Were you part of this Read! Singapore 2008 session? Share y.o.ur experiences and submit y.o.ur experiences as comments below.

Posted by: Kaydence Chai
Assoc. Librarian, Young People’s Services

Hello hello!

The next Pseudo Book Club session will be on 19July, 3-4pm at V.A.T (V.A.T is at the Jurong Regional Library, Level 4).

If you don’t know it yet, Pseudo Book Club is the ONLY club in the library by teens, for teens that has activities and games. You’ll make new friends while we attempt to subtly weave in bits of knowledge in the sessions (opps did i let that slip?!). In any case, it’ll be fun! 

Instead of your usual

‘wake up grumpy because there’s school on Saturday-attend CCA/extra classes/ tuition-hang out with friends for lunch/dinner-go back home-sleep and hope that Sunday lasts longer’ routine,

have a different kind of Saturday and join us!

For more enquiries, call us now at 1800-I-LOVE-pseudobookclub for a free trial! And if you purchase 1x pseudo book club session within this promotion period, we will throw in another free session! Just for you! ~ Brought to you exclusively by the pseudobookclub.

Ok that was a shameless advertisement But seriously, email me at showteens@nlb.gov.sg if you have any questions or want to sign up!

Posted by: Kaydence Chai
Assoc. Librarian, Young People’s Services
 

(Continued from iBlog2.0 contest - Part 4)
This is the fourth post selected from iBlog2.0 National Interschool Chinese Weblog Competition, organised by Innova Junior College, co-hosted by Public Library Services, NLB.

In this blogpost, the author writes about “stars” and how he is inspired by them. He mentions that life is just like a meteor that flashes by. And if a person idles and does not have a goal in life, each day will just pass by without a trace. Only those who have put in efforts will leave a blazing trail of light.

You could hardly notice the stars in the sky and yet they beautify and give out light in the darkness. What a sacrificial and selfless act!

He concludes by saying that stars have taught him how to overcome difficulties and urge us to live a life that is like the shining stars, lighting up the night sky and bringing light to mankind.

海星中学

博客名：初见

星空
June 21st, 2008

任嘉辉

夜晚，我总喜欢抬头仰望星空，数着那一颗颗闪烁的星星。因为，星空给了我许多启示，星星给了我许多感悟。

一颗流星划过夜空，拖着一条长长的白光，然后消失在天边。生命就像流星般转瞬即逝，但却不一定会留下痕迹。有的人碌碌无为，消磨时间他们的生命在消失的时候不会留下痕迹。有的人兢兢业业坚持不懈地努力，他们生命在消失的时候会像流星一样发出白光，让生命焕发光彩，划破夜空，留下痕迹。

星星是奉献的使者。古往今来人们总留意于月亮的光亮，却忽视了星星。那是因为星星不愿与月亮争光彩 ，它们总是一旁衬托月亮，像花边的小草，虽不被人注意，但星星依旧尽自己所能来照亮夜空。因为它们知道自己属于这片天空，星星的点缀是夜空更加精彩。

郭沫若曾在《天上的街市》中奖星星比作街灯。夜晚星星照亮了路。从此，人们不怕夜里寂寞，不怕找不到方向。顺着光一直走，家就在前方不远处。有的人走在了歧路上，夜晚星星为他们点亮了心灯，指引他们走正确的路。

星空，包罗星星月亮，他拥有宽阔的胸襟，博大的胸怀。”海纳百川，有容乃大”说的就是这样。是她，教会了我包容。星空没有一丝云闪亮的光芒会刺透云层，是它，教会了我克服困难。

朋友，抬头仰望星空，看那繁星，你会发现生命的痕迹，奉献的品质，包容的胸怀，克服困难的毅力。朋友请作为星空中的一颗星星吧，将自己的光芒撒向人间，照亮夜空。

(Continued from iBlog2.0 contest - Part 3)
iBlog2.0 National Interschool Chinese Weblog Competition, organised by Innova Junior College, co-hosted by Public Library Services, NLB.

To summarise, this blogpost is talking about a person named Han Han. He is not only a car racer and singer in China, but also an accomplished writer.

The author goes on to describe how Han Han’s style of writing has managed to successfully appeal to not only the younger generation but also to the older age groups of people.

Reading on, the author refers to a book,”Yi Zuo Cheng Chi”, by Han Han that he has read for the second time recently. He describes how Han Han’s cynical sense of humour still manages to stir up his emotions at the same scenarios. The author then elaborates on how the ugly side of reality is actually reason for cynical humour.

This book is not simply just for laughs; it’s a reflection of our society. There are many people who have criticised the book but Han Han has become an icon for the younger generation.

Different people have different views on Han Han—what is yours?

海星中学 Maris Stella High School
小聊韩寒
June 5th, 2008
张文聪

不知道新加坡人对韩寒这个名字是否有过耳闻，我想应该是没有太多人知道的。

首先，在新加坡这个多种族，多文化的地域里，一个崛起的华文写作新星并不会引起多大骚动。其次，韩寒在中国的出名不光是因为他的作品受到年轻人的追捧，也是因为他对中国应试教育弊端所抱有的不满，因而在有着不同教育体制的新加坡，韩寒的名字没有那么响亮。即使现在的他是流行歌手，是赛车手，但名气也没有足够大传到新加坡。
对于一个新加坡人不怎样了解的作家，发表些评论着实有些困难。无论怎么样，先见他一面吧。

->  http://iblog2.new-media-arts.com/teams/the_first_sight/?p=35

看了他的照片，别以为他只是个帅气的赛车手。也许你看着这张照片怎么也不会想到他竟然会是一位作家，一位极有才华的作家。可是他却没有上过大学，只可谓是自学成才。
说起来，韩寒是个非常矛盾的结合体，他带有年轻一代的朝气，同时又具有上一代的成熟。因此他的文章读起来大气中带有一点幼稚青涩，但这丝毫不会成为他的劣势，相反，这种矛盾的结合满足了不同年龄阶段人的需求，调侃中带有真知，嬉闹中掩藏道理。年轻人读起来仿佛变成熟了，成年人读起来仿佛重回花季雨季。

最近我再一次重读了他自己最满意的小说《一座城池》，下面便是我的读书心得。

早在前年，我便阅读完了这本书，但由于是草草而过，记忆已经模糊了。如今再捧起这本书时，我惊奇的发现自己竟然对里面的好些情节有些记忆。即使是这样，我还是会在同样的地方被同样的黑色幽默激起笑声。笑声过后，仔细想来，倒有种想哭的冲动，不得不佩服韩寒文字带动情绪的能力。

仔细看来，每一个黑色幽默的背后都有一个现实的问题存在着，人性中丑陋，中国现实社会中不均衡，一些年轻人的盲目，一些官员的腐败，一些社会的病态，用两个逃犯和一个大学生的经历一点一点地串了起来。韩寒的《一座城池》就如同一个巨大的垃圾桶，这里面装着各色各样的垃圾，灰色的生活，灰色的人生。没有希望的，却又让人常常想入非非的世界。只不过作者用夸张的手法将这个问题放大化，以至形成了戏剧效果。比如说群人争抢看化工厂爆炸这一段，（链接阅读http://www.yuedu.org/thread-63110-1-1.html）便真切形象的表现出中国人爱争抢看热闹这一陋习。

就语言来说，很简洁，大多时候让我感觉到是在看剧本。处处有感悟，不能不说很有思想。讽刺的幽默感很强，有时候让我感觉非常有力度。通篇读完，不仅是一笑而过那么简单，更多的是对社会现实的反思。

有人说他的《一座城池》缺少营养，语言苍白，词汇贫乏，我承认。《一座城池》的确在词藻方面没什么吸引力。但对于学生而言，韩寒早已成为一个生动的品牌，不苟同于权威、率性、独立、求真这些可以与广大学生引起共鸣的特点让它的书有了广阔的市场。

一千个人眼中有一千个不同的韩寒，究竟你的韩寒是什么样子的，让我们一起在歌声中迈入他心中的那一座城池。

(iBlog2.0 contest - Part 5)