the Inside story on Llewyn Davis

The Coen Brothers, for me, have been a consistent source in introducing new (read 'old') musicians. The latest coming from their recent movie Inside Llweyn Davis.

And while the star character, Llewyn Davis, doesn't incorporate everything - you can clearly see that a major part of the role is based on Dave Van Ronk.The Coen Brothers have used Van Ronk's character, his story, his songs, even his album cover - or maybe that was their tribute to him.

As for the movie itself - it was good. I'd recommend it. It's just a week in the life of one particular folk singer in New York in the 60's. Before Bob Dylan emerged, after Elvis Presley did. As always with the Coen Brothers, the music is outstanding.



There is a brief scene, at the end of the movie where you can see the silhouette of Bob Dylan playing at the Gaslight Cafe. Apparently Dylan was a friend of Dave Van Ronk and had been musically influenced by him.

BTW, what a great name for a cafe ! I'm just waiting for somebody around here to open up a cafe in that name. The concept and the story is already there. Damn, even the music is ready made. What are they waiting for ?

The take away from all this is that it's time to explore the music of Dave Van Ronk. It's off to a promising start.

the Class of '92 ReUnited on familiar ground ..

It just had to happen, didn't it ? Sir Alex Ferguson has been working so hard on bringing back United alumni to the club in various capacities that it was just a matter of time before the most famous of his Fledgelings flocked together at Old Trafford and Carrington. It's just that most of us had not figured that it would happen quite so soon. Or in such sad circumstances.

 Still, the sight of these guys puts a wide smile on my face; with Phil having survived the cull of Moyes' staff due to his Class of '92 ties.

It's time to bring my United back - Attack! Pace! Power! Attitude! Fergie Time!
Have these elements in place, and most United fans can live with defeat (just not too often!)

For the first time in a couple months, I'm actually eagerly looking forward to United's next match. What will a Giggs team look like ? How will he set them up ? Who will he select ? Will he play himself ? Will the team actually be happy and play like the United team I know they are capable of ?
What I do know is that Giggs has asked for a return to the United way of playing. It has been greatly missed.

Finding the unexpected ....

Many, many things could count as unexpected pleasures. In this case, I heard this particular Carpenters song for the first time tonight -  it was a Pleasure.

as Bad as it Gets ... only it gets Worse ..

I'm not talking about results or performances on the field. The time for that has long past. And anyway, Moyes has proven that he can extract one terrible performance after another out of this squad. I've pretty much given up and the latest performance against Everton was just another in a long, long ..... long ... list.

It's this photo doing the rounds which draws the ire

Losing 0-2 against Everton - and really, it could have been much worse - and Steve Round responds by whipping out a booklet of set plays. Powerpoint slides and clip art with bells and whistles, no doubt. Is this part of the much ballyhoed improvements behind the scenes that I keep hearing about ? Is putting in a few iPads enough to convince the Glazers that Moyes deserves more time ?

Not that the set plays booklet made much difference anyway, as United didn't change their pattern of play at all. Nor did Moyes respond when Seamus Coleman was steaming through the inside left channel causing havoc. That Martinez had targeted that area was obvious within the first 10 minutes of the game. And boy, did it look potentially damaging. But Moyes didn't respond - and potential became reality.

It is beyond doubt now - and has been for some time - that Moyes is making Man United a much, much lousier team than they actually are. It is also becoming apparent that the United job is turning Moyes into a lousier manager than he was at Everton. The guy's been found out. He's out of his depth. Please put him out of his Moyesery.

Why The Journey is Worth It .....

I admit that my interest was only piqued because the show seemed to be generating a lot of box office in Malaysia. And it's iconic cold air balloon popped up in several locations on billboards and even the concourse of a shopping complex.

Checked out the trailer - no big deal, but the plot seemed relevant in a Malaysian Chinese context. Fair enough in itself but it was a draw for a banana like myself. And to be frank, I was hoping that it would be a close enough facsimile of a Yasmin Ahmad movie - goodness knows, I've missed her movies. So when the chance came to watch The Journey .....



No regrets. Ended up with all four of us watching the movie and a little lady pottering around on the mat. It was really good. And rather unusually The Journey seems to have gained a sizable Malay audience even though a huge chunk of the movie is voiced in multiple Chinese dialects. Crossing racial boundaries was rather a speciality of Yasmin Ahmad's ..

Quite apart from the plot - simple yet effective - watching the movie was like a huge product placement for Malaysian tourism. The scenery ... the landscape shots ... it made me want to visit Malaysia. It made me want to grab the DSLR and go out in all hours of day, in varied locations of splendour and gaiety and isolation .... and snap. It's been tooo long .....

And even though there weren't many songs in the show, this one spoke loudly in hushed tones.

There's been a lot of Talk about the 'Moyes Out' Banner ...

but let's just say that the fly past has backfired as Moyes ended up getting support from fans inside Old Trafford. It MAY be that many fans have misgivings about Moyes, but they're not demonstrating their frustration yet for whatever reason - loyalty to SAF, Man Utd's 'tradition' of giving their managers time, not wishing to lose the moral high ground to the likes of Chelsea where changing managers is as common as Elizabeth Taylor changing husbands, whatever.

As for me, I remain convinced that David Moyes is out of his depth. I only hope that the Glazers will not give him too much time to wreak havoc on the playing squad. I mean, the guy's a good manager for a mid-table team, but he's not Manchester United quality. There have been lots of articles and insights about what's gone wrong for Moyes at United. I won't regurgitate them - some have been reasonable, some have been idealistic, some have not recognized Moyes' good qualities, lots of them have been about his tactics (whether stone age, rigid, muddled, or blitzkrieg air bombardment).

It's this observation from Tim Howard, who kept goal under Moyes and SAF that I found interesting. He wasn't talking about Man United. He was talking about Everton under Roberto Martinez.

There's been talk that the United players are short on confidence. A bit more than talk, actually - Evans has admitted it explicitly. Except for the occasional Barcelona game, SAF has always tried to impose United's style on their opponents. There may be a little tactical tweak here and there but attack was the overarching theme. Under Moyes, it would appear that not losing is the raison d'etre, defence is the default team setting. You can't win the league by avoiding defeat ...

Howard's quote is revealing and suggests that Moyes' is setting this United team to avoid defeat rather than going for the win. Moyes has made a few quotes that suggest as much (Freudian slip, perhaps ?). And in talking up the opponent's strengths, he is forgetting that his own team is chockful of good players as well. Not that his squad would believe it after the way he's trampled them with 'they're aging and don't have enough quality' quotes spread out over several press conferences. Does he imagine that his players wouldn't notice his comments ?

SAF was well known as a great motivator. From where I'm standing, it sure looks like David Moyes is a great demotivator. And I can't see how this works out well for Man United. The 'Wrong One - Moyes Out" banner may well have been ill conceived, but there are many who agree with the sentiment. Count me among them.

At least he's Consistent .... is, David Moyes

This infographic says it all. David Moyes is a mid-table manager - a good mid-table manager, but a mid-table manager nonetheless. I remember telling a friend a few months ago, give him Stoke's resources and he'll put them in Everton's position; give him Man United's resources, and he'll still put them in Everton's position ! After 29 league games, this has proved startlingly true. 

Let's not even talk about the cup exits, stone age tactics, defeatist press conferences, confused purchases, surprise team selections and puzzling substitutions. From where I'm sitting, it's patently obvious that the playing squad don't have the heart for the fight - at least not for David Moyes. And this is with me having reduced expectations for the season. I would have accepted 4th place even without a trophy to show, but what's really galling is that the performances have been so poor, so often. You'd be hard pressed to believe that this self same squad cantered to the League last season.

It'd take too long to go through the list of things that have gone wrong this season, but it's clear to me that it started with the appointment of Moyes as manager. So here's an appeal to the Glazers and Sir Alex,

Come the end of this season, please put Moyes out of his misery. You'll have to pay him another five years wages, but believe me, he'll cost you a lot more otherwise.

Pray for MH370

A little slice of Life ...

6-ish on a Saturday morning, a time when I'm usually still deep in sleep. But not today.

It's a strangely peaceful time. All three kids are asleep. Oh .... THAT'S why it's peaceful.

Anyway, I digress. It's a strangely peaceful time. Nothing astir here, not even a mosquito ...... A selection of country songs on the stereo - Anne Murray's "A Little Good News" playing at the moment - a load of laundry in the washing machine. It's strange nowadays to find some time alone without one kid or another wandering around, out of the bedroom, or wailing her lungs out ...

It's good. All is right with the world. Except for the haze in my lungs, and the water shortage in the Klang Valley, and the shenanigans in the government and judiciary and civil service and various government ministries. Even if all I'm doing is folding clothes and clearing up the mess the kids left behind.

All is good. It's the music that does it. That, and the rare slice of solitude.

Booty Swing

Currently listening to Electro Swing. Brilliant music in small doses - unless you're seriously into dance ...



It's surprising how versatile swing music has turned out to be. The last post I had saw it incorporated into Western Swing, which was really more of a Middle America, Republican sort of thingy. And pretty much the opposite swing of the pendulum to the European club scene.

And just because I love this ad ... http://vimeo.com/34937456

The song is "Booty Swing" from Parov Stelar. The ad is for a Las Vegas casino with a fabulous tagline .. "Just the Right amount of Wrong"
Doesn't it just make you want to go out and do something ..... wrong ?

Earth Angel ... the Reason our Hands are Full.

We've been off for quite some time without really posting anything on this blog. Had our hands full, you see. Major part distraction, minor part burn out. But I just thought that it was time to introduce the newest addition to the brood.





























This little girl was named Carys Chong Sze Man .... I think.
I had to check.
Sometimes you lose track after a while and especially when the brood gets a little bigger.

Born on her mother's birthday. The whole family were celebrating the mum's birthday with dinner at Bumbu Bali - a place that used to serve a most sensational grilled lamb chop (sadly, no longer the case). It was 20:00+ hrs when the mum indicated that it was time.
So we paid the bill - went home to grab the overnight bag - dropped the kids off at the nanny's - and headed to the hospital, which was just five minutes drive from Bumbu Bali. Big, big detour.
A little rushed, but no panic.

Once there, we wondered whether she'd make it out in time for her mom's birthday. She duly popped out at 23:24hrs and proceeded to save me the expense of an additional birthday cake every year for the foreseeable future. A much appreciated gesture.

This little girl cries louder than her siblings. She's also more demanding. Drinks milk in smaller quantities, but on a more frequent basis. Wakes up more often in the middle of the night. We've got the makings of a diva on our hands.
At the very least, she's higher maintenance compared to her sister and brother.

I don't know what else she brings to the table as she's still so very young. At least her siblings are not showing signs of jealousy - not too much, anyway.

As for us, we'll just muddle along - hoping to do the best we can with our limited resources - and praying that somewhere along the way, we'll raise this three kids right in the eyes of God.

And if we have laughter and tears and smiles,
And hugs and cuddles and kisses,
And sharing and caring and relatives and friends; well,
It would have made for a more joyful and loving journey in our lives.
And isn't that what we all wish for ?

The Hot Club of Cowtown ...... no, I'm serious .....

The first time I heard 'After You've Gone' I was in a semi-deserted shopping center in the middle of Kuala Lumpur city. On the way to a job interview. Walking into the shopping center, I could hear the strains of the song wafting around the complex. It wasn't piped in. It came from one particular shop selling music CDs. The complex wasn't noisy as it was relatively empty and the shop owner was playing the song LOUD. Even on the escalator up to the 2nd floor I could still hear the song playing. It was sensational.

I remember walking into her shop after the interview and buying the album. Cynthia M. Jazz album. 10 songs - 2 in English and the rest in French. Lost the CD when my car got stolen.

So even though I've been out of circulation for such a long time, I couldn't resist when I heard this.

The Hot Club of Cowtown. Western Swing, they call it ...