Le Monsieur à Noël.

Greetings mes readers,

Lately I have been a little distracted by things to say the least. - The neighbors playing Thriller until all hours thinking that a tribute concert is excusable when in fact Michael Jackson would probably have eaten him were he really a zombie in the video that accompanies it. The colder weather making the skin on my hands feel very much like inverting itself and running amok like some bizarre Robbie Williams tribute act. Finally, there's the impending event of sorts that is Christmas. 

The thing that irks this Monsieur the most is the fact Christmas is the season of dutiful entertainment. There is few and far between anything of anything truly, spectacularly culturally rewarding. Of course, culture depends entirely on your definition of the indefinable. For a Monsieur like myself, it involves jazz, wine, cheese and maybe - though entirely optional - a few orgies. Of course, we all know that orgies are so out of fashion that they make The Stones look like Kate Moss. So these orgies are ironic orgies. At an ironic orgy, people don't actually fuck, they talk about the possibility, laugh at the idea of an actual orgy and then go home with the strange sensation they just wasted their time when they could have been doing something far more useful, such as looking for The Stig in his new Where's Wally style book, that is actually quite entertaining in traffic jams, but not in all jams.  

The idea behind my supposition that Christmas is a sullied event has something to do with the feeling of cultural loss I have every Boxing Day when I look around my house and think to myself "Hmm". It's not an Osama bin Laden style despising festival against the seasonal spirit, more a mounting sense of unease at the earlier arrival of brain squishing compilations of Xmas music and chocolate that screams out at me in Satanic tones to "buy me buy me buy me". Honestly, where is the culture in that? Alors, that's the way it is and that's the way it'll stay until the hairs in Santa's beard fall out from overwork and he quits citing long hours and reindeer maintenance. But despite my pessimism I do want to say that I'm looking forward to celebrating the real meaning of this allegedly festive season. Before you ask, that's not the guy who came back to life and got arrested for being a nut, it's time with one's family. 

You may think a Monsieur is a cold hearted, monosyllabic individual who threatens pigeons with his  brooding Parisian masculinity just by breathing out, but you'd be wronger than a food porn movie. No, a Monsieur can love as well. And this Monsieur can be loving when he absolutely needs to be. So despite the screaming Christmas songs, the raging gifts and presents, the tinsel burning around me and the trees flashing at me more than I'd normally tolerate I will resolutely try and enjoy the festivities this Christmas. I shall make it my sworn mission to have a cultural jihad. There will be wine, cheese, coffee beans, jazz and fine art flying from every orifice of the sky. An apocalypse of sorts, for a lack of any real apocalypse.  And hopefully, I'll have a bonne Noël.

À demain,

Le Monsieur

Le Monsieur en Review: The Lights - January Blues

Maybe it's deliberate that The Lights release January Blues when it's not actually January yet, but either way, they still have a point.The song, produced by the noted Gavin Monaghan, is very pleasant and fits well into your ear with it's lush production and Indie melodies, but sometimes that can be a detractor rather than a positive aspect. With January Blues, it is the former, but only just. Whilst the song itself is pleasant enough the production is what ultimately ruins it for this reviewer. I said before the production was lush, and it is, but January Blues sounds over done when a more lighter touch would have been appreciated to enable the listener to fully immerse themselves into the songs lyrical world. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad single, it's just too run of the mill in the production area where something a little less processed would have suited it much better.

Asides from the production issues, this is a good listen indeed and comes recommended for the B side Start Again, which is a simpler affair and showcases the vocal talents of the bands Liz Sheils to great effect, which definitely won't give you January Blues! 

Le Monsieur 

Le Monsieur Watches... Mushishi. (Movie, 2008 Japan)

Friends are funny things, one moment they're all over you, and the next they're no where to be seen. Of course, I mean that in the friendly sense. I don't do the funky thing with my friends, what else would be left to say afterwards? No, my friends are the kind who forcefully, at friendship point lend me things they think I may have some palpable need of. One friend, whose name I won't reveal in case the FBI catch up with him, suggested to me that I HAVE to watch this movie, and forced the DVD of said movie into my hands, disappearing off into the woodlands never to be seen again until a few days later, and/or he's finished the DVD I politely suggested he may want to see, then blended into the foreground neatly.

So, now that I've watched it at last, in full, without my progeny screaming at me to press stop and put SpongeBob on instead, I can honestly say that his intentions were good, despite his ninja tendencies. (The best movie idea ever, Ninja vs FBI!) See, Mushishi is actually a damn good movie, despite the description putting it slightly into hackneyed Anime territory. And, it is based on an Anime and Manga series too, funnily enough. One of some rep, as well. Director, Katsuhiro Otomo, steps right up to it and delivers a tight, not too fantastical concept that remains grounded despite the obvious fantasy elements. This is the key to the whole success of the movie, as well. Fantasy movies can be too overwhelming, complicated and downright confusing, but Mushishi works on the level of average looking characters and beautiful visuals mixed with dialogue that has just the right level of intrigue and a plot that never loses us, somehow.

Yes, despite my initial misgivings, it won me over soon. Not being a watcher of Anime or a reader of Manga, I suppose I can't fully appreciate the subtle nuances of the genre that it's fans rapture to instantly. I don't consider cartoons and comics for children, I just have never actually got into them too much due to my ever increasing pile of interests merging into a whole days work. Cliches are won over this way, and should a ninja wonder from the darkness and force DVDs into your hand ever, don't give the misgiving stare of a victim, embrace his gift, as I did. You may get a surprise when you slip the discs into your device! Such ninjas of culture are a virtue in this ever more digitised world, and we should be thankful for their silent contribution to our collective existences. As to the plot, it doesn't matter too much, just get engaged by the visual splendour and the ever impending doom looming large over every moment, and you'll get that on the way.

Recommended.

Le Monsieur.

IBARAKI RACISM!

Le Monsieur doesn't like this kind of thing.

The poster above is from Ibaraki, a prefecture near Tokyo where they apparently have such an issue with invading "foreigners" that they feel the need to place posters on the walls to tell everybody that they should be on the look out for them a la the not so hot uniformed officers in the picture who could be of any nationality, if we're honest!

If it wasn't for the vaguely racist intentions of this, it'd be funny. But, it isn't. Why is it that during my almost four years in Tokyo I saw nothing on this scale in the poster area? To be honest, I'm all for rooting out the illegals who make life Hell for all the honest people who make an honest living, contributing to society as anybody in their own country would, but this is ridiculous! Sad thing is that the average just off the plane foreigner in Japan who can't read Japanese without the aid of a friend is unlikely even to realise that they are being violated in public by posters like this.

Personally speaking, I've never had any such problems with racism in Japan, in fact the most racist people of all are the foreigners themselves to my mind, but I realise that with posters like this things aren't going to get better soon. Thank God Tokyo is used to it's foreign population to a degree - not comfortable, but used to them -whilst rural areas have less in general so tend to make a bigger fuss of their presence than in really necessary. I'm not forgiving them or even excusing them, if people put up anti Japanese posters in London there'd be an outcry, so why the authorities of Ibaraki consider it appropriate to place blatantly discriminate literature on their walls and stations is both beyond me and offensive.

Although I do think that there people of a suspicious nature in Japan - even I have my suspicion alarm on with some foreigners, but that's common sense rather than the pure unabated racism that many local authorities seek to promote so openly - I do think there are better ways of doing it than the present system. If people actually did something about it, rather than merely tolerate it things might change sooner rather than later. Easier said than done, of course, but every seed needs to be planted to grow. And removing the weeds is even more vital along the way!

Le Monsieur.

DIGGING OUT THE INNER CHILD.

If there's one thing to do on a rainy Sunday morning, it's watch cartoons.

As an adult, I am proud to admit that I do occasionally watch cartoons. Usually, it's with my son, who is at the perfect age to enjoy the simple pleasures and bright shades of the average cartoon show. He also finds it quite educational, does my little Monsieur. On a Sunday morning, I usually dig out the SpongeBob box set and have a Spongeathon until lunchtime rears it's ravenous head once and for all. See, secretly all adults can admit to having a small like of cartoons, and those who rigorously deny all affection for animation are like alcoholics in the midst of a serious addiction. They are also denying a big part of their childhood!



There can't have been many of us who didn't watch TV when we were younger, and the first show we probably watched was an animated kids TV show. I remember vaguely the first time I watched TV, when I was four, - Yes, four years old! - and it was a kids show from what I recall. The TrapDoor, maybe. Ah, The TrapDoor! Even now I watch that show. It's so unthinkably dirty in it's humor that such a kids show would never get past the censors these days without some very serious cuts to the even back then highly obvious bonking jokes. Of course, my toddler likes it too! The least I can do as a parent is to pass on my childhood to him. In fact, every parent should do the exact same thing.

There are so many kids who think that Teletubbies is the epitome of televisual entertainment, when are so many great TV shows from the past that would be just as effective today. When I find an older kids show on the shelves in my local DVD purveyor I smile to myself. Being a quarter into ones natural life, everything is suddenly looking different than usual. Those memories I used to consider worthless now have attained an extra significance due to my new mindset. Of course, there are many who never grow up, and applause to them for being able to do that in a world where youth is snatched from our children at an early age and never given back until our dying days when it's an unfitting as a bad hairstyle.



I do think, to some degree, having a child does reconnect you to your inner child, and my enjoyment of kids shows is maybe connected to that. The sheer fact is, that there are some brilliant kids shows out there that really should be discovered by more people! If this were Japan, were grown ups are entitled to watch their anime by virtue of the fact that being childish is openly encouraged by some corners of society. And, if you've ever been to Akihabara, you'll see millions of such people walking around. Not all of them are your typical geek style people either!

To end this , I'll leave you with some videos to consider. Will you reconnect with your inner screaming baby? Or will I see you in Akihabara with the other millions of people?

Pass it on people, pass it on!

Mnsr Seba









Watch kitaro(1968)7 in Animation | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

TRIBUTE: THE KING IS DEAD.

The first Michael Jackson video I saw. Let's remember The King for the music he blessed us all with forever rather than the tabloid rumours.

Mnsr Seba


Watch Michael Jackson: Thriller in Entertainment | View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com