Growing Middle Class

Are countries like China, India and Brazil getting stronger? Here are two shows from TVO's The Agenda that gives us a better idea of where the world might be going in the next decades.





I would have to take the side not really believing that the middle class is growing or will make much difference in China or India. The levels are so low. It's not really fair to call the middle class in China the biggest in the world compared to countries like US and Canada when the a person making $2 a day can be considered middle class. The countries are growing but the people there are still just hanging on. China is growing at 9% a year and a person may have gotten a raise from $4000 a year to $5000 a year but unless that growth continues year after year after year, the so-called middle class will get very restless and demand more and more from the communist authoritarian government.

7up Chinese time travel commercial

Remember! Toilet Paper is very important!

Rick Mercer In Shanghai

Few weeks ago, The Rick Mercer Report went to Shanghai.

Here are a couple of clips. Hilarious!





Nothing beats FREE Poutine!

USC and Hawaii Five-O

I actually kind of excited about the new show's premiere on Monday :)

Taiwan Commercial: Boyfriend Working Overtime

OOOPS!

The NEW Hawaii FIVE-0

I had no idea there was a new Hawaii FIVE-o coming out
Daniel Day Kim and Grace Park are in it. I guess there is life after Lost!

The theme song sounds a bit mellower to me.

Can 100 kids beat a professional Japanese club?

Why can't our game shows come up with cool ideas like this! Check this out, J. League football team Cerezo Osaka take on 100 Japanese primary school children. Can Cerezo Osaka breakthrough against the 40-30-30 formation school kids?

Part 1:


Part 2:


Part 3:


The corner kick formation for the school kids are hilarious!

Sony Ping Pong Mandarin Commerical

HAHAHA that's pretty funny.

For those who can speak Mandarin. That's pretty bad right?

Mandarin's such a tonal language there's no way these guys can pronounce it properly on such short notice. Especially Manning who's from the south. I hear LeBron is learning Mandarin. Perhaps they should have gotten him!

A Chinese 'Hero' for NBC's Hit Drama

Source: CriEnglish

Producers of "Heroes" are considering casting a Chinese actor to help expand its Chinese influence, Chinese media reported.

Producers of the popular American TV series "Heroes" are considering casting a Chinese actor to help expand the drama's growing Chinese influence, Chinese media reported on Wednesday.


Hong Kong-based actor Daniel Wu
The U.S. National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is seeking an English-speaking Chinese actor for the drama's planned sixth season, Yangtse Evening Post cited unnamed sources close to NBC.

Season 4, the latest completed season, will premiere on American small screens next week on September 21.

NBC is currently approaching Hong Kong-based stars Daniel Wu, Allen Ting and Stephen Fung for the role, according to the report. Daniel Wu and Stephen Fung share an American upbringing.

"Heroes", a science fiction drama revolving around a group of people with extraordinary abilities, debuted on NBC in 2006 with Japanese-American actor Masi Oka as one of its leads. Oka's presence has helped "Heroes" attract many Asian fans, particularly Japanese, according to Yangtse Evening Post.

Must be nice to be able to script for a 6th season even before showing 4th season!
As I've mentioned before, Daniel Wu is the worst Chinese actor ever. He's static and not understandable in either language. I would stop watching if he was cast. Allen Ting and Stephen Fung are ok but pretty obscure.

I think NBC need to expand more and research all the young actors in Chinese cinema, not those are have American roots.. This would be my list.

1. Lee Hom Wang

2. Nicholas Tse

These two guys know English for sure.
My other choices for favourite young male actors are..

3. Shawn Yue
4. Jay Chou
5. Cheng Chen

I'm not sure how good their English is but they got 2 years!

NBC Store - Conan O'Brien

Conan checks out the corner store...And makes a new friend!



LOL!

It's a fork not a FUCK!

I hope he becomes a recurring character on the show! Sort of like Rupert Jee on Letterman.

Asian Ripoff LXXVII - Pretty Woman

Artist: Kaela Kimura
TV Series: Attention Please
Actress: Ueto Aya

Pretty cool sped up version of Pretty Woman. In the video you get to see all of Japan Airlines hostess uniforms over the years!


Youtube Link


Youtube Link

Yes if you're flying soon.. Please Enjoy The Fright :D

Steven Ho Shows Conan How To Get Hit II

Stuntman Steven Ho was back on the Tonight Show showing Conan the tricks of the trade.

This time Steven shows us weapons.



Conan actually won a fight!

Related: Steven Ho Shows Conan How To Get Hit (1st appearance)

TV Show: Beautiful Cooking 2

Wikipedia


Was surfing the other day and bumped into Beautiful Cooking II, a HK TVB show. Looks like this is like Iron Chef but with pretty girls cooking.



Youtube Link

They seemed impressed with her!

CCTV anchor suspected of spying for Taiwan

Source: China.org

A veteran anchor with China Central Television (CCTV) is under suspicion of spying, sources revealed yesterday.

Fang Jing, the 38-year-old face of CCTV's prime-time military program Defense Watch, is being investigated for possibly spying for Taiwan, colleagues told China Daily.

The security authorities have neither confirmed nor denied the reports.

Fang, a Beijing native with a postgraduate degree, started hosting the program in 2006. Her last on-air appearance was on the Sunday edition on March 1 when she hosted an episode about India's military strength featuring Rear Admiral Zhang Zhaozhong, a military expert at the National Defense University.

Fang's segments often touch upon regional military topics and she compares China's military capacity with foreign powers, often with the help of specialists from the People's Liberation Army.

Zhang, who has been a frequent guest on the show, told China Daily last night that Fang's case is "still under investigation" and "no conclusion has been reached so far".

"She has not been jailed as is being rumored," Zhang said. "But she is not hosting the program anymore, because she is currently being investigated."

He confirmed that Fang quit after the March 1 edition.

Sources with CCTV also confirmed yesterday that Fang had been "taken away for a possible spy probe".

She was rumored to have been seduced by a man from Taiwan who was "eight years younger than her" and to have received money from him, the sources said.

She is SO screwed! It's one thing if she was sent in by Taiwan to spy for China from the start. But to start spying just because of a man? Incredible the things ladies will do for a shot at the ol' pork sword!

Steven Ho Shows Conan How To Get Hit

Stuntman Steven Ho was on The Tonight Show and shows Conan a few tricks of the trade. I always love how Conan is so sporadic and self depreciating in all of his skits and interviews.



Embed might not work at times so here's the link.

IFC: Food Party debuts tonight!

Got an email from IFC about a puppet cooking show hosted by Thu Tran that I've seen snippets of before. It makes it's TV debut tonight at 11:15pm Eastern on IFC. That's awfully late isn't it?

Unfortunately I can't get IFC in Calgary as it is channel 614 on Shaw Digital which I don't have :(

Food Party is a mind-bending, non-reality cooking show with Thu Tran as your hostess, a cast of unruly puppets as culinary aides, and a cavalcade of fictitious celebrities as surprise dinner guests. Shot on location in a Technicolor cardboard kitchen as well as other foreign and exotic cardboard locations, each episode will or will not instruct you on how to prepare wild gourmet multi-course meals with ingredients you probably have on hand in your kitchen already, such as pretzel rods, eggs, narwhal lungs, bizarre plot twists, secret ingredients, and pizza. After all, you never know who might show up for dinner.

Here are some clips

Episode 104:


Behind the Scenes:


And a review from the NY Times

Gokusen: The Movie

Here's the trailer for Gokusen: The Movie the live-action theatrical film based on Kozueko Morimoto's Gokusen school comedy manga

Yukie Nakama is reprising her starring role of Kumiko "Yankumi" Yamaguchi, the high school teacher with yakuza ties, one last time for the film. The film will serve as a finale to the three television seasons.


Youtube Link

I've seen the three season and there are definitely a few loose ends to tie up. The trailer looks spectacular and I'm wondering what will happen!

New Japanese snack foods

Source: Japan Probe

Mezamashi TV shares some new snack foods that should be hitting a convenience store near you:

* Plum Pretz and Pea Pretz
* Pizza Jagariko
* Watermelon Karipori
* Salt n’ Garlic Shrimp Chips
* Beef Kebab Pringles
* Cookies released in collaboration with Afternoon Tea drinks (the hosts of the show mock the model’s correct English pronunciation of “collaboration”)
* Coconut Milk Churros snacks

The Bimbo Du Jour shows you snacks you should be eating while watching anime :)


Youtube Link

Esthe WAM Hair Removal: Beauty Bowling

Source: Funny Commercials World

Released: May 2009
Advertiser: Esthe
Brand: Esthe WAM Hair Removal Course
Agency: Ogilvy & Mather Japan, Tokyo
Country: Japan

Creative Director: Takuya Matsuo
Art Director: Masahide Yoshimi
Director: Yoshinari Kamiya
Production Company: Pyramid Film, Tokyo
Copywriter: Hono Nakano, Wataru Sato
Producer: Koichi Hara

Youtube Link

Hahaha one left!

Rubberduckzilla

Rubberduckzilla!!!!!!!!!

Ok, I dont know about you, but I've never ever had another girl feed me a drink out of a bottle!


Youtube Link