11.11.11

November 11 (11.11) is Pepero Day in South Korea. A Pepero 빼빼로 is a "cookie [stick] dipped in chocolate", a favourite snack in South Korea and Japan, where it is known as Pocky. Pepero Day is somewhat similar to Valentine's Day, but instead of chocolates, roses or other typical Valentine's Day gifts, the gift of choice is Peperos.

This year, however, November 11th is extra special in Korea as children born will have identity numbers that start with "111111". To ensure that their children have a sestet of ones in their identity numbers many pregnant mothers have gone out of their way to get c-section surgeries scheduled for today. According to Reuters, c-sections scheduled for 11 November 2011 is up by 20% from usual. (I'm obliged to a South African friend for sending me the link to the news article.)

Speaking of South Africa, annually on the weekend closest to 11 November, South Africa celebrates Poppy Day. It is in remembrance of those that died and fought in battle during World War I, World War II and other wars. World War I ended at the eleventh hour on 11 November 1918 when Germany signed the armistice. In South Africa it is known as Poppy Day because poppy flowers are traditionally sold as part of fundraising initiatives by the South African Legion to help veterans of war. The poppy was chosen because it grew on the battlefields of Flanders (Western Front), where many soldiers died. A poem written by Colonel John McCrae (a Canadian medic) brought wider attention to the poppie connection.

In Flanders Fields -- John McCrae

In Flanders fields, the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place;wait and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead, short days ago,
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields!

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands, we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields!

The red poppie became the symbolic flower of remembrance.

In South Africa Poppy Day remembrance ceremonies are held on the Saturday nearest 11 November and some services are also held on the adjacent Sunday. It is not a national holiday, so I'm not sure how many people actually observe it, but it's function is similar to Remembrance Day or Armistice Day celebrated by countries of the Common Wealth and Veterans Day in the United States which is also celebrated on November 11th. South African's typically use Poppy Day to remember South African soldiers who died in WWI, WWII, the Korean War and Border War, as well as surviving veterans of war. Ceremonies are typically held in Cape Town and Pretoria.

November 11 is also Nigel Tufnel Day kept by the cult following of the 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap. This day was chosen because of the recurrence of the number 11, which became a significant number in the movie, based on one particularly scene in which the character Nigel Tufnel explains how they can turn the volume of their amplifiers "up to eleven", making them "one louder" that other bands that can only go up to ten. The quote "up to eleven" has become pop-culture idiom, suggesting that something is done better, beyond it's expected limitations. I'm not sure exactly how one celebrates Nigel Tufnel Day; I guess you make sure to do something "up to eleven."

Also from popular culture and linked with 11 November 2011 is the movie that is supposed to have been released today, 11-11-11. While it may have gone on circuit in other parts of the world, I didn't see it showing in Korea (I went to the movies today). Then again, I'm not particularly interested as I avoid horror movies; this film was directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, the director of SAW II, III and IV, none of which I've seen. On the other hand, I do like science-fiction films and this is a sci-fi horror. I'll wait a bit and first see how it rates on RottenTomatoes before I make my decision.

On a more philosophical note, 11 November is the anniversary of the death of the Christian philosopher Søren Aabye Kierkegaard, the father of Existentialism. Existentialist thought was most notably expounded upon by later philosophers like Friedrich Nietzche, Martin Heidegger, and Jean-Paul Sartre, but it was Kierkegaard that first focussed on the human dilemma of freedom of choice and the existential angst this causes. He wrote about it in his book The Concept of Anxiety. One example in which he explains this angst requires us to imagine a man standing on the edge of a very tall building and looking down. The man experience two kinds of fear: "the fear of falling, and fear brought on by the impulse to throw himself off the edge. This second type of fear, or anxiety, arises from the realization that he has absolute freedom to choose whether to jump or not, and this fear is as dizzying as his vertigo" (The Philosophy Book, p. 195). In short, Kierkegaard argued that apart from the freedom to be born, God endowed us with free choice. Because making life-altering decisions always cause much angst in me, I'm quite attracted to the Existentialists. Kierkegaard died at the young age of 42 on 11 November 1855.

11 November 2011 is also a day on which New Agers celebrate "Interconnectedness Day", with heavy focus on the Green Agenda. Previous such Interconnectedness Days were celebrated on 10 October 2010 and 9 September 2009. I guess next year on 12 December 2012 will be the last year Interconnectedness Day will be celebrated in a very very long time.

On a personal note, my first best friend, Matthys du Preez, and I used to celebrate 11 November as our friendship day. I can't remember exactly what the reason was that we chose this day as our friendship day, but we celebrated it as a birthday. Matthys was literally my first friend. I cannot recall any friend before him. Our parents were friends and because we were of the same age we naturally became friends. We also went to the same elementary school (a "plaasskool") together. We grew up on farms in the same farming community and there was only one elementary school where all the children in the community went -- a little school with hardly 300 pupils. We were so close in personality that many people mistook us as twins, to our delight -- I guess the fact that we often dressed alike contributed to it. We often finished each other's sentences and my mother told me that we seemed to communicate telepathically as we would sometimes just look at each other and seem to know what the other was thinking. Unfortunately my first best friend moved away when we were about 11 years old and due to the distance our friendship waned until we completely lost contact. In recent years I've started to increasingly think about my old friend. I was able to look him up and sent him an email with the hopes of meeting with him at the beginning of this year while I was in South Africa, but he didn't respond to my email. I guess he's not as sentimental as I am about those early years. In our late teens, early twenties, we both lost our mothers to illness. I think we could have been a great comfort to each other had we stayed in contact. I sometimes wish I could have been there for him during that time of loss and during other trials he may have experienced as a child. I have fond memories of our friendship and I remember quite distinctly the good and caring friend he was. I am very blessed with some great friends in my life. I have, in part, Matthys to thank for that. Because my first friendship had been such a very close one, that has become my expectation of a real friendship. Matthys' care and loyalty as a young boyhood friend inspired me to become the same type of friend later in my life.

Happy 11 November, for whatever reason you decide to celebrate it.

Lady Gaga's "Judas" and the Battle with Sin

A friend practically begged me to translate into English the post I did in Afrikaans about Lady Gaga's new single “Judas”. I was reluctant because it requires time – something I'm stingy of, but I'm giving into her request; although this will be a very direct and very sloppy translation:

Lady Gaga's new song “Judas” from her most recent album “Born This Way” is not finding favour in South Africa. Many radio listeners have requested that it be removed from the air.

The speaker in the song says that she is in love with Judas and that she washes the feet of Judas with her hair. The speaker draws thus a parallel between Jesus and Judas and like Mary Magdalene washed the feet of Jesus and dried it with her hair, so the speaker will also wash the feet of Judas. In effect, Judas becomes a parallel Messiah of worship deserving figure. Her love for Judas is unconditional. She will forgive him if he were to “lie through his brain”; even if he were to cheat on her “three times,” she would still forgive him. Judas is not good for her, nonetheless does she love him unconditionally and therefore she describes herself as a “Holy fool.” By implication, Jesus is also a “Holy fool” because he loves us unconditionally and because he forgives us ceaselessly.

The song makes a strange turn in the bridge when the speaker describes herself as a “fame hooker, prostitute wench” that “vomits” her thoughts. The prostitute that washed Jesus' feet, found forgiveness for her sins in Jesus. The speaker in the “Judas” song finds her forgiveness in Judas: “Judas kiss me if offensed.” She is unhappy that her loyalty to Judas is incomplete because “something's pulling me away from [Judas].” That something that pulls her away from Judas is Jesus. She finds herself in a double bind: “Jesus is my virtue, / Judas is the demon I cling to.”

What exactly Lady Gaga's intention is with this song I do not know. If Judas is a symbol for the sins in her life with whom she has a relationship, then I have much sympathy for her. I have also written about my (love) relationship with sin – poems inspired by my battle with habitual sins.

[I'm too lazy to translate the poems.]

And just like Lady Gaga have I described myself as a whore, in much worse terms than those she use in her song.

Anyone that has an honest recognition of his or her own sins knows that it is a type of love relationship one has with the deed. You know that it is bad for you, but you can't help it. Even the Apostle Paul was honest about this:

Romans 7:18, 19, 24 (my translation): “For I know that in my, that is in my flesh, resides nothing good; for to do is present in me, but to do good, I find not. Because the good that I wish to do, I do not, but the evil I wish not to do, that I do . . . O, woeful human! Who will save me from this body of death?”

Paul was of the opinion that as a Christian one is in a double bind battle: “For I embrace the law of God to the inner man; but I am aware of another law in my body that fights against the law of my mind and captures me under the law of sin that is within me” (Romans 7:23, my translation.) There are two laws in us; two forces: one good and one bad; the influence of Jesus and the influence of Satan. Lady Gaga describes it in her song as “Jesus is my virtue, / Judas is the demon I cling to.”

There is a moment of hope in Lady Gaga's song; that line: “Jesus is my virtue.” Nowhere is she trying to redeem herself. She is a “Fame hooker, prostitute wench” that clings to sin – almost without hope. Paul's exclamation is similar: “I, woeful human! Who will rescue me from this body of death?”

But then Paul answers his question: “ . . . Jesus Christ, our Lord!” (Romans 7:25); like Lady Gaga: “Jesus is my virtue.”

I'm not trying to defend Lady Gaga's song. I agree that it leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Nonetheless, it reveals a pertinent Christian point: The battle with sin is an intimate reality – almost like being in love or addicted; however, there is hope: “Jesus is my virtue.” Paul continues in his argument saying that “the Law of the Spirit of the life in Christ Jesus freed me from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2, my translation). Paul's advice is to keep our hope in God and to turn our thoughts away from the “fleshly,” and rather contemplate spiritual matters. It requires a conscious purposeful choice to rather think upon the “spiritual things” (Romans 8:5). Eventually, like Jesus said, we have to choose—we cannot follow two masters. Either Judas or Jesus.

Until you have not had the experience of struggling with personal intimate sins, be not too hasty to judge Lady Gaga.

There are two things that I can say about Lady Gaga. It is not my type of music, but there is no question that she has an excellent voice and is very talented. Secondly, she is brave. Not any person can do what she does. Call it sensationalism if you wish. Nevertheless, it requires guts to expose yourself like that.

Lastly, what do I think about the reaction of South Africans and them requesting the song being removed from the airwaves. I like it. Consumers need to be more proactive in what they want. It is not necessary for us to just gobble up everything the mass media throws at us. We need to be given a choice and we need to strive for quality. I hope that South Africans will also start to criticise all those other (Afrikaans) trash that are polluting our radio waves.

Something for the girls . . . or is it the boys?

An interestingly strange Ukrainian boy band, Kazaky, using a homo-erotic theme as their selling point, has the web ablaze. The marketer (one of the things I studied) and trend watcher in me finds it curious. Is this Soviet Union group playing the same marketing strategy that the lesbian themed duo-act t.A.T.u did a couple of years back? Is it a satire of girl bands and their overly sexual dancing routines? (Read more about the marketing strategy of girl bands in Korea here.) Is this merely an extreme version of the sexual objectification of boy bands? Is it merely a choreographer's work of art, jived up for the masses, as the second video below with the statuesque stills would suggest? (Kazaky's act is more focussed on their provocative dancing and chiselled bodies, than on their rather blasé singing.) Are they committed to some form of social commentary? Are they really a band aimed at the LGBT community? Or is their perceived audience women?





On a side note, as a martial artist, I'm terribly jealous of that dudes flexibility.

More Charlie Sheen

Okay, so momentarily I also thought of getting a bit concerned about Charlie. And then I saw this video he did. If he is kosher enough to make fun at himself and the whole craziness surrounding him in pop-culture, there is much to be said for his "winning" disposition. Go Charlie!

Charlie Sheen's Winning Recipes from Charlie Sheen

Alexander McQueen's the Man! [And so is Lady Gaga. And let's not forget about Bjork.]

I love Alexander McQueen's designs. His 2009 Fall Men's Collection was one of the most interesting fashion collections I've taken note of. I wanted to blog about it but forgot completely. Then suddenly, the following design by McQueen reminded me about it.

Again McQueen impressed me with his great ingenuity. Yes, it's Lada Gaga dressed in a frock made of raw meat -- or at least it resembles raw meat. I doubt it's the real deal. And wasn't it for the connotations, it could actually be a "beautiful" dress. Lady Gaga said that it was meant to make a statement about [women?] being viewed as "a piece[s] of meat." This was one of the outfits she wore during the recent MTV Video Music Awards. Credos to Lady Gaga for making the pop world more interesting.

If you don't know it yet, Lady Gaga won eight awards, including the best video of the year.



This meat dress is probably the most talked about outfit since Bjork showed up as a swan for the 2001 Oscars.

How Ricky Martin Bangs

So I hear Ricky Martin is gay.



According to popular stereotype straight men can't dance, and if there is one thing that Ricky does know how to do, it is to dance. So I guess we ought not be too surprised at his recent relevation.

I wonder how his official homosexual status will influence his sales as a singer? Will his girl fanbase now be completely taken over by pink money? His songs and music videos have always, at least in my opinion, catered for the heterosexual market. Take for instance his "She Bangs" song and music video:



Speaking of videos, who is the target market for this eerie seductive video promoting his coming album?



The video looks more like part of a postmodern art exhibition than a marketing stunt for a new latin pop album.

In other news, Ricky is going to play the character Che in the Broadway musical Evita next year.

Respect to Lady GaGa

I've never really taken Lady GaGa seriously. I thought, erroneously on my part, that she's probably not very talented, that everything is just a big show and that her performances are probably all computer assisted. Well, that's until I saw the video below showing an unplugged performance. She's actually quite talented. Just look how at home she is on the piano and she is a great singer too.

Sorry Lady GaGa for my unenlightened prejudice.



Still, I prefer the unplugged version above over the commercial version below, but after having heard the real Lady GaGa, I can listen to the commercial version with an appreciation that was lacking before.