Global Game Jam

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2012 New Year Calendar

A 2012 New Year Calendar for you. Enjoy!

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Showing Aloha through Open Government »

Open Source.com shares some aloha with CityCamp Honolulu with coverage on their blog.

If I didn’t know any better this looks like my parents singing a cover to Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance.” Is this what the global village looks like?

pheona:

In mid-autumn festival of 2011, one of China’s most popular channels, Huhan Satellite, aired a Chinese senior version of Lady Gaga’s“Bad Romance,” called Lao Lai Qiao Gaga (老来俏 Gaga) which translates to  “Fashionable Old folks”. Of all the Lady Gaga covers that I have seen, this is one of the most bizarre ones!

Opening with 10 young girls from Crystal Band, each performer uses a traditional instrument made out of crystal. On both sides of the stage, there is a life size house with 6 rooms and within in each room there are couple of choir members. The choir consists of retired people from Changsha, the capital of Hunan Province. They created their own lyrics to Bad Romance in their local Changsha dialect.

After being posted on Youtube by @mishenic on Sep 13, 2011, the video by now almost reached 1 million views. Viewers have noted the dramatic performance of one of the choir members towards the end of the video who is wearing a red shirt. Her fans have made  a special T-shirt with her face on it.


What’s interesting about this show is that although it became popular in Western countries, Chinese viewers didn’t seem to pay much attention to the video. While the video has been played more than 900,000 times and commented on more than 1300 times on Youtube, it has only been played 4,269 times and commented 1 time on Tudou - one of China’s largest video sharing platforms (statistics as of Nov 22, 2011).

Luckily, my mother’s family is from Changsha, so I could understand the lyrics! I have provided a translation below.

Before you read my translation, one important thing to know is that “gaga,” in Changsha dialect, means grandmother. So the lyrics and the whole performance makes sense in terms of what “Gaga” means to people who speak Changsha dialect. Therefore, not all Chinese people would understand the whole context of this video because most people speak Mandarin in the PutongHua dialect. So only Chinese people who speak a dialect that refers to the word “Gaga” as grandmother could appreciate the lyrics, the setting, and the local references.

Dear son and dear daughter, Qiao (俏*) gaga is giving a show 

And when we give a show, we do everything to make it the best

Too much work, hardly ever come home (referring to sons and daughters) 

You’re always busy on the other end of the phone 

Busy Busy Busy, never end 

We old folks are trying to live a happy life 

Try to make the small details perfect, also hold on hold 住**) to big occasions

My child, are you watching TV now?  Are you looking at your parents? We are so good at singing! 

Tonight you must HOLD ON watching your parents transforming into GAGA in one second!

Please applause if you are pleased, so that I will not be nervous. Please sing and cheer with me if you feel happy!

Dear Children, oh dear children, your fashionable parents are giving a show here! 

If you give a show, then you do your best. I’m so happy that I’m so stylish!

Happy old fashionable Gaga! 

*俏 (Qiào): means beautiful and fashionable

**Hold 住 (Hold Zhù): Hold on, means be prepared for something shocking and surprising.

 Tiffani Lee has also translated a section of the lyrics here.

TEDx: TEDx Teams Up With IDEO to Relaunch "TEDx in a Box" Initiative »

Design Thinking meets TEDx. Here is a great example of applying design thinking principles to the rethinking of conferences. 

tedx:

TEDx has teamed up with IDEO.org to launch the second phase of the TEDx in a Box initiative, first launched in December of last year.

The IDEO.org team – Emily, Marika and Robin — were excited to work on their first project as IDEO.org fellows:

Emily: “I’m thrilled to be on…

(Source: tedx)