Saturday, July 26, 2008

So, yeah.

Since it's been over two months since my last post, I pretty much have officially moved back to my LiveJournal where I have been updating recently.





I can't ever seem to stick to one blog. And I really like the lay-out of this one, too, but my friends are all on LJ (kind of the reason I moved here, but still).

Who knows, though? I may eventually come back here, but it's not my priority now.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

YEEEEEES.

I SPEND MY TIME LOOKING AT THINGS LIKE THIS, AND I LOVE IT.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

I think it's the insanity of five AP tests...

...but I came home, sang a little bit, and then went on a SuJu pic-saving spree. Not just any spree, though.

A 'HeeChul with babies' spree.

Some of my new-found treasures:







:D

Saturday, May 3, 2008

I hate horse-racing.

I was just now eating dinner, and I decided to watch the Kentucky Derby. Yeah, it was ~*~ThRiLlInG~*~ and ~*~HeArT-pOuNdInG~*~, but when the race ended, the second-place horse, the only filly in the race, collapsed. She apparently broke two ankles and was immediately euthanized on the spot.

Sure, put an animal out of its pain when it's evidently suffering, but DON'T LITERALLY RUN IT TO DEATH AND CAUSE SAID PAIN.

I had to turn the TV off and sulk after I heard that bit of news.




tl;dr: I think I just put myself behind another liberal cause; they just keep piling up these days (AKA: I'm slowly learning about the underground horrors of the real-world).

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

AN IDEA.

So. I decided the best kind of birthday party that one could possibly have.

One and one's guests would do this, with a verse for every person invited. Those shiny/plaid outfit-creatures could even be worn, and an actual train would be implemented.

Even guys could participate~!







I'm having a laser-tag party at the beginning of June, but if I knew a way to produce something like this and get it filmed, I WOULD SO DO THAT INSTEAD.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Tune Up's 'Bounce'~!

I CANNOT STOP LISTENING TO THIS SONG, AND IT'S ALL BECAUSE MY FRIEND HAPPENED TO PLAY IT IN HIS JEEP THE OTHER NIGHT.


I CAN'T STOP.





IT'S LIKE 'CARAMELL DANSEN' ALL OVER AGAIN.

Monday, April 21, 2008

A rather lengthy and tedious personal entry.

The title says it all: I'm going to talk about myself, and there will be pictoral elaboration. ☆

Anyway. I went up to New York City last week with my Spanish class and another Spanish class, and we saw a Spanish-dance show at the Repertorio Español. We also ate some Cuban cuisine; and by we, I mean people other than myself. I, personally, enjoyed a turkey sandwich and french fries. I HAVE A REASON FOR BEING SO STINGY, THOUGH: I have a wisdom tooth coming in, and it hurts like a beast. D:

We then split up into three groups and wandered around the city. A lot of the girls in my group, though (they're those annoying, "Like, OMG!111!1", I-want-to-beat-them-in-the-face kind of girls) stopped at purse vendors ON EVERY BLOCK. OH MY FRICKIN' LORD. My two friends and I, not to mention all the guys in the group, were pretty fed up by the end of the walk. We did go in this awesome toy-store, though. The escalators there were so amazing, I had to ride them several times. ♥

Here are some pictures from the trip:


This was obviously taken from inside the coach-bus, but I took it to show what a nice day it was. :3


Me attempting to be patriotic. (I actually just thought the dusky-sunlight aspect of the scene was aesthetically-pleasing...)


This image seems very French to me. I love the blooming tree with the fire escapes in the background.


I ♥ NY. Especially Times Square.


More Times Square love. ♪


I'm actually going back up to NYC in two days (on Wednesday) with my Orchestra class, and I'm seeing this musical. I get to miss a practice AP Calc. test that day for this. :D :D :D


My pitiful and blurry attempt at snagging a pic. of the Rock Band advertisement.


I did get a good shot of the 'America's Next Top Model' poster, though. :DV


My friend, Laura, wanted a picture (albeit, it's a terrible one) of this Asian guy that could smoke and play the drums AT THE SAME TIME, LOLWHUT.


I took this because it represents where I am in life.


Rockefeller. NO WHAT, THE JAPANESE FLAG IS CENTERED, HOWEVER DID THAT OCCUR.


I found this mystical floating apple outside of the toy-store I mentioned earlier. It was pretty epic. (Note Central Park in the background.)


AESTHETICALLY-PLEASING, I SAY.


I took this picture of my program from the Spanish-dance show after I had gotten home.

On a more rural (and random) note, I also have some pics. from a horse farm (hahaha, I'm so technical) that my friend rides at. I went to go pick her up before we went over to our friend's house for a movie&hot-tub night, and while I sat in the car and waited for her (like a pansy, but there was good reason), I snapped some shots of horses:


See, I really did sit in the car on a perfectly nice day. WELL, ABOUT THAT. I'd just like to say that, at one point, a group of probably seven full-grown horses rampaged (I'M NOT EVEN KIDDING) at my (dad's) car after what my friend Kristen claimed was an "accident", said "accident" involving A BUNCH OF WILD BEASTS GETTING OUT OF THEIR PENS AND CHARGING THE EXACT AREA WHERE I WAS. I just kinda watched in horror as they flew at the passenger window; good thing they all swerved at the last minute. IT WAS QUITE THE SCARRING EXPERIENCE.


A nice, tame, non-rampaging horse-creature.




Now, like I said last entry (by the way, rain washed my chalk-message away! oh woe!), my Senior Prom was two nights ago, and it was surprisingly pretty epic. I went date-less, which was a plus in my book. I had gone with a date to previous dances (with my ex-boyfriend, specifically), and I hated the 'little lost puppy' act that he put on. Thus, I decided that to have a truly good time, I would need to go without anyone following me and dance with whomever I wanted. :D

I went with five of my best girl-friends, and I, personally, know that I had a good time. We went out and had pasta for dinner (I even tried some of my friend Caitlin's escargot, and it was good!). We got to drink sparling cider in the limo and put gospel music on bass! (Please to be catching the sheer mockery present in that last statement.)

The Prom itself was at Martin's Eastwind, a really fancy place down near Baltimore. As soon as we got there and through the door, we all rushed to the bathroom (I was basically dying from the need to urinate), and IT WAS THE FANCIEST BATHROOM I HAD EVER SEEN.

Unexpectedly, the DJ was pretty freakin' awesome. Of course, he did play 'Soulja Boy', which was stupid and inevitable, but he played some awesome songs to make up for it. HE ACTUALLY PLAYED SOME DAFT PUNK. I could've cried from sheer joy. 'Around the World' is even one of my favorite Daft Punk songs! He also played 'Sandstorm', a freakin' UNBELIEVABLY STELLAR techno song. I danced like a fiend to this one. :3

I even, uh, uhm, grinded for the first time (I normally scorn this activity). 0_o It wasn't really my choice, though. I was boppin' to the beat by myself at one point, and my friend basically pulled me on top of him. This was where I remained for pretty much the rest of the night, and I can say I actually enjoyed myself. >:D

However, when our designated Prom slow song came on, my close friend Laura and I ran wildly out into the lobby to fetch our friends Caitlin and Alyssa (I don't know why they were out there...) We have all been best friends since seventh grade (five years now), and so we all danced in a square-orgy-thing, hahahaha, to the slow song. :DV

Then, it was back to grinding. :D :D :D We even had a nine-person line at one point, AND THE CAMERA-CREW FILMING EVERYTHING CAUGHT THIS SPECTACLE, I WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO WATCH THAT MOVIE.

Anyway, here's two pics. of the four of us who have been friends for five years, one from New Year's Eve (spent in Baltimore's Inner Harbor) and one from the actual day of Prom outside of our friend Stacey's house:


Us standing on top of Federal Hill with Baltimore's Inner Harbor sky-line in the background. :D Order from left to right: Laura, Me, Alyssa, Caitlin.


We made sure to line up in the same order. :3


Nostagically enough, several times throughout the night, I kept looking up into the mirror above the dance floor and marveling at how I still looked exactly like I did when I was four years-old. ♡

We had an After-Prom Party at our town's athletic club from one until five in the morning. I basically wandered around talking to various friends and cohorts, tried to comprehend the various gambling games set up on the indoor track, played a little Rock Band, wrote some thank-you letters to sponsors, ate a doughnut, repeatedly ran at one of those velcro-walls in a full-body velcro-suit, stumbled down to the pool area and sat near the hot-tub, and then attempted to stay awake. I tried to earn a lot of tickets to put into the WIN A CAR bin, but I didn't win. EVEN THOUGH I EVENTUALLY PUT ABOUT THIRTY TICKETS IN FOR IT. D: D: D:

I even skipped school today to catch up on my sleep. And instead of doing anything shocking, I TOOK COLLEGE PLACEMENT TESTS, ME LITTLE REBEL ME.


Well, yeah. AND BECAUSE THIS ENTRY CAN'T POSSIBLY GET ANY LONGER, HAVE A DOSE OF THE 'LUCKY STAR' OPENING.



I marathoned this show within a span of three days over winter break, and absolutely nothing happened in the plot the entire time. :D :D :D It was quite the trip.

Saturday, April 19, 2008

Prom is today....

Other than that, look what I drew in my driveway!



You can't really see it, but I drew a large peace sign with the word 'peace' under it, and then 'peace' written around this in eight other languages (Russian, Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, French, German, Italian, and Korean).


I'm such a little liberal.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

I'm at a quandry.

I don't know whether or not /b/ has taken things too far with this.

I do feel like a terrible person for laughing at some of those pictures, though.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

♡!



This is exactly what I had been waiting for! ♪




The song has always been completely and utterly awesome, and now I love the PV! I liked the dance well enough, but my thoughts on the PV as a whole (mainly the various members' amount of shots, or lack thereof) were iffy.

BUT NOW.

I'm so glad I ordered this single! I even got the edition with the Studio Shot Version (Limited Edition B), which looks like it'll be awesome. :D

...

I took a break from writing this (approximately a seven-hour break), and now I'm tired.

I was going to post a lot more about this PV (it's definitely in my top 5 of Momusu PVs, maybe even my top 3!), but it's so late, so I'll just say a few things.

Koharu was SO impressive. I loved her interview parts.

This song really fits Reina and Aika. I think it suits them the most. Their night-scenes were the most effective, in my opinion.

I especially loved how the "Help me! Help me! Help me..." lines (near the end) were played, and the PV showed only Reina's face; it seemed to imply that while she was staring the camera in the eye (read: lens), inside, she was crying out for help. I think that this PV portrays all the girls as being full of a "resounding sadness", but they keep up a facade. The end shows all of them standing and just staring at the camera, and I love that part. It shows that while walking, waiting for the train, eating with friends, working out, being at an amusement park with friends, getting a ride home, and even being interviewed and featured in the spotlight, a person can feel an echoing despair inside.

I really love this PV. Like I said, I always loved the song and the dance, but now I love how the studio-version dance is interchanged with the original dance-version, and the lonely shots of all of the members more than give off the essence of this song.

Then, Reina even smirks at the end before walking off, almost like she may feel all of this sadness, but the last thing she'll ever do is show it, despite the inward calls for help, much less show it to the person watching the PV. She's going to continue keeping up the facade.





I adore this PV so much!

This should mark a new generation in Momusu's history. ★

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Super Junior M AND MY DEEP CONFUSION.

Let's clear this out of the way: I'm not an Only13-fangirl-obsessive-psycho-creature™, but I do have some sentiments toward the thirteen members that I have come to think of as Super Junior. I've got nothing against Henry and this Zhou Mi kid, but it feels kinda weird seeing these two acting as members of Super Junior (rather than Henry acting in 'Don't Don' as merely the "violin kid").

That's where the I-guess-but-maybe-not-really-I-might-just-be-biased-toward-the-original-'U'-"cast" feeling of "hate" came from; it's not really grounded.




On the other hand...this is one of the absolutely hottest things I have seen in quite some time.

The song:
The song sounds the same, obviously, as it's a cover, and Ryeowook and KyuHyun were added to Super Junior M most likely because of their voices. They sound stellar, and it seems that the two of them (and maybe DongHae) get the abundance of lines.

ShiWon and Hankyung get the first and second solos, respectively, just like in the original, which is awesome. Then Ryeowook gets his solo, and then I stopped caring really about the distribution. :D

I know KyuHyun took HeeChul's solo, which he executed nicely and all, but...he's no HeeChul.

SO, MANDARIN. I DON'T SPEAK IT, BUT I KNOW SOMEONE THAT DOES.

The MV:
I adore the black&white! The ceiling/floor in the dance-shot is kinda odd, but it's also still cool nonetheless. Sometimes, it looks like the setting is an airport, though.

I have always loved the use of mirrors to increase the aesthetic value of basically anything, and it works here very well.

I like the suits.

Both versions of 'U' have random girls (well, somewhat random) in them, but in this one, THE GIRL IS INTERACTED WITH, WUT.

I agree with the hordes of fangirls in that the hands-on-shoulder swivel-move line at the end is pretty epic. At least, it's boyband epic.

The members:

HanGeng/HanKyung - I thought this would be his MV, being the Chinese SuJu member and all, but DongHae, Ryeowook, and KyuHyun appear more than he does. D: However, in my opinion, he ties for hottest/most charismatic here. He is the first one shown entirely, and he gets a dance solo! His first black&white shot at the beginning is also amazing. I love his expression when he whips his head around at :11-:12.

ShiWon: Eh, he's always been kinda mediocre for me, and he's mediocre to me here, too. I mean, he's cool and all, but he doesn't really stick out. He does get the first line, though, just like in the original.

RyeoWook: He looks like such a baby here! I know he's the baby of SuJu and all, and maybe it's the hair-style, but seriously. He looks like he could break. His voice is completely fantastic, though, and he carries out all his difficult lines while looking like an angel the entire time (3:04-:05, for instance).

KyuHyun: He sings marvelously, and he gets a lot of shots, but, like ShiWon, he doesn't really stand out to me. I can't explain why. I was just kinda like "Oh, there's KyuHyun. Ryeowook looks cute. KyuHyun again. DONGHAE. Oh, Kyuhyun."

DongHae: Easily my favorite in this MV. I'm slightly biased, but so what. >:D He looks, dare I say it, beautiful here. I also love his rap (he raps second (originally KiBum's), Zhou Mi is first); when did his voice get so deep?! He ties with HanKyung for the most charismatic (you tell me that 1:18-:25 isn't just oozing charisma!)

Henry: YAY, VIOLIN KID. He gets a violin solo here (which is rockin'), and he sings really well! He's also very, very adorable (3:38)! I think he has a lot of potential, but I don't know how he should, uh, fulfill said potential.

Zhou Mi: I don't really know a lot about this kid. Not to sound rude (not like I already haven't before though, haha), but this guy is pretty fugly. He sings/raps well, but his eyes scare me. His overall face scares me, actually.

In conclusion, ahem-hem, AWESOME, I LOVE IT, I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THE NEXT ENDEAVOURS OF SUPER JUNIOR M.

YET. Nothing can really compare to the original 'U'. I guess it's this way with all covers (I kinda liked H.O.T's 'Haengbok' more than SuJu's, even), and I always have liked the original better than any sequel in regard to movies and books.

The original 'U' was the first Super Junior MV I ever saw (after I typed 'Super Junior' into the DailyMotion search and clicked the first thing that came up), and I loved it DESPITE ITS EXTREMELY TYPICAL BOYBAND AURA.

I remember scanning YouTube comments (there. were. thousands. my. lanta.) to specifically find out who the girly boy with the tarot card was that I had fallen in love with upon my very first viewing (it was HeeChul, obviously!), and it all went downhill, or uphill, whichever, from there.

Without further ado, the original, because it holds a super-special place in my fangirl heart:



I forgot just how much I enjoy eyeliner!KiBum's presence.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

SQUEE.

THIS. CLIP. WILL. NEVER. GET. OLD.











In other news, I wish to infiltrate 2ch.

Edit: SUPER JUNIOR M, WUT. This new 'U' MV (now in Chinese!) has developed a love/hate relationship with me. I'M A CONFUSED FANGIRL RIGHT NOW.

Monday, April 7, 2008

Calculus homework.

It deeply bores me, so while trying to finish it, I look up sex offenders online to pass the time.

There are a lot of child molestors in my area. One guy even was caught dealing in child pornography. D:



On a slightly more upbeat note, I also distracted myself from this load of asinine Calc. homework by jumping and flailing around for my brother. He is going to make a video after the style of the AWESOME SLOW-MO WORK of Arashi's 'Step&Go' PV. I flailed around in the house, kicking and punching the air, and my brother's outside now jumping off trees and the like. I KNOW HE HARBORS A LOVE FOR JPOP, IT'S JUST LATENT.

He even got footage of our cat flying through the air, courtesy of my throwing him (read: basically flinging him directly after waking him up from a nap) onto the couch.



He said he can slow all this stuff like in Arashi's video. I HOPE HE CAN, even though it won't be high-res. The slow-mo shots were what I loved about this PV.




AND I SIMPLY CANNOT GET OVER THE FACT THAT AIBA (green sweater, for those who don't know) LOOKS JUST LIKE MY KOREAN FRIEND. IT'S SO UNCANNY.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

URGENT.

If I were a guy (and Korean), I would want to look just like DongHae and act just like HeeChul, both of whom are from SuJu. :D


Especially in this MV, these two pwn the universe.

DongHae starts off the song (he's at the very front at the extreme start; the first one focused on entirely, and he's wearing dark clothes), and he's seen several times throughout the whole thing; I follow him the most, really.

And, then there's HeeChul. My frickin' FAVORITE SuJu member from Day One. He sings at :57, which starts off the second verse. Then, he also starts off the last verse, and he sticks his tongue out. HE IS SUCH A CAMERA-WHORE, BOTH VIDEO AND NORMAL, AND I WISH I COULD TRAVEL TO KOREA AND FIND HIM.

That's not to say it wouldnt't be awesome to be him as well. Or at least have that awesome personality, as a I mentioned before. HE PUTS ON THE PANDA HEAD AT THE END AFTER BASICALLY RIPPING IT FORCEFULLY OFF OF (SPOILER--->) LEETEUK'S (<---SPOILER) HEAD.




Plus, the MV is funny because SungMin in that red thing amuses me to no end.




I love me some Korean children dancing outside of a school to promote a movie about school-boys and feces, that I do.

Monday, March 31, 2008

One of my new favorite songs! ♬

After the hype of Big Bang's 'Last Farewell', in my own world, at least, I have discovered this Goto Maki song. I know she's in California now and has quit H!P; this was the first track on her last album as an H!P soloist, AND I JUST FOUND IT. There's no PV or anything, but the song still rocks.

Plus, its title is really cool, in my opinion. I wish I could find an English translation somewhere, though.




And. And! My brother likes this song. He claims to hate all things JPop (except for some select stuff), so I take this as a justification for my new-found adoration. :D

Friday, March 28, 2008

Been quite busy lately.

It's my spring break, but there's still so much to do! ♫

Anyway, I stole these buttons from Hello!Online because I really wanted to put them here (lots of credit to krazyassgamer from Hello!Online).

Mano Erina, or Manoeri as she's known to fans, was simply a Hello!Project Egg, which is kinda like the equivalent of Johnny's Juniors, except Eggs are more shoved in the back. She got a chance to shine and actually be involved in something when she was one of the Eggs chosen to be in Ongaku Gatas, the H!P futsal unit; there were big-name acts in this unit, like Yoshizawa Hitomi, Ishikawa Rika, and Konno Asami, all who had been members of Momusu before. Two singles have so far been released by this group, 'Narihajimeta Koi no BELL' and 'Yattarouze!' (I personally love both of these songs; 'Narihajimeta Koi no BELL' made me want a cape, and I've been singing 'Yattarouze!' around the house all morning.)

Manoeri was featured as one of the prominent Eggs in these PVs (in 'Narihajimeta Koi no BELL', she first sings around 1:22, and in 'Yattarouze!', she first sings around :44), and this is where I first noticed her. I kinda liked her, but didn't really care at the time.

Then, it was suddenly announced that Manoeri was going to become a soloist; she's only sixteen! I was very surprised by this, but I took more interest in Manoeri.

And, now. I have those buttons.



A lot of people are hating on her, saying that she's too young, yada yada yada, but seriously. Koharu's a frickin' soloist, and she's younger than Manoeri. Matsuura Aya started her solo career when she was only fourteen, and Goto Maki started her career sometime around Manoeri's age.

I, (obviously) for one, support Manoeri. She may not be the best singer or dancer, but I think she has the most potential, and that's why she was graduated from Ongaku Gatas so early to become a soloist. With training, she'll eventually be the best singer, dancer, and overall performer.

Plus, we're around the same age; she'll be seventeen in April, and I'll be eighteen in June. It's kinda cool to see someone your own age get such a big chance. ★

So, here's to the next Goto Maki! I think Manoeri is following in Gocchin's footsteps (she even looks like her, in a way!), but there is something very unique about this up-and-coming star.

I can't wait to see what she does in the future. :D



Edit: On a slightly random note, I pre-ordered Momusu's 'Resonant Blue' Limited Edition B from YesAsia a few days ago!

Sunday, March 23, 2008

I SAW THE CIRCUS TODAY.






I even captured vids. of the tigers and the human cannonballs. ♪



It was awesome. ♡





Anyway, I found this excellent Super Junior pimp-post on LiveJournal. I shall link to it because it's just that stellar; credit to both partaken and meitachi at LiveJournal. :3





AND GUESS WHAT? SUJU'S HANGENG/HANKYUNG IS GOING TO CARRY THE TORCH IN THE BEIJING '08 OLYMPICS.


Everyone that always said pretty boys never amount to anything can suck on that.

Edit: Random, but I found a Momusu member personality quiz.

I got this: Which Morning Musume Member Are You?
You scored as a Kamei Eri
You are most like Kamei Eri! She joined Momusu in the 6th generation, along with Michishige Sayumi and Tanaka Reina. She was very shy at first, but has since blossomed into a funny, sweet individual.
Yoshizawa Hitomi
88%
Kamei Eri
88%
Mitsui Aika
81%
Niigaki Risa
75%
Fujimoto Miki
50%
Tanaka Reina
50%
Kusumi Koharu
50%
Michishige Sayumi.
38%
Takahashi Ai
38%


I tied, I guess, for Yossie and Eri, but at the quiz's end, it asked which of the two statements presented was more true. One had to have been Yossie's and the other Eri's, which is why they have the same percentage, but I'm the most like Eri because I said the Eri statement was more true for me.

I think.

Saturday, March 22, 2008

I think my mind just exploded.

There is a game, it's called 'Second Life', and I happened to be looking at a guide in the book-store the other day for it because it reminded me of 'The Sims'.

Today, I discover that Berryz Koubou's 'Dschingis Khan' PV makes a cameo in some version or other of this game.


WHUT.

THE. THE CHARACTERS. THEY DANCE LIKE THE BERRYZ.







Also, this is the game where furries originated.

I don't really know what to make of this.

More JPop ranting lies ahead.

I know that I shouldn't get emotional over things like this, but I do. :3 It's probably because, for God only knows what reason, I like Hello!Project so much (seeing as they're my favorite Japanese girl-group factory, with AKB48 rising as a close second).

So, time for some pointless ranting.

As fans know and normal people don't, Dohhh!Up recently released the newest version, the 2008 version, of the Hello!Project All Stars song 'All for One & One for All' performed in concert. It made me very nostalgic (even though I don't really have a right to be; I wasn't a fan in 2004, when the original version was produced) because of just how many holes there are now.

The original 2004 version with subs:



This song introduces members in chronological order, based on when they joined Hello!Project. I'm stealing a guide from the YouTube comments that shows the entrance of the various groups and Momusu generations in order (note: Momusu was only up to sixth gen. by this point; that means no Koharu, Aika, JunJun, or LinLin).

Said guide, thanks to Celedam at YouTube:

00:14 — MM First Gen
00:25 — MM Second Gen
00:32 — Ayaka (Coconuts), Maki Goto (MM Third), Atsuko Inaba
00:37 — Melon Kinenbi, Asami Kimura (Country)
00:51 — MM Fourth Gen / W
00:59 — Yuki Maeda, Aya Matsuura
01:03 — MM Fifth Gen
01:10 — Miki Fujimoto (MM Sixth), Mai Satoda (Country)
01:31 — C-ute (H!P Kids)
01:38 — Berryz Koubou (H!P Kids)
01:45 — MM Sixth Gen
01:49 — Miuna (Country), v-u-den

Even in the original, there are some holes due to graduations, etc.. In first gen., there's no Fukuda Asuka or Ishiguro Aya, and in second gen., there's no Ichii Sayaka.

Now, the recent 2008 version (no subs):



There are obviously several differences here. I shall list them because it's oh-so necessary.

~Iida Kaori is now missing from the first gen.; only Nakazawa Yuko and Abe Natsumi are left.~

~THERE IS NO GOTO MAKI. Which means, consequently, THIRD GEN. IS NON-EXISTENT. In my opinion, Gocchin was one of the strongest presences, if not the strongest, in this entire spectacle. Something is definitely lost as a result. Notice how the camera doesn't focus on the soloists as a unit here, only separately; it's because it would look awkward without Gocchin leading the other two up to the front.

No, I'm not bitter, wut.~

~Fourth gen. is only half-complete. Honestly, this one breaks my heart. Yoshizawa Hitomi and Ishikawa Rika come out, alone. THERE IS NO TSUJIKAGO. These two still manage to keep up the awesomeness that was/is fourth gen. here, but, once again, something's definitely missing.

I would've died if these two had left a wide gap between them and put their arms around air or something; not that that would've happened. Just sayin.~

~Fifth gen. is also only half-complete. Ai and Risa come out alone, when, WHAT, YOU ASK. KONNO IS IN THIS PERF. AS WELL, SHE'S OFF TO AI'S LEFT AT THIS POINT. I, AS A FAN, AM EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED THAT KONNO DID NOT COME OUT WITH AI AND RISA. She sings the fifth gen. lines with them, but it's not the same if they don't frolick out together.~

~No Fujimoto Miki. Satoda Mai sings alone.~

~Berryz Koubou, in green, is one less; no Ishimura Maiha.~

~C-ute, in pink, still has seven members. However, Murakami Megumi has graduated and Arihara Kanna has joined.~

~I know it's not part of the original version, but Koharu should've had a solo seventh gen. line. Similarly, Aika, JunJun, and LinLin should've had an eighth gen. line. They all prance out behind sixth gen. and the two-thirds of Biyuuden during their solo lines, so I know they're there.~

~Of course, the true solo lines are different. Yossie gets Aibon's solo (I approve of this), Reina gets Gocchin's, Eri gets Tsuji's, and Ai gets Mikitty's.~


Also, I think it's only appropriate that Yuko starts the "Thank You!" at the end, consdering she was Momusu's first leader and all.



And now my rant is done.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Big Bang's 'Last Farewell'. ♪

I have basically been listening to this non-stop. I posted the link in the entry where I talked about my personal music choices for school dances, AND I HAVE NOT STOPPED LISTENING TO IT SINCE. ♡

Seriously. I downloaded it, put it on my iPod, and then promptly listened to it several times.

Every morning before school, I walk around the house with my headphones in (trying to actually wake up), and this morning, I covered between eight and ten listens to this song.

I AM SO ADDICTED TO IT, IT'S NOT EVEN FUNNY ANYMORE.

I need to get my Korean friend's opinion on this song; we played Super Junior's 'Don't Don' in his car last week, and he actually liked it! :D :D :D

'LAST FAREWELL' IS TOO AWESOME TO BE IGNORED, SO HERE'S THE LINK AGAIN.

I can't tell any of the members apart, though, but merely from listening to the song, I think I like G-Dragon(?)/the one that yells "Yes! Big Bang is back! Most definitely! Incredible!" when the true music starts up (if that's all the same member, I can't even tell).

If I wanted to learn, though, I'm sure I could. Telling Super Junior apart is now a breeze for me, but it took me maybe a month to learn.

Eh.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

What a conundrum!

The circus leaves Baltimore this coming Sunday, and suddenly, it's the only thing in the world I really want to see right now.

I WILL GET TO THIS CIRCUS OR DIE IN THE PROCESS.



THIS IS NOT A JOKE.

Monday, March 17, 2008

I don't know.

I have decided that at any given time I am either extremely happy externally while being a seething b-i-t-c-h internally or extremely happy internally while being a seething b-i-t-c-h externally.

Or the default option: I simply have constant PMS, and I'm essentially harmless.








Excuse me, I appear to be having an identity crisis.

To tide everything over while I'm out of business, here's HeeChul shopped as a woman.



Not too much of a difference, I know.

L'arc en Ciel's 'Ready, Steady, GO!'~!

Back in the day (oh, almost four years ago now), I fell in love with this song because it was the opening that played on AdultSwim for 'Fullmetal Alchemist'.

Years later (read: merely a few minutes ago), I decided to look up the real music video with English subtitles because I had been randomly belting this song out while attempting to work on my A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man journal, and I wanted to know what the lyrics meant (no, for some reason, I still was not too sure after all of these years).

Thus, I discovered that the English translation for this song has lyrics that would've been absolutely perfect to describe one's feelings in the midst of a Cross-Country meet.

Too bad Cross-Country season ended in October/November! D: I'm also a senior, so I won't be able to run it next year.

This song would've fit so well, had I bothered to look up the lyrics any sooner. Drat.






OH, OH. Today was Orchestra Festival, and my orchestra and I got straight 1s as our performance grades from the judges! On a 1-5 scale, 1 is superior! I am so ecstatic; I feel so accomplished. We may even get to go on to States like last year! OH RAPTURE.

And yeah, that's all.

Edit: Oh man, because of this whole 'Ready Steady GO!' escapade, I've been watching 'FMA' openings and endings, and they get me so nostalgic I COULD CRY. D: D: D:

I know that if I even so much as THINK ABOUT the 'Hikaru no Go' openings and endings, I may curl into a ball and bawl in a dark corner, wishing for my youth back.

Granted, I'm only seventeen now, BUT I USED TO WATCH THIS ALL WHEN I WAS FOURTEEN AND FIFTEEN AND THINK I WAS OLD. Time moves so fast!

Edit again: I CAN'T EVEN FATHOM THE 'INUYASHA' OPENINGS, THEN! MUCH LESS THE 'YU YU HAKUSHO' ONES FROM WHEN I WAS A WEE TOT AND JUST STARTING TO LIKE ANIME.

Edit once more: Ahahaha, yes! My brother just told me which Momusu member he thinks I look like from the 'Resonant Blue' PV! Conversation goes as follows:

'Resonant Blue' PV: begins playing
Alyson: Okay, so tell me which one I look like. :D
Sean: sighs, but watches
Alyson: inwardly beams...and outwardly
Sean: You always look like the same one to me...
Alyson: rubs hands together conspiratorially Yes, yes, go on.
Sean: But I can only see three here.
Alyson: I KNOW. ISN'T IT TERRIBLE?
Sean: They're only focusing on the ones with the white shirts...
Alyson: SEE, SEE, I WAS RIGHT.
Sean: You don't look like those three.
Alyson: THANK THE LORD.
Sean: Oh, I see the one!
Alyson: gesticulates wildly to "back dancers" Which one?!
Sean: That one!
Alyson: stops hand YES, I KNEW I LOOKED LIKE THE MOST LIKE RISA. HAHAHAHA, I WIN.
Sean: Now, you have to watch the 'White Stripes' for me.
Alyson: FINE~!

And, now I am happy. I may be a vain b-i-t-c-h, but I'm a content vain b-i-t-c-h.

The end.

Also, '200-Pound Beauty'; I am watching it.

The true end.




Edit from a few months in the future: Dang, it looks like the L'arc en Ciel vid. is unavailable now, and I can't find another with subtitles. D: D: D:

Sunday, March 16, 2008

I'm trying to test HTML codes, and this will probably fail.

Edit: THIS HAS NEVER WORKED FOR ME BEFORE.
©
π

Despite my somewhat negative commentary...

...I cannot stop watching the 'Resonant Blue' PV.

I wish I could be in Momusu so that I could be in PVs like this, BUT I'M NOT JAPANESE (or even Asian, at that), OH WOE.

I can only hold hope for my children, who will be an American (read: Irish/Austrian/German/other random European blood) and Thai mixed.

Maybe Momusu will have expanded into the entirety of Asia by that point.


BUT YES. The PV will not stop playing on my computer; I've even downloaded a version with English subtitles!


Fun fact: I've been trying to get my brother to tell me which member I look like (OF THE ONES THAT WE CAN ACTUALLY PICK OUT, THAT IS) in this PV (because I'm a vain whore, yay!), and whenever I start to play it, he leaves. He likes Momusu, but he hates when I play the "Which one do I look like!??1111!?" game with him.

It gets very tiring when he shuns me, but I'm used to it. :DV


Another, unJpop-related, fun fact: My cat just spazzed off of a chair in the kitchen, crashed into a basket, which unceremoniously followed him down the stairs, then he promptly smacked into the front outer-door, which opened because of the force at which he hit it, then this lovely ball of sunshine ricocheted down the rest of the stairs with wide eyes and a tail with the circumference of a standard-size baseball.

It was pretty epic.

I laughed so much today.

Firstly, I helped my younger brother and his friends film a project for their English class. There was much lulz involved. I can't even explain it, but sometimes ninth-grade boys can be really funny.

Secondly, I went out tonight with my friends to see 'Horton Hears a Who'. That movie was downright hilarious. I am SO GLAD that we caught it in time because it was the last show of the night, and we were ten/fifteen minutes late. We missed only some of the previews though (there's going to be an 'Ice Age' movie involving dinosaurs in 2009!; we did catch that preview).

I was in tears and completely incoherent by the end of this movie originally meant for kids, and I'm a cynical teenager (kinda, but not really)!

GO SEE THIS MOVIE IF YOU HAVEN'T ALREADY, I DEFINITELY RECOMMEND IT.

And then I arrived home half an hour after midnight, and my brother showed me the final (read: edited) version of the movie for his English class.



I don't think I've ever genuinely laughed so much in one day before; the Ides of March '08 was awesome.


Now, bed.

Friday, March 14, 2008

So. I was sitting here taking a 'Yaoi-Level Selector' quiz...

...and then my mother walks in the house from work and tells me that she's about to make my weekend.

I was like "Eh????" and didn't really move because my head hurt real badly, and I just told my mom to come in my room and tell me.

In the end, I figured out that I GOT THE HUMANITIES SCHOLARSHIP TO UMBC, AND I HAD REALLY WANTED THIS MORE THAN ANYTHING, AND I AM SO, SO, SO EXCITED NOW, AND I CAN'T WAIT TO SCREAM IT TO THE WORLD.

I GOT A FULL SCHOLARSHIP. SLDKSJFL;KASJD. I KNEW THAT MY INTERVIEW WENT WELL, I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT.

I AM SO HAPPY I COULD BURST; TODAY HAS BEEN SUCH A GOOD DAY.

Besides the whole head-ache thing, that is.

NEVERTHELESS, I AM DYING OF JOY. I NEED TO CALL MY GRANDMOTHER AND SQUEE, SHE LIKES THIS STUFF.





Happy Pi(e) Day~!

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Momusu's 'Resonant Blue' PV...

Edit: What follows is an extremely biased review. I am quite aware that I am over-the-top biased (don't mean to offend, but I'm not an Ai, Reina, or Koharu fan, so...), and I say some things here that are unnecessary, but hey. It was my personal review, and I tend to exaggerate...a lot. I'm also aware that Tsunku writes and produces everything Momusu-related, but because of my over-the-top bias, I kinda ignore that fact. I deeply respect all three of the leads in this song/PV, and I appreciate all that they have done and will do for Momusu and Momusu's popularity, but like I said, I exaggerate when I'm fed-up/disappointed with certain things, and I come off a lot meaner than I meant to.

That said, carry on, if you wish. Just be prepared.






It's out, and it can be found here.

I'll reserve my final judgments for later; Tsunku claims that there will be another version of this PV released. It is a bit early for an H!P PV to be released, so I pray that this is true.

I have a huge qualm with this dance-shot-only (it seems) PV; FIND THE ENTRY WITH MY MOMUSU FAVORITES BANNER. CAREFULLY EXAMINE THE THREE COMING IN DEAD-LAST. THEN CAREFULLY EXAMINE THE THREE LEADS IN THIS PV (AKA THE THREE WITH SOME TYPE OF WHITE IN THEIR CLOTHING).





I AM SO SADDENED.

IT'S A TERRIBLE DAY WHEN FREAKIN' KUSUMI KOHARU IS MY FAVORITE OUT OF THE FRONT GIRLS.

Reina and Ai's voices are nice and all, BUT IT'S SO BORING HEARING THEM OVER AND OVER.

IT'S PRACTICALLY THE AI-REINA-KOHARU TRIO WITH SIX BACK-UP DANCERS THAT ARE SIGNIFICANTLY MORE AWESOME THAN THOSE IN THE TRIO ITSELF.




Now, I'm going to try and take a deep breath.


...The song is completely awesome (despite the bland and over-used vocals, it has a nice style; other vocals (GAKIKAME DFDSKGJLDKGJA) would've made this song absolutely stellar, but whatever). I love the song, and I may even order the CD, who knows?

The dance is frickin' amazing. I love it so much! The overall feel of the dance? GLORIOUS. It's so dark and thrash-y and FANTASTIC, it's kinda like 'Egao YES Nude', 'Shabondama', and 'Do it! Now' mixed but with an original style.

This version (WE NEED ANOTHER ONE WITH MORE THAN AI-REINA-KOHARU FRONT GIRL DOMINATION, A FEW SHOTS OF RISA MERELY GOING "BABY, BABY!", AND A SINGLE SHOT OF SAYUMI SAYING "HELP ME!") begins with Aika standing front and center (don't get used to it) surrounded by JunJun and LinLin. You get a quick glimpse of Risa and Eri (WHO SHOULD'VE BEEN THE LEADS, CRY) dash by, and then the song is taken over by the God-awful trio.

I can't even tell what the order is. I'm thinking that, left to right during the main dance-shot, it goes LinLin, Risa, the three attention-whores, Eri, JunJun, and Sayumi and Aika are shunned to the back (SACRILEGE).

The best parts of this are when it begins (8th Gen.~!), the "dakedo, nee, nee, dakedo"/"dare ka, nee, nee, dare ka" parts when Risa and Eri come thrash in the center (I LIKE TO PRETEND THEY'RE LEADS HERE, 'PRETEND' BEING THE KEY WORD), and Sayumi's "Help me!" when we finally realize that she's actually in this PV. D: D: D:

That all said, the dance-shot's concept is truly awesome and amazing, but the front girls need to be switched around a bit. AND BY 'A BIT', I MEAN 'SIGNIFICANTLY'.

I do like Ai, Reina, and Koharu's outfits here (especially Ai and Reina's), but that all that I really feel like saying about them. I'm sure rabid Ai-Reina-Koharu fans will squee and be extremely content.

I, meanwhile, am wishing for a PV with some awesome close-ups, maybe (MAYBE?) a story-line, and a few shots of the dance.





Koharu smiles during her "Help me!" lines; this bothers me. In all serious-ness, this girl doesn't know what she is doing.

At least she's better than cocky, fake Reina and boring, only-good-for-singing-and-even-then-oh-so-bland Ai, though.



I'm allowed to be harsh, I'm PO-ed. Why did something so incredibly wonderful have to be tarnished like this? I know H!P has a history of pushing front girls and shunning the others, but I'm still very disappointed with this arrangement.



Now, to return to Hello!Online and collect what I was originally going there for before this PV news hit me: the MiniMoni 'Crazy About You' instrumental. I really, really feel like singing that song today, and I think I will.

Sunday, March 9, 2008

My day and my resulting realizations.

Today was actually a very productive Sunday despite the lost hour; I woke up (AT 11:15, STUPID DAYLIGHT SAVINGS) and immediately finished a Spanish packet (adverbial clauses and the subjuntive, ugh) and recorded excerpts of my orchestra pieces to hand into my instructor.

Now for today's realizations.

I went on a long and gorgeous hike with my dad and dogs today, and I realized that the proper way to sneak up on a herd of deer is to stay behind trees and crawl on the ground (and even then, they'll most likely see/hear you and run), that hawks will sometimes attack shadows of inanimate objects, that you need to stay in valleys and behind tree-lines when you are trespassing for an exceedingly long time at a place where you will get arrested if spotted, that all golf courses are owned by Republicans, that racing moving cars can be really enjoyable, and that nature is a beautiful thing that doesn't get a quarter of the attention it deserves in this day and age.

After said hike, I played some 'Super Smash Bros. Brawl' with my younger brother. Nothing was realized here except the ways to play the old Nintendo classic on a Wii-mote.

I was then told that I was allowed to accompany my mother to a viewing of her friend's mom. The atmosphere was surprisingly very relaxed, and my mom's friend (known to be a crier) held up extremely well. I realized here that funeral parlours are actually very nice places, the family of the deceased is not always sad, black doesn't need to be worn to a viewing, people will actually get portraits taken in anticipation of their death just so they can have an updated picture present at their viewing/funeral, casket-linings can have words embroidered on them, fingernails are removed once a person dies so that they can't grow any longer (this realization came as a kind of sudden thing I happened to spot while, uh, viewing the deceased), and that death does not seem like a scary thing or something to be terrified of.

The rest is not really made up of realizations, it's just fangirl blathering. Sometimes I like to connect my fandoms to my real life. :D :D :D :D

I "decorated" (read: stuck on pictures printed off of the computer) all of my white binders (Human Geography, Orchestra, and Spanish), and now they all have a different Chococat image on them! On a related note, I even have a Chococat cell-phone lanyard that I bought at Otakon attached to my phone. Yayayayayay Chococat!

Last week, I had a Humanities Scholarship interview at UMBC, my future college, and my interviewers were extremely curious about my musical interests. I was questioned about my singing and interest in Japanese and Korean music and my skills as a violist. I was then repeatedly told that I should compose music. Thinking on this, I became interested. If I ever, ever, ever, ever, EVER got the drive to do such a thing as compose music (BUT I NEED THE MOTIVATION FOR SUCH AN INVOLVED TASK, OH WOE), I would definitely arrange this early w-inds. song into an orchestral piece. IT WOULD BE SO BEAUTIFUL. I've even been thinking about which parts to give to which instruments and the balance involved, about the tempo (andante, allegro, largo, allegretto, and on and on) and rests, about the dynamics and crescendos and decrescendos, etc., etc.. IT WOULD BE AMAZING I TELL YOU, TRULY STELLAR. This song also seems like something I can completely relate to; the lyrics convey something that a Gemini can definitely empathize with.

Also, I was thinking about Prom, which is in a little over a month, and I ended up pondering the music to be played. I'm sure whatever the new 'Soulja Boy' is (ack ack ack ack, spit spit, retch) will be present multiple times (though I have no earthly idea what song this may be, and I don't care), I highly doubt any good music will be played. I'm sure it will be all rap and romantic junk. WHERE WILL THE DANCE MUSIC BE? IT WILL BE A DANCE, AND KNOWING THE PAST DANCES I'VE BEEN TO, THERE WILL BE NO DANCE MUSIC. WTF, DANCES, WTF.

So. In my mind, Prom's music will consist of all songs by ToyBox (the people who did the song 'Butterfly' on DDR Extreme 2; my friend, Laura, played more of their stuff in the car yesterday, and I liked what I heard), the Daft Punk song 'One More Time', and this Korean song (the true song doesn't start for awhile, but when it does, HELLO SEX IN SONG-FORM, PLZ TO BE PLAYED AT PROM, EVEN THOUGH YOU WON'T BE BECAUSE THE SCHOOL DISCRIMINATES AGAINST ANYTHING NOT IN ENGLISH).

EVERYTHING I AM SUGGESTING WOULD EVEN FIT THE WHOLE "PROM IS OUR LAST DANCE, EVARRRRRRRRR" CONCEPT (except maybe the ToyBox, but you never know).

I highly, highly doubt anything decent will be played at Prom, though, but I've got my fingers crossed.

At least 'The Cha-Cha Slide' is awesome.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

I swear...

...that I'm truly not as much of a b-i-t-c-h as I came off as in my last post. I SWEAR ON MY NEW KITTY GYM CD.

No, but really. My conscience is strong, and I felt that I needed to inform the Internet that I can be a good person, srsly. Most of the time I am (if I do say so myself), but everybody has cynical days, right? :D

Anyway, KITTY GYM CAME. Or, I guess I should just say GYM CAME. After all, there is no evidence of any of the Johnny's Juniors that make up the Kitty portion of the name in the song itself or on the packaging. They seem to only back-dance in the PV. The CD case doesn't have any reference to them on it, nor does the inside pamphlet (unless I'm missing some characters somewhere, which is very likely) mention them anywhere.

It's going to be hard to wean myself from screeching about Kitty GYM to simply screeching about GYM; Kitty GYM had a nicer, weirder ring to it.

SPEAKING OF. I WAS NOT AWARE THAT THE CD INCLUDED A SONG SUNG ENTIRELY IN ENGLISH BY GOLF AND MIKE. I was scanning the lyrics booklet and happened upon an entire song in English, and I immediately flipped back to 'Fever to Future' to see if it had been translated as well. ALAS.

However, I still like 'Fever to Future' the best. :DV It has that upbeat feel to it that I seem to be drawn to, while the rest of the songs (a Yamapi solo, THE ENGRISH GOLF AND MIKE DUET, I CAN'T GET OVER THE CONCEPT, and another song sung by the three) are a little more relaxed. Relaxed is nice, don't get me wrong, it's just my personal preference that steers me toward fast-paced, exciting pieces.

Anyway, I showed my mother the CD case excitedly when she came home this afternoon, and she picked out Mike, saying, "I like this one..."

I, of course, flailed and rabidly complimented her on her taste in Thai JPop (AND ENGRISH) singers, until she said, "He looks like that gay kid from 'American Idol'. :D :D :D :D"

I simply stood there, stunned into silence, and after a long inward debate on the implications of this comment, I took it as a good thing. At least my mother approved, in some way, of my, uh, boyfriend...from Thailand...that sings in Japanese....AND ENGLISH.

Too bad Danny Noriega got kicked off tonight. I kinda liked his prissy, diva attitude, too. I want a hot, gay friend.

Edit: I HAD TO DO THIS, I AM SO PROUD OF MY NEW BABY. Ignore my incapabilities with my own camera; the flash is present many a time, sometimes predominantly. D:



ISN'T IT BEAUTIFUL? That's my boyfriend on the right! Also, notice Yamapi's pimp-hat. Golf's just kinda there.



The CD itself; GYM is splashed across the top in big, bold letters, but where's the Kitty?



The picture on the first page of the pamphlet, not much different from the cover. It deserved a spot anyway, though.



ENGLISH LYRICS, WHUT. OVBIOUSLY, THIS IS EXTREMELY NECESSARY. IGNORE THE LARGE FLASH, I WAS EXCITED.



MIKE! I LOVE THIS KID. I feel sorry to have cut his brother out of the picture, but what can I say? He actually does look surprisingly similar to Danny Noriega, though. :0





Well, I'm actually kinda tired, so I think I'll trot off to bed soon.

Night!

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

MY KITTY GYM HAS NOT YET ARRIVED, OH WOE.

THE LONG, DREARY DAYS OF MARCH WILL BE EVEN LONGER AND DREARIER WITHOUT MY KITTY GYM.

It supposedly shipped out last Thursday, so WHERE IS IT??? Grrrr.

Anyway, on a personal note, today I learned that I am an emotional sadist. I send rumors about myself (y'know, "I like him!" or "No, I really don't like him at all!", really grade-school stuff) out to my group(s) of friends, and then I sit back and watch emotional chaos unfold like the cat that ate the canary.

I don't even know why I'm typing this all on a blog, actually; I guess I know that the Internet doesn't judge people (or does it?) for their tendency to be an emotional masochist with malignant intent. I find entire "He likes you! OMGGGGGG!!!11!" scenarios really, REALLY amusing and entertaining, and so I like to watch them unfold and lie my way through them, laughing inside all the time.

Maybe this is my true Gemini nature? Or maybe I'm just naturally an evil person. After just now slogging through that whole religious sermon in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, I feel like I'm going to be sent to Hell for the slightest thing I do.

What can I say, books influence me. Trust me, though, I'm not a holy-roller, God forbid. Ohohoho.




Wow, I'm in a really cynical and b-i-t-c-h-y mood today. D: I SWEAR IT'S THE LACK OF KITTY GYM.

SO. LET'S BRIGHTEN EVERYBODY'S DAY UP WITH SOME W-INDS. FOOTAGE. It's a concert performance (I don't know the date, but judging from the members' appearances, I would say within the last year or two? I'm aware that I should know this...) of 'Try Your Emotion''s coupling song, 'Graduation'.

I LOVE THIS SONG. It's one of my all-time w-inds. favorites, along with 'Shiki' and a few others, and this song especially means a lot to me now more than ever because I'm a high-school senior. As of late, I've been singing it more that anything else, with 'Fever to Future' a close second. I've been belting out 'Graduation', though, around my house constantly for the past few days.

Ryo and Ryu are very awesome here, and as much as I hate the whole concept of Keita getting the spotlight all the time (I still adore him, though!), he really deserves it here. There is SO MUCH emotion in this song, it's unbelievable. I was close to crying last night when I watched it for the first time.

I have loved w-inds. for almost two years (and, of course, scoured the Internet for all of their vids., perfs., etc.), and this has to be one of the best things I have ever seen.

Here are English-translated lyrics, and here are romanji lyrics.

So, without further ado:





I really like the quick shot of the neck of the guitar before the second chorus. :D

And, man, Keita's notes at 2:43 and 3:57 are stellar. He does sound a bit strained, but he's really pushing it here, and it's awesome.

Five stars, w-inds., five stars.



And now I'm going to go counsel myself on what it means to be nice to others and what happens to little girls that compulsively lie before I get slapped in the face with bad karma. Maybe I'll also have a bit of cherry pie and watch America's Next Top Model at 8:00.

Sounds like a plan.

Edit: I FOUND A PREVIEW OF 'RESONANT BLUE'. I LOVE IT. IT MAY BE TAKAHASHI/TANAKA LEADS AGAIN, BUT I STILL LOVE IT ANYWAY, WHICH IS SAYING SOMETHING. LOADS BETTER THAN 'MIKAN' UPON FIRST LISTEN.

I normally hate random insert screeches/groanings within songs (and yet I like 'Egao YES Nude', haha), but I am enraptured by the "OO-WAY, OO-WAY-OH "-ing done here.

THE PV MUST BE COMPLETELY AND UTTERLY AWESOME (am I asking too much, H!P?), OR THIS ENTIRE CREATION OF PERFECTION WILL BE RUINED.

I WAIT ON TENTERHOOKS WITH MY FINGERS CROSSED.

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

The origin of my eternal love for JPop.






No explanation needed. In short, old-school w-inds. pwnz n00bs.

Thursday, February 28, 2008

Random.

Earlier this afternoon, I finished my mandatory service hours for the Spanish Honor Society (also known as La Sociedad Honoraria Hispanica, forgive my lack of accent marks), and I merely have one hour left for my mandatory service time for the National Honor Society! YAYZ.

Yesterday, I also went to get fitted for my prom dress (it finally came in to the store!), and I didn't need any alterations! SQUEE. I'm actually a size 8 (I thought I would be a size 10, but hey).

I also don't really have a lot of homework tonight, so I can spend most of my time reading Stephen King's Cell! JOY.

I also got a scholarship offer in the mail today from a college that I don't plan on attending! IRONIC SCREE.

And since this is a random post, I'm going to photo-dump some pictures that I took of my stuff when my shelves collapsed (one night during dinner, haha, we heard the crash from the dining room down the hall) due to the weight. I basically just threw all my stuff on my bedroom floor in groups and took pictures; there's really no reason behind it.

It was mostly wee-a-boo stuff, too. My brother said that I was receiving a subliminal message.




The only blurry one. Two empty pocky boxes that I saved, an also-saved-but-empty strawberry Ramune Juice bottle, a little Japanese woman-figure that I bought from the store, and an abandoned toy Japanese flag that I found in a gutter somewhere. I'm not even lying. I don't even consider it odd that I picked said flag up and took it with me.


This fan and the two paper dolls actually came from Japan. My grandmother's friend's daughter ( >:D ) traveled to Japan, and I got to reap the souvenir benefits.


HARRY POTTER. Arranged in a 7-6-5-4-1-2-3 order. :DV


My DVDs. :D I have four volumes of the anime Spiral ~Suiri no Kizuna~, one volume of The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Ratatouille (my favorite cartoon movie!), and Dead Poets' Society (my favorite dramatic school-boy movie, and I'm normally extremely aggravated by Robin Williams' mere presence!).


A dish of candy with a pair of stupid headphones, a green bouncy ball, and all of my colorful "first-generation iPod nano" cases. Notice my awesome devil case. :3


All of my video-cassettes back from when I obsessively taped my favorites animes off of Toonami and AdultSwim. I have the entire Yu Yu Hakusho series and most of the Inuyasha series (up until I got bored with it; I lasted a pretty long time).


All of my shoujo manga: Fruits Basket, Loveless, Ouran High School Host Club, Marmalade Boy, and Kare Kano (His and Her Circumstances).


...And my shounen manga: Hikaru no Go, Case Closed (Meitantei Conan), Gensomaden Saiyuki, Saiyuki Reload, and Naruto. I SWEAR I LIKED NARUTO BEFORE ALL THE POSERS STARTED WEARING THE ORANGE JACKETS. SRSLY. You can also tell that I'm a big Saiyuki fan. :3


MY BELOVED JPOP CDS, SOON TO BE ADDED TO BY MY KITTY GYM. Shut up, I know I only have three, my parents just started letting me order off of the Internet. Super Junior's Second Album (with the Marilyn Manson-esque (according to my brother) opening track 'Don't Don'), NewS' 'weeeek', and Hey! Say! JUMP's 'Ultra Music Power'. Soon, I will have a fourth that says Kitty GYM 'Fever to Future', AND I CHECK EVERY DAY FOR IT IN THE MAIL EVEN THOUGH IT IS NOT TO BE SHIPPED UNTIL MARCH 3RD.

So, yeah. My treasures. SOON TO BE ADDED TO BY KITTY GYM'S 'FEVER TO FUTURE' (which was released in 2006, but I tend to find gems later than most).







OH MAN, ALL OF MY SENIOR 2008 PARAPHENALIA GOT DROPPED OFF BY THE UPS MAN TODAY, AND MY MOM JUST YELLED BACK TO TELL ME. I MUST GO RAVAGE IT.

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Sometimes I get impulses.

For instance, I just now finished speaking with a student at my future college (University of Maryland, Baltimore County; UMBC for short), and what she had to say really helped me and made me feel better about the whole "higher education" deal; I had an extremely enjoyable time talking to her (save for my stupid brother screaming his lungs out for some inexplicable reason in the living room while I was on the phone). Thus, when I got off the phone, I was happy and hyper, and so I did the first thing that came to mind.

I freakin' ordered Kitty GYM's 'Fever to Future' off of YesAsia without a second thought. I almost even put it on the fastest method of shipping, but I restrained myself because I'm stingy with money.

When my Kitty GYM arrives in the mail sometime next week (or the week after...), I'm probably just going to stare at it for a second and try to remember when I summoned it here.

That, or I'll remember my summons and furiously rip it out of its packaging while squealing rabidly.




It'll probably be the latter, actually.


For some reason, I've only ever ordered stuff by male artists, such as Super Junior and random groups from Johnny's Entertainment. I've, surprisingly, never ordered anything Hello!Project-related (though that could all end soon now that I've discovered Mini Moni's 'Crazy About You'). 0_0 I was thinking the other day, however, of ordering me some AKB48 stuff, either 'Keibetsu Shiteita Aijou' or 'BINGO!'.


Haha, speaking of Hello!Project and AKB48 (and Johnny's Entertainment), I've found that a few members of AKB48 possess a striking resemblance to other female JPop singers. Look, look!

First, AKB48 Team A's Maeda Atsuko (Acchan):



...and Morning Musume's Kamei Eri (Kame):




Second, AKB48 Team K's Ono Erena (Erepyon):



...and ex-Morning Musume/ex-W's Tsuji Nozomi (Nono):




Third, AKB48 Team A's Tojima Hana (Hana?):



...and KAT-TUN's Kamenashi Kazuya (Kame, too!):




Yeah, I'm aware that I have no life; I can't help it. Mostly.



Oh! One last thing before I shut up!

Is this girl not the most adorable little thing (haha, she's only a year younger than me, though!)? I kinda want to trade my brother for her. It's kinda odd, though, that she's one of the three to commit suicide in the 'Keibetsu Shiteita Aijou' PV; she's the very first person in the PV (her back's facing the camera), and she's the closest one in the first view of the dance shot as well. She's ~KaWAIiiIIIiiIIi!!11!1~, but still hardcore.

She's obviously one of my current favorites among AKB48, along with Erepyon and Minegishi Minami (Miichan).

:DV

Friday, February 22, 2008

I'm a cool kid now!

I got me some Hello!Project rankings! :DV Thanks in entirety to Hello!Blog.

Haha, I bet the curiosity is running rampant. :3 So without further ado...

Morning Musume:



1. Niigaki Risa 2. Michishige Sayumi 3. Mitsui Aika 4. Kamei Eri 5. Li Chun ( JunJun) 6. Qian Lin (LinLin) 7. Kusumi Koharu 8. Tanaka Reina 9. Takahashi Ai
It wasn't too hard to pick my Momusu favorites; I have the few that I adore (Niigaki, Michishige, Mitsui, Kamei), the two Pandas in the middle (JunJun, LinLin), and the few that I really dislike (Kusumi, Tanaka, Takahashi). Obviously, I rate the under-appreciated highest, the mediocre ones in the middle, and the front girls dead last. So, yeah. I pretty much knew how my ranking would turn out before I even did this.


Berryz Koubou:



1. Kumai Yurina 2. Tsugunaga Momoko 3. Shimizu Saki 4. Tokunaga Chinami 5. Sugaya Risako 6. Natsuyaki Miyabi 7. Sudou Maasa
Oh my freakin' lord, this was so hard. I love all these girls so much, and so it was really hard to put them in any order. So, I basically just threw them together by who I would like to be friends with. :D

C-ute:


1. Yajima Maimi 2. Arihara Kanna 3. Suzuki Airi 4. Nakajima Saki 5. Okai Chisato 6. Umeda Erika 7. Hagiwara Mai
C-ute was quite the opposite of Berryz. The first and last places (Yajima and Hagiwara) were definite for me, and as for those in the middle (Arihara, Suzuki, Nakajima, Okai, Umeda), I just kinda threw them in a semi-random order. By semi-random, I mean that I ordered the middle girls by who I thought fit into the group the most.


Yay!