Happy holidays~

Merry Christmas!
Happy New Year!

Still need to come up with some New Year's resolutions to fail at again. In the meantime, a relaxing picture of palm trees...

Flo to the rescue!

I recently played the game Diner Dash: Sizzle and Serve for the DS and let me tell you, that game is hella addicting! Either that or I just have no self-control. Basically, it's about a woman, Flo, who quits her boring and stressful office job to open her own restaurant. Which apparently entails waitressing at (and saving?) a number of different restaurants before opening her own dream restaurant. Although seemingly monotonous, this game becomes surprisingly challenging and does manage to hold your (or at least my) attention throughout. There are different types of customers all with their own little quirks and paces, as well as different "freebies" that the restaurants eventually offer to their patrons which really just make your job a whole lot more complicated and hectic than it already was.

Which makes me wonder if Flo really thinks that this job is any better than her office job where she was doing basically the same thing (catering to the whims of other, highly demanding people) except that she didn't have to run around like a chicken without a head in her previous job. But whatever floats your boat, right? Follow your dream and all that jazz.

All in all, I really enjoyed the game and managed to unlock all the unlockables and essentially finish the game. So when I realised that there was a sequel, Diner Dash: Flo on the Go, I practically squealed with excitement at the prospect of more waitressing happiness. Until I actually played the game.

Flo on the Go is a massive step down from Sizzle and Serve. The graphics are worse, the music is lame, gameplay is less responsive, the upgrade system is barely flexible, and it's hard to tell what the heck is even going at each table. Probably the sole redeeming change was that you don't have to switch the screen between the waiting area to the dining area (though admittedly this actually made Sizzle and Serve somewhat more challenging). Granted, I only played through the first level (but each level has 10 stages) and the first stage of the second level but I doubt that it would've gotten much better. Especially after the introduction of the "love-bird" customers who apparently refuse to sit at tables with more than 2 seats and will suck each other's faces off if you leave them alone for too long. Um, what?

Overall, I am highly disappointed in Flo on the Go. However, Sizzle and Serve is significantly better as well as ridiculously addicting.

Listening to right now: Standing Egg - 사랑한다는 말

The sole October post... huh?

I can't believe an entire month (and more) has passed since I last posted anything here. For some reason I kept thinking that I had posted at least once in October but I guess my sense of time is worse than I thought.

Life's been so busy that I really haven't had much time (or spare energy) to follow up on... anything, really. I have some idea of what's been going on with different bands and such but no time to really fangirl over any of the news.

Oh, but there's roughly a month and a half left before the GazettE releases their new single, "PLEDGE". I wasn't too much impressed by their last two singles, "SHIVER" and "Red"; they weren't bad (in fact, they're quite catchy and I've looped them quite a bit) but they also weren't amazing. The B-sides were a bit more interesting but even those didn't hold my attention quite as much as some of their previous singles have.
I am also really, really, really hoping that Reita gets rid of that extra piece of cloth that he has wrapped around his forehead. Something about it just doesn't suit him, aside from it just looking plain silly.

Speaking of visuals though, I also hope that the "PLEDGE" PV is more interesting than the last two. Both "SHIVER" and "Red" must have had the same director or something because there was the same annoying jerky-I-don't-want-to-focus-on-any-one-thing-in-particular thing going on. "Red" was definitely not as boring a PV as "SHIVER", although the cameraman needs to learn that there are more members in the GazettE than Ruki, Aoi, and Uruha. Like seriously, Reita and Kai got practically no face time. Although, Reita looked so damn tired in the few shots he did have that maybe it's actually a good thing.

Guess I'm just gonna have to cross my fingers for an awesome single/PV this time around.

Listening to right now: ONE OK ROCK - Liar

Let's brew!

So instead of studying for my 6 hour exam like I should have been, I ended up watching the Korean drama 개인의 쥐향 [Personal Taste]. I found it pretty amusing, although at first there were a few too many characters whose eyes I wanted to claw out just because they were hella annoying. Somehow the writers managed to redeem pretty much ALL the characters, save for one (in my opinion), but the one character I was fairly conflicted about throughout the whole series was Han Chang Ryul. That's pretty much all I have to say about the drama, since I watched it a couple of weeks ago and my memory is crap, lol.
Oh. But I never knew how FINE Lee Min Ho is. o_O

I also watched the anime もやしもん [Moyashimon: Tales of Agriculture] which has been around for a while (2007) but I never got around to watching until now. Basically, it's about a boy named Sawaki who can see microbes with the naked eye; not in a oh-look-spores-like-under-a-microscope kind of way but rather in a chibified and ridiculously cute kind of way. And they can talk. Yes.
Needless to say, I fell in love with the so-called main character of the featured microorganisms: Aspergillus oryzae. Since this is centred around agricultural microbiology, the microbes that appear are usually fungi, sometimes bacteria, and very rarely viruses. The only viruses I recall explicitly being pointed out were rhinovirus and influenza. But then of course, we could get into a whole debate about whether or not viruses are actually "alive", right?

What really motivated me to finally watch the Moyashimon anime was the fact that I happened to see that they recently (this year, in fact) made a drama adaptation! After finishing the anime I started the drama but so far I've only watched the first two episodes. It's interesting, and obviously a bit different from the anime (e.g. Sawaki's best friend Kei takes a leave of absence right from the get-go; this made me very sad). The microbes also seem to be much more vocal and in general noisier than their anime counterparts. I have yet to decide how I feel about the various character portrayals, so we'll see how it goes after a few more episodes.

Listening to right now: SID - 「すぐ傍で」

Oh, the irony

I mentioned in a previous post that I was thinking about going to one of the US Dir en grey/Apocalyptica shows this year. Happy to say, I made plans and did indeed make it to the venue. Right after Dir en grey finished playing.

T_T

As it turns out, my master planning skills did not take into account a number of various scenarios that ended up happening, thus resulting in my absolute disappointment at not being able to see Dir en grey perform. To be fair, everything that happened was completely unavoidable so that actually does make it a little better.

And I did get to see Apocalyptica perform so it wasn't a total waste. Not to mention that they were totally badass and rocked out on those cellos so hard. I also was not expecting such hot eyecandy to be flaunted before me. I'm quite happy that I got the opportunity to see them that close up but it's a little sad that there weren't more people at that particular venue because they definitely deserve more love.

The one thing that's really kind of depressing, despite the fact that I'm really not that big a Diru fan, is that the venue was pretty small and there weren't that many people (at least not for Apocalyptica's set). So I could see the band ridiculously clearly and when I think that I was this close to seeing Diru that close up... yeah, I kind of die a little inside.

All in all, it was a worthwhile experience and it was awesome watching Apocalyptica's performance. I'm sure Diru will come back, and when they do I hope that I'll have the opportunity and the funds to actually see them this time, preferably in a venue as small as this one.

Listening to right now: the GazettE - Without a Trace

The stigma against visual kei

It's always interesting to see people's reactions to visual kei. I happened to show a Shoxx magazine to a couple of my friends and their reactions were something like a mix of shock, disgust, denial, and dislike. What was even more interesting though, was my own reaction to their reactions. Mild annoyance and discomfort aside, I was surprised. I guess I've been exposed to visual kei so much for so long that effeminate men wearing make-up and girly clothes just seem so normal, lol. What also helps though is knowing that it's a style that is (technically speaking) specific to a particular genre of music. I've begun to realise that people who are not acquainted with visual kei, and who only see pictures in magazines, automatically assume that this is a lifestyle that these men adopt. That they run around everyday in their crazy make-up, flamboyant outfits, and highly styled hair. Which in turn seems bizarre to me because who would really do that?

It also seems to be hard for people to understand why anyone straight would 1) choose a profession where they would have to dress like that and 2) actually like the artists who do this. Apparently because a man chooses to dress like a woman (though in reality it's usually androgynous) it must mean that he's gay. Or wants to be gay. Or is in denial about being gay.
Of course, cross-dressing in Japan dates waaaaay further back than visual kei. Kabuki, anyone? Not only that but sexuality and orientation markers are viewed/interpreted differently in Japan than it is in, e.g. some Western cultures. And just because a man engages in so-called homosexual behaviour does not automatically make him gay anyway. Gay-for-pay, anyone?

I'm going off-topic here, lol.

The whole point of this post was not to go into the finer details of sexuality and culture or to lament the fact that all my friends now think I'm a freak for liking cross-dressing/androgynous Japanese men but just to say that it's interesting how desensitised I've become to the whole notion of visual kei. It's a completely normal style in my eyes, and I am no longer shocked or disgusted by VK bands (with a few exceptions). I've always found the androgyny in VK to be fascinating and attractive, not only because of the omg-guys-dressed-as-girls-woohoo-feed-the-fangirl factor but also because of the make-up, the outfits, and just the style in general. Not to mention that photography plays a large part; I'm sure if I saw J-rockers prancing down the street in all their VK glory I wouldn't find it quite as attractive as a well-taken picture. Maybe, if they were really, really far away?

Listening to right now: DJ Earworm - United State of Pop 2009 (Blame It on the Pop)

Get well soon, Ruki!

It seems that Ruki, the vocalist of the GazettE, has a viral throat infection of some sort and so he was unable to finish the encore at their live on Saturday. They've also cancelled the next 5 concerts in their tour in order for Ruki to recover, etc.

I love the way that Kai (the drummer) put it in his blog entry about this; that the others' instruments can be replaced indefinitely but Ruki's instrument, his voice, is irreplaceable.

It's unfortunate that they had to cancel so many concerts (being in the midst of planning my own trip for a concert I can understand the frustration of fans) but I hope that Ruki gets better soon and shows an even cooler and stronger image than before! ^^
ルキさん、がんばってください！

Take the love train~

I don't usually listen to J-pop boy bands (e.g. those of the Johnny's Entertainment variety) but for some reason I am ridiculously and hopelessly addicted to KAT-TUN's song "Yorokobi no Uta". I had bookmarked the PV on Youtube a while back but I never went to back to it until this weekend. And it is literally almost the only song I have been listening to all weekend.

It's nothing spectacular, and imo they didn't need six guys to sing it since they all kinda sound the same anyway except for maybe the rapper cuz you know... he raps, but omg it's sooo catchy. And totally fun to sing along to as well.

I've never found the KAT-TUN guys to be that good-looking (except Kamenashi Kazuya because I've seen him in dramas) but the more I watch them, not only in this video but others as well, the more I find them to be quite charming and cute in their own somewhat dorky ways. In addition to their personalities, it probably has a lot to do with their clothes and hairstyles, too. (Remember my Superman analogy?)

It's really too bad that I don't like most of their other songs that I've heard so far. -_-;

Listening to right now: KAT-TUN - Yorokobi no Uta

Edit: Perhaps "take da luv train" is a more accurate title, lol.

I wanna be a rockstar!

This video is made of so much win. How could I not post about it?

Kid's putting his heart and soul into it too, like totally rocking out, lol. I sense a future Youtube attention whore in the making. He's so cute though!

There are apparently other videos of him but I'm too lazy to check them out now... if they're anything like this one, then there's bound to be cuteness overload and endless lol-ing.

It's like an addiction

I was thinking about starting another blog, specifically for more personal entries (since this one is more or less just for fangirling and general interests, and the other is solely for creative works). I mean, it's not like hordes of people even read any of my blogs so what would really be the point of starting another one? It's quite simple really.

Hello, my name is Kryz and I am an attention whore addicted to blogging.

Also, I've found that my blogs are compartmentalised much like the rest of my life. A blog for fangirling, a blog for poems, a blog for personal entries. It truly reflects my need for organisation in my life.

Though, to be honest, my penchant for multiple blogs is a little more complex. Initially it starts off with my need for anonymity. Sometimes the attention whore part of me takes over and I make the blog public (this was the case with words laced with a little hate; shameless plug, hoho). In other cases, the blog is public but remains separate and completely secret, simply because it's easier to become someone else when no one you know is watching, and when you don't have loads of baggage weighing you down. And finally, it's because some people don't give a shit about my fangirling and would be more likely to read my entries if they maybe contained some nekkid pics had something to do with my life (this is debatable).

Multiple blogs also allow me to write in multiple styles. I can slip into different personas depending on the blog; for example, I write much more colloquially here and use more emoticons and the like to express myself, whereas on words laced with a little hate I adopt a more mellow, reserved style simply because of the nature of the blog.

I've been wondering if I should just link everything together though, except that I would lose the anonymity of that secret blog's name. Not only that, but then everyone would know the dirty, dirty things I do in secret, lol.

Listening to right now: FTIsland - 첫눈에 알아

P.S. This post has been sitting as a draft since Saturday, lol. I ended up not even editing it to make more sense.

This is the love of a fan

I'm really amazed at the love and dedication of fans. And no, this isn't sarcasm.

Recently, the GazettE announced that they would be having their tour final at Tokyo Dome. For those of you who don't know, to perform at Tokyo Dome is pretty big. Tokyo Dome is Japan's largest concert hall; if you play there, you know you've made it. And to play there when you're a VK band? Even better.

What truly blows me away is that I've read about so many overseas (I'm referring to mostly American) fans who have never been to Japan or even traveled, some who have never even left their side of the USA, who are sucking up their anxiety and saving up their moolah just to share in the Tokyo Dome experience.

I'm sure this sounds ridiculously trite because it's a concert, how hard could it be, right? Think about it. Japan is on the side of world, so first off it's expensive. It's also the day after Christmas but it takes about 14 hours to fly to Japan, not to mention that 26th in Japan can still be 25th in the US (this is really only applicable to those who celebrate Christmas, of course. Though it being the Christmas season also means that plane tickets are ridiculously pricey). Most of these fans don't speak a word of Japanese. Okay, maybe a few words. Like "konnichiwa", "sayonara", "kawaii", and "yaoi". The hotel pages might be in English (maybe), but the avenues through which you obtain the concert tickets are most definitely not.

It's hard being a non-Japanese-speaking fan of a band whose biggest (and most catered for) fanbase is Japanese-speaking. And as much as I make fun of fangirls even though I am quite obviously a huge fangirl myself, I have to admire their devotion to the bands they love. I can still call them crazy, but I can admire them too.

And man, I would TOTALLY be there at Tokyo Dome with them if I didn't have a good reason not to be.

Listening to right now: the GazettE - 奈落

"Hello, darling. Fancy a drink?"

I finally watched Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I'll admit, I spent the first 10 minutes trying to remember what the heck happened in the first 5 books/movies and if I had even seen the 5th movie (I know, my memory fails).

Overall, the movie was good if you don't compare it to the book. I think this is fairly obvious since the majority of movies-adapted-from-books don't seem as good if you've read the book first. Of course, seeing as I have read the books, it's kind of a given that I would unintentionally make comparisons. But I really only have two beefs with the movie. One is that the movie is much more tame than the book in terms of action. This is understandable because there are time constraints, general flow of the movie, potential of overloading/confusing the audience, etc to keep in mind.
The other is that there is so much (too much, imo) emphasis placed on the personal relationships of the characters. Yeah, it makes for some great scenes but I found that it took away from the overarching plot line of "Harry Potter trying to kill Voldemort". It almost lightened the movie a bit too much when it should be a mostly dark, depressing film.
(Just for the record, I don't remember the books. If I remember correctly, J.K. Rowling did spend a significant amount of time developing the personal relationships but think about it in terms of percentages.)

One thing that I was really impressed with was the cinematography. The shots were amazing; the composition, the detail, the feel... if nothing else, this alone would have made it a good movie. And even though he didn't play a huge part in this movie, I was probably the most impressed with Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) cast-wise.

I enjoy the Harry Potter movies, I really do. But I think that anybody would benefit greatly from reading the books, even after watching them (I think I read the first book only after I watched the movie). For one thing, the books are great. And I find that reading the books, either before or after, makes everything fall into place that much more cleanly.

On a side note, the LEGO Harry Potter game looks ridiculously cute. And I would like to visit the Harry Potter theme park in Florida if I ever get the chance. Previews are a wonderfully great marketing tool.

Listening to right now: SS501 - Unlock

P.S. I chose probably one of the most trivial quotes from the entire movie as my title, lol.

Something a little different

I was on Youtube the other night checking out a song by Cécile Corbel that she did for the new Ghibli movie, The Borrower Arrietty. I was curious about her since she's obviously not Japanese but she was singing the song in Japanese. Turns out that she's a celtic harpist and singer from Brittany, France.

A little more random link-clicking and I came across this video. It's the music video for one of her songs called "La fille damnée" and the song that I am currently completely addicted to. The lyrics are interesting, and sound like something you would hear in an old folktale. I don't usually go for such high voices (and to be honest I didn't really like the first couple of songs I listened to) but she sings really beautifully and delicately, and I love her voice in this particular song.

Unfortunately, I keep listening to it over and over again so it'll probably lose its novelty by oh, say, Monday?

Listening to right now: Cécile Corbel - La fille damnée

Aoi, why do you tempt me so?

I've been occasionally checking Aoi's twitter (and the translated tweets on someone else's account) and it seems that he's been experimenting with replying to (or RT-ing... I don't really know) random people's tweets.

OMG. Total fangirling moment right there.

Perhaps this is a just another prod in the back from the powers that be to get a Twitter account. I mean, just think, what if by not joining Twitter I'm missing out on the chance to potentially befriend and subsequently marry Aoi or maybe even Reita if by chance Aoi then introduces me to him omgomgomg get a personal reply from Aoi?

Of course, the fatal flaw in my grand scheme is the fact that my Japanese skills are practically non-existent. And Aoi's English skills probably even more so. Although, a few of his latest replies were in English.

I wonder how massively fangirlish I would look if I joined Twitter and every single one of my tweets were to Aoi?

Listening to right now: the GazettE - THE INVISIBLE WALL (btw, this is quite possibly one of my favourite PVs from the GazettE. I am ridiculously fascinated by Ruki.)

I heart SS501

So it seems that I've been really out of touch with K-pop lately... so much stuff has happened in the last few weeks. Like SuJu's Shin Dong getting engaged. What? When was he dating? Gotta give the man props though for managing to keep his relationship under wraps.

SS501's former agency, DSP, also released an MV for their song "Let Me Be The One" (which is actually a cover of an Andre Mieux song). The MV is really just a compilation of various clips from performances, backstage, etc but it's so touching. Coupled with the ballad, it almost feels like a foreshadowing of SS501 breaking up. There hasn't been much news about their current situation in terms of signing with new agencies (aside from Kim Hyun Joong) or about anything related to them, really.

I usually try to keep my fangirling thought processes on the down-low but I'll admit that I will actually be very sad if SS501 disbands. They may not be the most talented group out there, or the most popular, but they are the only K-pop group that I have consistently fangirled followed ever since getting into them (which admittedly was not that long ago). Watching them makes me smile, especially when they're together.

I mean it's not like if they break up I'm gonna sit in a corner and cry or anything, and it's supposedly highly unlikely that they'll break up. But the "Let Me Be The One" MV has such sad clips that it just puts you (or at least me) in that kind of mood/mindset. SS501, 화이팅!

Listening to right now: SS501 - Let Me Be The One

P.S. I figured it out... the D'espairsRay song "LOVE IS DEAD" reminds me of the 1984 song "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" by Dead or Alive. And consequently every cover or song that sampled it made thereafter.

Cellists and... rock?

Dir en grey just announced their North American tour for this year and I'm considering going to one of the shows. I haven't really listened to them in like 5 years so I'm a little skeptical about going through all the trouble of traveling to see them, not to mention that I'd also be doing it by myself. On the other hand, it would be a great experience to see them live, regardless of whether I'm familiar with (or even like) their newer music.

They're headlining with a Finnish band called Apocalyptica which consists of 3 classically trained cellists and a drummer (according to Wiki). I admit, I was intrigued and so I'm looking them up on Youtube right now. Their music is quite interesting; I like it. To be honest, before I Googled them, I was expecting some kind of stereotypical power metal or heavy rock band with tonnes of screaming and whatnot. I'm pleasantly surprised that they're totally not, and they kind of make me want to go to the concert even more now.

There are a few other upcoming concerts that I'm also considering: Yoshida Brothers, D'espairsRay, and VAMPS.

I first heard a Yoshida Brothers song back in April on Pandora but I never went out of my way to listen to more of them. So I listened to a bunch of their songs today at work, and I wouldn't mind going to see them live except that their dates/venues aren't quite as convenient for me.

I've heard a few D'espairsRay songs but I never really got into them. I recently heard one of their more recent songs, "LOVE IS DEAD", and it's rather catchy although it reminds me of some old song (maybe 80's era?) that I can't quite put my finger on. Again, however, the dates and venues are somewhat inconvenient for me.

And last but not least, VAMPS. I'm not a big fan of their music but Hyde is <3 so I would totally go see them just to be a little closer to fulfilling my dream of touching him indecently see him live. This one is still a bit far into the future so I haven't checked yet to see how practical it is for me to go.

So far the Dir en grey concert is looking to be the best bet here, so I better start looping their songs like crazy to force myself to love them brushing up on their latest songs.

Listening to right now: D'espairsRay - LOVE IS DEAD

Thank heavens for black and white

I've been looping the GazettE's new single "SHIVER" all day and... it still hasn't really grown on me yet. Both the PV and the song itself are not that impressive. The PV is not that interesting, and not as good visually, compared to some of their other PVs. Thankfully, it's in black and white though, so my eyes are spared from their cringe-worthy dye jobs.
There have been other songs by the GazettE that I didn't like at first but looped simply because the PV was visually appealing. Case in point: "REGRET". Unfortunately, that's not the case with "SHIVER".

The song itself isn't anything spectacular but it isn't all bad either. It's just... plain. On a related side note though, it also happens to be the opening song for the second season of the anime Kuroshitsuji. Ruki would like to remind everyone that "SHIVER" was NOT written specifically for the anime, it just happened to be chosen as the opening (apparently diehard Gazefans find the anime tie-up to be a justifiable reason for sending hate mail to the GazettE).

Just watched the Kuroshitsuji II opening and it looks kind of interesting... the animation looks pretty good too. I've never read the manga past maybe the first couple of volumes, and from what I've read those characters aren't even in the second season, so it's highly unlikely that I'll bother watching the anime (either season 1 or 2).

I've also seen some pictures of the GazettE's new look from other magazines and I'm happy to say that they do look better than the pictures from that first magazine I saw. But overall, I still don't really like the new look. Perhaps it'll grow on me the more I ogle them, hohohoho.

Listening to right now: the GazettE - SHIVER

It is cheesed with power~

A while back when I first started really getting into the GazettE, I said that Ruki's voice was so annoying that I almost didn't bother listening to any more. I'd just like to retract that statement and redeem Ruki.

Admittedly, his voice can be annoying, e.g. in the song "Cassis", but overall he's actually a really good vocalist. His voice really grew on me after a while, and even though I don't necessarily consider him to be one of my favourite vocalists, I can definitely appreciate his talent. One of his strong points is the intense emotion that he infuses into his singing. I've watched videos of their performances and Ruki just fascinates me. It's as though he's acting out every song, feeling every emotion in every word. Not to mention the charisma and energy that he exudes on stage.

I've also listened to almost all of their releases, from 2002 to 2010, and he has definitely improved as a vocalist, in my opinion. I don't too much care for his style of singing in their earlier stuff though so perhaps I'm just biased in that sense.

Ruki also pens the lyrics for all of the GazettE's songs and although I have not looked up the majority of their lyrics, the few that I have looked up have impressed me. Granted, a part of it probably has to do with how they're translated but even so, I'm still impressed by the subject matter as well as the imagery/metaphors that he uses in his lyrics.
(I'm aware that there are many lyricists who use similar subject matter and have great lyrics... but this post isn't about them, and neither am I trying to compare anyone.)

"Taion" is written about a Japanese girl, Furuta Junko, who was tortured and murdered in the late 1980's. "Without a Trace" is about one of their fans who committed suicide (if I'm not mistaken), and the song as a whole is so touching; it's probably one of my favourite ballads by them. "Guren" is full of imagery which some people speculate represents a miscarriage (or so I've read). And "Filth in the beauty" is about a father sexually abusing his daughter.
Of course, this doesn't mean that all of Ruki's lyrics make sense. See that title? "It is cheesed with power"? Those are the very first words in their song "SILLY GOD DISCO". Yeah. I like that Ruki tries with his English, and oftentimes (though not in this particular case, lol) he does manage to get the gist across but like with all good Engrish it doesn't really make a whole lot of sense. Not to mention that half the time you can't even tell when he's singing in Engrish, haha.

I believe that Ruki is also responsible for a lot of the band's visual stuff, like album designs, stage sets, PVs, etc etc (don't quote me on this). Regardless, the GazettE is always visually incredible to watch. Though a lot of it probably also has to do with the camera work and directing skills when it comes to PVs and live DVDs.

Also, the man owns a ridiculously cute chihuahua. And gold pants. I think this is reason enough for Ruki love.



Listening to right now: the GazettE - Before I Decay

P.S. And just for the record, I strongly dislike the GazettE's new look. I'm hoping it was just that particular magazine because they don't look too bad in black and white (as per the "Shiver" PV... more on their new single another time).

P.P.S. I take no credit for any of these images.

Edit: I forgot to mention that Ruki sounds pretty awesome live. :3

Daily WTF moment

Brought to you by none other than... Gackt.

Anyone who has ever watched Gackt on a variety show knows exactly where I'm coming from. Magnum? Crotch splitter? Cross-dressing? Naked curry-making? Uh huh.

Today I had the disturbing interesting pleasure of finally knowing what kind of underwear Gackt wears (or at least used to wear, seeing as this was from way back when). And what TMI moment about underwear would not be complete without mannequins to model examples? For those of you still wondering, he wears thongs. He also brought thongs to proudly hold up, despite the background shots already showing the back and front of the mannequins wearing them.
In all honesty, judging by the extreme tightness of his pants, it doesn't really come as a shock that he wears/wore thongs. I bet a lot of J-rockers who sport similar pants also wear thongs. Or go commando.

Other facepalm- and headdesk-worthy Gackt-ness that I discovered today:
- Openly molesting the mannequin of a woman's naked torso on stage during "Blue Lagoon".
- YFC tour. Stands for Yellow Fried Chickens. 'Nuff said.

Oh, Gackt. Never change, you weird, weird man.

Listening to right now: THYME - Hello

P.S. Although I headdesk every time I see Gackt, regardless of whether he's being relatively normal or not, I acknowledge that the man has talent. Just not my kind of talent. Also, I haven't heard most of his newer stuff, but with regards to his older stuff I prefer his ballads to his faster songs.

Automatic fail

Because the trailer for the newest Harry Potter movie has been released and I have yet to watch Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Even worse, it's actually been sitting on my desk for the last month or so, patiently waiting for me to find the motivation time to watch it.

And also because for some odd reason I thought that Half-Blood Prince was split into two parts just like Deathly Hollows.

And finally, because I do not remember what happened in the books aside from overall plot line. :(

Thank heavens for Wikipedia. I have roughly half a year to reacquaint myself with the first half of the last book.

The trailer for Deathly Hallows: Part I looks pretty good though. And the two parts supposedly aren't going to be released that far apart which is nice.

Listening to right now: FLOPPY - everything

Hyde, bleach, and the ultimate treasure known as adult magazines

Just when I thought that Hyde (hyde? HYDE?) had outgrown his cross-dressing tendencies, he proves me wrong with the new VAMPS PV for "ANGEL TRIP". Not that there's anything wrong with Hyde looking like a girl. But he's also blonde again. Apparently he didn't learn his lesson about bleach during his solo endeavours.

Many things ran through my mind as I watched the PV, besides the initial "omg Hyde is blonde (again)" and "omg Hyde looks like a girl (again)". These included, in some form or another: hippies, Jack Sparrow, rum (well, really, that's just redundant after having already mentioned Jack Sparrow), drug dealers, and "DRIVER'S HIGH".

All this being said, I really liked Hyde's eye makeup and the song itself is pretty catchy. It's the 6th single from VAMPS, and to be honest I haven't heard enough from them to compare it to their other stuff. But come on. It's Hyde. The man can do no wrong except when he sings in English.
And really, he doesn't look that bad as a blonde.

Listening to right now: VAMPS - ANGEL TRIP

P.S. If you don't understand my title for this post... then clearly you have not done yourself the great favour of watching the "ANGEL TRIP" PV. Do it. Now.

Twitter mania

I just found out that the guitarist Aoi from the GazettE is now on Twitter. *insert mild fangirling moment* The novelty must not have worn off yet because he tweets like every 3 hours, lol. Perhaps I should try harder to brush up on my Japanese because Babel Fish just ain't cutting it, yo.

I'm tempted (yet again) to sign up for Twitter just so I can follow him, though really I could just check every once in a while for his updates (tweets, whatever). But if Reita joins Twitter I am SO THERE.

And excitement ensues

I ordered new picks a couple of days ago and got them today... whooo! They're 2.0mm and have grooves specifically for better grasping. The picks that came with my bass guitar were thin and got worn down extremely quickly, so I'm pretty excited for these new ones. Not to mention they're purple! Who doesn't love purple picks?

And on a totally random side note, I was recently reminded of this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5yPkxCLads
Sad to say, the awesomeness of this song will be completely lost on any non-scientist.

Listening to right now: Infinite - 맡겨

Keep your shirt on

I'm going to have to stop fangirling every time I watch a SS501 performance otherwise every other post is going to be about how sexy they are much better their performances are getting. I watched their Inkigayo performance for this week and they switched to grey/silver suits. I like these and the white suits more than the black ones, just because it sets them apart from their back-up dancers, visually. Their singing is much better than their comeback stages last week so I assume that that was just due to nerves and overall trying too hard. I think the special effects that the Inkigayo people added into the video were completely unnecessary but at least their cameraman isn't as spastic as Music Core's. -_-;

I also watched one of the debut performances of a new boy band called Infinite. Their song "Come Back Again" is pretty catchy and their dancing is really clean and sharp; I'm pretty impressed. Hopefully their subsequent stuff will be even better.

One of the other performances I watched was MBLAQ's "Y". I facepalm anytime I watch an MBLAQ performance though... I get that Lee Joon has rockin' abs but come on, choreographers, please let the man keep his shirt on for once. Now that I think about it, 2PM's performances were also facepalm-worthy whenever Taecyeon ripped his shirt off. It just seems so overdone now.

And finally, I meant to comment on CNBLUE's new mini-album a while ago but I lost motivation and never got around to it. I don't really have much to say about it except that it's really good. Upbeat and catchy, and a nice change from all the auto-tuned dance songs dominating K-pop these days. Definitely loop-worthy.

Okay, one more thing, lol. I never understood why Super Junior's new song "Minah (Bonamana)" was so popular. Up until 5 minutes ago I had only ever seen/heard it in music show performances and it didn't seem like a very interesting song at all. So I just watched the MV and it's actually pretty catchy. Damnit, I think it's even growing on me now.
Oh, and look, Leeteuk also has no shirt on. *facepalm*

Listening to right now: Super Junior - Minah (Bonamana)

I am a fangirl, hear me squeal

Warning: Major fangirling ahead!!


I just watched SS501's performance on Music Bank for this week and....

omgomgomgomgfaint!

Haha, just had to throw that in. But seriously, their dancing was so crisp and clean in this performance; I'm really impressed at how much better it is compared to last week. And the white suits... niiiiiice.
The only problem I had was that the stage was so small... I felt cramped just watching them dancing in that tiny space. I would say they should cut back on their back-up dancers but that would probably mess up the whole choreography, etc. I liked the contrast between SS501's white suits and the dancers' black outfits though... it helps in distinguishing SS501 from a distance, haha.

So basically throughout the whole video I was going "niiiiiice" like every 10 seconds and grinning like an idiot. Not totally unlike every other SS501 video I watch.

Listening to right now: SS501 - Love ya (Music Bank performance - June 11, 2010)

Edit: I just re-watched their comeback performances from last week and their dancing was actually pretty good in the Music Bank performance. I think it's either the white suits or the stage backdrop this week that helps to emphasize their movements and make them look more crisp (or maybe they really are more crisp). The singing seems to have improved though. On the other hand, last week's Music Core performance was overall not that good. Also, the Music Core cameraman needs to calm the fuck down, holy shit.

There's a glass between us

Came across this video yesterday and thought I'd share it. Potential inspiration for a poem?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvjZ6VkLuCM

I don't really know what to think about the ending though... it was a little creepy and it almost seemed like the girl went crazy. But overall it's incredibly touching and I like it a lot. There's a another, updated, version that the guy (I think it's a guy) did with a different music track but I think I like this one better.

Listening to right now: Otsuka Ai - Cherish

Damnit, I want to be in a fanvid too

I was on Youtube a while back and I don't remember exactly what I was looking for but somehow I stumbled across a fanvid of this Chinese malexmale couple. As it turns out, there were a number of fanvids of these guys who I assume are just random bloggers that happen to be a fairly good-looking, gay, Asian couple.

Man, I wish people found me interesting enough to make a fanvid about me.

I'm sure that back when I first watched the videos I had much more to say but since it's been practically a month, my apathy (or bad memory) has more or less kicked in. However, I decided to give this roundabout back story so that I could post a poem I wrote that's loosely inspired by the idea of this couple (or more broadly, by gay relationships or any "forbidden" relationship in general), and written to Yiruma's River Flows in You which happened to be the background music for one of the fanvids.

Anyway, since my poem blog is lagging ridiculously far behind due to my somewhat anal resolution to post everything in chronological order, I decided to go ahead and post the poem here. And, surprise surprise, this one actually had the fortune of being given a title!


"Love Story"
An exchange of shy glances
My heart throbs anytime you come near
Gentle laughter that sets my heart aflight
Tingles that chase my nervousness
We spent so much time together
And wasted just as much apart
Never thinking this forbidden love could be
I finally gave into your smile
And a single whisper made me yours.

An exchange of heated sighs
Hands gliding across glistening skin
Your fingers playing a tune that only we can hear
Passion igniting a rain of kisses
Your breath hitches as you release into me
Riding on your pleasure I do the same
Never thinking this forbidden love could end
I wanted to always see your smile
But in a single moment it all fell apart.

An exchange of angry words
Voices battling to drown the other
Those tears that once betrayed my happiness
Gradually became tears that held my pain
You watched my back as I walked away
Our hearts breaking with the distance
And in the midst of it all there was relief
Never thinking this forbidden love could survive
A single choice was all it took to break.



Listening to right now: Yiruma - River Flows In You

All it takes is good hair

So SS501 made their comeback this weekend and I've been watching their performances for "Love ya" and "Let me be the one" on Youtube. They really nailed "Let me be the one" and even threw in a little choreography which I thought was a nice touch, even though it's a ballad. It's too bad that they sang a shorter version of the song and not the whole thing since it's a such a good song. The "Love ya" performance wasn't as impactful (is that even a word? lol) as I thought it would have been. The choreography works better in the video than on stage, imo, and I'm not sure I really like their outfits that much. At least their hair looks better this time around so I can overlook pretty much everything else. I also liked that they had live instruments on stage, and even though I complained about the rapping in my previous post, that was surprisingly the part that they pulled off the best.

One thing that I'm a little disappointed about is that SS501 is not that consistent with their live vocals. I can understand that some of their dance choreography is very demanding and that affects their overall stamina and hence their vocals, but there are other groups that also dance and sing at the same time and can still stay on key more consistently. I know that they have talent up the wazoo because they always pull off their ballads beautifully, and they can sing well in their faster songs, so I think it's just a matter of stamina or something when it comes to the dancing while singing. With regards to "Love ya", I'm hoping that as the weeks go by they'll be able to polish their performance a bit more since they'll be doing it so many times anyway.

Listening to right now: SS501 - Let me be the one

P.S. The title doesn't really have any relevance to the post itself but I've found myself lacking inspiration for witty titles lately. Though I was watching some of SS501's older performances (e.g. U R Man) and I was reminded of how much difference a good hairstyle can make.

Let me love ya

SS501 just released the MV for their new song "Love ya" off of their new mini-album "Destination". But before I get into what I think about either of those, let's backtrack a bit.

Pictures were released a few weeks ago of their new look and the concept was... wow. Personally, I liked the first set of pictures (the ones with the mask) because the look was incredibly sexy with a touch of BDSM. Park Jung Min pulled if off especially well. However, the set of pictures where they kept the BSDM theme but lost the mask wasn't quite as good, imo. I don't know if it was the hair or the make-up but I found that there was something excessively feminine about the whole look. Key word being excessively because we all know how much I enjoy watching effeminate-looking men.

I was a little bit disappointed that the new album ended up being another mini-album rather than a full album. I mean, anything at all is great but at the same time I was hoping to hear more from them. The songs themselves are really good (quality over quantity, I suppose); I honestly like the songs (and their new look) on "Destination" a lot more than those on "Rebirth". I'm especially addicted to "Love ya" and "Let me be the one" even though there isn't that much choice seeing as there are really only 4 different songs to choose from.

And now back to the "Love ya" MV. The song itself is a strong, catchy, and altogether addictive track. The rap (does every K-pop song these days have a rap?) sounds a little clumsy to me; something about it doesn't flow... I don't know if it's the lyrics themselves, or if it's the fact that none of the SS501 members are really rappers. I think the best part of the song is at the end of the chorus when Jung Min sings all gravelly and then Young Saeng follows up with this smooth voice. Great contrast. Kim Hyun Joong doesn't really sing that much which is a little disappointing simply because I like it when all 5 of them sing a significant portion of the song. While I was watching the MV I was actually thinking "huh, not that much Hyun Joong" and then BAM! solo dance.
Overall, the choreography is pretty decent, though I could do without the air humping; luckily, they don't do too much of it. Strangely enough, the gunshots (or whatever that sound is supposed to be) totally remind me of the yaoi game Zettai Fukuju Meirei [Absolute Obedience]. (Good game, btw.)

I haven't been following SS501's activities as closely as I did last year but I'm looking forward to their comeback performances and such. I get this warm, fuzzy feeling whenever I watch them nowadays because they've matured and improved so much. They also don't sound like almost every other K-pop group out there which is refreshing. Now if they would only release another full length album.

Listening to right now: SS501 - Love ya

P.S. Rabbit rabbit, bring me good luck!

I'm breakfasty!

I stumbled across a random quiz on someone's LiveJournal and out of curiosity (and because really, who can turn down a nonsensical quiz) decided to take it. I was pretty amused by the completely useless yet strangely uplifting description provided in the result.

Quizzes Girls Games

"You are 10:02 a.m.

You are breakfasty, like a pile of pancakes on a Sunday morning that have just the right amount of syrup, so every bite is sweet perfection and not a soppy mess. You are a glass of orange juice that's cool, refreshing, and not overly pulpy. You are the time of day that's just right for turning the pages of a newspaper, flipping through channels, or clicking around online to get a sense of how the world changed during the night. You don't want to stumble sleepily through life, so you make a real effort to wake your brain up and get it thinking. You feel inspired to accomplish things (whether it's checking something off your to-do list or changing the world), but there's plenty of time for making things happen later in the day. First, pancakes."

How about a shave?

Just got done watching the movie "Sweeney Todd" and although I'm not one for musicals, I really liked it. Johnny Depp is, as usual, awesome. I was surprised (and quite amused) that he had never sung before and that even while the sets were being made and the ball was already rolling... no one had ever heard him sing before. Talk about leaving things up to chance.

Ordinarily I can comment more on a movie, especially if I've really like it but there's not really much I can say about "Sweeney Todd". I thought the cinematography was great, and the singing was good too, especially considering the fact that the main actors weren't professional singers. It didn't drag on or bore me at any point, in fact there were a lot of moments when I was literally leaning forward in anticipation. I suppose it helped that I had no idea what was supposed to happen... I knew the gist of the storyline before watching the movie but I had never read up on it or the play to know any specifics.

I also don't really have anything to say about the play versus the movie adaptation seeing as I've never seen the play (and in all honesty, the awesomeness of plays is pretty much lost on me simply because I've never been to even one), plus different adaptations can be good in their own ways and will always have their strong points and shortcomings depending on the form that they take (book versus movie versus play, etc).

All I can say is, the movie is definitely worth watching. Especially if you want more proof that to convince a man to do anything, just appeal to his pimp side.

Listening to right now: Johnny Depp - Epiphany [Sweeney Todd]

Random ranting

I really dislike it when people go on a show and all of the sudden they are the sole important member of their band or group. I know that it's great exposure for the band/group but it really pisses me off when fans blatantly disregard the fact that there are other members and act as if that person is the sole talent and driving force behind the group's popularity.

Admittedly, I can only think of two specific instances in which this has happened (Kim Hyun Joong of SS501, and Jung Yong Hwa of CNBLUE), though I'm sure there are many others. And I'm in no way saying that as leaders of their respective groups they weren't already the more visible members. I'm not even saying there's anything wrong with their garnering more love for their groups through their appearances. In fact, I'm not even blaming them for anything or begrudging them their success and popularity. What I AM doing is ranting against the people who decide to name their Youtube videos "Jung Yong Hwa aka CNBLUE". Ummm, what? Since when is the lead singer AKA the entire band? To add insult to injury, the song that was uploaded wasn't even sung by Jung Yong Hwa but by Lee Jong Hyun, the main guitarist and co-vocalist of the band. And of course some people will comment on the video with "Jung Yong Hwa has such a sexy voice omgomgomgfaint!" Thank you, uploader, for spreading the ignorance.

And then of course, there are the people who are looking for videos of Kim Hyun Joong, stumble across a video of Kim Hyung Jun (another SS501 member), and then proceed to comment that it isn't Kim Hyun Joong/Yoon Ji Hoo (the character he played in the drama Boys Over Flowers). Of course it's not, it even says KIM HYUNG JUN. I can forgive this more easily because it's easy to mix up names, especially if you're not familiar either with the language or the people. But at least entertain the thought that maybe, just maybe, there exist other people with names similar to Kim Hyun Joong.

Don't get me wrong, it's fine to fangirl over individual people because of their solo achievements without liking the group that they are a part of. But don't assume or claim that that individual is the source of all the group's talent and popularity. Kim Hyun Joong isn't the lead singer of SS501 and last time I checked, Jung Yong Hwa was not a multi-appendaged being who played drums, bass, and guitar all at the same time.

Listening to right now: CNBLUE - Black Flower

Latest indulgence

I sent my laptop for repair a couple of weeks ago and just got it back yesterday. In the mean time I was using my netbook but now that I've switched back to my laptop it feels almost sinful using such a big screen, haha.

My sleeping pattern's been ridiculously screwed up for the past few weeks since I'm not currently in a lab and I'm supposedly preparing for my candidacy exam. You would think that with all the oodles of time on my hands I'd have gotten a lot more studying done.

I've also been watching a lot of Coat West videos lately which is likely the reason that no studying is getting done. (If you don't know what Coat West is... either disregard this entire paragraph, or do some Googling, at your own risk.) To be honest, the first Coat West video I ever watched was an off shot disc for their ELoS series and I was somewhat surprised and disappointed at how comedic it was (which in hindsight is stupid because it's an off shot disc, duh). But just prior to watching it I had read on another blog something that had probably given me that preconceived notion of "Coat West = EVIL", so that most likely also had something to do with it.
Surprisingly, I kept watching more of their videos, mainly because I liked Taiki (who is now with KO Company under his new name Eiji). But then I started watching them for Sho, Nagi, and Hikaru, who are arguably their most popular "models", mostly because they make for great eyecandy, and also because I like watching their interactions. Hikaru and Sho have since left Coat West but Nagi is still there. I feel lonely for Nagi whenever I see him without Sho or Hikaru now (particularly Sho because I've been watching the NagixSho Commemoration series) just because it seemed like those three were tight. Nagi also seems a lot skinnier than before which is ridiculous because he should be making oodles of money from being in like every other Coat West production. As much as I like Nagi (and because he's really the only person left at Coat West who I find worth watching, aside from possibly Shun who, admittedly, I have not had the pleasure of checking out yet), I kind of want him to leave Coat West since Sho and Hikaru aren't there anymore. And also because I just don't want to see him with all those less attractive guys.

Listening to right now: CNBLUE - Sweet Holiday

Chasing your dreams

One of my latest hobbies has been wasting my life watching random videos on Youtube, and recently I've become interested in covers and whatnot. I know most of the people whose channels I follow are probably already well-known enough but I figured I'd mention some of them anyway.

wotakufighter2121 [Takayuki Kurata]
There's this one guy in Japan who only has about 11 videos uploaded but dude, the number of related videos I've seen listed of people who have used his guitar arrangements... it's quite interesting. I'm not a guitarist myself, neither am I familiar with it, but the guy seems pretty talented. He also recently joined an indie band called LUNCH VOXX who I've only listened to one song from so far (not bad, but not really my thing). He uses a scarf to cover the lower half of his face which I suppose is his distinguishing characteristic for his appearance.

aozorafantasii [Lisa]
So this girl graduated from UC Berkeley in 2009 and is now in Japan working and chasing her dream. She's a singer-songwriter and quite a few of her songs are in Japanese. I only stumbled across her channel tonight so I haven't gotten a chance to listen to a lot of her stuff but I did like the few original songs that I listened to. I think that with some polishing they'll sound really great. I'm also a bit envious of her passion to chase her dream all the way to Japan. Wish I had guts (and talent) like that.

I guess I'll occasionally put up some more channels, even though I know that there are tonnes of people showcasing their talents (or lack thereof) on Youtube and even more people who already know about them. But more so than simply talent, I really only follow channels of people who have something interesting or memorable about them. Like penchants for borderline asphyxiation with scarfs.

Listening to right now: LUNCH VOXX - Fabric (Youtube channel here)

Poems galore

I've been posting my poems in a separate, private blog for the last couple of months but I decided to make it public. If anyone's interested it's here.

They're not that great but what's the internet for if not watching porn sharing?

Listening to right now: the GazettE - 「瞞し」

What goes together better than heartbreak and alcohol?

Currently looping Lee Seung Gi's "Love Taught Me To Drink". Okay, really I've only been looping the first 2 minutes because the rapping in the middle kind of broke the mood for me, though it does fit the song in its own way. After seeing the name of the song and then hearing the song I could totally imagine poor Lee Seung Gi sitting at a table by himself in a bar drowning his sorrows in soju (for all I know that's probably exactly what the video is about, haha... note to self: watch the PV!)

I forgot what a great voice Lee Seung Gi has. He has such a smooth, sexy voice and he's a great singer. I love his ballads but his voice also suits more upbeat songs really well. I didn't like his first album so much because his voice was very gravelly but his subsequent albums had a much smoother sound. I also wanted to watch his acting skills in the drama "Shining Inheritance" but I couldn't even make it past like half of the first episode... which is unfortunate because I don't think he was even in much of that first half. I just found the setting up of the whole story to be very slow and boring, though I'm sure the drama itself improved thereafter.

Anyway, I just thought I'd write a little post about it since this song inspired me to write a poem that flowed completely effortlessly with very little thinking involved, and on the very first listen no less! Of course, that doesn't mean that the poem's good but lately I've been thinking way too hard about my poems while I'm writing them.

Listening to right now: 이승기 - 사랑이 술을 가르쳐 [Lee Seung Gi - Love Taught Me To Drink]

A twisted hope

Sometimes I wonder if I can just start my life over from scratch.

There are so many times that I find myself wondering what the heck I'm really doing with my life, am I really happy doing what I'm doing, am I even the person I want to be? I envy the people whose lives seem so fluid and versatile, as though they can just change their path in a heartbeat and follow their dreams. Maybe it's just a phase, or a case of "the grass is always greener on the other side" but I often feel this way.

It may sound somewhat strange but I have this weird belief that gives me hope. I don't really believe in reincarnation per se, but I have this image of one collective consciousness. Like sometimes I sit and think how odd it is that everyone else thinks the same way that I do, in the sense that everyone thinks in the context of "I". I watch other people and they are just that to me: other people. But each of those other people has a consciousness and feelings, and it makes me feel like there are clones of me walking all over the place. But it also makes me feel that one day when I eventually die, there are many other consciousnesses, many other "I"s, and thus many other opportunities for me to experience what I missed out on in this consciousness.

In the end, it just sounds like a twisted version of reincarnation, doesn't it?

Except that it's not like the current me dies and another is reborn but more like all of the "me"s are co-existing and somehow, someway, on some higher level I'm accessing their lives and experiences and personalities even if the current me cannot.

Yeah, I know, it doesn't make a whole lot of logical sense in my own mind either.

Listening to right now: hide - Inside the Pervert Mound

The man without a nose

I present to you: Reita of the GazettE, also known as the man without a nose.



Just kidding, I'm sure he has a nose. Maybe.

Anyhoo, I was fangirling him a few weeks ago and was super excited about writing a blog entry about him. So excited in fact, that I wanted it to be perfect and awesome like the man himself and thus never got around to actually writing it.

Reita is the bassist of the GazettE, and his trademark is that band over his nose. Or a bandanna, but usually it's the nose band. Basically, the idea is to just never show his nose. There are, of course, pictures floating around of a nose band-less Reita from back in the day but let's face it, that nose band adds infinite sexiness and badass-ness to his look.

Ordinarily I'm vehemently against putting actual people as my computer wallpaper but I gave into the temptation and Reita is now proudly flaunting his hotness every time I boot up. Lately I also refrain from saving pictures of celebrities on my hard drive, mainly because I feel like an obsessed fangirl doing it, but again I gave into the temptation and now I have a folder full of Reita pictures.

Obsession is a dangerous, dangerous thing.

I also really like Reita's hair. It hasn't changed all that much over the years (from what I can tell) and overall his look is lot less feminine than a lot of other visual kei J-rockers, including his fellow band mates. Even his style hasn't changed much which, when you consider how often J-rockers take the wrong turn down the path of omg-who-the-hell-let-you-out-looking-like-that, is nice.

His headbanging in the Filth in the beauty PV is also really cute (since half the time he's really just kind of swinging his head from side to side) and his voice is just... omg. *melts*

I'm still in the process of really getting into the GazettE's music so I can't say much about his talent as a bassist... though I do like the bass line in Cassis a lot.
It's also somewhat amusing that he throws (or at least used to) his bass guitar up in the air during lives and then catches it. I guess impressive might be the better word to use, though he did drop it once. ><

I'm not really sure what's a good way to end the fangirling post, but a picture is worth a thousand words, right?


Mmmm, don't mind if I do.

Listening to right now: the GazettE - Filth in the beauty

Note: I take no credit for these pictures. I found them all using Google.

Edit: I feel compelled to add something actually music-related to justify labeling this post as "Music". I listened to the GazettE's 'STACKED RUBBISH' album after my bandwagon post and I was kind of disappointed; totally not what I was expecting. I almost wrote another post saying that I was no longer on that bandwagon but luckily I listened to 'NIL' (which came before) and 'DIM' (which came after) first and I liked both those albums much more. I looped 'DIM' quite a bit... I believe it's their most recent studio album, released in 2009. So umm... yay for not falling off the bandwagon? :)

Moved to tears

I randomly listened to a piece by the Korean pianist/composer Yiruma called River Flows In You and... omg, it's gorgeous. It's only about 3 minutes long but it's amazing. And it's probably the only song/piece that has moved me literally almost to tears within the first 5 seconds.

I've heard of Yiruma before, just by name, but I've never heard any of his music or Wiki'ed him. Turns out he's well-known worldwide and River Flows In You is one of his best-known pieces (I can see why). After hearing this piece I'm definitely going to check out more of his stuff.

The initial "moving me to tears" feeling has gradually faded after looping the track like 5 times in a row (oops) but it's still an amazing piece.

On a related side note, I thought it was weird and mildly interesting that according to Wiki his two pieces River Flows In You and Kiss the Rain are "widely misattributed as Bella's Lullaby from the soundtrack to the 2008 film Twilight." Umm, what?
(And no, I've never watched any of the Twilight movies.)

Listening to right now: Yiruma - River Flows In You

Jumping on the bandwagon

So the GazettE seems to be ridiculously popular (am I just stating the obvious?) and since I've only heard a few songs from them (again, back in 2004/5) I decided to Youtube 'em and see why it is that I never jumped on the omg-the-GazettE-is-awesome bandwagon.

I still don't know the answer to that because I'm pretty sure the songs I've heard recently from them were post-2005 songs (Cassis is late 2005, so still after I stopped following J-rock) and thus were released when I stopped listening to J-rock on a whole anyway. I started off with Cassis, Filth in the beauty, and now DISTRESS AND COMA... and... I'm not gonna lie, I don't particularly like Ruki's voice. I know there are probably thousands, maybe even millions, of fangirls who will vehemently disagree with me but I'm sorry, his voice just doesn't float my boat. It's growing on me (i.e. I can tolerate it enough to actually listen past it to the music) but it almost turned me off the GazettE completely. Which would have been a shame because I do like their music. I haven't listened to many of their songs yet but they seem to be incredibly versatile in their styles of music. I've also liked their PVs so far; they're actually visually worth watching (and not just because of the members).

They've been around since 2002 and have always been visual kei as far as I know. I'm not ashamed to admit that a motivating factor for me to keep watching their PVs and staring at their pictures is that I really like their appearance. I find that a lot of the newer visual kei bands are just over the top or are much darker and scarier than I personally like. But the GazettE's style is much simpler comparatively, without the crazy outfits that look like they're hell to move in much less perform in.
Don't get me wrong though, there are some bands who wear crazy outfits that I also love watching, haha. Of course, I'd only watch them if their music was worth listening to.

Anyway, I can see why the GazettE is so ridiculously popular. Even though I didn't really like the vocalist's voice initially, I can still get past it and really listen to the music which as it turns out... is pretty awesome. So consider me as having jumped squarely on the GazettE bandwagon.

Listening to right now: the GazettE - Cassis

Aki likes shiny pants

I happened to come across a random Youtube video of some amateur visual kei band covering SID's "Watashi wa Ame" in Harajuku (well, supposedly it was a band... there was only one guy playing guitar and singing in the video) and I remembered just how much I used to like SID. Before seeing this video the only two songs I really remembered were "Ajisai" and "Alibi"; I had forgotten how many other awesome songs they have.

I'm not that familiar with their more recent stuff (recent being 2006 onwards) since I haven't kept up with J-rock since around 2005. This makes SID a little unique for me in that most of the bands I like have been around a lot longer and so I'm more familiar with their later, non-indies songs, whereas I'm much more familiar with SID's indies stuff than their later work. So I rummaged around and found their Renai album, and I'm beginning to re-familiarise myself with them.

So far, I've noticed that a lot of their later songs tend more towards the mainstream pop sound, with a lot less of that jazzy yumminess that was so prominent in their earlier songs. This doesn't mean that their current sound is bad; just that their style has changed pretty significantly, imo. Maybe the bass is also more prominent in their earlier songs? (Haven't listened to enough of their newer songs to say this for sure.)
Two of their recent songs that I've been looping are "Uso" and "Memai"; I especially like "Memai" because it's a little harder (rockier?) than their other stuff, even compared to their indies songs, and very very catchy.

They've also de-visualised for the most part, and unlike some other de-visualised bands they actually look pretty good. I watched a 2009 interview with them though and apparently they still consider themselves to be visual kei? I don't know if they're referring more to their music or to their appearance or both but I wouldn't have called them visual kei. In fact, I was under the impression that they didn't want to be visual kei anymore. This is all hearsay of course, since it's just stuff that I read online. And really, it doesn't matter to me whether they (or anyone else for that matter) consider themselves to be visual kei.

I just watched a video of their live performance of "Memai" and there are a few things I noticed:
a) the lyrics are awesome... I've never looked up their lyrics before but I definitely will now.
b) Mao would sound great in a screamy song and
c) Aki rocks out so hard... harder than I would expect from a bassist. o_O
d) Oh yeah, and Aki likes shiny pants.

Listening to right now: シド 「眩暈」　(SID - Memai)

Good taste in music...?

What defines good taste in music? Doesn't it ultimately come down to one's own subjective idea of what sounds good and what doesn't?

I've always had that annoying little problem of caring too much about what other people think of me. I love the music I listen to, regardless of the genre or the musical awesomeness (or lack thereof). And I'm willing to try almost any genre because I know that there will always be at least one or two songs that I'll like even if I don't lean towards that particular type of music. Yet I always find myself defending my "taste in music" as though what I listen to is something to be ashamed of.

As is evident by the majority of my posts on this blog, I've been heavily into Korean pop music for the last few months, and I like it. I like the catchiness of the songs, I like singing along to them, I like the melodies. Yet whenever someone puts down my choice to listen to K-pop I feel this inexplicable need to laugh and agree that my taste in music is questionable, or even go to such lengths as to say that once upon a time my taste in music was much better, like when I was more into J-rock.

But why do I consider J-rock as being better then K-pop? Okay, I do consider J-rock to be better than K-pop (for my personal tastes) because I can immerse myself in J-rock in a way that I can't (or don't) do with K-pop... even though I do really like K-pop and would be able to loop K-pop forever. I suppose the right question would be... why should K-pop be considered inferior to J-rock? The impression that I've gotten from other people who have called my taste in music "bad" simply because I listen to K-pop is that 1) it's pop, and 2) they don't play instruments. As if being an actual instrument-playing band makes someone's music better?

I'm not gonna lie though. I'm a hypocrite because I also look down on certain genres (and by association the taste of those who like them). American teenybopper pop, for example. Maybe I just have a god complex where I think my taste in music is absolute and infallible? Lol.

I know that this isn't something restricted to just J-rock and K-pop... it's applicable to any genres of music, and to anybody in the whole world. I guess in the end this is just a long-winded rant about people criticising my own taste in music, haha. And I suppose it doesn't help that I have the exact same stereotypes (otherwise why would I call my choice of K-pop a "questionable" taste in music?) as the people criticising me.

I love the music I listen to. And that's what makes my taste in music good.

Listening to right now: Dir en grey - Akuro no Oka

Bored at work...

So I decided to listen to Pandora while playing some Solitaire (which I keep losing for some reason, btw), only to realise that I had no idea what artist/song/composer I should create a station based on. I started off with Sara Bareilles first then tried Rain (I don't think it's the same Rain as Bi though because the station kinda sucked wasn't what I was expecting) and finally settled on L'Arc~en~Ciel. I didn't try them off the bat because a year ago it kept giving me crappy music but this time the first song turned out to be by Asian Kung-Fu Generation, and I thought hey, maybe it'll give me some good stuff for a change.

Anyway, long story short, I'm on the 4th song and so far the playlist is fairly good. And seeing as I'm still losing in Solitaire, I figured that a better more interesting use of my time would be to write a blog entry about the songs while I listen to my L'Arc~en~Ciel station and wait for my western transfer to finish.

Asian Kung-Fu Generation - N.G.S. [whoo haven't heard AKFG in so long!]
Gackt - Farewell [of course, must have Gackt in here somewhere -_-; not a fan of this particular song though]
MUCC - Saishuu Ressha [omg I freaked out when this song started playing... I love this song!]
Gain commercial [sigh]
Yoko Kanno - Inner Universe [I really like this song too; haven't heard it in a while]
Asian Kung-Fu Generation - My World [not sure I've ever heard this one before... but not bad]
Gackt - Noah [instrumental? kinda nice, actually]
the Pillows - The Sun That Will Not Rise [I think I've only heard like 2 songs from the Pillows before, and this wasn't one of them. Very mellow, I like]
High and Mighty Color - Over [I remember hearing this a while ago on Pandora... okay song, it has its moments but kinda boring]
Yoko Kanno - Stamina Rose [somewhat interesting... somewhat]
Venus Embrace commercial [siiiiigh]
Yoshida Brothers - Red Bird (Akai Tori) [ooooh, instrumental? First time I'm hearing about the Yoshida Brothers but wow I really like this song... especially whatever old-sounding instrument is being plucked throughout. Edit: It's the shamisen.]
the Pillows - March of God [catchy ^^]

Overall, I'm quite pleased with the selection of music. Good job, Pandora. Much better than last time when you didn't even play Japanese music on my L'Arc~en~Ciel station.

Listening to right now: the Pillows - March of God

I lack tolerance for stupidity

People's ignorance astounds me sometimes.

There was a forum topic recently about canker sores and one of the posters claimed that they were caused by not rinsing your mouth properly after brushing your teeth which he/she supposedly backed up by posting a link to a scientific paper. Except that the paper was published in 1994, involved only 10 volunteers, and never said that canker sores were caused by the sodium lauryl sulfate in toothpaste (they more or less inconclusively linked the two).

So I refuted the dude's (I assume it was a dude) choice of paper and what did I get for it? A "stfu, stop trying to discredit my statement, rofl". He also said that he was just giving the information since it worked for him and other people he knew.

Okay, first, he NEVER said all that in his first couple of posts with the link. It was just "it's caused by not rinsing your mouth properly" and link. No explanation of "hey, this made it worse" or "this also happened to some people I know".
Second, seriously, a 1994 study done on 10 people? Come on, at least use something more recent than 16 years ago. And anyone who's ever had to back their shit up with research will tell you that a study on 10 people is piss poor support for a claim.
Third, his choice of paper didn't even support his claim! All that paper did was show that MAYBE there was a link between SLS and canker sores, not that it caused them. Even all the anecdotal evidence from other posters didn't show that SLS causes canker sores, only that it definitely exacerbates them in some people.
Fourth, stfu? rofl? Wow, your argumentative skills blow me away.

And btw asshole, I didn't "try" to discredit your statement, I DID discredit it.
Granted that I could have been nicer when I did it but it still doesn't change the fact that I was right.

It's a little sad that I'm letting a stupid forum reply from an idiotic douchebag get to me this much but... I figure that what good is a blog if not as a place for me to vent? Lol.

Listening to right now: F.T Island - 첫눈에 알아

"Did I fall asleep?"

I finally caught up with the TV series Dollhouse this weekend and it was totally worth putting off the craploads of work I have to do. I'm disappointed that it got cancelled though... it's one of the few shows (the only show?) that I've followed since it first came out, even though I didn't watch Season 2 regularly. Season 1 was a little slow, not great, and didn't really keep my attention in that I rarely felt like I absolutely HAD to watch the next episode. Season 2 also started off a bit the same but it gained momentum from episode 4 onwards to the point where I watched the last 7 or 8 episodes in about 2 days.

NOTE: Potential spoilers ahead!

I think episode 4, "Belonging", is one of the best episodes, at least up to that point in the series. It primarily focuses on Sierra's past and it's nice to finally learn a little more about what a doll's prior life was like.
Season 2 picked up a lot of speed after that, blazing through the events that lead up to the future depicted in "Epitaph One". On the one hand, it makes the episodes highly addictive and a lot of times I found myself pausing and staring at the screen in total disbelief and shock at the unexpected revelations. On the other hand, it felt almost a little rushed, although I know that it was probably to catch the series up to "Epitaph One" since it was being cancelled... a sort of courtesy to the fans. Despite that, the episodes were incredibly well done and definitely surpass the previous ones, imo. Not to mention that Victor-as-Topher is just GOLD.
I'm also quite impressed by the acting overall (only one or two exceptions who don't need to be named), and the dialogue improved significantly in Season 2 compared to Season 1. I think Topher is my favourite Dollhouse character (at least in Season 2) and I also really like Alan Tudyk's portrayal of Alpha.

I was less impressed by the Epitaph episodes, perhaps because I didn't feel any kind of connection to the new characters. Which isn't a fault of the actors but rather just a consequence of not having them grow on me episode after episode like the main characters. "Epitaph Two" was somewhat heart-wrenching but at the same time almost seemed to conform to the norm of ending everything on a happy note (although "happy" is really quite relative here).

Overall, I think this series rocks and I wish that it hadn't been cancelled, though I think they tied everything up quite nicely (everything important at least... of course, there are still loads of unanswered questions but who knows, they might not have addressed those even if the series had been extended). Season 2 also may not have been as awesome had they not been pressed for time in catching everything up to "Epitaph One" (this is speculation on my part, though... I don't know at what point in the series they were when the show was cancelled).

It's too bad that the ratings weren't better... maybe then we could have seen a little more development of the other characters and perhaps more of what lead up to the future in the Epitaph episodes.

Listening to right now: F.T Island - 미우나 고우나

R.I.P., hide

I have been so ridiculously out of touch with J-rock for the last... five years. It's sad, I feel like I've missed out on so much awesomeness.

I was playing Rock Band 2 the other day and happened to see X Japan on the list of artists. I only remembered to Google it tonight while procrastinating from studying and lo and behold, it turns out that X Japan not only re-united in mid-2007 but also did the main theme song for the movie Saw IV. I suppose I may have known this earlier had I actually watched Saw IV but seeing as I have no backbone for horror movies... yeah.

Anyhoo, I watched the PV for their song, "I.V." and I was really touched to see how much they integrated hide's memory into it. They placed his guitar in front of a mic to symbolise where he would have been playing had he been there with them, and showed clips of his performances on the huge building-screen-monitor-thing. Also, I read on Wikipedia that his unreleased guitar tracks were used in this song.

R.I.P., hide.

I was surprised to read that SUGIZO (I assume it's stylised in all caps) joined X Japan, mainly because I didn't know that he had performed with them as a stand-in for hide. I recognise his name from LUNA SEA but to be honest, I never really had much of a thing for LUNA SEA so I have no idea how awesome he is aside from what Wikipedia and fansites tell me. According to Wikipedia though he said he joined as their sixth member, meaning that hide is most definitely still there in spirit (X Japan has 5 living members, including SUGIZO).

Btw, Yoshiki looks totally badass on his drums. I've gotten used to J-rockers looking like girls.

Listening to right now: X Japan - I.V.

What's the time, yo?

I've been listening to 2PM's album "The First Album 1:59PM" and although I wasn't that impressed by it initially, it's slowly grown on me. It just goes to show that sometimes stuff gets better the more you loop it incessantly. A couple of these songs are actually songs that I've listened to before, like Again and Again and 10점 만점에 10점, but didn't really like. Turns out that Again and Again is ridiculously catchy and for some reason I find the dance only version of the MV to be fascinating to watch. In fact, I haven't even seen the normal MV for it.

I've also watched a few random clips from different shows that they've appeared on or starred in and they're quite amusing. Park Jaebum was really fun to watch and now I understand a little better why he's so loved by his fans to the point of borderline insanity. And the boy has some mad dancing skills; I wish him the best with his dance group!

On a side note, it is craaaaazy how out of hand the whole 2PM controversy has gotten. It's one thing to be upset and to want to boycott or hate the other members but I think some of the things that these fans (ex-fans?) are resorting to are a little excessive. And the level of emotion that some people have invested in these idols (and this goes for idols in general, not just 2PM) is just... wow. Not that excessive fandom doesn't exist elsewhere in the world but I can't really speak about other countries since I'm not currently fangirling following their idols.
I think it's interesting that many of the fans who are now anti-2PM (as in the remaining 6 members being 2PM) claim that they are anti-2PM because they feel deceived by the members in terms of personalities and the image that they have portrayed through the media. It seems to me that fans look at these idols on TV, on variety shows and whatnot, and believe that the image that they project is the real them. And perhaps it is, to an extent. But I feel like they should take it with a grain of salt and realise that these idols are 1) not faultless and 2) obviously going to show a face that will garner more love from the public, real or not. Then again, maybe I'm just misunderstanding their idol culture.

But that's off topic.

I really like the remixes on the "1:59PM" album, especially the Lounge Mix of 니가 밉다. It's probably one of my favourite tracks off this album. The original version is also really good (it's not on this album though, boo), probably one of the only songs by 2PM that I liked the first time I heard it. The Red Light Mix of Heartbeat is also pretty good, and a nice change after looping the original so many times in the last week.

Overall, 2PM's music generally doesn't jump out at me the first few times I hear it but it gradually grows on me the more I listen to it. They're still relatively new (only been around since 2008, I think?) but their dancing is really good (what I've seen so far) with some acrobatics thrown in, and they're pretty good looking too. Although for some reason I laugh every time Taecyeon rips his shirt off on stage.

Listening to right now: 2PM - 니가 밉다 (Lounge Mix)

So tempting...

Would it be too fangirl-ish to make a Twitter account solely to follow Park Jung Min and Kim Hyung Jun's supposed accounts? I'm hoping it will bring me one step closer to meeting Kim Hyung Jun and jumping/marrying him.

Too bad my Korean isn't good enough to understand most of the tweets. I guess that's what Babel Fish is for.

Yay for SS501 finishing up their Asia Tour! Hope they release a full length album and not a mini-album in May! ^^

Listening to right now: Kara - Lupin

Listen to my heartbeat

I waffled a bit on whether on not to comment on the recent issue involving 2PM and their former leader Park Jaebom, since I'm not really a 2PM fan unless you count Taecyeon starring in my recent daydreams as being a fan. I've heard maybe 2 songs in total by them and I know nothing about them as a group or even about the Park Jaebum controversy but it bothers me to read some of the blind fangirl comments regarding that issue.

Recently it's been confirmed that Park Jaebum will never be able to return to 2PM due to a "severe personal mistake". A translation of a subsequent conference that the remaining members (plus their agency's CEO I think) held with fans says that the members fully support that decision. And now people are jumping all over them for it, calling them backstabbers and haters. In fact, a lot of people have even said that they will not continue to support 2PM because the remaining 6 members supposedly turned their backs on Park Jaebum.

I can understand that people are upset over Park Jaebum not being allowed to return. And I can understand that the brotherly bond between the members is one of the reasons that the fans are even fans (though I'd like to hope that their music plays just as big a role). But as per usual, fans are so blinded by their "love" for their idols that they immediately start bashing on anyone or anything that even hints at hurting their idol. Perish the thought that their precious idol might be human and do something wrong. To their credit, the fangirls can sometimes acknowledge when their idol does something wrong but they void those brownie points by automatically redeeming them ("it wasn't that bad") or blaming someone else (everything's a conspiracy nowadays).
Of course, not all fans are like that but most of the ones who voice their thoughts that strongly are.

Instead of calling the rest of 2PM backstabbers and saying that they didn't protect their brother or try to get him back, why not consider the possibility that maybe what Park Jaebum did really was that bad? Maybe not allowing him back into 2PM (and maybe he doesn't even want to come back) is the best thing because if whatever he did is revealed later on, it could hurt not only him but 2PM as a whole. And saying that they're only saving their own asses is unfair. First off, because this decision might actually protect him. And secondly, because it's their job/dream to be doing what they're doing. And if they're that hurt by whatever Park Jaebum did, then like I said, maybe it really was that bad.

Even though I don't have any particularly strong feelings towards 2PM (this crazy long post seems to suggest otherwise), I don't like watching so many so-called fans jump on their backs unnecessarily. Only a handful of people know what's really going on, and I'm 99.99% sure that the Hottests are not them.

Listening to right now: 2PM - Heartbeat