12 posts tagged “life”

Ugh, I have yet another paper to write this weekend, and I have no idea how to approach it because the topic is so vague...what a bummer. -_-;  I'm also hoping to translate DELUHI's new mini-album 'Yggdalive' in the near future...I don't have time to do a full post and rant on in detail about it, but it's pretty awesome so anyone who hasn't heard it yet should go give it a listen!  Leda's guitar work is love as always. <3  There are deliciously heavy metal-inspired riffs, some seriously high powered drumming, uplifting choruses, a sweet bass solo, a few funky/popish moments, and the shockingly soft and smooth "Hoshi no nai Yoru ni".  DELUHI has really expanded their horizons beyond my expectations with this release, proving they can rock a number of different styles skillfully and naturally.  For a first effort I was surprised how well they pulled off a lot of the new influences and styles.  Plus the sound quality of their work has taken a significant step up from previous releases as well, which is great.  I also can't wait till the full version of the "REVOLVER BLAST" PV comes out.  At first I wasn't too keen on it, and it's still not my favourite track, but the full song turned out to be a lot heavier than the chorus let on.  Here's some more samples:  "Wake Up!"    "Follow the Future"    "Flow Snow"

I'm pretty excited for next week because the new coat I ordered should be arriving.  It's a really cute black and white pleated Victoria houndstooth coat by BB Dakota.  It was so much cheaper than I expected (even less than the average for a similar coat at many other, more popular brand stores...but I think they tend to hike the price) and definitely miles away from the $3,650 or so price tag on the Alexander McQueen designs it takes inspiration from. >_<  I'd actually been endlessly debating over whether to go for a black or a white coat but this one totally solves that problem.  I can't wait to wear it with my tall, black suede high-heeled boots. :D  I've been refreshing my wardrobe lately not only for the fall/winter season, but looking for more sophisticated, classic pieces, because I've realized I need to expand beyond my existing functional/casual and not-so-work-appropriate rock-inspired looks.  I need more mature, career oriented items too but it's always so hard to find my size in those areas.

In other news, the GazettE's manager posted some more interesting anecdotes today.  Apparently the band hasn't been meeting up a lot lately since they're making songs and on break, but they had a photoshoot and such recently and when he and Kai were talking about posting photos on their blogs Kai showed the manager a certain photo on his phone and Sakai asked "Is this a pro wrestler?" to which Kai said "No, it's me!" and was like "See, look!" and proceeded to flash his newly buffed-up arms!  Then the manager was all like, "Wow, they've gotten really big!" 0_0.  I knew Kai had started working out to increase his muscles (he even got a personal trainer, I heard) but now I'm really curious to see how much of a difference there is!  Is it that drastic?! o_0  Also, apparently Aoi decided to invite everyone at PSC to dinner (they made a reservation for close to 20 people, he said) and Aoi paid for them all!  Sakai was super happy and said, "What a manly thing to do!  You're the best!  Thanks!" lol ^^;

I can't believe I managed to write two 6-8 page papers in three days...and I'm quite happy with the results, though I don't know how they'll do under my professors' scrutiny. @_@  One was for art history on the presence of the idol in Andy Warhol and Willem de Kooning's paintings (which I actually enjoyed writing), the other was a more grueling analysis of the application of psychoanalysis and Foucault to the anthropology of gender...that one was pretty complex, so I'm not as confident about it.  I always find it easier and feel better when writing about the arts because they're something I believe in, whereas I tend to be very suspicious of theory.  Anyway, now I'm totally burnt out, but I still have a mountain of other work to catch up on. =_=;;

Speaking of being burnt out, I read the GazettE's manager's mobile post today where he revealed that Aoi forgot what date it was and was the only member not to send Kai a happy birthday text.  Supposedly it went like this:
あっ今日もう30日だったっけ？？まだ26日だと思ってた(笑)
Ah, today's already the 30th??  I thought it was still the 26th(lol)
あっ！！忘れてた｡まじごめん！！日にちの感覚がなかった｡
Ah!! I forgot. I'm so sorry!! I lost track of the date.

-_-;....
Aoi you mean, terrible person...apparently Kai was pretty down because he didn't get a text from him. ^^lll  Of all the members Aoi seems to have been taking their vacation to the extreme from what he said in the latest magazine interviews.  Apparently he's been spending his time doing nothing but playing video games and chatting anonymously with people on the network (in some cases finding out that they like the GazettE) and practicing guitar while waiting for his game to load.  -_-lll  No wonder he's lost his sense of time.  I do feel bad for him though, because the reason why he's been practicing guitar at home (which he said he hasn't really done before, only playing while working on composing, recording, and pre-pro) is because at Saitama Super Arena he got nervous and there was a point where he messed up and his fingers just wouldn't move.  It seems Reita covered it up for him, but he said he felt like he wanted to die in that moment (it's in Shoxx, if I remember correctly). T_T  Poor guy.  So now he's working on leveling up his guitar play and getting more serious about why certain phrases just don't come out when he's composing, which is admirable and very responsible of him, I think.

Also, totally random, but I'm going insane cause I can't get this song out of my head: Bad Romance

I really, really hate it when fire alarms unexpectedly go off late at night on cold, rainy days. -_-;  It's such a pain.  Anyway, it's kinda sad that I haven't been updating much lately since I'm buried in work and papers that need to be written.  (I'm halfway through one for my art and aesthetics class right now, actually...it's about a bugaku mask from Itsukushima.)  There are so many backed-up posts and things I've meant to talk about but just don't have time to sit down and write.  But well, as for some good news, I've pre-ordered a copy of the GazettE's new DVD!  I caved and went for the rather expensive limited edition...and express shipping, cause I'm an impatient person and won't be able to stand waiting an extra week. :3  I'm really looking forward to it, and I get the feeling this year's holiday break will be a good one. ^^

By the way, I just though I'd share a little excerpt from a recent interview with SUGIZO.  Every time I read one of his interviews I grow to respect him even more.  He's such an intriguing person and seems to have matured into a really positive, humble perspective on things (plus I love when the dorkiness of his spiritualist-hippie-activist side comes out, hahaha.)  But he really does say some nice, pretty deep things sometimes.  I admire the fact that he really wants to make a difference in the world and uses his music to achieve that.

"What is important is guiding the world to a better place, making it more beautiful. I know that I don't have that much power over things, but I know that I am better than nothing. So I do my thing through my music. It's not as though people would die without music. Food, clothing and shelter is another story, but people can still exist without art and music. But I think that without music, people's hearts would die. It is my goal to be able to help people's hearts as well as how they live in the real world." [whole article]

I've been neglecting writing about new releases for some time now, mostly because I've been busy with real life work and spending my remaining free time translating for my other blog.  But after all it's a better use of my time and there's more interest there anyway. ^^;  So right now I'm honestly just procrastinating because I'm sick of doing my crazy amounts of Japanese homework (I've been at it for most of today, slogging my way through kanji study, an essay revision, 50+ sentence translations, and a four page reading comprehension worksheet). _|¯¯|O  Why are my Japanese sensei always so insanely ambitious?  Admittedly though it does me a lot of good, since if I were allowed to just sit on my ass and breeze through the class the lack of pressure from constantly having assignments due and needing to mentally prepare for class so I won't come out of there shamefully picking up the scraps of my shattered self-esteem would mean I'd never improve.

Hm, well anyway there's a bunch of releases coming out soon from artists like ScReW, D, and heidi., although so far none of the previews except maybe those for heidi.'s new album 'Panorama' have particularly struck me.  In fact, the pv for D's new single 'Tightrope' was pretty disappointing.  The song is alright, but rather mediocre and unmemorable despite its heaviness which wins some points with me, but the worst for me was the pv.  It just looks washed out and not very well put together from a cinematographic perspective, not to mention the obvious, overdone, and trite imagery.  I think it's the most awkward pv I've ever seen from D...a lot of the members' posing is so stiff and the scenes with Asagi as the "dog" and the man flailing in "fear" against the fence are just awkward to watch.  The whole idea just isn't very original and certainly not executed as well as it could be...the whole thing comes off as being tacky and cheesy rather than aggressive or sexy.

However, D'espairsRay's new single 'Final Call' is catchy and fun, and the pv is edgy with high contrasts between the vibrant colours, light and dark.  The line "Why can't you love me, baby?!" really makes you want to sing along, as dorky as that would be. : )  The song is upbeat and somewhat similar in sound and composition to 'REDEEMER', but has a sultrier feel to it that's played up in the pv's imagery and the lyrics.  I'll be translating it as soon as I get my hands on the kanji.

On another note, I just have to say, if I wasn't already decided on getting the GazettE's DIM SCENE Final DVD, then for sure these tantalizing, gorgeous photos would be more than enough to convince me! *o*  I mean, just WOW...I have no words!

So apparently the DVD of the GazettE's DIM SCENE tour final at Saitama Super Arena will be released December 16th, and I'm thinking of getting it despite the probably fairly high cost and the fact that I currently have no way to play it due to region coding (oh, how I hate the coding system) but I've been wanting to get a multi-region player for years so maybe this can be my motivation to finally invest in one since I really want to see the live and it supports the band, of course.  So I guess I ought to start saving up for it now. ^^;  (Btw, I absolutely LOVE their new looks, especially Aoi, Ruki, and Kai! <3)

Anyway, I've finished my first full week of class and all is going well...they're very interesting, though the assignments are already piling up.  I'm trying to get three of my short 1-3 page papers (all from my art classes) out of the way this weekend before the bigger papers come up and also so the following weekends will be freed up and I can actually do other things besides just work.  My Japanese sensei said she wants us to make blogs and post about stuff in Japanese every week throughout the semester, which is an idea I like and look forward to, but also somewhat worry about since it means I'll then have to maintain three blogs, which I'd like to keep posting in regularly but I don't know how successfully I'll manage that with all my other work.  まあ、とりあえず頑張ります！

We also have a stupid p.e. requirement so I'm taking pilates, which is nice since it's less intensive than doing a "real" sport or something that involves exercise machines.  I'm relatively flexible and fit, and can walk all day without getting tired so I figured it wouldn't be too hard on me, but we had our first class a few days ago and I have to say, my "core" (basically all the internal muscles of the torso that are the main focus for this exercise routine) were unexpectedly sore afterward. ^^lll  When you're doing the exercise it doesn't seem strenuous at all or like it's working your body too much, but you really feel it later! >_<  Well, I suppose by the end of it I'll have better abs and upper body strength (we had to do push-ups!  I freakin' hate push-ups...).

Also, this is rather random, but I've recently discovered what a delicious combination pomegranate flavour Chobani greek yogurt and cinnamon Kashi Heart to Heart cereal make.  It's great, I seriously recommend it!  I was very happy to discover the new expanded store in the dining hall sells Chobani yogurt, it's all natural greek yogurt...good stuff.  Before all they had was one crappy brand that didn't taste very good and only stocked three flavors. -_-;  It was utterly pathetic.

It's weird to be back at school again.  Yesterday I moved into my new apartment and have spent most of yesterday and today running around doing all the necessary errands, getting the stuff I need, cleaning the place up and unpacking.  When I first got here the place seemed pretty spartan, but now that I've spruced it up a bit and placed my things around it looks a bit better.  I have a nice amount of space in my single room (bedroom)...about 168 sq. ft. I think, plus a kitchen and private bathroom that I share with my one flatmate.
We've been getting along well so far, and he and I are both in the strange position of having come back after a year abroad so we don't know what's going on or how things work anymore. ^^;  It doesn't help that because we're in our final year we don't know anyone from the lower two years and all our friends from the upper years have graduated.  It's kind of depressing really...I don't feel as familiar with things here anymore so it makes me want to just get this year over with and move on already.  Like a lot of people I know who've just come back from abroad we found ourselves saying, "What am I doing here?!"...even though several months have passed it's still hard to adjust to life back here not to mention the university lifestyle.  Ironically the bathroom light stopped working as soon as dark fell on our first night here, so we ended up having to use flashlights to take showers and stuff, which was odd and a pain but manageable...at least the water pressure is ok. -_-lll  I filed a work order so hopefully they'll come fix it soon.

Another saddening fact is that one of my favourite professors has gone off to Japan to do research so he's not gonna be here this year...I always loved his literature classes cause it was always the same group of people taking it so we all got to know each other well and would have really fun discussions and accumulate all these inside jokes.  Well, despite that my classes seem interesting albeit rather challenging this semester, so I'll probably be kept busy and have to work hard to keep everything together.  I'm taking some cool courses like Culture and Mental Illness, Anthropology of Gender, and of course, Readings in Contemporary Japanese Literature. ^_^v

Haha, I stumbled on a bunch of super cute, hilarious vids on youtube the other day while I was bored and trying to keep cool in this absolutely awful heat.  The first is a little song about going to the convenience store featuring a host of jrockers including Miyavi, Kyo, Toshiya, Ruki, Reita, Aoi, Uruha, Kai, Kaya, etc. so you can try to spot them all while you watch.  It's so adorable and everyone's roles were chosen really well (my personal fave has to be the moment with Aoi though...they call him おやじ!!!　lulz).
What makes it even funnier is the fact that I can totally relate to like, half the stuff in this video cause my friends and I would go to the Family Mart near school almost every day...the やんちゃ kids bumming around in front of the conbini, the sketchy guys standing there reading the mags, the various kinds of steamed buns, the way they hand you the change, and yes, even paying for things worth less than 1,000 yen (=$10) with a 10,000 yen ($100) bill. (I've actually done that multiple times...I'm a horrible person, I know...^^;)  *sigh* I honestly really miss Japanese convenience stores...they rock!  And it's so true, when you've got nothing to do or time to kill, going to the conbini's always the way to go.

I also found this set of really well-made videos with little manga-esque versions of the GazettE members talking with the audio from some of the best moments of Reita's Radio Jack program.  One is tongue twisters w/ Ruki and the other Aoi's epic "Angelina".  I think the other uploads of those airings got taken down by the rabid PSC deleting team or whatever, so it's nice that these are still up, plus it's even better with cute chibi expressions. (・ω・)

And lastly this clip from an arm wrestling match between the members of vistlip where defying all logic, the winner Tohya is forced to perform a "sexy dance" with just clapping for background music.  I have never witnessed so much utter FAIL in a dance before...it is the most horribly un-sexy dance you could ever imagine...it's just plain freaky and weird! ^_^lll  All the other member's screams of こわいな！　怖っ！！ are seriously funny though...I think he just wanted to get back at them.  The members of vistlip are such amusing people. :D

A ton of awesome releases are coming up in the next few weeks as well as later in the summer, so many exciting previews of what's to come are continuing to be released.  THE KIDDIE have put out a pv preview for their upcoming single 'elite STAR+'!  It looks really good and the song sounds interesting as well.  Their look for this release vaguely reminds me of the one for 'Sayonara Setsuna', probably because they seem to be using similar greys, darks, and whites paired with blue hues and animal print accents.  The single comes out July 8th...I can't wait to hear the full song! : )

In addition, girugamesh have posted new looks and the cd cover for their upcoming single 'BORDER', which is due for release August 5th.  They're going at a pretty fast pace with their releases, and once again have chosen to do a single (though they hadn't done so in ages before 'ALIVE', tending to release albums instead).  I suspect this is because of the long Crazy Crazy Crazy tour they finished earlier this year, since they probably wrote a good amount of material while on the road (they even started recording parts of 'ALIVE' during it).  The cover for 'BORDER' is unexpected but somehow just what one would expect from girugamesh...乾杯！ ^_^;　さすがだね（笑） But I have no idea what's up with all the random Americana in the background...I guess we'll have to wait for an interview with the guys to enlighten us on that one.
  
Anyway, the boys seem to be sticking to hoodies+jeans for now, but this time have opted for black zip-up style ones with white designs on either side of the chest and down one arm.  Nii and Shuu look almost the same as before except for some minor changes, but Satoshi's gotten rid of the perm and cut his hair short again...it really suits him and goes well with his face shape.  However, when I saw the new photos I was immediately wowed by how adorable Ryo looks!  His hair is also short but more conventionally styled (no braids or half up, half down styling), and it makes him look even younger and *gasp* slightly feminine when he poses like that in his solo photo, but it's cute and an interesting change. ^_^

girugamesh have been gradually shifting to a softer, more handsome, clean look for a while now.  If you look at their style over time they went from dark and scary, heavy make-up, contacts, and spiky dyed hair to limited eyeliner and natural all black hair, as well as transitioning from the formal black suits to casual wear.  Though they've shown it before, with this I believe they can definitely break the unfortunate (and untrue!) idea among some fans that girugamesh is an ugly band for good.

On completely different, more personal note, I made an amazing discovery today!  First off, I realized a little over a year ago that I'm mildly lactose intolerant which explained why I couldn't stand eating too much cream/dairy-based sauces and I hate drinking milk.  However, I've always been a big fan of cereal, and like to have it for breakfast, but as I ingested less and less milk I became less tolerant and more disgusted by it, so I tried to find a good alternative.  I used soy milk for a while, but found the beany aftertaste a bit unappetizing unless masked by chocolate flavour, but I didn't want to use that all the time since it has so much sugar and overpowers the cereal. 
So I was at a loss for some time while I searched for a good alternative, but milk substitutes are often hard to find and dominated by soy-based products.  There is rice milk, but that didn't sound much better than soy milk.  But, today for the first time I found almond milk at Whole Foods, and was overjoyed!  I'd always wanted to try it but could never get it anywhere before and thought it might be more expensive, but actually it was priced very similar to the cow's milk.  So, I bought a carton of the vanilla flavoured and tested it when I got home....it was incredibly delicious!  None of the heaviness of soy milk, and way smoother and more refreshing...plus, I actually like the faint taste of almonds.  The word あっさり perfectly describes it!  It was seriously like love at first taste...I'm totally hooked now. XD  I definitely recommend almond milk to anyone who's interested in a cow's milk substitute for whatever reason.
[Amusingly enough, even this does in a way relate to music...one of the first times I heard of almond milk was ages ago in some tv interview with Yoshiki where he said he doesn't drink cow's milk, he drinks almond milk! :D]

I think I've finally gotten over my jet-lag induced, screwed up sleeping pattern, though being waken up every morning by everyone else's noise kinda throws me off.  So far I haven't gotten a job yet, but I've written a resume and just have to finish the cover letter, which is the hardest part. -_-lll  I'm definitely not as active as I was every day in Japan, so it kinda makes me restless having no easy means of transport and nowhere to go besides the boring, almost empty mall and local shops. *sigh*  I wish I could just hop on a bus or walk somewhere interesting and new so easily again...I know I've been saying it over and over, but I really miss my life in Japan.  I'm also worried my Japanese will deteriorate since I can't speak it every day anymore...I've been working on lyrics translations for my blog as usual, as well as a book, and it disturbs me when I sometimes can't recall a fairly basic word.  I need to get cracking on my kanji study too.
 

But I have been making progress on this book I'm translating, though I've been going at a fairly slow, relaxed pace...I'm already a third of the way through.  Also, my translation blog is doing very well...I've had several requests to use my translations in subbed pvs, and I'm well over 10,000 views now, yay! \^o^/  One thing I need to get around to though, is organizing my Japan photos...I have literally thousands of them, so that's gonna take awhile.  I've put a few nice ones I took recently in this post for you to see. : )
Oh, and something pretty cool happened to me the other day...I actually had a dream in Japanese!  It's the first time that's happened, I think...maybe I just never remembered it when I woke up before, but it made me happy.  I also found something amusing last night...it's a comment by DELUHI's guitarist Leda where he does an interesting new "crab" pose at the end. XD  I love how he gets the (笑) and kinda cracks up at himself and runs away embarassed afterwards. lulz
 

But speaking of DELUHI, one thing that makes me extremely depressed is the fact that they'll finally be doing lives in the Kansai area (where I was living in Japan), in particular a show in August at Osaka BIGCAT featuring SCREW, Sel'm, DEATHGAZE, AND 9GOATS BLACK OUT as well!  マジかよ〜なんで?!!  I waited months while I was there hoping they'd play nearby, and now only after I've left they're finally going to!  Not to mention the GazettE will be having a summer tour for the new album 'DIM'... TToTT  What really gets me about this is that my visa was good until like, September, so it's totally plausible (if I had somewhere to live and something to do like a job or program) that I could've stayed there through the summer! *cries* [I am aware that this is an entirely selfish, pointless rant, so feel free to ignore it. ^_^;  I just can't help being frustrated about it though...]

Haaah, I'm finally back in America...after nine months of living in Japan, I really got used to life there and I already miss it. T_T  I'm happy to be back, see everyone, and do and eat all the things I've missed while away, but still, on the flipside there are so many things I enjoyed in Japan that I can't do anymore, which makes me rather depressed.  In particular, I feel like a part of my social life is just gone now...here at home I can't just go out and jump on a train or bus and go anywhere I want and hang out with my friends so easily cause public transportation sucks, it's not as safe to be out at night, I don't have a car, and everyone lives so far away.  One thing I'll especially miss is going to concerts...a large percentage of my favourite bands are Japanese, and it's so easy to go to concerts in Japan, but I don't like that many American artists, and all the British ones I do rarely tour here, so it just doesn't happen.

Anyway, it was so weird when the plane landed, I think it'll take some adjusting to get used to how things are here again...everything's in English, stuff is so big (food, houses, cars, people), the airport staff were rude, and JFK was confusing and dumpy as usual. -_-;  I have a bit of jetlag too, but it seems I'm dealing with it better than the rest of my family...they're like zombies right now.
Especially with the economic disaster that happend late last year, Obama becoming president, and all the other big changes that happened here while I was away, America is quite different from how it was when I left it, and it honestly feels very strange.  Though I knew about it before coming back, actually seeing how life here has changed is like experiencing a time skip or something, even though I did follow American news to a degree while in Japan.  For example, I don't know what's going on anymore, especially when it comes to pop culture...like all the tv shows and movies people are talking about, who these celebrities are, or what's popular in music or fashion or electronics or food, etc. (not that I followed any of that very closely before, but still, I'd usually heard about them).  And when I took out my cell I realized I didn't remember how to use it anymore cause I'd gotten used to Japanese phones. >_<

I have a lot of unpacking and organizing of stuff to do, but some tracks I've been listening to lately are Patrick Wolf's 'The Tinderbox' from his single 'Vulture', and DELUHI's 'Orion once again -09 remix-' from their latest release 'FLASH:B[L]ACK'.  One thing I really like about this new remix in contrast to the original is the slower pace and more melancholy feel, because it brings out another side of the song.  The original expresses the earnestness and anger in the words, but this one shows the sadness and loneliness that's in them too.