But the party has appeared increasingly exhausted and directionless, and Japan’s traditionally apolitical electorate, in a rare display of popular democratic muscle, firmly blamed it for the decline of this former economic superpower and its increasingly cloudy future.
Hatoyama, the new guy (right), will just be more of the same.
“We have been trying to outgrow this old one-party system ever since the collapse of the Berlin Wall,” said Takeshi Sasaki, a political expert and former president of the University of Tokyo. “It took two decades, but we finally made it.”
No no no... The Gazette will be old men and Luna Sea will all have passed away before the country gets its spark back -- the boat is listing starboard with too many elderly and not enough youth, too many costs and not enough workers to cover those costs, too many stale political ideas and not enough willingness to change.
The election will change almost nothing. Sorta like how nothing new has come from the Obama administration yet.
Watching Geist made me happy to be at an indie concert for the first time in a long time. There was a buzzing energy, young and not quite focused/polished/market-ized yet...
I walked in 8ish and they were already on stage playing, dammit. Kane was decked out the kind of strappy, chainy thing i associate with Hot Topic; Kazuya also put in some effort by wearing a black suit (although isn't that for VK bands who are about to kaisan... they were black suits then break up two months later?), and the other three guys were just in T-shirts. Stylish t-shirts, and Sai (d) added a vest for extra ~pizzazz~, but my first impression was "IN-CO-HE-SION!"
But they could play, and they played well together, pouring themselves into heavy grooves like molten lava and switching into the speed lanes with well-timed bravado. They're like 90% there, they just need to get more confident in their skins on stage, I think, and develop their individual styles a little more (while dressing alike!)
balloons!
Kane (v) really gets in to her performance and doesn't hold back, she's on her knees, she's banging her head, she's leaning right into the faces of the guys in the front row and giving them hell.But she's definitely studied at the International Kyo School of Arm Movements, and I'd like to her develop her own distinct moves in future shows. Oh! I also liked her MCs -- they were smooth and confident and when one of the staffers got all "hey your fans can't jump off the furniture!" at her, she told the crowd in a straight-up, cocky way ("you can do that in Baltimore!" [cheering]... awesome.)
Kazuya (g) does cool heavy poses (like Kaoru, legs spread, knees almost a right angles, headbanging). Futzed with his amp once or twice too often, tho! [slaps at hands]
Kuni (g) is very pretty and i dig his live guitar tone. Should look at the audience once in a while though! (Actually, if i were him i'd spend the whole gig staring at the audience, mind-projecting such cocky thoughts as "plastic surgeons couldn't give you the cheekbones and jawlines *I* was born with!")
Hiro (b) looks a lot like motorcycle-era Toshiya (2004-ish) and does some good headbanging, and together with Sai (d) laid down some solid rhythms for the guitarists and singer to dance on. He could also maybe do some more eye contact, unless he wants to be the shy/quiet one. But I think Kuni wants to be the shy/quiet one too, so they're gonna have to duke it out over that at some point. Hiro's got the better "shy" vibe though... it might be the hair.
C.C. DeVillle's son Sai (d) was awesome to watch, he was so into it, and so active -- after Kane, he was probably the most active guy on the stage, and he was sitting down! No advice here, except keep up what you're doin' (and maybe lose the vest? or add some -- what did they call it in Office Space? fling? blurbs? Lurv? -- Add some shit to the vest!)
Yeah, basically it all comes down to dress similar, move around more, look at us more. It's like, if we're still on stage and you're up there, we're giving you the authority to, like, tell us what to do. Look at us, goad us on, tell us to go nuts, jump the fuck around and set an example for us to follow!
Anyway, that's my two cents. Go see Geist. :)
a better view?
I missed the opening act, much to my regret, as one of its members (probably the vocalist) looked uber-VK in a good way. Typhus or Typhoonize or somethin'.
gelatine
I did not miss the closing act, also much to my regret. They were called "Gelatine," and specialized in that screechy, goofy punk that Japan oozes out of its taint nonstop. The singer -- a japanese chick -- was in a plaid schoolgirl skirt, matching plaid tie, and bra -- tummy exposed -- and even then I had to leave after like five minutes! Eeergh. (Checking geist's myspace, i see they're affiliated with gelatine... hopefully not that much or for too long). ;^_^
During that set I went and said hi to 3/5ths of Geist, and they were all nice and approachable so when you go see them you should say hi too.
And then I met Jo, who was doing their merch, and got so excited I blurted DOYAWANNAGOOUT?! in front of like fifty people, because we hadn't seen each other in like SIX YEARS, back in Tokyo when she was researching her book, Jrock Ink, and she's good people. Liked the photos of Jack I had. Left me in a good mood.
rating::)
Aug 29 2009 6:00P DROM New York, New York
Aug 30 2009 12:00P All Asia Cambridge, Massachusetts
Aug 31 2009 7:00P The Ottobar Baltimore, Maryland
Sep 26 2009 8:00P Tigercon Towson, Maryland
Nov 7 2009 8:00P Zenkaikon King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
Recently you finished your European tour and now you are back in Japan. How was the tour?
Kaoru: This time it was really exciting. The last few times were kinda boring.But this time, people came.
What is important to you when you are on tour?
Kaoru: We want to go everywhere where people want to see us and it doesn’t matter whether that is in or outside Japan. Personally, I like the concerts abroad because we don’t have to concentrate so much on the details. We don't even bother to tune our guitars anymore and I don't think we've mic'd Shinya's kit since... jeez at least last summer.
This time you performed again at the German Rock am Ring and Rock im Park events, this time on a smaller stage. Your former performances at these festivals have not been without problems, how did it go this time?
Kaoru: We gladly accept these invitations. The concerts were good this time and in my opinion this showed that we have been accepted by now. People have finally stopped throwing tomatoes, and increasingly, a smaller and smaller percentage of our fans have rashes, lazy eyes, or other uncosmetic medical conditions.
Do such experiences motivate you to deal with the tough, every day routines?
Kaoru: It’s the people that attend our concerts. They give us the power. [raises sword, gets struck by lightning, Kyo cowers and turns into giant green battle cat]
Still, do you ever think about what would happen after Dir en grey?
Kaoru: No, never. If we don’t have the will to continue anymore, we will most likely stop. And then time itself would cease to exist, rescuing me from having to actually answer your question.
In the past you have mentioned that Dir en grey’s image is not especially important. What do you think about this nowadays?
Kaoru: I consider our image important. This is just in general, because it is boring to watch concerts of bands that don’t leave any special impression, like MUCC's.What's the expression, watching painting dry?
UROBOROS sounds like it was a difficult album for you. In retrospect, would you change anything?
Kaoru: Well, if we were to record the album today, it would be different again. By performing the songs the atmosphere and the way we feel about them change. Like, I would erase all Die's parts and replace them with my own.
The album has a certain undertone, as if it closes a circle that had begun with MACABRE.
Kaoru: We wanted to create an album that showed our past, present and future. But instead, we just did whatever.
Your last few albums contained a few unplugged songs on the limited editions. Do you think that these songs will not reach your “mainstream” audience?
Kaoru: It’s not necessarily that. However, we think that people listening to our CDs for the first time shouldn’t get to know all our facets right away. The ones that like us are bound to find out more about us and learn about our various sides. We also play these songs during concerts, to give the men a chance to go pee.
Without falling strictly under any genre, it is sometimes hard to appeal to certain audiences. Have you ever faced trouble because of that?
Kaoru: Even if there was trouble, it never really influenced our producing. Maybe you need that information [regarding the audience’s perception], but that doesn’t mean that you have to care about it. Like gun laws.
Your (devoted) fans have been criticized on occasion and your lyrics are esoteric by nature, just like your appearance, so you also have to face criticism. What do you think about that?
Kaoru: To us, the presence of our fans is incredibly important. They give us confidence – and I think they know it. Furthermore there are many arts born from blame and criticism. But I believe mostly that if I have to be around Kyo so many hours per day, someone should be paying me *something*, and that is where the fans are most crucial.
Your music has changed monumentally over the course of time, and one criterion probably was touring overseas. How did these experiences feel to you?
Kaoru: My belief in freedom and also in myself grew, that was what I felt. Also, I am fascinated by white chicks' funbags. I can't help it.
About the male-only live you held a while ago. While you reasoned that without females around, your fans can go wild easier, we would like to ask you: After so much touring, how can you still be bound to such preconceptions? Perhaps next time the distinction could be ‘wild lives’ and ‘emotional lives’ since many girls are looking for the opportunity to rock out as well.
Kaoru: It’s not about prejudices… it's about girls being wimps. I wish we could do lives for everyone where no one feels discomfort. However, I know it’s difficult as there are many types of people. Our shows are often perceived as too fierce. But no one's died for weeks.
A lot is written about you on the internet. What do you think about this? Do you even read it?
Kaoru: Nowadays, it’s pretty normal, I think. However, what people have to say hardly ever moves us. Except for this one guy who we find brilliant and insightful...
Your blog entries are very successful; they even get translated by fans. Does this huge encouragement make you consider opening up a knot, your fan club, to other countries as well?
Kaoru: Of course we want to get things going overseas, too, and we are working on that every day. Well, not today. Not this week either. We also want to continue this blog and make sure that our fans can communicate with each other, no matter where they are from, since it's easier to market to them this way without looking like we're marketing to them. I’m really happy to hear that all of this is well received by our fan base, though I am disappointed in the lack of online lesbian couplings we've generated.
Do you feel your music can still evolve and you can strike new paths after eleven years?
Kaoru: I’m curious by nature. I think we all want to create sounds during concerts that no one has ever felt. Which is why on this next tour I'll be leaving behind my Mesa-Boogie amps and plugging directly into an adult male elephant. It should rock, once we work out a minor defecation problem.
You often use old songs to remix or rearrange them, right?
Kaoru: Before, we were unwilling to do so, but now we actually enjoy it. It’s hard to do a job that breaks us in some ways, but on the other hand it brings lots of creativity, recycling old things... yes.
Kyo once mentioned that he is working on another poem book. Will this still happen?
Kaoru: I’m not completely sure, but I hope not. But it seems like he is working and writing for it, I saw a shipment of refrigerator-magnet word strips at his apartment the other day, he ordered like twenty boxes. But there's no curse words so he's also making his own.
What is the trick to keeping the band together through thick and thin?
Kaoru: Activity with stimulating members, there is nothing more exciting than that. And consideration. Consideration of the fact that we have no other career prospects at this point. So many of our contemporaries, we seem them working at convenience stores, and that is a big motivator.
Are there any people around you that you respect and ask for advice about your band and work?
Kaoru: Yes, there are people like that, but usually I don’t ask them. I'm not going to tell you anything about them, because then that would make this answer interesting.
Are there any Dir en grey “classics” that you often play when you’re by yourself?
Kaoru: Yes, I play older songs often. It’s a habit of mine. Another habit is answering most questions with undetailed yes/no responses lest I accidentally divulge the slightest tidbit of noteworthy information.
Kaoru, you once said that if the music required it, you would perform naked. Is this day approaching?
Kaoru: Playing a song naked, we would really be a stunning band! But, no, we tried it once and were tasered. This was at an airport in New York. Kyo started -- it was a long flight -- and he started throwing fecal matter.
What are your plans for the near future?
Kaoru: Currently we’re recording a song and if we like the end result, we will release it. If we don't like the end result, we'll slap some keyboards or sound effects on it and then release it. We will probably decide this very soon, so be ready! For it to suck!
But elsewhere, Mr. James, dressed in his buttoned-up red polo shirt, tie and khakis, is seen as playing to Japan's xenophobic tendencies. Annoyed expats have described the character as "white, dorky" and speaking "mangled Japanese." The chair of The Foreign Residents and Naturalized Citizens' Association of Japan, Arudo Debito — a naturalized Japanese citizen born David Aldwinckle — has officially protested the Mr. James campaign with a letter to McDonald's Corporation headquarters in Illinois.
AN EXTREMELY OFFENSIVE AD
Debito considers the characterization of "a clumsy sycophantic 'nerd' " an embarrassment. "If this were in a different country, and we had a Japanese in a [summer kimono] and [wooden sandals] saying 'Me like Mcflied lice, please eato,' we'd have the same sort of antidefamation league speaking out and saying this is disparaging to Asians or Japanese," says Debito. He says the campaign's portrayal of non-Japanese as "unquestioningly supportive and culturally ignorant" will only make life more difficult for foreigners in Japan.
You know how it will make life harder for foreigners in Japan? For the next couple weeks, a kid or two will smile and yell "Tamago!" at you. Oh. My. God.
McDonalds is not the government. It is not tasked with representing all cultures equally. It is allowed to offend. You do not have the right to live an offense-free life, and though you are certainly allowed to bitch about the portrayal of gaijin in media, doing so will make you look like an even bigger, whinier, self-important twat.
After watching his team car come in fourth, YOSHIKI then went to Ise Shrine, also in Mie Prefecture, and prayed for a recovery in his health.
YOSHIKI also revealed that he has prepared his will given the risks involved with his spinal injuries, and that nearly one quarter of his assets will be used for the benefit of his long-term fans.
I called it! So did probably ten million other people, but I called it! Albums are gonna fall by the wayside. Because the SONG is the basic unit of currency in the music world.
...So, when Mr. Yorke announced a change of course for the band, saying it planned to stop making full-length records and turn its attention to singles, it sounded like an epitaph for the album, the broken backbone of the record industry’s longtime business model.
“None of us wants to go into that creative hoo-ha of a long-play record again,” Mr. Yorke told the Believer, a literary magazine based in San Francisco. “Not straight off. I mean, it’s just become a real drag. It worked with ‘In Rainbows’ because we had a real fixed idea about where we were going. But we’ve all said that we can’t possibly dive into that again. It’ll kill us.”
Radiohead’s shift to singles reflects a change in music fans’ preferences. Instead of buying whole albums, they now stream or download just the songs they want. That, along with unauthorized copying, has decimated industry revenues.
According to Nielsen SoundScan, U.S. sales of albums, in physical and digital form, fell 14 percent last year, continuing a multiyear decline. While consumers bought more than a billion individual digital tracks in the United States, which accounts for a majority of online sales worldwide, they bought only 65 million digital albums in 2008.
1,000,000,000 vs 65,000,000!!!
Just to put that in perspective, 65 million years ago was the end of the dinosaurs. One billion years ago was the beginning of multi-fuckin'-cellular life. That's how big a difference ... this example didn't help at all, did it ... pretty symbolic tho, right?
So here's a question: is this a video disc, or just dvd-audio? (I'll assume Amazon just got confused somewhere along the way, because Deg doesn't seem like a 5.1-mix type of band anymore...)
DVD Audio (October 27, 2009) Please Note: This is a DVD-Audio disc which is playable on most DVD players as well as all DVD-Audio players. Label: The End Records ASIN: B002LDE8WA Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,863 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)
VINUSHKA
DOZING GREEN
GLASS SKIN
REIKETSU NARISEBA
Agitated Screams of Maggots (Restricted Ver.)
GRIEF
RYOUJOKU NO AME
CLEVER SLEAZOID
RED SOIL
VINUSHKA (Promotion Edit Ver.)
CLEVER SLEAZOID (DESPAIR IN THE WOMB Ver.)
AGITATED SCREAMS OF MAGGOTS (DESPAIR IN THE WOMB Ver.)
CONCEIVED SORROW (IN WEAL OR WOE Ver.)
Product Description A DVD collection of Dir En Greys most recent videos including the 10 minute version of VINUSHKA and DOZING GREEN that was voted best video on Headbangers Ball 2008.
"Dir En Greys" might be the ugliest combination of letters I've seen this month.
I dig it 'cos it's different (at least until the chorus), and feels like the Whisky-a-Go-Go circa 1985 (I have no idea if that's accurate in the least but it *feels* truthy).
Karyu & Co are looking and acting pretty cool here too. You get a decent picture of what they're like live.
And watch where you're puttin' that snake, girl! (@2:18)
So I had just asked Geist how they’d formed when I accidentally closed my gmail, which closed the chat window, but all you missed is that I'm psychic because their tour t-shirts are green....
Also the person who's typing put their name at the end of their statements, like this:
Geist: Well we formed originally in 2006, I (kzy) was compiling together a group of musicians to play various styles of japanese rock and metal. I looked all over forums and went to a couple jrock concerts and anime conventions looking for musicians.
Eventually I came across a bass player who was playing L'arc~en~ciel on the lower level named Kei. We started talking about our influences and before you knew he they were an official member of the group. We already had a bassist and a drummer so Kei was put on guitar who at the moment only knew the basics which they learned from playing bass.
So over the course of a year I taught them as much as i could. Along with that we had then bassist Xero and drummer Kuro. That was the original line up, but through out a few years and trial and error, time contraints for various members we finally got down to our strongest line up yet which includes Kane (Who found us through an Ad we had apparently sent her looking for a vocalist; to this day i dont remember sending one.
She moved from Savannah, Georgia to Baltimore to join the group)
hiro (Who I met through a friend of a friend who I original had asked to do vocals but he turned it down. After about a week he called me and asked if he could play bass for us instead. So after getting some bass gear he joined as well)
Sai (Who I had been long time friends with over the years and have been in the same scene together for most of that time, although never in the same band so it was eventual that it would happen)
Kuni (While we were searching for a replacement of long time friend and guitarist Kei, Sai had suggested asking any of his friends if they knew a guitarist to atleast fill in for us for a bit. Hiroshi asked a friend of his Kuni if he knew anyone, but in fact Kuni himself was looking for a new band to play in so after a tryout we felt that he would make a great addition to the family)
Geist Family Tree!?
Sorry if that was really long but i tried to make it as short as i possibly could while including a reader digest of our line up changes. Not everyone was included but thats the gist of how we formed.
mostly through circumstance and word of mouth :3
go:and you guys are based in...
Geist: Brawltimore, Maryland.
lovely Baltimore (1904)
go:and you've got a show coming up in....
Geist: We start the beginning of our tour next Wednesday. The first concert is at the Velvet Lounge in DC. (kzy)
go:ooh you've got a whole tour! (i thought it was jsut a one-off in Brooklyn!)
Geist: We're stopping in DC, New York, Philly, Boston, then back to b-more (Sai)
go:ah but yeah, if i scroll down the myspace page i see all these dates...
this is your first tour?
Geist: Pretty much. (sai)
go:So what can people expect when they come out for a gig?
Geist: High energy live show, epic mosh (kzy), confetti. (Sai) Confetti of entrails (sai)
Confetti of entrails, I like that. (kzy)
go:rock
What's the best part about a live show, and what's the worst part about a live show?
Geist: Best part is playing, worst part is setting up and setting down. (Sai)
To me, the best part about playing a show is meeting various types of people and when you get onstage, feeling the reaction from the crowd (kzy)
Best part, watching the crowd get excited from what we're playing (Kuni)
Worst part, is... oh, breaking a string during live show and looking clueless. (Kuni)
Worst part is sweating so much that you go blind and can't see a damn thing on stage (Kzy)
Geist @ Club Europa 5/2/09
go:haha
What instruments does everyone play, and what amps, FX, etc...
Geist: Originally I played a vox valvetronix 100 watt stereo amplifier head with a 4 by 12 mesa cabinet but due to many technical difficulties i switched to an all tube Peavey valve king and I play ESP/ LTD guitars (kzy)
I play a mesa boogie single rectifier head into 2 by 12 cabinet, I play gibson les paul and LTD seven string. (Kuni)
I sit behind a custom made Creation drum kit that's blue and sparkly and pretty. (Sai) Mostly Sabian vault cymbals,
and the cheapest sticks I can find. (Sai)
I use a GK Backline 250 amp with a graphic equalizer and a 4 by 10 GK 410 BLX. (Hiro) And as for the basses I use,
I use an ESP Horizon 4-string. (Hiro)
And a Squire J-Bass Affinity 5-string (Hiro)
go:nice.
now tell me WHY you play what you play! ("Because Sugizo does" / "Because it was on sale" / etc)
Geist: I play the Peavey valve king because it was cheap. (kzy)
But as for the Mesa, I really enjoy how they sound. And as for ESP/LTD guitars,
I love the way they feel. (Kzy)
I play the Mesa head because I like the diamond plate because it looks really cool. (Kuni)
I play the Gibson Les Paul because it sounds like it can kill animals. (Kuni)
go:lol, sweet
Geist: I play the Creation kit because it used to be my friend's and it's pretty much seen the world with his band (Sai).
And I always admired how it sounded (Sai)
Geist: And he let me have it for cheap beause we were friends for over six years and always talked about music. (Sai)
As for the cymbals, I pretty much locked myself in my room for many hours at a time just so I could find out what sounds good to me. (Sai)
At the time that I got my equipment, it was the only thing I could afford. (Hiro)
Geist: And he let me have it for cheap beause we were friends for over six years and always talked about music. (Sai)
As for the cymbals, I pretty much locked myself in my room for many hours at a time just so I could find out what sounds good to me. (Sai)
At the time that I got my equipment, it was the only thing I could afford. (Hiro)
And as for in terms of my basses, it had taken me a while to save up for a 5-string and then many months later my 4-string.
Yes. They're badass. (Kuni)
go:You guys were at Otakon, right?
Yes. Yes. Yes. All three days . (Kzy)
Geist @ Otakon Otakafe 2009 (stolen from facebook)
go:gimme a good memory from it, and any disappointment you might have had.
Geist: Good memory (kzy)
Oh god. (Sai)
Good memory would be...
Meeting all our fans (kzy)
And particpating in many events at the con (kzy)
The staff were extremely helpful to us. (Sai)
Not enough bacon. (kzy, on disappointment)
Fracturing my finger. (Sai)
Losing the tip of my finger. (Kuni)
go:where were you sticking your finger that it got broke?!
and/or cut off!?!?
Geist: I cut my finger off from scraping it off the strings. (Kuni)
For me, the most epic snare hit in the world. (Sai)
the kind where your back and shoulders are slightly warmer than usual with just a wee bit of ache, your throat is a little rubbery but in a way that has you thinking it might be alright again in half an hour even though it's been like this since you woke up, and your head is just ever-so-slightly gluey.
the kind of sick where you could go to work if you had to, but don't have to, so you can take the day off and spend it loafing around in your pajamas, eating cereal or leftover thai food your wife's (female!) pilot friend brought over last night, and the sun shines and the AC is cranked. Noodling around on the computer and not feeling guilty for it, laughing at you daughter "reading" Dr Seuss to herself on the couch while your wife and newborn son make googly eyes at each other and you've just watched 11 West Wings in a row.
I'm halfway through Frederick Barthelme's Elroy Nights, a mid-life crisis-ish thing [eye-rolling spoiler:middle-aged professor separates from wife, bangs hot co-ed]...
...but the prose is fluid and natural and nuanced, and who doesn't reading about pretty girls?
So I'm liking it, usually in twenty-minute bursts before bed.
I've got his Natural Selection queued up the BPL as well.
This single offers something cool -- the song, and then a guitarless version, a drumless version, a bassless version, and a voiceless version (tho there's still bkgd vox, which is good). It's a little like a mini college course, in that it helps fans who haven't experienced the strengths & weaknesses that individual instruments contribute to the final mix to understand how a song's construction and vibe can change.
Guess which Nogodder has a parent who's a dentist... :)
Remember when used to listen to a song and regard it as an immutable piece of solid rock -- like there weren't a thousand different choices in the writing and recoding of it that changed its direction a thousand times?
And so you never questioned why the guitar sounded one way instead of another, or why they sang the chorus eight times when four would've sufficed, or why they laid some low keyboards under the mix for that subtle oomph... you could just like or dislike the song in blissful ignorance of the cause of your admiration or frustration? Ahh.
Anyway, the song rocks. It's got an authenticity that I admire, and a very familiar (but never boring) western-style metal thunder that I remember fondly. And the dead stop near the one-minute mark is AWESOME if only because it will make a thousand people check their mp3 player for defects. ^_^
gilgamesh border 2009 | ¥1050 Can't figure out if I like these guys anymore! "Border"'s got a cool riff and nicely laid harmonics, and a bottom end that shakes yer bones. "Suiren" has a disco beat (ergh) but a cool stretchy groove-thing @1:48-1:51 and a satisfyingly traditional solo. Despite these strengths, I find it unlikely that I'll ever be compelled to listen to either of these songs ever again. THere's nothing there to hold on to. :\
deluhi two hurt 2009 | ¥1600 One of these is a re-recording? Isn't it a little early for that crap? Anyway check out the SCOOPED guitar on "Two Hurt," you could shave with those soundwaves! But the band sounds waaaaay to compressed and limited and otherwise squashed to be ball-grabbing, though the writing seems fine. "Shade" is even worse, sounding more like a demo than a finished production, like they sold all the pleasant frequencies for food. :\
New VK bands are burning out faster than they used to in my day...~!
Eyewitnesses say hundreds of Hamas fighters and policemen surrounded a mosque where followers of a radical Islamist cleric were holed up.
Hamas fired rocket-propelled grenades at the mosque and stormed the leader's house in Rafah, near the Egypt border.
It is thought that at least 100 supporters of the al-Qaeda-linked group, Jund Ansar Allah, were inside.
Jund Ansar Allah (Army of the Helpers of God) gained some prominence two months ago when it staged a failed attack on a border crossing between Gaza and Israel.
The group is very critical of Hamas, which seized Gaza in 2007, accusing the Islamist group of not being Islamist enough.
Hamas has cracked down on al-Qaeda-inspired groups in the past...
"...[soon after the age of 10] he made his first amplified guitar by opening the back of a Sears acoustic model and inserting, behind the strings, the pickup from a dismantled Victrola. With the record player on, the acoustic guitar became an electric one."
J stars from the broken night 2009 | ¥1800 / ¥2600 | avex
An indifferent six-song mini.
J tries to sound different, and I guess "Salvage" feels slightly like a Metallica Load-era b-side cover. I dig the verse guitars @ 1:23 (the steady pm'd up/down 8ths almost always get me), and the just-right breakdown @ 2:55's alright, tho J then drags the song on for another full, unnecessary minute.
Far less good, "The Waves" has a slight Soundgarden ballad thing, but bores.
The other four songs are worn out t-shirts that you never even liked, and now use as rags.
The dvd has a PV and some behind-the-scenes crap.
And J lost wumf.com? (it 404s, he's at j-wumf.com now.)
The Nikkan Sports newspaper is reporting that actress Misaki Ito (32) is planning to get married later this year. However, her agency responded later the same day, saying that it has not heard of those plans.
Ito is said to be dating Yoshinori Enomoto (40), the director of pachinko maker Kyoraku Sangyo. They met in Hawaii last November at the wedding of talento Mami Uematsu (31), and they are supposedly throwing their own wedding there this coming November. Their relationship was reported in March by a weekly magazine, but at the time it was neither confirmed nor denied by Ito and her agency.
Nikkan Sports says that the couple are inviting only relatives and close friends. If the rumor is true, an official announcement is expected in the next several days.
Booooo! Booooooooo!!! Now I know how you girls felt when Meev went off the market. ~Heartbreak!~
Though Jasmine You had taken time off in order to rest because of poor physical condition, we received a report that early in the morning on August 9th, he died. Because of the extreme abruptness of this news, the members and staff are all dumbfounded and trying hard to accept this it.
As soon as his family has been notified and updated as to the details and we receive their permission, we will further report to all of the fans.
Moreover, with the current announcement, in regards to activity, please allow us to postpone it.
thx nook.
Drag. Official website [versailles.syncl.jp] is getting hit hard and ain't accessible, but the wife confirms the above translation is accurate -- he was found dead on the morning of August 9th, more details when we know them -- and assuming it's not faked, bummer.
Cool ending, and I like that the video didn't cost a ton of money but is still watchable.
But the song doesn't grab me, and one reason for that is the polish, of which there is too much. The guitars need more growl, the vocals less de-raw-ifying, in my humble opinion. There's a couple nice complicatedish breaks, but no feeling of danger, they've all safely got both feet on the ground.
At home I'm still reading The Art Instinct (savoring it). On the street I'm still listening to Predictably Irrational (when my the flood o' podcasts dries up).
I recommend both. Art tries to explain why we like certain art, from an evolutionary perspective; P.I. looks -- a bit laboriously -- at how flawed our seemingly careful decisions can be.
Then there are the books in my library cue, there because i've heard good things and liked the style of the samples i've read. However, they are not official recommendations yet, as they could easily turn out to be stupid, boring, obvious, etc.:
The end of overeating: taking control of the insatiable American appetite / David A. Kessler.
Sex, time, and power: how women's sexuality shaped human evolution / Leonard Shlain.
Crazy for the storm: a memoir of survival / Norman Ollestad.
Buy-ology: truth and lies about why we buy / Martin Lindstrom.
The snakehead: an epic tale of the Chinatown underworld and the American dream / Patrick Radden Kee
Elroy Nights / Frederick Barthelme.
The colonless title is the only fiction on the list, the other five are non, which is a little unsettling, since that's a ratio I associate with THE AGED.
Kane (v) really gets in to her performance and doesn't hold back, she's on her knees, she's banging her head, she's leaning right into the faces of the guys in the front row and giving them hell.But she's definitely studied at the International Kyo School of Arm Movements, and I'd like to her develop her own distinct moves in future shows. Oh! I also liked her MCs -- they were smooth and confident and when one of the staffers got all "hey your fans can't jump off the furniture!" at her, she told the crowd in a straight-up, cocky way ("you can do that in Baltimore!" [cheering]... awesome.)
Kazuya (g) does cool heavy poses (like Kaoru, legs spread, knees almost a right angles, headbanging). Futzed with his amp once or twice too often, tho! [slaps at hands]
Kuni (g) is very pretty and i dig his live guitar tone. Should look at the audience once in a while though! (Actually, if i were him i'd spend the whole gig staring at the audience, mind-projecting such cocky thoughts as "plastic surgeons couldn't give you the cheekbones and jawlines *I* was born with!")
Hiro (b) looks a lot like motorcycle-era Toshiya (2004-ish) and does some good headbanging, and together with Sai (d) laid down some solid rhythms for the guitarists and singer to dance on. He could also maybe do some more eye contact, unless he wants to be the shy/quiet one. But I think Kuni wants to be the shy/quiet one too, so they're gonna have to duke it out over that at some point. Hiro's got the better "shy" vibe though... it might be the hair.
C.C. DeVillle's son Sai (d) was awesome to watch, he was so into it, and so active -- after Kane, he was probably the most active guy on the stage, and he was sitting down! No advice here, except keep up what you're doin' (and maybe lose the vest? or add some -- what did they call it in Office Space? fling? blurbs? Lurv? -- Add some shit to the vest!)
After watching his team car come in fourth, YOSHIKI then went to Ise Shrine, also in Mie Prefecture, and prayed for a recovery in his health.
...So, when Mr. Yorke announced a change of course for the band, saying it planned to stop making full-length records and turn its attention to singles, it sounded like an epitaph for the album, the broken backbone of the record industry’s longtime business model.
The 
