In less than a day, the countdown will end!AND GIANT ROBOTS WILL SPEW FORTH, TAKING OVER THE WORLD!!1!!
20101130
More Luna Sea BS
20101129
blast from the past: kagrra live report 8/20/2003 (part two)
(forgot to post this more timely-ly)
Friday, August 23
Ai yai yai yai yai!
part deux
The crowd noise is startling; On Air West is only the size of a tennis court, but the rush of sound hitting my ears reminds me of Niagara Falls. It's a constant barrage of whooosshhh! That's a lot of noisy girls.
There are also six or seven guys in the audience; in addition to the aforementioned (yesterday) American and his two buddies, there's a couple sumoites on my left and a pair of guys up petiter bois halfway between the stage and the bar (which shuts down during the show). But pretty much it's all girls (some of them very attractively adorned in Kagrra-style kimono; i'm not much of a kimono guy but, uh, Mmmm....)
Akiya, the jawy redheaded guitarist who seems to write the bulk of Kagrra's music, strolls across the dark stage to his position on the far left; Nao the bassist (see also "the prettiest face in j-rock") and Shin the secondary guitarist join him. They turn their backs on the audience as the roadies help them into their guitars, and they noodle with their amps. The crowd won't be denied, though, and the screams only get louder. Eventually Nao spins around and opens his mouth and growls at 'em.
Meanwhile, Izumi is taking his place behind the kit, as a shadow emerges from stage left, and the screams swell up as Isshi wanders out to his place behind the mic. He says nothing, only looks out upon the assembled worshippers. The stage is beautifully lit in red. Isshi snaps an arm up, and in his hand is a traditional japanese fan. Here we go...
Immediately his minions snap to attention, raise their fans in the air like flags, and the song begins, and the folding-fans dance through the air, mirroring Isshi's moves with frightening accuracy. It's like seagulls nipping at the sea, and it was a beautiful sight when i first saw it last autumn at On Air East, when half the crowd participated; it's even cooler now because almost everyone is doing it. It's a forest of dancing hands. The view from the stage probably makes the band wanna cry, it's so allegiancely gorgeous.
And here's a clip! (RM8, 40sec, 2.5mb, one week only; taken from that live video of theirs...)
So what can I say about the show? To click into fanboy mode for a min, I know for sure Isshi saw me: he instructed me to raise my hands higher during... um... one of the songs which only requires the occasional fist in the air. Just via eye contact and a raising of his own hand. He was as elegant as always I'm sure, his fluid moves gracefully intertwining with the melodies of each song. He's not shy, but then again he is, in an appealing way. He knows how to keep an audience motivated, and when to let them relax, and when to rile them up, certainly.
Nao was still just fucking magnificent; the photo at left sucks; he just has this FACE... it's like, fuck, did you special-order that from God Himself in person!? The mathematics behind the balance and symmetry and proportions would probably reveal the secrets of the universe if you worked them right. I managed to avoid staring too much, barely. Bass-wise (oh, he plays an instrument?) he's pretty skilled; in tune and on time, sliding through the trickier progressions without much difficulty. Smiled a lot, and when he came to the opposite side of the stage, the crowd always squeezed a little closer and tip-toed a little higher to get as close as possible.
Akiya is a good guitarist. He's not fantastic or blazingly fast or anything, but he plays what he writes note-perfect. And he tilts his head and offers closed-mouth grins whenever he solos too, and does these not-by-the-hair-of-my-chinny-chin-chin nods to the audience as well. I kinda wish he'd get a little more in-your-face, a little more rock-n-roll, but ours is not to reason why...
Speakin' of reserved, Shin, the other guitarist, has GOT to loosen up. He's way to serious, glaring out past those blonde bangs of his night after night. Once or twice he shot happy smiles towards the drummer during shared jokes, but otherwise, he was as stoic as Abe Lincoln on a five dollar bill. Boo! Someone inject a few cc's of C.C. (Deville) into him!
The drummer, Izumi, is fine. He could be better; an accent would sound disjointed once every 20 times, tempos feel "off" for just a beat or two occasionally... he's an okay drummer, and he's good enough to be pro, but no one's ever gonna ask him to do a drum clinic if you know what i mean; he's missing the magic. His solo was fine, and he worked with the crowd a little, but, eh. But you know what he really needs? A drum riser.
Musically, several of Kagrra's songs have the potential to be monster hits. They do some great rhythm changes and double-helixing guitar riffs, but the band's foremost strength lies in Ishii's keen ear for what vocal melodies will successfully surf over the waves of guitar and drums. There's a complexity there, coming from the mixing of traditional and modern elements, that make for grand jams, including the rough-n-tumble Ai-yai-yai-yai-rific closer for the evening, hyakkiyakou.
At the end of the ninety minute set (two 45-min chunks split in half by a short drum solo; and no costume change, surprisingly) the crowd tried for an encore but the On Air West staff shot us down cold. I did get a sign-of-the-devil from the roadies though; they had been goofing around on the sidelines in their Manowar t-shirts doing it for the last song, as had I been)... that was fun. And I got a bunch of cool glances my way because of the guest pass, and you know how i love attention!
And as we headed out the door, they handed us a flyer for the new Kagrra singles and album: if anyone can read the kanji, do share, do share!
After the lights came up, I ran upstairs to thank the film lady, but she was gone by then. After MoSo and Felia finished their drinks (I had none... I didn't have to buy a drink ticket, hahaha!) we hung out in front of AMPM downstairs with the other 500 Kagrra fans talking, and, seeing as how I just got a free show out of the band, I felt obliged to buy their sold-at-lives-only(?) Irodori disc to join the other two CDs (Nue and Kirameki) that are already in my collection. (Mini album Sakura is next on my list.)
And happy happy joy joy, Irodori's got the Ai-yai-yai-yai-yai song on it! (A redone version of the track that originally appeared on their first demo tape, back when they were called Crow.) In addition to that song, it's also got the haunting Genwaku no joukei.
Later, we wind up in Shimo Kitazawa at a bar called Mother with this Anton Gaudi-style broken glass skin all over it. Inertia and Emmet join us, and the yogurt shots flow (oof!). They all had back to Shinjuku for more, but I'm pretty well done for the night and head home, sadly.
On the way back, someone sits next to me, and we both end up getting off at the same station (Noborito), and we end up going for beers at this bar called Over Time, which I've gone past but never gone in before, because it's one of those small, scary, introduction-required type o' places. But it turns out to be very cool, and I get home only slightly after 3am! Talked a lot about Megadeth and... after that I forget, i was blitzed. Politics?
Drunk, I had the weirdest dream: I hitchhiked home, and Yoshiki (as in the famous producing pianist/drummer) stopped and gave me a ride! Except instead of going the two blocks to my house, we ended up at some nightclub in Shibuya, where we quickly got into a fight over a woman. He won, I left... but I got his car!!!
Friday, August 23
Ai yai yai yai yai!
part deux
Now playing:
Kagrra
Kirameki
PSTA-0020
Kagrra
Kirameki
PSTA-0020
The crowd noise is startling; On Air West is only the size of a tennis court, but the rush of sound hitting my ears reminds me of Niagara Falls. It's a constant barrage of whooosshhh! That's a lot of noisy girls.
There are also six or seven guys in the audience; in addition to the aforementioned (yesterday) American and his two buddies, there's a couple sumoites on my left and a pair of guys up petiter bois halfway between the stage and the bar (which shuts down during the show). But pretty much it's all girls (some of them very attractively adorned in Kagrra-style kimono; i'm not much of a kimono guy but, uh, Mmmm....)
Akiya, the jawy redheaded guitarist who seems to write the bulk of Kagrra's music, strolls across the dark stage to his position on the far left; Nao the bassist (see also "the prettiest face in j-rock") and Shin the secondary guitarist join him. They turn their backs on the audience as the roadies help them into their guitars, and they noodle with their amps. The crowd won't be denied, though, and the screams only get louder. Eventually Nao spins around and opens his mouth and growls at 'em.
Meanwhile, Izumi is taking his place behind the kit, as a shadow emerges from stage left, and the screams swell up as Isshi wanders out to his place behind the mic. He says nothing, only looks out upon the assembled worshippers. The stage is beautifully lit in red. Isshi snaps an arm up, and in his hand is a traditional japanese fan. Here we go...
Immediately his minions snap to attention, raise their fans in the air like flags, and the song begins, and the folding-fans dance through the air, mirroring Isshi's moves with frightening accuracy. It's like seagulls nipping at the sea, and it was a beautiful sight when i first saw it last autumn at On Air East, when half the crowd participated; it's even cooler now because almost everyone is doing it. It's a forest of dancing hands. The view from the stage probably makes the band wanna cry, it's so allegiancely gorgeous.
And here's a clip! (RM8, 40sec, 2.5mb, one week only; taken from that live video of theirs...)
So what can I say about the show? To click into fanboy mode for a min, I know for sure Isshi saw me: he instructed me to raise my hands higher during... um... one of the songs which only requires the occasional fist in the air. Just via eye contact and a raising of his own hand. He was as elegant as always I'm sure, his fluid moves gracefully intertwining with the melodies of each song. He's not shy, but then again he is, in an appealing way. He knows how to keep an audience motivated, and when to let them relax, and when to rile them up, certainly.
Nao was still just fucking magnificent; the photo at left sucks; he just has this FACE... it's like, fuck, did you special-order that from God Himself in person!? The mathematics behind the balance and symmetry and proportions would probably reveal the secrets of the universe if you worked them right. I managed to avoid staring too much, barely. Bass-wise (oh, he plays an instrument?) he's pretty skilled; in tune and on time, sliding through the trickier progressions without much difficulty. Smiled a lot, and when he came to the opposite side of the stage, the crowd always squeezed a little closer and tip-toed a little higher to get as close as possible.
Akiya is a good guitarist. He's not fantastic or blazingly fast or anything, but he plays what he writes note-perfect. And he tilts his head and offers closed-mouth grins whenever he solos too, and does these not-by-the-hair-of-my-chinny-chin-chin nods to the audience as well. I kinda wish he'd get a little more in-your-face, a little more rock-n-roll, but ours is not to reason why...
Speakin' of reserved, Shin, the other guitarist, has GOT to loosen up. He's way to serious, glaring out past those blonde bangs of his night after night. Once or twice he shot happy smiles towards the drummer during shared jokes, but otherwise, he was as stoic as Abe Lincoln on a five dollar bill. Boo! Someone inject a few cc's of C.C. (Deville) into him!
The drummer, Izumi, is fine. He could be better; an accent would sound disjointed once every 20 times, tempos feel "off" for just a beat or two occasionally... he's an okay drummer, and he's good enough to be pro, but no one's ever gonna ask him to do a drum clinic if you know what i mean; he's missing the magic. His solo was fine, and he worked with the crowd a little, but, eh. But you know what he really needs? A drum riser.
Musically, several of Kagrra's songs have the potential to be monster hits. They do some great rhythm changes and double-helixing guitar riffs, but the band's foremost strength lies in Ishii's keen ear for what vocal melodies will successfully surf over the waves of guitar and drums. There's a complexity there, coming from the mixing of traditional and modern elements, that make for grand jams, including the rough-n-tumble Ai-yai-yai-yai-rific closer for the evening, hyakkiyakou.
At the end of the ninety minute set (two 45-min chunks split in half by a short drum solo; and no costume change, surprisingly) the crowd tried for an encore but the On Air West staff shot us down cold. I did get a sign-of-the-devil from the roadies though; they had been goofing around on the sidelines in their Manowar t-shirts doing it for the last song, as had I been)... that was fun. And I got a bunch of cool glances my way because of the guest pass, and you know how i love attention!
And as we headed out the door, they handed us a flyer for the new Kagrra singles and album: if anyone can read the kanji, do share, do share!
After the lights came up, I ran upstairs to thank the film lady, but she was gone by then. After MoSo and Felia finished their drinks (I had none... I didn't have to buy a drink ticket, hahaha!) we hung out in front of AMPM downstairs with the other 500 Kagrra fans talking, and, seeing as how I just got a free show out of the band, I felt obliged to buy their sold-at-lives-only(?) Irodori disc to join the other two CDs (Nue and Kirameki) that are already in my collection. (Mini album Sakura is next on my list.)
And happy happy joy joy, Irodori's got the Ai-yai-yai-yai-yai song on it! (A redone version of the track that originally appeared on their first demo tape, back when they were called Crow.) In addition to that song, it's also got the haunting Genwaku no joukei.
Later, we wind up in Shimo Kitazawa at a bar called Mother with this Anton Gaudi-style broken glass skin all over it. Inertia and Emmet join us, and the yogurt shots flow (oof!). They all had back to Shinjuku for more, but I'm pretty well done for the night and head home, sadly.
On the way back, someone sits next to me, and we both end up getting off at the same station (Noborito), and we end up going for beers at this bar called Over Time, which I've gone past but never gone in before, because it's one of those small, scary, introduction-required type o' places. But it turns out to be very cool, and I get home only slightly after 3am! Talked a lot about Megadeth and... after that I forget, i was blitzed. Politics?
Drunk, I had the weirdest dream: I hitchhiked home, and Yoshiki (as in the famous producing pianist/drummer) stopped and gave me a ride! Except instead of going the two blocks to my house, we ended up at some nightclub in Shibuya, where we quickly got into a fight over a woman. He won, I left... but I got his car!!!
20101127
"While growing from mud, it is unstained."
From ancient times the lotus has been a divine symbol in Asian traditions representing the virtues of sexual purity and non-attachment. In Chinese culture Confucian scholar Zhou Dunyi wrote:Always good to know where Kyo & Co. are coming from with the words they choose. :)
"I love the lotus because while growing from mud, it is unstained."
Most Buddhist, Chinese, Hindu, Japanese, and other Asian deities are depicted as seated on a lotus flower.
In the classical written and oral literature of many Asian cultures the lotus is present in figurative form, representing elegance, beauty, perfection, purity and grace, being often used in poems and songs as an allegory for ideal feminine attributes.
20101125
new Dir en grey single due 1/26
【Initial Limited Version】 CD＋DVD SFCD-0078～79 ￥1,890 (tax in)
【Original Version】 CD only SFCD-0080 ￥1,260 (tax in)
My expectations are nil, so that i might keep disappointment at bay while welcoming any pleasant surprise.
The Things They Watched, All the Way Through, on Thanksgiving Day
Alice in Wonderland (2010, via Netflix) IN ITS ENTIRETY despite being pretty awful even for a Tim "Awful Is My Middle Name" Burton flick... but Alice in armor fighting a dragony jabberwocky was pretty badass. Kate seemed to dig it too.
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade IN ITS ENTIRETY, and I still don't know why. It's a disgusting crapfest of ADVER-TAINMENT; nothing is said except corporate-shill-scripted commentary.
The National Dog Show IN ITS ENTIRETY because Jack likes "wan-wan"s and it was vaguely interesting (in a we-may-buy-a-dog-someday windowshopping sort of way. Was amazed to learn that some of the people with dogs were paid/professional handlers, not just proud owners -- "there's enough money in the dog-conomy for middlemen?!")
Miracle on 34th Street IN ITS ENTIRETY because the remote was out of reach, but it turned out to be surprisingly honest in its characters and their motivations (Mr. Macy institutes a store policy not because it's the nice thing to do but because it'll be profitable; the judge doesn't rule how he obviously should because he's up for re-election; the postal workers send the Santa letters to the courthouse just to get rid of them, etc.) And it's never shown that Kringle is anything other than a kind-hearted trickster!
Then a "Special Thanksgiving Episode" of Ellen started and Kayo grabbed the remote and saved us all.
Happy Thanksgiving, Dream Theater Meatballs
This year we are going to do a Heavy Metal Thanksgiving in celebration of the Mosh Potatoes Cookbook. We are going to be making a bunch of the recipes in the book to go along with the fried turkey... New Orleans Bread Pudding from Eyehategod, Charlie Benante's family home made stuffing, Dream Theater Meatballs and all of the other Thanksgiving staples. It's going to be 100% METAL.The author also claims "you are going to freak out when you try Chuck Schuldiner's Evil Chili."
And: "the guys in Fear Factory, Hatebreed and Megadeth can bake some bad ass goodies."
Matenrou, D, NoGoD etc Cover X, Luna Sea, Deg, etc...
Yahoo! Music:
CRUSH! -90's V-Rock best hit cover songs-
I'm looking forward to hearing a surprising percentage of these tracks, even Merry's despite my better judgement.
Also, I guess these bands were asked to choose "hits," but it'd be great if someone would tell the record companies and bamds that while covering hits ~live~ can be fun and invigorating, ~recording~ them almost always leads to failure... since it's pretty hard to make a hit BETTER than the original.
Usually all you get is "nearly exact copy of song but by less cool people who missed little important bits" that doesn't recapture the magic at all.
The covers that work best are generally massively reinterpreted (Tori Amos' "Smells Like Teen Spirit", Tierra Santa's "Flight of Icarus", Megadeth's "These Boots"...)
But assuming they're not genre-hopping, I'd like to see a cover album that's all re-interpretations of throwaway b-sides and filler tracks, 'cos at least instead of trying to duplicate the magic and failing, they can at least have a shot at capturing something magical.
"As a culture from Japan Now enthusiasts around the world Fans with 'V-ROCK 'is called Visual Kei scene. In the late 1980s The scene was born There was no word even Despite or, X JAPAN (at the time X) and BUCK-TICK The success of the applied stretchSpeed.
Into the 1990s And Ru, LUNA SEA GLAY, and mega-With a string of hits, MALICE MIZER And the emergence of SHAZNA The visual representation The peak is also incredibly violent Went."
11.26.2011 | UPCH-20221 | ¥3000 (tax in)
12012
GLAY「Winter, again」
アンド
PENICILLIN「ロマンス」
ドレミ團
SOPHIA「街」
摩天楼オペラ
X JAPAN「紅」)
少女-ロリヰタ-23区
LUNA SEA「STORM」
BugLug
SHAZNA「Melty Love」
D
MALICE MIZER「月下の夜想曲」
DaizyStripper
La'cryma Christi「With-you」
DOG inTheパラレルワールドオーケストラ
Raphael「夢より素敵な」
DuelJewel
BUCK-TICK「JUPITER」
heidi.
hide with Spread Beaver「ピンク スパイダー」
LOST ASH
D-SHADE「ENDLESS LOVE」
Mix Speaker's, Inc.
CASCADE「S.O.Sロマンティック」
MERRY
DIR EN GREY「Schweinの椅子」
NoGoD
SIAM SHADE「1/3の純情な感情」
I'm looking forward to hearing a surprising percentage of these tracks, even Merry's despite my better judgement.
Also, I guess these bands were asked to choose "hits," but it'd be great if someone would tell the record companies and bamds that while covering hits ~live~ can be fun and invigorating, ~recording~ them almost always leads to failure... since it's pretty hard to make a hit BETTER than the original.
Usually all you get is "nearly exact copy of song but by less cool people who missed little important bits" that doesn't recapture the magic at all.
The covers that work best are generally massively reinterpreted (Tori Amos' "Smells Like Teen Spirit", Tierra Santa's "Flight of Icarus", Megadeth's "These Boots"...)
But assuming they're not genre-hopping, I'd like to see a cover album that's all re-interpretations of throwaway b-sides and filler tracks, 'cos at least instead of trying to duplicate the magic and failing, they can at least have a shot at capturing something magical.
20101123
North Korean attack on South Korea
New York Times
North and South Korea exchanged artillery fire on Tuesday after dozens of shells fired from the North struck a South Korean island near the countries’ disputed maritime border, South Korean military officials said.
Two South Korean soldiers were killed and 14 were wounded, four of them seriously, said Kiyheon Kwon, an official at the Defense Ministry.
thx 88!
I'd prefer the US handle it but we already have a couple wars going, so China should step up and fix this one.
review: sads | "disco" (2010)
disco
2010
The title track's a nice jam, constant and swingin'. The remix is Marilyn Mansony suburban electro-industriality (meh).
"Vision" is a large and slow-moving mammal punctuated by occasional bursts of alertness; not really digging it. A little too spoon-feeding/nowheresville.
"Sandy (new take)" is a vast improvement on the original; it's played the same, but produced much more meatily -- in comparison the original feels positively skeletal.
Same story for "Nightmare (new take)", even though it never deserved to exist in the first place -- it's a crap song. Always will be.
rating: :/
20101120
review: Amazon | Kindle 3 (2010)
My first 30 min. with the Kindle3...
- ooh simple box. no ripping or other dificulties.
- easy start instructions.
- looks nicer. thinner. PERFECT weight.
- oh wow the screen really looks REAL, like if you sneezed the letters would scatter all over :)
- wifi worked 1st try
- found browser easily
- oh god the zooming and refreshing on NYTimes.com C'EST IMPOSSIBLE!
- there's gotta be some text-only RSS or news aggregator to point this browser at...
- man they sure want me to "Shop in Kindle Store" don't they... every menu has that option.
- the buttons aren't as clicky as youtube Kindle reviews have led me to believe... but they still suck for web navigation.
- this seems like a great solution for people who want to actually PAY for shit...
- Plug in USB. Win7 sez "not installed correctly" :(
- Let's try Calibre... ugh fuck this Calibre wants my email address AND EMAIL PASSWORD!?
- ARE YOU INSANE, MANSLEY?
- Try emailing some mobi files on your own but ugh this is five steps too many (convert, save, open email, attach, send, check Kindle, SYNC FAIL
- Reboot pc.
- Ah, ~now~ it sees the Kindle.
- Find a bunch of mobi files.
- Drag 'em to the Kindle folder, sweet. Easy.
- Transfer complete
- Start readin'! I guess this is nice.
I can't help thinking, tho, that embracing the e-reading trend is a big mistake for publishers; Calibre appears to easily strip DRM and convert ebooks into any format you need, but more than that, ebooks are only around 1mb each -- super easy to upload and share, or even to email around!
I paid $18 for that shitty new John le Carre novel that I'd been queasily awaiting all year, and it WASN'T available as an ebook for the Kindle at Amazon (the ebook was UK only! Fools!). But of course, it's online, for free! And unlike a 1080p movie, you could download it in three seconds if you wanted!
Pretty soon only authors will be buying books. And at least musicians have tours to earn money on, what's an author gonna do, ~readings~? Fah.
rating: :\
You Want Ancient Icons, You Got Ancient Icons!
These are all 6 or 7 years old... Any requests for new ones? Post a link to an online image! God I live for listening to new music while photoshopping things...
20101119
review: B&N | Nook Color -- a little too slow and a little too heavy
- Nice box. OoOOoh with magnets!
- Pain in the ass to get the accessories out -- had to tear open the nice box :(
- Too heavy
- Sticker said "charge me fully first!" but upon pluging it in it automatically turned on and offered to play their shitty welcome video, the dicktease
- After three minutes, you start to notice the heft -- in a bad way.
- Had to reset my router before the wifi worked
- Weighs too much for one handed use.
- Unresponsive keypresses (esp the bottom row ABC/123 button & .com button -- which seemed to alternate between the opinion that i was pressing too hard or too softly and ignored me 2/3 of the time. Fun!
- USB charger plug glows amber when charging, green when charged.
- Charging took 30 min. or so.
- Weighs more than you think
- Scrolling thru the magazine shop was about as smooth as an '80s Transformers cartoon
- god this thing is getting heavy
- USB data cable (same as charger) glows amber when transferring files, green when finished.
- Transfers at ~6mb/s (about a song a second)
- ePubs look/flow/format great!
- Jrocknyc renders alright in portrait or landscape, but is a bit laggy (not unexpected)
- ALL sites are chunky laggy .. gotta find some mobile URLs...
- PDF mags are totally unenjoyable -- magazines are doomed. Can't transition from "admire the layout" to "read the blurb/article" with any degree of competence
- No pinch-to-zoom, and tap-to-zoom is unpredictable
- they should include helium balloons with this thing to lighten it
I'm gonna return it, and stick with the ipod touch for reading books & websites. I finished Mustaine's autobiography 100% on my iTouch, and it was just fine. (The book AND the Touch!)
rating: :(
US Embassy: Beijing air quality is 'crazy bad'
Associated Press:
BEIJING (AP) — Pollution in Beijing was so bad Friday the U.S. Embassy, which has been independently monitoring air quality, ran out of conventional adjectives to describe it, at one point saying it was "crazy bad."That's awesome (the Dept of State using that kind of language, not the pollution itself).
Beijing's official air monitors only measure relatively coarse particulate matter, whereas the U.S. system monitors smaller, deadlier dust particles.So maybe if the US holds off on its inevitable war with China (they're hogging all the rare-earth metals we need for new ipods, that won't stand!) for long enough, their army will just asphyxiate on its own, no shots fired! ~Yay!~
review: D | "in the name of justice" (2010)
in the name of justice
2010
Robots have written ballads with more emotion. This one, however, has a We're-in-Britain-in-the-Year-1000 ring to it, which is thankfully, mercifully, refreshing (!!!) for D, the world's stagnatingest band. The secret's the pan flute that mimics the vocal line. I would not be surprised to see a pair of dwarves frolicking around the stage when Asagi & Co. play this song live.
rating: :(
20101117
So you think you can holy shit
Have you guys seen any of these LXD skits(?) before? [hulu.com/LXD]
I've watched a few, and there's a lot of acting by dancers who can't act (there's a narrative, to glue different dance scenes together)... but fuck when the dance parts come, they are badass and evolutionarily novel.
20101116
review: amc | "the walking dead" (2010)
So we're three episodes in to The Walking Dead and I'm digging it.
Loved the hospital scenes in 1x01. Spooooooky!
And the Atlanta scenes. EMMMMPTINESSS!!!
And I'm digging the changes from the comic, especially the racist hicks that aren't just there to create fake social tension, but are apparently the only ones capable of acquiring fresh food (i.e., huntin'), and, oh, that's why we didn't [SPOILER!] throw the loudmouth ass off the building in 1x02 as a diversion.
But I'm a little bored with all the female characters, because they are all boring.
And I'm eager for them to move camp 'cos that location's already gotten dull, and any minute now some VK band will try shooting a PV there.
But it's smart enough in the writing and production and direction departments that I look forward to it each week. And damn, the makeup/effects team GOTS SKEELZ.
rating: :)
20101114
iTunes 10.1 brings warning about Ping use
Ars Technica:
The license agreement for iTunes 10.1 has a new paragraph front and center about the you-Ping-Apple triangle, too. By creating a Ping account and using the Ping sidebar, Apple says you consent to the following: 'iTunes will send information to Apple about the content you select in your iTunes library in order to provide you with Ping personal recommendations.'(Edit > Preferences > General > uncheck Ping... also Parental Control > check disable Ping)
While Genius recommendations have been doing something similar for a while now, they were only based on stuff you own. Ping is taking it a step further, recommending items based not only on what you do with your own music, but whether you play or 'like' items you don't actually own.
If you're not down for this kind of surveillance, Macworld points out it is now possible to completely disable Ping."
AFP: Pope still has head up ass
BRAINS!
Agence France-Presse:VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI on Saturday warned that the Internet does not make people more humane but instead risks increasing a "sense of solitude and disorientation" among "numbed" young people.Yes. Constant, instantaneous contact with anyone anywhere in the world sure makes ME feel like I'm stuck in a cabin in the Arctic with only a Bible to read.
"A large number of young people... establish forms of communication that to do not increase humaneness but instead risk increasing a sense of solitude and disorientation," Benedict told a Vatican conference on culture.Now the "disorientation" aspect of this is true enough, but I'm thinking of people only reading news/blogs that they agree with, and develop an unbalanced picture of the world. Adults, not children. (Kids are still checking out and incorporating or rejecting everything they can get their hands on, that's how ~evolution~ has programmed them.)
He also said that young people were being "numbed" by the Internet, adding that the technology was creating an "educational emergency -- a challenge that we can and must respond to with creative intelligence."Yes, these damn kids developing reading, writing, and critical thinking skills must be very scary to the Church.
Benedict last month said the growing use of new technologies should set off "an alarm bell" as it was blurring the boundary between truth and illusion.LOL! Kind of like how condoms are bad, Church Man?
20101113
Elephant Song
This track is better than anything most of my favorite bands have done in the last five years.
20101112
Americans Now Stream As Much Music As They Download
Evolver.fm:
For the first time, music fans in the United States are streaming approximately as much music as they’re downloading, according to NPD.
Apparently, the purchasing of downloaded music from iTunes or Amazon — or even the free downloading of songs from peer-to-peer file sharing networks — cannot compete with the allure of clicking a link and having the song play instantly.
Music fans: The writing is on the wall. It might not be too long before you start to view the precious downloads you’ve gathered over the years as a waste of disk space.
I do believe that everything is moving to the cloud, but two problems remain:
- No streaming music service has even 1/10th of the songs I'd want access to.
- Once you're reliant on the streaming music services for access to "your" library... prices will shoot way up. Not just from the music streaming company, but from your ISP. (I'm already addicted to the internet; can you imagine my panick if they held the only key to my music collection too!?!)
So I'll keep my 250g's of music on three separate hard drives in three separate locations for a few more decades, thanks. Gotta back up all the family photos anyway. Just as easy to have the music library backed up too.
BUT. Concert/movie DVDs are a different story; they're too big and watched too rarely to be worth the hassle. Maybe HearJapan or JapanFiles will become "The Netflix of J-Rock Concert DVDs" and get bought by Amazon in a few years. I'd pay $10/mo to stream the newest L'Arc or Dec live dvds I think.
Crap Sells but Who's Buying
au one モバオク:
Tommy, you waited too long, no one's gonna pay $1000 for music... We've de-coupled the value of music from its packaging and physical form.
thx xio!
Tommy, you waited too long, no one's gonna pay $1000 for music... We've de-coupled the value of music from its packaging and physical form.
20101111
Attention third-tier musicians! How NOT to promote your crap-ass self online.
So I wake up this morning to two new comments, on a two-week-old post, praising Mike Vescera, both smacking of self-promotion. Posted within one minute of each other, with two different (yet similarly patterned!) usernames, and [ah-ha, busted!!] from the same IP address (69.118.54.111). (See the comments here.)
So Mike, or his manager/label/whatever, or a dumb fan is Googling his name and then spending time posting comments all over the web, under the mistaken assumption that these braindead spammy comments are helping his career.
They are not helping.
I'm a long-time metalhead (since '87/'88 when MTV aired "Nuthin' but a Good Time," "Pour Some Sugar On Me," and "Sweet Child of Mine" NON-STOP) and the name "Mike Vescera" conjured only two thoughts: "heavy metal... singer?" and "I wonder if he has that ugly, Italian-American-metal-guy long metal hair that looks like pubes, I hate that."
Turns out he was in Loudness for a bit (pre-Taiji) and also sang for Yngwie in '94-'95. So he deserves ~some~ props.
None of that matters now tho, because now every time I hear his name, my brain will imagine an over-the-hill rocker (tho I still don't know what he looks like) in a dirty bathrobe, smoking, hunched over a wheezing, crash-prone PC, in the dark at 2am, creating fake usernames and typing "sounds great! sounds great!" fifty times a day while hoarding cats.
Even if he has nothing to do with the spam in my blog's comments!
There's no way I'd spend money on someone like that.
~
So that was a long-winded setup, but here's the meat:
If you are trying to promote yourself, don't post under fake names. Especially not twice, using the same phrasing, within moments of each other, from the same IP!
Instead, BE YOU.
Use your real name.
Be straight up, tell us you've got a new album/dvd/tour, that you're proud of it. (We see through self-promotion INSTANTLY, and instantly dismiss it.)
Then, MOST IMPORTANTLY, give us some value-added content. Because so far, all "Hi it's Mike and I've got a new album out" is just an ad. Which we usually ignore.
So tell us a funny story about the making of the album, or an interesting behind-the-scenes story about how the compilation album came about, or a cool story about how the tour got its name, or SOMETHING that is either entertaining or educational.
And you can copy & paste that into a few dozen blogs & forums and that'd be okay -- we don't expect exclusivity or anything. Just a modicum of respect and some info that doesn't waste our time.
And then, instead of thinking, "Wow, that Mike Vescera guy sure is a pathetic lying douche," we'll think "Oh, this is the song he wrote when he was in the hospital after he crashed his GTO and met that nurse who became his wife! Neat. [clicks "Buy at iTunes" button]"
In short: don't try to TRICK people into liking you. Build connections with them... ya douches!
google image search for Mike Vescera: http://images.google.com/images
20101110
in memoriam: blast from the past: kagrra live report 8/20/2002
Tuesday, August 20 (2002)
Ai yai yai yai yai!
part one
I had to head to Akasaka Blitz for two reasons: one was the slim hope of getting a ticket at or near face value (around ¥5500). The other was to... um, remember the fantastic person who sent me all that anime? She wanted a few Deg items. And so did I. So I had to go buy stuff (the merch booth opened up around 3:00). Other cool bonuses: seeing a handful of people I had met before (and not just girlies either!) and getting a few more email addies in me' keitai. You can never have too many friends in A Knot!
But alas, it was a seller's market for the yakuza scoundrels that hawk the tickets -- going price was ¥30,000. (Non-stop round-trip plane ticket to New York in September on classy-ass JAL: ¥58,000.) But the price reflected the show's unique/weird one-off thing-ness, and aside from a couple make up shows (as in Kyo was sick so the shows were cancelled and now we have to make them up) out in the boonies, it's Diren's last gig for the foreseeable future. Maybe even forever, who knows!?!
I ticket o amatemasu ka'd a couple Ayu-Hama lookin' girls who had been speaking with tickets in their hands to the schwein no yakuza (to see how much they could sell them for was my interpretation), but to me they said sorry, we don't have any extras... and other fans were wandering about with "Sell us your tickets please!" signs -- very "Will work for food!" -- near the entrance to the venue, near the subway entrance (Akasaka Eki #4), and even in the station itself.
With all this hopelessness, I called it a day -- the effort to see a fifth Deg standing live in two months' time just wasn't merited; like when you drop a penny but, ack, fuck, leave it! So I left. With MoSo and her sister Felia, for Shibuya. Ooh! And I saw a Deg fangirlie hop the train fence behind the conductor! Cheater! (I've never seen a Japanese person cheat the trains before -- only foreigners do that.)
Five minutes later we're in Shibuya. We zip to On Air West, passing by On Air East -- or what's left of it -- on the way. It's torn down! A lonely red On Air East sign is all that's left of the once majestic (here, majestic means "yellow and cubic") theater. It should say "Here Lies the Remains of On Air East, Where Go Saw Kagrra for the First Time."
On Air West, across the thin, pedestrian-clogged street, is having better luck, as fans are already starting to show up in costume for Kagrra's 7pm start. Clock check: 3:30ish. Box office check: Kagrra tickets sold out. Scalper check: none to be seen. Fuck check: fucked!
On the way to Royal Host to eat / kill time, I tell MoSo and Felia, Don't worry, my immense powers of luck will save the day. They're not much worried anyway, they bought their tickets weeks ago. But they were hopping to get me drunk again tonight, and if I don't get in to the show, there's always the chance the show will let out and instead of meeting up they'll receive a call: "I got bored and came home, sorry."
We eat; no Kagrra fans show up at Royal Host (my luck-powers are failing me!), so I drown my sorrows in a large raspberry-banana sundae instead. Mmm! Around 5:30 we're back at OAW. A crowd has gathered. Some Japanese girls recognize me and start talking to me but do you have any extra tickets? No, sorry, we don't have any extra tickets.... but there's that scalper over there... the one that looks like a washed-up baseball manager? Yes, that's the one.
But I'm loathe to go up to him. First, I haven't asked every single girl in the crowd if they have an extra ticket yet, and secondly, I don't really like Kagrra. I respect them I guess, I admit that they're cool and stuff, but the two cds i've got (Nue and Kirameki) haven't seized me by the balls or anything; they're just okay in a I'd-see-them-if-they-were-on-a-bill-with-some-other-cool-bands way. So I hang out for a bit. I say hi to some American guy and he replies with something like, "You look taller on your website" (something like that!) and that makes my day (whenever I meet someone and they're like -- "Ah! You! Jrocknyc boy!," I'm always heartened. Moreso when they're chicks, but wish in one hand, shit in the other...!)
I didn't warn him everything was "on the record," so I can't tell you he's on vacation for a few weeks catching a whole bunch of bands but sadly will be missing Due le Quartz... oops. Well, if he checks back here I'm sure he'll POST! Ahem!
So he and his mates head in, Mo-So and Felia have long since gone inside... the crowd is dwindling as the last ticket numbers are called in.
A woman comes up to me and asks if I'd like to be interviewed. They're shooting a film on Japanese music, she explains. Sounds fun to me, so I give her my email and keitai number, and we talk for a minute or two, in english, about the film. At that point I'm not sure if she's affiliated with Kagrra specifically or what -- later I decide she's not, that the film is just going to random bands (but I could be wrong). But I do confess to her that I don't have a ticket for the show, but wow do I ever love kagrra, they're my favorite! ...just in case she does work for/with P.S. Company or Kagrra. But nada. In a few days I'll have to come to the studio for the interview, though, and that's pretty exciting. ~la la la la la, I'm gonna be in a movie!~
And thusly my trip to Shibuya, even though it seems I'll be missing Kagrra, is made worthwhile. She departs. Now I'm out there alone; just me, a small cluster of ticketless, moneyless cosplaying fangirls on the curb, a pair of less-dedicated, slightly older fangirls situated near the soda machine, and the scalper, lording his presence over us like Moses, arms folded, smug-faced, perched by the staircase: "I have only one commandment, and it involves cash and/or fellatio, maggots!"
He strolls up to the two mid-20s-ish girls (who probably have the most money teamed with the biggest need to see the band) and he chats with them. No exchange of money for ticketosity takes place, so it's so far so good for me. He walks between me and the cluster of younger fans on his way back to the steps. I pull him aside with a Tickets arimasu ka? He pulls me even more aside, and in japanese: "How much?"
Me: I dunno.
Him: Okay, Y10,000?
Me: Nah. Sorry, but, I only like the band a little. I can barely spell their name. Maybe Y5000? (Even this is too much for me to bother paying, so fortunately he says...)
Him: Ah, well, wait around, we'll see.
And he heads back to his roost. And waits. And I wait. And the gaggle of costumed high school girls on the curb noshing their Pretz seem to lose interest: it's almost showtime, they'd be stuck way in the back...
I'm losing interest too. I debate just leaving. Heading to Recofan to find some Sonata Arctica and the new Def Lep disc... and then to Mandarake to see about someone's Dir en grey doujinshi catalog... and then maybe back to Royal Host for another raspanana sundae... but the scalper's sorta eyeballing me, so to leave I'd have to say goodbye to him, but then he'd be like, "Ay, you's leavin'?!" and shoot me in the back.
So I hang about, letting my eyes dance over the prettier passersby and stuff... Mmm!
A few minutes later -- and it's about 7pm now, showtime -- I sense movement nearby; i snap out of my entrancement. Someone is approaching me, and crap, it's that scalper isn't it, should I pay the Y5000 or bolt!?!
Woman's voice: Oh, excuse me...
Me: (turning, and relieved to see it's the film producer woman) Oh, hello again!
She: Have you gotten a ticket?
Me: Not yet....
She: ...because if you don't mind, I have this invitation for two...
Me: Ai yai yai yai yai!
So we head to the door, get our green guest passes to wear, they aim us up the steps to the second floor, we head in, I announce my undying loyalty to the film-lady, and she just replies bubbly-ly, "make sure you reply to my email and come to the interview!" and she looks down below to the assembled throng; "Will you join your friends?" and I nod once, emphatically (I Dream of Jeanie style, in fact) and wave as I bounce towards the door, past two indie band members (not sure which band though... ex-Ash maybe? Some other PS Company trout?) and down the steps, and it's PACKED on the floor.
I realize I shoulda stayed upstairs longer; fifteen minutes pass. The band am be late! But then a flashlight behind the drumkit gives away the drummer's presence, the lights go out, and the fangirls compress into literally half the space they started in -- far worse than the Deg crush. Literally, the floor opened up by a full 50%, from too-tight-to-walk-through to too-tight-to-breathe. I still hang back, but now only fifteen feet from the stage, instead of thirty. (The crowd will eventually expand again, but for the moment, it's all love-crunch and "Ishiiiiiii!" as the band members stroll onto the stage...)
Ai yai yai yai yai!
part one
Now playing:
Kagrra
Irodori
PSTA-0015
Kagrra
Irodori
PSTA-0015
I had to head to Akasaka Blitz for two reasons: one was the slim hope of getting a ticket at or near face value (around ¥5500). The other was to... um, remember the fantastic person who sent me all that anime? She wanted a few Deg items. And so did I. So I had to go buy stuff (the merch booth opened up around 3:00). Other cool bonuses: seeing a handful of people I had met before (and not just girlies either!) and getting a few more email addies in me' keitai. You can never have too many friends in A Knot!
But alas, it was a seller's market for the yakuza scoundrels that hawk the tickets -- going price was ¥30,000. (Non-stop round-trip plane ticket to New York in September on classy-ass JAL: ¥58,000.) But the price reflected the show's unique/weird one-off thing-ness, and aside from a couple make up shows (as in Kyo was sick so the shows were cancelled and now we have to make them up) out in the boonies, it's Diren's last gig for the foreseeable future. Maybe even forever, who knows!?!
I ticket o amatemasu ka'd a couple Ayu-Hama lookin' girls who had been speaking with tickets in their hands to the schwein no yakuza (to see how much they could sell them for was my interpretation), but to me they said sorry, we don't have any extras... and other fans were wandering about with "Sell us your tickets please!" signs -- very "Will work for food!" -- near the entrance to the venue, near the subway entrance (Akasaka Eki #4), and even in the station itself.
With all this hopelessness, I called it a day -- the effort to see a fifth Deg standing live in two months' time just wasn't merited; like when you drop a penny but, ack, fuck, leave it! So I left. With MoSo and her sister Felia, for Shibuya. Ooh! And I saw a Deg fangirlie hop the train fence behind the conductor! Cheater! (I've never seen a Japanese person cheat the trains before -- only foreigners do that.)
Five minutes later we're in Shibuya. We zip to On Air West, passing by On Air East -- or what's left of it -- on the way. It's torn down! A lonely red On Air East sign is all that's left of the once majestic (here, majestic means "yellow and cubic") theater. It should say "Here Lies the Remains of On Air East, Where Go Saw Kagrra for the First Time."
On Air West, across the thin, pedestrian-clogged street, is having better luck, as fans are already starting to show up in costume for Kagrra's 7pm start. Clock check: 3:30ish. Box office check: Kagrra tickets sold out. Scalper check: none to be seen. Fuck check: fucked!
On the way to Royal Host to eat / kill time, I tell MoSo and Felia, Don't worry, my immense powers of luck will save the day. They're not much worried anyway, they bought their tickets weeks ago. But they were hopping to get me drunk again tonight, and if I don't get in to the show, there's always the chance the show will let out and instead of meeting up they'll receive a call: "I got bored and came home, sorry."
We eat; no Kagrra fans show up at Royal Host (my luck-powers are failing me!), so I drown my sorrows in a large raspberry-banana sundae instead. Mmm! Around 5:30 we're back at OAW. A crowd has gathered. Some Japanese girls recognize me and start talking to me but do you have any extra tickets? No, sorry, we don't have any extra tickets.... but there's that scalper over there... the one that looks like a washed-up baseball manager? Yes, that's the one.
But I'm loathe to go up to him. First, I haven't asked every single girl in the crowd if they have an extra ticket yet, and secondly, I don't really like Kagrra. I respect them I guess, I admit that they're cool and stuff, but the two cds i've got (Nue and Kirameki) haven't seized me by the balls or anything; they're just okay in a I'd-see-them-if-they-were-on-a-bill-with-some-other-cool-bands way. So I hang out for a bit. I say hi to some American guy and he replies with something like, "You look taller on your website" (something like that!) and that makes my day (whenever I meet someone and they're like -- "Ah! You! Jrocknyc boy!," I'm always heartened. Moreso when they're chicks, but wish in one hand, shit in the other...!)
I didn't warn him everything was "on the record," so I can't tell you he's on vacation for a few weeks catching a whole bunch of bands but sadly will be missing Due le Quartz... oops. Well, if he checks back here I'm sure he'll POST! Ahem!
So he and his mates head in, Mo-So and Felia have long since gone inside... the crowd is dwindling as the last ticket numbers are called in.
A woman comes up to me and asks if I'd like to be interviewed. They're shooting a film on Japanese music, she explains. Sounds fun to me, so I give her my email and keitai number, and we talk for a minute or two, in english, about the film. At that point I'm not sure if she's affiliated with Kagrra specifically or what -- later I decide she's not, that the film is just going to random bands (but I could be wrong). But I do confess to her that I don't have a ticket for the show, but wow do I ever love kagrra, they're my favorite! ...just in case she does work for/with P.S. Company or Kagrra. But nada. In a few days I'll have to come to the studio for the interview, though, and that's pretty exciting. ~la la la la la, I'm gonna be in a movie!~
And thusly my trip to Shibuya, even though it seems I'll be missing Kagrra, is made worthwhile. She departs. Now I'm out there alone; just me, a small cluster of ticketless, moneyless cosplaying fangirls on the curb, a pair of less-dedicated, slightly older fangirls situated near the soda machine, and the scalper, lording his presence over us like Moses, arms folded, smug-faced, perched by the staircase: "I have only one commandment, and it involves cash and/or fellatio, maggots!"
He strolls up to the two mid-20s-ish girls (who probably have the most money teamed with the biggest need to see the band) and he chats with them. No exchange of money for ticketosity takes place, so it's so far so good for me. He walks between me and the cluster of younger fans on his way back to the steps. I pull him aside with a Tickets arimasu ka? He pulls me even more aside, and in japanese: "How much?"
Me: I dunno.
Him: Okay, Y10,000?
Me: Nah. Sorry, but, I only like the band a little. I can barely spell their name. Maybe Y5000? (Even this is too much for me to bother paying, so fortunately he says...)
Him: Ah, well, wait around, we'll see.
And he heads back to his roost. And waits. And I wait. And the gaggle of costumed high school girls on the curb noshing their Pretz seem to lose interest: it's almost showtime, they'd be stuck way in the back...
I'm losing interest too. I debate just leaving. Heading to Recofan to find some Sonata Arctica and the new Def Lep disc... and then to Mandarake to see about someone's Dir en grey doujinshi catalog... and then maybe back to Royal Host for another raspanana sundae... but the scalper's sorta eyeballing me, so to leave I'd have to say goodbye to him, but then he'd be like, "Ay, you's leavin'?!" and shoot me in the back.
So I hang about, letting my eyes dance over the prettier passersby and stuff... Mmm!
A few minutes later -- and it's about 7pm now, showtime -- I sense movement nearby; i snap out of my entrancement. Someone is approaching me, and crap, it's that scalper isn't it, should I pay the Y5000 or bolt!?!
Woman's voice: Oh, excuse me...
Me: (turning, and relieved to see it's the film producer woman) Oh, hello again!
She: Have you gotten a ticket?
Me: Not yet....
She: ...because if you don't mind, I have this invitation for two...
Me: Ai yai yai yai yai!
So we head to the door, get our green guest passes to wear, they aim us up the steps to the second floor, we head in, I announce my undying loyalty to the film-lady, and she just replies bubbly-ly, "make sure you reply to my email and come to the interview!" and she looks down below to the assembled throng; "Will you join your friends?" and I nod once, emphatically (I Dream of Jeanie style, in fact) and wave as I bounce towards the door, past two indie band members (not sure which band though... ex-Ash maybe? Some other PS Company trout?) and down the steps, and it's PACKED on the floor.
I realize I shoulda stayed upstairs longer; fifteen minutes pass. The band am be late! But then a flashlight behind the drumkit gives away the drummer's presence, the lights go out, and the fangirls compress into literally half the space they started in -- far worse than the Deg crush. Literally, the floor opened up by a full 50%, from too-tight-to-walk-through to too-tight-to-breathe. I still hang back, but now only fifteen feet from the stage, instead of thirty. (The crowd will eventually expand again, but for the moment, it's all love-crunch and "Ishiiiiiii!" as the band members stroll onto the stage...)
The Day the Kagura Died (Kagrra Disbanding!)
EDIT: All five guys have posted their thoughts at their myspace (English).
♣ SЯ :
 |
| Kagrra 2000-2010 |
Kagrra to disband!Nooooooooooooooooooooo oh wait they've sucked for years, n/m.
PS COMPANY has announced that Kagrra will cease activities.
Instead of using the word 'disbanded,' the band members have expressed the wish to call it a 'demise' instead.
Really, it should have happened five years ago, instead of driving the band into the ground like they did.
Hope they can find something that pays a decent wage... it might be too late though, if they're entering some new career. They're like mid-30s-ish now, right?
This is probably one scenario Jimi probably envisioned as he contemplated quitting CP. "Do I wanna kill myself for ten years and then find myself with no savings and a very thin CV...? Hrrrmmmm..."
So much for going major.
"Demise" is a pretty hardcore/respectable way to state things, tho, props for that, madly.. :)
 |
| That was a great day at the shoppes :) |
Nanase Kisses a Chick ON THE MOUF!
thx ryan!
Within the first ONE SECOND of vocals you can tell it's just gonna be more typical, dull post-baby Aikawaness.
Does she enjoy putting out the exact same song over and over again?
Is it even her, or has a computer simulation been invoked to mimic her?
Seriously, how does an artist go an entire decade exhibiting so little growth!?!
rating: :(
20101109
I am going to buy the fuck out of this ^_^
Seems like an iPod Touch but bigger. :)
- 7" 1024 x 600 @ 169 pixels per inch IPS touchscreen
- epub, pdf, mp3, mp4
- wi-fi, 3.5mm jack, SD cardable
And will easily serve its main purpose of letting me read books, mags, and sites away from my desks! On a couch! In a bed! Planes and trains!
I've read 40% of Band of Brothers on the Touch's tiny screen, and it ain't bad, just SMALL. The experience is worse on websites.
(iPad = too big.)
Can't wait til reviews start surfacing in ten days or so.
20101108
TBS@11
 |
| I hope he dies! (Metaphorically of course.) Unfunny twat! |
It'll be fine for a week, and gone within a year. No one watches TV no more, esp not in Conan's demo! DUH.
Jimi to Quit CP
Rock Japan Elec-tric:
"December 20th is my last show with Chemical Pictures."Being in a band is mostly work.
I haven't talked to Elec yet (I'm gonna email him in a minute) but reading his post, I can only assume the detriments of being in a band began to outweigh the benefits:
benefits:
- finishing the writing and recording of a song you're really proud of
- playing live
- chicks / parties / "the lifestyle"
detriments:
- rehearsing over and over and over AND OVER
- lugging, setting up, and breaking down gear
- recording over and over and over & mixing
- hair / makeup / costumes
- no time for anything else (love, school, career, non-band friends, etc)
- business/money crap
Chemical Pictures seemed to have plateaued (no?) and the likelihood of graduating to that precious music-is-my-full-time-job stage was probably still a distant dream. And the dude's smart, he did the whole band thing, he released some music, did a bunch of lives, toured in a van, partied, did the interview & photo rounds -- he lived the life for a few years and had fun, but realized, before it was too late, that he didn't wanna be doing it five, ten years from now, and that the likelihood of hitting the super-big-time is low even fer the awesomest of bands, and so it was time to [that poker term that means "quit while you,re sorta ahead"]!
A lot of guys don't figure that out til it's too late, and they spend their entire lives pumping gas and waiting for the weekend so they can play 80s rock covers to a dozen drunks at some shitty bar for $20 a night.
So I congratulate Elec on his choice and totally understand it. And now he'll focus on a real job and I dunno get married and have babies and start a mortgage and 401(k) and stuff. ^_^
(Also now that he's out he'll be able to spill the beans on what the J music biz is ~really~ like!)
20101107
review: aldious | "deep exceed" (2010)
deep exceed
2010
"Bind" has a decent midriff (ha!), there's a cool chuggy-wuggy under and after "Shion"'s unimaginative solo, and "Premixed Flame" has an interlude that stumbles into VK territory.
The "hits" -- "Luft," "Ultimate Melodious," and "Eversince (metal version)" are all decent but without surprise.
It's all pretty Eighties. And though all the girls in the band seem capable enough, there's no songwriting flair or performance pieces that'll make you want to learn their parts or anything. Their GUITAR parts, horndogs!
rating: :\
20101106
New Look
I got bored and decided, what the fuck, and hit the APPLY TO BLOG button.
It'll change some more, but if you have any suggestions, now's the time.
EDIT: once i figure out how to stick the comments back!
EDIT: thank you for your patience, i think we're sorta done now (but i'm still open to suggestions, even minor or impossible ones.)
It'll change some more, but if you have any suggestions, now's the time.
EDIT: once i figure out how to stick the comments back!
EDIT: thank you for your patience, i think we're sorta done now (but i'm still open to suggestions, even minor or impossible ones.)
20101105
It's like they WANT a war!
Chinese fishing boat collides with Japanese Coast Guard boat! If they shoot at it, that's it, game over man -- war's on!
~
The Independent:
Regarding this boat thing, I kinda want to agree.
A Chinese protester's sign reads: "Kill all Japanese, break all relations with Japan," in a demonstration against Japan's claim to islands in the East China Sea.
"The Chinese are making fools of us," said Sakurai, a baby-faced 30-something and the unlikely ringleader of what one academic calls "Japan's fiercest and most dangerous hate group today." Like many nationalists, he is infuriated by what he sees as Chinese expansionism.
"If Japan had any guts, it would stand up to them," he said.
committing treason for a movie blog
Vanity Fair:
I eagerly await this film's release.
Obviously, there’s a lot you can’t discuss, and I don’t want you committing treason for a movie blog, but can you tell me what Hollywood gets most wrong in spy thrillers?
[Laughs.] My particular gripe with Hollywood is how they portray female operations officers. They’re all about sexuality and physicality and how well they handle an AK-47. Really, it’s much more your “mental skills” that will point to your success or failure!
O.K. but according to the movie, you’re really good with an AK-47.I am. [Laughs.] It’s really about building relationships, understanding someone’s motivation, and, like any workplace, understanding how you can be effective.
I eagerly await this film's release.
20101104
November Releases: Danger Gang, Sads, and Unsraw
via ♣ SЯ:
11/10 Sads - DISCO [maxi-single]
11/19 UnsraW - Kleza in Utero [live-limited single]
11/28 DANGER☆GANG - HALLUCINATION [maxi-single]
I can almost see the reviews now... [dream-transition harp music...]
"SADS still rocks but their better days are clearly behind them..."
"Unsraw should have stayed kaisan'd and these songs prove it..."
"Danger Gang has not evolved one iota in the last four years of their existence; they still sound like marginally competent twelve year olds and had they been boys that played thus we would long ago have hanged 'em."
Are half the members new? I only recognize the guitarist and drummist!
20101103
review: exist trace | "twin gate" (2010)
twin gate
11.03.2010
11.03.2010
MOCD-1904
¥2940
¥2940
This disc has a classic VK vibe.
"Decide" is pretty cool; the guitars' chords pull at each in slightly different directions but still wind up in the same place, like dogs on a leash. Easily the standout track today.
"Orleans no Shoujo" does a cool grindy/chuggy thing on the verse, mixed with a mellower lillies-in-the-valley bridge.
"Knife (album version)" has a wider soundstage than the single version, but doesn't sound re-recorded).
"Neverland" should probably be a PV on TV, it's got that broader rock/ballad appeal.
"Resonance" sounds a lot like the Ambivalent Symphony version but louder and more actively EQ'd. Same multitrack source fer sure anyway, maybe with a couple overdubs.
"Vanguard" is another repeat (orig. off Vanguard ~of the Muses~), but less brashy-crashy. But someone really needs to tell the girls that re-EQing a song doesn't mean you can re-release it as anything other than a b-side! We're six tracks into this "new" album and three of them we already own!
Omi (g), Miko (g), Jyou (v), Naoto (b), Mally (d).
"Blaze" is more of "the usual" ET midtempo grrr-ness, but duller.
"Unforgive You" experiments with digital rhythms but retains its mediocrity until the bittersweet pleasantry of the chorus.
"Owari no nai Sekai" is the exact same track from Ambivalent. Still perky and a bit like the little sister of Luna Sea's inspi-cool classic "Wish."
And we close with "Cradle" and its aspirations to symphonicness, but Jyo's just not up to the task, tho I find renewed admiration for her in the attempt.
All in all, this "new album" has some decent highs and not many lows, but also feels like cheating. Frame it as "The Decide EP plus some bonus recent greatest hits" and it seems much more legitimate. Of course, I haven't forked over $30 for an EP since Iron Maiden did those UK-only "First Ten Years" platters! And, spoiler alert: Exist Trace is not Iron Maiden.
rating: :\
20101102
Infographics FTW
It's the 2010 midterm elections and the New York Times is once again rocking the flash infographics tonite! [here] (Take note, designers!)
(In case you're not keeping track at home, we want Palladino to lose to Cuomo and O'Donnell to lose to ANYONE.)
thx rgz!
New Nanase All-Girl Band "Popular Among Lesbians"
Yahoo Japan (google translated):"Rockstar Steady" Japanese translation and the "rock star girlfriend." As the name suggests, the themes listed in the "rock band popular among the girls." American lesbian-themed drama "L Word" and I love, lesbian music express. Love, marriage, same-sex hearts and minds and experiences of a woman giving birth.Drops 12.08! Will it suck? She hasn't taken a creative risk in years but that hairdo has me hoping ~something~ new is going on in her brain...
Western Japan's largest gay event in September last year appeared "Zumaniti" became a hot topic in the performance, at a stretch break between homosexuals. "Holy Land" Gay known as Shinjuku 2-chome, well communicated, now classic songs sung by Aikawa even among lesbians.
September, the campaign in the long-awaited two-chome. Lesbian only event "GOLD FINGER" appeared to 700 people gathered in the hall of 300 seats. Speakers to fall too much excitement, so I was out injured.
20101101
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