GakiKame No Geijutsu Gekijou
28 January 2008
I'm in a bit of a pickle. Actually, it's more like a bathtub full of Branston Pickle. You see, Horie Yui's new album is being released on 30th January and I've not got enough money to buy it. I fear that by the time I do have enough cash to get it the limited edition version won't be available any more. While that may not sound like too big a deal to the average person, it's a disaster to an obsessive collector like me. I'm the type of person who gets attracted by the nice extras and packaging of limited editions. Just having that little 32-page booklet makes it worth the higher cost. Granted, I'll probably only ever look through it once or twice a year but just owning it makes me happy. It's probably part of my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (self-diagnosed but it seems pretty certain). Anything I buy from Japan needs to be kept in absolute mint condition. That means never touching it without washing my hands (I should really buy some white gloves), and keeping it sealed in a plastic wallet to prevent the air getting to it. Things that I buy in the UK aren't treated in such a clinical manner but I do like to look after them nonetheless. In an ideal world I'd buy two of everything - one to use when I like and one to keep unopened forever. But until I win the lottery, the current method will have to suffice. Actually, in an ideal world I'd outlaw dust and everything it stands for. I hate dust so much! But I digress...
Lack of money doesn't make it easy to support Hello! Project either. Not only do you have all the CDs and DVDs to buy, you have a plethora of other merchandise to tempt you at every turn. Billions of photos, thousands of T-Shirts, and hundreds of other little things to spend your cash on. Just a shame that I haven't been able to buy as many things as I'd like. I've bought a few albums and a photo book but that's about it. I wonder if that makes me a lesser fan than those who own hundreds of other things alongside the usual CDs/DVDs? There are various people who haven't bought a single item (instead they download everything) but call themselves fans. Is it enough to simply enjoy something without contributing any money to the artists who provide your entertainment? Personally I would say, no, but that might make me a hypocrite. I'm guilty of having downloaded various things like scans of photos and photo books. Moral ideals tend to get brushed aside when money is short and it's available for free. Of course, if I had the funds I wouldn't even have to consider downloading. After all, owning the actual item is a million times more pleasing than having it on your hard disk. Eventually, I hope to be able to buy all the things I've downloaded and finally become 'legit'. I just need to stop slacking and put more effort into generating mountains of cash. Don't worry, Hello! Project, I'll be sending a big, fat cheque in the post soon, I promise!
Posted byHocchan at 6:47 pm 2 comments
195.084(9)g·mol−1
22 January 2008
Just a small update to show off my new desktop wallpaper again. Horikita Maki has temporarily gone and been replaced by Michishige Sayumi. Seems to suit the season quite well. Other than that nothing else to report apart from the fact I bought Final Fantasy XII today for £11.98 from Woolworths. Will be nice to play through it again, only this time be able to fully understand the story. Good price too. Good things come to those who wait, indeed.
Posted byHocchan at 11:42 pm 0 comments
55.845(2)g·mol−1
21 January 2008
The irony of the current situation is simply astounding. You couldn't make this stuff up, it's too bizarre. We have half the country drowning in floods while we're suffering from not having any water. Seems like there's a problem with the local reservoir and as such over 22,000 people are without a water supply. A large proportion of the town is affected. Several schools, offices and businesses have had to close for the day due to this crisis. There have even been reports of fights breaking out in supermarkets as people buy up all the bottled water. You'd think the end of the world had come from some people's reactions... Luckily they've set up emergency water stations at various locations so we won't be dying of thirst any time soon. The water company has been working on this problem since the early hours of this morning and it still hasn't been fixed yet. Now the latest news is that the engineers will continue to work through the evening and hopefully have supply restored tonight. To say this is a big headache is a bit of an understatement. You can't take a shower, flush the toilet, brush your teeth, wash your face, or even wash the dishes. I really do hope they get it fixed before tomorrow. I'd hate to have to go two days without water. Perhaps I should visit the nearest city and bathe in the flooded streets. Or just stand outside and wait for the next deluge of rain. Shouldn't take long, what with the monsoon we're having in the UK right now. /sigh Please come back soon, oh precious water!
Posted byHocchan at 4:49 pm 1 comments
Onno No Ko, Otoko No Ko
19 January 2008
Just went and picked up my letter from the post office. As I thought, my certificates were inside along with a note saying my offer had not been affected. Yatta! I win. University is mine. That's a big concern off my mind. Only two more hurdles to jump over - getting finance in April, and accommodation nearer September. 2008 is shaping up very nicely so far. Let's hope it keeps going at this momentum. I imagine people must be sick of hearing me talk about university by now so I'm not going to post any more about it for awhile. Not unless anything major develops. Instead I'm going to bore everyone with talk about dramas! The second episode of Edison No Haha was on last night. I even managed to catch the last 5 minutes of it live via a TV streaming utility. I downloaded it last night and watched it this morning. This episode was as good, if not better, than last week's one. In this one Kento spent most of it trying to fly. He used various methods such as tying wings to his arms and jumping off the second floor balcony. Needless to say he failed and there was more talk of expelling him from the school. Thankfully, the headmaster of the school is rather more sympathetic, revealing the fact that he also jumped off the balcony in his youth /laugh. This is definitely my favourite drama of this season.
I also managed to watch the first half of the Nodame Cantabile special in Europe. It showed Chiaki and Megumi arriving in Paris and moving into their new accommodation. After settling in Chiaki immediately prepares for a prestigious conductor competition in Prague. Competition is tough and he faces a lot of trials during the contest. However, he finishes in first place after giving a spectacular final performance, much to everyone's delight. Just as he sets off to meet Vieira sensei he is kidnapped and bungled into a van /laugh. Seems like someone doesn't want him to meet Vieira. Meanwhile, Megumi starts her first day at piano school and that's where we leave it. The next episode looks fun. I want to watch it but I'm waiting for some English subtitles.
Posted byHocchan at 11:56 am 2 comments
Seishun! Love Lunch
17 January 2008
As requested by the admissions department, I sent my GCSE/GCE A-Level certificates into the university on Tuesday. It arrived on Wednesday and I had a missed delivery this morning so I assume they must have sent them back on Thursday. I'll know for certain once I go pick them up from the post office tomorrow. I haven't heard anything from them yet regarding the matter but if they've returned them so quickly I guess it must be good news. If everything goes to plan I'll definitely have my place on the course in September. I'm hoping there won't be too much waiting. Would be a pain in the arse to have applied so early last year only to be delayed now. Speaking of delays, I checked the student finance website and it says they won't be taking applications for the 2008/09 year until April. That's a bit of a pain. I was hoping to have it sorted out by then. Makes sense though, I guess. The fiscal year starts and ends at that time so that must be why they don't take applications until then. I guess I'm still a little anxious about the whole university thing. I want to get arrangements in place as soon as possible so that it'll set my mind at rest.
The reason I missed the post this morning was because I had a job interview. I had to get my hair cut beforehand too as it was getting far too long. For some annoying reason the back grows twice as fast as the front. I was going to put it off for a bit longer until the weather got a bit warmer but I got sick of washing it so often. I got a basic short back and sides which requires far less maintenance. Any way, once that was done I went and had my interview. Well, I say interview but it wasn't really much more than a quick chat. Unfortunately, I found out that the hours didn't really suit me. It was a part time position for 25 hours a week with the intention of becoming full time at Easter. The bad news is that the shifts are 10-11 hours long. I don't think I'm that desperate for money yet. I don't want to go in at midday and end up working until midnight. That would be far too tiring. I'll have to look for a different job.
Posted byHocchan at 2:32 am 0 comments
The Best Of Japan
13 January 2008
I finally got a hold of Morning Musume's Spring 2004 concert. I've seen most of their concerts but could never find the 2004 one for some reason. Having now seen it I can say it's their best concert ever. I don't know why it isn't more widely available. It's perfect in so many ways. Firstly, the member line up is one of the best ever. All of the fourth, fifth and sixth generation members plus second generation Yaguchi Mari and first generation Iida Kaori; fourteen members in total. Secondly, the stage layout is brilliant. There's a main platform in the middle, then another smaller stage higher up in the middle of that. Four big screens are hung on metal pillars facing each side. Each corner of the middle platform has a walkway extending off it forming a big cross. It's the first and last time I've seen them use this configuration but it's spectacular. Thirdly, the song selection for this concert was almost perfect. You have all the big singles as well as some less often performed classics like Say Yeah! Motto Miracle Night (which was my favourite performance of the concert). The acoustics of the stadium added to the enjoyment of each song. Mini Moni also did their last performance before disbanding. The MC parts were great to watch, in particular the one where they drew pictures of each other in crayons. I'd love to have been there in real life. The atmosphere was amazing, even watching it at home. Simply a fantastic concert in every respect.
We're well and truly into the new year now and that means one thing - the start of a new drama season in Japan! Two in particular have caught my eye; Edison No Haha and Binbou Danshi Bombiimen. The first episode of Edison No Haha aired on Friday and I got a hold of a copy of the same day. I'd been looking forward to this series ever since hearing about it back in December. Itoh Misaki plays Ayukawa Noriko, a first-grade teacher. One day, a boy named Hanafusa Kento gets transferred into her class. He continually disrupts the class by questioning the logic of everything (like why does 1+1=2?). Noriko sees him as a troublesome student at first, a view shared by many other parents of the school. However, she slowly discovers that Kento is remarkably intelligent for his age and has the potential to be a genius. It's up to her to figure out how to nurture this boy in order to reach his full potential. It's a nice comedic drama that is enjoyable to watch. I was glad to see Tanihara Shosuke in it, he's a great actor who has excellent comic timing. Definitely one to keep watching.
Binbou Danshi Bonbiimen doesn't start until Tuesday but it's looking to be another funny drama starring Oguri Shun. I'll write more about that when I've watched it. In the meantime I have the Nodame Cantabile special to watch. I just know it's going to be awesome!
Posted byHocchan at 10:53 am 1 comments
Bon Kyu! Bon Kyu! Bomb
11 January 2008
I've been daydreaming about university lately. It's still over eight months away but I can't help get excited at the prospect. I'm itching to increase my ability in Japanese so that I can finally understand everything without subtitles. I'd say my Japanese is as fluent as my Chinese right now (I'm not very good at Hakka or Cantonese). For the most part I can follow the main flow of any conversation. I want to get into a classroom with a tutor and really see how much I really know. I am slightly paranoid about losing my place at university though. I keep thinking of things that could go wrong and ruin my chance. I'll contact the university and make sure everything is as it should be, that might put me at ease. I'll need to also apply for student finance soon. That's going to be a bit of a pain. I'm still classed as a dependant student so they'll need proof of income for my parents. That's going to be a problem because my Dad isn't the best when it comes to keeping paperwork. It tends to veer on the wrong side of legit, if you know what I mean...I hope it won't affect my chances of getting finance. The course fees are fine - those are paid no matter the income. I could lose out on about £1,100 on the maintenance loan though. I'd still get around £3,200 regardless so it wouldn't be a complete disaster if I didn't get the maximum amount. As for the grants, that's a different story. Those are completely means tested. Same with the bursary funds. I might have to do a bit of ringing around to get those sorted. Let's hope everything works out fine.
If all goes well though I'm going to have some free cash lying about come September. I've been dreaming up stuff that I can spend the money on. I won't go mad but I've got some ideas already. I'm tempted to get a Nintendo DS or maybe a Wii. They're not too expensive and it'd make for a fun first semester. PlayStation 3 is out of the question both because of cost as well as the lack of games. I probably won't get one until either Metal Gear Solid 4 or Final Fantasy XIII gets released on it. I do have a bit of a crazy idea though. If I can get a job and work my arse off for a few months, I might, MIGHT (this is a big might), think about blowing it all on a trip to Japan before the start of term. It's an ambitious goal but not outside the bounds of reason. I'm looking around for a full time position at the moment. There were a load of new vacancies for the new Debenhams store that's opening in April but obviously that's still a few months away. I'll keep those in mind and continue looking elsewhere.
Posted byHocchan at 12:21 am 6 comments
Hage Ga...Moriagattemasu
09 January 2008
I've been wanting to write a new entry for days now but couldn't find anything worth writing about. Nothing of importance has really happened. This post will be highly random and probably be a boring read but at least I'll have done it. OK, let's see...my 40GB hard disk on my laptop is in the last throes of its life. It takes ages to do simple tasks and makes an almighty clicking sound while it's doing it. Any data that's saved to it instantly becomes fragmented. It's a good job I bought that 250GB external drive or I'd be in a bit of trouble. Hopefully, the 40GB one won't die any time soon. Not before I get enough money for a new computer any way.
I've had a lot of fun watching through all the old 'Hello! Morning' episodes that have been uploaded to Veoh. Just a shame that the files are only available as Flash Videos. I spent ages trying to find a good .flv to .avi converter on the internet but all of them turned out to be crap. I've had to settle for a .flv plug-in for Windows Media Player. The only good thing about the Flash Video format is its small size. The quality of the video is affected though and they don't look anywhere near as good as .avi files. At the end of the day (I hate that phrase) as long as I can watch them then I'm happy I guess. There are some really funny episodes that I'd never seen before. The only thing that spoils it is seeing Fujimoto Miki complaining about every damn thing in almost every appearance. It really would have been a lot better if she'd not been allowed into the group. Stupid Fujimoto...
I'm not missing Final Fantasy XI too much at the moment. If I went back I'd probably find myself quite bored again to be honest. I'm going to wait until the Dancer AF is released before I return. I wonder how much will change whilst I'm gone. Perhaps some of the people I know will have disappeared from the game by then. Perhaps it's just me but I find it hard to make new friends after all this time. I'm pretty selective in the first place as to who I can trust. It's been a couple of years since I've met anyone that I could call a proper friend rather than just an acquaintance. No sense in worrying about it now. Things will work themselves out in time.
Well, that wasn't bad. Pretty much wrote about the first things to pop into my head at the time. Probably turned out better than some of my planned posts. There'd better be something worth writing about next time though. I'm running out of ideas!
Posted byHocchan at 12:07 am 2 comments
Namida No Hoshi
05 January 2008
Urgh...I feel dizzy...my eyes are exhausted. I got a present today from Hong Kong. It's one of those Gundam model kits that are extremely popular over there. I used to love those things when I was younger but was never that good at making them. Not enough patience to build it properly I think. Now I'm older and wiser I thought it'd be a good time to have another go at making one. I noticed that they've advanced a bit in the last 10 years. There are more moving parts than there used to be. This enables you to put them in more realistic poses. The only problem is that it also makes them more complicated to make. I did things properly, making sure to carefully remove each piece and file the edges down. I took 5 hours in all. Spending that amount of time staring intently at some tiny plastic pieces probably tired my eyes out, hence why I feel a little dizzy right now. Might have been a good idea to take a break every now and again. No matter, staring at this computer screen for a few hours will sort it! At least the model looks pretty cool. I'm having trouble figuring out a cool pose for it though. All the moving joints makes it a bit fiddly to get right. I'll probably take another 5 hours to get that sorted.../sigh
I've been spending the last couple of days watching lots of Hello! Project related stuff. First was Goto Maki's final concert G-Emotion II. I'd never really got into Maki's music before. There were a few songs that I liked but mostly they didn't appeal to me. I felt I had to give them one last try since she's no longer in H!P. The first 45 minutes were OK but I didn't get involved in it like a Morning Musume concert. However, the last hour and 15 minutes was pure entertainment. Not sure if it was the choice of songs or Maki's brilliant MCing, but it really rocked. The ending was very emotional. This concert was ages before the announcement of her departure but you could tell she'd already made up her mind. The final song was something I'll never forget. I hope she returns to the music business soon, it would be a shame to lose such a great talent. Gocchin saikou!
I also discovered a treasure trove of old Hello! Morning episodes on Stage6. Lots of great episodes I'd never seen before. It was such a great programme. I hope Haromoni@ can become as entertaining in time. They really do have to get the old members back on the show. That and the return of the Gekijou theatre. Those little skits were probably the funniest thing about the old show. Never mind, I've found another place that has almost all the episodes (5 years worth) so I'm going to be occupied for a long time to come. Hurray!
Posted byHocchan at 12:51 am 1 comments
Shinnen Akemashite Omedetou
01 January 2008
This is actually my first post written on 1st January. I could have sworn I'd done a New Year's post previously but there's nothing for 2006 or 2007. Well, it's not the case for 2008. This year is going to rock so hard they'll name a geological period after it. I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes (Oh dear, I've used some cheesy lyrics in my post, please forgive me). With hindsight 2007 wasn't quite the disaster I keep believing it was. There were some good things that happened. Just a shame that they were completely eclipsed by several utterly shitty events. They were spread out over the year so I never really got a reprieve from the gloom. I'll never forget the amazing five-pier walk my friend and I did in the summer. It was gruelling and tough but it was quite an achievement. There's also the freezing cold illuminations walk, and of course, the spooky visit to Sunderland point where we were almost washed out to sea by the tide.
2007 was also the year where I got back into Japanese dramas in a big way. It all started with 'Hanazakari No Kimitachi E' at the end of summer and it hasn't stopped since. From that drama I discovered Horikita Maki and have become engrossed in her works ever since (you may have guessed that from all the photos of her I've used in my posts lately /laugh). From 'Kurosagi' to 'Nobuta Wo Produce' there's not a role where she cannot excel. She's also done some interesting documentary type films where she travelled to many different places. I'm looking forward to seeing her in many more dramas this coming year.
Hello! Project and Morning Musume didn't have a very good year in 2007. First of all, Yoshizawa Hitomi lost her brother in a tragic accident just weeks prior to her graduation, then just as Kago Ai was set to return to the group she was suspended and ultimately dismissed for another scandal. Another scandal followed shortly after and Fujimoto Miki stepped down having only served a few weeks as leader. Wasn't all bad though. Former members Iida Kaori and Tsuji Nozomi both got married and pregnant. With the 8th generation auditions came three new members: Mitsui Aika, LinLin and JunJun, the latter two being the Chinese girls. Hello Morning finished broadcasting after seven years of weekly episodes and was replaced by Haromoni@. Only time will tell what 2008 will bring to Hello! Project but I'm hopeful for a renewal to their fortunes.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. But it's in the past now. The only way is up, as they say, and the sky's the limit (which they also say). I can't wait for September when I'll finally begin my journey to achieving my dream of fluency in Japanese. I'm going to give it my all. I was going to make a list of resolutions to aim for but I can't really think of any. There's only really one that matters so I'll leave it at that:
1.) Be the best that I can be.
Wishing everyone a Happy New Year! Hope you have a good one! Kotoshi mo yoroshiku onegai shimasu.
Edit - 2008 is also the Year of the Rat (from 7th February anyway) which is what I am. If that isn't a good omen I don't know what is!
Posted byHocchan at 12:00 am 2 comments
