fumofu

You can watch the entire cut on YouTube.

I was downloading subs for Arashi’s latest appearance on MUSIC STATION, a Japanese music show. The program starts by showing guests entering the recording the studio. I’m seeing if there are any musicians I recognize, and from the right enters three foreign men in tight, black pants with eyes lined black. Hey! that’s Billie Joe Armstrong! Hey! that’s Green Day!!!!

The show usually features one performance with fans surrounding the performing stage. I only watch boybands perform on these Japanese music shows, so I expected rabid fangirls going “Kyaa kyaa” over 20-something boys. But this time there are mostly guys in t-shirts and jeans with green curly-haired clown wigs moshing and jumping around while Green Day performs “Know Your Enemy.” In the middle of the song Billie Joe yanks a guy up (while a bald, white security guy regulates the frontline) and tells him when to stage dive. That guy must be a hero that day to appear on Japanese national television. Green Day is nostalgically awesome. Their music style hasn’t changed much, but lyrics wise they’ve come a long way. The fans were cheering so loudly at the end they drowned out the interview for the next guests.

Apparently it was Green Day’s first time on a live music show recording in Japan. Who knew Tre Cool speaks Japanese like a native?! “Bokutachi ichiban!” (We’re number one!)

I got my Japanese boy band and my California punk all rolled into one. It’s been a good day. *rubs belly*

Current Mood:  chipper

Regarding Japanese dramas/music:

• I thought Albert wouldn’t like “Uta no Onii-san” coz it’s super corny, but he likes it and is suffering from withdrawal due to last week’s hiatus. But anyways, the series is OK. Ohno’s solo song is really corny since it’s supposed to sound like a kid’s song, but at least the boy can sing.

• “Mei-chan no Shitsuji” is cute. I like Nana and I like Hiro, except for his almost stage whisper voice.

• “Kami no Shizuku” is actually my favorite drama of the season, even if the ratings are plummeting. It’s about wine – how it’s made and how it should be drunken and enjoyed. I think I like it because this series shows why people link to drink and what people get out of drinking wine. It gives me a glimpse of what I’m missing out on, since I don’t drink (Projectile vomit, anyone?). I also lerve that brown knit toggle jacket (I have a toggle fetish, seriously). There were a lot of Burberry clothes in episode 1 and I wonder if the drama is endorsed by the brand. The jacket isn’t listed on the Burberry site though… Anyways, the following is a big long rant – feel free to skip to the next bulletpoint. Here are various theories I’ve read as to why this series is not working:

1. Bad time slot placement.
2. Kamenashi Kazuya‘s acting sucks, as evidenced by historically bad ratings from several of his previous dramas.
3. JE/Drama producers should not bet on Kimura Takuya-wannabe actors like Kame as the only famous actor in a series to draw in ratings.
4. Kame is only marketable only when he is paired with Akanishi Jin, who draws in rating even if his acting is subpar because he has star power. The synergistic effect of “AkaKame” is missing when it’s just Kame.
5. Poorly written script and boring plot that puts people to sleep. Even drinking wine while watching it is not working.
6. The one market that has benefited is the wine industry, where people have asked about the wine showcased in the drama.

I agree on most points to some degree. First off, I don’t think Kame has much say over the roles he has been handed. I personally think 90% of decisions of all JE’s lives (roles in dramas/movies/stageplays/musicals, CD release, wardrobe, magazine poses, groping other members for fanservice, when they can eat or pee) come from upper management. So it really isn’t our poor little turtle’s fault that he has to singlehandedly carry the pressure of selling a drama about wine, which may be very boring to a lot of people, especially his fanbase of mostly prepubescent girls. So here is my response to the aforementioned points:

1. This series is shown Tuesdays at 9pm on NTV. I’ve read on LiveJournal that none of its predecessors at this time slot on this network has done well.  I don’t think I’ve watched them, so I can’t personally argue the viability of this point.
2. Kame is a good actor – I actually think this script does not do justice on his acting! His acting is believable in that I don’t think he repeats the same roles one drama after another. Even Albie says Kame’s a better actor than Jin (and if Albie gives his seal of approval, the series is worth watching, right?).
3. Just having KimuTaku in a series will guarantee ratings of at least 20%. Some of his series have reached high 30′s%. It’s unfair to compare a 22-year-old (yes, I’m a pedophile/cougar) who has debuted for only two years to someone whose fanbase includes teenyboppers and grandmas who carry walkers to see SMAP in concert with their daugthers and granddaughters. It’s not like Kame doesn’t sell. Remember how “Seishun Amigo” sold 1 million copies in record time when he hasn’t even debuted yet with KAT-TUN?
4. I agree on the marketability of AkaKame. I mean, 80% of fans’ discussion is how hott the two are, or how unfair AkaKame hogs the spotlight over “the other four.”
5. A ridiculous plot borrowed from manga (whether or not if the manga can transfer to live action usually is overlooked most of the time) definitely does not help, especially if the script is poorly written. (How can you not laugh when Milke melodramatically says, “Awaken, Bacchus!” and Kame starts to dance like he’s closer to God while singing “Goûtons-voir, oui oui oui!” – they should just play NIN’s “Closer” in the background for goodness sake! you catch my drift, here?) Upper management should’ve known better to let Kame take this role after “One Pound Gospel” where he took on the ridiculous role of a gluttonous boxer who needs to lose weight before each match.
6. I think it’s great that the wine industry has benefited from this fiasco. Kame should definitely be offered endorsement deals! JE should look into that – STAT. (Can anyone who watched “Code Blue” tell me if they said “STAT”? coz that would make my day if they did.) Watching this series definitely piqued my interest in wine. Too bad every time I sniff Albie’s wineglass I get turned off, even if I go in thinking maybe this time I’ll like it!

• “ONE DROP” is the theme song to “Kami no Shizuku.” It’s no “truth-kun” but damn it’s catchy! Just disregard the random strings of English words sewn together (Koki’s “rap”…he even wrote the “lyrics”. *sigh*) In the PV, you can notice the image each idol is projecting (and again, a decision most likely decided by management). Kame with eyeliner and curly hair at half volume to Yamapi‘s DJ OZMA ‘fro; Akanishi with eyeshadow and, with Taguchi, in shiny clear lipgloss (hottx2 for both!); -Tanaka Koki in bronze lipstick; Ueda with full getup of eyeliner, eye shadow and lip tint; Nakamaru…in his usual mask :o). Jin’s eye makeup made him look like he got punched. A concerned fangirl was wondering where he got the black eye. Ueda shows what his sleep-deprived face really looks like under all that makeup. Anyways, back to the music. In terms of style I like KAT-TUN’s songs the most. More rock. Less perky. JE should scatter songs by the same writers to various groups instead of repeatedly using them on the same band. I also think a lot of KAT-TUN songs should be put into Rock Band. I’d love to play “ONE DROP” on drums! Anyways, the single is on repeat right now. Yay.

• Someone on LJ said that Nishikido Ryo reminds her of Willem Dafoe. (It’s funny coz it’s true!) I’m not a big fan of Ryo’s singing – his voice is whiny and doesn’t project well. But I really like the two solos that he wrote for two of NEWS albums: lyrics for “code” in the album “pacific” and shared billing for music/lyrics/arrangment for “ordinary” in “color.” I don’t know how involved he actually was in writing “ordinary” but damn it’s catchy! The best part is the key change at the very end. I was thoroughly impressed by the song until I read this post. Basically fans suggested that Ryo was “highly inspired” by two songs, “Slow Rain” and “Free Star,” by ACIDMAN, of which Ryo has stated is a big fan. Look, someone even adjusted the keys and mixed “ordinary” with “Slow Rain”. I’m just surprised JE hasn’t been slapped with a copyright infringement lawsuit. I don’t know how trials of this sort are determined. I’m sure music experts can dissect the three songs and say exactly how two songs are gargled into another in terms of rhythm, chord progression, guitar/bass/drum lines. But to my untrained ears, when I listened to “Slow Rain” while browsing another page, I said aloud, “This is ‘ordinary’!” BUT, I’m happy to know that the key change at the end was an original. Whether it was an idea by Ryo or the co-writer, I’ll let you to speculate.

• I haven’t started on “VOICE” or “RESCUE” but I’ll get back to you on that. Albie doesn’t like Ikuta Toma, so we can’t watch it. Nakamaru has turned into a hunk overnight since I saw his abs on a magazine spread. I literally said, “Hellooooo, Nakamaru!”

Regarding wedding planning (Yes, this is the order of priority):

• Parking in San Francisco blows. $50 for “discounted” valet parking? That’s per car. Might as well rent a coach to haul everyone to the venue. I don’t really feel like shelling out $2000 just for parking (and by “I,” I mean Albie, thank you Sugar Daddy).

• I’ve contacted almost every venue with free/cheap parking. So potential guests, thank me now and thank me later.

Chinese New Year came and went. Here’s a photo of the circle of trust. Missing is the newest addition: Bahamas, a Miniature Schnauzer and Jack Russell Terrier mix. She’s cute, wagging tail and all.

I think Albie’s the tallest out of the Three Stooges. And I’m the shortest of the other Three Stooges. I don’t remember being that much shorter than he…

To cap off this big rant:

Albie and I went shopping a while back, and he asked my opinion on an outfit on a boy mannequin. I said, “I don’t think the outfit would look good on you. It looks kinda dorky, unless if the guy is really really hott.” Poor Albie’s ego deflated, and asked, “Like who?” I immediately answered, “Kame!” And he asked, “Then which JE would I be?” I said, “Hmm…You’re like…Nakamaru!” Dorky, cute, but oh so lovable – that Nakamaru Albie of mine! especially now that he looks even more like Hisanobu with his new spiffy glasses!! <3

Current Mood:  relaxed

I can’t believe I turned 28. I’m too immature and irresponsible to be 28. 28-year-olds should be trophy wives sipping and serving cosmos to fellow trophy wives, or yuppies with rising careers wearing designer goods driving expensive cars. Me? Well, let’s just say the paint on the hood of my 1999 Corolla is chipping off. And I never got around to building my alcohol tolerance.

Nonetheless, my birthday was spent lazily and leisurely with Albie. We walked along Geary to a couple rental/photography places. I even tried on a couple of dresses. The conclusion is, I need to lose weight. A lot of it. I have 9 months to get fit. Anyways, it was nice just strolling around the city in sunny weather. He bought me this beautiful flower arrangment! (Dammit, I forgot to get the camera again, I wanted to snap photos…) It’s been a while since I received flowers. I’m not big on them, because…why spend money on something you can’t eat? ;) But, once in a while it’s nice. The arrangement really was beautiful. And the flowers smell heavenly.

For my birthday, I requested new glasses. For both of us. So now Albie is one big step closer to fobby Azn geekiness. His Belgian coworker laughed at him when they returned to work after shutdown. Poor Albie. At first I wanted to go back to plastic frames. Then i realized the pair I wore before had nosepieces that propped the glasses up. These new ones sans nosepieces either kept sliding off my nose or were so up close to my eyes eyelashes were brushing against the lense. Good thing LensCrafters have that 30-day guarantee. So I exchanged for these eggplant purple metal frames. They’re nice. I like them. Nosepieces – they’re a good thing.

I’ve been under the weather lately. Like today, I had very bad nasal congestion. As if a very heavy paperweight was placed on the bridge of my nose. And my senses were dampened. Like I couldn’t stop scratching an itch that needed relief because I couldn’t completely savor the much needed abrasion. But Albie’s good at scratching. ;)

A couple of things I’ve noticed lately:

1. My chopstick skills have plummeted.  Even though I’ve eaten Chinese at least one meal every day since moving back home.
2. I have a hard time remembering people’s names. Like, when I was emailing on Christmas Day, I couldn’t remember the names to a lot of my friend’s SO’s. Note to self: Must ask Hana what Yama’s real last and first names are.
3. My intellectuality (if I had any to begin with) has also gone down. We were at Petco yesterday, looking at birds. I said to him, “If we had a finch, I’d name him,” and I hesitated for a second just to think of the name because I couldn’t quite grasp it, “Abacus.” And right after I said it, in my mind I slapped myself in the face. He said, “You mean Atticus?!?!?!” FUCK. I’m an eediot. I knew it was Atticus. But now the damage is done. If we own a finch, we’ll just have to name it Abacus. And two seconds later, that was what Albie suggested. Then tonight, I mentioned how tiring it is to pretend to be social and enjoy people’s company when my entire family is antisocial. Here’s the IM conversation:

[09:56:14 PM] albeesgirl19: and she’s cranky because faking to be social is tiring work
[09:56:16 PM] albeesgirl19: i agree
[09:56:30 PM] DRather19: it is
[09:56:33 PM] DRather19: it’s better just to hate everyone
[09:56:36 PM] DRather19: except for the circle of trust
[09:56:44 PM] albeesgirl19: and aunt is definitely not in the circle of trust
[09:56:50 PM] DRather19: hehe
[09:56:55 PM] albeesgirl19: there is no penn diagram
[09:56:59 PM] DRather19: venn?
[09:57:03 PM] DRather19: …
[09:57:08 PM] albeesgirl19: because the circles would never overlap
[09:57:19 PM] albeesgirl19: i am THORWING a lot fo domyoji’s this weekend, aren’t i?
[09:57:54 PM] DRather19: you’re my little abacus
[09:58:06 PM] albeesgirl19: so secretly i’m hoping that new years dinner would be split into 2 tables
[09:58:28 PM] albeesgirl19: because the circle of trust of 8 will be a closed circle

Yes, I am officially an eediot.

I’ve completely thrown myself into the fandom that is Johnny’s Entertainment. Turning 28 just further accentuates how old I am for fangirling over boy bands. At least Oh-chan is older than I am. By 1-1/2 months. Yay! And this winter’s drama season is going to good. So many series with people I like!

Sorry this entry is so choppy.

Watching the Arashi interview/performances on Shonen Club Premium right now. Best “Kaze no Mukou e” performance to date. “truth” makes me realize how hot red and black outfits can be. AND Aiba-chan did the kick this time! Love those long, long legs of his.

Current Mood:  pensive

Albert and I have been watching “Ryusei no Kizuna” aka “Meteor Bond” that was shown on Japan’s TBS. I was patiently waiting for the softsubs, while Albert, as always, read the spoiler for the finale that broadcast on Friday. I knew there was going to be a major plot twist. I immediately knew Albert was reading the spoilers after hearing him gasp in disbelief. So when we finally watched the last episode, I was on high alert. When I saw the umbrella, I knew immediately who the culprit was. It wasn’t hard at all…I was kinda disappointed how easy I figured it out. Oh well, it was still a pretty good drama. Nino and Ryo were super hott! They, along with Toda Erika and Kaname Jun, wore really nice outfits. :)

There’s a character in the drama, Takayama Hisanobu (played by Kiritani Kenta), who’s obsessed with Toda Erika’s character. He has these long, sideswept bangs. Albert got a haircut before he left for Korea. His hairstylist molded his hair that looked like a short version of Hisanobu’s bangs. Unfortunately, I didn’t snap a photo (dammit). But here’s a recent photo of Albie and screencaps of Hisanobu-san. I call him by that name now. ;)

(RnK screencaps by yanie02 at ryuseinokizuna on this post)

Overall I enjoyed the drama a lot. There were some fun scenes, like Erika cosplaying a shojo manga character and Ryo pretending to be an Azn. There were some really cheesy scenes that made me cringe. But without them it wouldn’t be a Japanese dorama. My least favorite part is actually the last episode.� I thought the ending was rushed; it felt like it was quickly slapped together. The murder scene was somewhat unreasonable – why use a knife? and how did the wife get killed also? Another annoying thing was Sagi. I love Nakashima Mika and “ORION,” but…Sagi did nothing for the drama. I think having her� in the drama was a marketing ploy to boost ratings, which I thought was guaranteed to be high when you have two Johnny’s covering three fandoms.

In other news, we finally watched “WALL-E” on Saturday on Blu-Ray. MO was so adorable! It’s a cute movie. Watch it if you haven’t!

Christmas is just around the corner. Stay warm, everyone!

Current Mood:  amused