aide: (Default)
Okay, I really like this song now. It's going to be fun to sing at karaoke. :D

I love the video. It's nice to see them branching out and doing something different for a change. My Girl was nice too, with the story incorporated into the video, rather than an abstract setting and them just standing/sitting around doing nothing interspersed with singing close-up shots. I'm a slut for stop animation and orchestra interludes. It makes me want to make my own stop animation video. Maybe I'll try something tomorrow at Anna's. ...I really just want to immitate their goofy poses, that's all.

I'm definitely going to start taking my camera with me all over and properly documenting Japan. I feel like I take living here for granted and haven't really recorded the experience. I wish I had a lot more pictures of Vancouver. That's why I was such a shutterbug in Singapore. I might invest in a second/bigger card for my camera so I can take more videos, especially when Lydia is here. :3
aide: (Default)
I need to write this otherwise I never will, well more than my existential post talking about feelings and crap. Alex and Jenny have already written theirs and there are other reports floating... I don't even know what I'm going to write but I feel like I should recap the experience for my own memorial purposes. Now that there are paparazzi pictures out, I am feeling refreshed.

So, let's start at the start.

Omg so tl;dr it's not even funny. )

On Sunday I lead everyone on a tour of Tokyo, we walked through Nihonbashi and Ginza, went for a little ride on the Yurikamome, stalked around NTV, visited a temple and enjoyed the Tokyo Tower-ed skyline. I'm sorry Jenny that we couldn't go up. :( Or make it to Keio. I didn't think it would be that busy and we made some detours to the agenda. You'll just have to come back another time. Maybe by then, the new Sky Tree will be finished.
aide: (Default)
I would have posted sooner but I was so tired yesterday and LJ is being a bitch this morning.

This was it. There was so much to love and I had such a good time. The production quality was amazing, the VTRs on the big screens, our seats, the stage, the energy, the company: it was all perfect. There were so many good things that I can't just choose one or two as favourites and of course, now my memory of it are starting to blur a bit from being overwhelmed and excited and just plain exhausted.

There were no low points, no things I wish they had done better, no heinous costume accidents, no gross vocal mishaps. And even though I know logically that they are a little older than I am, but I don't feel like they are sometimes when I see them making complete asses off themselves on TV but last night, I really saw them as adults, as people my own age. I really feel like they have grown up a lot this year and that was definitely a recurring theme last night.

And I admit, I did get misty towards the end of 5x10. I didn't think I would cry at all. But (and now this is going to sound really sappy) if I didn't have Arashi, my time in Japan would have been drastically different, I'm sure. I was feeling kind of emotional at the end of the last encore. The lyrics of My Girl really hit me, about spending a season together but now it's over.

They weren't by any means perfect either: flubbed lyrics, missed lyrics, improvised lyrics, trips on the stage, jolts on the carts, trains of thought going too fast to keep up with mouths. Solid evidence in front of my face that they are human too.

Wow, this came out really existential and I didn't really mean for it to, but there you go. I can't fangirl about this with keymashing and babbling about how so-and-so was so hot (though at the time, I did, and if in my wettest, wildest dreams, if the 5 of them ever wanted to have an orgy with me, OH HELL YES) because I respect them too much. It seems like a very Japanese thing to me to be so thankful for ten long years; I can't think of the same thing happening with any artist/group in the English music scene.

Ah, it was just. Just.

And I'm pretty sure that they saw my flag because it was kind of hard not to. If this the 5x10 tour gets put out on DVD, and I don't see why it wouldn't, I'll be watching for it in the audience.

Now, if only my body would right itself, that would be great.
aide: (Default)
Are singing someone else's songs. They're doing part of some hit medley by some other guy (I missed the name but that song sounded familiar) and looking super hot. :D

Jun has some kind of... dirty thing with his hair going on that is really hot. But they went over board on the gel with Sho's. Everyone looks good in their grey jackets but I still prefer the black blazers & jeans.

And they sound really good. I can't say the same thing for Smap, Girl Next Door or Big Bang. :X
aide: (Default)
Watching the Making of My Girl and Ohno's explaining where all the parts of Mom's face come from.

Ohno: In this picture of mom, out of the parts of her face, which one is mine? The eyebrows, the eyes, the nose, the lips? The inkaku?
Camera guy: Uh... the eyes?
Ohno: Boo. The answer is the eyebrows. The mouth is Nino's, the nose is Aiba-chan's, the eyes are Sho-chan's and the inkaku is Matsumoto-san's.

I'm watching and thinking, wtf is inkaku, so I go to my trusty Goo Dictionary and type in いんかく and this is what pops up:

いんかく 陰核

the clitoris.

I'm pretty sure that's not the part Jun contributed to Mom's photo. But hot damn, I haven't laughed that hard in a long time.

PS. He actually says rinkaku, the outline/profile of her face.

PPS. I love that Sho says something that gets beeped out. Japanese doesn't even have swear words as far as I'm concerned. But you can't say "big dump" on TV (脱糞, dappun). Go figure.

PPPS. AIBA HAS A GAY SILVER PURSE.
aide: (Default)
I know the boys in Arashi are not musicians, with the exception of Nino and Sho perhaps. As far as I know, none of them have pursued an instrument seriously. Nino can play the guitar but I wouldn't say he's serious about it. I'm fairly confident he taught himself, which there's nothing with that, my brother did and actually so did most of the guitarists I know. Doesn't lessen their skills any but when I think of Nino, that's not what comes to mind. Just, "Oh, he can play guitar." And Sho took piano lessons as a kid but probably stopped at grade 5 or 6 (in the conservatory) maybe? I don't even know, I'm just speculating.

I find it harder to be impressed by people on the guitar than on the piano or the violin. Like my friend Ariel on the violin: she used to play in an orchestra and has been studying violin since she was a kid. I wish I had some video of her playing; it's amazing.

Anyway, my point is that they aren't musicians, they're not singers, they're idols. But tonight, it was the first time I saw them as proper singers. It was the first time I ever heard them harmonize and after ten years, they should be able to do that easily, if not after one. And it was good!

Anyway, as bland and unremarkable as My Girl is, it's growing on me.

I switched to Google Chrome; so far so good but I'm going to have to get my paid account back to get rid of these fugly ads, especially if I'm going to have US politicians stare at me as I write my blog entries.

And now they're doing some kind of Q&A special tonight with Arashi and EXILE. I wonder if I'll learn anything interesting.

And Jun's hair is :/. But what's new? Srsly, just slick it back and rock the Showa style. It would be so much better.
aide: (Default)
Here's the cross-talk from the FC bulletin this month. I'm going to do last month's one next.

Family Club Bulletin #45: Late Summer Issue

The ARS Times: volume.02
Today’s Arashi Free Talk about…

Read more... )

PS: Yuckie-chan has scanned this so if you want to see what it looks like, look for it on her community (if you're a member).

Sho's hair

Jul. 3rd, 2009 08:03 pm
aide: (Default)
The more I see it, the more I don't mind it.  I figured out what it is: it makes his face/head look bigger when it's short.  It's styled nicely for MSute tonight.  But Nino's is like a throw back to the monstrosity that was the Step & Go era.  And his jacket looks like a bad leisure suit . :/ 

The first time I remember to watch Music Station in a while and I am rewarded. :D  Oooh choreography!
aide: (Default)
I got the official announcement email from Johnny's web today. I haven't even looked at the comms but this is more for my information than anyone else's. Apologies to anyone for reading this for the sixty-second time.

Cut to save your flist! )

Well, the fact of the matter is I can't afford to go to the stadium show. If tickets were only 5,000 yen, like they were last time, maybe. But 7,000 is a lot and I'm going to Singapore. I would love to go to Tokyo Dome. It's close to home and I sure that it would just be fantastic show. Lydia will also probably be here! I wouldn't mind go to Nagoya. I've been there once, I know my way arond and what's the best way to get there and back. Tokyo is the most balloted venue, I think so I think there's a better shot at winning Nagoya, but it's the last venue. And the last shows are always the best.

I've got til the end of July to figure this out. I think I have more friends who want to go than tickets available. And I wouldn't want people to make plans to come all the way here from overseas especially for the concert and then have no tickets.

Now that it's official, I really want to go!
aide: (Default)
I think I've figured out why I don't get Arashi news first (like you think I would, living in Japan)--I don't stalk 2ch or read any of the newspapers. But that's what LJ is for.

I love best-of albums. This one, I will pay money for. I wonder what kind of extra goodies they will include. The last few releases have come with a DVD. Maybe some kind of mini-documentary? And a concert~ I'm not surprised? Well, after the rumors before, it was bound to happen. Rumors don't just start from nowhere. And it's pretty much the same as was reported before. I'd love to stay in Tokyo for a show, rather than have to travel somewhere. But I can't afford a concert in August with Singapore in the mix. Maybe Tokyo Dome? Yvonne won't be in Nagoya anymore for me to crash but if I had a friend or two (or three) to travel with, that would be fun too. We could find somewhere to crash or just take a bus back to Tokyo afterwards. Since I've been to a show in Nagoya already, I know we could make it on time for the bus back. And it's the last show and if all my years in theatre are anything to go by, the last show is always the best. :) We'll see what happens with ballots.

Is it too early to ask who wants to go with me? LOL Never to soon to start planning, I guess. If the first show is in August, then balloting should be starting soon. It's only 2 months away. I'll probably get the FC announcement in the mail in the next few days. Come on, Johnny. I'm overdue to win something!

Long day of grade 6 today. At least they are an energetic bunch for the most part. Some maybe too energetic... At least the day will go fast. And then I have to go pay all my bills. Good-bye, 80,000 yen.
aide: (Default)
Because I was curious.

The Johnny's Family Club for Arashi has approximately 440,000 members. Or at least that's how many memberships have been issued--it's anyone's guess if the person with membership number 00000001 (Johnny-san?) is still active. Like every other institution in Japan, your membership number is your position in the chronology of things, you joined after X people. That's probably why they had to add the two 0's on to the front of the numbers--just in case they got into the millions.

I went to the Globe theatre website and counted the seats on the seating chart. There are 700 seats. So that's 700 people to make a full house. There are 34 performances of Nino's butai. Which means that an audience of 23,800 people will get to see it.

Let's assume that every single number issued for the fanclub belongs to an active member. And let's say the members have even numbers of fans, so that's about 88,000 people per member of Arashi. If all the people designated "Nino fans" in the FC applied for tickets, given that every seat in the house would go to the fanclub, only 27% could win. Out of the entire fanclub, only about 5%.

But the entire house won't be fanclub -- there will be some seats reserved for VIP and special guests. The lottery was also only for the S section, which I assume to be the first floor. This cuts down the number of available seats to 450 (x 34 performances = 15,300 seats), and the chances of scoring a ticket are even slimmer. Out of the entire fanclub, 3.4% of people could have won. The other two sections, the 2nd and 3rd tier, only old 150 and 100 seats respectively so the tickets for those will be snapped up like nothing else when the Playguide goes live.

What odds we face as members of the fanclub... it almost seems easier (or at least more likely) to score tickets in an auction or from a scalper. To those of you gunning for Playguide and what have you, I wish you the best of luck.

Baa-baa.

May. 5th, 2009 02:13 pm
aide: (Default)
So, everyone's been getting these things and I am nothing if not a sheep. I think I've said that before. *coughbabyficcough* Anyway, we'll see how this goes. I'm just going to have to get used to the new commands and stuff. I'm still making things pretty. Everyone is going to be confused because I changed my name. Now that I've done it, I don't know if I like it. It's (also) a regular English word now instead of something with a shitton of vowels. Whatever.

[personal profile] aide @ dreamwidth.org

Maybe I should take the iniative to make an Arashi fic community before someone else does it and does it wrong. It's something to think about. But there isn't quite the numbers to support it yet. It would be nice to be able to snag Kotobayori for it before anyone else. It would be nice to have something that works already set up when things really start hopping around here.

Ahhh Elle just went home an hour or so ago. It was a nice visit. I think this has been the most cooking I've done in ages. I made daikon stew, carbonara, bruschetta, mushi-pan... I was a regular housewife. On Sunday we went to Asakusa to be a little bit toursity and meet up with Andrew so he could take my speakers to Hawaii. Then we met [personal profile] aeslis and had good fangirl times. I did end up getting buyers guilt after spending ¥4,000 on doujinshi. All the small sized things I got weren't really doujinshi at all. Elle's samurai series was good but very much unfinished. We don't know if there is any other volumes out there, but the last one was written in 2006 so... In any case, we spent 2 hours today hashing out the story from what I garnered from my rough translations and making up an ending. Which means another epic samurai fic coming your way in the maybe-not-so-distant future. It was a huge pain to read... the author was obviously going for a kind of historical feeling by using kanji for everything but it makes it fucking hard to read. Who actually knows what the kanji for なぜ and ここ is anyway? Well, I do now.

What's the rest of the plan for Golden Week? Well, I'm not meeting Sho tomorrow for karaoke after all since he injured himself in a soccer game on the weekend. Andrew and Blake are in Hawaii, Justin probably has tons of dates and I don't know if Ariel even has time off from work. I think I'll just stay in and play Animal Farm Crossing and try and write some of these prompts I got from people.

NEWSFLASH

Apr. 27th, 2009 08:39 pm
aide: (成 → Grr!)
Ohno Dai Sempai took Shige fishing. :DDD 

That just made my night.

I loved all the fangirls who know the fucking dance to 恋のABO already.  That's a whole new level of pathetic I haven't even seen in Arashi fans.  I bet some of the girls at school know it already.  I love the shoutout to Johnny-san with the intro.  

YOU達!


aide: (大野 ・相葉 → Bitch slapped)
I want to write.  Prompt me.  I will make a pouty post on my comm.  I went to see if anyone wrote anything for the Anonymeme and I found this: Sho/Shige math!sex.  The nerd in me is regailing even though Math was my worst subject by far

I watched the Utaban performance last night.  I really hate how they do filmings and then chop the shit out of them for broadcast.  But Nino's dumbstruck face was priceless.  Holy shit, they need a new choreographer.  I've seen those moves before.  Ohno looked bored and underchallenged as usual and Nino looked like he was doing the Chicken Dance on speed.

Today was another full day.  I'm kind of glad my first class got cancelled but that still meant I had 4.  I come back down from 3rd to change my textbooks and Kameyama-san is waiting for me in the hallway.  "You can speak Chinese, can't you?" she asks me and when I say yes, takes me into the principal's office.  There's a boy and his mom and sister there who is transferring in to our school from China and they want me to talk to him.  They don't really need me there since the mom and sister speak (enough) Japanese but I guess maybe they wanted someone who can speak to them in their own language?  I don't know.  But oh my god, I've forgotten everything.  I couldn't even remember the word "when".  Fuck.  He's 3rd year age, but can't speak, write, read or understand Japanese.  At all.  And they want him to be able to go to high school next year...  I wonder what's going to happen... he said he could speak a bit of English but he's not good (haha as if Japanese kids are good, and especially not our 3rd years this year).  They want him to just communicate anyway he can.  I hope he can make some friends.  This kid Kobayashi's mom is Chinese apparently and there are a couple Mongolian kids but I don't think that's going to help at all.  

He's starting on Thursday and the year just started so he'll have the whole year to get up to speed.  I think he should be fine.  I recommended going to check out the Kashiwa Interantional Relations Association because they've got free Japanese classes for foreigners.  Look how far I've come in a year without any particular studying.  If he studies and is surrounded by it constantly, he should be able to become at least conversational by year end.  He won't have a huge problem with kanji and reading comprehension but it's still worrying.  I just feel really bad that I can't speak Chinese anymore so I'm no help to him.  Well, if he writes it down I can read it and look it up and I will study a bit.  I should let the teachers know to tell him if he needs something... he can ask me.  Even though I won't be able to do much.  Kyoto-sensei contacted the BOE today and asked them to send a helper/tutor who speaks Chinese to help him catch up a few days a week. 

Not again.

Apr. 6th, 2009 11:44 pm
aide: (大野 → Bow down to the King)
Just went to check the Shukudai-kun site to see what time broadcast is tonight and they posted this message. Again:

『宿題くん』の企画と称し、メール送信を呼びかけるイタズラが発生しているようですが、当番組ではそのような企画は一切行っておりません。多くの方のご迷惑となりますので、決して他の方にメールを送信しないようお願い致します。

"Any mail saying they are a project from "Shukudai-kun" were sent as a prank, there is no such project being run by this show.  As this has inconvenienced many poeple, please do not send this mail to other people."

Around the same time last year there was an email floating around that was supposedly from Jun and they were doing an experiment on Shukudai-kun about how many times an email would go around the world or something.  I guess someone started another one.  It amazes me how freaking guilable people can be sometimes. 

Door to Door was good.  Heart-warming in the end but I cried lots as I thought I would.  Nino did a really great job on this; he should be proud of it.  I wonder what his next challenge will be.  I'm still rooting for a more adult, romantic role.  But I doubt that won't ever happen.

On a completely yet not so totally unrelated note: I am one degree of seperation from Shingo Mama.  My new friend Anna teaches him English at ECC.  She tells him he needs to shave because he'd look better but he says he won't because he's lazy. XD  I'm also one degree away from Tanimura Nana; she's friends with Blake (or at least wants to sleep with him--which isn't going to happen anytime soon).  Oh, small world.  When am I going to meet my celebrity?

I think I am getting seasonal allergies.  I'm sneezy and my eyes are itchy.  Of course I can't find my eye drops when I want them. :/

JUN GOT TANNED.  HE LOOKS SO GOOD.  And could maybe pass as a halfy.  Although, according to the synops, his char's dad was Filipino and his mom was Japanese... so why does his character have a Japanese last name?  Sho did something to his hair and he got thinner.  And paler?  If that is even possible.  Maybe he just looks super white cuz he's sitting beside Ohno.  Who's obviously been fishing lately. XD

Boo

Apr. 1st, 2009 08:39 pm
aide: (大野 ・松潤 → Boylove)
No AAA DVD for me.  Yet.  Went to Tower and Shinseido and neither had any on the shelves.  Whatever.  I'll wait a couple weeks (ie after pay day) and go back.  I'll check Tsutaya's delivery and payment policy; I know Tower charges extra for COD.  What's a couple weeks anyway?  

Thunder is rollin' tonight!  I'm excited for the storm.  Except that means all the sakura will probably die. :(  And lightning!

Rented some movies for the night.  Am in the middle of cooking nikujaga and a new kind of fish to try.  It'll be like 930 by the time my dinner is cooked though.  Boo.

Maybe I'll work on the fic I started before Korea.  Or maybe write Arashi traveling together since the experience is still fresh in my mind.  If they weren't famous, that is.  
aide: (翔 → WTF)
Slept for 12 hours again last night.  I think I should feel more refreshed after that much sleep.  It's raining today so no laundry.  I'll have to do it tomorrow and hang it up before I leave.  Today I really should clean.  The bathrom needs it and the floors need it desperately.  And the dishes and kitchen.  Ugh.  I'm only one person!  How does this place get so dirty.  I guess I haven't given it a good clean since Kohei came over and that was... the beginning of last month. 

I watched Jun and Gakki on their Ousama Brunch interview.  I am very attracted to him there.  He looks... normal.  And kind of flirty with his co-star.  Damn she is young!  And at this point in the calendar, he's only one year older than I am. XD  Anyway, I don't really know what to expect from this drama but I am interested to see how Jun plays a halfy.  He needs to get a tan if he's supposed to be half Filipino, I think.  Although, Justin isn't that dark.  Only in the summer when he goes out in the sun lots.  

Andrew sent me this link this morning.  He's trying to say I'm cranky. ):  You would be too if you had to clean and woke up to rain and hadn't had coffee yet.  I'm going to play some Animal Crossing and check the mail.

Contacts arrived!

Edit:  Fuck I have totally lost all sense of time since school's been over.  I missed Jikken & Shukudai-kun SP last night.  Bah.
aide: (ニノ → Woe!)
Today went by a little too fast. I wanted to take a picture with Otsuka-san because she's a sweetheart and is retiring but I was too caught up in organizing my shit and cleaning out my desk. I wrote her a letter thanking her for taking care of me (I'm so Japanese) and gave her one of the mushi-pan I made last night. They taste better on the second day.

Andrew's been a busy bunny, organizing and co-ordinating our trip. We're going to take a tour to the demilitarized zone on the border of North Korea. Ben wants to go to the gay clubs (because he doesn't do anything else). We'll do a couple palaces and of course, shopping! We're going to meet up on Wednesday night to make an itinerary.

I decided to read [livejournal.com profile] je_secrets for kicks. I'm bad, I hotlink.

God, this is so true. )

That's enough. I kind of want to nap now. It's only 6pm. What am I going to make for dinner?

Revelation

Mar. 9th, 2009 08:26 pm
aide: (大野 → Pouty)
I don't think I like Sho's Believe rap. Everytime I hear the song (which I love! don't get me wrong) I just feel like he's shouting his rap. It doesn't go with the beat or the melody and just sounds all chaotic. It's not one of the better ones, that's for sure. Though, being the artist and professional he is, maybe that was his intent. I might like it more when I look at the lyric sheet. Maybe.

I ran today! It was not painful at all. It was nice and easy, a slow start to get me back into it. I'll run again on Wednesday and Friday and hopefully make that routine stick.

Tonight's line up: finishing Uta Oni 6, Rescue 4, and the finale of America's Best Dance Crew! I wonder if I rip that somehow...

:DDD

Mar. 3rd, 2009 05:46 pm
aide: (翔 → >:D)
Calendar just arrived!  I love that the Kuroneko despatch place is one block away.  Literally, he showed up 1 minute after I called.  I'm going to bask in the lovely now!

The pictures are pretty.  I liked last year's shoot better.  It seemed more... fun?  More silly faces and stuff.  Mostly in the cookbook but still.  And there was an interview.  Maybe that was because Kodansha had been doing the JE calendars foreverand this year they went with someone knew after the whole Ohno bonzanza this past summer who hadn't done them before so just started small?  I don't know.  The large calendar is total win.  I don't like the photography though.  Good from afar only; everything is out of focus.  Nino's shot is a little creepy. 

But one thing can be said: the binding doesn't suck!  Maybe they spent more on production costs and forwent (forgoed?) the interview.

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