After a while you get fiction overdose and your brains are screaming for NON-FICTIONNNN! Which is what I'm doing. I just realised that I haven't touched a truly fictionnny book in a while. At least a new fictionny book.

Because all I've been reading have been stuff on Kabuki (then again it's a book on the plays, which are semi-fiction but I digress). Stuff on Japan's pop culture and it's more erm cultural aspects, a gaijin's tour of the neon sun, random sf books (ok there we go, fiction did pop up afterall) and watching dvds.

So, non-fiction ist gutt. There's only so much Crime & Punishment you can take afterall. (trust me, I still haven't worked up the guts to plough beyond the first chapter)

Thereby proving that I'm no snobby wobby when it comes to enjoyment, Orange Range's イケナイ太陽 is a superbly funnnnnn song because it's the OPENING SONG for HANAKIMI~* And who can ever forget Nakatsu's Homo ja NAIIIIIII! :):):):)

Labels: etc

ARGH (@)!*#)@($%*()@$*)(@$

I am supposed to have a test tomorrow, a spelling test no less, and I still haven't studied. Annoying past habits still have not changed.

Good thing is that if things are approved it might be a prolonged stint. Okay now I better mug like hell for this semester or else.... (suspenseful pause) And if things really do surprise then maybe it will be for FOREVER!!!!!! *throws confetti* Okay kidding about that.

And I resisted buying 10000000008902389045820358923 cds today. Because they are so expensive sigh sigh! I am rather saddened by the cut throat pricing sigh sigh sigh. Ohwell! Anyway I am glad that four modules are settled!

Labels: etc, japanese class, school

No wonder, I was wondering why ヒカル was in katakana. Yay I think learning a new language is beautiful~* and it really enriches you, because you get to understand a new culture on a deeper level.
And I finished Bambino, that show that I got hooked on while I was in Japan :) It's actually very motivating, and Italian food was phwoar :) plus Jun's character had a great never-say-die attitude that I found very inspiring!

On a random note, I was totally blown away by Tommy Emmanuel's concert on Saturday. He was amazing, and his fingerstyle...I now understand what Erwin means when he gushes about how G3 goes back in time. Because Tommy Emmanuel is totally worth the whole worshipfulness and drool on the floor stuff. Serious, he's such a great guitarist. And he gave a wonderful show-- I was so blown away by his innovative technique involving the use of the guitar body to mimic the sound of scraping ie sand, esp for his Masai Tribe and the Aborigine pieces. That was a stroke of genius.

The Aborigine piece was so mind-blowing. I was really caught by how it felt like he was mimicking the whole jungle---that was some innovative use of the amplifiers. :) I respect him so much, and he's so humble, I gush, oh yes I gush.

Plus I got his autograph and a photo. He was so nice and warm, and he had the kindest eyes ever. Honestly, I felt so humbled in front of him. AMAZING! I really feel that this concert was worth every cent, and it was SOLD-OUT. Whoo! I love it!

Labels: bambino, etc, guitar, humbling, japanese dramas, matsumoto jun, music, tommy emmanuel, utada hikaru

Nightwatch is really up there, like Sandman, The Dark Knight Returns...etc. Unfortunately I'm not like the bros, and I only read the big names. (I'm lousy I know!) I think it's really the internet. If I count the amount of time I wasted (yes wasted) on the 'net, I probably could have time to finish all the Sandman Companion books (yes the official and unofficial ones), the whole X Men Series from its inception to the current ___ edition, and everything from Marvel & DC.

It's pretty interesting observing (albeit superficially,) the characters from DC and Marvel. I gotta admit that Gaiman's getting me into the whole comics fest. Though, I spent a fair amount of time on manga, rather than comics. Jeez, I rather ruefully recall the first comic I read...I'm not going to say what it is because it's shoujo ACK! Then I got addicted to the shonen ones and my world CHANGED. るろうに剣心 is still one of my all time favourites! I mean, it's gotta to be darn good for me to still want to read it 7 years on....! Even the bro liked it! Ha and well at the very least, manga helped me learn my 繁体字! :D

LOL those were the good ol' days, but reading the Sandman Companion serves to affirm that I won't grow out of comics or manga, for sure.

I have chucked one of my notebooks somewhere. My room has its own weirdness probably from me.

I think that's such a useful skill to know!

And mah family rocks I tell you! I have the bestest family! Although a dog would make it complete~*

How man I just have so much to do I don't ever want to stop being in _now_.

Now is just about right. Couldn't time stop just for a while? I think it's the effect of Summer.　夏!!!! :) hahahaha I'm thinking of L'arc's 夏の憂鬱 song although I'm feelin' far from it! Still, it's such a song to bring back memories of L'arc. I love L'arc and what their name represents! Glad that they're cleaner nowadays, I'm rather far from the Visual Kei days of yore.

Argh I can't believe I'm actually liking We Can Make it!. AH well. HAPPY SUMMER MUSIC CHU~*!

Ha, I realise I do so appreciate the Redemption storylines.

Oh and Veni, Vedi, Vetinari never fails to crack me up.

Labels: arashi-嵐, comics, etc, family, gaiman, l'arc, terry pratchett, time, 夏夏夏

I am now (tentatively, subject to approval and my erhem subsequent semester's results) going to be (hopefully) $3, 000 richer.

Well that's like a typical 4x one's monthly pay, so getting a windfall in one night just confirms the fact that money is not easy to earn.

To sum up life so far:

• Orchard Library (Has a very good pratchett section, 3 rows can you imagine I was in heaven heh heh heh)

• Calls ( I think I'm sure a demure pest to these people nowadays)

• Shoes ( I wish I can walk in slippers or sports shoes or birks all the time because finding a decent pair of shoes for my weirdly sized delicate feet is such an *urgggh uphill task)

• Mediacorp (damn cool place just helluva far to walk into, so you had better take a taxi if you're ever going to visit mediacorp, and that's why taxis are always waiting outside that place)

• Books (I am happily swimming in just about 12 of them with a few due soon help I have not returned them hurhur)

• Shopping (has been terrible so I shall not be buying clothes because the stuff they're putting out are utterly trashy. Ytd me and the worm tried to look at Mango and etc but I have no idea what sort of rubbish they are trying to pass off as clothes and worse still they aren't even cheap. And besides now is not the time to waste money because I need to save for more important stuff, like stationery hur.)

• Studying (Jap is uphill but I am not giving up I shall keep at it like how a dog will harass a piece of cloth hurhur)

• Life (some rather unusual happenings although I still think that it's rather hmf afterall it is a large amount but anyway we shall not discuss it)

• Promises (I am also learning to be a total lout when keeping certain promises because well you've never kept yours have you. Neways I'm tired of non-committal answers, if the answer is no I can't make it you should say so but yes, time to get more louty)

• Meetups (Sat meeting for the s31-ers at say..? Orchard? hahahaha it seems we always end up there; and the next week's one with the 6J people at timbre)

• Timbre (which makes me imagine of TIMBER! or so people shout when a falling piece of lumber comes your way)

• Quotes (Love it how McCloud describes the transition between different panels in a comic book as similar to a trapeze artist soaring from bar to bar, leaving the reader free to imagine and to imagine between panels, before being safely caught by the subsequent (and almost always ever-present) panel)

• Etc (fill in your impact on my life then)

Labels: etc, getting scholarships, things happening in my life

While I was mulling over taking a JS minor and thinking that I might spend the next few years shuttling between here and arts (which isn't that bad since it is walkable,)... It might be quite an interesting jaunt. Although I will have to take one language module (at the very least!) so I'll leave that to year 3 and beyond...? Marxy is good research for his social commentaries on Jap society in general (thanks for the link piiing), and well, the fact that it's written in english is such a boon considering how most articles that go beyond pop culture are usually written by their own Japanese. Plus it will be in Japanese, which I will be unable to understand, at least for another 10 years.

The Japanese are fascinating, well about as fascinating as fire. Nice from a distance but not too close. I recall what Pam said about their repressedness/suppressedness. My sentiments exactly especially after the Holiday. They're rather like the frozen lakes in winter. You're not quite sure of the turbulence that may be bubbling under that layer of ice/serenity.

I'm not that enamoured of the society (although my own society is far from being saint-like too). However, they seem to capture the world's attention, especially in the marketing/cinematic realm. It's interesting to note how many American cult-flicks/blockbusters were inspired by some sort of Japanisms
- The Matrix, those green squiggley words were katakana characters
- Blade Runner with its post-apocalyptic under-(or was is over-?) tones, set in a seedy Harajuku and the random Japanese Ramen lady with the quintessential Japanese mannerisms
- Even Star Wars was supposedly inspired by Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo (if my memory serves me well) and notice how Vader's helmet seems rather close to those of samurai's kabuto helmet.. Amidala looks like a new-age-stylised Geisha with her whiteness.
- Tarantino's Kill Bill with it's mish-mash of Asian culture and a Go Go Yubari thrown in for good measure.

*~*
I do worry if I will be reduced to a mere "miihaa" (ミーハー) type of person, which I quote from marxy,
the problem implied in "miihaa" has shifted from a general problematic interest in low culture to the callousness of being interested in a specific pop culture item solely because it is popular.
And I (ulp) recognise a disturbing trend. If you would ask me or any teenager about the reason behind our interest in certain things, our answers would probably go along the lines of 'because it's popular'.. midst all that bluster.
Applying that logic: So I could be interested in: ----
- Matsumoto Jun because he is popular
- L'arc because they are popular
- The latest (insert product) because it is popular....and for no real reason, although of course I (would like to, very muchly thank you) believe that I would be interested in things beyond just the mere popularity. Instead, I would truly appreciate the music bands were making, their dedication to the craft, and etc. In another words, a genuine appreciation of (insert product/band/etc) rather than a superficial it's-popular-so-therefore-I-like-it-too kind of reason.

Conversely, that could be also a reason why many of us try to pursue more 'indie' interests, perhaps to justify and to prove that we like an Act, for instance, due to their true skill and not some skilful marketing. (Of course, the eventual popularity would be coincidental, or a see-I-told-you-so kind of righteous pat on the back in recognition of one's good taste).

And to my horror, maybe my interest in the pop culture of Japan (as a whole) could be summed up with miihaa as well. Groan.

Labels: culture, etc, japanese, l'arc, matsujun, miihaa, movies, pop, subculture