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FC Pamphlet #46: Matsujun's 100Q

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:55:16 GMT

Today was Johnny's Mail Day at my house. My anniversary present came: it's smaller than I thought but so cute. Tickets also came!! We're on the 3rd baseline and pretty near the back of the dome, but we're halfway up the front block. It's going to be great!

The guy who killed that Nova teacher 2 years ago is on the news again. They are saying he's changed his look so many times which is why he hasn't been caught yet. He's had (or is going to have) surgery so that's making it hard. I wonder if that's the whole reason.

Anyway!

Family Club Bulletin #46: Anniversary Issue

Matsumoto Jun: 100 Questions & 100 Answers

Full name: I’m Matsumoto Jun.
Occupation: Mmm… what is it? I do everything.
Date of birth: 30 August, 1983
Height as of November 2009: I didn’t measure it exactly so I don’t know.
Weight as of November 2009: I didn’t measure it exactly so I don’t know.
Eyesight as of November 2009: I’m going to get my eyes tested ♪
Handedness as of November 2009: Probably right.
An ability you think it’d be good to have as of November 2009: The ability to communicate with various beings.
Please tell us your blood type with an adjective: A so-called nonchalant A-type.
Your birthplace and one thing you'd boast about that place: Tokyo. A long time ago, the place was Edo.
Please tell us three skills: I can twist my fingers in weird directions/I can remember detailed things/Arashi’s intro quiz
Please tell us two strong points of your personality: Meticulous/Excitable
Please tell us one weak point of your personality: Stubborn
What is the charm point of your outward appearance? Around my eyebrows~eyes
An unconscious habit? I touch my nose.
An unconsciously used phrase? “Something”
Something you can’t calm down without? Cellphone
What colour is your cell phone? A greenish-blue.
Your ideal time to get out of bed? 7
Your ideal time to go to sleep? 1
What’s the first thing you do when you wake up in the morning? Get out of bed.
What do you do before sleeping at night? Turn off the lights.
On a scale from 1 to 5, your ability to wake up is? It’s 1.
What’s your ideal way to spend a day off? Start drinking at lunch.
Average bath time? 30 mins I guess?
In my room, here is comfortable!: My desk
Please tell us your ideal breakfast: Rice, miso soup, grilled fish, natto. Midoriyama Studio’s morning set.
Do you have a specialty dish that you cook? Pasta (tomato sauce).
What moment you are most likely to laze around in a day? When I’m on the sofa watching TV.
If you have something you’re obsessed with, please tell us: Jigsaw puzzles
A treat that perks you up? Sushi!
Food that brings you down? Celery
What’ s a delicious food you've discovered as an adult? Kohada¹
What (clothing) style have you recently gotten into? The clothes I want to wear that day.
Do you have a fashion item you buy unconsciously? T-shirts and hats.
What makes you think, “Wow, my stress is gone~”? Drinking with my friends!
What's the thing you are weakest at in the whole world? Irrational things.
Please tell us your special skill: Volley shoot
What’s your small daily happiness? Being able to see beautiful scenery when it can be seen.
Something you keep in mind in your job: Sincerity
Something you’d like to try in your job: A ensemble cast all of the same generation
The greatest joy in your job: When I see people’s delighted faces and feelings.
Something you think is tough in your job: Nothing.
Something you think you’ve grown in: My way of thinking.
A skill you’d like to develop in your job: My way of living.
What’s your field of expertise? I don’t want to choose by myself.
What’s your area of weakness? I don’t want to choose by myself.
What is work to you? Work
What is Arashi to you? Arashi
I like this about Arashi!: It’s unchanging.
Sum up the charm of Aiba Masaki in one word: Energetic
Sum up the charm of Matsumoto Jun in one word: ?
Sum up the charm of Ninomiya Kazunari in one word: Opinion
Sum up the charm of Ohno Satoshi in one word: Gentleness²
Sum up the charm of Sakurai Sho in one word: Hard worker
Actually, this part of Arashi is weak!: We have a passion for curry.
When do you think, “I’m glad to be in Arashi?? During the casual times, I think. After a concert.
Until now, what kind of Arashi has it been? An Arashi supported by everyone.
From now on, what kind of Arashi are you aiming for? An Arashi that can enjoy everyone.
Something that’s made you happy recently: A jigsaw puzzle’s finished!
Something that was fun recently: I went to a sushi shop with my close friends.
Something that was upsetting recently: Michael Jackon passed away.
Something that’s been on your mind lately: Suddenly some stranger took my picture.
Something you’re wondering about now: Pro baseball
Do you have a jinx? No.
What’s your favourite word? Best wise (Keith Richard’s words)
Please tell us your favourite motto: Continuation is power.
What’s your creed: If you try, you will succeed.
What’s the source of your smile? Daily life.
What has someone said to you that made you happy? Thank you.
When have you thought, “This person is really great~”? When I see their charming parts.
There is this kind of privilege for being my friend!: I’ll lend you various DVDs.
There is this kind of privilege for being my girlfriend!: I’ll be by your side.
What’s your ideal male image? Ichiro³
What’s your ideal female image? Madonna
Please tell us one of your specialty date plans: I don’t have anything like that.
Something you want to try and give as a present to the person you like: I don’t have that either.
Words you’d like to try saying: You’re in love with me, aren’t you?⁴
A place you’d like to go once: Spain
Something you’d like to try once: Construction/architecture
One day, you suddenly turn into Aiba-kun! What do you want to try? A “Tensai! Shimura Dobutsuen” location shoot.
One day, you suddenly turn into Ninomiya-kun! What do you want to try? Games
One day, you suddenly turn into Ohno-kun! What do you want to try? Painting pictures.
One day, you suddenly turn into Sakurai-kun! What do you want to try? Writing raps.
What Arashi song exactly fits your mood right now? The song I feel like listening to now is “Love so sweet”
What Arashi single has left a deep impression? “Truth / Kaze no Mukou e”
What Arashi album has left a deep impression? “All the BEST! 1999-2009”
What Arashi concert tour has left a deep impression? I remember them all!
If there were 5 hours added to a day, what would you do? Watch movies and read books.
If you weren’t in Arashi, what kind of job would you have settled into? I think I’d probably be in this industry.
Please tell us your biggest past crisis: I was involved in a traffic accident (grade 2).
Please tell us how you get out of a pinch: Runaway!
Please tell us one of the Seven Wonders of Matsumoto Jun: My toes are long.
Please tell us one of the Seven Wonders of Arashi: No fights in ten years.
What’s the most necessary thing in your life? Something to believe in.
Please tell us the knack for enjoying life: Looking around yourself.
What’s the treasure only for you? All the people who are connected to me.
When do you think, “This is the greatest happiness!”? Whenever I complete something.
If you were to give a title to this life, what would it be? “Continuation” or “Believe”
What’s your greatest ambition in life? I have no ambitions.

Notes
¹ 「小肌」 A type of fish
² 「ユルさ」 Can also be translated as looseness, slowness, generosity
³ Professional baseball player Ichiro Suzuki, plays for the Seattle Mariners.
⁴ 「お前、オレに惚れてんだろう？」 The infamous airport scene from Hanadan?

Nino's 100Q / Aiba's 100Q

+ I've turned off emailing of comments, so my inbox doesn't get spammed.
++ If you want to translate this into another language, you don't have to ask. Just credit properly and send me a PM with the link when you're done.

Words of the Wise: Verbal

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 08:22:19 GMT

"For me fashion links directly to music," he says. "I even care what color underwear I wear. When I'm tired, people ask if I use vitamins and supplements and stuff, but I just wear red underwear to remind myself 'today I'm going to be hot!'"

Smart man. I need to invest in some great power underwear. The rest of the article is here. I think he is one of the artists I would most like to meet. Not only is m-flo amazing and I love Verbal's raps, but he's not even Japanese. People say that BoA was one of the first Korean artists to open the door in 2002 but people always forget that Verbal and m-flo have been rocking out since before 1999.

I want to see more groups like Monkey Majik and Def Tech here in Japan. More (visibly) foreign artists making music in Japanese. There's Jero doin' his Enka and that's great but he's also part Japanese. The only other non-Japanese artist I can think of now, Himeka, was tapped for her appeal to anime fans: not that she can't sing, but I don't really see her getting a big foothold in the Japanese market. And then there's this girl from Britian that I can't even find the words for. If only we could all get famous by posting videos of ourself jumping around our bedrooms. Wouldn't life be grand?

ARASHI ON NEPLEAGUE

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 10:06:25 GMT

This is like my dream come true. I had hoped for all 5 of them, but it's only Sho and Nino but still. I'M SO GIDDY. They had to do English Brain Tower for the first round and our boys got all their questions right. Arashi fandom is fairly good at ripping shows that the boys guest on, but if you see NepLeague from Oct 19th, let me know! :DDD

SO HAPPYYY. Nino says that Johnny's x quiz shows = grey zone, which is pretty ture. Unless it's their own show. OFF TO WATCH!

Friday!

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:49:45 GMT

This cold is trying to blow up but I'm doing my best to curb it... potions! I ate even though I wasn't hungry and I took a nap so that I can stay up for My Girl. ♥

I've got an email in the mail centre on my phone and the piece of crap is not downloading! I can't get any other mail while it's in there. I don't get why it's not working. :< I have full reception in my house, and I can't imagine anyone sending me something so huge... Hm.

Mariah is on Music Station. Damn! Girl got her boobs done again. Or maybe she's wearing a bra this time. She's put on a big of weight but it looks good! She just needs to stop wearing skin tight stuff. Girl needs to start dressing her age. Bitch is almost 40!

OH MY GOD. Kiss My Foot 2 or whatever they call themselves had the Johnny's costume department VOMIT ALL OVER THEM. (What ever happened to Kiss My Foot 1?) What's with the freaking YMCA indian headdress?! And there's a couple musketeers in there too. On roller skates. Holy christ. It's worse that any KAT-TUN outfit with cutting room floor scraps hot glued all over the place by a blind seamstress. Is this a new debut that I haven't heard of? Not that I could ever get into this group but I haven't heard anything. And I don't think juniors groups go on M.St... though I could be wrong. I think when all the JE groups out there now (Hey! Say! JUMP excluded) retire, I'll be done with Johnny's. But that won't be for years if they all last as long as SMAP.

The hardest working band in JE?

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:03:35 GMT

So, this is what I spent ~~my entire night~~ two nights doing: compiling all the regular activities done by each group as of right now. I was curious as to how many things Kimutaku actually advertises because I can't go anywhere or watch 5 minutes of TV without seeing his face. So here are all the TV shows, radio programs, commercial campaigns and magazine spots. It's kind of weird cuz I translated some titles but transliterated some others. Whatever. This doesn't include special magazine articles, features, dramas or appearances that are one-time things, only regular work. Otherwise, Arashi would have seriously killed me.

SMAP – est. 1988

TV Programs　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
SMAP: SMAPxSMAP
Katori Shingo: Waratte Ii Tomo (Mon/Sun), Ura Sma!! SmaSTATION
Nakai Masahiro: Waratte Ii Tomo (Tues/Sun), Utaban, The! World Shocking News, Nakai Masahiro’s Friday no Suma-tachi e, Nakai Masahiro’s Black Variety
Kusanagi Tsuyoshi: “Pu” Suma, Waratte Ii Tomo (Fri/Sun), Our Music (narration), Chonan Kan 2 < DO! Shinya
Inagaki Goro: Goro Presents My Fair Lady, Wasurebumi

Radio　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
SMAP: Ohayou! SMAP, STOP THE SMAP
Kimura Takuya: Kimura Takuya’s WHAT’S UP SMAP
Nakai Masahiro: Nakai Masahiro’s Some Girl’ Smap
Kusanagi Tsuyoshi/Katori Shingo: SMAP POWER SPLASH

CM　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
SMAP: Shiseido Tsubaki shampoo (music), Softbank Mobile
Nakai Masahiro: Nissin Donben noodles, House Ukon no Chikara energy drink, Meiji Almond Chocolate
Kimura Takuya: Fujitsu FMV, Toyota Carolla Filda, Gatsby Moving Rubber wax, Nikon Digital Cameras, Meiji Xylish gum, Nissin Cup Noodle, Secom, Samantha Thavasa handbags, Tama Home
Inagaki Goro: Meiji Galbo Chips, Nissin Menshokunin noodles, Seishu Ozeki sake
Kusanagi Tsuyoshi: Yamasa Konbu Ponzu sauce, P&G Ariel laundry detergent, Toyota Rentacar, Digital TV Broadcasting Corp.
Katori Shingo: Ajinomoto Pure Select Mayo, Ajinomoto Frozen Food series, Ajinomoto Healthy Salad, Dole Bananas, ECC Junior

Magazine　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
SMAP: TV Guide Weekly SMAPxSMAP News
Nakai Masahiro: TV LIFE “Nakai Masahiro’s Black Variety” serial
Kimura Takuya: Myojo KIMURA Open Area
Kusanagi Tsuyoshi: Monthly The Television Okiraku Daisuki!

TOKIO – est. 1990

TV Programs　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
TOKIO: 5LDK, The! Tetsuwan! DASH!!
Kokubun Taichi: Tainocchi, Guru Guru 99, Takeshi no Nippon no Mikata, Suporuto!, Taichi x Kentaro Danshi Gohan, The Shonen Club Premium
Yamaguchi Tatsuya: Majotachi no 10 Ji
Joshima Shigeru: Tensai wo Tsukuru! Galileo Noukatsu

Radio　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Kokubun Taichi: Kokubun Taichi TOKIO The Ride, Kokubun Taichi Radio Box
Joshima Shigeru: Joshima Shigeru’s Docchi Ha?!, Goccha Maze
Matsuoka Masahiro: TOKIO Night Club
Yamaguchi Tatsuya: Yamaguchi Tatsuya TOKIO WALKER

CM　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
TOKIO: Fumakilla Vape bug spray, Osudake Vape
Joshima Shigeru: Nissin Healthy Risetta oil, Nissin Oillio Gift oil, MegMilk, Nachure Megumi yogurt
Yamaguchi Tatsuya: Nissin Healthy Risetta oil, Nissin Oillio Gift oil, Ripobitan D energy drink
Kokubun Taichi: Nissin Chicken Ramen, Wanda Coffee
Matsuoka Masahiro: Sante FX Neo eye drops, Pro Tec Head shampoo
Nagase Tomoya: Lotte Toppo snack, Fujifilm digital camera prints, Asahi Style Free beer, Nissin Yakisoba U.F.O.

Magazine　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
Yamaguchi Tatsuya: Fine “TOKIO Yamaguchi Tatsuya’s Surfing Journey Garasu” serial, ESSE “Yamaguchi Tatsuya’s Men’s Point of View” serial

KinKi Kids – est. 1992

TV Programs　　　　　　　　　　
KinKi Kids: New Domoto Brothers
Domoto Tsuyoshi: 24CHANNEL

Radio　　　　　　　　　　
KinKi Kids: KinKi Kids Donnamonya!

CM　　　　　　　　　　
KinKi Kids: music.jp

Magazine　　　　　　　　　　
Domoto Koichi: Tokyo Chuuni Sports: Motor Sports serial, Gran Prix: “F1 Hymn” serial
Domoto Tsuyoshi: PS “TSUYOSHI COLLECTION” serial, FINEBOYS “Domoto Tsuyoshi – I Want to Meet a Selfish Off Style Alien” serial, Popolo “Meion” serial

V6 – est. 1995

TV Programs　　　　　　　　　　
V6: VVV6 Tokyo Frenzy 2, New Intellectuals Kumagus
Inohara Yoshihiko: Tainocchi, 100 Shiki Ou

Radio　　　　　　　　　　
20th Century: V6 Next Generation
Okada Junichi: GROWING REED
Miyake Ken: Miyake Ken’s Radio

CM　　　　　　　　　　
Inohara Yoshihiko: Kanpo Seimei Insurance
Okada Junichi: Ougon no Aji meat sauce, Glico Papiko, Sony Alpha, Sony Cyber-shot, Sony Handycam
Miyake Ken: Ougon no Aji meat sauce
Morita Go: Ougon no Aji meat sauce

Magazine　　　　　　　　　　
V6: TV station “V6’s Opinion”
Okada Junichi: Anan “EXPOSURE” serial, Myojo Seishun Talk “Dance on the Rainbow Bridge”
Nagano Hiroshi: Tokyo Chuuni Sports Motor Sports serial, TV Japan Haku Shuran
Inohara Yoshihiko: Wink up “Ureshimi Pocchi-kun” story, BE-PAL “Garage Inocchi”, Myojo Seishun Talk “Dance on the Rainbow Bridge”
Miyake Ken: acteur “Stage Diary” serial

Arashi – est. 1999

TV Programs　　　　　　　　　　
Arashi: Arashi no Shukudai-kun, Himitsu no Arashi-chan, VS Arashi
Aiba Masaki: Tensai! Shimura Doubutsuen
Sakurai Sho: News Zero

Radio　　　　　　　　　　
Ohno Satoshi: ARASHI DISCOVERY
Aiba Masaki: Arashi – Aiba Masaki’s Recomen! Arashi Remix
Ninomiya Kazunari: BAY STORM
Matsumoto Jun: Arashi JUN STYLE

CM　　　　　　　　　　
Arashi: House Tongari Corn, au
Aiba Masaki: House Balmont Curry
Ninomiya Kazunari: House Soup de Okoge, House Shirataki Noodles & Soy Milk Soup
Sakurai Sho: Able real estate, Mitsuya Cider

Magazine　　　　　　　　　　
Arashi: TV Guide “Direct from the Orchard! Arashi Mail!!” serial, TV LIFE “Arashi no Yoshuu Fukushuu-kun” serial, Hanako “‘Himitsu no Arashi-chan’ no Arashi-san” serial, non-no “2/Arashi” serial, duet “Monthly Arashi IZM” Happy Arashi Plan serial, Wink up “Aramashi Arashi” serial, Myojo “Arashiato” serial, Monthly The Television “Monthly Arashi” serial
Aiba Masaki: TV Pia “Collateral Masaki” serial
Ninomiya Kazunari: MORE “It” serial

Tackey & Tsubasa – est. 2002

Radio　　　　　　　　　　
Imai Tsubasa: Tsubasa to base
Takizawa Hideaki: Tackey’s Takizawa Radio Wave Castle

CM　　　　　　　　　　
Takizawa Hideaki: Nissin Spa King, Nissin Microwavable Series, Daiichi Seimei Insurance, Takara Can Chuhai

Magazine　　　　　　　　　　
Takizawa Hideaki: Tokyo Walker “This is fresh~” serial
Imai Tsubasa: TV Pia “A Piece of Tsubasa” photo essay serial, Sportiva “Tsubasupo!” serial

NEWS – est. 2003

TV Programs　　　　　　　　　　
Tegoshi Yuya: To the End of the World Itte Q!
Koyama Keiichiro: The Shonen Club

Radio　　　　　　　　　　
Koyama Keiichiro + 1 member: K-chan NEWS
Masuda Takahisa: Masuda Takahisa’s MASTER HITS

CM　　　　　　　　　　
NEWS: Russ-K clothing, Lawson, Kosé Happy Bath Day
Yamashita Tomohisa: Weider in Jelly energy drink, Toshiba Note PC

Magazine　　　　　　　　　　
NEWS: SEVENTEEN “NEWSnoNEWS” serial
Yamashita Tomohisa: SEVENTEEN “0409” serial
Kato Shigeaki: Wink up “photo shigenic” serial, Myojo “Aoi Hitori Goto” essay

Kanjani 8 – est. 2002

TV Programs　　　　　　　　　　
Kanjani 8: Kanjani 8 no Janiben, Kanpani
Maruyama Ryuhei: Ariehen 8 Sekai, Ai no Shurabara!
Murakami Shingo: Ariehen 8 Sekai, Momoko no OH! Sore! Mi~yo!
Yasuda Shota: Ariehen 8 Sekai

Radio　　　　　　　　　　
Yokoyama Yu: Kanjani 8 Yokoyama Yu/Murakami Shingo’s Recomen!
Murakami Shingo: Kanjani 8 Yokoyama Yu/Murakami Shingo’s Recomen!, Murakami Shingo’s Weekly! Kanjani News

Magazine　　　　　　　　　　
Kanjani 8: TV Guide “Kanjani 8 no Muccha Sukiyanen” serial, Asahi Newspaper Evening Ed “Kanjani 8’s Seven Men, Seven Minds” serial, Kansai Walker “Kanjani’s Janiben!?” serial, TV Pia “8meets!” serial, Bessatsu Friend “Manma ni Kanjani 8!!” serial manga

KAT-TUN – est. 2001

TV Programs　　　　　　　　　　
KAT-TUN: Cartoon KAT-TUN
Nakamaru Yuichi: The Shonen Club

Radio　　　　　　　　　　
Taguchi Junnosuke/Tanaka Koki: KAT-TUN Style
Ueda Tatsuya/Nakamaru Yuichi: R-One KAT-TUN
Kamenashi Kazuya: Kamenashi Kazuya's K-s by K-s

CM　　　　　　　　　　
KAT-TUN: Rohto Mogitate Kajitsu chapstick, Sunplay gym
Akanishi Jin/Tanaka Koki: OXY

Magazine　　　　　　　　　　
KAT-TUN: Weekly The Television “Love is KAT-TUN” serial, POTATO “Heartbeat KAT-TUN” serial, duet “SECRET FACE” serial
Nakamaru Yuichi: Wink up “H-1 Grand Prix” serial
Taguchi Nakamaru/Tanaka Koki & Ueda Tatsuya/Nakamaru Yuichi: Monthly TVnavi Radio talk

Hey! Say! JUMP – est. 2007

TV Programs　　　　　　　　　　
Hey! Say! JUMP: Nintama Rantaro (anime), The Shonen Club
Okamoto Keito: 100 Shiki Ou
Yaotome Hikaru: Weekend YY JUMPing, School Revolution
Yabu Kota: Weekend YY JUMPing
Yamada Ryosuke: School Revolution
Chinen Yuri: School Revolution

Radio　　　　　　　　　　
Hey! Say! 7: Hey! Say! 7 Ultra Power

CM　　　　　　　　　　
Hey! Say! BEST: Decasporta 2 game
Yaotome Hikaru/Takaki Yuya/Inoo Kei: Hataraku Hito game

Magazine　　　　　　　　　　
Hey! Say! JUMP: TV LIFE “JUMP with You” serial, Chao “Oi oi Hey! Say! JUMP” serial manga, duet “Monthly! Heisei Jump” serial, POTATO “Jaka Jaka JUMP!” serial, Myojo “Hey!Say!MAP” serial

Here are some of the tallies:
Most TV shows (group): Arashi (3)
Most TV shows (individual): Kokubun Taichi (6) -- I thought it would be Nakai but he only had 5.
Least TV shows (group): Tackey & Tsubasa (0), NEWS (0)
Most CM campaigns (group): NEWS (3)
Most CM campaigns (individual): Kimura Takuya (9)
Least CM campaigns: Kanjani 8 (0), Imai Tsubasa (0)
Most regular magazine features: Arashi (8)

I have returned! And other news.

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 04:39:57 GMT

And faster than ever! The NTT guy came early and it took about twenty minutes for him to install the internet. It's through the phone line so when J:Com comes tomorrow, I can get rid of that ugly plastecine crap covering the hole where the cable internet wire goes outside. But setting up the internet took about an hour. Because the CD they give you isn't compatible with an English operating system. Of course! And it's too much to expect that a huge corporate entity like NTT would have enough foresight to tell me that. So I had to do it manually and anyway, now it works. :D

God, I'm afraid to go back and see what I've missed this past week and a half... I heard about Nino's movie and watched My Girl last night () but that's about it. I've been watching a lot of news on TV actually! I have gotten into the habit of watching Zoom In in the morning when I'm getting ready for work. I feel more informed about the world than I have in a long time!

But I didn't get any more writing done this week. I can't say I'm not surprised. I don't do any work if I'm not under pressure. I watched all of House season 2 instead. And played more Chocobo. I finally got to the boss of the water dungeon but I died the first time and I didn't have enough energy to go back and try a second time.

I booked my flight home for Christmas. As expected, York won't make any exceptions for anyone. But I'm oddly looking forward to it. Not the fact that I get to see my family because I could really care less. Well, I'm excited to see my parents but I'm really rather dreading seeing my grandma and aunt's family. They only seem to give a crap about what I'm doing when I visit. But I'll be able to pack up a bunch of stuff and cart it home so I can save on shipping things later.

No other plans today, but I should do a load of laundry. After the J:Com guy comes tomorrow, I'm heading to Baba and Andrew and I will do the rest of the shopping and start cooking for Thanksgiving on Monday!

Now, the question of the day is: to renew or not to renew my paid LJ account? Can I handle only having 15 icons again?

See you in 10 days.

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:06:53 GMT

Time for bed and my internet will probably be cut off by the time I get home from work tomorrow if not before. Talk to you all in 10 days! Hopefully I'll have something fun to talk about by then. I'll be checking my email at work but if you need to get a hold of me, you can email me at my phone email: heather007@ezweb.ne.jp

XOXO

Time for a change.

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 15:17:09 GMT

Aso is out. The Liberal Democratic Party is out.

I don't really know what the difference between the "Liberal" Democratic Party and the Democratic Party of Japan is, but it's a change from the the last few decades of power so there should be some changes.

Holy shit.

I'm just seeing the votes now, the LDP has 93 seats while the DPJ has 283 so far! And Sho-chan looks hot despite having held a concert tonight. I hope he has a day off tomorrow. I wonder which way he voted (cuz you know he did). I wonder if the rest of Arashi voted. Apparently, this year was expected to have the highest reported voter turn-out. I wonder when this will be over; this news coverage has been going on since 9pm. When will they all get to go home?

I finally caught up with my RL Sho-chan and his girlfriend and had dinner and went to some karaoke. Good times! His gf is such a cutie. She wants to meet up once a month (I guess she likes me that much), but I'll wait for her to contact me. She's a hair stylist so maybe I can get her to do my hair from now on?

Time to sleep! Stupid typhoon looks like it's going to ruin my plans for tmrw.

24Hr TV: Shige on the steel drums! & Day 2

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 04:02:47 GMT

(I'm just going to edit this entry again. Save your flists.)

So the theme of this years 24hr TV is "Start! Take the first step~" and so Shige learned to play the steel drums. He went to Trinidad & Tabago to meet these two girls who play and made his own drum. The girls came to Japan for the performance and they did a medley and ahh~! It was so good! I want that on video! Shige was so moved by his own performance, he cried. Aww~ And I agree with Yamapi, he better continue to play. I'd try to get to a News concert just to see that!

So they've raised some 800,000,000 yen so far but seriously, I wonder how much they spend on this charity event. They've got Matsushima from Othello going all over Japan visiting World Heritege sites (though that's probably by a network-owned car), they've sent Shige off to Jamaica, they've got a few boats up in Aomori/Hokkaido for the girl swimming the channel, they've got Oshima and another guy and a bunch of kids in Sri Lanka searching for jewels. Not to mention renting out the Tokyo Big Site location and paying all the staff... I really wonder if there is much to donate to charity after all is said and done. Maybe Lydia can enlighten me since she knows more about television production than I do.

I'm going to have to start watching Newsfan's releases more closely for 24hr releases. I want that Shige part! And his English was totally adorable.

And I think this is becoming my favourite icon of all time. :D

Nagura Jun of Neptune went to Fukushima prefecture on his darts tour. I love how people greet each other in Japan! And I notice it all the time in daily life here, just saying hello to people on the street. And they have no shame about asking your age. It's a lot different from western culture. I heard somewhere recently that in Japan, asking someones age is a way of showing that you are interested or care about them and you want to be more familiar with them. One granny said the thing she wants to start is learning how to use a computer. So cute!

It's time for Ryo's dart tour of Japan and he's off to Nagano prefecture somewhere. I think this is the first time I've actually heart his Kansai accent. I think it suits him more than standard Japanese. His face was priceless when he met some jr high students who were Yamapi/Koyama fans. Poor guy. XD And none of the old folks know who he is. Haha.

Thoughts on 24Hr TV 32 so far...
It's not as tear inducing as last year's was. Of course there are a lot of "I was in a terrible accident/got cancer/was born with this disease/disability" stories that have been touching but each of the News member's tasks aren't so moving. I guess with a theme like "Take the first step," it's more happy.

News is also a kind of boring personality... from what I can tell, they're just standing around a lot. And they are so obviously not used to this kind of job. They miss their cues a lot and talk over each people on the video feeds a lot but they have gotten visibly better as the show's gone on. For a while this afternoon, all they did was check in with the swimmer (Yamapi's job) and the runner (Tegoshi's job) and played the plea for donation video.

I guess I should take a shower while there's nothing interesting going on. They're going to do the Dance Koshien contest now. I see some MJ inspired groups.

3:10p
Daigo and Keila are leading a blind boy who wants to climb Mt. Fuji. I always enjoy Daigo's antics. Especially when he's doing air guitar with sounds in the middle of a forest. Poor kid.. he's so exhausted and they are already half way up. He got altitude sickness! They climbed the mountain the same day as that big earthquake recently. The plants were shaking so much... and they showed footage of an office in Shizuoka. Damn. I've never seen/felt such a big quake. The guide says that Fuji hardly ever shakes during a quake, so it really was a big one.

Ahh~ I feel like crying again. T___T

3:50p
Horiuchi Ken's task was to go to India and teach a village to make paper! These kids had never seen paper before and wanted to write and draw. It was really intersting seeing how they could make paper with things they've got. I remember trying to make paper from newspaper with my friend when I was a kid. The kids looked so happy! And they drew a picture on a big sheet that they made and sent it over.

Coming up is Koyama's task, I think. He went to learn sign language and is going to perform a shadow show with some kids. :D I need to pay more attention to Koyama. ♥

There's some discussion going on about the ethics of arguably the largest charity event in Japan (at least that I know of) on aramathedidnt. After hearing about DBSK's court happenings on Asian Pop Addict and how they're trying to get out of their exclusivity clause and just how much money they probably make (10-15% of all revenue??), it makes me wonder about Japan. And suddenly it makes sense why half of Arashi still live at home. Hell, it's why I'm moving back home.

4:00p
Speed is on again this year? Boo.

4:45p
Koyama and the kids were amazing. Japanese sign language looks much easier than American and he's gotten really good at it. He's crying too as are all the parents... I'm really touched. That's another video for the collection. I recommend everyone to watch that cut if you can find it.

5:45p
They've got Shoten doing a 24hr TV special? Boo. I guess even NTV can't pre-empt something as institutionalized as Shoten.

7:15p (but actually written at midnight and drunk so pardon)
FINALLY Yamapi's task! Of course, they left the best for last. Yamapi decided to start scuba diving because of a promise he made to his childhood friend who was in an accident that left him in a wheel chair. They promised to go scuba diving so his friend could take a picture of a manta ray. Okay, so to be honest, Yamapi has always been kind of dull to me (despite being fucking hot) but here... he just shone. He really cares about his friends. And him calling his friend Shu-chan, and being called Tomo by his friend was just heart-warming. And omg, as if I didn't want to go to Okinawa before... just gorgeous. The pictures Shu took in the water with Yamapi are going to be treasured forever.

After the VTR his friend read a letter he wrote to Yamapi, thanking him for the opportunity to go diving and that he knows he's busy but he should try and get his diving lisence so they can go again and take a picture of a manta ray (what Shu wanted to do originally) and Yamapi's trembling lip and his cheeks turning pink as he tried not to cry was just priceless! And then afterwards, his comment... as if I had any doubt he was straight before. xD

Oh, and Kame had shown up before--like, WTF. But it was so they could sing Seishun Amigo for Shu-chan. Touching!

And then I went drinking so I don't know how it ended, but I don't think Imoto made it to the end of her marathon. And it looks like the Democratic Party of Japan is out!

24 Hour Television 32: Day 1

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 10:48:37 GMT

Instead of spamming your flists, I'm just going to edit this entry as I watch 24hr TV.

This year's theme is "START! 一歩踏み出そう" (Start! Take the first step). The shirt, which I like and have been meaning to pick up, was actually designed by Pixar. They aren't broadcasting from Budokan this year. I wonder if they change locations every year? I didn't watch in 2007. Outside they had a hand shaking event where you can drop your pledge for the year off and the fangirls were going apeshit! And AKB48 was there but no one wanted to shake their hands. XD

I'm watching Massu's task right now. He's learning synchro with this boy with some muscle disorder challenge from a high school synchro team from Tokyo. He's finally gotten rid of that damn Cruella de Vil colouring, or at least it's faded so it doesn't look so bad. Massu is one of the guys in News that just kind of blends into the background for me. He's that cute one to the side. He's got a cute smile and a banging body. Arguably better than Yamapi's. He's ripped but surprisingly slim in his swim trunks (boo why doesn't he wear a speedo like the rest?); he looks bigger when he's wearing clothes. But the bright patterned pants have to go.

Becky is as adorable as ever. She and Shige went to Ibaraki to pick lotus roots in the pre-show. Sweaty Shige is just. You can say I will have sweet, sweet dreams tonight.

Tego's perm makes him more girlier looking than ever. And Yamapi is pretty but totally sounds like he's reading the cue cards... because he is.

8:30p
OH NO THEY DIDN'T.

News is performing Kibou ~Yell~ right now. And they are putting the lyrics on the screen as always. And the crowd is eating it up even though they kind of suck live. But that's not what's so bad.

"Get break & thuru
Fly to High Wiz News."

Yeah.

8:55p
Yamapi's gone off to Ibaraki to interview folks and wow, he's got some personality for once! None of the old people he's talking to (except this housewife) know him and he's really frank with everyone. This makes for good TV. Throw Johnny's idols into the countryside where no one knows them. XD

11:40p
Just finished watching the special drama. Waaahh I cried so hard at the end. Ryo did a fantastic job but Kuroki Hitomi! She stole the show. And Yamada wasn't bad either. It's beeing released on DVD too.

Now it's some segment headed by Cream Stew (who I've never heard of), Tutorial and Neptune. They'll show embarrassing footage of 100 comedians and celebrities. I don't think anything else interesting is going to be on until 7am tomorrow when they show the documentary of story behind the special drama. Too bad I'm not sleepy. It'd be a good time to turn in right now.

Damn Shige was ugly at 16.

One to watch out for: Miyazawa Yuto

Sat, 29 Aug 2009 04:33:36 GMT

I just saw this posted on aramatheydidnt. This kid is going to go far in life if he's that good at 9 years old. And unlike most child stars, it's nice to see that he still acts like a kid. :)

More on Miura Daichi.

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 03:28:53 GMT

Just on the heels of the mini pimp post I wrote last night, now this: he's come down with influenza!

The official press release says he was supposed to appear on the programme "Music Edge" last night but he got a high fever last week and went to the hospital and was diagnosed with Influence Type A. The doc said he had to rest for a week so that's why the appearance was canceled, sorry to all the fans and staff people for the inconvenience. He's scheduled to make another appearance on Thursday, but he won't able to because of the flu.

And from Daichi himself: "I've caught the new type influenza so I wasn't able to make my appearance. I think timing of this infection is due to my own poor health management. I'm apologizing to you personally by getting better as soon as I can, so I can sing, dance and perform for everyone. I'm so sorry it turned out liked this."

And I just read on aramatheydidnt this morning that Sato Takeru's come down with Type A too! :( I hope I haven't jinxed myself by telling Alex that I haven't been sick in months. Hearing things like this really shocks me sometimes: you can't help but think that people in the entertainment industry/celebs are some how a different kind of people--always perfect, always healthy (unless it's drug/alcohol related). This is a reminder that they are regular human beings and can get sick, just like the rest of us.

But the good news is: new album Sept 16th!

Pimp: Miura Daichi

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:56:26 GMT

Miura Daichi (三浦大知); born August 24, 1987 (making him 22 today!) in Okinawa, Japan. Debuted in 1997 with the dance group Folder but took a hiatus in 2000 when his voice started changing and focused on some other things, like dance, voice training and the guitar. He made a comeback in 2005, debuting as a solo artist. To date, he's released 8 singles (and 1 album), the latest being "Delete My Memories" that was released on May 20 of this year. As if it's not obvious, his cites Usher and Justin Timberlake as major influences on his music.

Okay, so I've known about this kid for a while, thanks to Andrew who sent me a couple songs off his 2006 album. I liked them but didn't really think to investigate further. Now I have just gotten reaquainted with him through Asian Pop Addict. I didn't realize he choreographed his own stuff, though I do remember him having some slick mooves. This kid isn't all that popular, unfortunately, because clearly he's got talent. It's probably because he's a little bit of a paper bag. :( Kind of like JJ Lin. I didn't notice in the last video I saw cuz he had a hoodie up the whole time (and all his photos have half his face in shadows). But he's got the kind of style I love on boys and his face kind of grows on me by the end of the video. This is prossibly going to become a new favourite song.

PS: I forgot Shukudai was on. Damn! That's what happens when I read HP porn.
PPS: 24hr TV is on this weekend! Do not forget.
PPPS: NEW ICON WINS.

Crochet Craft Time - Mokona!

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 10:17:41 GMT

So I've been telling people that I've been crocheting something fun. And here it is!

It's Mokona Modoki! :D For those who don't know, he's a CLAMP character from Magic Knight Rayearth and Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle. I found this pattern on the internet but it was written so bad, I'm surprised he came out so good. I'm going to rewrite the pattern so I can make another one. I wanted to find a nice shiny bead for his head but I couldn't so I had to settle for a button. But he still looks cute as hell.

The original pattern comes from Cut Out + Keep.

ABBREVIATIONS
ch – chain
sl st – slip stitch
sc – single crochet US (same as double crochet UK)
sc 2tog - decrease one stitch with single crochet
() – indicates section to be repeated

MATERIALS
Size F5 (3.75 mm) crochet hook
Tapestry needle
Sewing needle
Poly-beads and Poly-fill for stuffing
White yarn for body
Red thread, black thread
Red button
(You can also make Black Mokona with black yard, white thread and a blue button.)

Body - white yarn, make one
R1 – 5 sc in the ring and pull the ring tight. Mark the last stitch [5 sc]
R2 – 2 sc in each stitch around [10 sc]
R3 – ( 1 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 5 times [15 sc]
R4 – ( 2 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 5 times [20 sc]
R5 – ( 3 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 5 times [25 sc]
R6 – ( 4 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 5 times [30 sc]
R7 - ( 5 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 5 times [35 sc]
R8-15 – sc in each stitch around [35 sc] Fill the bottom of the body with poly beads (an inch or so) so that he sits upright and then start filling with poly fill. Keep filling with poly fill as you finish the body.
R16 – ( 5 sc, sc 2tog ) 5 times [30 sc]
R17 – ( 4 sc, sc 2tog ) 5 times [25 sc]
R18 – ( 3 sc, sc 2tog ) 5 times [20 sc]
R19 - ( 2 sc, sc 2tog ) 5 times [15 sc]
R20 - ( 1 sc, sc 2tog ) 5 times [10 sc]
R21 - sc 2tog 5 times [5 sc]
Cut a long tail and close the hole with a tapestry needle. Finish off and trim the tail. Set aside.

Arms - white yarn, make two
R1 – 3 ch
R2 – 2 sc
R3 – sc 2tog
Single crochet around the egdes of the arms to make little button shapes. Leave a long tail and set aside.

Legs - white yarn, make two
R1 – 5 sc in the ring and pull the ring tight. Mark the last stitch [5 sc]
R2 - 2 sc in each stitch around [10 sc]
R3 – ( 4 sc, 2 sc in next stitch ) 2 times [12 sc]
R4-11 - sc in each stich around [12 sc] Put in poly fill.
R12 - (2 sc, sc 2tog) 3 times [10 sc]
R13 - (sc 2tog) 3 times
Close the hole with a needle and leave a long tail.

Ears - white yarn, make two
While the rest of the body parts are made in the round, this is made in normal straight crochet. At the end of every row, make a slip stitch and turn it.
R1 – 3 ch
R2-13 - 2 sc
R14 - sc 2tog
Sl st all the way around the edge, tie off and leave a long tail.

Putting him all together...
Now that all the pieces are made, use a tapestry needle to stitch the arms, legs and ears to the body using the long tails you left. Use black thread to stitch a cute little face on the body, and use red thread to stitch a red button to his forehead. And he's done! I hope this makes sense... it's the first time I've tried writing a crochet pattern.

So, I thought I'd get my internal clock back on schedule last night. I was tired so I went to sleep at 11pm and set the alarm for 10am. More than enough time! I figured I'd wake up earlier than that anyway and I could get on with my day. Well, I did: I woke up at 4:30am. But I wasn't havin' that so I just rolled over and went back to sleep. And then the alarm went off and I thought about waking up but I was having a really awesome dream so I didn't. I ended up sleeping til noon again. >_> Oh my. 13 hours of sleep! I won't be getting that much for sure tonight since I'm going to Yokohama tomorrow with the sexy friends. (I'm totally borrowing that from you Lydia.) I think we'll be meeting at 11am somewhere--regardless of where it is, I'll have to be up by 9 at the latest.

SMAP→Softbank

Fri, 14 Aug 2009 16:35:36 GMT

I've never been into SMAP before, but damn this CM makes me want to. I just can't get enough of KimuTaku's hip swinging and Nakai's sassy walk. And how Shingo's like FML on the the left. Kusanagi and Goro are just... there.

Sorry the quality is poo, couldn't find any torrents. I think it just came out today.

COME ON!

Hachiko: A Dog's Story

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:14:39 GMT

I had a nice solo day today: bought some manga, had some coffee, and watched a movie. I went to Movix at Lalaport Kashiwa no Ha (the one of two theatres I found playing the movie with subtitles, not dubbed in Japanese, wtf). No one I asked to come with me could come, and I didn't want to go all the way to the theatre in Roppongi cuz it's expensive and a pain or pay full price (every Wednesday is Ladies Day, all movies ¥1000!). So I went by myself and had a good time doing it.

I saw the press conference and previews for Hachi on TV on Sunday and the preview got me tearing up so I knew I would cry buckets. And I did. The only think I knew about Hachi was he waited for his master at Shibuya Station even after he died and there's a statue of the dog there and an exit named after him. Hachiko was Hidesaburo Ueno's dog, that he brought with him from Akita to Tokyo when he became a professor there in 1924. Hachiko would escort the professor to Shibuya Station every day and meet him there when he came home. One day, the professor died and never returned but Hachiko waited at the station every day from then on for nine years until he died in 1935.

This movie is actually a remake of a Japanese film called Hachiko Monogatari [The Tale of Hachiko] from 1987. Richard Gere stars as the professor and produces, and Joan Allen plays his wife. It's a fairly small cast, but the lead role is definitely goes to the Akita. It really made me want to get a dog! Maybe when I settle down somewhere in the future... I cried tons which is usually the mark of a good movie for me, but it could have been better.

I didn't really get Joan Allen's character and the music didn't really fit sometimes. There were some quite humourous scenes but the music kept making me think something dramatic was about to happen. They also took some liberties with the translation of the 5 lines of Japanese dialogue (which was totally dubbed) but I guess that's always a problem. However Richard Gere was great and you could really see the relationship he had with his co-star, Hachi.

Maybe someone who speaks better Japanese than I can explain this to me: I have always wondered why the dog's name is written half in katakana and half in kanji in Japanese (ハチ公) -- why is that? They kept switching between calling the dog "Hachi" and "Hachiko" in the movie which I didn't get because the professor never called the dog Hachiko. Just one of those little discrepancies I guess.

Even though I haven't seen the original movie, I think it's a fair representation of the Hachiko story for a Western audience. And the puppies are just freaking adorable!

Eggplant and Ground Pork Gratin

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 13:41:37 GMT

Eggplant and Ground Pork Gratin

Ingredients (serves 4)

☆ 200g ground pork
☆ 2 onion, minced
☆ 5 mini tomatoes, halved
☆ 4-5 eggplants, cut into 1cm thick wheels
☆ 1 clove garlic, minced
☆ 1 piece of ginger, minced
★ 6 tbsp ketchup
★ 1 cube consomme stock
★ 1/2 tbsp worchester sauce
★ 150cc hot water
☆ salt & pepper to taste
☆ shredded cheese
☆ parsley
☆ olive oil

Preparation

Heat some olive oil in a frying pan and fry the eggplant on both sides til lightly grilled. Remove from the pan.

Heat some more oil (if necessary) and fry ginger and garlic. When fragrant, add the onions and fry.

When the onions turn golden brown, add the pork.

When the meat is brown, add the ★ ingredients and simmer until the juice cooks down. Season with salt and pepper.

Layer the eggplant in a gratin dish and top with the meat sauce. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and mini tomatoes and cook in a toaster oven until the cheeze is melted.

Kazarazuuuu Cats! Nyah! And the past few days.

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 10:18:11 GMT

I just spent the last day rewatching Kizarazu Cats Eye and Nihon Series. I have World Series somewhere too, I probably haven't burned it onto a DVD yet. After watching this whole series I've started using really manly Japanese. It happens. I should finish watching IWGP, I think I only had 3-4 episodes to go on that one. I don't know if my ovaries can flutter anymore. Makes me want to just go off and do something really silly. Go to Kisarazu? My friend lives in Goi, I think that's near? Kind of, not really.

Awadflkjdf It would cost me 1300 yen one-way to get to Kisarazu from here. Goi is somewhere in the middle. Though, I have never been south of Chiba. Food for thought. Depends what Leigh is doing these days.

I finally found a clear folder to put my Anan magazines in. Of course they had to be difficult and print them at a non-standard size so I can't just get a regular cheapo folder from the 100 yen store. I don't actually have that many issues (only 4) and I decided not to rip up the more expensive magazines I own for posterity. I want to keep most of the stuff in them anyway. But at least I don't have to think about it anymore. I cut down my magazine stash a good half. Yay productivity!

I also finished my fic for jentfic_remix. I've bugged Alex a ton for read overs and stuff but I'm still not sure. It's the tenses! I hope I've fixed them all. Anyway, I think it's really good and I'm happy with the outcome. I just hope the author of the original likes it too. I've almost forgot that someone is rewriting something of mine. I wonder which one they've picked!

Tomorrow I'm meeting up with articulation and we're going to go around Kagarazuka (the area where Haikei, Chichiue-sama is set) and go to the Awa Odori and festival there. Excited! After watching Yassai Mossai all day yesterday, I am in a dancin' mood.

I've been kind of under the radar lately, after my weekend plus of drinking and more drinking I've been home recovering. I went out today to run some errands and get the automatic rent transfer thing set up but the fucking banks wouldn't do it. Mitsui-Sumitomo said they could only do it if it was from a Mitsui-Sumitomo account so I went to my bank and they said they could only do it if they had some kind of authorization from the company. What the fuck?! This is the third time I've had to redo it for my rent and now they're giving me shit. I don't want to fight with them or bother calling my landlords so I'm just going to have to remember to do it myself. What a pain!

I should get on making my dinner. Tonight is the first episode of Orthros Dog, Ryo and Takki's new drama. I don't really know what it's about but they were on every show last night doing promotions with it. I haven't actually seen Takki in anything since his scandalous teacher/student love story from like 1999 that I can't remember the name of. It looks like it's based on an anime or has some anime in it? I don't know but I'll watch it anyway.

Justin just asked me to hangout at Andrew's around 9. That might be fine for him since it only takes 20 minutes to get home, but it's totally not worth it for me. I have to leave by 11:30 to get home. I hate how I have to put a price on my time to see my friends, it really sucks. But I have to be careful especially with the super shit paycheck I've got coming for August.

Meeting Inoe Joe, for real this time.

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 16:55:44 GMT

So I didn't get tickets to his showcase and I made my peace with that. On Friday he write on Mixi that was going to play another show in Shinjuku on Tuesday and if you wanted to go, send your name in and they'd reserve you some tickets at the door. So I asked Ginny along because I know she's got a love for Japanese boybands and this isn't that far of a stretch and I haven't seen her for a while.

We met up in Shinjuku and grab some dinner and then try and find this live house. I thought I was smart because I printed out a map at work but the map was complete crap and we ended up walking around (not through, around) Kabukicho for like a hour before finding the place. If they had put the big love hotel on the map and we would have found it right away. Anyway.

We arrived at about 8pm and Joe wasn't scheduled to go on until about 8:50. We caught the end of this band from Kyoto and another which was really good. They're doing a one man show (which means... their own show) on the 2nd and I'm contemplating going but I'm going to be leaving the house at like 6 to go to the airport the next day so maybe not.

I saw some of the same people who were at Joe's show 2 weeks ago (and I know at least one recognized me) but there were quite a few more than last time. Even this 12-year-old kid with his mom! The set list was the same but he forgot the lyrics to one song and had a some technical difficulties with the computer but generally seemed more comfortable on stage than last time. He started doing some impressions (Hard Gay, guys.) and people were throwing some requests out like the donguri song (yeah, that one from Uta no Oniisan) and Nirvana. But what do he actually play? Some Michael Jackson: Bille Jean as suggested by me. And even moonwalked. I thought maybe that might be a bit off colour seeing as how, you know, MJ is no longer with us, but whatever. I win. Not to mention he totally saw me and pointed from the stage during the final song.

This time he had a little survey to fill out (name, age, gender, where you from, how'd you hear about me, what's your favourite song, what other artists do you like, etc) and merchandise for sale. There was stuff there and I had wanted to get a CD before but just never got around to it so I talked Ginny into lending me money. This was before I even realized he was sitting there at the table signing stuff.

We kind of jump the line by accident and hand him our questionnaires (which I may or may not have wrote too much in the "message" portion). I'd had 3 beers, that's my excuse. I appologize and blush like a beet and jump the back of the line (I forget how much my feet are hurting for a while) and when we get to the front, he's got the album I'd asked for (the last one~!) set aside and goes, "Heather, right?" (Insert squeel here.) So he asks me if I live in Japan and if I'm fluent and what I do for a living... it's like a 1 minute conversation but it was just. I don't want to reduce myself to the same level as those girls who were taking all these pictures on their phones and probably write him ganbare messages on his BBS and Mixi everyday. I'm not that bad. It sounds so fucking lame but this is a dream come true. I'd thought, what if I was able to get something signed? I never thought it would actually happen. I hope that when he gets to be super famous, he'll remember this Canadian fan in Japan that he met.

Bonus: I turned Ginny into a fangirl. She kept saying, "He's so hot!!" even after the show ended. Aftewards, we spent a good hour and a half chatting at the shrine about music and boys. It was so great!

The only thing that would make this better would be to wake up with a thank you note message from him on Mixi but I'm not going to hold my breath on that one. I think I've been lucky enough.

To: Heather! Joe Inoue ☆

Gotta love a guy who loves his mom.

And now after that night of sheer awesome, my feet are absolutely shredded. Damn you, new shoes! I would have been fine had it not been for effing getting lost in Kabukicho and walking in circles trying to find the damn club. And now, it's 1:56am and I'm totally not sleepy at all. I've done the 4 hours of sleep thing and it really is not conducive to work but what can you do? Luckily I've got 1st free and only 3 classes tomorrow. Maybe I can get another chunk of my remix done! I'm already at 1500 words.

Buzzer Beat (Episode 1)

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 12:28:38 GMT

I wanted to watch it but I didn't know when it was on. Lucky me!

The first 20 minutes are promising and it actually looks like Yamapi can play basketball. It makes me want to play again... I wish I had done a sport seriously. Though OFS wasn't really top in terms of sports excellence. But how lame is the "star player dating the cheerleader" trope? But obviously that's going to end! Seriously, only in Japan are university students thinking about married. And have mom be all excited about it. I can't wrap my brain around it.

Aibu Saki and Yamapi have the same hair colour. XD

I'm going to enjoy this show if only for the fact that I know exactly what's happening on the court. And for the awesome cast.

China travel plans

Mon, 13 Jul 2009 09:07:46 GMT

I think I just brought "jumping the gun" to a whole new level. I'm leaving for Singapore in 3 weeks (!! Are you ready Lydia? PS Are there any goodies you want me to bring you?) but all I can think about is planning my trip to China.

I've narrowed it down to 3 days in Shanghai, a week in Beijing and 3-4 days in Hong Kong/Kowloon/Macau. Plus a day travel between Shanghai and Beijing and then two days from Beijing to Hong Kong. For a total of 19 days. :) For people who've been to China/HK, what are the highlights/attractions you'd recommend? Things you'd rather have skipped?

The Shanghai Ferry runs every Friday, unless they change things next year. I was looking at all the different classes on the ship. The cheapest fare is 20,000 yen one way, but all you get is a futon in a tatami room with 15 other women. The next fare up is 22,000 for a small room shared between 5 people with bunks and a TV. There are shower booths and public toilet facilities. There is a Japanese style bath on the upper deck, but only for first or upper class passengers. First class gets you a little bigger room with 4 other people, bunk beds and a washlet for 25,000 yen. Either way to slice it, it's going to be public bathing, not that I mind. If they are mostly Japanese passengers, they'll all be pretty conscientious about keeping the showers clean. I'd just as soon take the cheapest fare with the large tatami room and futon because there won't be a TV. Though I don't know what'll be worse: a room full of snoring women (Asian women are the worst I've ever seen) or a smaller room where someone might watch TV all night. But thank god for ear plugs!

I wrote Yuka today about crashing at her place and going to Kyoto again but she doesn't know where she'll be or what her family will be up to. She just got a job with Honda so she might have to come work in a factory in Saitama (which means she'll be close!) and her sister is having a baby in October so the family might go somewhere. And really, April is a long time away so I didn't really expect her to roll out the welcome mat just yet. But she knows now so it won't be such a shock when I ask again in March next year. I'm going to have to go to Osaka anyway and I wanted to make the most of the trip and stretch it out a bit. The worst case scenario, I can't stay with her and don't know anyone else to impose on, I take the first shinkansen out of Tokyo a day early and go to Kyoto for a day and spend a night in a capsule hotel or manga cafe or something (that's an experience I haven't had yet). It would be nice to have someone drive me or take me directly to the port and send me off but oh well.

Speaking of Singapore: I need to pick up Anna's mini suitcase for the trip. I only have giant ones which are just too damn big and heavy for only 4 days. I did that in Korea, although it was still winter and I needed the layers and I did end up buying quite a bit of stuff there. But I don't plan on doing a ton of shopping in Singapore because, like any other Asian country, it'll be a chore to find anything to fit me (just like it was 7 years ago) so I'm not even going to bother. I have a duffle but I hate carrying that awkward shit around with me. I want wheels! I think I'm just going to pack 3 changes of clothes and do laundry every night.

I'm going to have to figure something out for China too... I wonder if I should invest in a backpacker's backpack. One of those giant motherfuckers with tons of secret pockets. It's something else I have to think about. Maybe I can find one used somewhere.

Recipe backlog: Cabbage and Tofu Garlic Miso Stir-fry

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 03:42:28 GMT

Cabbage and Tofu Garlic Miso Stir-fry

Ingredients (serves 4)

☆ 1/2 head of cabbage
☆ 2 blocks of thick fried tofu (厚揚げ、atsuage)
☆ 1/2 medium carrot
☆ 1 long onion
☆ 1 clove garlic
☆ 4 tbsp miso
☆ 2 tsp each sugar, sake, dashi stock
☆ Vegetable oil
☆ Sesame oil (optional)

Preparation

Cut the cabbage into large bite-sized pieces. Cut the carrot in half and slice length-wise. Cut the onion into diagonal slices and mince the garlic.

Put the tofu in a bowl and pour hot water over to remove some of the excess oil. Remove and pat dry with paper towel. Cut into 4-5mm slices.

Heat some oil in a frying pan and fry both sides of the tofu. Remove and set aside.

While the tofu is frying, mix the miso, sugar, sake and dashi stock in a bowl.

Heat more oil in the frying pan and fry the garlic until fragrant. Add the onion and fry. Then add the carrot and cabbage. When the cabbage is slightly wilted, add the miso sauce and toss well until heated through.

Serve on a plate and drizzle sesame oil on top if you like.

Cooking point

☆ I used white miso in this recipe and found it almost too salty. If you are using a darker miso, you may need to adjust for the saltiness of it.

Recipe backlog: Tofu and Mushroom Kimchi Stew

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 03:26:57 GMT

Tofu and Mushroom Kimchi Stew

Ingredients (serves 4)

☆ 760g cotton tofu, cut into 2cm cubes
☆ 1 pack shimeji mushrooms, broken apart
☆ 8 fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and cut half
☆ 1 pack enoki mushrooms, roots removed
☆ 120g boychoy kimchi, cut into 3cm slices
☆ 4 slices of bacon, cut into 2cm slices
☆ 2 spring onions, diced (optional)
☆ 2 tsp vegetable oil

Sauce
☆ 1 cube chicken stock
☆ 400ml hot water
☆ 1 tbsp soy sauce
☆ 2 tbsp sake
☆ 1 tsp salt
☆ 2 tsp potato starch
☆ 4 tsp water

Preparation

Cut and prepare all the vegetables and tofu. Mix the potato starch and 4 tsp water in a small bowl and set aside.

In another bowl, dissolve the chicken stock into the hot water. Add the soy sauce and sake and sugar. You can also add juice from the kimchi.

In a pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Fry the bacon slowly　until crisp.

Add the kimchi and stir fry.

Add the mushrooms and fry until the mushrooms have wilted and softened.

Add the tofu and pour the sauce over and boil until the flavour has gone into the tofu.

When the tofu is cooked, add the potato starch water and mix well to thicken the sauce.

Serve in a bowl and garnish with spring onion.

Recipe backlog: Easy Hayashi Rice

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 03:02:29 GMT

Hayashi Rice

Ingredients (serves 4)

☆ 200g thin-sliced beef
☆ 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
☆ 1 can sliced mushrooms
☆ 1 clove garlic, minced
☆ 1 small can tomato juice (8oz)
☆ Pinch salt and course ground pepper
☆ 20g butter (2 portions of 10g)
☆ 1 tbsp oil
☆ 1/2 cup frozen green peas
☆ cooked rice

Sauce
☆ 2 tbsp ketchup
☆ 1/2 cup water
☆ 1 tsp soy sauce
☆ 5 tbsp okonomiyaki sauce

Preparation

Slice the beef into bite-sized slices, slice the onion and mince the garlic.

Heat 10g of butter and oil in a frying pan. When the butter is melted, stir in garlic and onions. Over medium heat, fry everything until the onions are brown.

Add the beef and fry. Season with salt and pepper when the meat turns brown. Add mushrooms and green peas.

Add the tomato juice and bring to a boil. Add the sauce ingredients in order. Lastly, remove from heat and add the remaining butter, melting over residual heat. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with hot rice.

Cooking point

☆ You can substitute tomato-based vegetable juice for tomato juice if you like.

Original recipe from OneeMANS.

Recipe backlog: Spinach, Tomato and Tuna Salad

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 02:50:55 GMT

Spinach, Tomato and Tuna Salad

Ingredients (serves 2)

☆ 1 bundle of spinach
☆ 1 large tomato
☆ 1 small can tuna, drained well
☆ 2 tbsp olive oil
☆ 1 tbsp soy sauce
☆ 1 clove grated garlic
☆ 1 tbsp lemon juice
☆ 1 tsp sugar
☆ Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Mix the dressing ingredients in a bowl: olive oil, tuna, lemon juice, garlic, soy sauce, sugar, salt and pepper.

Remove the roots from the spinach and blanch in hot water. Remove excess water and toss with dressing.

Cut the tomato into small wedges and mix with the spinach.

Cooking point

☆ Grated garlic and tuna make for a nice dressing! Goes well with pasta or rice or just on it's own.

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Recipe backlog: Cabbage and Tofu Garlic Miso Stir-fry

Recipe backlog: Tofu and Mushroom Kimchi Stew

Recipe backlog: Easy Hayashi Rice

Recipe backlog: Spinach, Tomato and Tuna Salad

さすらい　侍　聖地に赴いている