The Nunc Stans

As the weeks fly by

2010-10-17T08:49:00.003+01:00

I find it kind of hard to believe that i've been here for almost a month now, partly because its gone so fast, and that now it just feels like i've been here for ages. Oh well.
Anyway, so this week marked the beginning of Japanese lessons and my lab placement. The Japanese lessons are just boring, there isn't any other way to describe them. My lab work h0wever, has actually been thoroughly enjoyable. My DNA purification worked a treat, and we're well on our way to determining the role of NMA111 protein in ERAD in budding yeast (long story short, good news).
This has been a very fun weekend indeed, we went clubbing on friday night, then walked home from Sakae to here (about 2 hours), but instead of sleeping we went and queued up for the bazaar, that was supposedly amazing. So we queued up for a bout 4 hours to find it was effectively just a garage sale, I did pick up a water heater/boiler thing (no, its not a kettle) so I can now make tea.
Saturday evening, we had a cocktail party for Sarah's birthday (from Oz), which was a lot of fun. Today, me and some of the others went to Kirin beer park (beer factory, why its called a beer park I have no idea) where we got to eat malt and drink the wort, which wasn't as bad as you might think. It was a very interesting tour, explaining how they make it all etc, and we got free beer too.
This week is gonna be tough, more Japanese lessons, and the research is gonna step up another level. But on the plus side, my lab-mates have invited me drinking with them on wednesday, which will be fun, followed by clubbing on friday and saturday... obviously.

One additional note, we watched a Japanese horror film on wednesday night called "Noroi" (2005). I definately rate it as one of the best films i've ever seen. It draws you in straight away and doesn't let you go. It's about a man who investigates paranormal goings on with his cameraman, and the whole film is either footage they have shot or clips from variety shows or news broadcasts related to the story, which makes fo a very interesting narrative. The plot itself is quite complicated and you do have to pay attention to notice the details, but putting the effort in definitely pays off at the end. Which makes for a very, very disturbing end to a mystery of a film.

I can't be arsed counting the days anymore

2010-10-09T07:47:00.002+01:00

Well what a fun few days this has been, I opened a post office bank account all by myself (i'm not boasting, really) re-learned English in its entirety, opened another bank account for my scholarship, and spent an hour buying a mobile phone that cost me £200, and that is definately one of the cheapest ones, though it has to be said that the contract is very cheap, only £5 a month for free texts, mails and calls to everyone else on Softbank.
After we came back from buying my phone, we came across the Ultimate Frisbee club playing on the lawn, so we joined in. Its just like normal Frisbee but you split into teams and have to pass the Frisbee to someone inside the end-zone, and you cant move while you hold the frisbee. We decided to play a game towards the end after some practice with me and 3 other newcomers to the club (along with 3 full members) in one team, and the other team was all of the university team players.
WE WON! and the best thing is I made the winning catch :D In the evening, we had a little party in the lobby, where we made sushi, had lots and lots of alcohol, and watched Japan beat Argentina 1-0.

What a glorious day it was, too bad it's gonna rain all weekend...

Japan: Days 1-12(?)

2010-10-06T15:02:00.002+01:00

FINALLY, I have an internet connection I can use in my room! Now I can start posting again.

Lets see now, these first two(ish) weeks have been nothing short of amazing. Ive made loads of new friends and explored the city (in more ways than one). I've also done my fair share of drinking it has to be said, I think I went the first ten days drinking every night.

Ive got a really nice room here with my own en-suite, air-con unit, and even a balcony! (looking onto a main road) The dorm itself is only a 5/10 minute walk to the university and 1 or 2 from the nearest 2 Lawson's convenience stores, very convenient indeed!

On the University side of things, its been pretty hectic, what with all the orientations and mountains of registration paperwork last week, things are starting to settle down now, as we all start Japanese lessons on Tuesday (as monday is a national holiday).
I've also been allocated my lab! Horrah! And it's a good'un too. I'll be researching ERAD (Endoplasmic reticulum associated degradation), which is basically how your cells handle misfolded or aberrant integral membrane proteins.

I'll try my best from now on to do a post every day, including photos, to give you a tour of my life in Japan, お楽しみしてね＾＾

あばよ

2010-09-21T20:18:00.002+01:00

Well, this will be my last post from the UK. My bags are packed, and I'm ready to go. These past few weeks have been really great fun, hanging out with the boys again, spending some family time together; but its time for me to bugger off yet again for some more adventures!

Ill be posting as soon as I can when i get to Japan with some photos and what not hopefully, and some updates. Probably sometime Thursday evening or Friday.

All that's left to say is さらば、仲間たちよ！ Catch you on the flip side.
I'll miss you all! including my 4 guitars...

どうしようかな。。。

2010-09-15T13:28:00.003+01:00

*SIGH*
In exactly 1 weeks time, I'll be in an airplane, somewhere over France on my way to Hong Kong (providing the flight isnt delayed...). So, the question is, what to do to fill the time between now and then?

I could just continue my run of playing old Playstation 2 games, watching terrible movies (the worst of which was probably The Human Centipede by the way, it's just wrong.) and listening to music all day.

What should I do to fill the time?
Answers on a postcard please.

AntiChrist

2010-09-11T13:27:00.004+01:00

For some unknown reason I stumbled upon the 2009 Von trier film "AntiChrist" on the internet the other day, and I finally got around to watching it last night.

It isn't as straight forward a film as the title suggests, you may have thought of something not dissimilar to the Omen for example. Instead, it is a much more subtle commentary on the more sinister side of the human psyche and religion as well as having rather misogynistic undertones.
It stars Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg as a nameless couple who lose their child. This has deep psychological effects on Charlotte's character who becomes increasingly manic and sinister as her Psychologist husband tries to treat her through psychotherapy.
I'm no film critic did I really enjoy its sinister and somewhat controversial atmosphere, though I felt some of the more gory scenes were a little unnecessary.

If you are interested and would like a, frankly more educated opinion I recommend this review:
http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/antichris t-the-visual-theology-of-lars-von-trier
I think I enjoyed reading this almost as much as watching the film itself. Even if you don't particularly fancy watching the film I do recommend you take the time to read this.

Ill leave you today with one part of that review that really made me think:
"At one point, she tells him that nature is "Satan's Church', and he puts Satan in the top position. Then, as he discovers the depths of her sense of personal evil and blame, he puts the word "me" - her ultimate fear is herself - only to cross it out again. I was reminded of Paul Ricoeur's study of Genesis, in which he ponders on the pre-existence of evil in the Garden of Eden, suggesting that we find ourselves in a world in which evil precedes us as an unnameable mystery. The symbols of the fall pervade this film, but the serpent never appears. Whatever the source of evil, it has already done its work before we enter this poisoned Eden. "

Thought provoking!

Heres some stills from the film, I do hope that i've interested some of you enough to give the film a try.

When the three beggars arrive someone must die.

Money, it's a gas.

2010-09-09T21:47:00.003+01:00

I had to start thinking about getting some Yen today to last me in Japan until I get my Japanese bank account up and running. The first thing I thought was WHY IS THE RATE SO BAD? It's absolutely shocking.

Just look at this, these are figures for how many Yen you could get for £1 in the recent past, leading up to now. (From http://www.x-rates.com/d/JPY/GBP/hist2010.html)

September 2007 (average): 232.2
September 2008 (average): 191.8
September 2009 (average): 149.4
September 2010 (average so far): 129.3

That's almost HALF! What a rip off.
And it's going even further down as you read this. *SIGH*
Lousy recession...

I think David Gilmour of Pink Floyd put it best:

Money, it's a crime
Share it fairly
But don't take a slice of my pie

Money, so they say
Is the root of all evil
Today

嵐の前の静けさ

2010-09-08T14:40:00.003+01:00

I'm aware that these past few posts have been rather... lacklustre, but lets face it, I don't have an awful lot to write about these days, as i'm caught in limbo between adventures. The eye of the storm as it were.
But FEAR NOT! It will get better soon.

In other news, my accommodation for next year has finally all been sorted yay!
(In Takamine-cho, Nagoya; near the university if anyone's interested)

To pass the time, here's a dog in a lobster costume.

Distractions

2010-09-07T23:32:00.003+01:00

Only 2 weeks left! (Yes I am being very pedantic and counting down.)

The only preparation i've made so far is a list of things I should probably take with me, no physical work of course, that involves effort. I'll start some Japanese revision tomorrow I swear, i'm just too easily distracted.

Oh, on that note how 'bout that new Google logo? it's great isn't it? I was messing with it and forgot what I was going to search for, not quite as good as the time they had Pacman there though.

The Waiting Game

2010-09-04T18:51:00.005+01:00

Well, i've got 18 days left before I leave for Japan, I really do hate waiting.
I keep thinking that I should do some preparation work or something, like read through my Japanese textbooks or at least the Biology stuff in Japanese we did... I just can't be bothered haha.
Oh well, it'll come around soon enough.
I look forward to being able to buy Muscat water from Lawson again, DAYUM thats a good drank. And those sausage pizza bread things too.
mmm, now i'm hungry...

On an unrelated, yet interesting note, if you have windows try this:
C:/Windows/Media/onestop.midi

I wonder why it's in there amongst all the system noises... hmm, either way its pretty funky!

Edit: In case anyone was wondering, I haven't gone mad, 'The Nunc Stans' means 'the Everlasting Now', I just thought it sounded cool. Those in the know will also recognise the nod to a song by Cynic.

Back for the Nth time.

2010-09-03T16:57:00.003+01:00

Well i'm back, yet again, I don't even want to know how many times i've put that.
Anyway, Rhodes was a very nice place to have a holiday, the weather was great, barely ever a cloud in the sky and the temperature was around 30oC every day. We stayed in a small family run hotel called the "Garden Hotel" in a town called Pastida. The food was great, the rooms were fine, and the swimming pool was great, what else do you need?
We did our fair share of exploring various places on the island, like Faliraki; Lindos; Rhodes for example. It was more of a lazy, takin' it easy holiday than anything else, so theres not much more I can say about it, i'll edit this post with pictures later on.What I will say is that coming home, the journey was horrible, we had a 3.50am flight so had to wait in the hotel not doing anything until the coach took us to the airport at 1am, only to find out our flight had been delayed for 2 HOURS, and departed at 5.45am instead. Those 4 hours in the airport were horribly uncomfortable. However, we got loads of legroom on the plane as we had the seats just behind the door, with no seats directly in front of us.

Now i've got just under three weeks back here in the UK before i'm off on my biggest adventure yet!
Watch this space people.
Edit: Heres some photos as promised.

The Hotel (Pastida) and its surroundings:
Lindos and its Acropolis:

The Old Quarter in Rhodes.

Segue Norway

2010-08-24T22:37:00.007+01:00

I'M BACK FROM NORWAY!

OK, now that that is out of the way, I thought I would point out that I only realised a few weeks ago that "segue" is segway....
Anyway, Oslo was amazing, that's all there is to say.
I stayed at my friend Nicolai's (who I'm sure you'll remember I met in Japan last summer) flat in the centre of the city.
It is not a huge city, but it sure is expensive! I paid the equivalent of over £7 for 500ml of Guinness, and that was from a can!Honestly, however, I can't say I was that bothered as I was enjoying myself too much.
Me, Nicolai, his girlfriend YanXi, and his flatmates all went bowling on the first night, which ended in complete disgrace for me as usual because I am a horrible bowler. Another day we went to see The Expendables, which was a brilliant mindless romp, with all the big names (and norwegian subtitles).On Friday I think it was, we ended up at a Chinese Christian BBQ in a church where we gatecrashed a wedding. (Don't ask). Lots of craziness for sure! We also visited Sognsvann that day, a really nice lake and forest on the outskirts of Oslo.
I also did the standard tourist-y stuff like visiting the town hall, the habour etc. The pictures will speak for themselves. Enjoy!

Various views of Oslo from the top of the Rådhus:

Vigeland Sculpture Park
Sognsvann Lake

I was pleasantly surprised to find that the vast majority of Norwegians I met, spoke perfect English as well which was useful. Another point I will make is that DAMN Oslo is expensive! also that I find it hilarious that the Norwegian word for "Orange" is "Appelsin" despite the fact that Appelsin clearly signals to english speakers ANYTHING BUT oranges. I think this is best summed up in the words of a friend of mine.
"Maybe apple is orangesin" :D

Well, thats enough out of me for the time being, i have more jetsetting to do! TO GREECE!
See you in another week!

{EDIT}
PS. After Oslo, I never want to eat brownies again.

Jeg går til Norge

2010-08-18T00:07:00.002+01:00

This will be my last post for a week, ill post Norway photos next tuesday, then there will be another week of absence as i'll be in Greece. Jetsetting wohoo, only without the massive amounts of money.

In other news, Iron Maiden's new album The Final Frontier, is a great album indeed, its typical maiden, some epics, some ballads, but always ROCKIN'. This album shall keep me company on my many aeroplane journeys in these next few weeks.

And so I bid you all adieu. (For a week or so :P)

Music

2010-08-16T01:09:00.004+01:00

If there's anything that has dominated my free time this summer, it has indeed been music. I just got my new pair of proper Sennheiser HD201 headphones (as opposed to earphones) to enable me to enjoy it all that much more.
I must say that my musical taste as diversified quite a lot since the New Year, so I now feel inclined to share some of my new found happiness with you all!
Not so much happiness in some cases, particularly this first one:

Warning: Watching from a distance (Doom Metal) I'm not entirely why I like this album, it has a lot of slower riffage, clear melodic vocals, and a rather depressing atmosphere; but it is very powerful and moving. See what you think. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=774GvRN2yKk

Alcest: Souvenirs d'autre monde (Black metal/shoegaze) Now this, I really love, its a french band spearheaded by Neige a famous black metal vocalist, whose other exploits (Lantlos/amesouers) I have also enjoyed. This type of music I've been delving into for a while now since a friend introduced me to this band, its a mixture of fast lo-fi black metal and melodic spiraling guitar passages; with vocals showing just as much diversity from tormenting black metal vocals to ethereal singing. I really do find it hard to describe this band, but as usual, you'll have to be the judge. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4t1XqYgukd4

Agalloch: The Mantle/ Ashes against the grain (Folk/Black/Doom metal)
Agalloch are a band I discovered while pursuing my newly found interest in metal-gaze type music (Alcest and the likes). They play a nice mix of folk and doom metal with the occasional sprinkling of black metal. They tend to use long (sometimes acoustic) musical interludes and sparse vocals, which are mostly either a rather haunting style of singing or an evil sounding growl. I really enjoy the vast sound-scapes and atmosphere they create with their music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCAsN09ZAzE

凛として時雨 (Rin toshite Shigure) (Cold rain it could be translated as)：just A moment (J-indie/rock/punk)
Now this is a very interesting album, its not your usual J-indie rock affair in the vein of AKFG and the likes. I really like the interplay of the male and female vocals here and the musicianship. The music itself is astounding I find, i'd say its a mix of Post-rock sounding rhythms to metal and standard rock riffs. The vocals however, are the most interesting part, they seem to be deliberately sung outside of the normal vocal comfort range; its hard to describe, but you'll see what I mean if you listen to them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwzsfLeieo0

On the subject of music, i'll be getting up especially early tomorrow morning (edit: this morning) because THE NEW IRON MAIDEN ALBUM IS OUT!!! From what I hear, its amazing, I can't wait to hear it. Well, good night from me, if I can sleep that is.

THE GREAT ADVENTURE BEGINS

2010-08-15T01:38:00.003+01:00

OK, so a year later, and I'm back again, its summer, and there's not a lot to do.
Like last years Japanese adventure, I've got a more trips to make this year. First off is a week in Oslo, followed by a week in Greece, then 2 final weeks at home before my year in Japan! (which is gonna be awesome :P). I'll be posting pics from Norway and Greece, either during the trips or when I get back, it depends whether I take this laptop or not.
Lots to look forward to!

In related news i've been accepted into Nagoya university and handed in my student visa application too.
Funny story there...
I had to hand my passport into the embassy, and the guy told me to come and pick it up on Wednesday, I say OK and walk out, only to realise that my flight to Oslo is on Wednesday morning and will obviously need my passport >.< so I then had to rush back in and beg the guy to have it ready by closing time on Tuesday. So now, the day before my holiday I have to rush into London to pickup my passport in the hope that they've actually finished with it. Never a dull moment around here, no sirree.

I'll be posting pics from Norway and Greece, either during the trips or when I get back, it depends whether I take this laptop or not.
Lots to look forward to!

ただいま

2009-08-06T23:27:00.002+01:00

I apologize for my absence over the past 2 weeks, been very busy lol, yes thats all you get :).
Im now back in sunny England *sarcastic*
What is there left to say other than that was the best 5 weeks of my life probably, ive met so many people, seen so many places, tried so many things, its just been unbelievably good fun. To anyone i met there who is reading this, you are all awesome thanks so much! Ill be going back next year, probably to Nagoya to study at university there, make sure you keep your eye out on here! Ill probably post some more photos and things over the next few days. Ill make a normal post tomorrow about goings on and stuff.

写真

2009-07-22T10:49:00.007+01:00

Heres the pics that were meant to be in the previous post, theyre a bit random, so bare with me.

~~The Eiffel Tower~~ The Tokyo Tower

Ah Initial D Arcade 5, this is MY game, i won every race, even beat 2 japanese guys, im THAT good :D

Tekken 6, its been out here since the end of last year, but is still not out in Europe or America, released this autumn i think. Very good game, a definate improvement over its predecessors, the downside: all japanese people appear to be experts at it...

Blazblue: An amazing arcade 2D fighting game, made by the creators of Guilty Gear, (same vein as street fighter) (next 2 pictures)

Black Wii! Do want

This is the NEW Ferrari California, VERY RARE, and VERY nice. This one was seen (by me :D) in Roppongi, the best thing about roppongi in my opinion...

俺の海の日

2009-07-20T12:43:00.003+01:00

Well Sunday night was certainly an epic adventure. We decided to try clubbing in Roppongi, which seemed to have a good reputation for that sort of thing, but when we got there, IT SUCKS, theres just africans promoting strip joints everywhere, sucks. It just does, and what few bars there are are full of westerners, i didn't come here to drink with americans thanks, id have gone to america to do that. So we gave up and walked to the Tokyo tower, and spent some time in there. Then we went to Akihabara (it was about 10pm by this time) on the train. When we got there we spent 3 hours in Club Sega, playing various games, Tekken 6, BlazBlue, Guilty Gear, Initial D (a drifting racing game in which i won EVERY GAME I PLAYED), Taiko tetsujin, Street fighters 2 and 4, and lots more. When the arcade closed we went and had a kebab, because me and Nicolai like kebabs and we stumbled upon a place. Then we had a wander to Ueno park and sat in there for a while talking until half past two. Then, as we (slightly drunkenly) realised that we had missed the last train and would have to wait three hours for the first train, rather than repeat fridays nights, sleep on the beach, then under a bridge, we thought wed try a challenge and try and walk to Takadanobaba from Ueno park so we could get the first train from there, which means we save a lot of money on the metro. Now for those of you who aren't familiar with Tokyo, ITS A LONG WAY, about 10KM (look on google maps), Would we make it in time? Would we ever make it? We had 3 hours and we took that challenge. Our epic 3 hour walk, non-stop i might add, took us from Ueno to akihabara (again) to suidobashi and the tokyo dome, to ushigome, to kagurazaka, to waseda and finally takadanobaba, we arrived at shortly after 5.10, missing the first train by 6 minutes. But we certainly had a great time.

I got up at noon today and, as it was Nicolais last day, we went to Akihabara again, to do some shopping (both window and the normal variety) I got the most awesome tshirt of all time, those of you who know me will see it soon and their eyes will explode. K-on! and Tengen toppa Gurren lagann manga (both awesome) and the new GazettE album.

More Weekend madness

2009-07-19T03:29:00.006+01:00

As you know i havent posted this weekend, since wednesday i think, ive been very busy! On thursday we went to the mitama festival again, in the evening of the last day this time, which is when all the festivities happen. Bon-odori dancing, lots of food stalls, like takoyaki, yakitori, chocobananas (mmmm) drinks etc. it was a great evening, i really like these festivals theyre so much fun :D

On Friday night, loads of us went to Makuhari in Chiba, we bought loads of fireworks, (and beer :D) and had a great time, though the lighters we had werent particularly good, and it was a bit windy but it was a great experience, at one point there was about 30 or so of us there, from all over the world, did get quite drunk, and after everyone left we slept on the beach, then it started to rain, so then we slept on benches outside the station until the first train at 5am (which seems very popular here, theres always people asleep outside stations before they open) Unfortunately i have only one photo from this, i didnt take my camera to the beach, which turned out to be a good choice, as matt's is now broken. lol.

Then, i slept all saturday until 4.30pm (3rd week in a row hah) then in the evening we went to Kichijoji, which is about 4km south of Kamishakuji, to arestaurant where Matt's friend works, was a really nice restaurant, seemed quite posh, but it wasnt expensive at all really. One thing we did notice was how big Kichijoji is, there are LOADS of shops and stuff there, so we will definately be going back there at some point. But one thing happened in the evening, we were waiting for the trains to leave, and they were 20minutes delayed, it was supposed to leave at 18.51 but was still there at half 7, when we finally got going, it seemed that there had been an incident at higashi-fushimi, there were police and ambulance crews everywhere... and body bags, not a pretty sight. Not sure what happened though, the signs just showed "a dire incident"
on a lighter note look what i spotted :p

And finally, today is Nicolai's last day so i can see something being done this evening, but dont worry theres no school tomorrow as its Umi no Hi (ocean day)

Ginza

2009-07-16T07:56:00.003+01:00

After the gundam, we decided to go to Ginza, as it is on the way back, we got off the Yurikamome at Shimbashi and walked to and around Ginza and for those who dont know Ginza (銀座）it means silver seat and is where all the upmarket shops are, Dolce, Dior, Tiffany's etc. Very bright, nice architecture, spent 2 or so hours there, got back at nearly midnight, and i had a test this morning...

Flowers and Gundams

2009-07-16T07:44:00.007+01:00

An example of what we do in our lessons, this was to explain how to use のに, craziness, we have great fun.

Anyway, after school yesterday me and Matt, (the others obviously weren't manly enough for it) did a free flower arranging class and we got to keep what we made, so i couldn't see why not, i have no i dea how ill get it home, but ill try, heres my masterpiece, i could be a professional hah.

Then in the evening we went to the Gundam (again, for the 3rd time) and managed to catch the show, at 8pm, all the lights go off and you get a show, smoke, lights and lasers, and the head MOVES! yes only the head, but it moves at least, was a good show, i got some videos etc, that i may upload.

日本の生活と栄養

2009-07-14T09:19:00.006+01:00

Just for anyone whos interested, and because nothing particularly interesting has happened today
thought id do a post about Japanese food, and general living-here stuff, in comparison to England (obviously i by know means know everything this is just my take, so you elitist jack-offs can kiss my ass)
Shopping here on the most part seems to take part at convenience stores (コンビニ） scattered about, the most notable ones i suppose would be Lawsons, 7/11 and that SunKuss (or however its spelt) and at large department stores that have everything, like the one here in Tanashi called Asta.
Also if you're feeling cheap, or a little short of cash, theres a lot of Y100 shops around, which we often visit for breakfast and general stocks.

Ive lost count of how many of these cartons ive drunk so far, but im pretty sure its 1 a day if not more, only Y105 for 1 litre, which is a very reasonable price indeed. Yum
These crisps are the best crisps ever, you dont get many in a pack, but then they do only cost about Y50. They actually have cheese dripped on them, and taste like pizza, they are heavenly.

For dinner me and the guys often go down to Asta at about half 8 ish because they slash the price of all the sushi and chicken and stuff. You can get a large amount of good japanese food, for under Y450. Bargain.

If you like manga, then look no further than the local Book Off, which are absolutely HUGE, and have large sections where you can get manga for Y105, which i have, i might add, taken advantage off, they also carry CDs, DVDs and games too.

Note* : If your wondering why everything is Y105, not 100, even in Y100 stores, its because of the Japanese consumer tax, TECHNICALLY the items are Y100, but your paying the extra 5 as tax... sucks, well at least its 5%, not 17.5% ey?

PS. Watch out for lamp posts. haha, humourous story, We were walking back from somewhere, i dont seem to remember where, last night, and Matt sees a girl in a ramen shop smiling at him, so he smiles back, and walks straight into a big red, fire hydrant sign pole. Cut his eyebrow good, how we laughed. I guess the moral of the story is, never smile hah.

Imperium part 3 - Revenge of the... oh forget it

2009-07-13T14:10:00.010+01:00

SO after walking to the North end of the palace on our lap of chiyoda, we went to the みたままつり。(mitama festival) Which is a celebration from 13th - 16th July at the Yasukuni shrine for the sould of those who died in WW2. Here are (some) of the pictures

The Yasukuni shrine. そう言えば, has been quite controversial in recent years...

Then we went around some other places, たとえば
The National Diet building, in which the LDP took a hammering in yesterdays election, and yes we did stand in the middle of the road to take this picture.

The Nippon Budokan - Ill play there one day... ONE DAY. Which today was Host to some big wrestling thing.

Imperium 2 - The Empire strikes back

2009-07-13T14:04:00.002+01:00

Heres a 360 movie i took from on top of the little hill at the palace.
Thought id give it its own post to give you a better picture.

Imperium

2009-07-13T13:42:00.007+01:00

So today after school we went to Chiyoda-ku. The very centre of Tokyo, to the Imperial palace grounds, hibiya park, kitanomaru kouen, yasukuni shrine and the Diet building. We walked an entire lap around chiyoda at least (about 8km we walked today). The weather was nice today, sunny, slightly windy, humid. Here are some pictures of the amazing imperial palace and its grounds, i was stunned at the contrast from new, city buildings to thousand year old temples and parks within meters of each other. Its really was stunning, everything was immaculate, the lawns, the trees, just everything really, i took 113 photos today, so here are just a few. Ill make a post after this one about the festival and kitanomaru park.

Shinjuku

2009-07-12T09:57:00.012+01:00

So after the Odaiba expedition, we went to Shinjuku, to go to the 8-bit cafe, which im pretty sure you can guess what goes on there, by the title, you can drink, eat, and play classic games. But it isnt particularly large, and by the time we got there (1am) it was full so we basically just went around shinjuku for the night, stopping in a bar etc. Here are the pictures from that, today im just chilling, should do some work, but oh well.

This is the temple in Shinjuku near kabuki-cho

with matt jumping into frame lol

A weekend norctunal

2009-07-12T09:46:00.008+01:00

Well what a weekend this has been, was out all friday night at the Amrax club (www.amrax.jp) until saturday morning then was out saturday night until sunday morning, farewell body clock. Oh well, Yesterday was the opening of the Odaiba Gundam so we went last night to see it, for some reason the spotlights were off, even at 11pm when we were there, which seems strange. Another thing was that there were still SO many people there, even at 11pm. Heres some highlights from that.

Odaiba itself, (the island the gundam is on) is really beautiful, half of it is a park mostly around the edges, and its got amazing views and is really peaceful, lots of couples about, it would be the best place to go for a date me thinks.

No this isnt New York, there is a mini Statue of Liberty on Odaiba haha

I apologize for the pictures, there really arent many lights in the park.

Apathy

2009-07-11T11:25:00.004+01:00

Ill give you a quick update now and make a proper post tomorrow whn i resume normal activities.
Last night around 10ish we went to this club called Amrax in Shibuya, about 10minutes from the station. We got in cheaper because we knew the DJ, for 2000yen which isnt bad i suppose as we got a free drink, which were also expensive, like 700/800 yen for beer and cocktails so we drank cocktails because they are more worth the money. The DJs were great, good music we were there until about 4.45am. great night, i woke up about 5pm today (the second saturday in a row ive spent asleep hah) Going out again tonight to see the Gundam as its unveiled today officially, and apparently itll be better at night. Then we're gonna go to the 8-bit cafe in Shinjuku to kick it old school.
See you later

Stupidest Ema EVER Facepalm

2009-07-09T11:38:00.002+01:00

Oh how we laughed at this pure stupidity, Ema are supposed to be wishes etc for the future, health etc, nice to see someone with their priorities straight ey?

Just thought it deserved its own post.

Okonomiyaki, Harajuku, Yoyogi and Meiji shrine

2009-07-09T11:13:00.018+01:00

After school a load of us decided to go to this okonomiyaki place in Harajuku, it was really good, 1050yen, you get all you can eat, with a twist, you cook the food yourself, okonomiyaki is like an omelette (sort of) with egg, salad and whatever topping you choose (curry, beef etc) What you did was order what okoniyaki you wanted, you got the indregients to stir together into the mix, then cook and flip yourself on the little like hot plate in the middle of the table, was really great. Then we explored around Harajuku, then Yoyogi park and the Meiji shrine.
Now pics:

These first two are the view from the station on Takeshita street, where all the fashionable clothes shops are, a very fashionable district Harajuku is, lots of Visual Kei clothes shops too :D

Harajuku has a very old, traditional looking station. The whole area really is very nice.

This is the entrance to the okonomiyaki place.

These next 3 are on the overpass overlooking yoyogi park entrance, the yoyogi national stadium and the station.

These are all pictures from the really beautiful Meiji Shrine near Harajuku Station. I got an omikuji and got 大御心 (which is good :D)

(including the backs of the three guys i hang out with here :D)

Tuesday - Gotanda

2009-07-08T09:26:00.002+01:00

After school today we went to Shakeys near Takadanobaba station for the all you can eat lunch, was really nice though some of the pizzas had strange toppings (marshmellows, chocolate, bananas and custard for example). Then in the evening we went to Gotanda (south of Meguro) to a newly opened Izakaya that was selling beer for 50yen, i can pretty much garuntee you wont get it that cheap anywhere else (could you imagine going into a bar and paying 40p for a pint? frankly i dont see it happening anytime soon) and frankly got SO blindingly drunk. Was a great laugh. Tokyo is such a great place because each of these different districts, Akihabara, Gotanda, Shibuya, etc are all so different and have their own flavour. Had a slight headache this morning lol, well 9 beers does that (for which i paid just less than £3). Im a bit stuck now because for friday we have to decide on a topic to do a 10 minute talk about next week! I have no idea what to choose... oh well. Having a rest today though, just gonna go down to Asta at about half 8 with the guys for dinner (we go then because they slash all of the prices about then).

Monday + Tuesday (i give up with the day numbers) Akihabara

2009-07-07T07:36:00.026+01:00

After school yesterday me and the guys met up with Akira and went to Akihabara for the afternoon, it was great. game shops, anime shops (in which theres K-on! stuff everywhere), figure shops, music shops, maid cafes, crazy shops, electronics stores, retro stores and a 8 floor monster of a department store selling just electronics stuff. (Akiba Bit City is the best shop ever :D) It rained a little which was dissapointing, but we were in shops most of the time so its OK. We spent a lot of money haha, Nicolai bought a DS lite and R4, i bought loads of figures and stuff. Hard to describe in words just how many shops and people there are, its just epic the whole place. Here pictures to give you a taste.
In the Sega tower, which is like a 7 floor arcade, theres loads of these games where people use cards in different position in the table to play the arcade game, like there was some turn based strategy ones, even football manager ojnes, but the best things, were these capsules for this gundam game, it looked SO damn epic, you sit in this capsule, exactly like a cockpit of a mecha and you play against the other 12 capsules in a battle royale, we took some of the instructions booklets and when we go back again next week sometime, we'll definately give that a go.

103" TV, £25,000 :O

Just lol

the gundam capsule thingeys

K-on stuff

huge electronics store outside the station

crazy guy shop

the sega building

Retro games shop

Today, has been sunny for once, didnt seem as humid today, though it did seem hotter, i also found out that i have to pay for electricity... off goes the AC then...
oh well tonight we're all going to Gotanda to an Izakaya for drinking, 50 yen a beer (just over 30p) YES PLEASE!

Ok ive lost count. 9 maybe?

2009-07-05T03:32:00.005+01:00

Well ive just been chilling this weekend really, doing some work today, incase anyone was wondering lol. I was only up from 6pm till 11pm on saturday so obviously i barely did anything. But more exciting adventures to come this week. Hopefully

Day 7, Part 2 - 渋谷 (Shibuya)

2009-07-04T09:57:00.005+01:00

And so i now move onto the evening. Me and some other guys and some girls went to shibuya, about 7pm i think, Shibuya no matter how many times you go there, is absolutely stunning, think Piccadilly circus but times 10000. So we went to a restaurant there and had (quite) some to drink, was a lovely restaurant, all traditionally styled and stuff, and it even had its own crazy 70 year old waitress woman hah. After that we went to karaoke, well not directly as after 11pm the price was halved so we waited around for a while, went to a Family Mart etc. Karaoke itself was great fun. But in the lobby of the karaoke building (which was 5 stories tall, we had room 401) there was a bamboo tree, now for a little cultural lesson, 7th of July (7/7) in Japan is whats called 七夕festival (meaning night of the 7th), i ont explain the story behind it, but what happens is you write you wish on a special strip of paper and hang it onto the tree, with each one round the country being covered in colourful paper with peoples wishes on, nice really :). Anyway, In your room room with seats and a table (obviously) all sort of centred around a TV connected to the... guess what... kraoke machine. The choice of songs was huuuuge. There was at least 2000 pages in that book, most songs that i could think of were in there. Had an absolute blast, the girls we were with were actually really good singers, so was the other guy, but the gaijins of us, were somewhat ... terrible, but we really were all merry and in high spirits, was just a really great nice night. We came out at 5am, and to our surprise Shibuya was light again, (on account of it being summer is suppose, but it was still cloudy); and there were people EVERYWHERE, it was just as busy at 5am as it was at 8pm! Madness, Tokyo truly is the city that never sleeps, no wonder; theres unending things to do.

this is shibuya metro station at 5.25AM! SEE, ITS PACKED! (if you dont believe me look at the clock)

our karaoke room

Tanabata wishes :D

Shibuya 109, the famous department store

These next three are from the main square in Shibuya, outside the station.

Day 7, Part 1 - 雨／曇り - Odaiba Gundam

2009-07-04T09:03:00.008+01:00

Hello there dear readers. I didnt really have time to post yesterday for reasons you shall soon discover, but i wanted to post that picture cos its awesome. ANYWAY. SO yesterday (Friday) started as a normal day, me going to school with the guys. I met up with Akira in the afternoon and we went to Odaiba, an island in Tokyo bay. Its actually really big, with like an entire town on it. Its main attraction at the moment, is a 1:1 scale, 20m tall, Gundam replica, the first one from the first series to mark the 25th (or 30th i forget) anniversary. Here are the obligatory snaps. (I took LOADS so ill upload a few)

As its Tsuyu, its always cloudy with a threat of rain, which will clear up in a week or so, and summer will begin. which is a double edged sword really, it will be better weather (ie sunny) but therefore even warmer and more humid (if thats possible)

awww YEAH

2009-07-03T10:12:00.001+01:00

(As above)

Day 6 - 雨 - First day of school... again

2009-07-02T08:28:00.002+01:00

Today was my first day of school :D lol. Im in level 3 (4 being the highest) which ain't too bad at all! I get to skip to lesson 35. Though i think their system is somewhat flawed in the fact that although im at the same level as other people in my class, there maybe certain sentence patterns or conjugations or grammar whatever, that others in my class may have done, and i havent for example. But oh well im not in the 'tard group so its ok. We had a great laugh was fun, got to know the people in my class, seem pretty cool, got 2 french people, a swiss guy, italian, few americans and me for a total of 10. Got a Kanji book (boo) a textbook which is full of examples and grammar etc. obviously; and a workbook which you do exercises for each lessons grammar etc. I found the teching very interesting, not a word of english was spoken, and complex terms they try to explain them using simple japanese or actions to clarify the point, which i could see being quite difficult for some terms. and the thing we learned seemed somewhat arbitrary, first we learned reasonし、etc. then went on to ___なさい and then もうすぐX、そろそろY。But it was only the first lesson, well see how it pans out.

Day 5 - 再度曇り

2009-07-01T06:54:00.004+01:00

Today has been my rest day, didn't do much if anything today, went to Lawsons for lunch and had this sausage pizza bread, tasted so damn good! Yet again its cloudy, hasn't rained. Gotta be back in 高田馬場 again tomorrow for a meeting at 9.20, so early to bed methinks. My awesome pal Akira is coming to Tokyo on friday so im gonna meet him then go to a gig :D woo!
Byebye for now

Day 4 - 曇り - 高田馬場 - Takadanobaba

2009-06-30T09:07:00.008+01:00

Had one of those Guerilla rainfalls this morning, itll be fine, then suddenly pour down for an hour then go back to being cloudy and it hasn't rained since. But im starting to wonder, will the sun ever come out?
Went down to 高田馬場 today for my exam, the grammar exam itself was a cake walk, the composition test was ok, "あなたの国を紹介してください” (introduce your country) COME ON what kind of a essay title is that, i dont know what to write, i probably couldnt have done it in english, let alone japanese, i dont even know the word for "chav" or "ASBO" in japanese, so how could i possibly introduce my country? The interview was not amazing, but they said that they ask deliberately hard things to differentiate between ability levels more easily. I think the interrogators, sorry interviewers would be more at home in a police station as detectives. Oh well. Then i had a traditional japanese meal for lunch, a cheeseburger meal at MacDonalds.
Heres todays pictures. Thats all your probably here to see isnt it? :D

Is it me or are glasses shops (メガネ）much more fun in japan?

Day 3 - 曇り - Out and about in 田無　(Tanashi), and the case of the invisible trash cans

2009-06-29T08:19:00.009+01:00

Good Afternoon people, its been an Ok day weather wise, sunny early on then got cloudy, still warm and humid. Took the afternoon to explore the town, nice place, ample shops, not OVERLY busy, quaint feel to it. Bought me some lunch from the local Family mart. One thing bothers me however, the streets are spotless, yet there are NO rubbish bins ANYWHERE, strange indeed.
Think im over the jet lag now finally. Got my Proficiency exam tomorrow in Takadanobaba, gonna do some revision for that now, then after the exam ill probably have an little explore around there too :D. Well heres some pictures from today.

f

Day 2 - 雨

2009-06-28T08:49:00.002+01:00

Well its raining today, what can i say, im just gonna slob about inside today, cos i only just got up, at 4.30pm lol gonna do some japanese work etc but go to bed early-ish again and try to sort out my body clock, should just come with a winder really...
Last nights dinner was amazingly huge and really tasty, should have taken a camera with me, i shall do from now on i thinks. It was a plate of yakigyoza (little dumplings with meat), pickled vegetables, a rice bowl of course, a plate with salad and battered chicken, and a bowl of like beef and salad in a sort of sauce from what i remember i was quite tired lol.
Think it might rain tomorrow as well, but ill go out tomorrow and get an umbrella lol XD.

みんなさん、こんにちは！

2009-06-27T08:20:00.006+01:00

やった, i made it!. Heres a documented version of that truly epic journey.
Dad and me bro drove me to the airport at about half past 10ish, got there at half 12, and check in doesnt open till half 1 D'OH >.< So after an hour of waiting i check in (and finally get rid of that blasted bag); only to spend 3 hours sitting in departures watching the news about michael jacksons death (sad story what a legend, no matter what they say he changed music forever). Got on the plane and OMG that 12 hour flight was just eugh, though the dinner was really nice, braised beef and steamed rice and this nice slightly sweet sauce, shrimp in a pink mayo sort of thing ive forgotten what its called now... and noodles. The breakfast was ok, spanish omelette, sausage, mushrooms (very japanese i know LOL). Watched some movies on there too piraes of the carribean, gran torino and jurassic park, played tetris and poker against a few other passengers. tried to sleep and failed, some how even though we had to travel through the night, it was always sunny... weird. Got to Narita about 12.15pm local time (im 8 hours ahead of y'all in the UK) filled in countless forms about how im not a terrorist and how i havent filled my bag with fags and makeup. Then the dreaded train journey through tokyo. from this experience, it wasnt bad, but i know how James May and Richard Hammond felt now haha, had to get a train from narita to nippori, then nippori to takadanobaba, then from there to tanashi, then a half hour walk, its now half 4 and im KNACKERED. well heres some pictures and stuff i took on my phone, ENJOY

(By the way to anyone who needs to know, you CAN call and text me, my phone does work here, im on NTT DoCoMo)

the departure lounge

On the metro

A MOVIE OH WOW arent i generous

i shall rest for a while, then dinner, then an evening stroll i thinks

明日へ

2009-06-25T11:08:00.003+01:00

"Have you done any of your packing yet"
Response:

says it all really, well today will just be packing i suppose, have to leave at about 10am tomorrow morning, flights at 1635, but need to be there 3 hours in advance *sigh* and thats before the 13 hour flight lol.
This will most probably then be my last post from sunny England
じゃあね

An exercise in futility

2009-06-24T21:10:00.003+01:00

well this will seem a bit pathetic, but i wants moar readers, as they say "moar becoz moar". :D if you read this and have friends with similar interests TELL THEM pleeease. I just want to get my opinion out there, so people will have a broader view on things, never know perhaps my (somewhat crazy sometimes) views on here have made a difference? or maybe wil do? who knows, well anyone reading this thanks for your time :D

Im back, only to leave again!

2009-06-24T11:46:00.003+01:00

Hello people, not that anyone reads this lol.
Havent posted for past few months been SO busy with exams and finishing up first year of uni, but its all over now, im no longer a freshman! wohoo. sorted a house next year with 2 awesome guys gonna be great. You may or may not know that on friday im off to Tokyo for 5 weeks, so everyday i can ill be posting my holiday diary on here with general goings-on, gig reviews, crazy stuff and pictures. The "main" reason for the trip is for me to go on a University's intensive everyday japanese language course, but we all know much more stuff will go on, a trip to akihabara, odaiba to see the 1:1 gundam, lots of lives, and shopping :D. Well look forward to it! I know i am :P

uh.. I cant think of a good title

2009-05-02T20:44:00.002+01:00

I havent posted these past few weeks i know, but i been real busy, submitted all my coursework now, had my Japanese reading and writing exams, just the speaking left and 3 exams in july. Feels good to have it all out of the way. Only a month or so left at uni this year, summer is gonna be fun indeed. But anyway in recent news, the Japanese exchange students are here and well weve all been going out most days, drinking haha. Typical me :D. Weve all got a football game in the park tomorrow which will be great fun, cant wait, ive not played football in ages.

Reviews n stuff

(Mini-album)Exist Trace - Vanguard ~of the muses~ - AMAZING mini album. sounds great and well produced. Jyo's voice wraps around the simple yet effective guitar riffs so beautifully. GET THIS ONE NOW.
9/10

(Game) Orange Box - got this off Steam last weekend for £5.66 for portal, Half life 2, episode 1 and 2 and Team fortress 2. BARGAIN, i love the concept of portal so much completed it today, the last few levels are SO FRUSTRATING!

ill post some more tomorrow with results of the footy. :D
じゃあね

Back once again

2009-04-20T10:11:00.003+01:00

Well im back in Manchester again now for 7 or so weeks, 4 weeks left of lectures and the like, then exams, then SUMMER! woo, long way to go yet. Gotta give my Japanese politics coursework in today, but im not sure where then ive got labs. *Sigh* じゃあ、がんばる

At Last!

2009-04-17T23:33:00.001+01:00

Finally ive got my new guitar, a Schecter C7 Hellraiser woo! Its been months of searching, happy now its here, blast out some drop A riffs, ill upload some photos later.

けいおん！たくさんアニメがあるよ！

2009-04-11T00:36:00.003+01:00

Well the Spring anime season is well underway now. Ill just point out the ones im watchign (i.e the best ones hahah)
K-On! - I love this one, its about a group of high school girls who make a rock band, its great! (especially when Krauser-sama from DMC turns up :p) also the ED is fantastikupo.

The ED (mio is the best or should i say YOMIo *cough* ga rei *cough*)

Higashi no eden (Eden of the east) - ive not watched this one yet, but i was initially intrigued for two reasons.
1: Oasis are doing the OP
2: its a new Production IG series. so im lookin' forward to it

Dragonball Kai - well so much for HD only the OP and ED are so far, seems exactly the same to me, but DBZ is DBZ so im watching it anyway!

FMA 2 - Not seen this one yet, havent seen the first season either so im not sure what to watch first.

Guitar Tales

2009-04-08T23:02:00.003+01:00

Well today me and one of my friends from university (Liam, my fellow guitarist from the band [see a few posts ago hes in the pictures]) went to London today to see some guitars.
Denmark Street near Tottenham Court Road is the best place, literally 8 or so guitar shops on one short street! Its a good way to spend a few hours, which we happily did, sitting in the shops playing their gitboxes. We stumbled across one shop which ACTUALLY stock Schecter WOOHOO! finally, ive been trying to get a shcecter for a while now; anyway ive placed an order for one,
a Schecter Omen-7 Extreme. Seven strings for extra range heavy at the bottom without losing the top, a coil tap and a frikin sweet look, waddya think?

EDIT: Ok so i called them up today, and they said it was gonna be upto 5 months wait... so maybe not... Why must this always happen to me

TTGL

2009-04-04T15:15:00.005+01:00

I just wanted to point out that Tengen Toppa Guren Lagann (or however you want to spell it) Episode 8 was the best 23minutes of TV ive seen in my life. Just Pure Win, but heart breaking ... :'( also the saddest 23 minutes of TV in my life.
俺を誰だと思ってやがる! 　カミナ、イヤアアアアアアア. The most manly character ever "awesome and badassitude incarnate" Just look at those glasses and the cape, you WISH that you are as cool as him!

This brings me nicely to my list of best episodes ever:

1. TTGL 8 - NOOOOOOOOOOO! Epic
2. Death Note 25 - FFFUUUUU that was clever
3. GiTS SAC 21+ 24 = kick ass awesome
4. Ga rei zero 8 + 9 = Baww :'(
5. ToraDora 16 = again, fantastic!

Just remember, dont believe in me who believes in you, dont believe in you who believes in me, believe in you, who believes in yourself! - Kamina (TTGL)
Never forget...

ただいま

2009-04-02T13:47:00.006+01:00

Well im back in London, at home again for three weeks, horrah home cooking and not endless ready meals! But then saying that i am still sittin here eating these "builders breakfast" flavour crisps, i like them but i cant quite put my finger on exactly what they taste like, i cant exactly say i can taste the sausages and such, but theres definately the egg, strange.
Anyway yeah ive not posted for a few days, currently working on this Japanese politics essay "Why did the LDP dominate Japanese post war politics" if you have ideas let me know hah ;).
It certainly has been an interesting week though, on monday me and dad took the old bed frame down to the dump, but of course it didnt fit in the boot, so half closed it; however when we got there, there was a height restriction and speed bump (i think you see where this is going) drove over that, the boot flew up hit the barrier and SMASH back window is in thousands of pieces all over the place, was quite funny actually hah, moral of the story is: USE STRING OR SOMETHING TO HOLD THE BOOT LID DOWN IF IT WONT CLOSE!

Also as this is the first post since our gig on friday, thought id post some photos and let you all know how it went, well out setlist was
1. Alice Nine - Rainbows
2. Aya Hirano - God knows (from Haruhi)
3. Lithium Flower (ED from Ghost in the shell Series 1)
4. はるかかなた - Asian Kung-fu generation
5. For whom the bell tolls - Metallica
I personally thought it went pretty well, wasnt a packed stadium but hey gotta start somewhere!

And there we are lol

妄想

2009-03-25T20:07:00.004Z

Well my japanese listening exam didnt go too bad today, the first question was just "A asks B questions, translate the answers that B gave" EASY. Question 2 was a diary like thing, a week of this guys events was read out, like "on monday i had a business meeting in ginza i got there by subway blah..." but all the days were mixed up so was a good question really. 3 was quite hard. Was one of those write as much as you can in about 5 seconds ones. Some of the parts were like "say everything you can about Kens siblings" which he said about 20 things in 10 seconds, very hard to keep up i must say. The last question was more of the same, a girl giving a report of how she went to a school to teach japanese. But overall i think i did OK.
Had a fun senses practical today as well, blind tasting chocolate and pickled onions, stabbing each other with paperclips, audiograms and optical illusions, best practical yet.
GIG FRIDAY! woo, gonna be good! anyone in manchester at the time come on down, Phoenix bar at 9pm.
also from now Iwakami-sensei suggested i should do a japanese diary to increase mah mad skills lol, so dont mind my scribblings at the end of each entry, if you can read japanese, enjoy!

今日、試験の後でマンチェスたに買い物をしに行った。Aldiにミルクはとても安いね。さあ。。。たくさん宿題があるから、僕は今晩勉強する。がんばりますよ！

From Assays to Essays

2009-03-24T18:00:00.003Z

Oh, this has been a busy week, Radioligand binding assay experiment on monday, so boring, i HATE serial dilutions with a vengeance. Tomorrow ive got my Japanese listening exam, shouldnt be too hard, as long as i practice tonight.

Todays cultural insight is based on todays lecture on Japanese Religion.
The word in japanese for religion is 宗教 (shukyou) the first character meaning a doctrine, the second, teachings, so altogether making a doctrine or set of teachings followed by a lot of people. 80% of Japanese people when asked would say they were Shinto or Buddhist, yet only about 20% would say they were religious. WHY? Its mainly because people follow the traditions of these religions and their implications like the 初詣 (the first visit to a shrine of the year) due to situational reasons, a common phrase is 「苦しい時の神だのみ」 which means "turn to the gods in time of trouble (lit. painful times)"
Also Shrines are Shinto and temples are buddhist, just for differentiation.

告白

2009-03-20T11:20:00.003Z

WOW. I just watched the penultimate episode of toradora that came out today, and what a great episode (dont worry i wont give spoilers). It just goes to show that this really was an outstanding series, the animation is always top notch, and the voices truly fit the personalities of the characters. As with most anime series, being the penultimate episode, its the "big revelation" and what an unexpected one it was! I cant wait to the finale for quite frankly, the best series this season, it airs next week! 楽しみね. On the subject, im looking forward to the new Dragonball HD remake and Full metal alchemist seasons in april. Bleach is gettin interesting again too, its in the middle of yet another filler, but this one is actually relevant to the story and was in the manga,set in the past when all the Vaizards were captains, get to see a fight between urahara and aizen next week me thinks.

Elsewhere, ive started trying to do my lab report, and my god what a slog it will be, i dont find the principles hard, its just all the statistics tests and how they relate to the experiment. Basically its just the effect of Salbutamol (a bronchodilator taken by asthma sufferers) on the airways. A long day awaits me i think.

Reviews and more general catch up

2009-03-18T20:44:00.003Z

Well, today started off with pretty horrible weather, but it brightened up! We may well have spring now, have to see how the rest of the week goes i suppose.
On to reviews

SADIE - MASTER OF ROMANCE (Album)

Now ive always had high expectations of these guys and they certainly have delivered on this occasion. Although some of the songs are a bit forgetable, they do grow on you, ive listened to this album a lot recently, i think i just prefer the heaviness in contrast to some of the other recent visual kei dissapointments (12012 im looking at you, thats right hang your heads in shame) but its nice to see that they havent gona all mushy on us. Highlishgts for me are probably: Scarlet, Shingan and kagerou. The intro was quite interesting, i like the idea, the quiet sort of disturbed brooding song but i think maybe could have been implemented a bit better, some DeG influence in there somewhere. Ice romancer, crimson tear and grieving the dead soul are the same as the singles, pretty cool. One thing in my opinion that this album lacks are my payment of vomiter (from crimson tear single) growls WHERE ARE THEY, they were absolutely great especially the "the reason fades away" in the chorus.
In conclusion, i think this album is a nice hard, contrast to alternative VK albums that are around, Sadie should be cherished.
8/10

BORN - Abnormal Head Machine (Album)

Ive followed this band for a while now, theyve only released a handful of singles and live only distributions, and now finally a full album, much to my delight, its a very good album; in some ways very typical and not very stand outey (hah) but very nice none the less. You styart with your typical G.D.S inspired intro, then we move onto some nice tracks most of which have a similar sound, sort of heavy and menacing, easing off for choruses, in which for some strange reason the vocalist chooses to use electronic effects on his voice sometimes, but hey it doesnt sound horrible. some of the songs: vermins cry, with hate etc have been released before but have been rerecorded with added electronic voice effects if you listen closely. But i will praise his singing capability, i very very much like it, (more than Sadie's Mao perhaps?) although some generic songs are present, a promising band none the less.
Highlights: Ruisai no hana, Tragedy and Dust pain
7/10

damn ive still not done anywork again today... oh well back to ocarina of time it is then :D

Also to all you anime fans out there what do you think about ToraDora? I love it :P Opinions greatly appreciated.
One last thing, at our university me and some other japanese students (as in those studying japanese and actual japanese students) have got to arrange a movie night and choose a good japanese movie to represent japan for the "Japan night" that the faculty wants to organise, Any suggestions?

よし！

2009-03-17T19:52:00.002Z

Woo, Tokyo in the summer, get to see all the guys, all july, gonna be awesome, gonna be bankrupt goin gigs n music n clothes n everything. VK gigs galore please, and hopefully me and Akira can make that crazy show that we can put on youtube hehe.
Tomorrow, you have reviews to look forward to, the new Sadie album, 新興宗教楽団NoGoD album, and the Mucc one too, aaand maybe some anime reviews too, probably kannagi and toradora.
thats all for today, time for more work and dinner now.

The return of spring and various other things

2009-03-17T18:22:00.005Z

Well, its been a while, so ive decided to start this ol'bloggywog back up again.
A lot has happened, and its now a busy time of the year, much like the rest of it...
ANYWAY, it seems as though spring has come once again after months of gloom, we finally had a good days sunshine and reasonable warmth today, nice change lets hope it stays that way.

In academic news, ive got a LOT of coursework to do now before the end of term, now only a week and a half away. A lab report, an essay on Japanese politics and general revision.

Now an announcement to those of you in the manchester area on FRIDAY 27th MARCH, at the PHOENIX BAR on Oxford road at 9PM, there is the annual MUJS cosplay party, DO COME! its gonna be a great night, mainly because my band is playing haha, yes were well underway with preparations, weve got a half hour set playin various anime and japanese covers, as well as a Metallica cover for no apparent reason! But hey itll be great, we have band practice normally on a monday night but lately weve stepped up to two nights a week, so as soon as this gig is done we can begin the song writing process again.

But to those of you reading,let me just point out one thing, i may use japanese words every now and then in here, but let me assure you i am not your typical wannabee who only knows "kawaii" i am learning the language as part of my degree, and i proudly admit i watch anime but i am not the typical fanboy who just rates everything as 10 out of 10 just because it japan related, just wanted to point that out before we begin, because some blogs/people i have seen about are that type of well frankly, fag.

now that were all caught up i can now begin todays news and items.

Today has been quite a good day, nice weather relatively laid back day. Had japanese this morning, preparing for my listening exam next week, should be ok.

This afternoon was much more interesting; in my Japanese society lecture today we continued looking at the traditional 家(Ie) household ideals, based on lineage and how it has developed now into more 家庭 (katei) or nuclear families. Perhaps the most intriguing thing was after that when we were introduced to the view of the japanese psyche, and the interdependance and connected mindsets that they have, for example the character for person 人（ひと） or hito is written as 2 lines, and looking at it in a different way, you could say that this character is made of two lines each leaning on the other, without one the other would fall, signifying that humans are supported by others, and the kanji for human being or "ningen" 人間 means "between people". The view of 命(inochi) also was brought into the fray, meaning life itself as an existance, not your everyday life (生活), not just human life (人生), but all animals and plants share the inochi, "inochi is the only thing all that all creatures have in common". Very interesting indeed. And there is todays cultural insight into japan, my new item which i will post everyday!
Yay, if you managed to read this whole post then pat yourself on the back, and i award you a *fix* virtual cookie.
(^.^)/

Im back

2009-03-17T17:19:00.001Z

now after a lengthy break, of almost 4 months im back in business! with more reviews, pictures and general madness than ever! watch this space, my first proper post will be after i finish the washing up...

Thrift

2008-11-06T22:00:00.003Z

Again ive not posted for a few days, sorry, but then its not like anyone actually reads this anyway haha. Well im back in London for the week, its reading week at uni, which is just Half term basically, supposedly a week off; but just my luck, our goup had a practical on monday... of my week off, so i couldnt come home until monday night. Also had to do an Endocrinology essay, which was a lot more work than i had hoped, 3000 pages of books and several hours later it was finished, so now that all my work is done I CAN RELAX, for four days until lectures restart...

So im sure most of you out there with 360's are going to be getting Gears 2 soon, if not already, i myself would get it sooner but my current financial situation has somewhat limited my spending ability, much like Iceland it would seem, although i cant see myself applying for international financial aid, although it might be worth a try...

But dont be forgetting about the other gems coming out soon, like Mirrors edge, the demo of which i loved. one of my friends called it "an FPS without the S" which i think is an apt description, we'll have to wait for the full version i suppose. Or an alternative for those of you with a tight budget, theres always Xbox arcade titles, Streets of Rage 2 or Castle crashers are great if you have a friend(s) to play with. If not, dig through your old titles, im sure youll find a gem somewhere, like the other day looking through my old Playstation games, Hogs of War lept out, me and my bro spent all day playing it! Some thrifty advice there from Ol'Stu.
Hogs of war in action

Saturday

2008-11-02T21:46:00.003Z

I am now officially bored so gonna make another post. Last night me and the guys (Craig, Gordon and Akira) went to that Japanese restaurant in chinatown (here in manchester) called "Tokyo Season" i really do enjoy this restaurant the food is great, but seems strange that most of the people working there are chinese, but i digress. Many laughs were had especially at Craig having to ask for a spoon because he cant use chopsticks and gettin paranoid thinking that all of the staff were looking at him. Most of the menu im now able to read thanks to my awesome japanese classes i have as part of my degree (ありがとう岩上先生！）. So i went for the vegetable (Yasai ;p) tempura and Katsudon. Which i might add, was absolutely delectable, (a bowl of sticky rice with breadcrumb chicken onions and egg on top for those of you who dont know), Craig got the Katsudon curry on the premise that you got a spoon with it so that he wouldnt have to ask and pointed out the curry on the menu as he didnt want to say it, hilarity ensued. they serve Asahi beer there which i love as well which was the cherry on the cake. Reasonably priced too, £15 for the beer and the two dishes.
Then we went back to Craigs room for sum Xbox 360 multiplayer. At first we ended up playing castle crashers for an our an a half, a brilliantly addictive game that. Then Call of duty 2, now craig being a master of FPS as compensation for his nonexistent chopstick skills (or Hashi ;P) was as usual "PWNING" everyone, but in my first game managed to pull off a draw with him, albeit he did have less deaths than me. Then on to the dreaded CoD4, Craigs home turf, and i mention this only because I WON the first game, 100 points baby oh yeah, craig second with 85. After that however my beginners luck as it were began to wear off. Quote of the night "I PRESSED IT!" in reference to the fact that many a time for all of us, we pressed the right stick in to stab, only to be killed by the other person. Then the harshness of reality kicked in as we realised it was 3am...
Great fun though, i can see this happening more often, especially when i bring up my Gamecube with Timesplitters 2 after reading week.

Senselessness

2008-10-16T17:44:00.003+01:00

OK, so ive not had a chance to post in a while, this uni work is really piling up now, essays, data handling garbage and online assessments coming out of the woodwork.
Also, went a bit mad with the spending yesterday, saw Ju-on (the original grudge film) and ichi the killer on amazon for 2.97 each so i got those, and then went on CDJapan for my scheduled browse and ended up ordering, BEE(insert more E's)ST from High and mighty color, which i thought seeing as Maki is leaving i would buy the limited version with the DVD containing 4 PVs and live footage, BARGAIN, also you can vote for a song you want on the album HERE. Also on my spate of senseless spending i ordered the Best of for Rentrer en soi, which has the same concept, you can vote for your favourite song to go on the album HERE. THEN i also ordered the new Stereopony single, which is the new ED for bleach if you dont know, i fell in love with that song as soon as i heard it, and i got the last first press edition as well :D. So now im broke haha, oh well, it was worth it, at least it had better be...

Also im gonna put up a poll as soon as i figure out how, WHICH IS BETTER, THE NEW BLEACH OP (opening song) OR THE NEW ED?
thought id tell you know so youve got time to think about it :D.

DETHKLOK

2008-10-05T22:46:00.005+01:00

So ive been watching this cartoon from america called Metalocalypse, i wasnt expecting much but its really hilarious, its about this metal band called Dethklok, "the seventh biggest economy in the world" and "the biggest cultural force" and millions of people go to their concerts, which most of the time end up in most of the crowd being killed or maimed, thats just what makes it so funny, the comedy is very good, and their songs are hilarious, imagine a coffee jingle in death metal form, followed by boiling coffee and cream being poured onto the crowd, hideously burning them. Thats pretty much it. Not for the weak hearted i might add. But uni is going OK, Japanese lessons are predictably the highlight of my week, and im still ill... as is much the same with everyone else

A great quote:

Nathan Explosion:*growled voice* "and now for the blackest present for the most brutal of all bass players: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOTHINNGGG"
Murderface: "awwwwww you SUCK!"

And some clips

In Flames again

2008-10-01T22:03:00.002+01:00

Just thought id post this, Satellites and astronauts live from monday nights gig, the highlight of the show, this is such a rare song for them to play live !

THE BULLET AND NEWS STORM

2008-10-01T20:59:00.004+01:00

I cant help but notice that im listening to this mini album more and more, its not new, its not perfect, but i just cant help it, I freakin' love Sadie man they are an awesome band, so CHECK THEM OUT! The Bullet storm is the mini im refering to, 5 songs, Simple and well written, fast paced punk edged songs to a ballad, except Waver in darkness it ruins the whole thing, avoid it like the plague, I would recommend the other 4 to anyone.

Now for NEWS

Merry have announced a new single for Xmas, called "Fuyu no Castanet", looking forward to this A LOT. Released 26th November.
3 types, A, B w/ DVD and C also w/ DVD.
A has the title track and an acoustic version of kanashimi blue train
B has title track and PV and bonus footage whatever that may be...
C has title track and DVD with making of footage and PV

Also, theyve got their Gendai Stoic (first) album remastered, and will be rereleased on October 10th, Id get it just for Tasogare restaurant, yasashisa kid and bluesy night :D.

Sadie have also announced a new single "Ice Romancer" out on 17th december. No tracklisting as of yet.

Girugamesh have released a PV sample for BREAK DOWN, from theiur new album MUSIC, check it out on youtube, see what you think. Personally i like it a lot.

Lynch. have also released a pv sample for their upcoming single "Ambivalent Ideal" seems OK but a little too similar to their previous album material.

Recently annoucning their unexpected disbandment, Rentrer en soi will be releasing their last new material in the form of a mini album called Megiddo, hope they go out with a bang :D. Also they have titled their best of album which is out on 19th November, AUN SOPH AUR (WTF :S) YOU can choose the tracks they put on it, you can vote only once so make it count people!
http://www.freewill.jp/rent_request/request.html , I voted for Negative creep cos its a little known awesome B-side.

Also, FELLOW D=OUT FANS REJOICE! Not only are they releasing Zipang (my favourite album this year) in europe with a bonus DVD, but a European tour is in the works! COME TO THE UK FOR ONCE! I want to bask in the jazzy awesomeness

Thats all folks!

Tonight

2008-09-29T23:28:00.002+01:00

Well, i literally just got back from the In Flames gig at the manchester academy, thought id write this now before i forgot :D.
Anyway so we got there a little bit late and the first band "Sonic Syndicate", just walked on stage as we (me and two mates) walked in, so they are from Sweden (fom what i gathered) they were really good, lots of good riffs, but no solos unfortunately, i thought the fact that they have 2 vocalists that both do the same thing, is a little unnecessary but hey, only criticism is, a lot of the songs sounded very similar.
Next on, were Gojira, a french band, im a little hit and miss with these they played 6 or 7 songs, but only 2 or so sounded any good to me.
Then after an agonising half hour wait (not quite as bad as the several hours for Diru last november) In Flames arrived on stage. Good choice of intro song, The chosen pessimist, got everyone worked up. Then my mind goes a little fuzzy, i never remember the order of songs at concerts, but 4 or 5 from the new album such as Im the Highway, Delights and Angers, Move Through Me and Disconnected. But the best part was the fact that they whipped out a bunch of oldies that was absolutely brilliant, ones theyve hardly ever played live, for example, The Jester Race (even stuck the main riff of Behind Space in there), Dead god in me, pinball map, Insipid 2000, the main surprise was Satellites and Astronauts which i love. Then good ol' crowd pleasers, Come Clarity, Vanishing Light, Trigger, Cloud Connected, the Quiet Place and Take this Life. They were a lot better than i had ever hoped, they interacted and talked with the crowd a lot, played to the crowd too, my only criticism this time is that there was NO MOONSHIELD :(, theres always next time i suppose...

Manchester

2008-09-28T18:40:00.002+01:00

SO! Here i am,Manchester, got here last sunday, i apologise, ive note had time to post, what a busy week its been. Welcome talks coming out of the woodwork, going out every night but one, made lots of new buddies, its been great. I really like Manchester itself and where i am, Im on the city campus which is 5 minutes walk from the city center, over 500 pubs and clubs apparently, and 10 minutes from where my lectures are on the main campus. Got a little park and rail bridge outside my window (ill take some pictures of my cesspit later). Had a stomach ache and felt bloated for the past few weeks, but i got some stuff for that now should get better i hope...
Lectures start tomorrow, freshers week is over, back to the monotony of education once again.

TEAM UK!

2008-09-19T13:53:00.004+01:00

I love this video, its from Yakitate! Japan, a hilarious parody of us english people, best part is ITS TRUE! If only we could all actually be as awesome as them. Check it out!

We are English and we love tea!
Occasionally we hang out at pubs, too!
You can’t buy our bread with Euros!
We add malt vinegar to everything!
Fish and chips! Fish and chips!

AHAH ROFL

R.I.P. RENTRER EN SOI, 2001-2008

2008-09-16T22:48:00.006+01:00

I write this with a heavy heart, Rentrer en soi are breaking up. Its been 7 years, theyve had ups and down, but always came out good in the end, I wish them all the best of luck in whatever they go on to do, they are going to release their final Mini-album Megiddo in october, and then a final best of album in November, followed by their last live on Christmas day. I think I may have to buy that Best of, but well see what tracklisting it gets. Hopefully we can get another good band reborn from the ashes of ReS, who knows?

Dir en grey - GLASS SKIN

2008-09-13T14:24:00.002+01:00

I got this in the post this morning, and I was quite surprised at the speed of the delivery, It was only shipped on Tuesday, only 4 days? How comes I can get a parcel from Japan quicker than I can get a letter from my parents?
I ordered the 1st press Limited edition from CDJapan, so I got this quite cool poster with it, which isnt bad, but it seems strange to me that the limited edition and the regular are the same price.
ANYWAY on the review

I like the cover art myself, theres something enigmatic about it.
Glass Skin - I REALLY do like this song a lot, it isnt their best, but i feel its a step forward, moving away from the MOAB sound towards a more mellow ballad, although i feel the bass could have been more pronounced. I like the piano riff, its a marmite thing i suppose you either love it or hate it, I really like the bridge vocals (around 3:00).
Undecided - Now this always worried and intrigued me, i was hoping that it wouldnt turn out like Hydra -666- (even though i was strangely drawn to it), again i feel that i really like this song, It has a nice structure and good acoustic work. I do wish they had left the original strumming patern in the beginning though.
AGITATED SCREAMS OF MAGGOTS -UNPLUGGED- - In my eyes (or should i say my ears), this song is an absolute abomination, WHAT THE HELL, i couldnt even listen to it all the way through even once!
Ryoujoku no Ame (Live) - I do love the original recording of this song (especially the single version) this live version feels a little gimmicky, its a faithful live production, but its nothing special.
I award this single
7.6/10 - Good start, but as for 3 and 4, theres no need, give us more NEW songs.

Death Note Fever

2008-08-31T23:12:00.002+01:00

Yes it appears I have caught it, I was bored this afternoon (as with every sunday) so decided to watch Death Note, I've heard nothing but good things about it so i thought id give it a try, and boy was i not dissapointed, It is an amazing show, one of the longer seasons at 37 episodes, this is a deeply engrossing show about a book (i wont reveal spoilers dont worry), yes thats right, a book, this series, beautifully animated, Light Yagami, your typical high school student in tokyo discovers this book, the Death Note, carries this message "the human whos name is in this book shall die" Light soon discovers this and uses it for his own warped sense of social justice (á la Bleach's Tousen). The Police however have other ideas and are out to stop him, including a young super detective known only as "L". Light gets more and more insane as the story progresses, it is very emotionally involving, as some of the characters that die, you will honestly feel bad for and, although Light is cool at first and his "world view" is admirable... things take a turn for the worse. Im now upto episode 9 and i just cant stop watching it ad Light and L try to second guess each other, a true battle of the minds. Bravo. Episode 25 is THE best episode of ANYTHING ive ever seen!
And thus i award my first ever 10/10

Light and the death note

Sakuran / さくらん

2008-08-29T23:23:00.004+01:00

So today was the event of my week (says a lot for my week i know) me and some friends (7 of us in total) went to London to see a new japanese film, Sakuran, Set in 18th Century Edo, Japan - “Sakuran” traces the life of Kiyoha as she ascents from the lowly courtesan ranks to the high class position of Oiran in the steamy red-light district of Yoshiwara. Sakuran takes the familiar feudal era Tokyo and infuses it with the hip modern day style of Tokyo. With an epic rock/jazz soundtrack and stunning visuals, a very good film, extremely interesting to watch. Im not gonna give to much away, go and see it.

8.5/10

Reviews again

2008-08-28T20:19:00.002+01:00

Cellt - Lydia [Single]

Now this band have been a little hit and miss with me, the "Hakanai inori..." single was great, with the exception of despair garbage, and the Candy monstar single was a bit Meh, so i was hoping for more this time, and i was not dissapointed! I like the synth/electro power chords of the title track, works well with his voice and is a very well put together song, unlike this blog it would seem haha. Especially the palm muted bridge leading to the chorus. the second song seems to be an almost jazzy song with a distorted high riff, which is pulled off i feel, the last track is called Impulse and i love the drum and bass at the beginning, funky, and the power chords come in with great effect then the solo over the chords, its great.
KEEP IT UP!
9.0/10

In preparation for mail

2008-08-28T19:22:00.005+01:00

I just love it when the postman comes each morning, especially when im waiting for mail, this morning was no exception, i heard the bang of the spring loaded finger trap we call the mail flap in our front door and jumped out of bed to see what, if any mail was for me, and what a bounty today, i got my new Japanese dictionary, huge thing it is, for university and also my CD that i ordered from Amazon, Shinjuuka by Kagerou (their best of album), i always liked this band, then they disbanded, i spotted this gem on amazon for only £8.99 with 30 tracks on 2 CDs thats a bargain by any standards.

So i thought id give my review:

Kagerou - 心中歌 (Shinjuuka - Suicide song) [Best of Album]

To be quite frank this is one of those marmite bands, you either love them or hate them, if you haven't heard them before this is the best place to start, a mixture of fast paced punk songs to driving ballads this is a varied album.
As a best of album this album is true to its word, this truly is probably one of the best selection of their songs you could choose. A mix of all of their most famous songs, "wrist cutter" "XII Dizzy" and "Kogarashi"; their unreleased rare and B-sides such as "sakurakurakura" and even a new song "Ichirin no Aoku" which is absolutely amazing. there is the odd song perhaps that you might not like, but in a compilation of 35 SONGS theres a little something for everyone.
8.9/10

音楽のNews

2008-08-27T19:27:00.001+01:00

There have been far too many releases during my time in japan for me to fully review them all, half of which ive not even listened to yet, but i shall do my best as I feel it is my duty.

D=Out - Heisei Bubble [Single]
This isnt a new single but I LOVE their style, the vocalist has a really cool voice and they stand out from the sea of predictable VK, jazzy and bluesy tunes with saxaphones and jazz piano MY KINDA THING!, I like it a lot
8.7/10

D=Out - Zipang [Album]
This is their new album and in a similar vein to their above mentioned single, but as a larger portion, this is my sort of thing, i absolutely adore this band and this album is no exeption, finger clicking, toe tappin', thigh slappin' jazzy awesomeness
9.3/10

Deathgaze - Abyss [Single]
They certainly have improved since "im broken baby" and with the arrival of their new bassist too, i like this single, i can garuntee you have not heard guitars detuned this far and vocals this deep, but it suits them, his singing is good, but his growls still need work, but good work.
7/10

Siva - Demolish and Liberalism [2 Singles]
Ill review these as one and the same as they really make up a single between them with 2 songs each, which seems a little bit of a rip off spendin lyk about £10 on 4 tracks, but its a good result, only thing is each song is a little hit and miss, there are truly awesome parts of songs, eg Public opinions chorus, but the rest of the song is not as impressive, all to prevailant on the other songs as well. More consistency please.
6.2/10

Rentrer en soi - UNENDING SANCTUARY [Single]
Right, this had the potential to be such a brilliant single, the title track is rockin' as usual, though as i had expected not a Stigmata beater, but the B-sides, i just wanna know WHY they keep doing silly rehashes of old songs THERES NO NEED, especially as half the time the originals are better anyway, because of this, even though the title track was great i can only award a :
5/10

Ill review more later, ive not had a chance to listen to more, spent hours listening to D=Out THEY ARE TOO GOOD.

TADAIMA - IM BACK IN ACTION

2008-08-27T18:46:00.006+01:00

Ive been meaning to update this since i got back from holiday, but that was a really hectic week, what with results etc and i never got round to it, secondly i realised that no-one reads this anyway HAHA, and thirdly, most typical of me, i forgot.
Well here i am, back again.

Got back from Japan (best frikin' holiday EVER) on the 13th of August, only to be met the next day, dreary eyed and jet lagged, with my A-level results.
I got an A in Biology, a B in Chemistry and a C in History, which is dissapointing because i found out that i was only 3 and 7 marks away from an A in chemistry and B in History respectively. But i did get my first choice uni, MANCHESTER HERE I COME! still got a few weeks left here yet so, make the most of it i suppose.

But yeah back to the Holiday, absolutely the best holiday ever, not to everyones tastes but wow.
Went to Tokyo, Saitama, Omiya, Osaka, and Nishinomiya (where Haruhi is based on hehe)
good times, many laughs were had, went to loads of concerts, bought loads of clothes and CDs.
I am now officially broke. oh well was worth it. Hopefully i can go back soon and see all the guys and gals again soon

Re-view

2008-07-11T12:26:00.003+01:00

Well im bored, and i have to eat time somehow until holiday starts...
so REVIEWS of nu singles

first
we have the new MAXIMUM THE HORMONE single TSUME TSUME TSUME/[F]
A really good single, mix of punk and metal growls, which go surprisingly well together in this chaotic single, my favourite song is [F], which begins with a very hard to comprehend barrage of growling, followed by a nice singing part and a classic rapping/growling section from Daisuke. The chorus is really cool singin, pop bass folowed by more growling,the solo is great, i likes what i hears, i always find this band hard to describe, hardcore punk? :S i have no idea lol.

Lets see what else,
Dali - Endroll = meh, typical VK vocals have some nice unpredictability and nice drums but mehworthy.

Ayabie - Mikazuki no kiseki
A nice song, sounds in the same vein as Cubic [L/R]ock, which is good, i like this song, nice jazzy feel, with piano and trumpets(?) good summer tune. vocal wise, typical ayabie, very soft. good chill out. Digital Neverland - i dont like so much, too electropop for me. Hare no hi (fine day) this song i really do like A LOT. sounds like it was made live, the clapping works well. nice high chords, the chorus and lyrics are really well done, the main riff sounds similar to Audrey by Dir en grey, in a very spurious way. Hinageshi - Im not sure what to think of this, one of the more fact paced ones, kind of like Japanese lo-res caramel town. Its alright, guess i just havent given it much of a chance, nice solo too.

J News

2008-07-09T12:16:00.003+01:00

NEWS:
MUCC are coming to the UK in October!!! YATTA, albeit its part of the tatse of chaos tour, which has got some crap (emo) bands, but i REALLY wanna see MUCC so ill go n leave when they finish i reckon.
I finally get to see them, at their manchester gig, as ill be at uni by then, but that is truly awesome news.

MY NEXT GIGS:
August 19th - Kagrra, - London
September 29th - In Flames - Manchester
October 30th - MUCC - Manchester

But i can just look to an entire year of goin to gigs most days in Japan! Especially this year on holiday :D.
Check back for Holiuday pics and stories!!!
Not that anyone reads this anyway... lol

America

2008-07-07T14:05:00.002+01:00

See America (rightly or wrongly is debateable) is seen by many of its inhabitants as over everyone else and the best in the world, well, theres one thing they dont have

TOP GEAR

Without this you are nothing.

ALL HAIL TOP GEAR!!!

Best show ever, i cant wait to see the cross-japan race :P

Oh and Top Gear USA? PUUUHHLEEEEEEEEZE that will be a failure of epic proportions

Playing Catch up

2008-07-05T23:17:00.003+01:00

I havent posted for a while, which is odd really as its not like ive been doing anything meaningful lol. Anyway just to bring everything up to date, good news first
Kagrra, are playing in london on August 19th! Hope to see you there ;)
Merry are releasing a new single in august, cant wait for that :D their first retrock single apparently KEWL!
Then theres the new SADIE single "Grieving the dead soul" Which is believe is out later this month, the PV preview is available now and i must say, looking very promising indeed, progress from the sadie boys. what else...
oh yeah, Rentrer en soi have also released a 30second preview of their new single "UNENDING SANCTUARY" which again looks good, but i remain apprehensive at whether its a Stigmata beater, but i cant be more optimistic about their upcoming album, which will hopefully be soon.
Then a few days ago came the motherload.

DIR EN GREY - GLASS SKIN (New Single)
1. Glass Skin
2. Undecided (remake of the song on Kisou)
3. Agitated screams of maggots -unplugged-
4. (on limited edition only) Ryojouku no Ame - Live

Released 10th September
Strangely enough the Limited edition is the same price as the regular... hmm
But order quick, with the first press you get a big poster :D which i have ordered of course.

Other good news, The New versailles album released next week, should get here a few days later, ill review it in due course, then a week later, the new Merry DVD is out, cant wait for that ill review that too, then its HOLIDAY TIME !!! hehe cant wait, but its a secret ;)
Also In FLames are embarking on a UK tour in September/October, which would be bad news as the london gig is October 1st, ill have started uni at Manchester by then Learnin mah japanese :D and mah science. but as fate would have it, they are doin a gig at the manchester academy which in the student union i get cheaper tickets :D

now... bad news
THIS DAMN KEYBOARD... all me keys are screwed up (as im sure u can probably tell already)
its ******* annoyin. IN BEFORE GET A NEW ONE - ITS A LAPTOP so a nu one aint happenin, gahhh.
hmm what else, dreading results day, work sucks ass, youtube poop and haruhi is eating my life (although thats not necessarily bad hehe)

HARUHIISM! *does hare hare yukai dance* (look it up)

A little explanation

2008-06-24T13:33:00.002+01:00

I saw this quote on the internet yesterday from Marty Friedman:
"The music in America is depressing now. I don't like it when rich people make angry music. It's not convincing to me. One thing that bummed me out about Megadeth was that we were acting like we were angry all the time, and I'm not that good of an actor. I've found that in Japan you can play hard, heavy and aggressive music and it can still be uplifting"
Thats kinda how i feel too, hence my listening habits.

Also theres this band One OK Rock which are good, its funny cos when you say their name its "wan-oku-rock" sounds like one o clock, which is quite a good pun.

So much for this freedom lark then

2008-06-23T12:15:00.004+01:00

Well, so much for I cant wait for the exams to end, i kinda knew this would happen, im just bored lol, so to keep my sanity ive decided to post a list of this next months noteable Jrock/pop releases

25th june:
Mikazuki no kiseki - Ayabie (single)
SADIE -Undead 13+2- - Sadie (best of album)
HOT LIMIT - High and Mighty Color (Single)

9th July:
Tsume tsume tsume /[F] - Maximum the hormone (single)
Untitled - Orange range (single)

16th July:
abingdon boys school JAPAN TOUR 2008 - A.B.S (DVD)
Noble - Versailles (album) [ive ordered this one :D]

23rd July:
Grieving the dead soul - Sadie (Single)
With 〜Indies Best〜 - Wizard (album)
Many Merry Days FINAL Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan - MERRY (DVD) [Ordered this too :D]
Orion once again - DELUHI (Single)

30th July:
D live tour 2008 - D (DVD)
UNENDING SANCTUARY - Rentrer en Soi (single)

Lots of good releases this month :D

Well now that thats been done, ive got to find something to keep me busy, guess it will have to be that Genki japanese books, gotta get ready for uni.

GREAT NEWS

2008-06-19T23:26:00.004+01:00

FINALLY
COLLEGE IS OVER!
I have finished my last exams which went very well, all there is now is the 2 month wait for the results. Its been two years of hardships, struggle mixed in equal amounts with happiness and progress. A lot of people i know ill probably never see again... but they are, im sure, as well as me are moving on to bigger and better things, and that at least gives me some closure on this whole experience, ill always remember this time, i just wanna thank everyone whos helped me and been there for me during college :D.
Other news, i think on my daily scouring of the vast interwebs, that i have discovered perhaps one of the best songs i have ever heard, i was blown away, MADO by Merry one of their B-sides on one of their old singles. Its short at just under 3 minutes and sweet it most certainly is. Youve just gotta check it out yourselves, PURE MUSICAL GOLD, its everything that i could ever wish of them, the vocals in this are supreme "Neeeeeee (pronounced Neeehhh) kikoemasu kaaaaa?"

http://www.4shared.com/file/16533199/52849a86/Sakashima_End-Roll__Phantom_of_the_Gallery__Krizalid_Dash_.html
Its track number 2, but all 3 are superb (SUPOIB), uploaded by http://japanvisualkei.blogspot.com
:D
ENJOY YO SUMMER PEOPLE

Stuff

2008-06-11T11:27:00.003+01:00

Feelin' good today, just preordered the new Versailles album (NOBLE), and the new Merry live DVD (Many Merry Days Final: Yokohama Bunka Taiikukan) from CDJapan CANT WAIT! Gonna be great, ill review them as soon as I get them n watch/listen to em.

Hurr... Back to the present, History Unit 6 exam tomorrow and Chemistry Unifying concepts. Then 2 Biology A2 exams friday... Back to revision it is.

Riddle

2008-06-10T12:12:00.003+01:00

Got a good riddle for you this time...

You want £50 for a new pair of trainers or whatever.

Person A lends you £25, and Person B lends you £25 as well.

You go to the shop, turns out the trainers are only £45.

So youve got £5 change. You give Person A £1 back, and Person B £1. Leaving you with £3 change.

Now you owe each of them £24, BUT WAIT you have £3 change,

making a total of £51 (24 x 2 + 3)

where did the extra pound come from?

Hehe I thought that was a good one when I heard it, still havent worked it out :S

As good old Craig Charles would say on Takeshi's Castle "answers on a postcard please" XD

Which, if you haven't seen by the way, your missing out, it is the best freakin' show ever! Total craziness.

High and Mighty Color

2008-06-05T14:45:00.006+01:00

HandMC

Wow, I mean a always kinda liked them, Gouon progressive album was really good, Ichirin no Hana, brought me into them, as im sure most of there fans were, Their new album ROCK PIT is fantastic, but I never brought myself round to getting their first, GooVER, I got it today and ZOMG its by far their best it is soo good, so as usual i get distracted from revision and start watchin some more youtube videos, i just stumbled across their new one HOT LIMIT, DAMN thats a catchy song good video too, very similar to the original video by TM revolution (who makes a cameo at the end) but yeah really good,

HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR - HOT LIMIT [PV]

Check it out, I must admit; Maki is looking quite hot in this one :P

Catch up

2008-06-04T12:06:00.004+01:00

Phew... what a week

Just finished all me exams for this week, no more 'til next thursday.

History was monday, me unit 1 resit, question a: "What was the appeal of the SA using these sources ... blah blah blah" OH COME ON! we spent lyk half an hour on them in class -.-

Part B was; "How far do you agree that it was due to Hitler's charisma that the Nazis gained such mass support from 1930-32?" Not bad i guess, didnt have much to right for his charisma, but other factors i wrote lyk 4 pages on lol.

Biology was on tuesday, human health and disease, again was alryt, not brilliant i reckon i got a high B maybe scraped an A hopefully. The weird picture of the goblet cell stumped loadsa people lol, the insert pictures were absolutely pointless, you could have answered the questions without em...

Today was the last of my resits, Chemistry foundation, now before yesterday afternoon i had done no revision for this and felt screwed honestly. But I sat down from 2pm until half 11 last night revising pretty much nonstop, well im happy to report that it payed off and im gonna be very surprised if i got less than 58/60 :D.

Next weeks exams are gonna be hell though... hurrrr better get started

In other news

KAGRRA,

THEYRE COMIN TO LONDON!!! 20th/21st August

Hell yes I cant wait to see them theyre awesome, not been to a gig since An Cafe, Anyone who wants to come let me know ;) Just waiting for Rentrer en soi now...

Also I thought I had to post this pic, This is lyk the best car ive ever seen, I mean I love Subaru Imprezas anyway but this is SICK!

AWW YEAH, if only it wasnt for the fat woman in the background XD

Newz

2008-05-26T23:19:00.003+01:00

Just thought i'd let those VK/JROCK fans out there (you know who you are :D) that I just found out that YOU'RE AWESOME! Nah seriously though but...

EXIST TRACE are gonna tour europe in october/november!

HELLZ YEAH! Never saw that one coming at all theyre not even that big but hey im not complaining.

Definately worth goin to see. Hope they play the Annunciation album :D

Exist trace - Yes, this time they are all girls :D

Back up to date

2008-05-24T20:22:00.004+01:00

Well, this has been a busy week, and now college is over for ever! And damn did it go out with a bang, straight after our last lesson, a load of us went to the Hogshead in Hornchurch, and by about 3pm we were all TOTALLY SMASHED beyond belief, I dont think I have ever drunk that much in that space of time, 5 or 6 pints of Fosters, 5 Corkey's shots, and a couple of JD shots, I was quite frankly out for the count. Great day, especially because some of the teachers turned up as well :D Graham for one (my history tutor)
Just for exams now... starting next monday... better get down to some revision I think.

In other news:
NEW RENTRER EN SOI SINGLE!!!! JULY 30th

"UNENDING SANCTUARY"

1. UNENDING SANCTUARY
2. Secret scars ~acoustic mix~
3. To Infinity (new mix)

Lookin' good! lets hope for another stigmata success!

Also
Danger Gang
1st Full album "St. Beast"

Hope its good! Theyre not THE best but damn good, looking forward to it.

What else we got here... hmm
Sadie -SADIE Best of compilation album (ive ordered it) out June 25th
Versailles - Noble - 1st full album - out July 7th

みんなへ頑張ってください! Minna e Gambatte Kudasai! Good luck everyone!

Many merry days indeed

2008-05-19T22:41:00.009+01:00

So, now its time once again for an artist review, yes im fully aware that its late but ive never been one for keeping schedules...

anyway this week is...

メリー (merii) MERRY.

L to R: Yuu, Tetsu, Gara, nero, kenichi

Formed: Tokyo 2001

Style: You name it they've done it, acid jazz, jazz rock, ska, punk, blues, classic rock, surf rock, rock, metal. But their prevailing theme is RETROCK - a clever portmanteau of retro rock, which is accurate.

Members: Gara (vocals) Kenichi, Yuu (guitars) Tetsu (bass) and Nero (drums)

I cannot stress enough the immense awesomeness of this band. Every single one of their albums is worth buying.

Its hard choosing the best songs on each album, because in many cases its all of them!

Discography:

Albums -

Gendai stoic (2003) - Best tracks: Bluesy night, tasogare restaurant, yasashisa kid

Modern Garde (2004) - Best tracks: Japanese Modernist, Renai kousaten, Haraiso

Koseiha blend classic ~Oldies Tracks~(2005) - Best tracks: Tic-tac, R246

nu chemical rhetoric (2005) - Best tracks: Kubitsuri rondo, shambara, atashi wa sute neko

Peep show (2006) - Best tracks: Kyousou carnival, kousou biru no ue de last dance, retro future

M.E.R.R.Y. (2007) - Best tracks: Blind romance, Last snow, hirahira tonderu

The new singles Tozasareta Rakuen and Midnight Shangrila were in all honesty a bit naff. BUT the tozasareta rakuen riffs are brilliant as always it was just the vocals on these singles really, but 喜劇のタブー on Toza single was good, the midnight shangrila was well, one new song, which was terrible, and the other was a rerecording of a previous song which sounded no different, good thing it was only sold at one gig...

Basically this band is extremely hard to explain, their mixture of all of these genres creates an "undeniably fresh" sound which is obviously very original and is MASS AWESOME! You have to check them out, even if you dont even like japanese music, give it a try, this is one band where im sure everyone will find at least one song they like (well, apart from deaf people)

Theyve got a new live dvd out in July, cant wait ive preordered it already :P

check this out:
http://www.myspace.com/merrymate - they got a few songs on there.
and their official website - http://www.merrymate.jp/

Kubitsuri rondo PV:

Sunday

2008-05-18T23:28:00.000+01:00

*sigh* I do get lonely sometimes...

Music and the likes

2008-05-16T21:40:00.000+01:00

Just to let you all know, I should have really mentioned it earlier, but if you ever want to get hold of any of the music or movies I review go to CDJapan they are the best, cheap and quick delivery, couldnt ask for more.

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/

Check it out, definately worth a look, and from now on, when I review a CD, ill post the link under the review so you can buy the CD and support the artists!

Rock on

Teh Musix

2008-05-16T14:20:00.000+01:00

WOW look at me 2 posts in one day! I AM AWESOME.

uhum

Anyway, I was gonna put all this into one post but it doesnt really fit into the same mood, so i separated them. Thism post is certainly less disheartening than the last. Now im in the mood for... no not love, well maybe, but MUSIC, mainly because ive preordered the new Versailles album, and the new Sadie album from CDjapan...

Here are some of my reviews for recent releases, ive decided to do reviews because im sick of reading a review, thinking "this kid is a retard, this album is amazing" so ill do my own damn reviews. amidoinitrite?

but before I do any reviews I wanna clear this up, when I write the album titles the order is:

ALBUM TITLE - Band Name, OK? not the other way around

First off we have..

GILIA - Matenrou Opera (摩天楼オペラ）
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=SASCD-37

Style: Visual Kei, Metal

Release date : 15th May

Price: 2500yen (12qui-dish)

5 track CD and Free DVD containing the "Alkaloid showcase" PV

VISIT: http://www.myspace.com/matenrouopera2007, and matenrou-opera.info/

Review:

1. Plastic cell - Great opening, I love the piano and crunchy palm muted guitars at the beginning, and the quite headbangable riff, this song, much like the others show off the EPIC voice of the vocalist Sono, his singing voice is absolutely amazing, it has amazing range, from raspy or throaty growl, to operatic sustained notes, especially in this song at the end of the chorus (at about 1:58).The mixture of ethereal piano and rockin' guitars sit together really well. the solo is not one of those freakin' ridiculous dragonforce poo speed solos, but it is certainly well thought out. The last note he sings at the end is brilliant.

2. Alkaloid Showcase - A rerecording of an earlier song, with the music vid on the DVD. To be quite honest his ability has progressed noticably since the original, but I still prefer the original, it sounds more raw, and in this version theyve put slightly different synth-ey bits in. The second verse as well, (the one with growled vocals in the background) just isnt as well done in my opinion. It isnt a bad song by any means, but not the best on the CD. The video is Ok for a 1st video, mainly them playing in a warehouse thing, with occasional shots of Manhatten skyscrapers (matenrou means skyscraper).

3. Twilight Parade - This is definately my favourite of the lot, Im an absolute sucker for bridges like this. (1:05- 1:20ish) The opening riff however isnt particularly good, but once it gets started, boy does it get good, only to calm down with drums and bass for the verse, sung very precisely. Then the bridge OMG it is so amazing, they shouls do an entire song like that it would rock my socks off. The chorus is the typical high reaching vocal showing off, which as usual is good, but I don't think chorus' are this bands strength, it lies more in the vocals, guitar and in the bridges. The solo is excellent, impecable, and fades out well into a small instrumental, leading to another bridge YAY!!!! More awesomeness, then the chorus again.

4. Sara - We all knew it would come somewhere, this is the Epic ballad of this album, good start and guitar work, the verses are ok, they seem to drag a little, but they end so well, with guitar coming in while sono holds the last few notes of the verse, which is connected to the next via a little solo. The chorus in this song is definately a candidate for the best on the CD, one complaint is that it could have done with a twilight parade like bridge :D. His vocals during the solo are brilliant complimenting the guitar well. Dont think it needed to be 6 and a half minutes though.

5. 虚空殻の手紙 - The last song on the CD, uses a harmonica, lol, but ill admit it does work to some extent, it still would have worked without it, but its ok. Another balladey sort of song, with more guitarless stanza's (yes i have eaten a dictionary XD) But the second verse is great as it actually has guitar running through it, followed by a bridge with the harmonica, and truth is i like it a lot. The final stand, as it were,makes a fitting end to the album.

Overall this is a very good CD, if you are new to them i recommend the european version, about the same price, but you get three extra songs, from their previous single, i got the japanese version, because I had them anyway.

This is a very promising band, with epic vocals, varying song styles, the vocalist being their main strength, which really make them stand out. Saying that i think they need to work on bass work, perhaps bringing some bass solos, and making brilliant gazette-like bass riffds, instead of only playing the root notes of the guitar chords.

Im gonna give this album a: 7.5/10

One question, why, when you toured europe last month DID YOU NOT COME TO THE UK! You gave those lousy frogs 3 gigs, thanks...

well, as a treat for you, ill link the alkaloid showcase video to give you a taste of their skillz:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=1cHNDjnBeRc

(because this crappy thing wont let me post the video)

Next up is:

Brilliant - D'espairsRay

http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=POCE-14103

Style - Gothic/Industrial Rock/Metal

1000yen - about £4.50

1. Brilliant - Now, the usual D'espairsray stuff is dark and twisty metal/rock stuff, but this single has turned the distortion down slightly and gone for a more rock angle. After the quite confusing few seconds at the beginning where it sounds quite jumbled, Hizumi's voice kicks in, for the typical DR verse, followed by a similar chorus, I really like the little interludes between the chorus and the verse. It is almost brilliant. the break down certainly is and is absolutely amazing. It is a very catchy song and a good comeback single from the boys after being quiet after releasing their last album MIRROR a year ago. it’s only a very near miss to a new and truly great D’espairsRay classic.

2. Cocoon - Decent intro, the verses sound kinda like KoRn in a way, But the chorus way more than makes up for that, they are like the singles title, brilliant, as are the bridges. hizumi brings a mixture of growls, shouts and singing into the fray here and it all makes for one hell of a song, if only the verses were slightly better.

A very solid single from DesRay. It could have been improved by having more to it, maybe another b-side, a live song or a PV, but cant complain.
7/10

Ill do more reviews tomorrow, these two have take like 45 minutes lol...
Sadie- Crimson tear to look forward to.

Wasurerarenai (忘れられない）

2008-05-16T14:07:00.001+01:00

こんにちは！ Hehe, just testing the IME.
Anyway, i've not posted for a while I know, and i apologise, not that anyone reads these things lol.

Well its been a long haul but were almost there, only one more week of college left before we finish. Its had its ups and downs like most things, but its definately been a positive experience altogether, met loads of new people, made new friends, learnt a lot of things. Its just saddening to think that most of them, ill probably never see again :( , we'll all just have to move on down our own paths I guess, life goes on.

Exams starting next week as well... ughh not looking forward to those at all, my first exam next week if my Chemistry assessed practical, probably a titration as usual, just gotta brush up on my calculations, itll probably be alright (famous last words there). Then two weeks of slobbing and revision before the proper exams start. Gonne be a tough few weeks. Last exam is on the 18th of June... Can't wait till the 19th.

Unrelated note but i think "NEGATIVE CREEP" by Rentrer en soi really goes with this post...

P.S. for those who arent fluent in japanese, wasurerarenai means unforgettable, thought i'd let you all know rather than you looking it up on google afterwards XD.

Sunday Hero, Indiana Jones

2008-05-11T23:12:00.000+01:00

Just finished a night of movies, Watched the 1st hour or so of Indiana Jones and the temple of doom.Its a great watch, but probably the worst of the three so far; which reminds me, the new film, I dont know what to think really, I want it to be good, I really do but I can't help but have reservations about ressurecting a 25 year old franchise, remember the phantom menace? Yes see thats exactly what I mean, I doubt JarJar Binks will be in it, but we shall see...

ANYWAY
After the first hour of that, perhaps the GREATEST film I have ever seen was on Channel 4, sorry Indy, but theres no way in hell that im missing HERO.

Where to start on this film, just wow, it blows me away every time I see it, the stunning visuals, the amazing choreography, the awe-inspiring imagery. This film has it all. Yes, it is a martial arts epic (epic being the operative word) but its not a wild beat em up gore fest (sorry andy XD) the fight scenes feel very controlled and thhe whole film flows effortlessly, with an epic soundtrack to match. The story is quite simple really its the story of a man "Nameless" (Jet Li) who travels to the king of Qin's chambers to be rewarded for "killing" his 3 most wanted assassins, he tells the story of his trials and tribulations encountered along the way, with different versions of the story having its own colour scheme, from red, to blue to white. There are various twists in the plot (which I wont ruin fo those who havent seen it) which are excellently planned and executed with perfect camera angles and locations by the director, Zhang Yimu. The overarching theme in this film is morality, as said by Nameless "one persons suffering is nothing compared to the suffering of millions" and perhaps the best way to end this entry is to use the final words of the film, which may help you understand the concept and its morality: "Our Land"

Screens from the film:

RENTRER EN SOI

2008-05-10T19:07:00.000+01:00

ITS SATURDAY! and from now on, every saturday I will be posting a band review. This week the spotlight is on:

RENTRER EN SOI (リエントールアンソイ)

Rentrer's new image

Formed in: 2001
Members: Satsuki(vocals), Takumi, Shun (guitars), Ryo (bass) and Mika (drums)
Discography: (albums) -
Sphire-Croid (January 26, 2005)
Rentrer en Soi (May 31, 2006)
The Bottom of Chaos (August 1, 2007)

Style: ReS are a visual kei/jrock band and they have a very unique sound in my opinion, their first two albums were ver original and varied, from pop, to rock and even metal songs, with a hint of synth every now and then. Their newest album The Bottom of chaos, is by no means a bad album its very good indeed, but it really does seem as though they copied the typical "dir en grey" sound, making it not particularly stand out. But recently they released a new single STIGMATA and oh my god, was that one for the books, they totally turned their sound around with an amazing rock song, full of melody, their new album, with this kind of new style, is going to be seriosly awesome, this is one band you really can't afford to take your eye off now.

The Stigmata video: RENTRER EN SOI - STIGMATA

Thursday House

2008-05-08T21:21:00.000+01:00

Its Thursday, and as with every Thursday, comes a new episode of House M.D. which, i might ad, is one of the best shows on TV, this week we find house and his "contestants" trying to cure a magician who had a heart attack during a trick, it was an exceptionally good episode, with house trying to figure the magicians "magic" out after he freaks house out. Meanwhile House sends his apprentices to get Cuddy's thong XD.

Best quotes:

House: Foreman, she's not wearing any underwear. You used to be more fun.
Dr. Foreman: She's not wearing any underwear, big deal. When she stops wearing clothing, then we can drop the medical stuff.

House: Magic is cool. Actual magic is oxymoronic. Might not even be oxy.

House: I need you to bring me the thong of Lisa Cuddy. Not kidding. Thong. Cuddy. Go!(everyone looks at Foreman)
Dr. Foreman: It's how I got hired.

House: I FINALLY GOT A CASE OF LUPUS!

LOL, brilliant

Greys anatomy next, always a good follow up
:D

Kerrang and the life

2008-05-07T19:30:00.000+01:00

So, its wednesday and as every week theres a new Kerrang! mag, now dont get me wrong I hate the damn thing, everyweek full of the same garbage "MCR rule!" and "Falloutboy are soo awesome!" ugh... Anyway, I have no idea why, but i decided to take a look and to my surprise there was ONE good page! Still didn't buy it of course but one good page, "A brief history of J-Rock" well things are looking up after all, worth checking out the albums and songs they mention there, of course occupying the majority of the space was Dir en grey, and deservedly so.

The cream of Japan... UNTIL I ARRIVE!

In other news I got my Chemistry A2 practical plan today, and its gotta be in by next friday, boy am i in for a fun filled week....

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

2008-05-07T00:25:00.000+01:00

Woop 1st post
Well, ive finally decided to get off my arse and start this thing, well here it is, ill be posting random stuff, you know normal blog stuff, as well as music and video game reviews as well as car reviews (mostly for ones ive driven on me travels haha) ill try and post as much as I can, exams coming up fast so I might be a bit stretched for time

well catch ya on the flip side!

The Nunc Stans

As the weeks fly by

I can't be arsed counting the days anymore

Japan: Days 1-12(?)

あばよ

どうしようかな。。。

AntiChrist

Money, it's a gas.

嵐の前の静けさ

Distractions

The Waiting Game

Back for the Nth time.

Segue Norway

Jeg går til Norge

Music

THE GREAT ADVENTURE BEGINS

ただいま

写真

俺の海の日

More Weekend madness

Ginza

Flowers and Gundams

日本の生活と栄養

Imperium part 3 - Revenge of the... oh forget it

Imperium 2 - The Empire strikes back

Imperium

Shinjuku

A weekend norctunal

Apathy

Stupidest Ema EVER *Facepalm*

Okonomiyaki, Harajuku, Yoyogi and Meiji shrine

Tuesday - Gotanda

Monday + Tuesday (i give up with the day numbers) Akihabara

Ok ive lost count. 9 maybe?

Day 7, Part 2 - 渋谷 (Shibuya)

Day 7, Part 1 - 雨／曇り - Odaiba Gundam

awww YEAH

Day 6 - 雨 - First day of school... again

Day 5 - 再度曇り

Day 4 - 曇り - 高田馬場 - Takadanobaba

Day 3 - 曇り - Out and about in 田無 (Tanashi), and the case of the invisible trash cans

Day 2 - 雨

みんなさん、こんにちは！

明日へ

An exercise in futility

Im back, only to leave again!

uh.. I cant think of a good title

Back once again

At Last!

けいおん！たくさんアニメがあるよ！

Guitar Tales

TTGL

ただいま

妄想

From Assays to Essays

告白

Reviews and more general catch up

よし！

The return of spring and various other things

Im back

Thrift

Saturday

Senselessness

DETHKLOK

In Flames again

THE BULLET AND NEWS STORM

Tonight

Manchester

TEAM UK!

R.I.P. RENTRER EN SOI, 2001-2008

Dir en grey - GLASS SKIN

Death Note Fever

Sakuran / さくらん

Reviews again

In preparation for mail

音楽のNews

TADAIMA - IM BACK IN ACTION

Re-view

J News

America

Stupidest Ema EVER Facepalm

Day 3 - 曇り - Out and about in 田無　(Tanashi), and the case of the invisible trash cans