In about a month, Otsuka Ai has gone from 976th to the 4th most listened artist on my Last.fm records. Fourth!!!! 709 plays!!!

How did this happen? ナゾ。

Mmmm….anyway.

“Sora to Kujira.” Good stuff.

I was going to upload a clip from her concert, since her piano live is pretty good (not mindblowing, but pretty good), but then I remembered that I was fucking banned from YouTube. Haha.

Was just trying to spread the Shiina Ringo love by uploading an NHK interview, when I received a message from some YouTube user/snitch lecturing me about copyright laws in Japanese. After that, within 24 hours, claims from NHK and EMI came in and I was immediately booted off before I had the chance to even read my “warning emails.” Pleasant, pleasant experience.

I’m just pissed that I lost my impeccable favorites list that I can never recover thanks to YouTube’s WORTHLESS search function. SHYGYAAAA. Yes, it’s silly and no big deal, but yes, I’m still bitter. Bah, stingy mega-corporations and stupid laws.

What, say what?

Comm. law? What’s that?

Newhouse COM 505? Ew, what’s THAT???

(Oops sorry, Professor O.)

Ugly Betty vs. Gossip Girl…
(in a totally unrelated movie interview)

Haha, Betty is displeased.
I don’t know why this cracked me up as much as it did. I miss American TV.

Anyway, America Ferrera > Blake Lively, but even though Ugly Betty is probably more worth your time, in my book, Gossip Girl > Ugly Betty.

GG is so mind-numbingly shallow and predictable……but I love shallow! I AM shallow! No wonder I’m addicted.
   

Being in Shanghai and living with my China-crazed mom, it’s literally impossible for me to escape this Olympic frenzy that has gripped the nation, and in my opinion, not always in a good way. Being half-Chinese, I just can’t look at this event with joy and pride and turn a blind eye on all the controversy that’s been going on.

I had a whole lot of mixed thoughts and emotions going through my head as I watched the first hour of the Olympic opening ceremonies tonight (slept through the 2nd and played FF12 for the rest) that I was planning to rehash here.

But I just finished watching Sex and the City, The Movie, and the sheer stupidity of the film has erased any mildly eloquent things I had to say about this whole Olympic business (seriously, an insult to the original series!).

But considering that I had no intention of even watching the ceremony, the fact that I (somewhat) sat through all four hours surprised me. And the opening acts were good! How they managed the choreography of so many performers is beyond me. The fireworks were breathtaking (although I heard a Japanese company was responsible for those…..), and the Bird’s Nest stadium is probably one of coolest works of architecture in recent years. But there’s just something about the whole polished, squeaky clean surface that is so unsettling and unnerving.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the whole “let’s set the peace dove flying” part of tonight’s ceremony. Seriously, stop with the brute force and missile threats/testing first. How can people focus on the “great, glorious, and peace-loving China” (as emphasized in almost EVERY narrated sentence of the ceremony) when contradicting news reports keep coming in?

China defends rights record, accuses Bush of meddling

China censoring Internet access at Olympics

Chinese paramilitary ‘attack journalists’

And a whole lot more out there…these are merely a few articles from the past few days that I thought were interesting.

And okay, so these stories above are all from CNN, a very biased news source as far as the Chinese are concerned. Now I don’t know the truth either, and I have learned to take all news stories with a pinch of salt (thanks, Newhouse), but as someone who has lived here for the past seven years, I’ve almost come to expect such headlines. And really, a simple browse through the site shows that CNN hasn’t been reporting all bad stuff either, as with other Western news sources the Chinese bash. For example, while not totally related, here’s a well-balanced NYT article: here.

While a lot of this negativity has stemmed from applying Western standards onto a totally different culture, which I know is ridiculous and very unnecessary, but the ideals I have set for my life just lead me to think there’s something wrong with the bigger picture.

Well, it’s not like I have a real point to this post besides of venting my own frustrations. Just seems like everyone around me is being swept up in this pro-China Olympic surge, and is turning a blind eye on all the other stuff. I’ve tried, but the proud Chinese inside of me seems lost forever.

Many have called for a focus on the sports and not on politics, but how is that possible, especially in times like these? Politics will always be involved. The government shouldn’t be getting off the hook so easily. I hope it doesn’t come across like I hate China and am hoping the Olympics fail miserably, but it’s just…blah, frustrating.

I hope the games go well and people enjoy themselves in Beijing. But I also hope that the Chinese use this as a chance to reflect on themselves and foreigners leave with a correct idea of what China is — a growing nation that has made strides in recent decades, but still has MUCH to improve on, and not just take in the pretty side that the government is trying to force down everyone’s throat.

Before summer started, I decided off the bat, I wasn’t planning to work or do anything super productive, and instead give myself sort of a time-out and reevaluate my life goals. But still, with nearly four months, I set some small, personal goals for the holidays.

Here are some I hoped to accomplish this summer:

- Study for and finish JLPT2 sample tests
- Finish reading the following: にほんご敬語トレーニング, The Japanese Revolution in Paris Fashion, Fashion-ology: An Introduction of Fashion Studies, 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People
- Update blog regularly, and not just with random YouTube clips
- Visit the gym everyday and quit junk food
- After Euro 2008 (July-onwards), adjust sleeping schedule to 1am-9am
- Complete at least one PSP game
- Get back into the TFS loop and become acquainted with the latest collections
- Practice guitar & possibly, piano

And two and a half months later, here’s what I have left:

- Study for and finish JLPT2 sample tests
- Finish reading the following: にほんご敬語トレーニング, The Japanese Revolution in Paris Fashion, Fashion-ology: An Introduction of Fashion Studies, 100 Simple Secrets of Happy People - wow why’d I even buy the last one? Well I DID zip through several books so far, 3 Haruki Murakami’s, 1 Ryu Murakami, and I’m currently reading the Hana Yori Dango manga. Um, it’s um, Japanese language education.
- Update blog regularly, and not just with random YouTube clips - I’m trying…well not really. This post is a step though?
- Visit the gym everyday and quit junk food - it’s now 2:53am and I’m munching on a Classic Dark Tim Tam. Man, these are so good.
- After Euro 2008 (July-onwards), adjust sleeping schedule to 1am-9am – I’ve improved from sleeping at 7am to 4am, does that count?
- Complete at least one PSP game - GTA: fucking hard. FFTactics: fucking hard. Tony Hawk: fucking hard. FF7CC: now where is that disc…
- Get back into the TFS loop and become acquainted with the latest collections
- Practice guitar & possibly, piano

Ahem. The least I could do is cut the excuses eh? Sigh.

Well…one more month to go…

Phew.

やっぱり私は、ダメ人間です。

Was randomly watching YUI’s SUMMER SONG video, when I became transfixed with this pretty face:

やーーーん！
I did some poking around on Google and finally attached a name to Mr. Brighter-Than-Sunshine: HAYASHI KENTO.

Aww, he’s so adorable….and, so young.

Haha, he’s like a half-looking, non-pouty, less hot version of Hongo Kanata (err, my other not-creepy-at-all young celebrity crush), who also appeared in a YUI video back in 2005. Well ANYWAY, here’s to hoping that these Stardust boys will make it big some day!

***

The new Wise ft. Salyu is pretty good. Would’ve been better if Wise kept quiet and let Salyu take over. But as corny as his rapping is, he looks so much like my friend I can’t help but liking him. And is it just me, or did Salyu lose a scary amount of weight?

***

Wow I just read Amuro’s new album sales topped 680,000 in a week!

がんばれ安室さん！！！！Haha, her face always looks so sad to me, I just feel this compelling need to cheer her on. Too bad I’m not in Japan this summer to buy copies for my friends…(lol), but looks like that won’t be necessary anyway!

***

And yes, as the post title says…I’m working on it. I’ve noticed my blog has pretty much degenerated into a timeline of my current (mainly musical) interests, but…ohwell, that’s pretty much my life these days anyway.

And, I’m SO relieved it’s finally August!

Last week’s M-Station introduced me to Kimaguren (ironically thanks to Studio Apartment, who did nothing but pose in the background of the performance), and after hearing their album debuted at #1 on the charts, I downloaded the tracks out of curiosity (yes, because I am shallow like that).

And I wasn’t disappointed, the CD is good. But then my casual listening turned into a surge of interest when I found out that one of the Kimaguren guys actually attended Syracuse University! Is it wrong that I’m totally liking them more now? (I would have never blogged about them otherwise haha.)

An SU medical sciences graduate goes on to become a Oricon album chart topper—-haha, gotta love how professional our school is.

Anyway, the album’s really a great listen, especially for those who like pop/loungy/let’s-chill-on-the-beach-all-day type of music.

And here are the obligatory Youtube plugs; their two most famous singles so far: “LIFE” and “Aenai Uta.” (Great PV for “Aenai Uta” btw…animated fat blue blobs score very high in my book.)

—

On a totally unrelated “SU” note, I was watching the USA vs. Turkey basketball warm-up match tonight and thought I saw a very familiar looking pout on the USA coach bench… Jim Boeheim????
*edit: Oooh nevermind that WAS Boeheim! Apparently he’s assistant coach for the USA National Team. Did not know that. Aw, I might have to start following the Olympic basketball games just to see him, haha.

Gasp, does this mean…I…actually miss…..Syracuse?

Jim Boeheim = Love.

７月２日は良い日だった。

７月２日、朝起きて…err fine, I mean…午後起きたら、この素晴らしいものは目の前にありました。なんという pleasant surprise.　椎名林檎さんデビュー10周年の記念リリース、アルバム『私と放電』とPV集『私の発電』です！

最初は自分が日本に行く時に買うつもりだったんですけど、やっぱり我慢できなくて、母のぐちを無視して、ネットで買っちゃいました。そして、発売日どおりにCDを受け取ったのは嬉しいです。HMV Japan、愛しています。

今回のリリースは B-sides の compilation cd なので、新しい曲入っていませんが、私今まで聴いたことがない曲があって、すごく良かったです。最近椎名さんのイメージはちょっとおばさんに見えますけど、音楽はいつもどおり最高です。みんなさんも是非、いや、かならず、買って下さい。

そして、７月２日にまだまだ｢林檎 Good News｣を続きました。

「林檎博’08　～10周年記念祭～」
◆公演日程
2008年11月28日（金）　開場18:00/開演19:00
2008年11月29日（土）　開場16:00/開演17:00
2008年11月30日（日）　開場15:00/開演16:00

@#%^$$%##@$@$%!!! Oh my god!!!! It’s like a dream come true…mandatory attendance for me. Unfortunately, 周りの椎名ファン二人しかいない、しかもりえちゃんは１１月アメリカにいるはず…ｍｍｍ PLACEBOのライブは一人を見た最悪状況をなれないように、今回はしっかりplanしなきゃ！

伝説のライブが映像化！『座禅エクスタシー』

2000年7月30日に福岡県飯塚市にある芝居小屋、嘉穂劇場にて行われた椎名林檎の一夜限りのプレミアム・ライヴ「椎名林檎（稀）実演キューシュー 座禅エクスタシー」！

Out in September. Pre-order HERE. You know you want to.

椎名林檎、木村豊氏とユニクロＴシャツを手掛ける！
椎名林檎と、椎名林檎作品でおなじみのグラフィックデザイナー・木村豊氏による創造チーム「白と黒」が、11月にUT（ユニクロのＴシャツ）を手掛けることとなりました。最強コンビによるUT。

Ahh! 10 years of Shiina, two months of craziness! So my coming November…椎名さんのライブ、椎名さんのTシャツ、Comme des Garcons x H&M。ヤバイ！！唯一残念なことは the fact that I can’t be there this summer to witness all the CD release fanfare. I must be missing at least 10 magazine features this month, TV appearances, and I also hear Shinjuku Tower Records is having a full-on Ringo Festival. 暇な方は私の代わりにタワーレコード新宿店に遊んでくださいね。

Aside from Shiina craziness, July 2nd was also the day my dear friendy got his 内定 after months of unnerving waiting. Yeay-yeay!!!

７月２日は良い日だった！★

THANK YOU SPAIN!

THANK YOU SPAIN, FOR WINNING SO BEAUTIFULLY, AND FOR REMINDING ME WHY I LOVE WATCHING THIS SPORT.

AND THANK YOU SPAIN, FOR DAVID VILLA!
(And Torres. And Silva. And Casillas.) Haha!

Ra-ra-rah!!! Spain are, for once, the undisputed, campeones!

Unlike Italy’s World Cup win, or Greece’s Euro win, no one could utter a word of complaint about La Selección. Well, I still love Italia and Germany, but unfortunately they played like shit this year, and instead Spain has charmed me off my feet and has become my not-so-secret lover.

Here’s to more beautiful football to come! スペイン、お疲れ様でした！

I’m a week or so late, but let me jump on Coldplay’s Viva La Vida bandwagon. This album is goooood!

To be honest, I think Chris Martin & co. are immensely talented, but I’m just not a big fan of the band. But this album really surprised me, especially considering how many times I fell asleep during X&Y, which to be fair, still included songs I like a lot.

What first sparked my interest in this album was hearing that Brian Eno will be producing this time around, and as a big fan of his ethereal music, I’m not disappointed at all. I love the new more synthesized, processed sound, so rich and full—-definitely a good match for the Frida Kahlo inspired title.

My favorite is probably the album opener, “Life in Technicolor,” and other standout tracks included “Lovers In Japan/Reign of Love” and “Lost.” Also “42,” “Strawberry Swing,” and “Yes” are also highly recommended. Wait, that’s like almost the entire album. Oh, and of course the “Viva La Vida” single and its overplayed iTunes ad I just can’t enough of.

How can you beat this kind of marketing?

今Euro 2008のTop Scorerとして輝くの DAVID VILLA です。
そして、私の新しいオブセッションです。
へへへ。また増えちゃった。反省します。

最近、Euro 2008 は私の上海廃人生活最大な存在かもしれません。試合終わったら、朝５－６時寝て、午後２－３時ぐらい起きます。アイヤー、体にすみません。（でも休みの日はいつもそうかも？）でも毎日楽しめることがあるから、時間も早く過ごしていると気がします。

今夜のイタリアｖｓ．スペインの試合、両方も大好きだから、関係ない私が今すごいドキドキしています。ビジャ選手を応援しますけど、全体的にやっぱりイタリアチームが一番好きです。まぁ、良い試合になりますように。
あーー楽しみーーー！あと３時間だ！

待っている間に、ビジャ選手のEuro写真をアップしまいました。エへへ。

ヤーン！めちゃめちゃかっこいい！Torres とのトレーニングツーショットもかわいすぎる…
Many many more photos HERE! （でも心臓ご注意してください。）

*

In the eve of the Euro 2008’s last quarter final game of Italy vs. Spain tonight, I thought it rather fitting to pay tribute to my favorite football player of the moment. I mean, nothing says it more than some fan-girl gushing and very ogle-able photos right?

Despite my little, ahem, shrine to David Villa I’ve constructed above, I’m actually rooting for the Italians tonight. As much as I love Villa, I must remind myself that football isn’t about the abilities of adorable strikers, and to me the Azzurri are still the better side anyway. *EDIT: Hm, even game, but Spain was possibly the slightly better team. The great Italian defense finally came back though! Too bad they’re out… But I do hope Mr. Villa gets a goal or two tonight so he could still secure the top-scorer position, hehe.

Anyway, FORZA ITALIAAA!