Lots to write about, not nearly enough time. It's been a while, I know.
And I'm a horrible excuse for a human being blogger.
Let's see... work, work, work, went home for Christmas, work, work...
Magazine redesign... Work, work, work...
JEALKB CONCERT!!!!
So my friend N introduced me to her pet band, Jealkb. They're a visual kei band, but all the members are comedians as their day job--but they got together and decided to form a band, too! Anyway, it's completely crazy, and the concert was such fun. I didn't really know much about them before, but I'm a total fan now! Hehe. This is one of their PVs by the way. Several things.
1. yes, the one guitarist always wears that mask
2. yes, the other guitarist always wears a dress
3. the violinist and the keyboard player can't actually play their instruments, they just pretend
4. incidentally the whole back and forth arm thing the keyboardist does all the time means the man has some decent bicep action going on *wink* (not that you can really see that much in this video).
Ok, time to go to bed, will write more later.
Must recover from my night of headbanging mosh-pit action on Sunday.
...Happy now, Mom?
(Just kidding, I love you)
who, me?
- ☆sarita☆
- From a former North Carolinian and recovering Yalie: Currently living and working in the big city of Tokyo, while furthering an ever-growing obsession with Japanese pop-culture.
So, I recently made the discovery that Tokyo has declared plastic and styrofoam garbage "burnable." So much for the environment. I mean, unburnables garbage is only twice a month, and seeing how the majority of my trash is plastic, it seriously piled up. So seeing as how plastics are now "burnable," it makes my life a bit easier. But seriously, what idiot would think it's a good idea to burn styrofoam? I'm not entirely sure what that leaves for unburnables day--but, I guess that's why it's only twice a month.
We went to the Christmas Illuminations at Tokyo Midtown this past Thursday. It was a beautiful evening, and they held a party at this fantastic Indian restaurant, Nirvana, that overlooks all the lights. It was free-flowing champagne, and lots of yummy curry and naan, and desserts from all of the patissiers in Midtown. Sadly I forgot to take my camera along with me that day, so no pics--you'll just have to take my word for it.
In other news, it's almost Thanksgiving. I was trying to get a group together to go to Fujimamas, cause they do up a big meal on the day, but we couldn't get reservations *tear* No turkey for Sarie.
I swear I had more to talk about, but as soon as I sat down my mind just went blank. Oh well.
New PV: Yuzu's new song, Shish-kebab. Yeah...they're dorks. Get ready to smile ^_~
Boy am I tired! It's been a long week. Good, but just really long, mainly cause of 2 things--Metropolis's annual Halloween Glitterball that was on Thursday, and the fact that we're moving to a new office over the weekend.
Which mostly means that our office has been filled with boxes and other crap for days now--empty boxes to pack our stuff in, and boxes of beer, flyers, balloons--you name it--for the Glitterball. Craziness ensues.
So on Thurs, I spent the morning at a press conference for Hellboy 2, which would normally have been kinda meh, whatever (I mean it's not like I've seen the movie)--except that the director, Guillermo del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth) was *super cool*. He was talking about how Hellboy is "autobiographical." lol.
So I got back from the press conference just in time to finish up a few things and then Hiroko and I headed over to Womb in Shibuya to help set up for the party. I swear, when I got there only an hour and a half before the doors were scheduled to open, and took a look around, it was like "there is no way we're gonna get this ready in time!" Cases of beer stacked 10 boxes high along one wall, folding tables in one corner, a thousand or so gift bags in huge piles.. it was ridiculous! But somehow, miraculously, we got everything set up and even had time to duck into the bathroom and change into our costumes. I was going for a sort of cowgirl theme--found a cheap hat at Tokyu Hands--perhaps embarrassing, but that was the only part of my costume I had to buy. lol. That's Hiroko on the left, she dressed up as Yoko Ono ^^
So it's not like I stayed out past the last train or anything, but I got home really late. Steve had said it was ok for us to come in late on Friday, like at noon, which was cool, but I still only got to sleep in like an extra hour because I had to go all the way out to frigging Odaiba in the morning. See, we needed a photo from Fuji TV for the terebi article, and sometimes the tv studios get all annoying and for some reason can't/won't send a photo as an email attachment (cause that would be too easy) and instead they make you physically go down to the office and pick it up. Makes no sense but しょうがないや。
Got to the office around noon, only to find it everyone either gone or hungover, and the whole place looking pretty much like this:
I am gonna get so lost.
By the time everything was finished up, I was completely exhausted. But Fri night was the big party for the 1st anniversary of the Omotesando Gyre building, and we got invited to the MoMA Design Store party there. All the shops in the building were doing promotions and events and things--MoMA, Chanel, this organic restaurant called Cinegro was giving out awesome food...it was really cool. And there were these very odd box-headed recycling people wandering around...? I didn't really get it.
Wah, I'm tired!! (@_@)
But on the plus side, I was actually able to finish all the things I was supposed to today. On the way to work this morning, I was seriously doubting it. Didn't take a lunch break but....
On the other plus side, I got paid today! Which is also very good as I looked at my bank account over the weekend and was a bit dismayed to learn that I was down to my last 1万円. Then I thought, "wait, that means I made it through the month with $100 bucks to spare!" And I felt a lot better. Plus I went on a bar review this weekend, which means I'm gonna get reimbursed for that at the end of the month too, so that doesn't actually count as money I spent. (((o(^o^")o)))
Speaking of bar review, the place I went to was really awesome, this Belgian beer bar next to Yokohama station, called Glass Dance. I dragged Jason, Felicia and Ben B with me and we had a grand old time. ~_^ Cost a pretty penny, but the beer was fantastic and work footed a good chunk of the bill so we didn't really mind. This was our first round! You can see Ben there, enjoying himself. And if anyone ever has a chance to try a Belgian ale called Delirium Tremens, I strongly suggest that you do so, because it is FANTASTIC. See how it comes in a glass with pink elephants on it? hehe. Not sure when the review's gonna run, but I'll give an update. Month or so maybe?We're gonna have a lot to do in the months to come, too. Steve had an editorial meeting with us last week talking about ideas for the big redesign he wants to do. Totally gonna shake up the whole concept of the magazine, which I think is a good thing. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but as Steve pointed out, when Metropolis first started out, we were pretty much the only source for English-language information on events, or galleries, or restaurants or whatever in Tokyo. But now there's the internet and anyone with a blog can basically do what we're doing. So we need to adapt to the new environment and find a new niche for ourselves. Move away from long-form articles and toward more and shorter ones, so we can get in more information about more things. I like it, and we were all pretty psyched up about coming up with ideas and stuff, but as Hiroko pointed out, it's going to make a lot more work. Especially for the two of us. With the result that we really really need to get some more hands on board, whether slave labor interns or part-timers or whatever, if only so that Hiroko and I don't have to do listings anymore. Cause that's complete and utter brainless busy work, but it's really time consuming. No listings would give me an extra day and a half, easy. And while it's true that at the moment, I often complain about having nothing to do on Thurs/Fri, if the last couple weeks are any indication that's 100% a problem of the past.
*sigh*
Oh, on another note, I have a CD review coming up in tomorrow's edition! Only like 100 words so it's not that big of a deal but it's of the NICO album that I stole from Dan. lol.
Speaking of albums, I ordered the twins' new single, which hasn't even shipped yet according to amazon, and it came out *yesterday* thank you very much. (≧ヘ≦)
Speaking of twins, this week's PV is the new single of theirs that I ordered but haven't gotten. Again I say (≧ヘ≦) arrgh. It's totally schizo and melodramatic (not their fault for the record, it's the theme song for some gothic romance vampire anime) and can't decide what kind of song it is, but parts of it have really grown on me (i.e. become unbearably stuck in my head).
Factoid 1: they actually dance a little in this one! (usually they just kind of do this bouncing in place thing which is awkward and sad)
Factoid 2: they get a girl!
Factoid 3: I'm pretty sure it's a gaijin, even tho she's not blonde
Factoid 4: I don't like her. At the end, when the veil comes off, I'm pretty sure she's sposed to be all sad, or pensive or whatever, but I think she just kind of looks constipated.
Thoughts?
I was at work until 8:30 tonight *cries* And I'm gonna have to try and get there right at 9:30am tomorrow morning, too.
Today the other eds and I took a trip over to Tokyo station. We're going to be doing an article in a few weeks on 駅弁 ekiben. They're seriously a craze. There are a million different kinds, and if you search online there are tons of websites devoted to ranking and cataloging all the different kinds of ekiben.
We decided to just focus on Tokyo station, so the four of us went over there this afternoon and each bought one ekiben (except for Steve who got 2), took them back to the office, where Koji-san photographed them, and then we ate them for lunch!
It was pretty fun. I won't talk much about them now, so keep your eye out for the article in issue 756 (a month or so away). Oh yes, and might I add that the excursion also culminated in one of the eds going on a beer run.
Yes, we drink at the office.
At 2pm.
On a Thursday.
Also! Be sure to check out the Movie News section in this week's Metropolis, to see my Emily Deschanel piece (and photo that I took).
Or, on second thought, maybe not. It's there, but not terribly pretty on the website (and there's no photo). Scroll down (keep scrolling....) and it's in the left sidebar, under the "eiga" section.
Maybe you should just check out my Koizora blurb in terebi instead.
( Cause Squishy's hair is lol >_< )
-----------
Also, there's a PV again. Very very strange group called "Ego Wrappin." They've got a really quirky sound, but I kinda like it.
Also, IUC is over!
waaahhhh.....
But, here are some pictures from the end, courtesy of Matsumoto-sensei, IUC's resident photographer. At every IUC event, he's forever popping out of corners and snapping so many photos that when you flip through them, they play almost like a movie. >_<
Anyway, here's me giving my final presentation:
The group of us (most of us anyway) who took shodo
And receiving my graduation certificate.
Which, this time, they didn't forget! Lol (unlike a certain HIF graduation ceremony I attended)...
Oh yeah, and I did really well on my final test!!! ☆★☆
Oh, and speaking of endings/beginnings, in a few short hours, my parents will be arriving in Tokyo! Whee!! Along with my 幼なじみ Rebecca and her mom. \(^_^)/
So, just to let you know, I probably won't be making many posts on here for the next couple of weeks, as we'll be travelling around Japan. Needless to say, I'm sooooo excited!
Oh, and I suppose I should change up the PV, hmm? Let's see, I've got to pick a good one, since it might very well be up for a good long while.
OK, I can't resist. What else, but the new PV by DoReMii's favorite twins, ON/OFF.
<3
So, I'm not dead. Not in the literal sense, anyway. I've just been super busy, and before I knew it it had been over two weeks since my last blog post. Ouch.
But, things have been a mix of fun and stress lately. IUC is over--well, almost entirely. Classes have ended, and we took the test last Monday. I actually really appreciate the way IUC handles the exit test: for the written part in the morning, they give the exact same placement test that kicked our asses at the beginning of the program. Which makes it really easy to gauge how far you've come. Don't know how I did for sure yet--we find out at the final evaluation session on Friday--but it was SOOOOOOOOOOO much easier this time around! Especially the kanji section, because this time, I actually *knew* most of them! (^_^)d
So, all that's left now is the Final Presentations, which take place Tuesday and Wednesday, and then we'll be done for real!
I promise to post another, more detailed IUC wrap-up post later.
In other news....
On the Job Front:
I've been applying for jobs!!!! And starting to get some results. A lot of my resumes haven't been making it past the initial screening by the recruiting companies, but I actually had a real live interview last week (which sadly, also ended in a rejection, but!). It was an editorial position with a company that publishes textbooks to teach English. There was an interview, and a test, all in Japanese. See, it's standard practice for Japanese companies to administer a test as part of the interview/hiring process--and since they're designed to test the Japanese abilities of Japanese people, they're....um.... "hard" is something of an understatement.
But, it was a good experience, to sort of get the first Japanese-interview nerves out of the way a bit.
And even MORE importantly, I have another interview on Thursday! And this time, it's in English (i.e. I actually stand a fighting chance). This next interview is for an Editorial Assistant position with Metropolis, an English-language weekly magazine in Tokyo. It's an Arts & Entertainment, resaurant reviews type of thing, sort of Time-Out style. Crossing my fingers extra hard, cause this seems like it could be a really good thing.
Anyway, I'll keep you posted. And I promise to write more later, with some pictures and potentially some updates on the "fun" part of my last few weeks. But now for sleep, cause I have to get up in the morning to practice my presentation.
Lastly, finally getting around to changing the PV.
For the first time, I will be featuring the wonders of Japanese girl-idol groups. This one, Perfume, has recently taken IUC by storm, with their peppy blend of electronic-synthesized-pop.
The song is "Polyrhythm," which shot the group to fame after it was chosen to feature in...I kid you not... a recycling commercial.
See how long it takes before the synth makes your head explode. (^_~)
apologies for the lack of posts recently, but I've been busy as all hell. while in terms of classwork, IUC has slacked off a lot in recent months, in terms of everything else I've become too busy to even think. actually that's a lie, the thinking part I've got down pat--haven't been sleeping well lately cause my head's so busy that I have trouble falling asleep at night. I just keep thinking about the fact that I don't have a job, or that I haven't done my project work for the week, or that it's been 3 days since I last took a SKIP quiz....the list goes on.
Slightly better news tho, I've put in applications for a whole mess of different jobs this week, and I'm not even done with all of them yet. remains to be seen whether i hear back from anyone or not, tho. but i tell you, after this, I'll never complain about having to write a cover letter or do a job interview again--as long as it's in English!!
so anyway, おわびを兼ねて and to let you know i'm not dead, just wanted to put in a quick post. also to change the PV.
Did you think the 70s were dead? Well, you were wrong!
this week is Superfly's song "Hi-Five." (sounds like a band, but it's actually just the girl, as a solo artist).
She also does covers of Eagles and Stones songs, among others.
wow.
Golden Week so far has been tons of fun. For those of you who don't know, Golden Week is the end of April/beginning of May, when a bunch of national holidays happen to fall right in a row. It's not exactly a week's worth, but close enough that the government just decided to give everybody the whole week off. (I love Japan!!)
Even though the holidays didn't officially start until Tuesday, IUC was nice enough to give us the whole week off--yaaayy!! So, I've been taking full advantage of the break--not really doing anything special, just lots of hanging out and stuff--going out for yakiniku, watching movies, that sort of thing.
Sunday afternoon I spent with Molly and Misa. We went over to Dakanyama, which is an area just outside Shibuya, with lots of shops and boutiques and stuff. FUN! XD And after, we stopped in Yokohama eki for dinner at the soup curry place.
Tuesday, Jonah (Yalie/with me at HIF) came to visit. He'd just finished up a semester at KCJS and is in Tokyo for a few days before going back to the States, so we met up in Yokohama for a nice lunch in Chinatown, and then walked around for a while. It was lots of fun, we went over to Motomachi, and then through lots of areas of Yamate that I hadn't been in yet. Yamate is the old mansion district above Motomachi, where the rich foreigners lived--and where rich people still live--so the houses were amazing. 
It feels very not like Japan. There's also an "Italianate Garden" that we walked through, which was absolutely gorgeous. 
It was really odd to be standing in the middle of all of this Western-feeling architecture, and greenery, and look out over the rest of Yokohama. 
Not that I don't love Yokohama, but...it just looks different from up there.
Then we went over to the Minato Mirai area, and walked over to Aka Renga just around sunset. The flowers from last time were all gone, but the view was just fantastic. 
Yappari, Yokohama = <3
***
Also, this week's PV! Sorry, but I just couldn't resist--it's the new News song, "Summer Time."
Seasonally appropriate, and lots of fun to watch.
These boys just thrill my fangirl heart... ^_^
This one's for my Mi-chan! ^_^
continuing on with the theme of AAA, this week's PV is another one of theirs, "Soul Edge Boy"--tho this one's with just the guys in the group.
also...keep your eyes open for the kyudo!
XD
(didn't want to put this at the bottom of the last post and make it even longer.)
this week's PV!!!
another idol group called AAA, with the song "That's Right."
this is *definitely* a get-you-out-of-bed song! Listen to it in the morning while you're getting ready for the day. ^_^
Not exactly sure what the fruit's all about...but the paint part is cool!
So...in honor of it being Friday (not really, but that's my story) I finally went to go see the Kurosagi movie! XD *happiness* Kurosagi is a j-dorama (duh!) that I watched (c.f. the "Taiyou no Amida" PV, which was the movie's theme song), and seeing as how the ending wasn't very wrap-up-ish, they made a movie sequel. It came out on March 10, but I only got around to seeing it today. (I'm a bad fan, I know) Anyway, it was lots of fun, but I won't go into details here--either you've seen the drama and don't want to read spoilers--or you haven't seen the drama and will have no idea what I'm talking about. But one thing I was pleased with, is the fact that the atmosphere was very different from the drama--in other words, they really worked hard to make it a movie, and not just an extra-long episode of the tv show.
So, since I went to see the movie, it was dark by the time I headed home-- hence today's bit of lovely! i.e. another night view of Landmark/Queen's Mall/the Cosmo Clock ferris wheel, this time seen from Bashamichi. 
Ooh, shiny!
Also, new PV update. I swear, instead of a "J-pop PV of the week," I could totally turn this into a "J-pop PV that takes place near IUC," and not ever run out of options.
On that note, this week's song is by yet another group that I've started listening to constantly, after just discovering them last week: w-inds, and the song is "Love is the Greatest Thing." I'll admit, the song is a little odd-sounding at first, but it grows on you, and after a couple listens, you'll be dancing to it all day (and if not, pretend that you are so I don't feel so bad). And, on the IUC theme, the skyscrapers that you can see in the back of most of the PV are Landmark Tower and Queen's (seen from the opposite side as the photo above). Oh yeah, and I didn't get the Shrek thing either, at first--but apparently they stuck that footage in cause the lead singer of w-inds voiced one of the characters in the Japanese dub of the movie.
In honor of spring, the newly-warm weather, and the fact that the cherry blossoms are in bloom, this week's PV is
花は桜、君は美し by いきものがかり
"The flowers are cherry blossoms, you are beautiful," by Ikimonogakari.
And where would one film a PV about sakura (cherry blossoms)? Where else but Sakuragi-cho station-- 当然だろう！
To be specific, the plaza outside Sakuragi-cho JR station, between the station and the IUC-bound people-mover.
。。。Don't you love it when it all just fits like that?
High-five! （ ＾＾）Y☆Y（＾＾ ）
(ちなみに、I can't even *begin* to imagine how they were able to keep the plaza area clear of commuters long enough to film this thing!)
Of course, since Sunday, I've basically become a slug--but there are those kinds of vacations, too.
On Sunday, Molly and I heard from Ben A about a microbrew tasting going on at a bar out past Aobadai (read: kind of far). I don't know a bit about beer, and I'm kind of a wimp when it comes to the darker ones, but Molly and Ben are チョウ詳しい. Anyway, it was lots of fun.
They had a variety of different beers from this one label, Green Flash. Basically, you paid 3000 yen, and got a glass and 6 beer tickets, which you could redeem for a glass each. 6 tickets, 6 beers, so the idea was to try one of each, but you could also get doubles on things if you wanted. I tried everything except the Belgian Dark Ale, cause like I said, I'm a wimp about dark beer. Although I did end up really liking the Barleywine, which despite being dark was super yum.
And the bar itself had a really neat atmosphere. Totally in the middle of this residential area, not where you'd expect a bar to be, and very tiny. We also made some friends--Satoshi, Rikako, and Izumi. Ben just started talking to them, and the next thing we knew, we were headed to Kabuki-cho in Tokyo to go to Satoshi's "favorite restaurant" for dinner. And it was pretty good, despite the rather...sketchy atmosphere. Kabuki-cho is known as Tokyo's red-light district, and the restaurant we went to was in a building full of host/hostess clubs, and snack bars. Rikako and Izumi were getting kind of nervous, lol, but as Satoshi assured us, the place turned out to be really good. We all exchanged contact info, and we snagged an invite to Satoshi's annual Hanami (Flower-Viewing) party in April, which apparently (according to Satoshi at least) is quite the event. ^^
All in all, it was quite the day.
Oh, new PV as well--"Monochrome," by Bennie K, who are a female pop/rap kind of duo. I hear they actually met up while studying in L.A., which explains why their English is better than your average Japanese performer. lol.
I like this song a lot.
This week's PV. I was intending to put up a different one, but then I discovered that the PV for Kanjani8's new single (drops 3.12) was on youtube, so I couldn't resist!
^_^
The song is called ワッハッハ "Wa-ha-ha." Yes, as in the sound of laughing.
Witness the dorks in action! (but the dorkiness is why we love them)
Kanjani 8 cleans a bathroom, Yoko sets his hair on fire, and Ohkura plays Whack-a-Mole on Yasu's head.
So, last night at Jack Cafe was lots of fun. About to head out to Thrash Zone right now, tho, so I'll write a more detailed update on the weekend's events later.
This is just to give a shout out, and also because I'm updating the video.
This week is a sort of alt-rock style band that I've recently come to like a lot, called Kelun. They just made their major-label debut, and this is their first song, called "Signal." I like the album a lot. There's another song of their's, "Heartbeat," on the music player I added over there in the new left column.
<---
love,
~sarah
Then, I got my day off for real. Thank goodness it was a 3-day weekend, Saturday and Sunday were so busy. Had quite a bit of homework to do, but I did manage to get some fun in on Monday, too. I went with Misa, Jason, Molly, and Bridget to see Sweeney Todd, since the movie finally opened here in Japan. I really liked it, actually. It was definitely just as heavy on the blood as I'd heard, but I thought it was a well-done movie. I'd never seen the musical, thought I was familiar with the story and some of the songs. Lol, especially that "nothing's gonna harm you..." song, which I'd heard performed several times before, but always as a love song. Rather a different impression to see it in it's real context... Hmm.
Aaannnd.... before the movie, they showed a preview for the Kurosagi movie!! XD Kurosagi is a drama that I really like, and since it had a rather unsatisfactory ending (i.e. not really ended at all) they made a movie of it! Whee! I've been waiting for this! The movie opens in March. And it was so cool to get to see the preview in a real movie theater! (yes, I'm a dork. freely admitted)
On that note, this week's video is the new single by News, 太陽のナミダ "Taiyou no Namida" (Tears of the Sun). It's the theme song for the Kurosagi movie, mainly cause the star of the movie is Yamashita Tomohisa, who's a member of News (the one in the scarf).
So, enjoy!
また、ねぇ！
new video!
PV is "Lips," by KAT-TUN.
this is one of the currently most popular boy bands in Japan at the moment, and their latest single.
and, just to clarify, this is a boy band that I *don't* actually like--except for sheer entertainment value, by which I mean the fact that they are utterly ridiculous and take themselves *waaaayy* too seriously.
cause--I mean, really! watching this video, it's hard not to cringe. ;-P
so enjoy the horror that is kat-tun (even the name's not original--it's just their initials. hope nobody drops out ever...)
and anyway, it's worth it just to see Koki (as always) trying to be gangsta, Junno looking like something out of Final Fantasy, and androgynous Kame practically making out with the mic. *sigh* oh dear...
at any rate, it's an epic example of japanese boy-band fashion. lol.