crashtestfordummies

This is killing me.

Seriously, July 4th needs to come by a little faster.

You look at that and then this...

... I mean, you're gonna have to watch it to believe it.

Also, I have to confess something. I tried watching the Korean version of The Devil (Mawang) just to get a feel of the characters Ohno and Toma will be playing and 2 episodes in, I stopped. I really wasn't planning to watch the whole thing anyway but even if I did, I don't think I could have. It is soooo lengthy! And there's a total of 20 episodes! No way I can endure that. There's just so many things they could have cut out... Thank goodness the Japanese version will be so much shorter (9 episodes?). Anyway, after that I skipped on straight to the last 8 minutes of the very last episode (yes, yes, I hear gasps from the anti-spoilers!!) coz I was sure that was when the huge climax would happen and... you know, I'm not worried anymore. Piece of cake for Ohno. I know I am not the only one who has doubts about Ohno portraying a "devil" because, well, the boy is anything but. Nah, he'll do fine. Actually, during that "climatic scene" the whole time I was thinking the producers/director/casting crew probably saw him at his butais (stageplays) before or at least watched the Tensei Kunpu DVD (WHICH IS A MUST SEE!! FAN OR NOT) and have seen what he's capable of. Well, Ohno always keeps us surprised, so I'm pretty sure we won't be disappointed this time.

I have such faith in him. :)

More Ohno spam goodness:

This can of something made me open the dictionary. For real.

IMG_3155

It says "Spiced Beef Haslet - Ingredients: The Cow is Misceuaneous". WTF. If anyone knows what misceuaneous means, please let me know. Well, nevermind, I chucked the can out unopened anyway. Hey, you are what you eat, as they say.

IMG_3239

I should stick this somewhere in my office. If only that were a valid reason to give your boss when things don't go as planned.

IMG_3255

Shot of my bedside table. All the essentials; alarm clock, iPod & speakers/earphones, some books (currently reading Elizabeth Kostova's The Historian), and drinking water. The Arashi calender box just makes me happy. Hee.

I know it's been a while since my last post but I'm back. Why?

Because, OMFG... I didn't want to totally believe the rumors at first, so I just kept my fingers crossed. But, now. Now... BEHOLD, EVIL OHNO. I AM DOOMED. DOOOOMED!!! Oh, and there's Toma in it too.

Ohnotoma

So, is it July already?

Will be back in a bit to elaborate on the beauty of this news. Although, do I really need to? :P

Just a few more hours before my flight to "yet to be revealed destination". But, gosh, I'm TIRED. Just hope I'll be able to get some sleep during the flight. Lack of sleep + jet-lag = ... Not a pretty sight.

Anyway, I've been meaning to update sooner but never got around to it. This isn't even a proper update; just wanted to drop by before my trip.

Until then, I'll leave you guys with this

yeah... Merii Kurismasu!! Oh, Oscar, I heart you~!

Oh, BTW, if you went "WTF is with the title?!", just think of Borat. LOL. Is niiice... XD

Stay safe, everyone! *waves*

So, as I was poking around youtube, I found this extremely well made Prison Break vid. Warning: A little spoiler-ish if you haven't watched any of the first two seasons.

Excellent editing! One of the best I've seen so far. FOX should pay that person for doing that, IMHO. But what really blew me away was the song. According to the person who made that clip, it is a so-called remix version of "Requiem for a Dream". I dug around a little more and found out that the original version is called "Lux Aeterna", composed by Clint Mansell, and was the theme song for the 2000 movie "Requiem for a Dream" (starring Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, and Jennifer Connelly, among others).

The original version:

RequiemForADreamSoundtrack-LuxAeterna.mp3

Clint Mansell

And the re-orchestrated (with full orchestra and a choir) version that was used in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers movie trailer, arranged by Simone Benyacar, Dan Nielsen, and Veigar Margeirsson, and called "Requiem for a Tower".

Requiem for a Tower

Clint Mansell

 
This is the version most used by fan-made vids, although most tend to cut the first two minutes or so. Just do a search of "Requiem for a Dream" on youtube and you'll get thousands of results.

Anyway, welcome back, pretty! Please, hurry up and get yourself outta Sona, kthnxluvU. 

Ok, how is it possible that I did not know about this until a few minutes ago (and it was announced several months ago!)?? A Nodame Cantabile special is airing early next year~!!

Nodame2008

Ueno Juri and Tamaki Hiroshi will reprise their roles as Noda "Nodame" Megumi and Chiaki Shinichi respectively, but so far no news on the rest of the cast. Hmm... the report also mentions how there will be new characters who are not in manga (by Ninomiya Tomoko). I wonder how this will turn out... *waits patiently*

Then we have Hana Yori Dango FINAL movie next summer too. *sigh* It's times like this when I seriously wish time would go faster.

Also, another manga/anime series will take the live-action route.

Watch this.

I - I have no words. I'm glad this fan caught his leg movements. Ohno! His dancing is always so smooth and yet sharp. Hands down his best choreography so far.

This one's a sorta compilation of some of his live performances throughout the years. Poor quality, but still awesome :)

So, I just watched the last episode of HanaKimi (streamed it). NOOO!! Don't leave me! *cries*
More on that later when SARS-fansubs (a.k.a. my saviour!!) releases their subbed version. 

Now, I'm ready for a live-action version of Ouran High School Host Club! Do it, Japan! Pretty please?

Ouranhostclub

I always thought it would be a tough manga/anime to be adapted into live-action. But now, after Nodame Cantabile and Hanazakarino Kimitachie, I think it's just a matter of time before Ouran is brought to life. I mean, after seeing the over-the-top performances of, say, Oscar M. "don't call me Masao" Himejima (in HanaKimi), Tamaki-senpai is nothing. Ppffft. Totally do-able.

Tamaki-sempai

 
But I think it'll be a little while before anyone is ready for another "girl disguised as a boy" storyline. Ah, I'll wait for it.

Edit:
Was just watching random clips on youtube and found this:

It's a little gymnastics contest among some Johnny's Juniors. This must have been way back in 1999 and they had to copy the gymnast's moves. In order of appearance: YamaPi (Yamashita Tomohisa), MatsuJun (Matsumoto Jun), ?, Ikuta Toma, Aiba Masaki, Nino (Kazunari Ninomiya), ?, Imai Tsubasa, Tackey (Takizawa Hideaki). I'm not too sure who the two "?" are... sorry! Anyway, 3 guesses as to who did it PERFECTLY. NINO. Well, of course. Arrgh! Why is he so good at EVERYTHING? But kudos to everyone for doing their best. LOL at Jun! He couldn't do back-flips so he compensated by doing push-ups?! I'm having so much fun laughing at chibi DoS :P

Currently reading Tash Aw's The Harmony Silk Factory. Pretty interesting book since it uses '30s and '40s Malaya as a backdrop. I'm only through the first part of the novel and, well... not bad. He does deserve all the praise for his beautiful writing and I like the flow. But I'll judge it as a whole later when finish it. Also, I read an interview with Aw where he said he'd done about two years of research, but I spotted a little historical inaccuracy (and I don't think I'm the only one who did). Tunku Abdul Rahman proclaimed "Merdeka" seven times the day Malaysia achieved independence, not three times as noted in the book. Meh.

The_Harmony_Silk_Factory_woman

Currently listening to Namie Amuro's PLAY. Didn't plan on getting the CD but I just saw it at a Tower Records store and I couldn't help it. But it's worth it. Loving all the tracks. Hail, Queen of (J)Hip-hop!

Namieplay

Also listening to ayaka's debut album, first message. Love, love, love her voice. I've only ever heard her debut single, I Believe, and mikka tsuki on Channel V's Double Shot some months ago, but she's already won me over. Definitely looking forward to her future work! 

Ayaka - first message

Currently watching Hanazakarino Kimitachie (Japanese vers., of course). The manga (which this show is based on) was one of the very first shoujo mangas I read a few years ago. Honestly, I didn't even finish the whole thing. It managed to hold my interest the first few volumes, then I just skipped to the final volume, and in all honesty, I don't think I missed that much. *shields self from rocks, just in case* Also, the main reason I stuck around for a few volumes was because of one character; Nakatsu Shuichi. LOL.

I've watched a few episodes of the Taiwanese ver. when it aired a couple of months ago here (on 8TV, if I'm not mistaken). I'm not being biased or anything, believe me, but the only thing I can list in the "positive" side is that it follows the manga storyline (original material it was based on) very closely. I think the main problem for me was the "overacting". I know the actors are talented people (I liked that S.H.E. girl in one of her previous series, I think her name's Ella...), not to mention, the guys are HOT. But, really, if you want to do "overacting", you have to pull it off the right way for it to work. Go all the way. Vomit out some pink hearts, rainbows, stars, whatever. The only TV-series I've seen pulling it off successfully was Nodame Cantabile. A+. Heck, they had swinging monkeys in between scenes. Eh...

Anyways, Toma Ikuta as Nakatsu = Brilliant! You know how actors keep looking for roles that they hope will be their big break? This is Toma's. Seriously. He'll be huge after this. And, dammit, Johnny, let the boy have his debut already! Don't you dare let him debut as a friggin' "replacement" on NEWS! If you wanna live a little longer, you better not. *shakes fists* Ahem. Yeah, loved Toma in Akihabara@DEEP, love him even more in HanaKimi. A lot of my favorite scenes has Nakatsu in it. Hmm... I'll prolly put them up after next week's 2 hour finale. Hehe.

Here's one. Also comes with a reminder; don't drink anything while watching this show...

nakatsu... don't drink when

that is, unless you wanna wreck your PC. Why? Coz the school is filled with batshit crazy people. Seriously. I love that the 3 dorm heads are CRAZY and had a lot more screen time (along with their other class/dorm-mates). Hiro Mizushima as Minami Nanba (head of Dorm 2) is a lot more convincing as a playboy compared to his Taiwanese counterpart, who, IMHO, looked gay. Ishigaki Yuma and Kyo Nobuo are awesome as Tennouji Megumi (head of Dorm 1) and Oscar M. "don't call me Masao" Himejima (head of Dorm 3), respectively.

Of course, Horikita Maki and Oguri Shun are perfect as Ashiya Mizuki and Sano Izumi. I love them both. XD

At first I was a little unsure about them casting Maki as Mizuki. I mean... Look at her!

But now, it's like she fits right in with the boys! Hehe.

The trio! Toma, Maki, Shun.

TomaMakiShun

Other than HanaKimi, all the other series this season hasn't managed to grab me... pretty disappointing. Yamada Tarou Monogatari started really strong, but then it kinda sagged and I've already missed a few episodes. Eh, as much as I love Arashi, certain things for me will remain either black or white. What's good is good, what's bad is bad. Sho needs as much help with his acting as Jun needs with his quacking singing. Yeah... *runs away from pitchfork wielding fangirls* But, still, even if it kills me, I'll finish watching the whole thing. Coz I'm such a supportive fan, see. ;P

While I'm on the topic of J-dramas, I think One Litre of Tears is currently showing on one of the local TV channels (not too sure if it's 8TV or TV3) every Saturdays at 6pm. I really hope a lot of people here tune in to watch it. I don't think any drama has managed to make me cry so much. When I was in university, there was this forum just for the students and there's a thread for this drama. Even the guys there admitted to crying so much while watching it! LOL. I remember there was this one guy who kept cursing it for making his eyes sore from all the crying (said he finished all 11 episodes in like 2 days) and saying it actually made him want to change to a medical programme (to be a doctor!)... LOL. Ah... but it's sad that Erika Sawajiri hasn't been doing any drama projects lately. Hmm... maybe those rumours of her being a total b!tch in real-life are affecting her chances of landing any roles. Sad.   

Oh, can't wait for the US fall TV season to start. Series I'll definitely catch up with are Heroes and Grey's Anatomy. Also looking forward to Prison Break. Eeek! Can't wait!

Whew! That was a long one.

CREDITS:
SARS-fansub for Hanazakarino Kimitachie, ep. 8
D-addicts Forum (Horikita Maki thread) for scans.

I swear, you can find almost anything on YouTube. I just found a piano version of my favourite song. Well, duh. It's a pretty popular song from about ten years ago. What I can't believe is how it only just occurred to me to find it now.

Also, I officially hate this girl. I kid, I kid. Call me "Shrek". I'm green with envy. *sigh* Some people have all the luck in the world, huh? My poor, poor little fangirl heart... :(

*waves*