22 posts tagged “everyday”
Hi everybody.
I have concluded that this month is literally "release-dead". Probably the only release I'm really looking forward is Ayabie's Mikadzuki no kiseki, but other than that there is not particular release I'd check. So that means if I don't stumble upon some good and obscure indie band, there will be just one review this month.
And the single is going to be released on 25.6.2008!
Not good.... (oh well July is going to be over-flooded with releases)
Other Visual news and similar...
D'espairsRay are releasing a new single in August *shock* called KAMIKAZE (apparently KAMIKAZE is this some kind of a legendary live performed song that everybody seems to like; I haven't heard it and I won't even bother until it is released). If KAMIKAZE is going to be the same anthemic XXXX like BRILLANT or everything else released before on MIRROR I'll be glad to rip it in my review apart. BRILLIANT got me due to long waiting, but KAMIKAZE will surely have to be fierce to get the same praise as BRILLIANT. Speaking of D'espairsRay I saw on HearJapan their so called new logo thingie.
They'll change the most coolest logo in Visual kei into THIS!!! I could do a better logo than that in 2 minutes in Photoshop. SERIOUSLY this logo fails compared to the fierce old one. God, no comparison comes to my mind to show how this logo fails compared to the old one...it' like choosing a dump-truck over a Ferrari.
Oh and when I finally thought that when I have my summer holidays no band on purpose will play in Europe, a glimpse of hope sparkled before me: Kagrra, is going on a Europe tour!!! Hooray!
The concerts will take part as scheduled in:
8/17(sun) Sweden/Sweden [Klubben]
8/18(mon) Finland/Helsinki [Tavastia]
8/20(wed) Holland/Utrecht [Tivili de Helling]
8/21(thu) UK/London [Scala]
8/23(sat) Germany/Cologne [Kantine]
8/24(sun) France/Paris [La Loco]
8/25(mon) Spain/Barcelona [Sala Salamandra 1]
The best part of it all is that the closest to me (Germany) isn't on some obscure date so there might even be a slight chance that I would go on Kagrra's live. Kagrra, is one of my favorite bands and it would certainly be cool for me to be on their live (plus none of my folks/sister can jerk around that they are violent/that I'll get moshed to death/etc...). So If I'm REALLY lucky I'll go on a Kagrra, concert!
Oh and the guys from Kagrra, are releasing a new single on 9.10.2008. so I'm looking forward to it.
I have to mention that yesterday I received my DSD diploma. It is a diploma that shows that you have managed to reach the level C1 (C2 is the highest level of language knowledge; native speakers have C2) in German. So there is only a level of difference (and that is not such a big difference) between mine and a German native speaker's German. Heh...
The recieving ceremony was kinda cool and yesterday was really awesome (I even took some sushi from Zagreb back at my place). At the ceremony (which was in the German ambassadory) came Mile Kekin the singer of Croatia's most popular punk band Hladno Pivo (Cold Beer). He studied German on college, but he never actually had the chance to teach German as a teacher because he became a punk star. It was really cool seing him and his German is unbelievable.
So with the impression I've checked out some of Hladno Pivo's PVs and I have pick the interesting ones.
(Warning: these guys are nuts XD)
Hladno Pivo - Zimmerfrei
The song is the summer anthem of me, my sister and our half-cousin and we sing it every summer when we meet. The song is a very addicting ska-punk hybrid with a fun and catchy chorus and hilarious lyrics (just as all their songs). The lyrics are about how a day will come when tourist from all over will come to Croatia making it's economy bloom and what will Croatia do to attract them (like turn Slavonia (the largest valley region in Croatia) into a golf court).
The PV is fucking hilarious and you simply can't help but to laugh at the nutbags of Hladno Pivo.
Chorus:
To će biti TAJ DAN (It will be THAT DAY).
To će biti TAJ DAN (It will be THAT DAY).
Objesi ZIMMERFREI, lezii pod palmu i uživaj (Hang out ZIMMERFREI (German for vacant rooms), lie under a palm and enjoy)
Hladno Pivo - Šamar
Šamar (Slap) is a bit of a mid-tempo balladesque song. The video is cool and the lyrics are about jealousy and violence.
Chorus:
Kako te slijede pogledi (How the eyes follow you)
Kako se lijepe po tebi (How they crawl all over you)
Cijelim tijelom uživaš (You enjoy it with your whole body)
Misliš da ne vidim (You think that I can't see - not sure about this line, could be missheard)
Hladno Pivo - Biološki sat
Biološki sat (Biological clock) is said to be one of the strongest tracks of their recent album Knjiga Žalbe (Book of complaints). The PV was just released a while ago but it hasn't been uploaded on youtube yet, so I just found the slideshow version of the song (though the PV is awesome). The lyrics are fierce and it all has got a somehow rough and agressive sound to it. Like you wan't to beat someone up.
Chorus:
I sam ti rekao da (And I've told you that)
Al' ću ti reći sad (But I'll tell you now)
Jebem i tebe i tvoj biološki sat (Fuck you and your biological clock)
I really must take once some time and check them out. They sound really fun. Apparently we all who got our DSD diploma will have the chance to go on a free Hladno Pivo concert that will be held at the 10th year anniversary of DSD in Croatia :).
So anyway enjoy your J-rock news and Cro-punk craziness.
I can't express how happy I am to see you all liking Baku!
First International Wota gave Baku a recommendation and introduced a nice idea about the PDF version of the magazine. Though that was my initial idea I found it a bit more flexible for the readers to get the magazine in the regular, JPEG version. But the "year in review" version sounds really great and I'll will surely take it into consideration.
And I was totally speachless to see that Cliff wrote a post about Baku on Taion! Cliff is my favorite reviewer around and I was really honored to find him liking my magazine Batsu and even dedicading a post to it.
So people if there is anything you would like to see in the Visual kei cocktail of a magazine Baku please feel free to suggest.
And again thank you International Wota and thank you Cliff on your posts!
So today was the official end of my high school. The most important years in a teenagers life have come to an end.
Today was really crazy (like the last two days). Everybody was throwing around confetti and I spent the last half an hour vacuuming them. I was covered in confetti, from skirt, shirt even down to panties!!!!
The last subjects we had on schedule were physics and maths (both of the subjects that weren't so popular in our class, but I liked them). The teachers were really nice to us and all of the students who had something left to answer finished that successfully. So I was glad.
After the formal schedule we had one last hour with the teacher responsible for our class. We all gave her a gift which was chocolate pralines and Swarovski earrings (that made her really happy because it is her wish to marry wearing Swarovski earrings awwwwwwwwww.......). After that we all went to party in the big hall. Everybody was singing and dancing in a circle (though that really got a bit boring, I don't like that kind of music nor dancing so I took pictures. I would have been happier if there was a band playing). So then we had our presentation of our class in form of a slideshow with music (there was one part where this some ballad was playing and almost everybody started crying. Except me who has got the EQ of a volcano: most of the time cold, but with rare, sudden, destructive eruptions). All of the graduating classes presented themselves (other classes were really hardcore, especially with their poems dedicated to the teachers which were, well.... ouch!).
After that we had a small pause (our math teacher showered us all with confetti; she is the rockstar among the teachers!) before our class went on breaking the record in the biggest synchronised dance with other classes of our region. The most interesting thing was that I wasn't a bit nervous; I was so relaxed as though I have done that for thousands of times. All the dancers joined together atfer the dance and gave one last bow. It was fun though my head was pulsing from all the high-pitched, head piercing whistling. I sware I need one week of comeplete audio isolation to recover from this.
So now I should say something about my high-school experience but then again I really don't know what to say. I somehow haven't really realized that it is all over.
- I passed all classes with the average grade of 4.9 (1 is the lowest grade in Croatia (something like F), while 5 is the highest grade in Croatia (like A).) The only subject I had 4 through all the four years was math, not because I didn't know it or was weak in it, but because I couldn't concentrate during the exams. I knew for 5, but my concentration wouldn't let me get more than 4 :(.
- In all the 4 years I got 1 only twice. Both times at math. First time because I had 3 region competitions in one week (English, Latin and chemistry) so I didin't have the time to study and the second time a month ago because I screwed up a task in the test that brought most of the points.
- I liked all the school subjects, but mostly computers and other subjects where we did nothing :)
- I was a real whiz kid (highest notes in all subjects, except maths), which often isn't the best thing to be because people have high expectations from you and are surprised if you sometimes don't match up to them. And you try less: the only subject I really gave my best in was math, primary because I had a 4 in it. That is bad because you never get the habit to learn a lot.
- I never had summer holidays. I spent all of them working on my 150 pages manga and on the sea. I never really enjoyed the fullest of it.
- I came into the school with the promise that I won't become a metalhead/punk/rocker. The promise lasted until the third class when it was brutally broken. Though I didn't have anything against it :). Rule: The first promises that you're going to brake are the ones you give to yourself.
- I started listening to J-rock and Visual kei in the third class. My high-school metamorphosis and probably the best thing that happened in my high school.
- I didn't have a high school sweetheart.
- I changed teachers from various subjects at leats 20 times. It was kinda hard at the begining, but in the end we got used to it.
- I alway wanted the higher locker which unfortunately belonged to my sister.
- I never ditched class. Yes I know I'm a nerd but I was always rebellious in a way that I went against almost everything my class was for.
- I liked field-trips and wished there could have been more of them.
But I'll never forget high-school. That is something one can't possibly forget :).
So yeah yesterday I had my presentation of my favorite band on English. I was really nervous and my hands were slightly trembling. I asked the class to have understanding for what I was going to present them, noting that I have to make them try to understand something in five minutes what took me three years.
So after presenting the band (and getting an applause because it was really clearly and pretty said) I asked them what kind of a song do they want me to play. Did they want a ballad, a furious song, a rock'n'roll one or something completely experimental. They all expressed that they want to hear something "regular" that the GazettE have.
I don't really know why but I wanted to play something from NIL, since that album is one of the best I've ever heard. So I looked at my sister and asked her "Filth or Shadow?" and she said "Shadow". I regret it later, but well can't change that. No matter how prepared I would be, I'd always have a complaint.
So I played SHADOW VI II I. It was really loud so I could hear all the imperfections in Ruki's 2006. singing (which got really better after they've released Filth in the Beauty single). I also noticed that my heartbeat was synchronized with Kai's drumming (which was really scary). I didn't look at the class, just down at my table, wishing to kick Ruki in the balls every time he opened his mouth. I've noticed that the class chattered surprised on the bridge where Aoi plays his acoustic guitar and Ruki sings like he is from some boyband.
After the song, they've said that it sounded all right and cool and the teacher said it reminded her on System of a Down (O_O?). And when looking at my paper the teacher asked the most common question: "Are they all men?.
I've said: "Yes"
So yeah I've deleted my Last.fm account yesterday after about a year using it.
So many of you might ask themselves why did I do it and abandoned such a great site (which is true last.fm is an excellent site).
Well the reasons are:
1. I didn't profit too much having the account
When I activated my last.fm account it was fine, I could implement it on my sites, the scrobbling was ok and I had fun there. Pretty much positive. But soon I had to move my site to a host which didn't allow embedding flash content (recently it does, but I haven't figured out how). So no momently listening and top artist widgets, which well killed the magic of it. I also was irritated by the thing that you can only have normal RSS feeds for now listening charts but not for everything else.
I can basically do the things I want on Last.fm without an account.
2. Scrobbling
It wasn't rare that the stuff my sister was listening got scrobbled. She has got a completely different music taste than I have and yeah that often screwed my charts. Of course you could delete that but sometimes you had to wait an entire day for the songs to be available for deletion. One day she listened to Cinema Bizarre and my recently listened list had to suffer an entire day before I could remove that. BAD!
Also I never listen to music on my computer (where music is scrobbled) but over iPod. Sure they did have the function to scrobble music via iPod, but in most cases the Last.fm software said Your iPod had nothing new to scrobble (No shit! What about the hundreds of songs I listened since the last time I've uploaded my iPod?). So mostly my recently listened list was empty.
3. Radio function
Yes the radio was a cool function as well as the playlist but then again you could only embedded it through a flash widget and not rarely it had only 30 second versions of songs. Plus since I majorly listen to Visual kei artist most of them had no song previews nor complete songs. An the most interesting thing was that you couldn't embed your own radio when you were logged in, but when you were logged out yes. Nice logic.
4. Artist names and tags
Last.fm literally forced you to rename your artists correctly, which is a positive thing, but then again my iTunes software sometimes couldn't rename an artist and sometimes I got a completely different artist scrobbled because the artist I listened shares the name with 5 others. And not to mention 3 and more variations for some artist's names (example: alice nine, Alice nine, Alice Nine, alice nine., アリス九號, アリス九號.; not to mention some others). They did put voting for correct names, but still it is irritating.
5. Random friend requests and shoutbox comments
I often got friend requests from the most random people just because we share one or two artists. That is kinda annoying and not to mention that MOST of last.fm people do that. Or give comments like Great music taste! Nice bands etc.... I'm not into such stuff.
6. People forming groups
From fanatic fangirl groups to hate/anti-something/flam groups, there wasn't a group you couldn't find on last.fm. Okay some of them were interesting and entertaining (even some hate groups) but well most were pretty shallow. In a lot of groups you could see people argue about this and that. As far as I've read in Last.fm policy insulting and similar is forbidden, but Last.fm sometimes did gave the impression as the biggest battlefield on earth. Music should unite and make people tolerant and peaceful, not be a means of argument and hate. As long as that will stay so I won't even consider coming back to last.fm. I respect every person and it's musical choices whether I like it or not.
7. Honestly DO you really want people to know what are you listening?
Some may say yes, others no. Prejudice is human, and I know people (even I, though I tend not to) judge others by the music they listen. So you could basically not give a damn about somebody just because your music compatibility is low or none? Or because you listen to different artists? I consider the things I listen via iPod as my private thing, sure I share some artists I listen via reviews but that doesn't mean that that is all I listen to.
Really and I don't need so many internet services. Takes too much of my time.
Thank you Last.fm, it was nice, but I'm better off without an account.
Since the end of the school year is coming soon and I'm up to my throat with exams whose number is exact to the legally allowed number of exams per week, our English teacher has been so nice not to gives us an exam and to let us mostly relax on our English classes until the end.
So today we had to listen to this song which glimmering optimism almost made my ulcer pop and fill out the lyrics. Just as always when learning English through songs.
That was ok. Until the homework part...
Which is:
You have to pick your favorite song and play it and hold a five minute speech about the band and the song.
A homework most people would die for to have, right? Sure if you're an average teen listener stuck on MTV hits or the usual pop or rock classic artists (like well... everybody from my English class).
To say that my situation is slightly different would be understating. Especially when destiny has made that my so called favorite rock band comes from the land most people tend to generalize as Asians working vacation-less in high tech factories with their small eyes, big incisors, black hair and always bowing, invading every tourist spot in the world; that look hotter than most girls do (while not having boobs and having an extra something in between their legs) and whose songs would be to mild to describe as ultimate auditive chaos rock hybrid of various not rarely unmixable genres? And when most of the people (I know) find the term "Japanese rock" as funny and crazy by itself and I'm well in a school/land/*wider term* where is normal for teens like me to listen to the usual things you see on MTV?
How am I going to hold a minimum five minute about my favorite band when my hands and voice shiver every time I have to show/talk about to somebody my favorite band and not to mention about holding a speech about them in front of the class trying to compress the understanding and tolerance for a such band in five minutes that I needed three years to get. If my heart won't jump out and throw itself out of the window I'll consider myself as a "strong character".
So if I do manage to pull the talk out it is still a problem which song to play and describe. I don't have a specific overall favorite song by them, most of their songs are my favorites. I was thinking about Taion, but then again Taion begins with Ruki's uncorrectable English and does sound a bit harsh for your average listener (and the song has a special meaning to me I'm not sure I want to share). Another one of my favorites is the legendary Filth in the Beauty which would make an almost perfect choice if it weren't for the obvious incestuous lyrics (damn your perverted mind Ruki). I have to find some other T.T....
So yeah...
In short...
I'm screwed.
So as you might already know the GazettE have finished their probably most longest tour ever, the 2007-2008. Standing live tour STACKED RUBBISH - PULSE WRIGGLING TO BLACK.
The tour started way back in July (15.7.2007.) and lasted to 20.4.2008. with a total of 71 performances divided unto 4 tour parts.
Part 1 (15.7-7.9.2007.) had live performances throughout various clubs, halls and live houses in Japan with a final performed on 7.9. in Nippon Budoukan. Anybody watching the NAMELESS LIBERTY SIX GUNS live DVD (from the Budoukan concert in 2006) will see that the guys have kept their promise and returned again to Nippon Budoukan as well as "making a tour in which they will go and play in every city or town, no matter how small it is". Looks like they'd even managed to do that, since they had so many performances.
I swear that I really hated them back then just because I love their music so much and that I'll have to wait again (after waiting a year) for them to come back to Europe. All I wanted was to see the persons whose music means the life to me. Just to say one day Thank you for everything to them would mean the world to me. Because I can't never make up for what they have done for me.
The start of 2008. was marked with the boys collaboration with the jewelry label GEMCEREY and the release of their personally designed jewelry, which was followed with the release of their, probably the best, single ever Guren. The single was released on 13.2.2008. and managed to get to number 2 in the Oricon single charts. After the single release the guy's were ready to continue their PULSE WRIGGLING TO BACK tour with the Fan Club only tour part 3 (1.-10.3.2008.)
As predictable the band announced that the concert held yesterday in Yoyogi National Stadium will be released on a DVD the GazettE TOUR 2007-2008 STACKED RUBBISH GRAND FINALE [REPEATED COUNTLESS ERROR] IN 国立代々木競技場第一体育館 and the band will hold a Gazerock Festival [BURST INTO BLAZE] on 23.8.2008. on Fujikyuu (not quite sure about that) highlands. And of course the guys will release a new single this autumn (let's hope it will be Gazerock at it's best and craziest form).
So yeah, wishing them less than this would be egoistical (knowing that I'm not really fond of the band's ever growing popularity, but I can't keep them for myself can I?) so I wish them the best and more than that because they deserve more than the best. They have got my biggest gratitude.
Even if they really know to piss and annoy me sometimes, I still love them. I wish them a lot of success and many years of happy Gazerocking.
To the greatest rock band if not in the whole, than at least in my world.
Having a blog on Ameba proved to be very addicting. i just can't wait to post something! I post the most random things, from what I have been doing in the morning, what I have heard from music or my drawings. Basically anything worth posting a little entry. I write on Japanese there and I've noticed that my Japanese is gradually getting better. It's still miles away from perfect, but it is still quite understandable and I try my best to have a correct grammar.
Besides posting small entries I put a lot of colors, emojis, pictures and everything else. It does look like I'm on some LSD trip but it is really fun writing those cute and colorful entries on Japanese. Really fun XD. And it also helps me to follow the entries of my favorite bands easily. At this moment I am following the GazettE official blog, Kagrra,'s blog, alice nine.'s blog, Ayabie's Aoi and Yumehito's blogs as well. Really fun! Please check if you know a bit of Japanese.
Back to the Visual news/randomness.
When speaking of new looks...
4/19・20 国立代々木競技場第一体育館
13.4.2008. Oosakajou Hall
19.-20.4.2008. National Yoyogi Gymnasium (first gymnasium)
I hope that they are going to record the tour final of their most longest tour ever for a live DVD (which I'm going to buy and overly enjoy watching). 頑張って GazettE! 頑張って!
Asari over and out gone learning.
Today something totally awesome happened to me. I was in Zagreb and my parents' friend who I know for a long time had his birthday. We were there having lunch and I was talking to his son (who I also my friend) and somewhere he mentioned he had a guitar. An electric guitar. And not just any, he had the black Fender Squire I always wanted. He just had to show me.
Even though one string was missing I still used this unique once-in-a-who-knows-when chance and played a bit.
The guitar was set on distortion (my favorite effect) and when I was picking and playing it I felt so euphoric and happy and filled with energy. Although I was surprised by how sensitive the strings are, how even the slightest vibration can be heard I found it more than enjoyable and not as difficult as well, people would think. I am sure that with a bit of practice I could play something decent.
So yeah I played the first riff of Girugamesh's Shandan (Since it was the only thing I remembered by studying the tabs on Guitar Pro) and I wouldn't be no n00b wannabe guitarist if I hadn't played Smoke on the water （＾▽＾）.
I was also surprised by seeing the HUGE tab collection he had. He even had X-Japan, the GazettE and D'espairsRay (MaVeRicK isn't as easy as it sounds).
Sadly I didn't had the chance to play a lot because we didn't stay long. But those simple riffs I played really made me happy and when I was driving home and listening to music I had this really euphoric and tingly feeling as I was covered up in cotton puffs. This is how Heroin addicts must feel... except I am a guitar addict.
God I really haven't felt so happy since I don't know when. Now I am even more certain in buying a guitar. Happiness is mostly in little things :).
So yeah when yesterday my friends were in school I went to Austria!
I woke up really early because I wasn't sure if I was going to Austria so I got ready for school anyway. When my mom woke up she said that we are going to Austria.
I was really happy. I went to the shopping center Seiersberg which had expanded and is now HUGE!!! I was really surprised! So yeah these are some things that I bought in Austria.
I bought also the anime magazine Animania which celebrates it's 100th issue. Although I buy it mostly because of the Visual kei reviews at the end I still find the manga and anime reviews enjoyable.
I also bought the J-culture magazine peach which has got a lot of interviews and I like the new magazine layout. It looks really fine. Also the had a small phrase list "How to curse on Japanese" which I really have to learn XDDD.
I also got very luck finding the new issue of Daisuki. I love this shojo manga magazine and I have to order some of the older issues I have missed. Anyway the Daisuki also got an inner redesign and I have noticed that it has got more pages, but that the magazine in whole is printed on cheaper paper, no more glossy pages at the beginning, everything is printed on paper now. Kinda makes the magazine closer to the Japanese original right?
Besides magazines I also bought a black-white checkered bandanna so I finally have my black bandanna. Can't wait to wear it. The pink wriggly stuff on the picture are my new headphones from Phillips that weren't so expensive and they have a good sound so I am happy now. And the shocking pink color is really charming don't you think?
My mom also bought me the Mikado candy which is just the German manufactured version of Pocky sticks. Gonna eat them later.
So all in all I had a great day and I bought good things for less money. Leaves more money for the next time.
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