Right what it says on the cover.
So I caught a cold. I think the last time I was this visibly sick was since... that time I got food poisoning in April. That was a horrible day, but that's for later. I think the last actual cold was in October, or that ambiguously unwell day in May (not sure if that was stress or a real cold). The last 6 days have been varying degrees of "wow I want to punch a hole in my head because I feel so terrible".
And finally, I feel mostly human again. Yay.
What I want to say is, if it's a sore throat/phlegm-y/lung-hacking cough-a-thon of a cold, gargle salt water. I read it somewhere on the internet a while back and decided to try it on a desperate attempt to do anything that would make me feel better, and it worked. It really works to help get that gross stuff out of your system.
That and peppermint tea saved me these last few days when the cold moved from fever to throat. (But since I was super craving for peppermint tea, I went out to the supermarket to get some while I was still unwell and managed to get myself sicker. So that was a no-no.)
This has been a quality post. Only not really.
2013年8月28日水曜日
2013年8月20日火曜日
Tactile and Music
I know it's the same old excuses, but yes, life is at another turning point and things are busy. Just recently (read: last Friday), I finished my year at the Children's Entertainment program, and have started freelancing (read: 'holy cow I'm an adult now how does this work?!').
...oh, and what a crazy year it was. Sure, it had its ups and downs. A LOT of ups and downs. But when I look back and think about it, I seriously had a whole lotta fun with the best bunch of people I had the amazing privilege of becoming friends with. It was easily the best year of my life.
So, enough of me being sad and sappy. Today is another music kind of day.
I came across this music video on tumblr back in March, and fell in love with everything about it so much I was practically speechless for a good while.
Yeah, I treated myself to his CD ("In Focus?") very soon afterwards.
Shugo Tokumaru is, simply put, amazing! I don't think I fell in love this fast with a musician since... well, maybe that one time in 2010 when I had an inexplicable The Doors obsession, but that's a long story.
Anyway.
The music video is insanely awesome. Just watch. It's so cool.
But it's his music that I want to talk about today - not just this song, but all of his music.
What I fell in love with was his selection and combination of disparate sounds, and how they come together so well to create melody. And his voice, the way he lets his words flow out of his mouth... There's something inexplicably soft and fleeting yet undeniably present, like fine wool teased out and draped over your eyes. Also, sometimes, even I find it hard to decipher what the lyrics are - and I'm Japanese. But I guess it's ok, because I enjoy listening to how his voice rolls along the rest of the music in a cascading flow of sound. When I stop at times to let the lyric part sink in, it's all the more mesmerizing.
When I listen to his music, it makes me think of a river made of glass beads, wooden puzzle pieces, toys, cotton, metal cans, and a sweeping spiral staircase. All the components are distinct with individual textures, yet melding in all the right places. And it's tumbling down a waterfall in a curtain of light and dark and sound.
I also love some of his more mellow, darker songs that feels like velvet running through a forest or a mountain, with a trail of senkou hanabi (a tiny, hand-held, flickering firework) tiptoeing in its wake.
It's very tactile. Maybe that's why I love it so much.
And I have a very weird, long-winded, and unhelpful way of explaining things.
I've always struggled with "conciseness and clarity" when it comes to writing.
...oh, and what a crazy year it was. Sure, it had its ups and downs. A LOT of ups and downs. But when I look back and think about it, I seriously had a whole lotta fun with the best bunch of people I had the amazing privilege of becoming friends with. It was easily the best year of my life.
So, enough of me being sad and sappy. Today is another music kind of day.
I came across this music video on tumblr back in March, and fell in love with everything about it so much I was practically speechless for a good while.
Yeah, I treated myself to his CD ("In Focus?") very soon afterwards.
Shugo Tokumaru is, simply put, amazing! I don't think I fell in love this fast with a musician since... well, maybe that one time in 2010 when I had an inexplicable The Doors obsession, but that's a long story.
Anyway.
The music video is insanely awesome. Just watch. It's so cool.
But it's his music that I want to talk about today - not just this song, but all of his music.
What I fell in love with was his selection and combination of disparate sounds, and how they come together so well to create melody. And his voice, the way he lets his words flow out of his mouth... There's something inexplicably soft and fleeting yet undeniably present, like fine wool teased out and draped over your eyes. Also, sometimes, even I find it hard to decipher what the lyrics are - and I'm Japanese. But I guess it's ok, because I enjoy listening to how his voice rolls along the rest of the music in a cascading flow of sound. When I stop at times to let the lyric part sink in, it's all the more mesmerizing.
When I listen to his music, it makes me think of a river made of glass beads, wooden puzzle pieces, toys, cotton, metal cans, and a sweeping spiral staircase. All the components are distinct with individual textures, yet melding in all the right places. And it's tumbling down a waterfall in a curtain of light and dark and sound.
I also love some of his more mellow, darker songs that feels like velvet running through a forest or a mountain, with a trail of senkou hanabi (a tiny, hand-held, flickering firework) tiptoeing in its wake.
It's very tactile. Maybe that's why I love it so much.
And I have a very weird, long-winded, and unhelpful way of explaining things.
I've always struggled with "conciseness and clarity" when it comes to writing.
2013年8月7日水曜日
Commitment Issues and The End
I have big, and I mean BIG commitment issues when it comes to finishing a TV show. Namely, I barely finish a season of a TV show, especially North American/English TV. I just can't explain why... um, I have a short attention span?
It's not like I don't have the time - if I really wanted to, I could easily cut back on sleep and watch a show, marathon a series in one go. But for some reason it just hasn't happened very frequently.
And then I thought back to my anime watching. In the past 2 months, I have successfully watched the entirety of Fate/Zero, Baccano!, and Mouryou no Hako (the last two were re-watches, though). Maybe it's the 30-minute timeframe that grabs my attention better?
Then I thought about the difference in story and structure - especially the ending of a show/season. North American/English shows (S1) are usually made with the assumption and hope that a S2 or more will be made, so season finales are often cliffhangers or some mystery. And the desire to continue and 'become successful' means almost every season finale is like that.
On the other hand, Japanese TV (including anime) are mostly made with a definite ending in mind. The audience goes in to a show expecting a clear ending that wraps everything up, a story that is self-contained. 'Success' of a TV show is not necessarily defined by a sequel/subsequent seasons.
There are pros and cons to both types of structures/ending - but I guess that knowledge of working towards a definite end appeals to me more than the possibility of longevity, only because that's the kind of media I've been exposed to most.
It's not like I don't have the time - if I really wanted to, I could easily cut back on sleep and watch a show, marathon a series in one go. But for some reason it just hasn't happened very frequently.
And then I thought back to my anime watching. In the past 2 months, I have successfully watched the entirety of Fate/Zero, Baccano!, and Mouryou no Hako (the last two were re-watches, though). Maybe it's the 30-minute timeframe that grabs my attention better?
Then I thought about the difference in story and structure - especially the ending of a show/season. North American/English shows (S1) are usually made with the assumption and hope that a S2 or more will be made, so season finales are often cliffhangers or some mystery. And the desire to continue and 'become successful' means almost every season finale is like that.
On the other hand, Japanese TV (including anime) are mostly made with a definite ending in mind. The audience goes in to a show expecting a clear ending that wraps everything up, a story that is self-contained. 'Success' of a TV show is not necessarily defined by a sequel/subsequent seasons.
There are pros and cons to both types of structures/ending - but I guess that knowledge of working towards a definite end appeals to me more than the possibility of longevity, only because that's the kind of media I've been exposed to most.
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