Lunamania

Here's track 7 Been So Long by M-flo

At one point my high school became a breeding ground for J-pop "idols." Why? I dunno. Whatver the reasons, beginning with Hayami Yu, leading in to Nishida Hikaru and peaking with Lisa Nishi of M-flo and Utada Hikaru ASIJ alums have been doing their thing in Japanese show-biz.

While Hayami and Nishida had respectable "idoru" careers, M-flo and Utada took over and completely dominated the J-pop scene by re-mixing R&B/hip-hop beats with that 81.3 FM J-wave sound. For the music freaks (attn: Wily Filipino), the J-wave sound is embodied by Mondo Grosso, Monday Michiru, Dreams Come True and Bird.

They were also lyrical pioneers. Until M-flo, J-pop was mostly nonsensicaly English words tossed into Japanese ballads. M-flo took it to another level and sang and rapped in the hybrid "chanpon" form of English-Japanese spoken by all the international school kids in Tokyo. It was a mindblowing experience to hear what was formerly such an exclusive language now all over the radio. CLASSIC lines like "I get around like sushi on a kaiten (rotating sushi)" and "I ate too many MCs I got konaen (cold sores)."

Enjoy.

Posted by at 5:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Why is she so fascinating? Pre-crazy, post-crazy, it's all good by me. Something about the cheezy ballads and Lisa K.

I'm not ashamed to say that I own Vision of Love and still listen to it. I was also one of 4 people who actually tried to see Glitter in the theaters. I say "try" because it was yanked so quickly from the theaters that I would have had to find my way to New Jersey to see it. For real.

Today's ear worm was We Belong Together--just the straight album cut. No beat street remixes or mash-ups. I'm not posting it since this song has received more airplay than any other track this summer. I keep getting stuck on the post-production inserted "wooo" in the last wailing bars. It's supposed to mask the limits of her range, but it's a shade off beat and snags. I fully realize that no one here is as STUPIDLY obsessive about this, but my compulsive tendencies are making me share.

Posted by at 6:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Last night, I had 2 beers and 3 chicken wings during my volleyball games. This resulted in 2 matches won and 3 lost. Coincidence? I think not. I'm drinking more beer next week.

Speaking of chicken wings, earlier this week Vivian taught me how to rock climb. Elaine notes, "in new york, this thing would be a sculpture. in california, people climb it for exercise." True that. I'm kind of afraid of heights. I also associate rock climbing with extreme sport white dudes who manufacture danger to feel alive. There's also something completely absurd and pointless about climbing a fake rock studded with plastic handholds. Despite all that, I had a great time and actually felt like I accomplished something when I reached the top. Yes, I realize it's a false sense of accomplishment borne out of my overall daily uselessness. Anyway, it's quite a workout and to maintain motivation my one request is that they place a prize at the top. A chicken wing would be quite nice or a little picture of Angelina Jolie peering at me.

On an unrelated note, I'm ashamed to admit I am woefully behind my queer API sisters in getting anything online re: camping last weekend. Pictures of frolicking dykes, scenic rivers, enormous redwoods and tiny frogs are now circulating the internet. Being a photographic misanthrope, I don't like taking pictures of people. So my pictures would be incredibly boring images of redwoods and green moss. I think I'll spare my fellow campers.

Posted by at 10:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last night, I had 2 beers and 3 chicken wings during my volleyball games. This resulted in 2 matches won and 3 lost. Coincidence? I think not. I'm drinking more beer next week.

Speaking of chicken wings, earlier this week Vivian taught me how to rock climb. Elaine notes, "in new york, this thing would be a sculpture. in california, people climb it for exercise." True that. I'm kind of afraid of heights. I also associate rock climbing with extreme sport white dudes who manufacture danger to feel alive. There's also something completely absurd and pointless about climbing a fake rock studded with plastic handholds. Despite all that, I had a great time and actually felt like I accomplished something when I reached the top. Yes, I realize it's a false sense of accomplishment borne out of my overall daily uselessness. Anyway, it's quite a workout and to maintain motivation my one request is that they place a prize at the top. A chicken wing would be quite nice or a little picture of Angelina Jolie peering at me.

On an unrelated note, I'm ashamed to admit I am woefully behind my queer API sisters in getting anything online re: camping last weekend. Pictures of frolicking dykes, scenic rivers, enormous redwoods and tiny frogs are now circulating the internet. Being a photographic misanthrope, I don't like taking pictures of people. So my pictures would be incredibly boring images of redwoods and green moss. I think I'll spare my fellow campers.

Posted by at 10:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Happy Friday.

This week, I've succeeded in to leaving work each day at a reasonable hour. It's meant I've actually made some use of my ridiculously expensive gym membership.

We're preparing to embark on a one-night camping excursion to Mendocino with approximately 20 queer API women. Yikes. Given the demographic, some of us have explored ways we can hook up a karaoke machine or magic mic to a car AC adapter. We would take campfire songs to a whole new level.

Speaking of songs...(smooth transition)
The next tune was my favorite house 12", and was sadly lost in my cross country move. But here's a slightly different digital version.
It's a Mondo Grosso track produced by Shinichi Osawa and featuring Bird's most excellent vocals. Enjoy Life.

Posted by at 8:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

As most of you know, I love animals--not in the Camp-Out-In-a-Tree-to-Save-the-Spotted-Owl manner, but in a less analytical "whoa, s/he could eat me" or a "i wish i had a tail too" kind of way. Generally, people are annoying so, I also like to think it's possible to have meaningful relationships with other living beings. And just to clarify, this isn't in the Alice Walker--I can have a relationship with a sea sponge way, but it's more a "wouldn't it be great if Tamu could cook rice" sort of thing.

ANYWAY, this is all to say I don't really like zoos. That whole imprisoning animals for our entertainment thing doesn't sit well. I admit I like the Monterey Aquarium and make semi-regular pilgrimages to visit the sea otters. However, I usually draw the line draw the line at places that combine live animals with roller costers.

This weekend I was visiting the OC with Road Trip Monkey and we were invited to accompany the quite adorable niece and nephew on a trip to Sea World. For a whole host of reasons I won't get into, it was a really generous invitation so we accepted. I spent the week crafting my subversive, yet accessible to a 9 month old and 3 year old message about caged animals. I soon realized the kids were mostly asleep or more interested in playing with the stroller.

We did go see several sea shows. One was an absurd, but unobjectionable Cirque de la Mer. Yes, the cast was the farm team for the Cirque de Soleil. Since no animals were contorted for this performance, it was all good by me.

But who goes to Sea World to see human amphibious acrobats? It's all about Shamu. After a "salute to our military sponsored by Annheiser-Busch", we watched a number of orcas zip around a tiny tank and slither onto various platforms. Aside from the cramped quarters and the empirical madness of trapping a pod of orcas in southern California, the most outrageous thing was that they were all called Shamu. Although there are clearly 5 different orcas visible from the stands, each one was referred to as Shamu--including the baby orca. Kind of like how any tissue is a kleenex or all adhesive bandages are band aids. All Asians looks alike. All orcas morph into Shamus as soon as they are enslaved at Sea World.

Orcas are magnificent animals. They really shouldn't have to live in republican infested San Diego. They most definitely should not have to perform tricks for a living. Free Willy! (In real life it was a female orca named Keiko--go figure.)

Posted by at 6:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am sick of work. I'll have you all know that I actually LIKE my job. But the nature of the work isn't the point here. I'm TIRED. (Al-b, please insert appropriate whining here--and I owe you a phone call.) I'm just getting annoyed about having the best parts of my day monopolized by Work. There's something rather de-humanizing about the whole affair.

I haven't figured out the macro solution to this despicable set-up. So if you have the answers, let me know. In the meantime, I'm not going to whine whine whine about the situation. I'm taking matters into my own hands. I am playing Super Lotto.

Insert segue here.

Last night, I enjoyed a way too short dinner w/Lisa K. I also spent some quality time in a karaoke box this weekend. In the spirit of sharing good music, here's a great song. It feels like summer and smiles on the beach. This is Life, my favorite Mondo Grosso track, featuring Bird. It's grounded by some happy beats and that soaring female vocal sound I like so much. Go crazy.

Posted by at 11:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)