May and June… the months where every student dreams about the upcoming vacations. Until you get to 8th grade. To 8th graders, May and June mean incessant studying for your first final exams and you don’t know what to expect, so it only gets worse. There are only 2 more weeks until we have our final exams and only this week and the next to study. I’m only concerned about Portuguese and Mathematics material because they’re the kind of subjects that you go “what?! when did we learn this?!” when we review… Besides, I used to be good in both, but now I don’t know what happened this year that I just can’t pick up on things. This is pretty bad because of the fact that it’s the base for the beginning of high school, and if you have no base, you can’t build anything knowledge through the coming years, and that’ll lead to lots of humiliation in the classroom if they ask random questions to me that I won’t know how to answer.
From now on, I am to get really stressed and I think I’ll have to put piano to the side now because I’ll need all the time I can get to study. This weekend I plan to have no entertainment at all, only studying my English and Portuguese material. I hope I do just fine and that my hard work is worth it!
Never has a series been so syncronized with its own soundtrack! (At least from the ones I’ve watched) Everything is so in touch with the music in the series to the moment’s emotion that it increases the feeling they’re trying to expose to us. I love this about the series and everything else about it. Since my last review, there is one more main character named Tomohiko Ogura.
Tomohiko Ogura: Ogura got into the series because he works with Eri in the airport. He told Eri about how his wife is living with another man in their house and he was kicked out. He is very shy and timid, but pretty controllable just like Michiru. He ends up living with Ruka, Takeru and Eri because of that and steals a plasma television from his house as a house-warming gift!
[Spoilers] Through the first five episodes, we get more and more interested in the cliffhangers, the relationships and in the strong personalities of the characters and the conflicts they’re involved in. Although, in the beginning we see this very close bond of love and friendship between Ruka and Michiru, it seems like lately, Ruka doesn’t like the fact that Michiru is so controllable by Sosuke (Michiru’s abusive boyfriend) and through the 4th and 5th episodes, I feel like she ‘gave up’ on Michiru. Although Michiru may seem weak and controllable in the beginning, in the 5th episode, it’s interesting to notice how she finally rejects Sosuke after being hit so many times. Michiru gets a key to live with Ruka, Takeru and Eri. It didn’t last long because later, Michiru fights with Ruka because Ruka wants to keep her away from Sosuke because of all the harm he caused, but since Michiru breaks up with him, Sosuke gets depressed (More than he already is) and mysterious and draws Michiru back when he calls her and says he’ll kill himself. Michiru fights with Ruka and goes back to Sosuke. That’s where the 5th episode leaves off.
[Spoilers] About the characters, we learn that they all have their problems and weaknesses, but when they’re together, it’s like nothing matters anymore. It’s a really heart-warming series and every one of the characters has a very strong personality, be it in a positive or a negative way. We learn that Takeru is afraid of relationships because of something in his past. Ruka searches for help because she believes she has a ‘gender identity disorder.’ Michiru is back with Sosuke. Ogura is back to his house with his wife (Nobody really knows what happened), and Eri is unhappy because of everything going on around her.
I can’t stop checking back on Kioku’s website to see if the next episode is already hardsubbed (With subtitles already on the video) because the series is becoming so different from its origins and the mystery, love and warmth involved is captivating! I love the series and can’t stop watching it and Kioku does an amazing job translating from Japanese to English with clear subtitles.
Soon enough, Kuu will be releasing her new single, MOON, and I couldn’t be more excited. From the previews, I can expect an 8-tracked single that’ll blow my mind. The songs all sound magnificent and I’m not just saying this because I love Koda Kumi.
Speaking of great singles, Prisoner of Love, Utada Hikaru’s lastest single, was released today, and Prisoner of Love is already a marvelous track on its own, but the version that come along with it in the single are to make it perfect. I’m going to download it as soon as it’s available and enjoy it whenever I can. I bet this single is going to have great sales because of its popularity between the fans of the dorama Last Friends.
But now, coming back to MOON, to be released on June 11th, 2008. The single will feature American singer Fergie in a collaboration with Kumi for the the song That Ain’t Cool. Moon Crying is the only track from the single that has been released now and it’s an amazing ballad, one of the best I’ve ever heard in my entire life.
For the first two songs to ever be uploaded in This blog, I’d like to upload Moon Crying, by Koda Kumi in the name of my wonderful friend, Sofy! I don’t know the lyrics, but I like the mood that the song transmits… So I’m dedicating it to her, since I just heard that she won’t be studying in EAC anymore with Cary and I.
Moon Crying - 倖田來未
As the second song of my first uploaded set, I chose the lovely new ballad by Utada Hikaru, Prisoner Of Love, but this time, to celebrate her perfect new release, I decided to upload the new version of the song only available with the single, Prisoner Of Love -Quiet Version-. It’s an amazing ballad with the perfect blend of instruments like piano and violin with backing vocals and the wonderful vocal range of Hikki! I hope you like this song as well because I love it as well!
Every year in the month of May our school prepares a food festival at school called ‘International Day.’ The festival consists of food everywhere, game booths brought by a certain grade of students and lots of hanging out with your classmates and your family. I just came back from this year’s ‘International Day’ and it was a very pleasent festival! Better than any other that I attended so far.
You see, the main purpose of the party is to get money for your class and advertise your booth to get lots of hits. It was so much fun working with the kids that I actually took 2 shifts (Of one hour each) at the booth, helping my classmates out when others weren’t helping.
Other than all the friendship and helping out, I couldn’t seem to stop visiting the marvelous and wonderful Korean booth. It seemed to be the booth with the most food being sold because the food was running out 1 hour before the party ended and it was DELICIOUS. For every plate you ordered, you could have either some meat to follow or a pair of rice cakes and you also got free korean tea. All this with chop sticks! The noodles were incredible and so were the Korean rolls. The rice cakes I got were the best food I have ever eaten. The dough was made out of rice (Of course) and they were circular. They were also pink. Inside you could taste a very sweet and delicious essence. With noodles they rocked! The tea created the feeling that we were actually in Korea, having a meal with friends. The friendly Korean women (Mothers of students at EAC [My school]) who were serving us all had on traditional Korean dresses and so did the men. The booth was the beautifullest one and the one that was the most delicious. Too bad the rice cakes ended so fast.
There were many funny moments throughout the afternoon and Pamela returned from the United States today from the Intel Isef fair and came to the festival to check out how everything was going. It was a very deliciously fun day.
Like I’ve mentioned before, I decided to take piano lessons and today was my very first lesson in 8 years! I have a great teacher who’s very sweet and gentle with everything. The only thing I’m concerned with is the fact that she likes setting up meetings between her students and when skill and ability is in question, I wouldn’t like to be the newbie and get everything wrong while everyone else is going super well and looking at me like I’m some intruder wannabe in their territory. But I’m a fast learner, like my teacher said and my previous years playing favored me and I’m really passionate about the piano! I can’t wait for the weekend to come so I can wake up in the morning, go down to the piano area and practice to perfection! For the first time I’m playing the right instrument. I didn’t have enough maturity before, but now I know how much I want to play the piano, the sound is really music, unlike my past attempt with the guitar (Which I quit because I felt it was a burden and I wasn’t feeling connected with what I did).
It’s like a school lesson when I’m learning with her, she likes giving tests, according to her, and she likes to gather my friends and family around when I’m taking them so everyone can be a part of my learning and that’s great because not only is it including them, but it also breaks me from my shell and allows my shyness to not get in the way of my duties. But this class was very positive and I’m going to study a lot and maybe look for some other music to play in the piano. I’m so eager for that!
Today was the day that Xuxa was burried, 2 days after her death. It was far more difficult seeing all that dirt being thrown over her coffin than actually seeing her lying dead on my nieghbor’s garden. We got to the cemetery and asked the lady there where Xuxa was. She pointed out the way and we got to a room where a white dog was enveloped with a red blanket on top of a table, but Xuxa isn’t white, so it couldn’t have been her. My mother looked at the wooden box beside the dog and when she peeked into it, all of us began to sob and cry. There she was, with lots of flowers lying on top of her. We looked at her, my mother pet her head for the last time and with that last image of her, we sealed the coffin. We went outside to look where she’d be burried. Following the indications of the lady, we awaited, looking at the deep whole where our beloved cat would remain from now on.
We talked for a while, crying and sobbing, until the man came out with her coffin. I looked at it and squeaked, then the tears wouldn’t stop coming, I think I was never that sad in my whole life, I have never cried that much ever. The man placed her inside the whole and began bringing the dirt to fill the whole. It was a painful process for me. So painful that I wouldn’t stop crying loudly all the time. Just the thought of only having that depressing grave to look at whenever I thought about her was a nightmare. No more of her sexyness when she was laying down on the floor all elegant. No more listening to her nails scratching the carboard beds we put out for her to sleep in, no more of her entering the house quickly after we open the door so she can go down to the room where her last litter of kittens was born. No more unity between she and her daughter, Pakita. No more dressing her up in adorable outfits. No more Xuxa, the wonderful cat that won’t ever be replaced.
I took notice of all of that during the whole burrying. It was only then that it actually striked me that she’s really dead and that this is it. When I found her for the first time, it took me about 2 minutes to start crying because I was in shock, it was so sudden, and to think that if she wasn’t at the wrong place at the wrong time, she would still be here, wonderful and fantastic as she had always been. I’ll never forget her adorable habits and how special she is. She shouldn’t have gone away this way, I’ll miss her forever.
Thank you everyone for all the support and wonderful comments for my previous post… I really needed all the support and I feel much better, and good enough to write more posts for y’all! Thank you once again!
For two days now I have wanted to watch KODA KUMI LIVE TOUR 2007 ~Black Cherry~ SPECIAL FINAL in TOKYO DOME, but because the download was very hard to acquire, I only got to watch it yesterday. The hard work was worth it. This concert is one of the best I’ve ever watched because it’s so different. It’s kind of a play involving pirates, the ocean and mermaids. The part after the second video interlude kind of drops the story and it’s pretty much a normal concert. The whole stage and audience had an undersea vibe, (Since the stage was in the shape of a pirate ship and the audience was waving blue glowing shells throughout the concert) and it was something truely amazing.
The concert begins with a video interlude of Koda Kumi as a mermaid and lying (Apparently dead or sleeping) on some sort of a pedestal. Then a terribly ugly witch comes in and removes this key she was wearing as a necklace and throws it onto the floor. A pirate that walks in with the witch takes the key that fell onto the floor for himself. The witch then takes out these fire swords and stabs the pedestal that Koda Kumi is on three times. Koda Kumi opens her eyes and when the witch is about to kill her with the fiery blade, Everything disappears in a white flash and mermaid Kuu is still on the pedestal, but she’s waking up. Her hands move on the screen and the attention is turned to the stage, where an aquarium is placed. The music plays and bubbles cover the water. Just when the bubbles are over, there is Kuu, swimming. She jumps out of the aquarium and starts to sing. It’s a great start for a great concert.
The rest is the real concert and two more interlude videos. Kuu really shows her vocal range and many other abilities through out the concert, like pouring drinks, doing cartwheels and of course, her great dancing abilities. I really liked the song choice, but the ‘rock’ part of the concert was my least favorite part, since it was too noisy and loud. The last part of the concert was a great one, ending with a crying Kuu singing ‘walk’ and the mermaid part was adorable, the songs were chosen very well, with R&B and pop vibes while the costumes were very rich and beautiful.
Overall, the concert was great and one of the best I’ve ever watched. I’d rate it a 10/10, in the beginning, I was a little concerned about the song selection on some parts, but it’s something you grow into to feel the sould of the songs, and the performances make up for everything! I recommend it to anyone who enjoys lots of special effects, pop and R&B!
As a glimpse of the DVD, here is my favorite part: Kuu Mermaid part:
