let's BACKTRACK

Okay, so today, I went to the West Covina Library to borrow The Left Hand of Darkness for my silent sustained reading book. (In case anyone forgot, it’s supposed to be a fiction, 150 pages) Unfortunately, they didn’t have the book. They had everything else by Ursula K. LeGuin though. How ironic is that? Instead of going back to the Covina library, that I knew had it, I went over to Barnes and Noble to just get my own copy. I was planning to do that from the start anyway. Before I left, I picked up Angels and Demons for Brandon, since he couldn’t go to the library himself. It’s a good book, and he told me he didn’t want any girly book, so it fits perfectly well. But now that I think about it, he’s not that sort of a religious story person either. Oh well, he can find his own book. This is just to save his hide on Monday. So we drove back home, my mom and I, and I found my Christmas giftcard of 20 dollars. I couldn’t find the one michelle gave me, but I’m sure it’s somewhere in a stack of letters I kept. So we went to the book store, and got my dream book, and also picked up my paperback copy of Angels and Demons. All together, $31. I probably spent more money on two books today than I do for clothes in.. 2 months. Weird, huh? But totally worth it. I love these two books.

I started reading The Left Hand of Darkness and am having second thoughts about reading this for my ssr. This book is so confusing. :[ I’m going to perservere though! I must finish reading this, no matter how confusing! That reminds me, I was talking to the cashier lady, and she was talking to me about getting a Barnes and Nobles card. It’s mostly for hardcover books, really, and I don’t buy hardcover books. She was also talking to me about how the left hand is usually considered evil (referring to the book title). She’s such a kooky old woman. Best conversation I’ve ever had with a cashier woman, ever.

Did I express how much I hate the new Angels and Demons cover? It’s so ugly. It’s about the same as the old one but looks a lot more photoshopped (if that makes sense). The old one was a lot more simple and featured that wonderful ambigram of the title. I wish I had that version, but unfortunately, that cover is now out of print. I would pay up to $30 to get a version with that old cover.

Happy Birthday Dominic! You’re finally achtundswanzig Jahre alt!
And I thought old people didn’t celebrate birthdays..

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!
Hoch soll er leben!
Hoch soll er leben!
DREIIIII mal hoch! 

Otanjou-bi Omedetou Gozaimasu!
-I don’t know the japanese song, sorry-

生日快樂!
-Too lazy to type out the song-

I was rewatching this live from when Gackt performed RETURNER ~Yami no Shuuen~, and noticed these english-looking guys in the background. Guess who they were? Well, I don’t know who they were exactly, but they looked a lot like Maroon 5. I need another person to back me up on this. It’d be so weird if it really were them. Imagine, Gackt and Maroon 5 on the same stage, hahah!

http://www.veoh.com/videos/v669921DK7FBEr6

I don’t think I’ll write a commentary on this one. The live is pretty good, but the microphone is kind of weird. Gackt’s bite expression is adorable. No doubt about it. <3

Another Music Fighter clip. This one is pretty funny. I feel bad for the guy. Oh well, the live was good. When I say “good” I mean it very loosely. The singing was pretty flat compared to his other lives. I just couldn’t feel the same kind of  fire he had with his other songs. I think it may be because he hurt his voice recently and has had to change his singing style.  In other news, his “acting” on stage is getting better. He’s also using the same microphone he used in Redemption in case anyone didn’t notice. The music was also play-synced in case anyone didn’t notice and Gackt wasn’t singing a good portion of the high parts. :]

http://www.veoh.com/videos/v794092MsfeQthm

I’ve been watching this NTV (Nippon Television?) series for awhile on Veoh.com, and I’ve noticed something. THERE’S NO SUBS! There really should be a subbing group for this series. I have no idea what’s going on 100% of the time, but I still like watching it. I would really like to know what’s going on.

Today, I watched episodes 33 of Fuurin Kazan. There’s even more Gackt (aka Uesegi Kenshin) than usual! That makes me happy and somewhat sad. Gackt’s acting is.. well, lets just say he’s a newb. The only other acting experience he’s had was in his own movie, Moonchild, and the movie was just a big flop (acting wise). Everytime he does some sort of motion, it’s so funny. I’m sure that’s what it was supposed to look like, but him being some general or lord is just funny. His fact doesn’t fit the character well, even though he put on some weight to play the character. It’s easy to tell he put on quite a lot of weight, because his fact is usually very stoic, or defined, but now he has some cheeks, and they look droopy, like he’s an old person. That makes me sad. He usually looks so young, but I guess aging is inevitable for everyone, eh? 

Some highlights from episode 33 among other things…
- When Kenshin was talking in the beginning and the guys were answering back. It was like he was mocking them and they had to reply or else they’d get in trouble. Then he made this motion as if he were holding a bow and releasing an arrow. That was funny and also his voice. It’s so much deeper than usual and he speaks so randomly. Makes me jump from surprise sometimes.
- 4:54, from behind, Gackt looks like a girl with that long wig, XD! Yeah, it’s actually a wig this time. He cut his hair so short for S.K.I.N. :[
- How many outfits does Kenshin go through a day? We saw him in a black, red, purple, white, teal, and orange kimono (Because it’s winter, or is it a Yukata? Or might it be something else, because it looks like neither). They’re all the same too! The designs I mean.
- Kenshin gets his own platform to sit on? Wow, he must feel really in the spotlight.
- I didn’t get why that guy just dropped onto the floor like that, the one in jail. It felt so random and made me laugh.
- Gackt’s a pretty good rider. The horse is kind or orientated weirdly and is very ugly. It’s a white horse though, so I forgive its ugliness. Gackt was also making this weird “teh!” sound while riding.
- Why is is that everytime he speaks, it’s like he’s interrogating someone? Even to his sister, haha.
- LMAO, Gackt almost beheaded his guy with a leaf.
- What the heck? What a cheater, Gackt. You had to have Echigo tied up in order to behead him? Where’s the fun in that?
- Wait, you’re gonna shoot him? Oh, thank God! I would be sad if my favourite character died on me.
- That’s one evil laugh, Kenshin.

is going to kill me someday.

Okay, so today was the first day of pre-season practice. I thought it was going to be super easy, and it was. We just did the regular two laps, stretches, and the excercises. I thought (once again) I was going to be okay. I hadn’t gotten any excercise in about 3 months (summer), but how strenuous was it going to be? I ended blanking out (or however you’d like to word it). My eyes felt like they were closing on me because everything looked dark all of a sudden and I saw lots of little dots too. I couldn’t see faces either. It was probably the worst feeling in the world. Add super headache, darkness, and the feeling of wanting to puke, and you had me after running two laps and doing the stretches. I felt bad for being the first to back out so early into the first day, but I really was going to faint if I didn’t, no kidding. After me, other people started to get faint too. They were feeling much worse than me. They kept seeing the grass as neon green, and Cynthia and Payton had an asthma attack. Besides those two, Karla, Tammy, and this other guy had to sit down. We probably didn’t get enough water, so we should be fine next week. Besides that, I forgot to ask Starkey if he was selling spikes! RAWR! I forgot though, because there was this ginormous line in the girl’s bathroom. It took us maybe 20 minutes just to get dressed. The girl’s locker room was locked. :[ That's about the worst part of my day. I still need to get a fiction book, but other than that, I don't have much homework. [I'm going to that big library tommorrow, so if anyone needs a ride, feel free to give me a call] I’ll stop here and add more whenever I find something interesting.

Oh, and after track, I gave Brian a ride home. We talked about getting a permit. I think I should get a permit now, but I’m too lazy to go take classes. I might just give it a try anyways. Brian needs to log onto AIM so I can ask for the address of that place he goes. You have to be 15 and a half to get your permit, right? Because I’m exactly 15 and a half! Haha, the irony. Wait, is that even irony?

Wow, the tennis people saw us running. Now I feel kinda stupid, because I didn’t have a hair tie today and I looked like I was dying probably. I have a feeling Raymond will log onto any time now and make fun of me and my ugly running. Yay me?

Countdown to Dominic’s birthday: 1 day

Was pretty good. We finally got to doing something PRODUCTIVE in class. All classes were good except for English. I think Bryant is just trying to prevent the inevitable of us actually doing some work. We’ll probably start work Tuesday, because we don’t have school for Friday and Monday. Umm, we didn’t have much homework today. Only German and Math, but both were so easy. I don’t know how people could not finish unless they were lazy like me. I only had two left though! I finished during 6th period because we didn’t have anything. That reminds me, we added 6th period Pre-Season Track today. Michelle didn’t though, ’cause it was too hot. I think I’m going to look forward to doing track, but I need new spikes, for real now. Remind me to ask Starkey if he’s selling some tommorrow!

I can’t believe I actually woke up to zero today. I woke up on my own, so yay me! We didn’t do much though. I really have to thank Gladis for doing my part in 3rd. I’m still having trouble with our solo. I keep counting, but I always get off. I was only 3 measures off this time though, so not too bad! I’m getting better, I think.

So afterschool today, I had nothing to do. I didn’t feel like doing my German yet, ’cause it was easy, so I took a nap. Then someone knocked on our door. It was a neighbor kid who needed help on his math. He’s in 7th grade doing Alg. I. It was easy, though, I think I confused him. Cube is to the 3rd power, right? I hope that’s what I told him, or else I would feel bad for giving him the wrong answer. Such a nice kid, too bad he goes to Las Palmas.

For my fiction book, I think I’m going to do The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin, one of the greatest authors of ALL TIME! I heard it was a pretty good book and is a very dark book (pay no attention to the title), so I’m definitely looking forward to it. I hope Chase finds his copy, but if not, I had him look for Tales of Earthsea or The Other Wind as backup. I read the predescessing books, so I should be all right. I heard they’re kind of boring though, so I hope not!

Countdown to Dominic’s birthday: 2 days

Okay Uncle Steven, as you can tell, I got really bored.
Here’s the surprise I promised. Use it on MSN if you want. ;D

To anyone reading this besides Uncle: inside joke. 0_____o;;

It’s comin’ up,
It’s comin’ up,
It’s DARE.

 LOL, just kidding. I just couldn’t think of a title for this and was listening to DARE while I decided to write the post. Okay, so I slept at 3 last night and finished editing all my english and history assignments. They got printed out, all 35 pages and are neatly stashed inside my very light backpack. I didn’t have any problems with printing them out, although, I’m out of ink from that Catcher in the Rye assignment. 20 pages! I must be on crack to have actually done 44 quotes. I even used 1.5 spacing. If I didn’t, it would have been 27 pages. So scary. I couldn’t even get a stapler through the sheets. I had to use a clamp, so I hope Bryant doesn’t look at me all funny.

I still need to finish reading that history assignment. I don’t remember any people at all or what they did. I only remember the statistics from the Bubonic Plague/Black Death, but that’s because I like learning about that. I also remember the peasant revolutions because of Tyler Wat and that funny book I got from the Stonehenge gift shop last time I went to England. It’s FUNNY and you learn a lot too. I should probably bring it some time and show Mrs. Kearns.

I also learned today that some people don’t know what the Bubonic Plague is. Apparently, it’s a Yu-Gi-Oh! card. (There’s a card with a similar, but not the same name)

me: BUBONIC PLAGUE!!!
you: haha hm..that sounds familiar
you: like a yugioh card or somethign

chelle: hey buboic plague does sound yugioh-like

I feel really bad for the people that haven’t finished their assignments yet. A lot of people I know are just starting certain assignments or haven’t started at all. I wish them the best of luck.

Okay, so I really do type a lot, it’s not my fault. I have a lot to say. At least this way, I’m not bothering people. I’m also having trouble typing ’cause I bruised my left index finger. I can’t type with it at all.

FORGETtheTHOUGHT: dang you went crazy with wp
FORGETtheTHOUGHT: -_____-
FORGETtheTHOUGHT: i’m like scared to read it or something
theSCIENTIST xxx: LMFAO!
theSCIENTIST xxx: It actually didn’t take me too long
theSCIENTIST xxx: about 5 minutes a post
FORGETtheTHOUGHT: oh dear, what kind of crack are you on?
theSCIENTIST xxx: read it!
FORGETtheTHOUGHT: and the whole who do you hate more thing made me LOL

Oh, and today, the Gaia Summer Festival started! THIS IS DUUUURREEEEMMM!
I have mules in all four parties, but I support Durem whole-heartedly. I just want the items from all four. I had to quit around 2 though, ’cause we reached 90k people online and I lagged like hell. I got the 4 shirts, and that was about it.

Countdown to Dominic’s birthday: 4 days

…is coming up. Here are a few things I’m NOT looking forward to:

Since I spent the last two posts talking about L’arc + DN, here’s one that actually belongs in a blog! (Sorry for writing so much in one day, but I’m really bored and I don’t feel like finishing the family page right now.)

1. Being in pit with MARCO. THE STUPIDEST, MOST ANNOYING, AND CHILDISH TRAWEEKER TO HAVE EVER LIVED. I seriously don’t want to everrr see him again. He enjoys not listening to me when I tell him to be quiet and just pisses off everyone in pit. I know I’m not pit captain, but he needs to show some respect. Not just to me, but to everyone, especially Jackie, whom he has repeatedly ignored.

2. Being in Comp/Lit II H taught by Mr. Bryant. Why? He’s a bad teacher who gives out too much homework and likes High School Musical. I have a feeling he’ll talk about HSM2 the first day of school, and we’ll just goof off. The class will also be very crowded. Most of the people I know are in that same period right now, and I’m not looking forward to a stuffy class.. with NOAH.

3. Outlining. Self explanatory.

4. Being in the same school as _________. (hinthint) It’s not that I don’t like _____, but I just don’t like the way ______’s changed. The way ____ is just pisses me off sometimes and makes me wonder who I hate more. Christy or ____.

5. Being in the same class, school, state, country, universe, and galaxy as Christy Alhananananananananat.

6. Seeing our current seniors go! I haven’t been talking to any seniors until this year, and it really makes me sad to see some of them go. Mushroom-Pineapple-Marshmallow head is a very weird person. He messes up my hair almost everytime I see him, but he’s really nice and funny. I’m also going to miss Albert (aka You). I talk to this kid all the time on AIM, and he’s so random. I swear, we could probably talk about anime and other random things all day if we had the time. He’s also such a big help to me in English. I don’t know how I’ll get through highschool without him. Chris is also someone I’ll miss.. Wait, maybe not. I don’t know him that well, but he’s quite amusing as well. He was a lot of help with the negatives this year, even though I still don’t have it yet.

Wow, I wrote a lot last time, haha! I hope I don’t write as much, ’cause after I read back, I really wondered if I was on crack. Okay, so this time, I’m writing about L’arc’s new single, MY HEART DRAWS A DREAM. It came out August 29, 2007 along with a Promotional Video that I will also be writing about.

The song features a very poppy and loose tune along with Hyde’s very airy vocals. It reminded me a lot of “Fourth Avenue Cafe”, but a lot slower and deep. I haven’t gotten my hands on a translation, so I can’t say much about it yet. Hyde’s vocals are really different this time. He seems to have gotten more control on it and is able to go a lot higher than during AWAKE. It’s been rumored he quit smoking (finally!) and I believe so. It sounds like it at least.

The same goes for the live at the Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival (Korea). He did a wonderful job with MHDD, but failed miserably when it came to “Honey” and “New World”. He just can’t seem to sing as fast and deep as before. I guess they’re right when they say age affects a person’s voice. Hyde and Gackt have been changing their singing styles, I’ve noticed, recently. They’re both becoming airier, as shown by “RETURNER”. They seem to singing higher than usual and unable to go lower. It’s weird, because I always thought people sing lower as they age. Also at the live, we got to see Ken and Tetsu sing their own duet! It was really nice because I didn’t think they were the ones to sing it. Listening back at the single, I think Yukihiro also sang on the CD, but couldn’t live, since he plays the drums, haha. I’m starting to see Ken play a lot more parts in the vocals than ever before (of course, not counting the remixes).

The Promotional Video (or Music Video depending on where you live) is black and white, except for at the end. Unlike SEVENTH HEAVEN, this one is a lot more simple and doesn’t feature scarily coloured people. It features lots of african animals and people. There’s a lot of children too, cute and funny children at that. “It could really be a UNICEF commercial” is what I thought when I saw it. There’s lots of scenic pictures with animals posing with single members, and animals running around, flying, and people smiling and dancing. It’s one of the cutest and truest L’arc PV’s I’ve ever seen. It can be easily said that this one is my favourite. It’s simple but really puts a tear in your eye. This PV is also the complete opposite to that of its precedessor, SEVENTH HEAVEN. Whereas that one was bright, loud, and flambouyant, this one was a lot more down to earth. Children were mouthing the chorus, which was really cute. The kid who had his hand holding up his head, and the kid who was dancing were my favourites. One seemed to be totally into it, and the other looked bored. Toward the end, there’s also closeups of Ken, Yuki, and Tetsu. It’s easy to see how old these people are. You can see all these stress lines on their faces, especially Tetsu. It’s funny how he’s the only one who doesn’t smoke but has the worst bottom row teeth and black eyes out of everyone. Ken on the other hand is looking more like a girl than ever. From their vis kei days, Ken used to wear lip gloss or something similar to that, and this time, he seems to be doing that. Last but not least, Yuki this time seems to be very tired, but he’s like that all the time if he’s not smiling. I don’t know why he doesn’t smile! He has a wonderful and heart warming smile and a nice voice too. If he smiled at least once, it would have totally made the PV 10000x better. Umm, there are also some parts in the PV were everything goes b/w completely (just lines). The first time watching it, it kind of freaked me out, but I’ve really started to like it. It’s a lot like AWAKE, but also completely different at the same time. The end featured a little boy drawing all the animals featured in the PV in black and white and ends with the boy in the same place, but on a blacktop and all the animals and coloured. Hands down, the best ending ever. It was adorable and a little unexpected. I think that’s what made me like it so much, since all the other PV’s of theirs ended so weirdly. It’s a sincere PV that deserves your watching, so go watch it! I have.. about 500x today and yesterday. I’m in LOVE with it.

The cover this time is a lot more complicated than last time. It features a white lion whose mane is adorned with flowers of all sizes and colours. It’s one of my favourite single covers along with DUNE. They could have done a better job with the text, but still, it’s nice.

Live @ Korean (INCHEON PENTAPORT ROCK FESTIVAL 2007)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=dgr3-9UodNA

Promotional Video
http://youtube.com/watch?v=rItrXzMQy8Y

Funny live into
Tetsu and Ken were like goofing around, and Hyde sounded like he was unsure of what their song name was and said it quite funnily. Hyde was also sick during this live, poor guy, he had a cold. Yuki was quiet again, say something!
http://youtube.com/watch?v=lStXcWD3Png&mode=related&search=

Sing along lyrics:
Hora kaze ga ugoki dashita mada akirametari ha shinai
Taiyou wo kumo no saki ni kanjiru kyakufuu de irou to

Kono mune ha yume wo egaiteku yo dokomademo takaku
Jiyuu ni mau no sa My Heart draws a dream
Oh oritatsu kanata de me wo aketara
Egao no mama no kimi ni aeru ki ga shite
rurarara Aeru to ii na rarara

Nee iki wo awasetara motto takaku toberu hazusa
Soko kara ha mirai ga mieru kana?
Futari de arouto

Kono mune ha yume wo egaiteku yo harukanaru toki wo
tobi koeteku no sa my Herat draws a dream
itsu no hi ka kitto kanau to ii na
egao no mama no kimi de irareru noni

saa te wo nobashi ima, tokihanatou
kokoro ha dare mo shibarare ha shinai
shisen ha hizashi wo toraeteru
Donna sameta sekai de mo

Dare mo minna
yume wo egaku yo
yume wo egaku yo
yume wo egaku yo
My Heart draws a dream
yume wo egaku yo
yume wo egaku yo
yume wo egaku yo …hora

Oh oritayatte kanata de me wo aketara
Aa egao no mama no kimi ni aeru to ii na