Why, hallo there, LJ. I haven't updated in a month over a month. What can I say, my life is boring.
Still kind of WTFing over MJ. So weird...

Just sittin here, listening to my 5 star playlist. It is pretty nice.

Anime Expo next week. Going to the parapara panel and, if all goes well, I will be seeing Yoshizawa Hitomi. OMGYOSSI! I know I haven't paid much attention to Hello! Project lately (not that it matters cuz most of the ones i care about ~*graduated*~), but Yossi has never stopped being an idol fave of mine. I hope to bring home an autograph and some sort of Hangry paraphernalia, preferably a doll.

I should go to bed since I'm not really doing anything. Spent the last couple of hours trying to fill stuff in on my family tree. I'm kind of obsessed with it for some reason. Last night while searching the internets I came across myspage pages of my half-sisters whom I don't know at all and, man, talk about two different worlds. They're probably not bad people but I found myself irritated by the self-proclaimed bad bitch with pics of herself flipping the bird. :|

Watched the first hour of Race, which within the first few minutes I labeled "the most ridiculous Bollywood movie I've ever seen," but then it got kinda good so I will have to finish it and see how it turns out.

And... I think I just realized I missed Better Off Ted this week. Damn it. Oh well, I watched a majority of the episodes online anyway. Now I have something to do instead of going to bed. I don't know why I am making sleep my enemy. I love it so.

Oh, how nice, Rainbow came on. The SC version with Kusano. ♥
What a pleasant way to end this entry. :)

My hair looks like a hot 80's pageant mess. D: That's what I get for asking for something different.

Anyway... let's see... Shige's Rockstar's SEMINAR starts tonight, doesn't it. I bet he's nervous, what with his having to get his freak on on stage. Good luck, kiddo. XD

What else. Oh, yes, dramas. Operation Watch Eleventy Dramas This Season is going well. I think I'm currently at 13. So far I haven't seen any I want to stop watching so here's hoping for a complete season of everything.

Ah, as much as I'm looking forward to MR. BRAIN I'm gonna miss Godhand Teru. Yuuta's so cute and dorky and the drama has a silly but endearing quality that makes me wanna hug it. Oh well, whatareyagonnado. And Kame's guesting on MR. BRAIN and I'm cool with that. Kame and Kimura. That shot of Kimmy all up in Kame's face cracks me the hell up. Happy to see Ayase Haruka again and as for Mizushima... Haha, I'm pretty over him. I like him but was never super crazy about him to begin with and now it's like... I want to put him away in a box somewhere for a little while. Maybe he'll be super fantastic great next season. We'll see.

The Takki/Ryo drama sounds interesting. I haven't seen a Takki drama since Majo no Jouken, but that's one of my all time faves so I'm looking forward to next season. The whole hands of a god/devil thing is very intriguing.

So I hear KAT-TUN have a concert or something? Haha, kidding, I'd be pretty blind to not see all the dome stuff. Jin's duet with Crystal Kay is pretty nifty.

Hmm with all the new release I need to make a new CDs I Want List.
Dance Floor Monsters // the telephones (July 8th)
eight-hundreds // MONGOL800 (July 8th)
Kanshou Chuudoku // FLiP (May 20th)
Spirit // V6 (June 17th)

Is that all? I thought there were more.
Chozen ParaPara!! presents Campus Summit 2009 ～ 15th Anniversary～ (June 24th)

Gah I just found out NORISIAM-X changed her name to URALi. Must check out her new album. If her PV is any indication, I think I'm gonna like it. :D Haven't listen to J-HipHop in soo long.

Hey May,
Thanks for all the cool peeps. Koyama, Yoko, Ohkura, Inocchi. I ♥ u gaiz.
And Jim! From THE BAWDIES. He's adooorable. ♥
I've got lots of honorary ice cream to eat!

Speaking of The Bawdies, they continue to blow my mind. Acoustic! dsflakslovethisband. They really, really need to come to the U.S.
Hehehe, "sowwow." Oh, Roy. ♥
And they're not immune to bouts of geekery either. The looks on their faces after Marcy delivers his final comment kills me every time. XD

Anyway, that's my pimpage for the day. I'm off to see what Yoko goodness the fandom has to offer lol. XD

I like Koi no ABO but I wanted to make it different so I tinkered around with the song andddd here's what I got. :DD

( NEWS vs. Black Eyed Peas - Koi no ABO (boom boom pow mix) )

Since I've been checking out a lot of new Japanese bands lately (new to me, anyway), I thought I'd make a post about 'em.

( YT embeds ahoy! )

Snagged the album from Vendy earlier and I really like the album. Not gonna lie though, I was kinda worried cuz the last few singles I didn't love as much as their previous stuff but I'd say the album is quite solid. :)

Kanjani8 know how to please fans. Let's run down a list of what you get if you were to get both editions: New group songs, new solos, sub-unit songs, making of PVs, making of the album.
That's a lot of shit. Can't ask for much more than that. Dude, 25 new songs. Well, I guess technically it's 22 new songs but you get my point.

Not really in the mood for a full review but I will say I noticed there's a lot less funk this time around, but I'm not complaining. Anyhoo, I guess just I'll ramble nonsensically a little about the solos.

words // Barry ~ Talk about stripped down. I like his voice but he could stand to pull back a bit at times. The piano is badass.
no-no-no // Tacchon ~ hot dance track, love it. A fave. PRZ TO PAHOMANCE NAO!
Airairo // Yasu ~ this is so him. Loooooooove this song. My top fave perhaps?
One's shadow // Hina ~ Nice song; a little jazzy, a little funky
Wanshan Ronpin // Maru ~ I... don't get Maru lol. The song starts off with some funny tribal sounding chanting and then it turns into like, Happy Maru Sing Time! Pa Pi Pu Pe Pon! and... I just can't. The song is cute in spots but... yeah. Sorry to say, but I only really like the chanting parts.
413man // Yoko ~ Oh, Kimi-kun, how I adore thee. The song is really sweet. ♥ Another fave. I think my heart grew a little from listening to it.
Half Down // Ryo ~ You hit those high notes, Ryo! I like it; it's the type of song that will stick in the brain.

Oh right the unit songs.
Glorious - a bit on the melodramatic side for me but okay. Good effort with the English; they're almost there lol.
Kicyu - So so cute, I love it. ♥
YOU CAN SEE - I didn't know what to expect from these two, but I am really diggin this track. Laid back, more on the R&B side. Cool stuff.

Since I'm talking about new releases, a quick mention of The Fish! aka Tsu-yoshi. Very good stuff, but way mellower than I was expecting. He has such pretty songs but I think I need to be in the right mood for them since they're not as upbeat this go round.

( Oh! I forgot about my list of CDs I want. Must update. )

SWEET JESUS. The Koi no ABO PV is HI-LARIOUS. Just GAH. My stomach hurts from laughing. Very cute twist that I did not see coming. And I am so grateful for it cuz it's exactly what I was hoping for. XD

Koyama looked mighty fine and Shige Rockstar was being really weird but still managed to look hot. And his hair after the... transformation was spectacular. Actually his whole look was fab. Elvis Shigeaki is the man.

Massu was cute and bouncy and Tego's primping was funny. Ryo makes such funny facial expresions and he continues to wave like a 4 year old little boy LOL. The KoyaTego dorkery was cute. Pi's gum chewing makes me laugh cuz he's such a jaw flexer and he actually put that to use. XD

I didn't think I was that big of a fanspazzer but apparently I am cuz when Kei grabbed that chicks arm I was all *LE GASP!*

I need more Kei + sunglasses in my life. ♥ (but the normal sized ones ROFL)

If anything deserves Making Of footage on DVD it's this PV, damn it. *sigh*

Man, I haven't posted in a while.

Well, let's see. Last night Ilaila and I went to the last show of the Japan Nite 2009 tour and it was amaaazing. We were there mainly to see Sparta Locals but everyone was pretty fab. If you live anywhere near where the tour is happening, I highly recommend going next year. It's a good chance to check out bands you may not be familiar with.

Took us a little while to find the place but we made it and much to our surprise there was only one dude waiting. Can you blame us for being cautious though? Japanese bands don't come around that often. We were pretty close to the stage so we had good views of everybody. I think Ilaila was able to take some nice pictures. It was a lot of fun (moshers and super gross sweaty geekizoid notwithstanding).

Lineup:
FLiP - Four piece all female band and the cutest little things you ever did see. But they certainly rock out with the fierceness. They are very nice, too. I got my picture taken with them and they all gave me a hug. XD

Omodaka - Like. IDEK. He's something you HAVE TO see live because just listening to the music will not do the experience justice at all. He uses handheld games to make music. I'm talking DS, Game Boy, PSP. WATCH HIM. You prolly can't see it well but there's a woman on his screen who pops up and sings. The whole thing is just really cool.

SA (Samurai Attack) - I am not much into punk but they totally killed it. I thought the lead singer was hot lol. He had total like retro yankee biker hair (complete with comb in back pocket - which he used). The whole band was awesome and, actually, we got there so early we saw some of them show up, but we didn't know who they were. Their fans are very hardcore. There was moshing and body surfing and one dude kept getting on the stage. XD

detroit7 - Two girls and a guy. I would've liked them so much more if I could hear her vocals better. But as far as musicianship goes, they were great. The lead chick playing guitar was great to watch. I likened it to watching Yasu play. You can tell they love what they do. I'm at their myspace right now and... I think I need their albums.

Sparta Locals - Way crazier than I thought they'd be. I enjoyed them a lot. There was a minor mishap when the the singer's guitar strap broke or something and his guitar fell but it was like nothing cuz they still sounded awesome and he performed like a mad man. He jumped into the crowd and it was all very exciting. The other guitarist was so cool to watch with his long hair flyin around. He smashed his guitar at the end of the last song. They are all so cute. They signed my CD booklet and I took pictures with them all, too.

I love that the bands stuck around to talk and sign stuff and take pics with fans (and even sell their own goods). That's definitely something I never thought I'd get to do.

Good times. Let's do it again next year! (btw, I found out GO!GO!7188 did the tour in 2007... *sigh* such is life -__- )

Perhaps I'm jumping the gun but I'm already looking forward to the spring dramas. As anyone would, I always get excited when actors I like are put together. Plus most dramas look good on paper so I get all "OMG I NEED TO WATCH EVERYTHING!" until they actually air and I start filtering out the crap.

One's been kind on my mind though. Atashinchi no Danshi. Now, as this is a Horikita Maki drama, excitement doesn't exactly come easy for me. But the plot's sucked me in. If she's gonna look like this for a little while, how can I pass that up? She's homeless and gets taken in by a rich dude with 6 sons. You know what that means: ikemen. Fuji are some crafty bastards though. They haven't released the names of the sons yet and according to the drama's site, they're going to reveal each of them (I'm assuming one by one) from March 12th through the 17th. Dunno the odds of any of them being Johnnys but, oh well, no matter.

In other news, I'm on twitter now if anyone is interested in my daily nonsense lol. http://twitter.com/riikabob

I see the Rescue PV has finished. I shall take a look.
[edit] Best part: Jin's dance break. But I have a thing for locking so... XD

With all these new releases looks like I need to start another List of CDs I Want. It's hard keeping all this straight.

- GO // lostage (03.25) (pre-ordered! huzzah!)
- Pinhole // OGRE YOU ASSHOLE (03.04)
- paraphilia // THE NOVEMBERS (03.18 interesting title)
- Sora Utsukushii Ware no Sora // Tsuyoshi (04.10)
- Bigaku My Beautiful Sky // Tsuyoshi (04.10)
- Puzzle // Kanjani8 (04.15)
- THIS IS MY STORY // THE BAWDIES (04.22)
- Chozen ParaPara!! presents D-1 Grand Prix 2009

Gah, that's more than I realized.

I haven't listened to RADWIMPS in a while but their album is probably gonna be good.

I feel like I should be more excited about Utada's album but I'm not. Come Back To Me does nothing for me (it's not bad but I dont think it's great either); maybe the other songs are better. I'll probably end up snagging it.

Anyway, guess I'll go to bed now.

So first off a little Johnny's talk.
New Eito album! Yay!
No more ENDLICHERI?! TRAGIC. New Tsuyo-shi project? SWEET. And it's PURPLE thus giving me another reason to call him the Prince of Japan.

And that'll do it.

Okay, so I went on a music spree and have uploaded a bunch of stuff: several J-indies bands that I hope you will find enjoyable. I also put up some PVs so you can get a taste of what they're like.

( ONWARD! )

Two disappointments in two days.
#1 - American Idol. Anooooop! D: Damn it, America. Vote right next time! *prays for the wilcard spot*
#2 - ABDC. Farewell dear Strikers. D:

Not disappointing? Top Chef. Go Carla!

Continuing on in TV junkie mode... I'd like to pimp RuPaul's Drag Race - as you can probably tell from the title it is a competition for drag queens. It comes on Logo and it's pretty fab. It's a little Top Model and a little Project Runway and a whole lot of fun. And it's backed by MAC! Cover Girl, eat your heart out (hey, when's ANTM coming back...). Perhaps my inability to apply makeup is what keeps me so fascinated by their transformations; they're quite amazing. And RuPaul is hilarious. The show's motto is "Charisma, Uniqueness, Nerve, and Talent." Think about it.

It's after 1. I should go to bed but I don't feel like it. Maybe I'll watch some Lucy. Actually, I just remembered I missed the first few minutes of Drag Race so I will go see what happned lol.

Hahaha, my life is so dull.

I should probably stay away from reports about Sho in NYC. It's not good for my heart. D:
Why not an L.A. premiere? DDD:

Anyway... saw Rescue. Haha probably laughed a lot more than I was supposed to but when it comes to dramas that's pretty normal XD. Anyhoo it's not bad. I shall tune in again. And it's got Massu so automatic win. How he be so cute?

Random: Down with Snuggies! They are so, so ridiculous. I'm glad there are those who agree.

Finally got around to watching Dostana the other day. Loved it. It's basically about two guys who pretend to be a gay couple so they can rent this big, beautiful apartment in Miami and hilarity really does ensue. I laughed so much. Bollywood movies tend to be pretty long but despite its length there were few moments where I felt the film dragged. I think it's a great watch even if you're not a super BW nut. Most BW comedies I've seen are reallllly over the top and slapsticky and end up big disappointments (to me anyway) but Dostana is the complete opposite. The writing and acting were great. Very fun movie.

The Lonely Island's Incredibad album is fantastic. Hilarious. RAS TRENT!! ♥ *prays for a music vid for I'm on a Boat*

I'm such a dummy. For the longest time I couldn't figure out why my sidebar wasn't showing up and then I realized I had it turned off. Not that it matters; all I did was put links up lol.

New lostage album in March. With a DVD! WAAAANT. Speaking of March, what a great month that'll be. Sparta Locals in L.A., new (FULL!) album from lostage, and Ogre You Asshole has gone major and will be releasing their first single. Seems like it's a good time to be in Japan. So many bands are doing really great stuff. I've seen line-ups for several shows I'd attend if I could. I think Sparta has some new music coming out soon, also The Novembers, GO!GO!7188, and Radwimps. So much to look forward to. By the way, how awesome are Sakanaction? Yet another band I can't believe I hadn't heard before. It's nice to have a laptop again so I can stalk the internet for artists.

Drama roundup! My thoughts so far:
Voice ~ Love. This. Cast. ♥ Seriously, words cannot express it. XDDDD
Triangle ~ Weird, but in a good way. Lots of cool people. :DD
Kami no Shizuku ~ Just... not good. Needs more funny. DD:
Zeni Geba ~ Also weird, but in a good way. Gotta know where it's headed! :DD
Uta no Onii-san ~ Not bad, not great. Hoping for some more laughs. :)
Mei-chan no Shitsuji ~ Mindless entertainment. Eikura Nana is adorable. :DD

Hey, guess who's been playing DJ again.
My first Arashi song! I think it came out pretty nice. :)

Just cuz I don't use this icon much doesn't make it any less true. *sigh* Jealousy doesn't even begin to describe my feelings towards all you lucky New Yorkers. 79,587 points to whomever asks why the Yatterman logo looks like a pair of steel underpants (or is there already a reason i haven't heard?). 1,654,095 points to whomever shouts "CHESTO DAISUKI!" for me. :D

Anyway, I got my new laptop! Did I mention that already? I dunno. It's nice and I pretty much have it set up as I did with my other one so I have resumed life as usual. I need to figure out who to do things. I got the Photoshop Elements/Adobe Premiere bundle but I dunno how to make anything yet. I want to make a nice Koyama icon that says "foxy." I can get all but the "nice" part. XD

My current project: catching up on fall dramas. Approx. 24 hours worth of dramas. Ryuusei no Kizuna is killing me. I was really into it at the beginning but it's dragging and I am ready for it to be over. Only 2 eps left! Yay!

As for new dramas, I am enjoying Voice so far. The whole cast makes me smile; they're very good together. Triangle took forever to get interesting but I am intrigued and will stick with it. I will probably watch Uta no Oniisan and Zeni Geba next. I have high hopes for this season. 10 dramas are on my Watch list. I wonder how many will last.

Nice to have The Office back. And Lost! Dear, sweet Lost. It's been too long.

[edit] HOSHIT! I just found out SPARTA LOCALS is doing a show in L.A. on March 29th. Ilaila! We have to gooooo! WEHAVETOGO!!

Before I forget, last night I had a weirdo dream about NEWS. Well, part of NEWS anyway.

I dreamt I was watching their concert and it was during the encore part. The guys were running around waving to fans and then Kei and Shige came out wearing these long jackets - obviously hiding something. They took off the jackets and underneath they were wearing black shorts, fishnet stockings, and heels.

IDEK. And then on stage they released a bunch of chipmunks who were wearing the same thing. They were like CGI Alvin and the Chipmunks type chipmunks. It was way strange. Um... yeah... LOL

Okay, goodnight. XDD

Woohoo! I finally decided on a laptop and ordered it today. Took hours. God, I am so indecisive. BUT in a few weeks I'll be good to go, unless my credit card company goes all "pfft, bitch, please..." on me. And I don't think they will. Yay! Debt!

Anyway, I just saw that Arashi was on Mecha Ike. In the Color Ninjas segment. OMG! That's the bestest segment ever and I want to download it so bad, but this computer sucks. Besides what is Mecha Ike without my best bud to watch it with? And this time the ninjas will no doubt be 5 times the fail. XD

So I've developed this love-hate relationship with KAT-TUN and right now the Love side is like, "You need to see Queen of Pirates. Those gifs people are making are quite intriguing. I saw some cool dancing," while the Hate side is all, "'Queen'? Isn't there an 's' missing? Or is it only talking about Kame?", thus being completely unhelpful so I am torn. I dunno, maybe sometime in the future I will see it.

I got my 19th century ghost stories! I bought 3 books yesterday; two old timey and one modern. Surely in those 2000 pages I will find something to scare me. I already read one story about a guy who gets cemented up in a closet so I'm off to a good start.

Sadness, my Bollywood DVDs still haven't arrived. I want to see Dostana! If I can't indulge in Johnnys I need something to fall back on! Throw me a bone here USPS.

It's January! New TV! I need to map out my viewing schedule so I can get my DVR recordings set up properly. dsjfkal NIP/TUCK how I've missed you. Sean gets stabbed(!) and you leave me hanging for months! *crais* It's okay, I forgive you. Gah, I cannot wait. XD

I think in 2009 I would like to return to my more flaily self. Paying better attention to what's going on with Johnys - cuz lord knows I'm not giving them up - more flailing, and more outright batshit nuttery. In other words, more fun, Johnnys and otherwise. I've become so bored with myself and it's really due to a lack of effort. I need to do more things that make me happy. I didn't even finish the happiness meme. I mean really. I can't continue to be that lame. I also want to be a better friend - commenting more and such. As for the rest of my life... one issue at a time lol. XD

Last night was a good start to all that. Ilaila came over and we watched Kouhaku and ate lots of food. Good times. Nakai never fails to make extremely confusing wardrobe choices.

So... how does one explain missing silverware? First a fork. Now a spoon.

Ghosts? Gremlins? LOL I have no idea what's going on. After use, dishes always get washed and put away, or at the very least put in the sink. They don't lie around the house so I don't get how things are disappearing. Weird...

In completely unrelated news, I came across a link to a document featuring complaints to the FCC about The Simpsons. It should make for some really hilarious reading.

And I quote, "While watching the World Series, Fox advertised for The Simpsons. The commercial shows a homosexual encounter with an alien. I think this is inappropriate for the audience that would be watching this program."
LOLOL I can only imagine what people write about South Park and Family Guy.

Reminds me of that book Letters from a Nut - except that's supposed to be funny. I should reread that and get the rest of the series. Good times.