Month: August 2015

  • More Yu Aoi Bday Shortakes~

    I finally sat through Dr. Rintaro and my Yu Aoi fandom has reignited once again! PB-buying and all [1][2]. Oh, yeah~ I had it bad this week. Yu’s personal life has also -all of a sudden- become public domain (or it’s easier to run into it through social media), so it’s been out there for public consumption and mass-devouring. My street kanji-reading is poor, but Google Translate has been calling her names. Demon-woman, what is this? The Dark Ages?

    Also- Miyazaki Aoi’s in a new relationship… it seems. *cough*

    yu-aoi-bday-2015

    Anyway- Monday was Yu’s 30th Birthday, and she celebrated with a group of people I had no idea were her circle of friends- these are taken from Peter‘s blog, and also feature cross-dressing personality Mitz Mangrove and… I suppose, gravure idol Ruriko Kojima (her kanji name is all funky 小嶋瑠璃子).

    More.

    And… I found this random ranking where they ask to rank young actresses based on their talent, and for the first time that I’m able to recall, Yu comes on top of Miyazaki Aoi. LOL So, more power to Yu! Though, Masami Nagasawa comes at #3, followed in #5 by Aya Ueto, Satomi Ishihara at #6, Ayase Haruka at #7, Horikita Maki at #9 and Mao Inoue at #10.

    Toda Erika ranks at #4, and I don’t know who Yui Aragaki at #8 is. LOL And there’s no Hikari Mitsushima nor Sakura Ando, so this list is of idols. xD

    nandemo-ranking-young-actress

  • Yu Aoi’s Yu-chan Bday Shortakes~

    Yu’s officially three-decades-old… but still is as cute as ever, even though she’s trying to be all grown-up and stuff. Just sit her in front of a nice matcha shaved-ice with red beans (or a velvety choco-purin), and you’ll get her all giddy.

    pon-japanese-variety-yu-aoi-2015-dr-rintaro-001 pon-japanese-variety-yu-aoi-2015-dr-rintaro-002

    That’s exactly what happened when promoting Dr. Rintaro on the Japanese variety Pon! with co-star on-screen mom Atsuko Takahata, who -I must say- is hilarious, too. These are obviously via the Yu Aoi Chinese fans. Watch the video. It’s 10min. long and it takes a while to load (for me).

    She also did the Lilo & Stitch voice-over event [1], and apparently got back together with someone from her Oha-girl days, so they did an Oha greeting! lol

    Oh, man. I remember how much I used to love Yu-chan. xD I think I’m going to watch Climbing to Spring without subs, and hope to watch The Case of Hana & Alice now that it’s out on DVD.

  • Aaron Kwok and Chang Chen for Monk Comes Down the Mountain

    monk-mountain-heart-kwok
    monk-mountain-heart-chang

    – Master, I wanted to see someone, but couldn’t.
    – Have you not seen him in your heart?

  • Humming for Buddha Jump – GO!

    So I finally gave myself time to listen to both Buddha Jump (佛跳牆) albums. Their 2014 one, Let You See (給你看), is pretty good. Fell in love with this tune at first listen~ also, surprised to learn it’s a project by Penny Tai.

    The clip below is from a small show they did in China.

    You can get the album on iTunes.

  • Liza’s Petrushka’s Syndrome

    Okay, I’m slightly impressed.

    While posting the trailer of The Puppet Syndrome, I found it a little bit difficult to distinguish between gorwn-up Liza (Khamatova) and the actress that was playing her younger self. Khamatova’s face is peculiar — to me, it’s like trying to cast a young version of Bjork — but Young Liza, played by Alina Gvasaliya (born 1992) comes close.

    alina-gvasaliya

    (more…)

  • Yu Aoi’s The First and Last Time of Love Talk for MEKURU

    For the latest volume of MEKURU Magazine [Facebook][Official Website], they are holding a special on Yu Aoi who will be turning 30! I’m not sure what’s gonna be in there (Japanese being rusty and all), but there’s gonna be an interview and (maybe?) photos by Kawashima Kotori (川島小鳥) [Portfolio], who apparently is an Ihei Kimura (木村伊兵) awarded photographer for his book Star (明星) [Amazon JP].

    It’s titled Aoi Yu, Saisho de Saigo ni Ren’ai o Kataru (蒼井優、最初で最後に恋愛を語る) — you’ll have to forgive my des and nis translations.

    mekuru-vol05-aug15-yu-aoi-cover

    They’re totally selling it like a direct sequel to Travel Sand. xD

    There will also be a poem by Shuntaro Kanikawa (谷川俊太郎) titled Aoi Yu (あおいゆう). Among other stuff I can’t make out, it’ll include 128 pages and will be listed at Y907 Yen. It’s available on Amazon JP and HMV JP.

    src 1, 2

  • Everything Bonito: Jarabe de Palo vs. Alanis – FIGHT!

    Spain vs. Canada – GO!

    The birth of the Road Music Video~ or maybe it’s just the Warner re-purpose.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C6kLbDHu0yc

  • My Life in Music

    Will keep this list updated here.

    1. The Bangles – Different Light [YT Playlist]
    2. Arena Hash [Soundcloud]
    3. NKoTB – Hangin’ Tough [YT Playlist]
    4. El Show de July No. 2 [YT]
    5. Nubeluz [YT Playlist]
    6. Los Nosequien y los Nosecuantos – Con el Respeto que se Merecen [YT Playlist]
    7. Michael Jackson – Dangerous [YT Playlist]
    8. Sister Act 2 Soundtrack [YT Playlist]
    9. Beck – Mellow Gold [YT Playlist]
    10. Michael Jackson – HIStory: Past, Present and Future [YT Playlist]
    11. Salserin – Con Mucho Swing [YT Playlist]
    12. Torbellino – Corazón en la Ciudad [YT Playlist]
    13. Lauryn Hill – The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill [YT Playlist]
    14. 1999
    15. La Ley – Uno [YT Playlist]
    16. Alejandro Sanz – MTV Unplugged [YT Playlist]
    17. Dixie Chicks – Home [YT Playlist]
    18. Pink – Try This [YT Playlist]
    19. Bjork – Medulla [Bandcamp]
    20. Andrea Echeverri [YT Playlist]
    21. Marit Larsen – Under te Surface [YT Playlist]
    22. Bibi Zhou Bichang
    23. Mayday – Poetry of the Day After [YT Playlist]
    24. Chang Shilei – Niu China [YT Playlist]
    25. Jonsi – Go [Bandcamp]
    26. Hebe Tien – My Love [YT Playlist]
    27. Galaxy United – The Absinthe [YT Playlist]
    28. Kishi Bashi – 151a [Bandcamp]
    29. Calle 13 – MultiViral [YT Playlist]
    30. Su Yunying – Ming Ming [YT Playlist]
    31. ANOHNI – Hopelessness [YT Playlist]
    32. Chen Weilun – Think Miss Sorrow [YT Playlist]
    33. Chen Li – Playlist [YT Playlist]
    34. ZenKwun – Existing like God [YT Playlist]
    35. Yuguo – Angry Horse [YT Playlist]
    36. Shortparis – Apple Orchard [YT Playlist]
    37. The Dada – Hello! [YT Playlist]

  • Perfection for Vogue China’s 10th Anniversary by Mario Testino

    I’m trying to wrap my head on the fact that Mario Testino photographed these Chinese perfections- (From Left to Right) Zhao Wei, Liu Wen, Carina Lau, Fan Bingbing, and Tang Wei. Li Bingbing, Du Juan, Zhang Ziyi, Chris Lee (Li Yuchun), and Zhou Xun.

    Celebrating 10 years of Vogue in Mainland China.

    vogue-china-10th-anniversary-mario-testino

    Note, though, that Carina Lau (sitting in gold on the far left) is turning 50 this year. I’m just saying. She’s at least 8 years ahead of Li Bingbing (sitting in gold in between Tang Wei and Zhang Ziyi) and 10 years ahead of Zhou Xun and Zhao Wei. And Carina is sitting below model Liu Wen, who is 27. I’m just saying.

    Carina Lau deserves our respect.