Category: Photographs

  • Current Flavors and Getting Your Type

    Has people ever ask you what’s your type? In terms of the people that you like, and you really have no idea because you’ve never really talked about.  I wondered if I could see a pattern in the people I like on-screen, so I made a list of women and men — 25 picks each — and placed generally okay photos of them to see if I could see any characteristics they shared.

    A few rules- it has to be people that you follow — not randoms that you just find hot. Sofia Vergara is hot but I haven’t seen her outside Modern Family or Chasing Papi. And it also isn’t about talent… completely. It’s people that you would somehow, if given the chance, do / be with / however you want to call it or do is.

    Also, photos should generally be color and looking to the front-ish. Natural looks favored, but since it’s a type thing, I suppose you can use any photos you find your subject attractive in.

    (more…)


  • The East Asian Heat Wave and the Perfect Mango Shaved Ice

    I ran into this article in Japanese that talked about the heat wave in Japan and how the shaved iced business has increased (to like $40B USD worth or 4000億円) with a brief mention of Yu-chan. Because Yu-chan LOVESSSSSSSS shaved ice. Even has her own machine at home, and writes monthly articles and whatnot, and apparently that’s a thing with other young women who eat their shaved ice while walking back and forth.

    Yu has also talked about the perfection that is the shaved ice parlor in Taiwan. Dude, she’s serious. Taiwanese shaved ice is serious business. My Mandarin teacher told me he missed them because the raspadillas [1] here are so wishy-washy. Then I saw Taiwanese shaved ice.

    mango-shaved-ice

    The mango shaved ice that I saw in one of the brochures is still in my to-eat list. but I’m still scared of going over there in the summer season, because I’m a total city wuss that can’t take extreme weathers. I’m one of those lucky ones that can only take temperatures between 14-27 Celsius without complaining. LOL


  • Ohmahgosh~ Nounen Rena

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    I remember how it was. The introduction to NHK’s newest morning drama played and I wondered what happened to Jun to Ai, I thought Asadoras lasted all year — I guess not. Anyway, the intro to Amachan seemed pretty funny, and of course it was. Apparently, it was written by Kankuro Kudo, so I stuck around for an episode. Aki (Nounen Rena) had forcefully decided — against her mother’s (Kyoko Koizumi) wishes — to become an Amasan. A photographer had been shooting pictures, and Kyoko Koizumi was running off to Koike Teppei’s lighthouse screaming “HENTAI!!!!” and he apologized for it LOL. I was laughing too much already.

    Then, of course, I saw Nounen Rena’s funny face when falling into the water, and her funny expression when she was not-so-much as deep-sea-diving, but she was stranded in the middle of the ocean. I wasn’t hooked, but I was peeking my interest. Damn, Nounen Rena is so charismatic… at least in the role of Aki.

    I want to see some of her other roles to figure out whether or not this charisma is hers or if it’s the role, and if it’s the role… then maybe she’s one hell of an actress. She seems super dorky too, and she has an aura that you kinda just can’t help but to root for her.


  • Sharon Stone is Ageless

    Holy mother of $*#&$#

    This is Sharon Stone at age 55. (I actually thought, for a second, she could have been closer to 60). But this, this photoshoot for Revista Vanity Fair. I don’t give a care about Sharon Stone much, and a lot of what she talks about gives me a mad case of eye-roll, but this photoshoot by Norma Jean Roy is crazy good.

    sharon-stone-revista-vanity-fair-jun2013-norma-jean-roy-002


  • Ooh, Danila Kozlovsky — Why So Incredibly Sexy?

    New beautiful actor alert!

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    I was deciding if he looked a little bit like Josh Hartnett mixed in with a little Chris O’Donnell but immensely more attractive. And luckily, age-appropriate as well!


  • Cindy Crawford by Mariano Vivanco for Muse

    We all miss supermodels. And damn, that’s some crazy pose Cindy Crawford is pulling for that hourglass shape (as hourglass as we can pull nowadays, anyway) she’s got going on this shoot for Muse mag by Mariano Vivanco [1].

    cindy-crawford-mariano-vivanco-muse-jun13

    I’m sure there’s a photoshop tweak here and there- after all, it IS a one-color wall.

    And though Crawford remains quite flawless, there’s this bit weird about her face that you can notice faintly in some of the shots [which you can check out on Fashiontography], it’s even more noticeable on the cover for Muse, sadly. I would have preferred this shot.


  • Optimus Maximus Keyboard

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    My main grip about Korean is that if I wanted to type it, I had to customize my keyboard so I knew which syllable was in which position, instead of typing gibberish the first time I tried to use it. LOL The same thing is happening with me and Russian. Every time I try to type something, I have to press every single key because I can’t find them. xD

    So I was looking for a LED-based keyboard that would do just that. Change layout every time I would switch keyboard settings on my computer. And Apparently I wasn’t the only person in need of one (and I’m too late to the party). Someone pointed me towards Art. Lebedev Studio, who happened to be a studio based in Moscow, Kiev and New York.

    Because only non-English speakers, or multilingual people would need to come up with this sort of gadget. The concept was solid, and apparently all the keyboards are sold-out, even though the “popularis” version (so the compact one) is priced at 797 Euros or $1086 USD. xD

    The concept for the Tactus one looks cool, though, I’ve never warmed up to digital displays in the form of typing devices. I HATE typing on smartphones and tablets.


  • The Russian Cherry-popping!

    learning-russian

    Guess who took her first dive into Russian? That deserves its inclusion on the language category, as well as a “russia” tag, no? ‘Coz I’m suspecting there will be a lot more Chulpan Khamatova postings around.

    First impressions on the language? I thought it was easier and less scary than Hebrew (which I once tried to learn, I don’t know if I ever confessed to that). The new alphabet seems to be quite straight forward (though a bit weird to write). Anyone wants to tell me the proper direction and how I should be writing the following letters: ц, г, ш, щ, з (is this like a 3?), ъ, ф (can I write it like an “o” with a line across it?), п, л, д, ж (especially this one), э, я and и (when I write this, I feel like a 5-year-old that can’t write, though I read the inverted “N” should look like a script “U” when handwritten), ч, б, and ю.

    Pronunciation-wise, you guys have soooooo many diphthongs. It might be unsettling to my Spanish brain. I also noticed that because of the inflections of voice and the use of so many “y” sounds, my voice sounds different when I repeat Russian. It’s weird.

    I also can’t tell the difference between  ш and щ. And I also can’t figure out how to pronounce ы properly. And the Russian keyboard is freaking me out. I might need to put stickers on my keyboard now. But then I would have to consider adding a Korean one as well. Sighs.

    Numbers are already scaring me.


  • This is Still my Fandom

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    I know that except from my 5th Year Anniversary Wiki Update [1], things have been usually pretty quiet on the Yu front. It usually is pretty slow during these months, as Yu’s activities tend to pick up by August all the way into December, January and February.

    Though my fandomess (that’s not even a word) has diminished, Yu still has a special place in my fangirly heart. I would totally be giddy with a new movie, and specially with starring on a new jdrama (as a lead, not guest). I’m not as an ardent fan of Yu’s passion for shaved ice, so those books are missing from my collection, as well as her first few photobooks. But as you can see, I’ve kept on supporting her any way I could.

    I’m still waiting to catch Vampire. The Shunji Iwai Festival team on Weibo told me it would be “soon” when I get to catch it on a proper online channel, so I’m crossing my fingers.

    I do miss that doki doki feeling I used to get when this fandom started. Maybe I’ll re-watch Osen to recapture that feeling. LOL


  • Joseph Chang, Why So Sexy?

    joseph-chang-hsiao-chuan

    You know, I can’t really remember him from Au Revoir Taipei, but after seeing Gf*Bf and having just checked out Eternal Summer, I have a mad mad crush on him. Funny thing is… I had a hard time searching for a goooooood photo to use, but find that he looks good on film.

    Having said that- the 2013 LGBT Blogathon starts on Monday over at YAM Magazine!

    Don’t miss it!