Category: Rants

  • Emmy 2009 Afterthoughts and Winners

    Sorry I didn’t Live blog the Emmys, but come on. It wasn’t that interesting, was it? Coolest moment? xD Dr. Horrible taking over the broadcast – hint, irony? – Whatever you say about streaming, still… downloading episodes/on demand beats watching things on tv. And as for resolution? There are big enough files that you can watch. Great HD quality. xD

    As for winners?

    I haven’t been able to read about all the winners, but some highlights!

    Toni Collette FTW!!!! United States of Tara also won Best Main Title! Who else won?!? Kristin Chenoweth for Pushing Daisies!!! FTW II!!!! xD

    The Beijing Olympics Opening also won (though I dunno if it won more than one) But it did win for Director for Variety, Music or Comedy Special – BUT! WTF!! Award given to Bucky Gunts? I think not. If the award should be given to someone it should be Zhang Yimou (or the Republic of China) because from what I’ve heard about the NBC Olympic Broadcast… it was… NOT pretty.

    The Olympics was a gorgeous event, but the NBC broadcast was a chop-fest.

    Grey Gardens also won Best Actress (Jessica Lange) in a Made-for-TV-Movie (and Best Supporting Actor), and Best Made-for-TV-Movie. Mad Men won Best Drama (again), 30 Rock won a bunch of awards – HBO won a bunch too. You can read all about… I mean, those “main” categories here and here.

  • most searched for terms these past 2 weeks~

    1. mori girl
    2. web
    3. amy wong personal
    4. all about lily chou chou
    5. amy wong porn
    6. aoi yu
    7. takumi mitani
    8. amy wong porno
    9. amy wong sex
    10. yu aoi

    *bolding mine. HAHAHAHA. Gosh! Who looks for that? Fantasizing with Futurama much? Hentai, I get… but come on. I wonder if there’s people looknig for American Dad, Family Guy and The Simpsons’ porno. Seriously, guys… stop these weird searches. Spend a few bucks, watch some regular porno. xD

    Other than that… yay! for Yu Aoi searches!! xD
    Also… I’m sorry Yu that you have to share your searches with porno and sex searches.

  • Product Spam!!!

    OMG, Amazon just spammed my “recommendation” pages with over 70 albums, +30 mp3s, +150 dvds!!! WTF!!

    PS: This feel like a tweet. O.o

  • So more piracy talk~~~

    So now French users can be (can be, under the current law) banned from using the internet for up to a year, if they are caught downloading illegal music, and a fine of 300k Euros. [AFP] Oh, my! And apparently, Sweden is also monitoring user download activity? Any word on that, Julz~?

    There was also this article talking about a DRM server the Japanese RIAA wants to use to check on the music their users are playing on their phones… considering we (iTunes users) have already moved away from DRM tracks, I think it’s a very bad idea…

    And then comes this very interesting post/article by dear Lily Allen for The Times, in which she expresses some of her thoughts  about the issue, and the opinion of some of her more “legendary” colleagues…

    Music piracy is having a dangerous effect on British music, but some rich and successful artists such as Nick Mason, of Pink Floyd, and Ed O’Brien, of Radiohead, don’t think so. Last week, they told The Times that file sharing is fine. It probably is for them. They do sell-out arena tours and have the biggest Ferrari collections in the world. For new talent, though, file sharing is a disaster — it makes it harder and harder for new acts to emerge.

    That’s partly true. But so it’s this…

    By moving to a microtransaction model (charging <£1 for an album) for recorded music and increasing the emphasis on live concerts musicians can increase their revenue stream and attempt to reduce the abuse of their IP.

    I understand what Lily Allen is saying, but the music industry spends too much money on advertising and pushing poor catchy music.

    If your product is so good, then it does not need advertising or pushing.

    Itunes and other sites are still overpriced in terms of album costs.

    Books survived the photocopier, music will survive the internet. Real musicians have realised concerts are more of a money spinner and are have brought live music back to the front of entertainment.

    As I’ve mentioned before, I watch as many films, and listen to even more music than I ever did. I still buy CDs, but only the really good ones. The ones that are worth my $14 for album/DVD package. Right now, they just happen to be Asian albums… which actually are worth my +$30. So I am paying $30 or $40 for a CD from Japan because it’s good. Wanna wonder why I haven’t bought much from anything else?

    And yes, digital content is way overpriced.

  • VMA’s 09 Afterthoughts

    Actually, VMA’s are still going… 45min left, but I’m kinda bored.

    First, it’s though to follow up anger Janet Jackson. Ever since MJ’s passed, I’ve been listening to the HiStory album like crazy – Most Played album on my iPod xD and I’ve been hallucinating about Janet performing Scream, because Scream is an “I am pissed” song and I love it for it. I love it when they go “stop fucking with me/makes me want to scream” – I love it. MJ says it with such conviction. Everyone loves Thriller, Billie Jean and Bad, but it’s all about Scream and They Don’t Care About Us for me.

    If my mom hadn’t been watching with me *legasp!* I would’ve cried after she finished her performance.

    So I loved the MJ tribute from Janet. I imagined her breaking the glass. I had dreams (hahaha) about that song of her (plus someone else to do the duet) trapped in a glass and breaking free. So I kinda got my wish xD

    And then, that was a hard act to follow. I cheered for Taylor Swift xD with her skinny legs and all~~~ and Kanye is a dick (and so is Beyonce, kinda xD). Green Day requesting for more music videos played on MTV, followed by a commercial of FAN VAN with Green Day… the reality of fans competing for something. Right…

    I wanted to like Taylor Swift’s performance, but I thought it was too sweet for a Subway performance xD – but she looked like a dork, and I support dork. I like her a lot. And Kanye still a dick.

    Performances are kinda weak. Good attempt with Lady Gaga, but more than a great performance it was trying to be different. I looked when she began bleeding, very theatrical but it did nothing for me. Beyonce does nothing for me… and I’m still waiting for Pink.

    —

    Muse performance > Green Day.

    why is this still on? Lainey said it’s over. MTV Latin America is delayed for at least 30min! WTF~~~
    En Vivo my ass that rocks.

    —

    Geez, is Pink a circus performer now? That is crazy, how can she sing upside down?? And I absolutely worship Pink’s hair. I wish I had straight hair, the crazy things I would do with my hair xD

    Anyway, I think it’s up from last year’s mess.
    More music videos, less reality.
    More musical numbers, less commercials.
    Better music videos, less has-beens as hosts.

  • Yu Aoi’s Gakuya on NHK

    Crap! And it’s not on NHK World Premium…
    whatever~~~

    If you haven’t missed my past Yu posts, you’ll know that she worked on a play called Gakuya this past May and June. Well, Yu’s site was updated saying that Gakuya will be broadcast on NHK next month.

    October 9th, 2009 at 10.30pm

    get more Japanese info here.

    There’s also some text saying that there will be some more info on Yu’s new 2010 Calendar, which looks kinda Hansel-y and Gretel-y… ja? Do you wanna know my opinion? Yu’s Message page has only been updated twice this year. Once with that cryptic message from Venezuela [part1][part2], and the other announcing Portugirl. Before those posts? There was a 2009 Calendar post. Am I complaining? Yes, I am. LOL

    But damn, I can’t ever stay too mad.

    They’ve also posted photos off-shoots from the So-En shoot.

    Yu Aoi - So-En - Off-shoot

    (more…)

  • Sing for China @ Columbia University

    BAWWWWWW~
    I’m jealous. Damn it!

    Modern Sky Festival - Sing for China - Columbia University

    More information about it here.
    Chinese Indie bands Hedgehog, Queen Sea Big Shark (hahaha, name is funny), and Casino Demon will be performing. Not fair! How come No ONE comes here. Whatever~~~

    (more…)

  • Cycling!

    I have been with the urge to ride a bike for a while now, I just don’t because Lima sucks. It’s stressful, will someone run you over? Will someone try to mug you? The black smoke coming out of the cars and public transport. The noise…

    Drivers are irresponsible, and people on the street suck too. It’s just the way it is.

    But one can dream. xD

    I recently saw an article on a National Geographic magazine, with this photo~

    Cycling in Portland Oregon - National Geographic

    Saying Portland, Oregon is the best city in America to ride bikes. It has over 250Km. of biking paths. And there’s also the Bike Commuter Act passed about a year ago that lets companies give $20USD extra to their people for bike expenses. Add to that, people actually stop their cars for them…

    sighs.

    I’ve had a dream that had to do with it. xD
    I want to open a design studio (I’ve seen a place, super cool LOL) and I had imagined in my mind that we would give our clients x% off if they come to our offices riding a bike. I would go every day with my bike in my sweet office loft.

    But I need better environment design. I need signals, and I need someone that will assure me that I will be save while on my bike. Can’t have that with over 400 road accidents in the year. Not until we start being civilized.

  • Why I’m not an Avid Moviegoer

    I used to be a really good moviegoer when I was 17… 18 and 19~ Perhaps catch 1 or 2 films a week… if there was something indie, maybe 3 or 4 films at the cinema! That’s a lot of money. I don’t go to the movies too often, and I wonder why.

    1. Peru doesn’t cater to my taste in movies when I want to… where I want to. I would watch Inglorious Basterds, but it hasn’t open here yet. So considering… I would watch it only if it’s really good. Hopefully it will make it before it comes out on DVD in America xD

    2. It takes ages for some films to be released, so by the time they’re released I already bought them on DVD, have already watched them as downloads or have already lost interest.

    3. They never make it here. Hooray for cable! LOL But sometimes they don’t even make it there.

    4. Little to no independent films. It’s always the big studios… Can I re-suggest IndieScreenings? You can read some of my thoughts about it in this YAM issue.

    5. 98% of American films in the market. 0.01% of Asia. 1%Europe… 0.03% Canadian~~~ What gives? xD The rest can be whatever… co-productions, etc.

    6. I know it’s about the money-making, but how about opening a specialized cinema that shows new independent/foreign releases?

    7. Not cinema means I get to watch films when I have the time, not when they want me. I can watch any film at 2am even if theaters are closed. No need to queue or complain about the noisy couple behind you.

    Anyway… how do they choose the films to be distributed? And who chooses??? Maybe I should work for a distributor company or something. Maybe we should work with Indie Screenings for a test.

  • We Are Making You Pay for It Now~

    I loved Pixar’s UP. The first 15min. of the film is pure magic, so when I saw it on my Amazon recommended page, I was thrilled because I want to get it. But here’s the thing…

    **Edit**
    Since this post, they have announced a 2-disc DVD.

    There’s only the single-disc DVD, and the 4-disc Blu-ray (which comes with the blu-ray, plus digital copy, plus DVD and who knows what else…) – To be honest, the $+30 price tag on the Blu-ray makes me not want to get it. Even worse because I haven’t made the switch to the format yet…

    Then… the +$10 price tag on the single disc… which is ONE disc only, hardly any worthy extras. Compared that to the $20-something 3-disc DVD WALL-E version. And I’m not sold on UP. I’m sorry. If the price doesn’t go down below $15 for the single disc, I’m not buying it. I would’ve paid $20 for a two-disc DVD. What gives?