Is anybody out there? *HELLO-HEllo-hello*


The end of another era [1][2][3], I suppose~ xD
I had never really been a RapidShare user, though had encountered the site several times over in many of my movie/TV journeys, but they’ve always been a pain for me. It doesn’t surprise me that bandwidth caps (for both free users AND PREMIUM), limited speeds and incredibly annoying waiting times that got longer and longer with captchas decreased users and traffic to finally put it out of business.
The relationship with cloud and file-sharing services with the DMCA or MPAA is a strange one. No matter what these services do to please them, it’ll never be enough.
You tell them, Janeane.
I’m totally not the demographic for Bravo, but here goes Janeane Garofalo telling it like it is- like my mom told my school 20 years ago when they “required’ her to do parenting lessons for my catechesis. I’m totally bummed she’s no longer on the show.
I apologize for having a job. I’m sorry I make a substantial income to pay for your green-grocer small-batched locally-sourced farm-to-table ethically-butchered hormone-free gluten-intolerant bills, but- here’s the thing; I don’t work, my kids don’t go to school. So if you wanna call and tell me tuition is free, I’d be happy to be here for Story Time, and Arbor Day, and kids court, and snack bar, and talent night, and the Nose-Picking Olympics, and every other bullshit holiday that costs me a fortune. But if you’re not gonna tell me it’s free, then I gotta work, ‘coz I’m a working mother… with a boatload of mouths to feed.
Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce 1×03 – Rule #47: Always Take Advantage of “Me” Time
I’ve mentioned this before [1], Hula Girls was shot in Iwaki prefecture, so when the tsunami and eventual nuclear meltdown affected the zone, the Hula Girls team as well as the dancers lent their support and/or donated money. Now, Yu-chan is lending her time (maybe there’s money too, though I’d like to think this is from the bottom of her heart) to jump-start visits to Iwaki with the campaign Tadaima Iwaki (ただいま! いわき).
It doesn’t matter, I’d watch 1hr. of Yu eating savory things and visiting places if they’d made a movie about it. LOL As naturally charming as ever~ I’ll watch this 30-sec clip instead.

Last year, I fell in love with Carrchy’s (卡奇社) music. And honestly, their 2007 album Daylight Allure (日光倾城) is pretty good stuff [Xiami] [YouTube Sample], but they hadn’t been releasing ANYTHING for many MANY years. Last night, they surprised with the release of the single track Clouds (云, Yun), which you can get in Xiami (Sorry, those who Xiami is blocking). I don’t know anywhere else where you might listen to their music [Here’s some Douban demos].

Other than that, happy listening!
Except for the mandatory appreciation for Boyhood (the Patricia Arquette show) and Whiplash, which had me contorting from all the conflictive feelings, I’m feeling rather lukewarm with this year’s award season as you can see from my 2014 Films Ranked compared to my Academy Award Watchlist.
Hot pink is watched, light blue on to-watched queue, highlighted in green haven’t been found yet. My excuse for lack of documentaries and shorts is because of access. I find them extra difficult to get. Also, any respectable award show needs the presence of Haider. LOL And I could do a LOT LESS from Clint Eastwood. I’m not even one of those complaining for lack of women behind/in front of the camera, the nominees are just so damn BLAH! except for the few couple of surprises- some spice with Marion Cotillard (even though I don’t feel strongly about the movie), Ida and Mr. Turner in cinematography… and The Tale of Princess Kaguya.

Like we always do, the YAM Magazine team got together to vote for their favorite movies in a good ole’ Facebook poll in our secret group. We are so different and live so far away from each other that our choices vary so much, making the list alive. Of course there are movies I wish were lower, and others that were higher… but, all in all, it’s a good varied list for everyone to discover a new title.
Mavis Fan’s fans (no pun intended) rejoice! She’s got three songs out this year, making a comeback since 2009 with Immediately (當下, Dang Xia). Obviously, the East doesn’t give a flying fish about End of the Year lists or the Holiday season, that’s why they keep releasing stuff- business like usual. xD

Sorry, US-based users. I was only able to find the songs on Xiami. I know, geoblocks suck. But, as far as I know, the songs aren’t available anywhere else -even on iTunes TW- because it seems like a Xiami exclusive release.
–EDIT JAN 20–
I wasn’t aware that Mavis had added this free download link on her website.
A double feature with Lukas Moodysson’s Vi Är Bäst! (We Are the Best!) and Nobuhiro Yamashita’s Linda Linda Linda. Because~ Why not? RIGHT?
