HAPPY XMAS!!!!!!!!!!

ARASHI - Ano Hi no Merry Christmas (subbed).wmv

HAPPY XMAS!!!!!!!!

HAPPY XMAS EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I've got like 2 hours to go anyway)

I hope everyone has such an amazing day and that i miss and love everyone loads. I can't wait to see you all in about 5 days time!!!!!!!!!!

Eat as much as you can, watch the tell and enjoy every moment of it!!!!!!

I'll tell every one about my day later in Tokyo !!!!!!!!!

And now for something completely different...

Look what i found! Its from the halloween event!

I had such a good day today : D Arashi Arashi Arashi!!!!

PS. How amazing is the new series of Misfits!!!! : D Been watching them this weekend!!! : D

Day off

oh yeah...

On wednesday i had my in leiu of the halloween event day so i had the whole day off! And to my own!!! I went with a friend into Shinkuku and got off at Yoyogi station. Granted from here the there of that day was, ' If i keep walking i'll find somewhere i know'. I went this really weird back was into the park (as in i didnt know if i was supposed to be there!) It was really nice thouhg and lots f=of green spaces which i didnt actually know existed in Yoyogi park as i have only been around meiji shrine. I found meiji shrine though and sat there for a little while. I then went to harajuku and takahashi street (or it sounds like takahashi street - which is the famous street here). I wanted to go look at a store near there but it had long Q's so didnt go in. I also went to Forever 21 but it got as good a store as the one in shinjuku i think. But i manades to go and buy some normal jumpers and god forbid t -shirts which are non existant in japan trust me!

The long wander back to the train station was nice. I could have done it byt he tube but i wanted a walk and would rather walk for 40 minutes then spen 8 hours not knowing were i am!

Also on a side note - how awsome in MCR's new album! love love love.

ALSO the walking dead only has two more episodes - sad sad sad.

xx

Last weekend!

Im posting for last weekend and again its the cliff notes.

Saturday.

I went with a friend to Shinjuku Gardens. Its really pretty here as the leaves have turned that nice golden red colour of autum and i could stand all day taking photos of them. Again I will put them up eventually! I then went to Tokyo dome as they had an Arashi consert there. It was mad and there were so many people! It was quite good fun though and nice to be in an 'event' place if that makes sence? (can't change the picture so just look at from the side okay?) I qued for goods and got a few things such as phone strap, t -shirt, book, bag and uh.. towel. ^_^. But just as were were leaving (about 6 ) there was a huge bang and screaming which was the start of the gig. We heard one song but had to go just after as we kept being moving on and my friend wanted to go to Akihabra. But i'm just happy as i actually got to hear them ^^! how awsome.

Akihabra was quite fun and just looking around the shops. Anime figures and randoms like that. I'm not really interested anymore but it was quite fun as some of the fugures are really nicely made. And i recongnised a few things 'ah thats...' ect. I also saw the Gundam cafe which was a series i used to watch. One of the versions anyway so that will always be interested in of sorts. I can propperly say that the only series that i still really love is Comboy bebop just because its just an amazing series drawn or not.

Sunday.

Me and two friends this time went to a park near Tokyo dome. Again to have a look around and take photos. It was really nice. We then went back to the main area of Tokyo Dome and had a late luch / early dinner at a chinese restaurant . mmmmmmmmmm miss that. THEN i went to Disneyland. I kid you not. It was very near to where we are. As you all probberly know i and my family are not a disneyland going to type of family (nothing wrong with it mind) but its just never been what i have been interested in. At the beginning all i could think was ' god i can't believe i'm at disneyland' but i really enjoyed myself. : ) T'was good fun. Had a look around, saw a lights parade and fireworks next to the castle. PLUS some areas were completely empty so we had all of chip and dale's treehouse to ourselves : D I do want o go back and spend a whole day there propperly as it was a lot more fun than i'd like to admit.

xxx

Yokohama

This wekend I actually had a weekend! yay! On the saturday (yesterday) I went shopping in Yokohama with Sachiyo who is my partner teacher on mondays. It was nice going around the shops and i brought a pair of heels which i love but will proberly never wear. I wore them today around the apartment while doing ironing and cleaning which i find really sad... ^_^

Sachi took to to a deseart (sp) place called 'la maison' which is a really cute restaurant where you can have tea and tart and pies and things. It was very quaint and i love it. She told me there is one in machida so we can go on the way after work one monday! I had the banana one and rose mint tea with honey : D Sachi had a chololate one (sorry - forgot what it was - i was too busy eating mine : P )

I aslo got a miffy diary (but the Rilakuma one was so cute!!!!!!!!! )and a pen that you can rub out. Nothing can describe how much i love that.

Next week is busy but im sure everyones weeks are the same ^_^ I have a mothers observation in seika tomorrow so i have to practice tonight. But, my fridge is very stocked up (ive spent so much on fruit and veg but so worth is) and brought some flowers in a shop on the way home. Happy holly. I also maanged to plan the next month plus for my monday class so i will trype that up tonight and my friends. Random but i downloaded the Fallout 3 soundtrack today which really made me consertraite on work. nothing short of a miracle. Its all 50's music and heres the song that reminds me of home. Playing the game at xmas and my epic valtines day after with amy where i played it all day (and more). happy happy.

so relaxed right now .. zzzzzzzz

Sweet potato!!!!

Today at my kindergarten all the kids had japanese sweet potatos. Its not really a grabbing headline but i'm still going to write about it. At the KG the kids all dig them up and then take them home. God how many there must of been. They are not like the ones at home as they are more white then pink inside and really really starchy but so yummy. The kids had them for their lunch and me and my partner for seika were given some after the seika. Aslo after lessons me and my partner for normal lessons were given a bag each. I was going to save them to take a photo but i ate them on the way home. Gomen ne? They were cooked in the playground on a oil drum type thing bbq. Or steamed i think.

I cant help but notice Sweet potatos in japan. I even have it as my phone charm. A hamster eating a sweet potato. epic.

Tomorrow i have to go to the hospital to have shot. I was told only after work. yay. -_-'''

Its a sad a beautiful world.

Sometimes i feel life Roberto Benigni from down by law.

I saw the Devil

I just had a mini film burst and i actually can't sleep as i want to see this film so bad! And yes i really am this sad! It's Ji-woon Kim's new movie and it looks so amazing! Its also got Lee Byung-hun in. Anyone who knows how much i adore ' a Bittersweet life' (fun fact kids - its one of my three favourite movies of all time) knows the magi when these two get togehter. Its supposed to be amazing and had a premire in toronto film festival last week i think. GAH!!!!!!! SO EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!

hello hello

I thought id blog a little as i am actually off sick today - my voice is going and it was thought best all around to give it a rest so that i can shout at children later on. kidding! well sort of...

Ive been doing lesson plans and tiding. I wanted to do all my lesson plans but i think im going to break it down for the week. ill plan later on also but i want everything done by the end of the week for Novembers lessons.

Mum has been here for the past week and we have done lots. I need to get a hardrive so i will upload photos later i promice. we had three main exploring days.

Day one: It rained this day but we went to Odawara Castle in well Odawara. I had been really wanting to go there and its only about 30 - 40 mins from me so i will be returning very soon. We walked about the grounds and then went inside where there was a museum with all diffrent armour and items from when the castle was in use. I really liked it there. We then went to Hakone to an open art museum there. It is high in the mountains so it was really pretty.

Day two: We went into Tokyo and stayed the friday night there. We first went to Meji Shrine in yoyogi park. Then onto Harajuku (sp) to takahashi street which is well known for the shops down there. I am propperly in love with that place. Afterwards we went to Kiddyland which is a huge toy shop. In the eveing we went to shibyua crossing then to shinjuku to wander around there.

Day three: We first went to Akihabra breifly before going to Nogi Shrine. General Nogi was a man who allong with his wife killed themselfs when the emperor died (I think). We then went to Ropopongi (sp) Hills to the Mori Art Gallery. There was an exhibition about japanese artist exploring nature and i fell in love with it. They were all installations and my favourite was a room that was sort of like a rabbit warren but made out of paper. There were holes in the paper and you stuck your head out and there were paper trees and mist abouve - it was amaizing!!! Also at the moment there is the Tokyo Film Festival so we saw some of that. They were premiring 'The Social Network' so we saw (well on a video screen ) some of the actors.

On the sunday i had to work. We had a Halloween Even at a park called Komodo no kuni (childrens country) which is such an amazing park! Lucky things. theres a farm and a zillion playgrounds!!!!! The kis came around the park and there were diffrent games set up. I was on the ball toss which was a good workout for my legs as i had to scramble around picking up the balls. In the evening me and mum went to a steakhouse in Ebina which had proper proper handburgers OMG. missed it. I will feeling a bit ill the past few days so it was nice to have some proper meat. Mum actually kindly bought me loads of meat which is now in little plasic bags in my freezer. Nommy but it looks like i have murdered and cut up my husband.

not so nommy

Today i have mostly been listening to ...EVERYTHING!!!! Ive discoved so much i didnt know i had. I really like this song. Ramble on by Led Zeplin (sp)

I also brought Arashi's 'Truth' single. It came out quite a while ago but its one of my favourite songs. Here is a piano version of which is amazing!

Sports Day

On saturday i went to the sports day of one of the KG's i go to. I actually really like this school so i was happy to go. We (me and my partner teacher Satsuki) went only for the morning and left as everyone was being given bento boxes for lunch. There didnt actually seen to be that many races. Every child takes place and their names are announced just vefore they race. For the first one anyway. And each race takes about 10 minutes. There were also a lot of shows that the kids did which was really cute. It was really nice to see your kids race some kids had a lot of, 'is that her..? it looks like her....?' on their faces. I sat with the other staff guests like guests of the school and the piano teacher ect which was nice. Felt quite special ^_^

Afterwards I went into Harajuku with Satsuki. I haven't been to that many places in central Tokyo as i havent had the time and when i do i always end up sleeping or something. But i really enjoyed it. Its nothing really but shops but we went down the famous street there (but i have to admit i didnt know what it was) called Takeshita - dori. It's a road where all these shops are there and they have lots of crepe shops which i thik the area is famous for. Anyway the primary reason i went there was that she wanted to take me (i may have nudged) to the Johhny's Offical shop! I think only one or two people will know what that is. But its the shop for music agency which speialise in 'Idols' and pretty much run the entertainment industry in Japan. Arashi is part of that Agency ^_^ Its not that big and you can order photos of the people you like. I always found it really weird and did up until i stepped into the shop. Then it was 'Oh i like that one' then 'that was a really good photo shoot' and ' look at the lighting' then ' mabye just one more of Ohno' ect ect ect : D Good funs. And yes, i will be going back. But its quite hard to find but i should be okay for next time. ll i need to know is Exit 3!!!!

We then went to a famous toy shop called 'Kiddyland'. (megalolz) I've heard so much about it from various places and friends and wanted to go. Its being done up at the moment so it has been moved until 2012 i think! I got a really cute phone charm (nealy got a totoro one but it wa a bit more expencvive!) of a hamster eating some sweet potatoes. yep and its awsome. I really want to go back and i am going to save up for a giant totoro! about £30 abouts i think. Bit less mabye.



Anway mum is here at the moment. So we are going to explore Tokyo on the Friday and Saturaday and i have friday and thursday off ^_^ yaaaaaaayyyyyy. Looking forward to a day off - as Apart from sat afternoon i have not had a day off in over a week. Its nice to catch up on things and actually have a look around. There are a bunch of things that i want to see. I want to go to Akasuka (sp) as a book I am reading at the moment is set there. : )


right off to bed i think

...bye!

Shut up and show me your jazz hands!

Today i had a productive day.

On wednesdays i either cover someone or observe another teacher for the day. But today i had the whole day in the office from 10 to 5. It was nice because i didn't really sit down untill 11 because i went to the 100 yen store for some paper to put in my kindergarten files . I then Managed to do lesson plans for at least 3 weeks - how awsome. Some im still not sure about including one tomorrow but i'll do free conservation as that is still okay. And maybe some snap. everyone loves snap.

We have a halloween event next sunday and i had to make boxes for on of the games for the kids. I then i went and searched for halloween wrapping paper in a few stores with only one japanese phrase which saves me a lot. "halloween no kami ga arimasu ka?" (i think thats right anyway!) even though i said it really wrong and spent ages just standing there behind the halloween stuff stalking a empyloee just going 'arimasu ka, arimasu ka......." like a crazy person. ANYWAY it means....Does halloween paper exist ? aka do you have any halloween paper : D A teacher kindly wrote out the the word for wrapping paper which i also pointed to mancily ^_^ Once of the ladies told me they had paper on the 5th floor and i unerstood! sorry but im happy ^^;;;;; When mum and dad asked me what i kept doing in my room before i left - it was learning the word for floor and it actually helped. im amazed : P And i jazzed it it by asking if they had any prange paper : D *giggles* sorry but its really nice to have something pay off.

Anyway it killed an hour and i left 15 mins early as there was nothing to do. mega yays.

Anyway i got home WAYYYYYYYYYY earlier than i do everday - 6pm! : O I've then spent about an hour and a half watching the My chemical Romance 'Art is a weapon" Video. Im so excited and the video comes out TOMORROW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dude, im so excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The albums is also actually suppesed to be really good according to some magazines so im looking forward to it being relesed - but not for ages BOO!!!!! It makes me wear colours again (i do wear a stupid amount of blue and grey but thats okay because its awsome)




SEE!!!! : D

Its friday and payday - woop! Im so excited! Im going to buy propper towels and food and ahhhh! the lish is endless. AND its a three day weekend which is amazing. Tomorrow im hopefully going to get a mobile phone (finally) so fingers crossed : D

Last weekend i walked into Ebina which is nearby and had a wander around. On fridays after work i usally hang out there for an hour so so before getting back home. Its sort of a little like an open air shopping centre.



And here is a picture of just outside Shinjiku (i think thats the right sp) station. I stopped there after the Tokyo Game show.



TOPSHOP!!!!!

Tokyo Game Show 2010!

Yesterday I went to the Tokyo Game show with a few of my friends here. It was a really huge event and really fun to go to. Also it was only 1000 yen (about £8) so extreamly cheap. There are a few new games that are coming out which i got the oppotunty to see. I only planed on one game which was Marval Vs Capcom (which is awsommeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!) and will completely and totally buy it when it come out. Here are some pictures after the break and of the things i am excited for!!

Dead rising 2!!! REALLY REALLY REALLY wanted to play this but there was a zombie outside which freaked me out a little.

Ummmm. rabbit!
Vs Battles in the food court. The crowd was really into it.

FALLOUT NEW VEGAS!!!! Really excited for this game as i love Fallout 3 so much!

Playstation. They have the playstation movie which is bascially wii. effort. as much as i love sony.

Konami section <3 style="text-align: center;">

My Apartment

Here is a little video of my apartment. I have actually changed it around a little now and i filmed it a few weeks ago. But its the same place so here we are!

xxx

雨です！！

Hello!!


Ive had my first real week of teaching and some of it has gone horribly wrong and some of it has gone pretty good : ) The first time i taught was seika which is five 15min lessons where you sort of have to preform out in front of the kids and it went so wrong!!!!! luckily i only have to do this twice a week unless i cover someone. (Which is what i have to do next week - boo). But i had seika agin at another school on monday and i thought it went quite well. This was only 4 classes and the same lesson as the other day i have two lessons to do for the two age groups i teach. anyway i got really into it in the end and was doing massive theatre bows as i left the room going `thank you - youve been a great audience!`. they dont know what i`m, saying anyway ^-^!

At the weekend i went to a place called Kamakura which has loads of shrines and things. I really enjoyed it and will upload pictures soon hopefully! Its a really pretty place to go and there was a wedding happening there also. The bride had this amazing dress. It was a Shinto wedding so google it and then you can see that it looks like. : )

Today it is raining 雨です。（its raining　- ame desu) . I sounds like ive now just run out of things to say but this is diffrent - its a typhoon! : D How scary ! 怖い! (scary -kowai!!!!) I didnt even know what a typhoon really was untill my friend told me - i was thinking cows flying past my window. but nope, its just rain . hummmm

xxx

Its been a good week or so : ) I wish that i would have more time to prepare for teaching as i'm in semi panic mode and i start teaching on thursday propperly and its a very very busy day. You have normal lessions which i'm fine about but you have 'seika' classes sometimes in the morning where youre basically singing and dancing infront of the kids -_-;;; . . . It'll be fine but there is so much stuff you have to remember and i dont really know much for it yet. but i guess thats half the challenge!I went out on thursday and friday night which i really liked. Got the last train home but some people i was out with missed it and had to comeback at five in themorning as trains stop here at about 11 - 12pm in the evening. So its either you either have to call it a night early or get home at 5 in the morning. There are no other ways! But there is a bar i really liked on friday and i think i'll go there a lot. Its in an area which is sort of a camden area - quite young and its 1000 yen (about £8) for all you can drink for two hours i think. I also went to a mock english pub last night which was really weird. ('how do you ask for vodka and coke *cries*)

I've been into kindergarten on thursday and friday and i had a really great time. It was only playing with the kids who are so sweet. A few

criers but oh well ^_^ Its been good to meet the kids who i'm teaching and they seem to not be too scared of me ^^;;;;; One little boy came back into the classroom after the lesson and gave me a little disney cracker thing which i was really touched about.

I'm easy to please. Give me food basically.

Oh! and i want to buy so many clothes!!!! I propperly went around some shops today and there is SO MUCH STUFF I WANT. NO! I NEED!!!!! Its quite floaty and girly and lacks the edge that british clothes has (IMO) but its so nice. Come the colder months i'll look like some forest girl as thats what it all looks like (that ive seen) Sorta forest sweedish forest woodcutter child (sorta). The style is called 'Mori girl' (forest girl) and i think its really popular here/

And so it begins...

Hello! I guess this 'blog' is going to properly start here. I'll try to limit ramblings and i;ll probberly only post when i have nothing to do...like now ^_^

Anyway the flight was okay but i was very happy to land. The hotel i'm staying in until i move into my apartment is nice and really big! It has a train station under it and a shopping centre. Its really hot and humid so i think i'm going to die in my work clothes!

Todays my second full day and i might go with the other teachers to the beach which i'm looking forwad to. Its a pretty lazy morning and i had a post breakfast nap to boot ^_^ The cleaner woke me up so i decided to go and have a little look around. I looked in the shopping centre in the hotel but i went yesterday so i was just wandering around Muji for ages looking at the scetch books. But i wandered a bit further to another shopping centre that i can see from my hotel room called Istan (sp) which is mainly clothes and an art gallery at the top which i had a look at. I waned to go and look at the make up but i can't handle the people who work there i the UK so didnt like my chances when i don't know what they are saying ^^'''' One day i'll learn!

Tomorrow is a trainng day then ive got a few days observing in the Kindergartens which i'm looking forward to. yeah.


And thats it. I'm gonna go sleep again and watch some tv. All there is on tv that ive seen is people eating pretty looking food. I'm okay with that though.

The A TEAM

Ps. I dont know what this post looks funny - i dont know how to do any of this!!!!

and continue...

I went to go and see 'The A Team' today which I actually genuinely loved. Its directed by Joe Carahan who directed 'Smokin Aces' which is one of the films that I have had my little obsessions about, but didn't know he directed it until I saw his name in the credits. At least 'The A Team' had a plot (well sort of...) but it actually follows the same reasons why I like both the films.

1) Tons of actions

2)Made me laugh

3)Brightly coloured

4)Explosions

5) Good Looking guys

I want to go and watch it again already! : D

: D

Also Arashi had a new album out a few weeks ago and it's really good. I havent really heard any of their others but its pretty good. But i'm gonna say that anyway...

This is a song i really like called 'Mada Ue o' which means....um.... 'not yet above' or something like that ...

Tom Waits

I've really liked Tom Waits for a while now but only though his film roles. I hadn't even heard his music really. I had one song on my ipod, 'Goin out west' and thats only because it was in Fight Club and i only discovered this about 4 days ago. I was given two of his albums by chaney about a year and half ago but never really got around to listening to him. I think i was a bit ' his voice is weird' about it and then my harddrive died which the albums were on, so thats that story. Anyway, on holiday i saw a book 'the life of Tom Waits' and thought i read it because 1) It wasn't very thick 2) I wanted to know about him. It was quite good as it was really just about his music which i suppose is the prime intent on a book about a musician. He seemed hardworking, funny, insanely talented and a pretty decent guy. One quote from him in the book is,

'You gotta keep Busy. After all no dogs ever pissed on a moving car'

or allong those lines. I think thats pretty good advice and one that i'll try to live by in the coming months. I asked mum and dad if he was good and i got a yes from mum and a yes but... from dad. Anyway it was this point that i discovered 'Goin out west' on my ipod where i went past the 20 second mark that i would usally stop at and ACTUALLY LISTENED TO IT. And I was 'holy crap this is actually good!'.

I got home and downloaded the albums that the book went most on about which are Swordfishtrombones, Rain Dogs and Frank's Wild Years and again I was, 'dude, this is all really good!!!'. Only mabye one or two songs of those albums i'm not to keen on but thats a pretty good track record. I prefer the more raw, bluesy songs through those such as Gun Street Girl and Clap Hands which are both on the Rain Dog album. They remind me of songs that would be played in a dark dirty bar in deep deep alabama or something. But i think that was the intention, so, yeah.


Anyway, he's really good and i think that reading the book helped understand him. Like his influseces and what he went though. For example, in 'Small Change' its quite pessemistic )or so wiki tells me) because he started dinking heavily when he went on tour which really took his toll on him.

Anyway, i've downloaded 'Bone Machine' which i will propperly losten to tomorrow. I looked up his more critcally aclaimed albums as i dont want to download a crap album then hate him. His albums are quite cheap on hmv so i may actally pay for them. But might have to wait untill japan, but i quite want to buy them.


Anyway untill then heres a taster for poeple who might not know, whiich thinking about it, is probberly not that many!

This is 'Clap Hand' and as of this moment its the one that ive listened to the most. Keeping in mind i only dwnld these albums today!

'through it all, I'll clap clap clap

hands for this treasure

a million bad dreams

in my memories

I'll never return to them

instead, I'll

clap, clap , clap hands'

INCEPTION!!!!

I went to go and see Inception last night with Rose and it was AMAZING!!!!!!! Nolan *IS* a good director (and he gave is memento I suppose) dispite really really really disliking him, very . very . much.

Anyway it was really well acted and nearly everyone of the main characters in the film i have been obsessed with in some point of my life. All the actors I genuinely respect and If they have had Mark Strong and Michael Shannon in then it would have been everyone i have ever loved as a actor. Plus i don't hate Leo DiCaprio now. Well...

I have a really short attention span but the TWO AND A HALF FRICKING HOURS didn't bother me that much. I got really wrapped up in the story, visuals, acting that you get really engulfed in the world.

It was just a world of everything I love. Really awsome people, sharp suits, action, self-destructive lovers, abandoned cities and the weirdness of dreams. (for example I dreamed that I climbed up a tree stump in a field then I climbed up through a hole where a toilet used to be in a second story house. And taught Ohno Satoshi the world ' retard' which surprised me a i *really* hate that word. I told him off though. Won't mess with me again i can tell you)

Stangely i got the plot until the last 20 mins or so where it threw me a little. I thought someone had changed their motives but turns out that they didnt, so that should have been more apparent. But the dream stuff is fine as long as you think of it as layers. So as they are then, as they go through multiple layers of dreams.

Anyway to sum up I want to reccomend a film to watch from everyone. But i think i saw these films with everyone anyway so... ^_^

Leo Dicaprio - Shutter Island for being awsome

Tom Hardy - ROCKNROLLA!!!!!!!! I adore this film. I lost count of the times that i watched it at uni with everyone!

Ellen Page - Hard Candy - My first ever 18 I saw that the cinema

Gorden Joseph Levitt - Brick and 500 Days of Summer

Cillian Murphy - Sunshine, 28 DAYS LATER!!!!!!! The first half of Red Eye

Ken Watanabe - only every seen the darren Shan Film and Letters of Iwo Jima with him.

Dileep Rao - only every seen Drag me to hell with him so that. And it really is such a great film.

Lukas Haas - That one with harrison ford (ask my mum) and One i saw called 'Whld she was out' which was not amazing but i really loved it. Kinda Grindhous-y about this woman trying to get away from him and his gang of thugs of xmas day. I want that film actually. He's in one called 'The Girl with the Red Riding Hood' released next year which looks really goods (sorry just wiki-ed it)





please santa, I want this poster more than anything. amen.

The Films Of Arashi

I have time on my hands and so i'm going to delve into the title of this blog, its the name of a film with all the Members of Arashi (who are a japanese J pop band but have to many fingers in many pies. They collectily act in plays, dramas, films, have three weekly variety shows, present the news, advertise many many products, and seem to bring out a new single every week, and one of them is a really good artist) I first heard of them through Szujane (Thanks Szujane!!)

' Pikanchi Life is Hard Dakedo (but) happy' (2002) follows 5 friends who live in an apartment complex in Tokyo and the events that happen to them. There's no strong narritive but just little stories and events that happen to them. It's a pretty funny film and it has a sequel too called 'Pikanchi Life Is Hard Dakedo (therefore) Happy' (2004) but I haven't seen it yet. (Still trying to find a good place to download it).

I base a good film on weather (spelling) i would show it to my parents where i can really arrogently say that i have never shown them a bad film. The next two fall in this category. They only have one more film together called, 'Yellow Tears' (2007) which I really really reccomend. Its a genuinely great film and i really want to own it on DVD.



Its set in the 60's post war Japan where it follows 4 of the members (the 5th has a minor part). It covers a summer where these friends stay together. Eisuke Muraoka wants to be a manga artist (Kazunari Ninomiya), Ryūsan Mukai wants to be a writer (Sho Sakurai), Shōichi Inoue wants to be a musician (Aiba Masaki) and Kei Shimokawa wants to be an artist (Ohno Satoshi). They struggle for money and try to get by while trying to make in in their chosen field. The acting is really good and the director is too. Again its a film without a strong plot with lots of little events but i really totally reccomend it. I'm not a very good reviewer but i hope that you do watch it (Its like i'm trying to tell you somehitng....)

Another film is called 'Ao no Honoo' (The blue flame)

This stars just Kazunari Ninomiya so isn't really An Araishi film but its so good and needs to be seen. It is a pretty dark film and a quieter film like Yellow tears . I'm lazy so Wiki saves me:

'Shūichi Kushimori is a 17-year-old high school student who lives happily with his mother and stepsister.
One day, without warning, his estranged stepfather returns home from a long absence. He quickly falls into a circle of drinking and starts abusing his ex-wife and daughter.
When he begins making what appear to be sexual advances towards Shūichi’s stepsister, Shūichi feels compelled to take matters into his own hands.
Based on Yūsuke Kishi's novel of the same name.'

I don't want to spoil it as if you can muster up the energy to find it (it does exist online but failing that ebay) you will not be dissapointed. Ninomiya is really good actor and was one of the main characters in 'Letters from Iwo Jima' by good old Clint Eastwood. He's also in the film of Gantz film (its a manga) which looks really good.

I couldn't find a trailer that i liked so again a fan video will have to do : ) Its has spoilers actally hopefully it will spur you seeing the film...



And Another : )



FYI, the music for the last video is by a Korean band Called Epik High and is well worth checking out. I like this one by them called 'FAN'.




You can tell how my brain works with this post.... ^_^

Detroit metal city

I decided that I would have to watch more Japanese films because to be honest I haven't actually seen that many! I watched 'Detroit Metal City' for the basis that I liked the main actor in the film, Kenichi Matsuyama and wanted to see more of that he's done. Anyway I watched this as I was in the mood for a more lighter film, I mean, I have to start watching them sometime. : )

Its all about this guy called Souichi Negishi who wants to be the next big indie pop star who likes to sing cute songs.

exhibit A



However he never reached this goal and got a job for another type of band where he goes by the name of Johannes Krauser II

exhibit B



Apparently his talent lies in being the lead in a death metal band. Its quite a sweet film as he tries to hide his secret identity from the girl he likes who is a music jounalist. His band's fans are quite fun to watch as they are quite obsessive. I also love the band's manager who is mental and I loves it. Japanese comedy is a bit different from UK comedy as it is very over the top in terms of acting so sometimes I wanted to knock Souichi Negishi around a bit so he wouldn't faf around so much but then again i'm not one to talk......

My favourite scene was the final one as the band have a ..band off? against Gene Simmons. Seroiusly.

It was awesome.

Killer Thrillers

There is one thing that i can't get enough of in the land of cinema. And thats Korean and Hong Kong thriller/ gangster films. They can do no wrong. I want to write about my favourites because it'll keep me up with the ones that i have seen : )



My absolute favourite is A BITTERSWEET LIFE! (2005)

I absolutely adore it. Its amazingly acted, beautifully shot and is so powerful. And the soundtrack is so good! Plus I fancy Lee Byung Hun (Watch anything he has ever been in you will not be dissapointed - basically all dramas though ^_^) He really is a great actor. All you have to watch is the opening sequence which is awesome. Seconds after the man counts to three I knew I was in for a treat. (You''ll see ^_^) Here is a music video someone did for the film which i really love. EDIT: Ok, might have some spoilers but it dosn't explain much. Go watch the trailer on youtube ^_^ You can actually get the film there too!

It's all about man called Sun-Woo (lee byung hun) who is the loyal right hand man to an aging ganster. The aging gangster has a young girlfriend who he suspects is cheating on him (and she totally is). Unfortnately for her, the ganster has told Sun-Woo to kill her if she ever is. However Sun-Woo has a slight crush on the girlfriend and spares her and her boyfriend. The gangster find out and punishes Sun-Woo by bury-ing (ahhh spelling!!!!) him alive. He gets out alive and cue a massive fight scene where he basically kills all the henchmen. He then goes to get revenge on the aging ganster.

I really love the character of Sun-Woo. You can tell that he's a really lonely man and i feel really sorry for him. He has noone and you can tell that he's really touched by the girlfriend. I know he's all gansterry but he has a good heart. A lot of reviews all him shallow which is also true i guess. I mean his can kill people emotionally and without question which is never a good thing.

Its directed by Kim Ji-Woon who I really like. He also did 'A Tale of Two sisters', 'The good the bad the weird' and a segment of 'Three Extreames 2'.

Test!

This is a blog to my friends and family back home to let them know what i'm up to when i'm away. fun fun fun.