Refraction

I can’t sleep–all-you-can-eat sushi is not good for dinner, only lunch T_T

Anyway, I thought I’d share this post since I think a lot of you will relate to it:
Two Phrases that Destroyed American Culture. I wish more people were like this. Then I might actually enjoy working in retail and not turn all bitter about it.

On the other hand EXAMS ARE OVER OMGWTFBBQ! WE ARE KARAOKE!

//edit: Because I *really* can’t sleep. I’ve gotten less sleep tonight than at any time in the past week, and that was because of exams. Anyway, for those of you looking for something wintery, the Kaguya theme is ready for public viewing again. And I am going to make at least one other theme eventually!

I know exactly what you mean. I swear I used to be smart once. Really.

I am so sick of chemistry it’s not even funny.

Someone save me from this horror >_< Oh, and if anyone is wondering what on earth I'll be working on next term, read all these journal articles and you’ll know better than me. That’s what I’m going to spend my winter break doing. Assuming I don’t flunk out of chem and am still able to work for the next term T_T

Okay, so if you haven’t taken my advice to watch House (or if it’s just not for you) then take a look at Heroes. This show gets even more graphic than House sometimes–okay, often–and I’ve only seen one episode, but I’ve seen enough of it to confidently say that my favourite character is Hiro. He even has a blog! And he’s so cute in a dorky kind of way. A dorky, Clay Aiken kind of way.

It’s snowing!

And I am procrastinating, so here’s a list of the songs that I have on my “Winter J-pop Mix”:

1. Changin’ My Life – Eternal Snow (Piano Swing Mix)
   This is a piano version (no vocals) of a lovely lovely song. This song needs to be sung during karaoke! >D
   

   雪のように　ただ静かに
   降り積もり　つづけてゆく

2. Yuko Sasaki – Pure Snow
   I could never leave this one out. It’s just too tied up in winter, despite being syrupy and angsty at the same time.
   

   Pure Snow　Pure Heart　ふたり出逢った日も　雪が降っていた

3. Ayumi Hamasaki – CAROLS
   I’m not a big fan of Ayu (never followed her too much because of her nasally voice) but I did appreciate the slightly more rockish feel she had going with her newer albums. Not that I’ve actually listened to anything since Memorial Address, mind you.
   

   白い雪が街を染める頃にも

4. Dreams Come True – Winter Song
   The only English song on the CD (and predictably, sung by a J-pop group). It’s kind of odd souding, to be honest.
   

   my love for you is deeper than the deepest snows of winter

5. Ayumi Hamasaki – Powder Snow
   Power ballad kind of thing from Ayu. Also very angsty!
   

   大声で叫んでもいい?
   雪止むまで

6. Gackt – 12月のLove Song
   He needs to make a French version. That is all. I mean, he’s sung in Japanese, Korean, English, and Mandarin… I’d be rather amused to see a Cantonese version, too.
   

   見上げた空に粉雪が舞い降りていた

7. CORE OF SOUL – 粉雪のきもち
   It’s not a CD mix from Catherine without a CORE OF SOUL song, after all. This isn’t one of my favourites from them but does evoke sitting in front of a warm fire at a ski lodge.
   

   しんしんとつもる
   しんしんとつもる
   粉雪

8. Garnet Crow – Crier Girl, Crier Boy ~ice cold sky~
   A laid-back track from this group which has been compared to COS (they’re even more laid back, though…) Also the first song where I can’t find a reference to snow in the lyrics! 🙁
   

   Winter night, ice cold sky
   星空 真冬の花火が
   咲いたスクリーンみたいで

9. I’VE – Last Regrets
   Recommended by Naddie, and fits very well. It is, however, the second song not to refer to snow. 🙁
   

   低い雲
   風を待つ静けさ
   もう 聞こえない

10. Mai Kuraki – Winter*Swear
    A lot more upbeat than most of the songs on this compilation, some light dancy-type pop.
    

    Say you want me
    I want you hold me
    同じ雪の街に

    I’m loving the English grammar in there, too.

11. Mika Nakashima – 雪の華
    Lots of versions of this exist, too–I think I opted for the original. It’s a beautiful ballad.
    

    今年, 最初雪の華を
    2人寄り添って

12. SPEED – White Love (Christmas Standard)
    A hahaha. Very old, I’m sure. More Japanese girl band pop. 😀
    

    真冬の星座から　舞いおちた白い恋
    胸の奥に　降りつもる
    心に染みて　涙になる

13. Changin’ My Life – Eternal Snow
    This song is so good I put it on twice. With vocals this time! My favourite version of this snow is the Route:L version, which is remixed to be a lot faster and features male vocals. Didn’t really fit in the mix, though.
    

    雪のように　ただ静かに
    降り積もり　つづけてゆく

14. Asuca Hayashi – snowdrop
    I haven’t listened to Asuca much lately… Anyway, for this excerpt before, I didn’t know what a だるま was, so I looked it up… and basically fell over when I saw that one of the definitions is “prostitute.” (This snow was featured as NHK’s “Minna no Uta” (Everyone’s Song) and I thought that surely, surely a song that talks about prostitution is not something that parents would want their kids to hear. Oh, and just for good measure, that bear song from Hikki? It’s also a Minna no Uta song.) Predictably, 雪だるま is something much more beneign: it’s a snowman.
    

    小さな雪だるま
    うまく作れたから

15. ZONE – 白い花 (Acoustic Version)
    We could all live in this video right now, given the weather. Assuming that you can wear a dress, sing and play an instrument in the snow.
    

    いつまでも降る雪に
    今はもう迷わない

Okay, Utada Hikaru has just released a new single. Its incredibly deep title is: ぼくはくま (I’m a bear.)

And here, again, is a rushed translation:

ぼくはくま　くま　くま　くま
車じゃないよ　くま　くま　くま
歩けないけど踊れるよ
喋れないけど歌えるよ
ぼくはくま　くま　くま　くま

I’m a bear bear bear bear
Not a car; bear bear bear
I can’t walk, but I can dance
I can’t talk, but I can sing
I’m a bear bear bear bear

ぼくはくま　くま　くま　くま
けんかはやだよ　くま　くま　くま
ライバルはエビフライだよ
ゼンセはきっとチョコレート
ぼくはくま　くま　くま　くま

I’m a bear bear bear bear
??? bear bear bear
My rival is fried shrimp
I was probably chocolate in a past life
I’m a bear bear bear bear

Bonjour! Je m’appelle kuma
comment ca va?

Hello, my name is Kuma
How are you?

ぼくはくま　くま　くま　くま
冬は眠いよ　くま　くま　くま
夜は「おやすみ、まくらさん」
朝は「おはよう、まくらさん」
ぼくはくま　くま　くま　くま

I am a bear bear bear bear
Winter’s sleepy bear bear bear
At night, “Good night, Mr. Pillow”
In the morning, “Good morning, Mr. Pillow”
I am a bear bear bear bear

夜は「おやすみ、まくらさん」
朝は「おはよう、まくらさん」
ぼくはくま　九九　くま
ママ　くま　くま

At night, “Good night, Mr. Pillow”
In the morning, “Good morning, Mr. Pillow”
I am a bear ku-ku bear
Ma-ma bear bear

Man, is this an odd song, or what?

She’s not a car: “Car” in Japanese is kuruma, one syllable off from kuma (“bear”, but somehow I think you figured that out already).

Her rival is shrimp: Okay, at this I must admit I am utterly clueless. And chocolate in a past life? QUOI?!

Ca va?: Why is there French in the middle of this song? Just…. why?

Mama bear?: Part of that play on words with ku-ku (and ma-ma), see?

Some French music for you all. Password is the city I went to in Quebec. 😀 Reviews and explanations to follow.

I have been officially cleared to work for the federal government. 😀

Go me!

I have just set up error pages for my domain. My, this is fun.

404 error page!
403 error page!
Unknown error page!

I hope the other ones work, but since these work, I think I’ll be all right. 😀

http://jakemandell.com/2006/test-your-musical-skills-in-6-minutes/

There you are. A Flash test of tonedeafness!

For the record, I got 83%, which is not too bad considering….