Pause

Books I’ve read this summer – I’d recommend everyone of them, although I have a little bit to complain about each:

It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini – There’s a movie coming out with Zach Galifinakis this fall based on this book and the trailer looked enticing so I read it. I found it pretty entertaining and funny overall. If you know the author’s bio though, you’d know that he wrote it based on his, uh, not-so-good experience with a certain elite New York City public high school– so expect a hint of chagrin in it.

Lowboy by John Wray – Another soft-cover starring a teenage boy fighting psychological woes, in New York City. I don’t know why I picked this one up, but I guess while I was at the genre of youth, angst and psychology, I might as well keep going at it. I mean, in the future, I may look at these titles in disgust because of some old-aged pretension. Hopefully not, but at least I’ve read these books and enjoyed them now while I am still in this stage of my life, you know, just in case.

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Murakami – I’ve really started collecting these Murakami books. I like the decorate my bookshelf with pretty covers. Penguin classics, which I have a ton of, always dress their covers in that mysterious black with orange and white text. And, I mean, it looks cool-ish, but it really makes my bookshelf quite monotone. Aside from the fact that his books, for some reason, have really appealing covers to me, I was recommended by a friend to read his work. Admittedly, I really do enjoy his style of writing. It’s very unadorned, yet telling. I intend to read a lot more of his books. This particular one is an anthology of 24 short stories. My only complain is that there are multiple translators for this book, and you can clearly tell when different translators are doing different stories– sometimes, the translations are a bit…lacking.

The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami – As Mithun suggested, I should read smaller works of Murakami first before I attack this three-volume  novel. It was about 600 pages and I certainly loved the entire read. Its amazing how I spent two weeks on this, and somehow it felt like I lived in the characters’ setting, with them, for two years. My biggest complaint is that it gets really surreal sometimes, and certain ‘stories’ in this ‘chronicle’ are very vague, and I feel they are detached from the story. I also felt a sliver of disappointment at the end of the novel. I’m sure other critics would find great meaning in it all, but I’m no professional, and as an untrained American reader, I sort-of can’t see beyond the emotions and meanings of the main characters and plots. Regardless, no doubt, this is one of my favorite novels– great story, or, great stories.

The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami – Again, an anthology of 24 stories. Same thing as before. I forgot to mention that I think what’s most beautiful about his work is that– sometimes its a whole character’s life, or perhaps just a little scene– it just breaks my heart as a reader the way Murakami expresses the great sadness in his creations in such a simple and subtle manner.

Other Murakami books I’m working on: Norwegian Wood and Kafka on the Shore.

I was tempted to get a Nook or a Kindle, but honestly, I like the substance in my hands more. Also, school is starting soon, so it looks like it’ll be back to reading textbooks of Biology, Chemistry, and post-Romantic era works for classes. Oh, while I’m at it, wish everyone luck with classes, and work, and friends and family, and just, whatever.

On the musical front, for my summer jam, I’d have to say “Teenage Dream” by Katy Perry does it for me. I admit, its a girly song. That whole new album of hers though, has potential. I think that she’s getting better as an artist. Also, “Right Above It” by Lil Wayne ft. Drake is pretty up there too for song of my summer. That new Kanye West album coming up sounds like it’ll be the bomb too. Check out “Monster” ft. Nicki Minaj, Rick Ross, Bon Iver. I’m hooked on that song. Ill beat. Kanye and Nicki destroyyy that rap (in the good way). “See Me Now” ft. Beyonce, Charlie Wilson is alright too, but just alright. Alas, Jack might have stated it most accurately that my favorite songs are either really feminine or totally thug. (I don’t 100% agree with this…) Ah, while we’re on the topic of Jack, hope for you the best in England.

I know I didn’t post much this summer anyway so this probably doesn’t affect any of you: the blog’s going back on extended hiatus again, for school and life and stuff-like reasons. Oh, did you know, Utada Hikaru’s going on a long term sabbatical after this year? I guess I’m just following after her, except I’m breaking from a blog and she’s breaking from her career. Hasn’t it been non-stop with her? I’ve listened to her songs a little too much and for a little too long. I’m sure we can all use a break, it’s well deserved. I sure hope she can find her happiness too.

Finally, I don’t know how long it will be until I post again, so have a great year everyone. Um, eat well, get lots of sleep, smile, laugh a lot, get those 4.0′s, work hard, play hard, make bank… okay now, I’m going to set this thing on pause.

movie tuesday/newold music/souvenirs

Watched Next Day Air and Following with Mithun and Deep yesterday. Pretty decent.

Next Day Air started off really funny and stupid. The isolated scenes were good. The middle ‘in between days” cut-scene sort of thing was dumb though. All the ‘serious’ scenes were dumb too. Oh well. I didn’t expect too much of it. If you’re bored and looking for some black dramedy, pick it up. Its got a huge cast. The ones I can remember off the top of my head is that black surgeon from Scrubs and Mos Def. But there’s definitely a lot of people you’ll see and be like “oh shit (I know this guy!)”

Following directed by Christopher Nolan (yeah, the Batman guy). I think his first movie? Its old, like black and white old. Filmed in London. Good movie though. Can’t tell too much or I’ll spoil. I’m not a big fan of movies without color, so you can tell I really like this if I’m recommending it. The characters weren’t too likeable though. Maybe bad actors? But good directing and intricate plot– although too reliable on coincidence.

Speaking of movies, can’t wait till Toy Story 3 comes out.

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So I spent two hours the other day manually drag-and-dropping every single song into playlists and re-adding cover images to some albums since I got a new iPod– and brushed upon some old music, listened to them, and Kanye West has blown my mind yet again (reblown?) with his College Dropout album. So  my recommendations (to revisit, at least) today are: Family Business and Never Let You Down.

“Yeah Grandmama. Told you I won’t let you down. Told you I won’t let this rap game change me, right?”

Hmmm, I’m not so sure about that Kanye…

Also, Just a Moment -Nas ft. Quan. Good stuff.

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Are my selections too black lately? (Why did I even point that out?) :/ Well lets step back to Asia for a bit.

So a lotta people going to China and Japan this summer. Team Awesome is still saving up for our trip, but for now, pretty jealous here…

Now for things I’d like to receive from Japan-goers as souvenir (!) [directed especially at Lickety], I was thinking anything Utada Hikaru would be pretty cool (I already have the albums so that’s a no.) Maybe a Kuma-chan plush. Maybe they make Utada Hikaru fan plushies there! I’ll settle for action figure too. Hah, but I guess the celebrity worship isn’t the same there as it is in America.

If you’re going here, the Ghibli Museum, something unique and cool from its store would be nice too! I’m kidding of course (I’m not that conceited…I think), what’s most important is that you have fun. :) I’ll have my turn someday! But man…I could so live in the Ghibli Museum…

Seriously though, I think there’s a lot of things I’d like to get from Japan, just don’t know what exactly yet. Gotta be there and see it myself. Gotta go there myself. Well to all of you traveling this summer, be safe and have fun!

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Whew, that was a long post. Hadn’t done one of these in awhile. Heh. Okay, starting hospital work on Thursday. Maybe I’ll update again before school starts. If not, have a great summer everyone!

Summer Project

Making a short movie, probably to put online and whatnot. This will be totally amateur. I have no experience whatsoever, but I do have a borrowed HD camcorder, equipment, and some very helpful friends. It’ll be a fun summer project. Hopefully I’ll learn a lot too.

I’m going to need a little more help though. Although this is sort of just for fun and experience, I do want to try my best and make something I can be proud of. So for all of you working summer jobs, internships, and volunteering; and need a creative outlet, always dreamed of filmmaking even if just a little, and just want to have some fun– I am officially inviting you to offer your help.  =P

Starting with the story and script tomorrow.

We need an all-star team to make an all-star piece of work. So get psyched! Otherwise, sit tight and look forward to an interesting trailer soon. Ciao.

a story

One day, at dawn, a man was walking on the beach and in the distance he saw a figure that looked as if it were dancing. As he got closer, he saw that the beach was littered with thousands of starfish and the dancing figure was that of a little boy who was picking up the starfish one by one and throwing them into the ocean.

As the man approached the boy, he said to him, “What are you doing?” The little boy replied, “I’m throwing these starfish back into the water. If I leave them here, when the sun gets hot they’ll dry up and die.” The man pointed at all of the starfish on the beach and said, “But look how many starfish there are. What you’re doing can’t possible make a difference.”

As the boy picked up yet another starfish and threw it into the ocean he said, “Well, it makes a difference to this one!”

More Recent VideoGames

Just a list to remind myself to play these someday (way late in the future) when I have the time ( it also doesn’t help that the games I most want to play are on different consoles):

-Heavy Rain

-Bayonetta

-Edgeworth

-Pokemon HG/SS (although I’m sure by the time I get to this list, Pokemon Black and White will be out)

-Okami

-Starcraft II

Piano Pull-Up Bar and Schoolwork

I bought a piano and a pull-up bar two weeks ago. Ideally, I’d get to work out, enrich myself with music, and get schoolwork done everyday. However, I know myself better than that and I do plan for the worst.

So I set it up so I will hit the books as much as possible, and when I need to lift my head for a little I would either:

-Piano if I’m tired-ish

-Workout if I’m energetic bouncy bunny

Of course, the worst did occur. The worst of the worst in fact.

I’m piano-ing when I’m full of energy. I’m working out when I’m physically tired (which can’t be good). And schoolwork? Hah.

And now we’re here,
on this beautiful 70 F weather day,
I’m doing an essay.
(^rhymed)

Hiatus

So busy with school lately. Also, I bought a new digital piano (a keyboard), so I’m trying to put 1-2 hours a day into it.

Spring Break To DO List

-Driving Lessons

-Get me some Beard Papa’s

-Watch a movie (probably Alice in Wonderland…iMax please.)

-Try not to spend the day/night at Hos playing monopoly/wii/ping pong.

-Picnic at Central Park (if weather permits and people still want to do it)

-Study for CF Midterm and do Chem HW :(

-Spring/Summer shop, maybe.

-Clean room.

-Visit them Stony kids.

-Have people over one day, maybe.

Winter Break Reading

Ah, I haven’t done this in awhile, and yet I have to make this short. Because I read a lot of manga over the break (ill craving for them), and I want to blog a little now, but I don’t have the time to elaborate on any too much, I will eventually. Here’s the list of some:

The Breaker – A Korean one. Lots of fighting. The usual weakass kid becomes super strong through some sort of talent or hardwork. It starts off a little bit like GTO. Surprisingly, even with its cliche-ness, really good.

Veritas – Another Korean one, so of course, I had to compare it to The Breaker. It has more fighting than The Breaker. The fighting is probably better, but its hard to tell because even though the fights are good, the character designs and drawings by the artist are weird. The proportions and angles are often off. There are more characters, but it is definitely not as good as The Breaker in story and character. I would recommend this if you have a craving for lots of fighting though.

Love Hina - well, if you know of manga and you don’t know what Love Hina is, then I don’t know what to say. I re-read this harem, romantic-comedy classic over the break. Oh man its so cheesy that you can’t help but love it.

Midori no Hibi – Another romantic-comedy. This has an original idea and then they just do a lot of gags with the daily life of the character. The idea is a girl that has a crush on the main male character suddenly becomes his right hand. Doesn’t make sense? Read it and you’ll get it. Its pretty funny I think. A lot of school life involved.

Kyou Kara Ore Wa – what I regard as the funniest manga ever, about these two delinquents in high school. Funny as hell and full of character. This is a classic for sure. I’m a little worried part of my childhood may be formed from this, deriving my twisted nature.

Monster – from the guy that wrote 20th Century Boys. Its panel display and storytelling and presentation is like a friggin’ movie. It’s a thriller, drama, mystery. Very depressing at parts. And like 20th Century Boys, a lot of people die. But its told in such a fantastic way, you can’t help but keep reading. I read it along with all those other comedies though, and I’m still not finished with it, because I switch between comedies and this a lot because it really is too tense, I think.

Kure-nai – the character backgrounds in this are SO weird, but it unfolds into a nice story nonetheless. Its hard to talk too much about it without spoiling. It’ll have some taboo stuff going on and you’ll be a little confused, but the art is nice. Be warned: there is loli. =/

That’s it for now, I got class. Peace.

[edit] Did I mention? Slam Dunk rocks! I finished reading the ending for the first time. And honestly, that last match was superb. That whole like, 50 chapters was so captivating, intense, and dynamic. Nothing like the most recent sports mangas like Prince of Tennis and Eyeshield21′s flaking-out sort of endings. Every last panel of it was quality art with explosive action. I have a newfound respect for Sakuragi and his OG Jordans. A picture of what I’m talking about:

Epic save.

Japan Trip

I will now decree what Royce and I have decided after some rough estimations today.

We will have Japan trip. Go there for a month. Do all the legit cool Japan stuff like hot springs, rotating sushi, ramen stands, etc.

It will be a monthish, probably one of the breaks like winter break.

The goal, with our vastly superior calculative powers, is to have saved 4-5k by the time we’re 20.  I don’t mean have over 4-5k in your savings account cause I know a lot of you do have that. Stfu. You’re not baller. I’m not impressed.

I mean, start saving separately now, a fund entirely for this Japan trip, so you won’t skimp out for some lame reason like, you don’t really wanna spend that money later.

Really though, we need to go traveling once more, not for work or study, but solely for vacationing–before we graduate. Because then some of you will be in med school and stuff and this stuff will never be possible again.