Japanese Music

So, for January, tanabata from In Spring It Is The Dawn asked us to listen to Japanese music and talk a bit about it.

For some reason, I was a bit reluctant at first. I had listened to Japanese music in the past - in a rather obsessive way, even, compared to my usual music-listening self. In general, I switch the type of music I listen to several times throughout the day. The louder music to wake up, to get my brain running - then some background noise while I'm at work, to shut out the other sounds in our building (it really distracts me to hear loud steps or phones ringing all the time).

But when a friend of mine first introduced me to Japanese music (through a Japanese TV series, Hanazakari no kimitachi e (you really should watch the first few episodes at least, if you haven't already!), I listened to Japanese music exclusively for a few months. Nothing else, not my usual changes throughout the day, just the few CDs I could get a hold of.

Which leads me to the first music video I'd like to share with you:



This is the theme song for Hanazakari no kimitachi e: Peach, performed by Ai Otsuka. And the video should show a lot about the quirky-crazy characters in this show!

Some more of the old favorites I re-visited in January were Arashi, for which I'll give you their music video for their song We Can Make It!:



This song is one I play twice during the last 15 minutes when I'm out running on my own. I'm not good at balancing my running, so I end up tired way before I'm back home *sigh* And the video makes me smile. Why is it that Japanese boy bands always look so funny in their MVs?

The next one is I'll Be With You by KAT-TUN. One of these young men also played in a TV series. Japanese artists can do a lot of things, not just sing and dance.


And here's a song that is so different from the first few, but I still really love it - I am Fantasy by Hakuei!



And one last video before I go to bed. This is probably the first song after Peach that I listened on repeat, because I enjoyed it so much and it was so different from what I knew before. It is Orenji no tayou by Gackt and Hyde. unfortunately, it is not the entire song (it's over 5 minutes and I couldn't find a good video with them both in it):


If you would like to listen to the song in full, here's a Final Fantasy X video with the song:


Have fun listening and a big thanks to tanabata for getting me to listen to Japanese music again!

January summary

So, the first month in a new decade is over. Can you believe it? It's the 4rd decade for me, at least the third I get to live for at least part of the time. And I'm only 25 (well, for another 2-3 months)...

Anyway, enough about my age, let's get to the truly relevant stuff, the books I read, bought, abandoned, and much more. I have the feeling, Januarys are always the worst for my Mt. TBR, along with April and September / October when the new semester starts and I use buying books for my classes as an excuse to buy some more for me. But still, I managed to read a good number of books, many of which I bought within the last two months (I keep those on a special shelf, when I remember to put them there and not on the regular shelves).

bought
1) Dia Reeves: Bleeding Violet
2) Nicholas Sparks: Dear John
3) Maggie Stiefvater: Shiver
4) Agatha Christie: Death on the Nile (graphic novel)
5) Melissa Walker: Violet on the Runway
6) A.J. Jacobs: A Year of Living Biblically
7) Jennifer R. Hubbard: The Secret Year
8) Laurie Halse Anderson: Speak
9) Courtney Summers: Some Girls Are
10) Courtney Summers: Cracked Up To Be
11) Yoko Ogawa: The Housekeeper and the Professor
12) Anna Jarzab: All Unquiet Things
13) Ninni Holmqvist: The Unit
14) Rachel Ward: Numbers
15) Jen Nadol: The Mark
16) Jaclyn Dolamore: Magic Under Glass
17) Julie Kagawa: The Iron King
18) Kristina Springer: The Espressologist

read
1) J.K. Rowling: The Tales of Beedle the Bard
2) Agatha Christie: Death on the Nile (graphic novel)
3) Jennifer R. Hubbard: The Secret Year
4) Ann Aguirre: Grimspace
5) Michael Anthony: Mass Casualties
6) John J. LeBeau: Collision of Evil
7) Dia Reeves: Bleeding Violet
8) Yoko Ogawa: The Housekeeper and the Professor
9) Laurie Halse Anderson: Speak

DNF
1) Chimananda Ngozie Adichie: Half of a Yellow Sun

Japanese Literature Challenge III - my results

Well, it's about time for a post about my results for the Japanese Literature Challenge III!




Here is what I read:
1) Tachibana Higuchi: Alice Academy Vol. 4-7
2) Tomoko Hayakawa: Perfect Girl Vol. 6-9
3) Yuna Kagesaki: Cheeky Vampire Vol. 7 & 8
4) Mayu Sakai: Rockin' Heaven Vol. 2
5) Mayu Shinjo: Kaikan Phrase Vol. 5
6) Yasushi Inoue: Der Tod des Teemeisters (Memoirs of the Priest Honkaku)
7) Yoko Ogawa: The Housekeeper and the Professor -> review coming soon!

Book Review: Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie (graphic novel)

Author	Agatha Christie, Francois Riviere (Editor), Solidor (Illustrator)
Title	Death on the Nile
Publisher	Harper Collins
Date of Publication	July 16, 2007
Page Count	48
ISBN	978-0-00-725058-5
Series	Hercule Poirot / Agatha Christie Comic Strip

I've been a fan of Agatha Christie's mysteries for as long as I know about her mysteries, so I had to get this graphic novel when I saw it in the used book shop! And as soon as I was on the train that day, I started reading it. There was just nothing that could keep me from it - not even my then current book!

In Death on the Nile, Hercule Poirot is in Egypt for a vacation. While he is on a cruise on the Nile, a murder occurs and it is, of course, up to the master investigator to figure out who did it.

The drawings are kind of old school, which fits wonderfully with the story. It brings out the dated, but loveable aspects of Agatha Christie's mysteries as well as those of Hercule Poirot, who is an old-fashioned man and an old-fashioned private investigator.

All in all, Death on the Nile is a great adaptation, and I can't wait to get my hands on the other graphic novels in that series:

• Murder on the Orient Express
  
• The Murder on the Links
  
• The Secret of Chimneys
  
• The Murder of Roger Ackroyd
  
• The Man in the Brown Suit
  
• The Big Four
  
• The Mystery of the Blue Train
  
• Peril at End House
  
• Hallowe'en Party
  
• The Secret Adversary
  
• And Then There Were None
  
• Ordeal by Innocence
  
• Endless Night
  
• The Murder at the Vicarage
  
• Murder in Mesopotamia
  
• Cards on the Table
  
• Dumb Witness

blame game time (January 29)

I'm still playing catch up with some old posts - like posts from the very first day of this year...
This time, the following books were indirectly recommended to me, which means the bloggers get a point. Let's see who has the most points at the end of June 2010!

O Juliet by Robin Maxwell, recommended by Kristi @ The Story Siren, Lorelai @ Tattooed Books

The Espressologist by Kristina Springer, recommended by Kate @ The Neverending Shelf - and she gets two points because it's already ordered (or, it should be at my parents' by now!)

Lex Trent versus the Gods by Alex Bell, recommended by Becky @ The Bookette

too much in too short a time

Sorry I haven't been around much this week. Next week, most likely, won't be much different. Right now there's so much going on I don't even know where to start.

One of our cats, Karlheinz, has been missing since last Sunday. (Yes, that his him, in my closet - he likes it there!)

From what one of our neighbors said to us (Mom, Dad and me), we are pretty much certain he killed him and dumped him somewhere. In short, I'm devastated! He is the sweetest, funniest cat. He constantly chases shadows, he's really into this. Otherwise, he sleeps, eats, and snuggles up to us. He wants to be close to us. He never harmed anyone on purpose and would never do anything! What sick person would do something like that??? (Well, besides our neighbor who clearly has lost the last of his marbles a long time ago.) And we don't even have proof he did anything.
I just want my cat back! I want him back for us, and for his brother (Sano), who is sad and keeps looking for him. We actually don't dare letting Sano out, as we're scared something will happen to him. Damn it, we have "our boys" since they were a week old. We take care of them, we love them, we feed them, look for them, they're family! I keep thinking, just, please, let him come back! Now, tonight, tomorrow morning. Just let him pop back up on our door.

And this is the time I'm supposed to study for exams and prepare presentations. So not happening! I have a presentation and an exam on Tuesday, another test on Wednesday, then a presentation on Friday and the week after, I have an exam on Wednesday. Yay - not!

Hidden Treasures (February through March)

Edit: I got my book. Beth Hoffman, the author of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, picked The Boy In The Striped Pajamas for me. Thanks a lot, Beth! And for everyone else - if you want to join in, you can still leave links :-)

Well, it is time for the second Hidden Treasures! For this, I will let you look at my Mt. TBR again and the first one to pick a book for me and post it in the comments will have picked the book for me to read within the next two months. Basically, the idea is that we all have so many unread books, there must be some hidden treasures we keep ignoring or missing. If you want to join in and have someone pick a book for you, just leave a link in the comments.

Thanks to Wendy @ Caribousmom, I now even have a wonderful button for this event. Thanks a lot, Wendy!

Last time you picked Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie's Half of a Yellow Sun and Charlaine Harris' Dead Until Dark for me. I didn't finish Half of a Yellow Sun, as I couldn't get into the story, no matter how far I read (I managed to get to page 100), but I'm still working on Dead Until Dark and so far I enjoy it a lot!

For this time, I have two things for you to consider when you pick a book for me:
1) My semester is almost over, so I'm very busy with term papers and presentations and exams.
2) Once the semester is over I'll be working on a slightly bigger project, in part also for this blog.
So please pick a book that is easy to read of fairly short (i.e. under 300 pages)!

So, to know what books you can choose from, I uploaded my list on Google docs: My Mt. TBR! Have fun browsing my list and pick me something nice!