Daily Drop: PETA, please don't kill me. that would be inhumane towards humans

AH! finally back on schedule.  ON THE RIGHT FRIGGIN DAY! AND IT AIN'T NO APRIL FOOL'S JOKE! so as I listen to some good ol' ego-wrappin, here are today's outfits:
4/1/10 (jeepers creepers it's APRIL!)

It is a secret dream of mine to dress like a hobo.  A good-looking hobo that is.  I love this guy's creative layering with baggy plaid un-pajama-like pants with earthy batik/tie-dye jacket and worn-out track shoes.  Although usually I don't like fur things (as in FROM REAL ANIMALS) but I like the texture of this scarf with the rest of the outfit. It's kind of ironic (I mean hobo with fancy schancy fur collar!  NEVER HAPPENS!) And even that ridiculous fox head looks cool.  For some reason I find it cute...but in a morbid way.  (*begs* please don't kill me PETA).  If it's any consolation,  this outfit would look fine if the collar was not fox but something that looked similiar...like faux fur.  With a fox head sewn on to it.  >.> *tries to find way to distract* OH LOOK! A KITTY SHAPED BAG! AND IT'S NOT A REAL CAT! DOESN'T IT LOOK COOL? 

The accessorizing of this simple outfit is really interesting (like the floral bag and the american flag used as an ascot...oh god...now extreme patriots will attack me for liking this...WHY AM I OFFENDING EVERYONE TODAY? then again...it's a habit for me...haha i'm sometimes too politically 'incorrect' if you catch my drift.)

I only like the clear umbrella and the jacket...because of my fascination for clear umbrellas and asymmetric shapes....

Well I gotta go! And not because I'm running away from the groups I offended today (actually...maybe) but because I got to go study chemistry (heh heh nice excuse! oops! revealed my plan! *runs away*) ttfn, ta ta for now!

~zeeta

p.s. hey PETA...i don't eat beef.  And my friend's a member of you.  So....please be easy on me?

all pictures credited to dropsnap

Daily Drop: bah! chemistry and physics can wait! suggestive prints ahoy!

So yeah.  here's today's and yesterday's.  I've decided to post my favorites of the day but only focus on one for actual descriptions (others get one sentences or less captions)

3/29/10

For me, the first thing that comes into my head is 'LADY GAGA'! except she's asian and has awesome blue hair.  And probably wears more pants.  But seriously, look at the silhouette.  Tight dress with something grandiosely shaped (in this case her awesome bird-wing-like sleeves) just screams Lady gaga (kinda....it would scream more if two inches were hacked off the skirt).  And the dress itself is pretty funny too..with a print that makes it look like she's trying to wear a wonderwoman-esque leotard (note: the awkwardly placed heart...thing).  Please don't change your opinions of me!  I'm not a big Gaga fan but even I can appreciate some of her outfits (aka the AVANT-GARDE. LIKE THIS)

Lovely monochrome black+ top hat+ awesome feather neck accessory thing + awesome arm tattoo and arm accessories+ heavy man-liner and bald head= coolest/creepiest ringleader I've ever seen

This jacket is the perfect blend of awesome and innovative shape  + traditional (in my eyes)

Daily Drop: should be taken DAILY in order to prevent overdosing

Been busy the last few days (damn essay writing and chemistry cramming! and mother not letting me stay on the compy long enough) so here's some old ones...(I should learn to do this DAILY)
3/25/10:

At first glance this seems simple and a masculine.  However if you look closer, her jeans are covered with a sheer fabric layering thingy which looks pretty cool.  And I love her nonchalant, cool face, as if she's telling us through facial expression that she's chill but she knows she's boss.

The shape of this dress (cough cough, the contrasting skirt and the the loose top and sleeves) is awesome!  Especially they way she pairs it up with a corset belt...reminds me of a witch.  Her patterned tights + white socks + brown moccasins combination looks awesome and she somehow pulls off the brown and black color scheme people usually try avoid (maybe it's the hair)...

I'm not sure if it's a collar or part of her pigtails but I still love this.  Especially the dress, due to my current obsession with white dress.  Instead of going the whole "pure, innocent" look route, she takes a slightly edgier approach, which I love about this.  Frayed pigtails/collar (as I said before I'm still not sure), brown combat like shoes and leather look, the works.  And don't forget the "I-don't-give-a-damn" look.

If you can't tell there cardigan thing is sheer.  I usually wouldn't wear something like this but it's a good combination and interesting color scheme.  My favorite part is the sheer cardigan (I love its material and shape!)

3/26/10:

Usually outfit duplicating equates to social suicide or corniness.  However these girls make it look really cute. My opinion though is that this only worked because they had totally unique hair.  I love the whole yellow and grey color scheme and their interesting use of the opaque yellow fabric! And that heart purse is just too cute!

When it comes to Japanese people, you usually see feminine looking men (who even I gotta admit can look pretty damn good) but here are some masculine-looking girls.  Well more like girls-who-looks-like-boys, but not in an extremely butch way.  More like cute little angelic cherub boys (with clothes). But haha I will stop talking about the people and talk about the outfits.  As I said before, I love the yellow dominating color schemes and the prints on the girl on the bottom of the steps (plaid and 80s' printed hat).  and the silhouette of the top girl (loose t-shirt with tighter pants) actually works for her.

3/27/10

It's like an urban tribe of awesomeness.  Look at those sharp, jungle-native-like necklaces and the chick's leopard print leggings (and don't forget their/her fierce look).  And those pants?  Quilted, interesting details, high waisted, padded....LOVE IT.

This is an interesting fusion of western and eastern.  The bright print and color of the kimono is contrasted to  the black (which looks a bit gothic).  She doesn't look update, but more like some cool and quirky intellectual who you would meet at a jazzy club lounge after midnight.

Look at our sportswearness! Look how cool we make it look with silk jackets with prints that look like you're looking up at an army of jellyfish, skeleton knit sweaters, and dresses/ huge blouses (or shirt? I'ma going say blouse to sound fancy) with AWESOME SHAPE. (and our awesome accessories.  Like the middle chick's shoes and the other chick's headband!).  In short: we're a bunch of cool cats

This equates to prints extravaganza. but it's not as obnoxious as it has the potential to be.  It's because the prints are mostly less bright and somewhat more 'subtle' (like the chick on the left's dress...i love how she combines with with all black and matches her hair) or have one 'brighter' print another more 'dull' colored one (like the guy's combination of white zebra stripe pants and the sweater with more earth/ duller tones),  And you have gotta love that wallet.

Maybe my problem is that I write reviews for SO MANY PICTURES. and now I've gotta do today's and yesterday's...

Daily Drop: recommended daily by your doctor!

So I've decided, instead bombarding my tumblr with DropSnap pictures (i might do it when i look back in the archives) I'll post my favorite one(s) of the day here and oogle over them.  I was actually planning to start this yesterday but stuff happened and I went to bed like a good little girl.

3/23/10:

This is so cute.  She is one of those asian who can actually pull off blonde hair without looking like a hooker!  My motto is 'your style is defined by how you wear an all black outfit'.  I love this one!  She has some sort of track jacket with what appears to be like  matching overalls/romper shorts.  And did you see how she wore a ultra cool print fanny pack over her chest like that! Awesome.  In short this outfit is 80's dorkiness + edgy multiplied by cute! I love it!

What a party animal (no pun intended)!  It's a little tacky but fabulous at the same time.  I like his bottom half more than his upper half (no sexual innuendo intended) with his amazing star leggings matched with red gym socks and converse (chuck taylors mind you!).  I do admit thought matching it with an interesting combo of animal prints is daring as well.  And you can't tell but he's wearing tacky-fancy costume jewelery (the halloween princessy kind..and star beads), a top hat, and a animal-print-bandanna-worn-as-doorag, which looks absolutely fun and quirky. Ha ha I wouldn't mind partying with this guy; he's so fun!

The whole wearing-different-colored-denim trend has been in for a while.  Even though I don't buy into that trend I think this is still pretty cute.  I especially love the girl's balloon sleeved shirt and the cute couple matching theme going on here.

If there something I'm recently obsessed with it's lace (and floral bee tee dubz).  Even though I love black and white lace it's nice to see some non-neutral colored lace tops.  And not some obnoxious neon color.  I also like the color scheme of the greyish-blue (as in more blue than grey) top and the black/dark blue pants.  And the structure's pretty awesome too (she pulls off the loose-top-tucked-into-the-high-waisted-pants look).  Her buns are cute and made me wish for my long hair of yesteryears (elementary thru middle school years) when I could do stuff to my hair (and the hemp braid neckalce induce the nostalgia of the sixth grade days when I wore a pale blue hemp braid bracelet daily).

Today:

Rocking horse shoes + blonde hair + 80s chain and roses print dress/overalls= win!

There is so much I love about this outfit.  Tabi boots, the blue hair (I'm in love with that shade), the layering of a wool hoodie and a graphic (what seems to be) sport jacket; the whole shebang!  Love Love Love Love Love IT!

There's so much pink but it's all a mixture of pale pink and beige so it isn't obnoxiously girly.  It's simple and innocent and something I might make a variation on for testing days.

There's seems like a whole story behind this outfit!  Like she's some fictional character!  I love how she mixes two totally different things, ethnic prints with some sort of American high school uniform (either cheerleading or marching band), and it all seems to fit.  It's like she's some monogolian girl who moves to America and wants to join the school band but her parents won't let her (for some weird reason) because they want her to keep her identity so she's stuck between her old monogolian life and her potential, future life in america.  Or something.  I would want to be in a marching band but for some reason, even though our school gets lots of funding, our school doesn't have one (don't ask me why....but then again our school ends later than usual and we live all over the place so it would be inconvenient...).
Others that I liked from recent days:

awesome bike!

hee hee i love his hair

i only like his purple rabbit foot

All of these pictures are credited to dropsnap

Well... until next time!  My essay is begging me to be written!

~Zeeta

P.s.did you notice how my description became gradually shorter and shorter?

And that's how I decided that Hong Kong is pretty awesome also.

And Hong Kong is not just awesome because it tried to help Google spread free speech in Mainland China!

this duo is called my little airport (haha I thought they were singing in Mando but with weird accents...but it's actually Canto).

I'm currently sampling some of their songs.  Many of their songs are mellow with quirky, indie accompaniments.  With this somewhat vague description it sounds as though all their songs sound the same but they don't! Take a listen!


The songs are playful and the script sound like whimsical ramblings.  You can't help but smile when you hear these deceptively simple songs .  The singer's voice has a raw, rough quality that almost sounds like she's having a conversation with you and not really singing at all.  But after a while, when your ear adjusts to her voice, you can hint the fluid, sing-songy that connects her seemingly raw phrases.  Sort of like a Ferrero Rocher.  Rough and 'crunchy' on the outside with a creamy chocolate center; a delicious experience for your ears.  The quality of her voice makes her seem open, like you can approach her at some cute little cafe, ask her what she recommends (like: you should drink the hazelnut latte with the apple crisp coffee cake...) and then strike up a conversation.  And you two will then exchange a few giggles and inside jokes(which she will address in a later song (which the band actually does according to wikipedia)) and you feel like you have been friends with her for...well forever.   When I hear her sing, I imagine her as a cute little Chinese (well Hong Kong) with an affinity for sundresses, a sense of humor, and a warm disposition; I feel like I would want to be her friend.   In some of their later works you can hint the male backup voice which gives more depth to singers' timbre.

I know this description sounds a little awkward.  I've just found this band (through a friend. thank you!) and I feel like I'm still exploring the depth to their music.  But so far all I can say is: unlike other Chinese music I heard, quirky and whimisical and singer has a quality that makes her sound friendly and approachable.  I find promise here...maybe I'll stock up on their music when I'm china (hopefully they would have it)

~Zeeta

guess who's back with a *record scratches* song that reminds one of sentimental montages at the end of movies

...with a mixture of sunsets and the tragic protagonist's innocent childhood memories and running on beaches etc. (why am I thinking of FMA?  ah. My anime obsession days...)

It's been a while since I posted something.  Mainly because I had a long list of things I wanted to write about that I put to the side.  So to re-introduce myself back into the blogosphere (more like the equivalent of the Antartica part of the those who are not read in the blogosphere) I'm posting something that I posted on my tumblr.  WORD FOR WORD (well...not exactly really)



Nowadays every new single by this band [L'arc-en-ciel] sounds like it's an end to some sentimental movie...I mean I know it might in connection to the band's possible end and this band has been around for almost 20 years but come on! I don't want all this sentimental nonsense when I watch PVs.  No walking all wistfully in a medley of bokeh and monochrome backgrounds...especially in white suits.  And, pardon me for overusing this complainant and adding insult to injury, I do not want to see these guys act/sound as if this some end of some movie.  Like the movie of a band's life or something.  I don't know.  I'm very unsatisfied with this song and music video (as you can obviously tell).

Sorry for teenage whining.  In other news, I'm thinking about integrating some other Asian pop culture such as China, Korea etc. (because I'm going to China this summer!).  Well to tell you the truth I'm wary towards Chinese and Korean pop culture (in my head all Korean music is a lot of boy bands/dancing and singing groups and China's just a rip-off of other Asian music and their biggest star raps about listening to your mom...but I do admit listening to Jay Chou but as a sort of novelty.  Like how people watch/read Twilight just so they can make fun of it. ) but maybe talking/exploring these culture can help become more open about them (I mean I know a lot about Chinese culture...just not Chinese pop culture...and hopefully I can find something that is not just cookie-cutter, ripped off some other culture's overused phenomenon and of the norm...WAIT! ZEETA BE MORE OPEN-MINDED)

but no seriously.  I want to explore the not-so-known things of these pop cultures.  Like (hopefully) their whimisical and quirky side.  Hopefully.

~Zeeta

there is a thin line between success and disaster...and you're stepping on it

There is.  And I saw it last night.

So, I decided to volunteer as an usher at my school's musical (the name of the school will be anonymous) which is usually pretty good cuz we (in other words) mooch off the county's awesome drama kids and horde them in our school. This year's musical (which is kind of obscure...i hope there's some other high school currently performing this musical also so I don't give away what school I'm from) is basically the stories of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel, and Noah's Ark in one (I daresay LONG) musical.  Surprisingly i liked the musical a lot, despite its superficial religious pretense that actually does not play a big part in the musical.  It doesn't really focus on religion though (which made it less awkward for me, currently teetering between agnostic and apathetic) but on family (each story has to HAVE a father as some source of conflict...sometimes even two.  As in different generations though I do support gay marriage).

However, this is not a review of a high school musical.  Local papers can do that.  Apparently the costume designers decided it would be interesting or maybe some sort of 'avant-garde' to have all (if not most) of the costumes to be based on japanese street fashion.  I found this out before the actual performances through a friend's tumblr, which intrigued me.  I had already wikipedia-ed the musical (because I thought I would be able to play bass clarinet for pit orchestra but it turned out that there was only one bass clarinet song...) and was not sure how it would work (my friend did have mixed-but-mostly-negative reviews about this musical's costumes) so I decided to see the musical this year (well I volunteered as an usher so I could go see the musical for free! no way I'm paying 12 buckaroos).

Same as my friend, I have mixed reviews of the costumes too.  I mean I liked some individual outfits (i.e. my friend had a really cool poncho and skirt combo thing...) but there was a lot of stereotyped 'japanese street style' outfits.  As in outrageous beyond belief.  Seriously.  I feel like there's an air around the whole 'Japanese street' craze which got mistranslated as 'make the most bizarre and completely ridiculous outfits ever'. As in this:

i'm sorry to say but I saw some costumes with way too much neons, patterns, temp-airsprayed-dyed hair, primary colored knee high socks etc. AKA TRYING TOO HARD. LIKE THE PICTURE ABOVE.  Some of the costume just look like those so-called 'creative' costumes you see on halloween (e.g. one girl just wore suspender shorts with knee high socks...yeah...reminds me of any suburban girl's halloween nerd costume).  And some didn't make sense (two girls were wearing football should pads and armor.  You know what I mean.  I still don't understand what they were supposed to be...) And, I'm sorry, some of the outfits looked downright trashy, like they wanted to go edgy or funky or something but looked more like strippers-on-their-day-off. Or teenage girls' slutty Halloween costumes. Ew!

Enough with the bashing though because there were some good parts. My problem is mainly with some of the chorus' costumes.  Somehow costume design realized that it would be inappropriate to have Eve or Yonah dressed up as a hot neon mess and subdued the costumes for the main cast a little (aka A LOT!).  Or that Japanese street fashion didn't have to be loud but subtle yet interesting. Like this:

Or this:

or this:

or even this:

(c) dropsnap.jp. go check it out :D

Nothing like that Halloween costume right? RIGHT?  Well anyhow, I liked how the main cast had a more subtle, earthy, vagabond-like appearance than the Satan-worshiper looking, slutty Gwen Stefani Harajuku lovers (bleh!) replicating, a somewhat desperate at trying to look 'interesting' appearance that a large amount of the chorus members take on.  There were a lot of dull-colored, subtle prints and patterns (i.e. strips and plaid) and tribal prints that worked.  Surprisingly there was a lot of interesting shapes (especially Mama Noah's dress) and interesting use of layering (example: Noah's seemingly obnoxious pink pants and mostly tribal pattern under a white shawl with subtle and pastel stripes that gave off a Peruvian tribesman living in the Andes feel).  

And the best of all? FATHER'S!  So basically the actor playing father (aka God...ironic no?) dons in all pepto bismol pink: suit, shirt, suspender, shoes...ALL OF IT!  At first it makes you queasy looking at the outfit groping around in the theater for the gastro-problems remedy that the actor somewhat resembles.  But as your eyes adjust to the blinding pink you realize "HOLY CRAP! IT ACTUALLY LOOKS PRETTY COOL!" Think of its impact the same as looking at some dapper looking guy with a tailored all-bright-white suit. Except the suit doesn't look like the stereotypically Halloween pimp costume kind of cheesy.  But it's PINK!  And then you realize the shoes!  The shoes are amazing! So amazing that even with some sort of metallic pink glare the shine off of it doesn't even look feminine! Now that you mention it, the whole all pink thing didn't look feminine at all, it looked BOLD AND POWERFUL. LIKE A GOD. (note: that I'm worshiping the outfit and not the actor.  Just making me self clear).  I mean at first I did wonder if all white would actually be more impactful (y'know to symbolize father's power and whatnot) but sooner or later I finally convert to the power of PINK! *two thumbs up*

There...after long process of actually typing out this post (started typing this on Sunday...it's Wednesday now) I finally gave my review.  In short? Chorus: pretty iffy.  Main cast: pretty good.  Father: pretty...no definitely YES!

I'm sorry for the lack of pictures but I'm pretty sure that the actors wouldn't want pictures of them on some anonymous blog.  And I wasn't even part of the productions...So maybe I'll draw some crude, primitive sketches of my favorite costumes. Yeah. Ho ho ho

~Zeeta

Shh! I'm searching for the rather elusive Soil & Pimp Session album...

...and it's relative the Ego-Wrappin' album.  These animals are very rare in this area of the world but some have reported encountering them here in the US.

But seriously.  So yesterday I was in the city and I checked out two music stores (one of which proclaimed it had hard to get CDs and records) and BOTH of them didn't have either.  I've checked kinokuniya (a Japanese bookstore chain) before and you would think they would have them.  But no, apparently the music is even obscure to Japanese-Americans.  So, last night as I was browsing for a sweet sixteen present at the local Barnes and Nobles, I learned, through one of those nifty item search machines found in all big bookstore chains, that Barnes and Nobles DID actually sell, not one, but TWO albums from Soil & Pimp Session (and additionally, as I've just confirmed two ego-wrappin' CDs. well 1 1/2 because one of them is currently unavailable).  However, when I asked a sales clerk (who was talking about an early Adam Sandler show and how bad it sucked with his sales clerk buddy earlier. or listening to his friend talk about the show.  I'm sorry but I was looking for Gray's Anatomy DVDs.  But not for me for god's sake!) if the CD was in stock, with a perplexed expression on his face (which was understandable because the album is called 'Planet Pimp' and sounds like some ridiculously explicit rap album and I'm a strange Asian girl wearing pants with a snake-skin print.  I mean I should've been used to this sort of reaction, after asking two other clerks at the other stores if they had "Soil & Pimp Sessions".  I bet the first clerk was probably asking "why are you asking for rap in a mostly rock store?") he typed in my request into the all-knowing inventory search engine and no result came up.  With just the two-letter word "n-o" my hopes and dreams were crushed.  Of course I could have requested an order but I decline, half the reason was not to make his job any more annoying (damn you submissive asian upbringings!) and the other half was because I wasn't even sure if my mom would allow it (again i repeat...damn you submissive asian upbringings!).

Sorry for this horribly long rant.  Please do not misinterpret; all of the stores I've mentioned are not terrible.  Both of the stores in the city (one was called Rebel Rebel...i forgot the other one...) have large varieties of music and Rebel Rebel DOES have rare, hard-to-get, albums.  I mean the small cramped space is just a paradise of vinyl records...it just didn't have the albums i was looking for....And  the other store had the most awesome fat cat in the world (I'll try to post my camera picture of it.).  And Kinokuniya delivers nostalgia to any Japanese immigrant and tickles the fancy of any Japanphile (me included) with it's selection of Japanese books, stationary, magazines and novelties. And Barnes and noble is good in its own large bookstore chain way (although I prefer Borders). So thank you, whoever you are, for sitting through this crazy rant.  If there is anyone XD

~Zeeta

Spotted in Helsinki's lower east side...

NO! I'm not gonna talk like Gossip Girl (confession: I used to watch Gossip Girl. But then its drama went way beyond my limit. it was getting way too ridiculous).

Since yesterday I posted about ganguro, here is a picture of manba style (a form of ganguro), found, guess where....

(c) hel-looks

HELSINKI! actually i believe that the two cities (Helsinki and Tokyo) have some stylistic similarities.  Maybe that's because both cities (if not countries) have large range of styles and many individuals that aren't scared shitless of expressing themselves.  

HOLY MOLEY! boy you better brush up on your amateur japanese

and it took me this long to figure out....
Ganguro, for those who don't know, is/was (i'm not sure about its popularity now) a fashion trend in Japan in which girls overly tan their faces (probably with some really heavy bronzer), dye their hair orange or blonde (though multicolored hair seems to be catching on) and (usually) wear extremely noticeable white eye (and sometimes lip) makeup.  Outfit-wise, there are different types of ganguro (for example plush animal footsie pajamas/ kirugumi ) but mostly they wear loud, colorful clothes with cutesy accessories (and apparently sarongs?)

                                                         

 first (c) alis-anime's blog, second and third (c) widelec.

Excuse me if some of my information is incorrect.  Y'see, although my brain stored some information on ganguro (due to my japanese street fashion obsession.  another story for another day) I'm not extremely knowledgeable in this specific subculture (I confess I had to do some google-ing...).  This is not gonna be some post explaining to Westerners some asian fad (there's a bunch of these posts all over the web), just an observation/revelation that was made during my US History class.  Ironic huh?

So how does this exactly connect with US History?  Well, during our discussion of 1920's culture (by the way, BEST ERA IN AMERICAN HISTORY EVER!), the topic of blackface came up.  Well more like one kid asked if some black guy was used 'blackface' (well, although it was mostly white actors that used the method, black actors had their skin darkened with tar to look blacker), then my teacher went into a brief history of blackface and then ended up with the japanese subculture.  Then my mind stopped abruptly for a second and rewinded a little.  Was she talking about....GANGURO???  GANGURO WAS A MODERN FORM OF BLACKFACE? (which became obvious when I just recently researched the topic.  gan= face [apparently], kuro= black. gan+ kuro= ganguro) And that's when I went into a rambling spitfire of my limited knowledge of the topic (aka shouting something along the lines of "You mean the ones that have the really tan faces? And really white makeup?" sounding like some geek).

Before you go on saying "Hold on a sec! Are these asians a bunch of racists?!" this form of 'blackface' (unlike the original's blatant political incorrectness) is actually a form of flattery.  How? The Japanese have an uncanny affinity towards America.  Or things that seem 'American'.  And for some reason (according to my history teacher), these chicks somehow related African Americans to being "Americans" (in the words of my history teacher they even wore "ghetto clothing").  Since an ethnically Japanese person isn't usually born with dark skin they did the next best thing: imitate it by buying mass consumption of bronzer and integrating heavy tanning to their routines.  And Voila!  A trend is born!

~zeeta

p.s. how do you like them apples?  a little bit of (rather amateur-ish) sociology go along with your healthy breakfast of apple jacks!

p.p.s. did I ever tell you I'm interested in sociology?

p.p.p.s. and did I tell you my sense of humor is a bit strange?

not your grandpa's jazz

I know, cliche title right?
This post is probably five months late, since I only found this out on Sunday, but I'm going to do it anyway! Soil & "Pimp" Sessions' latest album, 6, came out 9/16 last year (two days before my birthday!). From what I found on their album 6 youtube channel I've only heard two songs. Here's one of them:




Pop Korn, like many of their other 'works' (note my proper usage of jazz lingo =9) is mostly instrumental. I like how they focus on the virtuosity of the musician rather than a vocalist. The saxophone sounds very raw but suprisingly not out of tone which complements perfectly with the trumpet's slightly brighter timbre. The piano in the work is used as both a member of the rhythm section and a 'soloist', showing the listen the piano player's mastery. The drumming is a tad bit heavy, but no way oaflike, which gives the song a more edgy feel. However, the work is overall upbeat and makes you want to jump up dance. It kind of reminds you of one of those montages of some chic and whimsical spy chase, like a mr. fox-like character escaping from the police and vivacious, neon-lighted downtown area. I can imagine some cool cat artsy individuals dancing like they do in Charlie Brown specials (in a cool way, not like dorks) ushering some modern Jazz Age (haha I've been reading too much F. Scott Fitzgerald. and we're learning about the roaring twenties in US history right now). I mean you just look at them (the musicians), they're even dancing, jamming out, having an awesome time. I hear that their lives are AMAZIIIIIING!!! I wanna go to one. My only criticism is that I can't hear the bass. It sort blends in with the piano and the way the bass players enthusiastically sways to the beat, it seems like it would sound interesting.


So overall? This song: fun, whimsical, upbeat, addicting, AWESOME! I should know; I was listening to this nonstop while bs-ing my anton chekhov essay! HOORAY!
~zeeta
p.s. btw aren't these guys a bunch of cool cats? they got style (if i do say so myself), they got swag (check out motoharu's [the sax player] moves) and their pvs are pretty awesome.

They say blog what you're passionate about...

...so I say JAPAN! ha ha. I always joke about being a japanophile so maybe I'll start blogging about it. There will be so much japanophilia that my Japanese friends will be ashamed. And cry themselves to sleep.



As a disclaimer, I'm going to act like an annoyingly touchy new roommate and set up some guidelines. Because I'm picky. I'm going tell you straight up; this blog will be more focused on the whimsical side of Japanese culture. Maybe even a little bit of popular/ nerdy culture because I listen to way too much jrock and my japanophile ways are deeply rooted in anime. But don't worry, I won't (and currently don't) obsess about anime too much, even though sometimes I still read manga/ watch anime from time to time. Hur hur hur, I can be such a nerd at times.

So I hope you're at least pleasantly amused with this inaugural post. Hopefully I can actually update this blog! Damn you school!

~Zeeta
p.s. damn. some of the urban dictionary definitions are a little harsh. Just so you guys know, I'm not an overly-obsessed anime geek who plays way too many rpgs, or 'rapes' the japanese culture (I'm interested with all cultures....it's just I'm the most knowledgable in alternative/popular japanese culture), or buy samurai swords or talk in japanglish (fail japanese). Really. I'm not!