2004.10.23

ok so two earthquakes tonite...one 604pm, one maybe 555 or so pm? i just thought i'd throw that out into my blog...the first lasted a coupla mins i think...the second was real short

no, make that three! (613pm)

ok i just went to eat dinner and while i was eating, i mentioned to my hostmother that i think there were 3 earthquakes, and she was like WHAT?!? and turned on the tv...sure enough, 3 of them hit right at Niigata (northwest of where i live) at a level 6 (shindo 6)! but here it was like 3 or 4...each of them were

note: so yeah i've heard the new utada [hikaru] cd (the debut english album) called Exodus, and at first i was like OMG WTF THIS SUCKS cuz i was expecting like...her japanese stuff but in english...and that was foolish of me...the more i heard the album, the more i realize it's actually good! i hope this album does better than it already has (it's already done well i think, in some markets -- dance, etc)

one song in particular is odd...Easy Breezy...it's a good beat, good song...but one pair of lyrics strikes me as confusing...i get the idea that the song is just like...this guy she loved broke her heart...but then one pair of lyrics is

you're easy breezy
and i'm japaneezy

and i can't really figure out that pair...those lyrics point to that she was dumped cuz of some race issue...otherwise why bring it up, unless hikaru was just DYING to use that rhyme somewhere! ^_^ hehehe

but devil inside, and exodus 04 WOW those tracks RAWK!!

however, i'm a bit disappointed that i haven't heard any other interesting lyrics...unlike "the last time we kissed there was a tobacco flavor" and other sweet lyrics like that one from first love...so initial reaction, it's a nice album to listen to, but it's not jawdropping like deep river was for it's change towards maturity or first love for it's 'hit you over the head where'd this come from' feeling...plus i was a bit shocked at lyrics like something along the lines of 'i was dancing with a dirty blond texan' which i promptly called hikaru and said 'you didn't tell me you'd put me in one of your songs!' ^_^ 'you never showed me how people in east asia get down!' i have to admit, tho, that lyrics was neato...but i've always been against repeating a lyric a whole bunch in a row, and this album has songs with a lyric repeated like 4 times in a row...but i'll give Exodus '04 a 4/5 and the whole album 7/10 for a solid set of songs...

kyle is now listening to Scatman by Scatman John...i got his whole 1995 album (scatman's world) for ONE DOLLAR (105 yen to be precise) and THAT is the best deal ever...you can't beat a CD like this one for 105 yen...and NO this is not scat like eating poop! this is scat like the awesome jazzy scatting louie armstrong used to do! but this actually is more dance/techno + scat

also, i was in machida today, and took some pictures that i'll be putting up soon...but yeah i went to this place called Music Union or something like that...i heard the MOST AMAZING JAPANESE ARTIST EVER!!! cuz it wasn't like 'wow pop whatever blah' like i hear from morning musume and the like...this was GOOD-sounding...maybe i'll buy it and rip a track in low quality and put it up to hear...shouldn't get me into trouble if i do that...but yeah his name is Sokabe Keiichi and his album is called "Strawberry" it's quite nice!

actually i change my mind about the utada cd...it's got a real good song called Let Me Give You My Love where the lyrics are quite intelligent i think:

i don't wanna waste another day
can you and i start mixing gene pools
easter, western people
get naughty multilingual
i was sort of like soul searching
but your body's so jaw-dropping

so two things in that set that i dig -- the 'gene pools' line...that's pretty funky...and i love how she keeps pushing the eastern-western stuff...i think it's reflecting two things, her desire to say 'hey you stupid westerners, dig my music!' and also just reflecting that she's bringing east over to the west now...and anyways, the second thing is 'i was sort of like soul searching'...that is pretty awesome...i get this great image of a girl giving into her baser instincts..'i was sort of LIKE soul searching'??? that's the great part!! sounds so shallow!! ^_^

some say it's rulebreaking
but times are changing

wow that really is nice to hear that, and hits close to home since my gf isn't the same race like me...nice to see interracial relationships mentioned in songs that make sense! ^_^

and 'about me'...GREAT GOOGILY MOOGILY! that song's lyrics are real amazing once you listen to them instead of just reading the lyrics...that song...it's really a bared-soul song...i wonder if she was really thinking this before she got married...with lyrics like

what if i don't want a baby yet
is it ok if i'm not cute and naive

it makes me think she was thinking this, since the cute/naive thing is a total japan trait for girls i've noticed...when you see a girl raising her voice 3 octaves to sound like a little girl...*shudders* thank GOD hikaru (utada?? which should i use??) isn't 'cute and naive' *whew*

make the album 8.5/10 now that i've taken the time to listen to all the tracks...the album has grown on me in the couple hours of listening to it i've done while working on my translation...

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2004.10.25

at school...i think i'll post this monster