Amezri's other journal space

I seriously need to start writing Livejournal posts of substance. Today was probably not the day to be doing that, though, since there will be some server move at 8am PST. It's scheduled to last 4 hours.

But, hey. I'll throw in an actual post.

Been listening to some new music lately. Latest Doctor Who and Torchwood soundtracks are fab. I like Pink's new album, Funhouse, as well. A lot of good songs. One album I'm not that into: Flyleaf's self-titled. I think queenmaab likes them and I get it, but the lyrics bother me. There are some not so subtle religious things and... eh. I'm not into that so I think I'll be dumping the album except for a few tracks.

In other news... massive DVD release day today! I'm heading out in a minute to pick up some new releases and some other great deals, like La Femme Nikita for $14.99 each. Sweet. Out today are Tropic Thunder, Wall-E, and Doctor Who season 4. Best Buy has a steelbook edition of DW, but I'm not sure I'm going to like it. I'm not a huge fan of steelbooks, so it'll depend how bad I want a copy of it on hand right now. Otherwise, I'll just order it from Amazon for $5 less.

Also stopping at Target to pick up Tropic Thunder as their special edition includes a patch. Must have. Target is also apparently selling Tim Tams and I need a box of those liekrightnow.

Okay, off I go to the store! WHEEE!

Uhm. So how did I not hear about Monkey: Journey to the West, the opera created by Jamie Hewlett and Damon Albarn, that's been running in London for the better part of the year?



The opera is based on Journey to the West, the story of a monk's journey to India. His traveling companions are Sun Wukong (the Monkey King), Zhu Bajie (Pig), and Sha Wujing (River Ogre/Sandy). The stories are probably pretty familiar to any o f my Chinese friends as I think we all grew up with these legends or, at the very least, are familiar with Sun Wukong.

There is an album out now (which I'm likely to buy) and if there's ever a DVD, I'm probably going to get that.

The project also has a youtube channel.

( embedded audio player and video )

Worked on some website stuff today. Commission-y things as well as tiny updates to my own. Somewhat accomplished? There's still that one that I don't really want to start on. Ugh. Don't care at all.

Tom McRae's site is still down. What is up with that? Have sent an e-mail to inquire. In other news, he will be back in NYC at the Living Room October 29 & November 5. Both are Wednesdays. Hopefully I'll be able to make one of those and go see Tom again with ozw. In other Tom news, have finally heard the song, "Lipstick" that he did with Wills & the Willing. Like it a lot. Forked over $3 at mbop megastore for a copy as I refuse to touch iTunes.

Made cakes in a jar! Was a bit tragic. I think I filled the jars too much. And the batter I used (Pillsbury Funfetti mix) is a bit sweet. I think it would have gone better if I used smaller jars, so I might go find some and give it another go.

( photos! )


Well. That was enough productivity for the day. I think I'll go lay about for a while.

After work, I went to dinner with katkel and sweetwildandmad. It was a good time and I always like hanging out with them. Hopefully next time it'll be with less whining and emo from me :P

Came home and found out that Emerald called to let me know I won the Dog's Breakfast Doctors Without Borders raffle. Huh. Cool. I can't even remember what's in it, actually. And I think I was kind of retarded on the phone. Oh well.

Poking around Amie Street and buying some new musics! Serena Tideman is my latest purchase. I also recommend the DECA: Hush 10th Anniversary collection, which is a free download.

Anyone wants an invite to Amie Street, let me know -- when you sign up, you'll get a $5 credit. Just drop me a comment with your e-mail.

I think there are some life decisions I should ought to be making, but I can't be bothered. So I'm going to go read and then go to bed.

I put RDJ's album, The Futurist, on my Zen Micro so I could listen to
it again at work. I still can't decide if I like it. His voice is mumbled
and there's a bit of cognitive dissonance between his speaking voice and his
singing voice so it's throwing me off a lot. For instance, Hugh Jackman and
Ewan McGregor singing still sound like themselves. I watched a clip of him
singing "Every Breath You Take" on Ally McBeal

I'm a huge fan of clever lyrics and I always try to understand the words to
a song I'm listening to. A lot of the songs on The Futurist make me
go, "huh?" and "eh..." which is probably not good. "Kimberly Glide" feels
like it has too many words in it and he's trying to cram them all in before
he runs out of notes. I do like "Broken" a lot, but even that feels a bit
off in places. "Little Clownz" (wtf, clownZ?) would be a great song if not
for the abrupt breaks. Also, a lot of the music sounds the same so it feels
like I'm listening to the same song two or three times. "Smile," his cover
of the Chaplin song, is probably my favorite on the album. The lyrics are
great, of course, and RDJ singing only accompanied by a piano (which I think
he is playing) is great. No over-instrumentation and synthesized instruments
which can really kill covers (see John Barrowman's latest album of pop song
covers).

The album sounds like a bunch of late 80's/early 90's pop ballads, which I'm
not a huge fan of in the first place. Still, it's not the worst of it's type
(singer/actors) that I've ever heard. That distinction goes to Takeshi
Kaneshiro. Ten albums in 6 years and they're all horribly insipid Mando-pop
songs that make me want to vomit.

2entertain responds to an inquiry about the Doctor Who Season 3 R1 commentary issue. Apparently the commentary couldn't be 'cleared," whatever that means. Rather than the comments about the (fictional) death of the US President and calling Bush an idiot, now people are thinking that maybe the rendition of "Dueling Banjos" couldn't be cleared :-P

Honestly, neither reason makes sense, but whatever. I give up. I've gotten a copy of it and that'll have to do because there's no way I'm paying for the R2 box set (as much as I might want it... Saxon lithograph!!).

Edit: Just read an update in a comm. The official reason as posted in the Doctor Who DVD FAQ is that they couldn't clear the bits of music the actors start singing and humming in time for the release. Uhm. WTF. Wouldn't someone have known that they needed to clear it? And what are you using to communicate with the people you need to? A freakin' carrier pigeon?! These DVDs cost a lot.. I mean.. a lot. Nearly twice what I'd pay for a full 21 episode season of any show from the US. Don't tell me that some of that fee can't cover music licensing -- for hummed songs, so less.

After work today, I headed to the mall with a bit of a list. Looked for corsets in Charlotte Russe and H&M -- no luck in either. At Best Buy, the only Eddie Izzard DVD they had was Definite Article (which was fine, 'cause I don't have it), but I had to scrounge the shelves because it was put in the wrong spot. Besides that, I also picked up MirrorMask (yay!!), Mogwai's Mr. Beast and a Godspeed You! Black Emperor album that was causing the cashier some grief as it would not ring up. All because I wanted to use a 10% off coupon :-P

There was also a $10 Build a Bear certificate burning a hole in my pocket, so.... yes. Wandered in there and got myself a new bear! The new 2007 Winter bear, actually. And.. I named it Amezri. yes. It's Amezri Bear. Shut it!

( Amezri bear! )

And now for today's casual goth loli outfit. I think it's probably a little bit punk loli? Hm. I dunno. I really liked it and I got a few compliments on it.

( Friday's outfit: casual punk loli? )


Tonight's Moonlight? Pretty good. This show has really sucky writing, but it sort of hits all the right genre buttons to keep me interested. However... fakest. sunset. EVAR.

Tonight's SGA? Not too shabby. Interesting character returns. Sam? I actually don't hate her like I did on SG-1. Go figure.

Yesterday I went to MEANY Fest 2007 with Annalisa. It was bit complicated. We took the Ten Year Vamp bus down -- which is basically a bus the band chartered to bring in a load of fans to vote for them. It was about 4:30pm when we left from the Macy's overflow parking lot. A and I didn't really talk to anyone else when we were there... just chatted amongst ourselves and observed out fellow busmates. It was pouring rain as we got in the thruway and our bus driver was driving like a lunatic through it... this driving style will come in handy later.

Halfway down to NYC, we made a bit of a rest stop and A and I decided to get fries from the McDonald's. Woohoo? It was dark by the time we rolled into the city and arrived at Arlene's Grocery. We all rushed off the bus and the band (minus the lead singer who was already in the city) and some friends pulled some stuff off the bus quickly as it was blocking the entire road. We went in to the venue and headed to the room with the MEANY Fest stage. Wow. TINY. And empty. We were able to easily grab some seats by the stage.

William Rottman was setting up when we arrived. I really enjoyed his music. I'm a bit wary about buying the MP3s off CDBaby as he doesn't have a physical album out yet, but I just may. He really looked a lot like Jimmy Fallon... then again, it was rather dark.

The John Sullivan Brigade was up next. They were okay, but not really my type of music. A liked them a lot though.

Two Loons for Tea... not bad really, but wouldn't go out of my way to see them again.

Ten Year Vamp was the whole reason we were there. The room was pretty empty before their set and as they were setting up, it got really packed. It was just a see of people with Ten Year Vamp stickers stuck all over themselves and the Jack Daniels girl who was on stage was having a bit of fun with that as well. TYV's set was lively and energetic and they sound really fab live. Worth the $20 and bus ride, I think. I got a lot of great shots, though A told me that I missed Mark, the guitarist, and the bassist (I think..) mugging for my camera because I was trying to zoom in on Deb and didn't see them. Ooops.

During the set, we had a bit of a snafu with this pretentious Chris Martin-looking jerkwad. A thought he was a guy from our bus (there was a guy who looked like him) so she put a sticker on his back. He got really pissy and ripped it off. From then on, he pretty much delighted in being as obnoxious as possible dissing the band and the fans and I have to tell you it was really, really funny when the tiny Jack Daniels girl kicked him in the crotch. The best part of it was there was no way for her to accidentally do that from where she was standing, it had to be totally on purpose, which I loved.

After TYV's set, A and I headed up to the other bar area to chill out before we had to leave. I think we ended up chatting with Mark for a minute, during which time he said he saw me taking a lot of photos and that I should send him some so they could post them. Awesome :D A also bought a hoodie from the merch girl.

I think we tried going back to the MEANY Fest room a couple times, bit was pretty crowded. We did catch the end of Serial Obsession's set. I thought the lead singer was pretty cute until I actually watched 20 seconds of his act and I decided he was probably a pretentious asshole. o, really. From the cowboy boots (?!?) to the upside down mic holding and his half unbuttoned shirt. Yeah. He also had some fabulous 70s glam rock movies with the mic line. It wasn't at all surprising that the jerkwad from earlier was sitting on the side intently listening to this band... which I can only assume is the one he was there for. Anyway, the band wasn't really that bad. I'm just.. not going to even bother on their sad website.

We spent the rest of the time hanging out upstairs sitting with two two people who sat behind us on the bus. I can't remember the guy's name >_< But the girl was Shelby. They were very cool newish, non-scary people who were just there to see what was up with the band. We sort of sat around gossiping and bullshiting. Finally we decided it must be close to time to go (Mark had said the bus was on the way) so we headed outside to stand for awhile. Most of our bus troupe was already out there, all in varying states of drunkeness. Our new friends wandered off to get a pizza and shortly after Mark cam e out to tell us to head up and over a block to get on the bus. A was really funny and kept asking if he was for real or if he was lying because it wouldn't do to be stuck in NYC. Mark like, grabbed her face and said something like, "yes the bus is really there, go get on it" XD Funniest thing I saw all night.

The ride back was fairly uneventful except for the part where a taxi cab tried to cut off the bus and our driver wasn't having any of that and did some fancy, aggressive driving :-P Also? There was some really crap rap music on the overhead radio, which was giving both A and I a headache. Meh. At some point, we lost reception. Stopped at another rest stop for a break and then we were soon back home at 4am! Woohoo! A drove me home and then I went upstairs and collapsed into bed.

Too lazy to thumbnail. PHOTOS HERE.

Went to Edgefest with queenmaab yesterday. Had a good time for about 5 hours before my insides decided they longer wanted to be inside, so I decided to call my mom to come get me. There were still about 4 hours of the fest left, and I didn't want to have to make her and Steve leave early because I wasn't feeling well. I had a good time while I was there though. Heard Ten Year Vamp, which I never heard before since I haven't listened to the radio in about a year. They're pretty good. Bought their CDs (3 for $10!) and got them signed by the band. It was a little crazy and impersonal, but still cool. Before I slunk off, I managed to snag a couple photos of Sponge on stage. Anyway, I think it was Mark (the guitarist) who took my CD and then passed it to the other band members before giving it back to me. Anyway. They're very No Doubt/Saving Ferris. Kind of :\

Came home and just crashed for a few hours. Exciting!

Watched the first two episodes of Torchwood on BBC America last night. It's... interesting. Might remember to tune in. I love Jack, of course :D And Owen, actually, though he's a bit of a jerk. Gwen is all right.. she can be a bit whiny and I want to smack her sometimes, but eh -- she's new to Torchwood. I totally do not understand the Jack/Ianto thing that fandom puts forth. Perhaps I need to watch more.

Speaking of BBCA -- have finally seen Top Gear. Oh. Em. Gee. You guys! I am not a car person, but omg the hysterics. Also? Richard Hammond is too adorable. Heeee! So all the Top Gear fans on my flist (I think there are a couple...) you can give me the big "I told you so."

New Atlantis desktops and season 4 images at scifi.com. I love it when they put characters in leather, I really do. But switching the Atlantis crew over to the leather jackets and Sam with her weird alien leather pants... uhm. What? Aren't Carter and Sheppard still military? Isn't their post still a military one?! WTF is up with the weird alien leather gear? Maybe I'm watching the wrong show. Did Sorbo take over and turn it into Stargate: Andromeda? Bah.

Uhm. WTF. Did anyone else know Riley Smith had a band? I can't quite decide if I like their music enough to get the CD. It is very Springsteen/Mellencamp...90's adult contemporary. But.. Riley Smith! <3

Just bought my ticket for Farpoint. Woooo! Hopefully I get a lowish badge number, because James Callis is going to be there! And Mira Furlan <3

via alorarose: DM of the Rings! XD Funneh.

Bwah! This S.H.E. music video for "Bu Zhuo Ni De Peng You"? Yeah. Been there.

Speakling of Taiwanese bands, Cherry Boom covering Green Day's American Idiot. Heh. And their Dear Prince video is really freaky, screwed up version of Snow White. Strangeness continues with the MV for the Coming of the Dark.

Uhm. Internets, you have failed me again...

Majandra Delfino released her second album, Tarte, on April 27, 2007 and no one told me! Geez.

I just bought the album for $14 + $2 shipping from her site. Good deal. I really do love her musics :)