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Sunday, February 25, 2007

For Art's Sake

Since I can't upload this on my other journal, I've decided to post it here instead. I finished watching HYD2 Ep8 and thought it was funny seeing Tsukasa pulling his headbutt one-two punch in ala old school Batman, so I created an animated gif before I went to bed. :)

Graphic made for my sole amusement. Please do not use, modify, redistribute, or claim artistic license. It took me a good amount of time to get this going properly and I would really hate for some bastard claim they did all the work.

posted by shine at Sunday, February 25, 2007 0 Comments Links to this post

Saturday, February 24, 2007

Nice Guy Jin: When White Guys Rap in Japanese

I was searching for translation notes on script I was reading and stumbled upon this interview during my Googling. Some of you probably have heard about these guys already, Nice Guy Jin. Given that these guys are White and American makes their name all the more appropriate.

I know I've seen them somewhere, but what caught my attention was the freaking song Hai, Irasshai! It's funnier translated. Nice Guy Jin takes a musical genre I never really understood and uses it to cut boundaries by merging two cultures in a seemingly intentional humorous way, pokes fun and satyrizing various aspects of the American fascination with the Japanese language and culture.

The lyrics below are from their song Hai Irasshai (translated: Yes, welcome) and translated pretty well. The song follows a story where you can read here. These guys alone look like a poor attempt at a White version of the Globe Trotters and yet their music is money making genius. Check out the interview and Have a good laugh reading the English translations to the song. I've posted the English translations below, but please visit the jpop.com for the full interview, story and original lyrics of the song.

Hai Irasshai!
by Nice Guy Jin

(Dialogue between proprietor and American:)

Hai, irasshai! Hai, irasshai, douzo!
Hai, irasshai! Hai, irasshai, douzo!
Hai, irasshai! Hai, irasshai, douzo!
Hai, irasshai! Hai, irasshaima-SE!!

Aah, ano ano eto eto ano eto ne!
Suimasen, ii desu ka?
Hai, irasshaimase!
Jaa, natto-maki, tekka-maki, sarada-maki,
nan de mo maki maki, dou shiyou ka na?
A sou da, California-maki arimasu ka?
Oh...
California-maki nai yo! Koko, Amerika ja nee zo!
Gomen ne, sorry!

Hai, irasshai! Hai, irasshai, douzo! (Gomen ne, sorry!)

(Dialogue between proprietor and "gyaru" ["trendy" Tokyo girl]:)

Hai, irasshai! Hai, irasshaima-SE!!

Ano sa, nan ka sa, da kara ii n da kedo sa,
suimasen, ii desu kaa?
Hai, irasshaimase!
Jaa, tako-yaki, teriyaki, teppan-yaki,
nan de mo yaki yaki, dou shiyou ka na?
Aa, sou da! Hiroshima okonomiyaki arimasu kaa?
Urikire-! Urikire-!
MAJI? Shinjirarenai!! CHOU-mukatsuku!
Koko ni modoritaku nai desu!!

E a, e un a are are e un are are e?
Maji?
E a, e un a are are e un are are e?
Uu!
E a, e un a are are e un are are e?

(Dialogue between proprietor and old man:)

Hai, irasshai! Hai, irasshai, douzo!
Hai, irasshai! Hai, irasshaima-SE!!

Ano--, eto--, suimase--en!!
Hai, irasshaimase!
Jaa, kaki-age, kushi-age, katsu-age,
nan de mo age age, nan dakke?
Osusume wa?
Katsu-age dake wa ki wo tsukete-!
... Are-? Sore wa oyaji-gyaggu na no--?
Hai! Gomen ne, sorry!
... Wake wakannaaai!!

(Dialogue between proprietor and old lady from Osaka:)

Eto na, ano na, sunmase-en, ii dekkaa?
Hai, irasshaimase!
Hora, ten-don, una-don, gyudon,
nan de mo don don, donnai suru?
Sou ya ne n! Oyakodon arimakka-?
Urikire-! Urikire-!
HONMA NI? Nan da yo ne n!!
Sekkaku kita no ni!
Donai shite kureru no?!
Osaka-ben wakannai yo! Koko, Kansai ja nee zo!
Sonna aho na!!

E a, e un a are are e un are are e?
Maji?
E a, e un a are are e un are are e?
Uu!
E a, e un a are are e un are are e?

Hai, irasshai! Hai, irasshai, douzo!
Hai, irasshai! Hai, irasshai, douzo!
Hai, irasshai! Hai, irasshai, douzo!
Hai, irasshai! Hai, irasshaima-SE!!


Hai Irasshai!
by Nice Guy Jin
Unoifficial English Translation by Thomas Lipschultz

Hello, welcome! Hello, welcome, come in!
Hello, welcome! Hello, welcome, come in!
Hello, welcome! Hello, welcome, come in!
Hello, welcome! Hello, welcome, WELCOME!!

Ah, uhh, uhh, umm, umm, uhh, umm, hmm...
Excuse me, is it all right [to order now]?
Yes, welcome!!
Well... natto rolls, tekka rolls, salad rolls,
any kind of rolls rolls, what should I get?!
Oh yeah, do you have California rolls?
Oh...
We have no California rolls! This ain't America!!
Sorry, "sorry"!

Hello, welcome! Hello, welcome, come in! (Sorry, "sorry"!)

Hello, welcome! Hello, welcome, WELCOME!!

Uhh, something, uhh, so yeah, uhh,
excuse me, is it all right [to order now]?
Yes, welcome!!
Well, grilled octopus, teriyaki, grilled teppan,
anything grilled grilled, what should I get?!
Oh yeah! Do you have Hiroshima okonomiyaki?
We're all out!! We're all out!!
SERIOUSLY?? I can't believe it!! This is SUPER-annoying!!
I do NOT plan on coming back here again!!

(long string of "uh", "um", and "huh?" words)
Seriously?
(long string of "uh", "um", and "huh?" words)
Ooh!
(long string of "uh", "um", and "huh?" words)

Hello, welcome! Hello, welcome, come in!
Hello, welcome! Hello, welcome, WELCOME!!

Uhhhhhh, ummmmm, excuuuuse meee!!
Yes, welcome!!
Well, fried oyster, fried veggie-meat skewers, katsu-age,*edited by
Nice Guy Jin
anything fried fried... what was it again??
What do you recommend?
The only one to be careful of is katsu-age ("katsu-age", mugging of an
old man) *edited by Nice Guy Jin
... Huh? Was that an old-man gag (a.k.a. bad pun)??
Yes! Sorry, "sorry"!
... That was terrible!!. (literally: "I don't understand your
intentions!")

(This entire section spoken in Osaka-ben, a thick southern Japanese
accent)

Umm, uhh, 'scuse me, izit OK [to order]?
Yes, welcome!!
Hey, tempura bowl, eel bowl, beef bowl,
some kinda bowl bowl, what should ah get?
Oh yeah! Ya' got oyakodon (chicken and egg over rice)?
We're all out!! We're all out!!
YA' SERIOUS?! What tha' hell!!
And after ah came all this way!!
Won'tcha please get me some?!
I don't understand Osaka-ben! This ain't Kansai!!
That's purty retarded.

(long string of "uh", "um", and "huh?" words)
Seriously?
(long string of "uh", "um", and "huh?" words)
Ooh!
(long string of "uh", "um", and "huh?" words)

Hello, welcome! Hello, welcome, come in!
Hello, welcome! Hello, welcome, come in!
Hello, welcome! Hello, welcome, come in!
Hello, welcome! Hello, welcome, WELCOME!!

posted by shine at Saturday, February 24, 2007 0 Comments Links to this post

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Hidden Happiness

Around 2-3pm I got an unexpected surprise. I don't think I've ever been that happy in a long time my heart was about to burst. I'm sure you've all had that feeling at least once in your life. It's the greatest high you'll ever experience and no drug could ever compare. But what if you had to completely suppress your feelings and not let a single person in on your joy? Now that would really suck. I was in such a state earlier today. I was beyond extatic and yet I couldn't share the news with anyone around me. I couldn't scream and I couldn't jump. I thought about leaving the room, but decided to just let my adrenaline high lose its potency in the process. I've never had my heart beat so fast upon seeing one word. I wish I could have seen the news later so I could jump up and down and scream to my hearts content. Such feelings only last for so long and mine were wasted. Now that I've come to my senses. I've realized my fight isn't over and there is much more to come along with such great news. I think this is God's way of showing me that he's still listening to my prayers after all this time. I wonder if I'm ready to accept his graces. Everything so far has pointed me to one direction. We'll see where this takes me.

posted by shine at Wednesday, February 21, 2007 0 Comments Links to this post

Sacrifices and Dreams for Lent

As the first day of Lent, Ash Wednesday, we begin our day of fasting, pumping up the good deeds and sacrificing. So, no turkey for me today and no chicken either. I never really believed in resolutions, but I have pretty much kept my fasting for Lent. I wonder what good things I shall do more of this year and what I need to do to improve myself. Maybe wake up earlier and make my bed on a regular basis. I'm always in a hurry and pushing myself to sleep later than I should. Okay I'll try and sleep by 1am the latest!

Today I had to resort to eating a PB&J sandwich for breakfast and lunch. It's kinda sad at how limited I am when I need to eat away from home. Slapped together the sandwich in a last attempt to make something for me to eat later in the day before I dashed out the door. Prepare before hand you say? Nah, I'm too tired to do that by the time I get home anyway so my current self tortures my future self each time. I don't know why my current self has no remorse for my future self. I guess you could blame that on the immediate need for gratification and the complete disregard of the consequences thereafter.

On a side note, it seems that dreams tend to be an omen to something that may happen in the future. I never really believed in it because dreams are really subject to interpretation. As far as cognition goes, alot of the things we dream are a result of the things we've experienced, thought, felt or have seen in the day or previous days. When we sleep, our memories are consolidated and sorted, so think of a dream as a mish-mash of a variety of things you encountered, thought previous to your sleep. Sometimes we'll get really weird dreams that seem to come out of nowhere. Well this may be a result of our subconscious feelings and thoughts too. Just because we aren't aware of them, doesn't mean we aren't feeling it. That is not to say that everything we dream is in the correct order or even makes sense. Like I said, it's basically a confetti of ideas and things where parts don't necessarily match. I'm not the one who had the dream today, but I can tell you the dream I was told about today has a degree of accuracy that I was a bit reluctant to really confirm. We'll see how things go, but it most likely will come true. :X

posted by shine at Wednesday, February 21, 2007 0 Comments Links to this post

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Hana to Aozora

The day is almost over, but I shall continue the celebration tomorrow. :)
I had a pretty awesome birthday today. Some "quiet" time with my favorite people in the world. This is the first time I didn't have a "birthday cake" for my birthday...I think. I had a strawberry shortcake for breakfast though ^^.

In Japanese, "hana" means flower. My day has been full of them in various permutations. As stereotypical as it can get, I do like the real deal very much. I woke up to find two dozen yellow roses, which made me really happy. I guess like most girls, I love flowers, especially when they deliver it to me ^^. Makes me feel extra special and cheerful. Today was also a really hot day. Technically it's still winter and usually on my birthday it's a bit cold and overcast. Sometimes it rains. This time it felt like summer, so I'm currently wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Earlier we went shopping after lunch, but we retired early from the heat.

Lunch was pretty good. Didn't have room for that apple pie ala-mode though. Had myself some chicken brushetta and iced tea. All day I got calls and greetings from friends. Almost everyone that mattered wished me happy birthday and even some I didn't expect. I'm missing one really important person though. I hope you're doing well. That song will last me a life time, so please be well.

Amidst the presents, I also got another set of dark pink roses. I just don't know who they're from >_>. How can I thank you if I don't know who you are?! I had the same problem before. You'd think they'd put some kind of address or name somewhere, but nooooo. I'd rather not guess or assume, so whoever you are, thanks for the flowers. Don't forget to put your name next time! You know stalkers creep me out! Anyway the flowers are are very pretty and they're sitting on my desk with the other roses I have :) Flowers make me happy ^^ just like a continuation of Valentines day XD

Speaking of which, I'm still eating the chocolates I got from V-day. I think that's what kept me up past midnight. See's candy sure is a pick-me-up. Anyway, all in all I didn't want to pressure anyone to celebrate or do anything for me today. I've been really tired and beyond stressed out these past weeks more than usual. I'm just glad I was able to relax and catch up a bit with my favorite people in the world.

The only regret I have on my birthday is not being able to celebrate it with my entire family. I've always celebrated my birthday with my immediate family first and then with friends or both. Today it's just my parents and my brother. As much as I feel betrayed at my sister's absence, I'm letting that go for the sake of my parents. We're no longer the trio like we once were, and I've come to accept that it's going to be my brother and me from now on. No hard feelings. You've made our decision and we were obviously out of the picture when you made yours. Good luck on your new life. I hope you find the happiness you set out for.

That said, tomorrow is a new day and it's beach time. Haven't been there in a while so hopefully it'll be a lot of fun :D I'll be taking lots of pictures. As for pictures from today, they're still in my camera and I'm too lazy to upload them right now. Now it is time to reflect and zone out.

Peace & Love,
Shine

posted by shine at Saturday, February 17, 2007 0 Comments Links to this post

Awakening and a new beginning

Can't sleep. A few seconds till. Got woken up by my bestfriend :) I thought I would be sleeping through the night, but alas I'm awake.
Thanks KC :D

posted by shine at Saturday, February 17, 2007 0 Comments Links to this post

Thursday, February 15, 2007



Your Brain is Green



Of all the brain types, yours has the most balance.

You are able to see all sides to most problems and are a good problem solver.

You need time to work out your thoughts, but you don't get stuck in bad thinking patterns.

You tend to spend a lot of time thinking about the future, philosophy, and relationships (both personal and intellectual).

posted by shine at Thursday, February 15, 2007 0 Comments Links to this post