1.31.2004
Swing, Swing, Swing
Got my DAI DVD today (well it's yesterday now)...watched it twice (second time not from start to finish though), & here's my review.
First of all, I have to say I'm disappointed. Not that the PVs aren't good...most of them are, & you can see that they've put a lot of effort into all of them. What I'm referring to is the way the clips are presented. If you've watched "9" or "5", you'd know that the beauty of DAI's PV collections is that they don't bombard you with the PVs all at once - they actually have lil segments in between that are either commentaries or something fun (personally I'm very fond of the "dinner table chat" they had in "5"). Unfortunately this was missing in "8", which came to me as a big shock. I was really looking forward to how they're gonna present the PVs this time too...
Now onto the main course. "Hi no ataru sakamichi" remains my favourite DAI PV, & I must say that having it being track 1 had a great effect on my impression of the DVD - simply put, the rest of the PVs just couldn't compare (it was like going down a gradient...). xD "under the sun" is full of energy, & it's one of those PVs that makes you like the song more (honestly I think most of us were horribly annoyed by the same 6 notes sung over & over again at first). I don't even wanna talk about "under the moon", it ranks alongside Ayu's "Daybreak" & Hikki's "Hikari" as the cheapest PVs ever. xP "Shinjitsu no uta" is "nice" (I can't find any other word to describe it, lol), but I still don't understand the story...the "jamming" between Mr. Wu & Ryo still amazes me though. =) "Mahou no kotoba" is fun & you get to see Tomiko in a wedding dress...what more can you ask for (although I must say the single DVD version is slightly better...it just has this extra cuteness to it)?? "Honjitsu wa seiten nari" is nothing special since it's only a "live" (actually it was their a-nation rehearsal)...as for "Hiiragi", as much as I love the song, the PV is terribly boring...& to make things worse, it's in black & white (not to menton the snow looks REALLY fake)!! xP "BURANKO" is clearly a variation on "Enrai" (both the song & the PV), just that this time it's about paternal love instead of maternal. I kinda liked the story, it's pretty much like watching a movie, but Tomiko looks REALLY chubby (it's the hair & I think she gained some weight...x_x). "BURANKO~Another Side Story~" is just the whole story played over without interference from the band (so you don't see Tomiko & Ryo singing/playing at all) with the song's instrumental in the background. I got to understand the story A LOT more this way, but the ending still puzzles me. O_o Finally, comes "Field of dreams". Oh man, I was having SUCH high hopes for this PV ('cause I love the song), but it turned out to be nothing other than a photo slideshow...<sigh> I liked the concept though...the whole PV basically shows pictures of street singers, & eventually, it leads back to DAI (who were once street performers themselves), which I thought was kinda meaningful & very fitting of the title.
So that was my 2 cents. Just like any other reviews that I've written, it's way too long & full of too much garbage. I'll be happy knowing that at least one person read the whole thing. xP
P.S. I was gonna make screenshots of all the PVs, but then I got lazy. So here's something else for you guys to look at - the DVD's beautiful title menu...^^;
Got my DAI DVD today (well it's yesterday now)...watched it twice (second time not from start to finish though), & here's my review.
First of all, I have to say I'm disappointed. Not that the PVs aren't good...most of them are, & you can see that they've put a lot of effort into all of them. What I'm referring to is the way the clips are presented. If you've watched "9" or "5", you'd know that the beauty of DAI's PV collections is that they don't bombard you with the PVs all at once - they actually have lil segments in between that are either commentaries or something fun (personally I'm very fond of the "dinner table chat" they had in "5"). Unfortunately this was missing in "8", which came to me as a big shock. I was really looking forward to how they're gonna present the PVs this time too...
Now onto the main course. "Hi no ataru sakamichi" remains my favourite DAI PV, & I must say that having it being track 1 had a great effect on my impression of the DVD - simply put, the rest of the PVs just couldn't compare (it was like going down a gradient...). xD "under the sun" is full of energy, & it's one of those PVs that makes you like the song more (honestly I think most of us were horribly annoyed by the same 6 notes sung over & over again at first). I don't even wanna talk about "under the moon", it ranks alongside Ayu's "Daybreak" & Hikki's "Hikari" as the cheapest PVs ever. xP "Shinjitsu no uta" is "nice" (I can't find any other word to describe it, lol), but I still don't understand the story...the "jamming" between Mr. Wu & Ryo still amazes me though. =) "Mahou no kotoba" is fun & you get to see Tomiko in a wedding dress...what more can you ask for (although I must say the single DVD version is slightly better...it just has this extra cuteness to it)?? "Honjitsu wa seiten nari" is nothing special since it's only a "live" (actually it was their a-nation rehearsal)...as for "Hiiragi", as much as I love the song, the PV is terribly boring...& to make things worse, it's in black & white (not to menton the snow looks REALLY fake)!! xP "BURANKO" is clearly a variation on "Enrai" (both the song & the PV), just that this time it's about paternal love instead of maternal. I kinda liked the story, it's pretty much like watching a movie, but Tomiko looks REALLY chubby (it's the hair & I think she gained some weight...x_x). "BURANKO~Another Side Story~" is just the whole story played over without interference from the band (so you don't see Tomiko & Ryo singing/playing at all) with the song's instrumental in the background. I got to understand the story A LOT more this way, but the ending still puzzles me. O_o Finally, comes "Field of dreams". Oh man, I was having SUCH high hopes for this PV ('cause I love the song), but it turned out to be nothing other than a photo slideshow...<sigh> I liked the concept though...the whole PV basically shows pictures of street singers, & eventually, it leads back to DAI (who were once street performers themselves), which I thought was kinda meaningful & very fitting of the title.
So that was my 2 cents. Just like any other reviews that I've written, it's way too long & full of too much garbage. I'll be happy knowing that at least one person read the whole thing. xP
P.S. I was gonna make screenshots of all the PVs, but then I got lazy. So here's something else for you guys to look at - the DVD's beautiful title menu...^^;
1.30.2004
Eight
Today,
One person really annoyed me.
One person really disappointed me.
One person really frustrated me.
One person really confused me.
One person laughed with me.
One person sang to me.
One person held on to me.
And most important of all, one person stood by me.
Today,
One person really annoyed me.
One person really disappointed me.
One person really frustrated me.
One person really confused me.
One person laughed with me.
One person sang to me.
One person held on to me.
And most important of all, one person stood by me.
1.27.2004
Winter Wonderland
Toronto, at its best...
![[For all you people living in the (sub)tropics...]](snowedins.jpg)
By the way, if you check the Guinness Book of Records, you'll find my address listed under "house with the longest driveway in the world". Seriously that thing took me forever to shovel...not to mention right after I was "done", another layer of snow had already built up!! However, as freaky as it might sound, I actually enjoyed the time spent outside...very scenic, indeed. =P
Toronto, at its best...
![[For all you people living in the (sub)tropics...]](snowedin.jpg)
By the way, if you check the Guinness Book of Records, you'll find my address listed under "house with the longest driveway in the world". Seriously that thing took me forever to shovel...not to mention right after I was "done", another layer of snow had already built up!! However, as freaky as it might sound, I actually enjoyed the time spent outside...very scenic, indeed. =P
1.25.2004
The Voice Within
It's understandable that when two people first like each other, they'll have little to say, as they're either scared to utter the wrong words or are simply intimidated by the other's presence. As time passes though, shouldn't this situation change, at least by a tiny bit?? 'Cause how the hell are these two gonna move on to something more serious if they can't even communicate (sorry to burst your bubble, but you can't tell someone's birthday by just looking into his/her eyes =P)??
It's understandable that when two people first like each other, they'll have little to say, as they're either scared to utter the wrong words or are simply intimidated by the other's presence. As time passes though, shouldn't this situation change, at least by a tiny bit?? 'Cause how the hell are these two gonna move on to something more serious if they can't even communicate (sorry to burst your bubble, but you can't tell someone's birthday by just looking into his/her eyes =P)??
1.23.2004
Good...Morning?
Either the sleeping bug bit me, or my parents slipped heavy doses of sleeping pills into my food, but I've been feeling dead tired for the whole Goddamn week. O_o My sleeping schedule's all screwed up for no apparent reason, & to top it off, yesterday I had to wake up at 6 just to go to my stupid, pointless chem lab at 8:30 (thankfully, the people in my lab are pretty cool & I already know some of them...plus, my TA rules!!). By the end of the day, I was all oblivious to what my prof or my friends were saying, I was just zoning out & longing for my bed. xP Got home, had maybe 20 minutes of sleep, & was then awaken by the loud sounds of my dad preparing dinner (it was good though...'cause it was our first for the Chinese New Year...^^). O_o Planned to go to bed around 11, but a new issue of Entertainment Weekly managed to keep me up 'till 12. Friday means there's biochem¹, so again didn't get to sleep in, I swear if I weren't scared that I'd miss my station, I would've just dropped dead on the subway chairs (despite the fact that they're so uncomfortable). After a day of (more or less) pointless classes (man I walked all the way to St. Mike's for German, just to find out that class was cancelled!! They should never do that to energy-drained university students...x_x), I went home, FINALLY got a real nap, but things haven't really improved (still half-unconscious right now). xP Hopefully they will get better next week...I've got lots of assignments though, so I doubt that would happen...argh.
¹: I just found out today that yet another friend of mine has dropped out of 242...& since it's a prereq for his program, he now has to switch out...how upsetting. =\ Even though I'm not doing absolutely fantastic in it either (I'm living...I could do better but I ain't really putting the effort to), I'm sticking with it, 'cause I'm not leaving MGB!! O_O It's just sad for me to see others having to abandon their hopes & dreams just because this one course is impossible...ah well, that's university for you.
Either the sleeping bug bit me, or my parents slipped heavy doses of sleeping pills into my food, but I've been feeling dead tired for the whole Goddamn week. O_o My sleeping schedule's all screwed up for no apparent reason, & to top it off, yesterday I had to wake up at 6 just to go to my stupid, pointless chem lab at 8:30 (thankfully, the people in my lab are pretty cool & I already know some of them...plus, my TA rules!!). By the end of the day, I was all oblivious to what my prof or my friends were saying, I was just zoning out & longing for my bed. xP Got home, had maybe 20 minutes of sleep, & was then awaken by the loud sounds of my dad preparing dinner (it was good though...'cause it was our first for the Chinese New Year...^^). O_o Planned to go to bed around 11, but a new issue of Entertainment Weekly managed to keep me up 'till 12. Friday means there's biochem¹, so again didn't get to sleep in, I swear if I weren't scared that I'd miss my station, I would've just dropped dead on the subway chairs (despite the fact that they're so uncomfortable). After a day of (more or less) pointless classes (man I walked all the way to St. Mike's for German, just to find out that class was cancelled!! They should never do that to energy-drained university students...x_x), I went home, FINALLY got a real nap, but things haven't really improved (still half-unconscious right now). xP Hopefully they will get better next week...I've got lots of assignments though, so I doubt that would happen...argh.
¹: I just found out today that yet another friend of mine has dropped out of 242...& since it's a prereq for his program, he now has to switch out...how upsetting. =\ Even though I'm not doing absolutely fantastic in it either (I'm living...I could do better but I ain't really putting the effort to), I'm sticking with it, 'cause I'm not leaving MGB!! O_O It's just sad for me to see others having to abandon their hopes & dreams just because this one course is impossible...ah well, that's university for you.
1.18.2004
O2
I finally have to open my orgo chem book again...but this time, it actually doesn't look so bad. I think it's because I've gotten over last year's madness of learning a whole term's work in 3 days (or was it 2??)...xD It's amazing 'cause I did pretty much learn 138 all by myself, considering that I hardly paid any attention during lectures (as I was busy looking at otherpeople stuff =P). Was it a mistake?? Probably, but words can't describe how proud I was when I walked out the exam room knowing that I did well. This year though, I think I'll be content with just doing okay & without the sense of pride. So may the studying/battle begin. xP
EDIT: Man, listening to "VALENTI" (the album) while reviewing the material just makes it all the more like last year all over again...
I finally have to open my orgo chem book again...but this time, it actually doesn't look so bad. I think it's because I've gotten over last year's madness of learning a whole term's work in 3 days (or was it 2??)...xD It's amazing 'cause I did pretty much learn 138 all by myself, considering that I hardly paid any attention during lectures (as I was busy looking at other
EDIT: Man, listening to "VALENTI" (the album) while reviewing the material just makes it all the more like last year all over again...
1.10.2004
Don't Start Now
Damn, I really should've studied for my biochem test during Xmas...right now I don't even know if I'll have enough time to memorize half of the stuff, lol. Anyway, I'm just posting 'cause I really, really can't concentrate & I want to be as far away from my notes as possible (oh, the art of procrastination...). xD My life's been pretty much the same since second term started, except the fact that I'm still very happy about my new schedule....=D I get to go home early everyday (no more late evening classes for me), which means I can take my after-school naps again (& lots of time tostudy bum around)!! My courses also seem to be more interesting - genetics started off pretty well, even though I was a lil bored when people just kept asking questions in the 2-hour lecture that we had yesterday. Other than that, it's all fun & games (for now). However, there's something (semi-)serious that I absolutely have to get off my chest, so here it is...sometimes, when you miss a chance, you miss it forever. Don't come begging for it afterwards, because some people would like to move on with their lives. It took me a while to build the determination that I now have to stick with my choice, so please, just keep your feelings to yourself & we'll call it a day.
Damn, I really should've studied for my biochem test during Xmas...right now I don't even know if I'll have enough time to memorize half of the stuff, lol. Anyway, I'm just posting 'cause I really, really can't concentrate & I want to be as far away from my notes as possible (oh, the art of procrastination...). xD My life's been pretty much the same since second term started, except the fact that I'm still very happy about my new schedule....=D I get to go home early everyday (no more late evening classes for me), which means I can take my after-school naps again (& lots of time to
1.02.2004
Man's Best Friend
After checking out the prices today, I've decided to get a new MD player instead...'cause honestly, the amount I have to pay to get my old one fixed is just ridiculous. It's gonna cost me more than half of the top model!! O_o I'm just a bit upset 'cause Maddog was only good & well for a year, & we've developed such a close relationship too...=( Everytime I want to hear a certain song, he will play it, even if he's set on random. <sigh> I guess it's finally time for him to retire...hopefully, Maddog II will be just as loyal.
(note: in case you're wondering, Maddog's the name I gave my MD player...& yes I know I'm a freak...=P)
After checking out the prices today, I've decided to get a new MD player instead...'cause honestly, the amount I have to pay to get my old one fixed is just ridiculous. It's gonna cost me more than half of the top model!! O_o I'm just a bit upset 'cause Maddog was only good & well for a year, & we've developed such a close relationship too...=( Everytime I want to hear a certain song, he will play it, even if he's set on random. <sigh> I guess it's finally time for him to retire...hopefully, Maddog II will be just as loyal.
(note: in case you're wondering, Maddog's the name I gave my MD player...& yes I know I'm a freak...=P)
