Glass Blues by Bump of Chicken

 
Original Lyrics in Japanese
http://www.uta-net.com/user/phplib/view_0.php?ID=16259
Music Video (original version):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=depyHen_xBY
Music Video (acoustic version):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tt4rT8ZBujo

Glass Blues (ガラスのブルース)
song and lyrics written by Motoo Fujiwara (藤原基央)
translation by me…

The cat with a glass eye sings, loud and proud.
The cat with a glass eye sings, while wind brushes his beard, proudly he sings.

If my voice withered, I’ll go to the river and lick my own reflection in the water.
If today’s meal is better than yesterday’s,
I’ll say “Today is a great day” and look up into the sky with a smile.

Ah…I’ll always sing as hard as possible.
Ah…I’ll always live as hard as I can.

The cat with a glass eye sings, while starved, proudly he sings.
The cat with a glass eye sings, as proof of life, proudly he sings.
The cat with a glass eye shouts, life is short, proudly he shouts.
The cat with a glass eye shouts, now is important, proudly he shouts.

There is a meaning to life, therefore, I cannot waste one second.
Even if storm comes, or rain falls,
I will always, with full strength, look up into the sky with a smile.

Ah…someday I’ll become one of the stars that twinkles in the sky.
Ah…until that day, I’ll keep on singing.

If my voice withered, I’ll go to the river and lick my own reflection in the water.
There is a meaning to life, therefore, I cannot waste one second.
Therefore, I’ll sing. I will alway sing. I will always sing. I’ll shout about “NOW”.

The cat with a glass eye becomes a star in the sky, and his loud voice has stopped.
The cat burned the last fragement of his life, and his favorite blues will never be heard again.

But your blues is inscribed inside of everyone’s heart.
From now on, if there’s anything terrible, everyone will start to sing,
while remembering the cat with a glass eye.
and look up into the sky and sings the glass blues.

Ah…I always sing as hard as possible.
Ah…I always live as hard as I can.
Ah…if there’s a great shadow in front.
Ah…I always sing as hard as possible.

Perfect Guide on How To Survive New Year Countdown in Times Square

Three things you need to bring:
1. Chair
2. Oxygen Mask
3. Empty Bottle

Since you need to be there at least around 5p.m. (maybe earlier nowadays?) in order to get a good view of the crystal ball, it is better to get a chair so your legs will survive the long wait.
Unless you are 6 foot 10, you will probably have hard time breathing because of the crowd. In order to stay alive, it is wise to bring a oxygen max.
And you lose your spot if you run to the restroom, so you definitely need an empty bottle to…

I’ve been to the countdown twice, and had awful times there. I did get okay spots (can see the crystal ball, but cannot see performances.) It was so crowded that it felt like subway during rush hour except it was not underground. Fight broke out several times because people were pushing and pulling, but amazingly when everyone started screaming 321 happy new year, people immediately forgot about what happened in the previous year. It’s got to be the New Year’s miracle…

So you think it’s pretty…

My friends from west coast (and anywhere tropical) always say to me, “So you live in New York, it must be beautiful during the winter with all that snow.”

 …apparently, these people have no idea what it looks like when the city is covered in snow.
When the city is snowing, it is “probably” beautiful, and “occasionally” romantic, but when the snow stops, it gets ugly. Imagine things (dirts, dog crap, dog urine, trash, and everything dirty) you see on sidewalks all the time, but 10 times worse because these things stands out 10 times better with snow on the background. It is like a pure white canvas covered with feces, dirt, and urine. After few days, the snow absorbs the waste gas from cars and turn into dark chunks of snow bricks like something you would find in a coal mine. There is nothing pretty about it.

Meteor Shower by Onitsuka Chihiro

Out of boredom really.
I really don’t want to spend my holiday doing anything that is serious, so I translated this song by Onitsuka Chihiro.
Althought I’m not really a fan of her music, but two of her songs, this one and Gekko (Moonlight) are on my top ten favorite song list. Anyway, happy thanksgiving…

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This is the music video (YouTube)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZY3NdVrGEk&feature=related

This is where I got the lyrics (Japanese)
http://www.uta-net.com/user/phplib/view_7.php?ID=15153

流星群 (RyuuSeiGun) by 鬼束ちひろ (Onitsuka Chihiro) 

Nights that cannot be described in words, you tell them well
like illusions of lukewarm ivy that twines around me

Give me a heart, your handmade is fine
and if there is a place for me to cry, I will be fine even without stars in sight

Your voices calling out for me always turns into nothing but sadness
such sorrow proves nothing but my ugliness, even though I need it

If I cannot be touched by you, then it is like I do not exist

Even days of vagueness, can push me toward loneliness
when they do fade away, I’m left with almost nothing to wish for

Praise these feelings, even with faint vibrations
in front of my eyes, they overflow with resonances

Miracle comes in an instant, only when I abandon my body
it makes me so powerless, yet allow me remember so much – even though I need it

If I cannot touch you, then it is like I do not exist

Although I stop counting the uncountable meanings,
I still don’t know what “beauty” is, in here, even now

Your voices calling out for me always turns into nothing but sadness
such sorrow proves nothing but my ugliness, even though I need it

If I cannot be touched by you, then it is like I do not exist

It’s ok to be hypocrites

It’s ok to be hypocrites…
I’m not trying to to be sarcastic about it.

    Couple days ago, in a quite serious discussion, someone in the crowd bursted out his negative opinions about gay people, and the rest of us all looked at him with the “you intolerant bastard!” look on our face. The discussion eventually ended badly (because of that obviously), but it got me thinking.
    Even though I always try to be open about it and say that I’m cool with gay people, I still have a part of me telling me not to accept it. The so-called “traditional” part of me that I got from my parents, my community, and my educations. Oh, lets deviate and go off track a bit: I was shocked when I watched the movie Alexander, because my 9th grade history book did not say anything about Alexander the Great being gay. If my 9th grade history teacher wasn’t homophobic and at least mention about it, I would not be so shocked about it. (by the way, that movie suckes)
    Anyway, go back to the topic. Under “normal” (<–although politically incorrect, I cannot find a better word) circumstances, I do not find myself as tolerant as I claim to be, or rather I really don’t care about it. So why do I, and most(I hope I’m not alone in this one) people pretend to care – because we do not want to be on the other side. We do not want to be labeled (sounds familiar?) 
    I believe everyone is entitled to their opinions. As a result, it is ok to be anti-gay or anti-whatever the hell you want. As long as these people do not go out and commit hate crime, they have their rights to say what they want and believe what they want to believe, just like the guy I mentioned in the beginning. Sadly, this is not how the society is set up to be nowadays. For instance, there are “anti-gay” people and “anti-anti-gay” people. There are no “pro-life” people, only anti-abortion people, because if they really are “pro-life”, they would not go around and assassinate abortion doctors (though I’m not suggesting everyone is like that, I’m just trying to make a point…)  
    As the society is being set up today, we are forced to pick a side, and whoever pick the “other side” will be labeled as “intolerant” or “homophobic”, and people who don’t care (like me) will also be labled as “ignorant.” In order to avoid being labeled, we pick the “good” sides, although there really is no such thing as good or bad. The good and bad we know of is always decided by the majority, and the good here may be bad on the other side of the globe. In the end, we all rush into conclusion and support something we really cannot connect, or something we really don’t know that well, just so that we do not get left alone with the so-called “bad” guys. In the end, we are without-doubt hypocrites (or at least I think I am.)

Cuteness vs. Cruelty Theory

Cuteness vs. Cruelty Theory:
Hypothesis: 
  cuter the creature is, people have less tolerance in animal cruelty regarding that animal; uglier the creature is, people have more tolerance in animal cruelty regarding that animal. 

Proof:
  Dolphins -> cute. 
  No tolerance for cruelty!!
  http://www.savejapandolphins.org/

  Cats -> cute. 
  No tolerance for cruelty!!
  http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/14/us/14cats.html?ref=us

  Now, if dolphins and cats look like cockroaches, will people still scream animal cruelty?
  I doubt it.

Conclusion:
    Lets face it, if you are ugly, do not expect any animal activist will ever speak up for you. No one considers smashing roaches with slippers is cruel. I know it does not sound fair, but the world is never fair in the first place. People would get really angry about someone posting photos of them torturing cats, but the same angry crowd would laugh at “10 ways to torture a captured cockroach (with photos).” The only thing you can do is to reincarnate into something cute in the next life.
    My point is – if these animal activists don’t want to be hypocrites and want to show that they really feel for those poor animals, they need to have a good reason. Personally, I cannot think of a reason “why not” to kill dolphins - the reason maybe because they are intelligent and friendly. If that is the case then I’m quoting Cartman from South Park: “intelligent and friendly on rye bread with some mayonnaise” Or maybe it is because they are endangered species, but look at the cat-shooter, he is trying to help endangered species and people are calling him a “murderous fascist” and a “diabolical monster.” He’s got a relatively good reason in his action, even though there are probably better ways to keep the cats away, like eletric fences (then he would probably be in court for negligence because of some kids who can’t read the sign died of electric shock.)
    I’m not promoting animal cruelty. I’m just trying to figure out what qualified as animal cruelty, so when people scream “animal cruelty” or “you ruthless killer”, they know where they are standing and not just going to turn around and chew on their slice of pork or steak. Since I’m a big time carnivore, I never considered myself being justified to speak for any animals (not even roaches, cuz I smash one when I see one.)
    However, it is not just animals have feelings, vegetables have feelings too (more or less because we do not speak the same language.) I remember someone told me that because she cannot bear the thought of animals being killed, she became a vegetarian. I did not say it right in front of her, but I thought, ”well, if vegetables can talk, they would probably scream STOP EATING ME!” 
   In fact, when people buy pets on impulses and ruthlessly dicard them when they find these animals are no longer cute, in my opinion, that’s the real animal cruelty.

The Prestige

For a great magic to be successful, distraction is essential.
When the audiences are distracted by the sexy assistance and flashy explosions, the magician escapes through the back door, and eventually shows up on the balcony. The audiences will applaud and cheer. They will go home and discuss about how amazing the underwater magic was, or how brilliantly the magician escaped that heavily locked box. They will scratch theirs heads and try to figure out the trick. However, they do not really want to know the truth.
The truth, or the trick to the magic, is not magical at all. It is usually a trap door, a mirror, a hidden space, or simply a fake lock that can be opened without a key. Like I said in the beginning, magic is all about distraction, and once your eyes are deviated from the truth, you pretend it’s not there. The magician only has to exit the stage with a boom, and you will be cheering and applauding as if something amazing just happened, but there is nothing amazing.
Politicians are somewhat like magicians - they do magics to entertain audiences. They go on stage; they chant their spells; and poof! they are gone. In the end, we are all happy and satisfied, but no one is going to ask, “What happened?” or “What did they do?” The magic is successful, because we are all distracted from what really happened.
So what happened? NOTHING. Nothing happened…but hey! as long as we are happy about it, who gives a damn about the truth.

New Baseball League

Here’s your new idea for a baseball league (or for any other sport league).

Steroid League!
This is the sport league where every athlete is REQUIRED to take steroids.
And yes, I’m serious, because in Steroid League, players can publicly take steroids. And they do not have to blame it on their coaches or they do not have to pretend they don’t speak English (Great excuse ONLY if you’re from outside of US).
In addition, there is a witch hunt going on in the world of sport, where people pointing fingers at each other and make accusations at random. Now when I see a 50 homerun season record, I think: “Steroids?”  With Steroid League, none of these problem will exists.
And people love to see fights in a ballgame, and in Steroid League people are much more aggressive and violent because of the steroid (seen that south park episode with Jimmy use steroids and beat up his girlfriend?) 

On the other hand, it is also good for the economy. Players can now have endorsements from pharmaceutical companies. Companies make money and make more steroids. And eventually, everyone will have steroids and all be aggressive and buff and beat each other up. There is your happy ending.

New direction under new management

I’m a Yankee fan, so my baseball season was over when they were eliminated in the ALDS. And tonight is night where the decisions will be made regarding Joe Torre and the rest of the team.
Although the majority of the fan (and players) want Joe Torre to stay and lead, I think different. As a fan, I sure want to see Joe Torre comes back next year as the manager of the team, but at the same time I wonder what would be like if someone else leads the team. Joe Torre has been leading the Yankees for 12 years, and I think he did a great job, BUT I believe it is time to take the team into the new era. In that case, a new manager will be the start. So next year, I really hope to see a fresh new New York Yankees.

by the way, I really think they should keep most players that are going to FA (Posada, Rivera…etc)
and trade in some relief pitchers to replace current ones (because they obviously are not doing their job) 
BUT I would prefer A-Rod opt out (yes, I know the numbers he puts up, but look at his post season number…)

Himitsu/Secret/Naoko

   Himitsu (秘密 means secret in Japanese, and is titled Naoko in the US release) is the book by Higashino Keigo (東野圭吾.)
    The story starts with Heisuke(平介)　the ordinary blue-colar worker in Tokyo, who one day loses everything when his wife dies in an car crash while his daughter is left in coma. Days later, when Monami(藻奈美), the daughter recovers from coma tells Heisuke that she is Naoko(直子) because the spirit has transfered from the wife to the daughter. When Heisuke eventually is convinced that it is Naoko’s spirit in Monami’s body, they both decide to keep it a secret.
    I finished this book the moment I got it, even though I intended only to read a few pages but could not resist to continue. Higashino Keigo, the author has presented serveral themes in this book, including the main: how would a adult man with normal sexual desire deal with the situation when his wife’s soul is inside his daughter’s body (by the way, his daughter is about 11 years old, but this is “not a rated-R book.”) It is also a story about second chance: when you are no longer a middle-age house wife and you have the chance to start all over again, what would you do differently. Also in irony and part tragedy comes the question: how would you do if your husband is physically your father?
    The story does have a surprise ending, in which I first thought was not a good ending, but later realized that it is the only way to give this tragedy a happy ending. I did not read the english version of the book, so I do not know the quality of the translation, but I do recommend this book. If you have a chance, read a few page and see if you like it or not. 

By the way, this book was made into a movie couple years ago in Japan, and apparently some French film company bought the right to the scripts. But the movie is going to be in English since it stars David Duchovny and Lili Taylor (English speaking French film based on Japanese novel.)