Ninjamurai

Well, the theme I was using with WordPress self destructed when I did the update So, back to Kubrick for a bit till I sort it all out, lol. Hey, no laughing!

Original Two Sided Poster for Beauty and the Beast

This Saturday, Beauty and the Beast, I am so excited I could jump up and down. This is my favorite movie of all time and to be singing it with my friends at karaoke is going to be sweet!

The first time I loved forever
Was when you whispered my name

For all my life and forever
There’s a truth I will always know
When my world divides and shatters
Your love is where I’ll go

Sweet use of “Beauty and the Beast” video with the love song from the TV show with Ron Perlman and Linda Hamilton of the same name. Great song and a good way to remember one of the best shows to ever grace the television screen. I hadn’t thought about the show in a long, long time and I ran across this video purely by accident so it was quite the memory.

Here is a link to some info about this show which started off so great and then just kind of self-destructed. So many shows do this and, sadly, so too did this one.

If only tears could bring you back to me
If only love could find a way
What I would do, what I would give
If you returned to me someday
Somehow, someway
If my tears could bring you back to me

Another good video. I am getting ready to post the top 5 list Pretty song and not too bad editing, this is definately a 4 star vid.

Last night I had a crazy dream
A wish was granted just for me
It could be for anything
I didnt ask for money
Or a mansion in malibu
I simply wished, for one more day with you

One more day
One more time
One more sunset, maybe I’d be satisfied
But then again
I know what it would do
Leave me wishing still, for one more day with you

Found another great Doctor Who video. This one is set to “One More Day” by Diamond Rio. Hard to decide whether or not this is my favorite, but it has to be in the top 3 for sure. I will post a top 5 list here pretty soon. For now, enjoy this splending video.

Since a couple people have asked I thought I would start posting the list of songs my karaoke group sings each Saturday.

Firstly, Aiko sang a new song I have been helping her with. It’s a very pretty song by Aya Matsuura called Watarase Bashi ( Watarase Bridge ).

also this version with English subtitles for those that would like to know the lyrics. The one above is a much better sounding version though.

I sang a couple songs actually, first was one of my favorites Towa ni Towa ni Hoshi no Yume ( The Never Ending Dream of the Stars ). Great song from Tenchi Muyo. Here is a the great Ai Orikasa singing it live

Second, sang an oldie by request from Aiko and John

Endless Rain by X Japan, one of the most beautiful songs ever written and a wonderful entrancing song to sing IMO.

Days of joy, days of sadness slowly pass me by
As I try to hold you, you are vanishing before me
You’re just an illusion…
When I’m awaken, my tears have dried in the sand of sleep
I’m a rose blooming in the desert

It’s a dream, I’m in love with you
madoromi dakishimete ( hold me as I fall to sleep )

Aiko and I did another duet this night. We have worked on it for quite some time and it came off pretty well I think. She thought so to and it was quite pretty and seemed to make people smile.

The song is Eyes on Me from Final Fantasy. Both of us had sung this song solo many times and it didn’t take too much rearrangement to make it work nicely.

This is another one of the songs that if you have never heard it, please, please watch this video as it is absolutely wonderful. Beautiful. If you can’t watch the whole thing at least start watching at 2:14 for one of the greatest scenes and moments in video game history. It is tear jerking and wonderful.

It would take way too much to list every song every person sang and mine and Aiko are the two significant people for this blog so the last will be the group songs.

First group song was Tattoo Kiss from Kaleido Star. If you have never heard this song check it out. It is very upbeat and quite good. The show ain’t bad either

The girls all got together and sang Kizudarake no Wild ( Wild and Scarred ) from Bubblegum Crisis. Man, do I love that one and it was sweet hearing all 4 singing it. Good job!

Teardrops yuuki ni ima kaete
hashiridasu Born to be wild heart

Now teardrops change to courage
and I run on, because my heart was born to be wild.

 

As the evening wound down, Aiko got a request to sing Hikari by Mai Hoshimura. This is the ending song of “Tomorrow” a Japanese TV show.

So, at the end of the night we decided to break tradition and sing the opening theme to Sakura Taisen ( Sakura Wars ), Geki! Teikoku Kageki Dan ( Go! Imperial Flower Attack Team ).

Don’t let that kinda odd title put you off though. This is one of the greatest anime theme songs of all time. Written by Kohei Tanaka it has energy, spirit and enough power to make just about anyone want to come out of their seats. I will post two versions here.

The first one is basically the opening of the TV show ( there have been many series of this story and also movies oh and operas and also a live musical done in Paris, Rome, Tokyo and New York so this Sakura thing is big! ).

and to give a bit of what it would sound like in a group, one of the better live performances I have heard. BTW: These are the original seiyuu for the show as well so these voices are the same as in the TV show.

omedetou! yoku dekimashita!

I don’t do much political stuff here as I try to not ’show my colors’ on this blog, but this is just too rich not to say something. I can’t help myself. So, if you don’t like politics just move along to the next post please.

OK, Oprah says Sarah Palin won’t be allowed on her show until after the election. Fair enough. I’m cool with that, ya know it is Oprah’s show. BUT WAIT! Let’s check Oprah’s response on this story:

“The item in today’s Drudge Report is categorically untrue. There has been absolutely no discussion about having Sarah Palin on my show. At the beginning of this Presidential campaign when I decided that I was going to take my first public stance in support of a candidate, I made the decision not to use my show as a platform for any of the candidates. I agree that Sarah Palin would be a fantastic interview, and I would love to have her on after the campaign is over.”

OK, no biggie, but a couple interesting points.

1. If you think that the Oprah show had “absolutely no discussion” about having Palin on you are truly ignorant of how these shows work. Guaranteed, there was plenty of ‘discussion’, it just got shut down because both Oprah and her executive producer are HUGE and I mean LOTS OF DONATIONS TO and support for ‘The Obama’.

2. “I made the decision not to use my show as a platform for any of the candidates”, unless it is ‘The Obama’. Obama has been a guest on Oprah’s show twice and she is a quoted, often too, supporter of him on both her show and in her magazine. She and many of her staff have sent his campaign thousands of dollars. Hey, that’s cool! I don’t have any issue with that at all. Just be honest and admit to using your show and media resources and your own money to support him.

Just because he had not announced yet she has the typical liberal weasel of, duh, he hadn’t announced so I wasn’t supporting a candidate. Yeah, that might work with the morons I live with here in San Francisco and Seattle, but I know a little bit about politics and you are endorsing. Again, no foul in my book, it is her show and money, but at least admit it. Seriously.

Once again, liberal weasel caught using deft vocabulagorical sifting.

Oh, and in case you are wondering, I actually like Obama. He seems like a genuinely nice person.

The Microsoft Path - Click to Download

A short slide presentation on Microsoft’s strategy as it pertains to .Net. Topics covered are the Application Development Foundation as well as WCF ( Windows Communication Foundation ), WWF ( Windows Workflow Foundation ), WPF ( Windows Presentation Foundation ) and CardSpace.

Music, animation and sparklies also highlight the sweet presentations possible with Keynote. It is a 45MB file so give it a bit to download and I hope you enjoy!