Friday, November 6, 2009

NRB Madness/ 노래방 Madness

Yea so my family group went to NRB (Karaoke) today and it was pure madness infinity. It was so crazy. David was hilarious.
Some people just went all out and it was fun night. It was also kind of funny because Deb’s first song got cut off and she could not sing second song cause her voice was dead.
I also think I never sang this much in NRB before. I sung 영원 and Heffy End by Seotaiji, 너에게넌 나에게난 by 자전거를 탄 풍경, 사랑했지만 by 김경호, and two more songs I think.
Interestingly NRB also had these Japanese songs I knew. I was tempted to try but we ran out of time. I don’t know why but my voice when it reaches high tone, I cannot bring it down and I keep sing song in that tone which kills me. I guess I lack in experience.

오늘 성경공부 그룹이랑 노래방에를 갔는데 참으로 대단했다. 진짜 말로 표현못할 대단한 그런 것이였다. David이 진짜 일품이었다.
몇몇 사람은 아주 그냥 무슨 인생이 걸린것 처럼 노래부르고 아주 재미난 밤이였다. 웃긴건, 뎁 누님의 첫번째 노래는 도중에 실수로 짤리고, 두번째 노래는 또 목소리가 않올라가서 취소했다 ㅋㅋ.
지금까지 노래방가본것중 가장 노래를 많이 불렀던것 같은데. 헤피앤드, 영원, 너에게넌 나에게난, 사랑했지만, 그리고 몇 노래 더 부른것 같다. 또 신기하게도 내가 아는 일본노래들이 또 많았는데, 불러볼려고 했다가 시간다되서 다음 기회로 미루기로 했다. 그 뭐냐, 이상하게 내 목소리가 일정 음에 올라가면 도대체 내려가지를 않더라. 계속 또 그 높은 음으로 부르려니 아주 죽을 맛이었다. 더 연습해야 함을 느낀 하루였다.

Anyway it was such a fun night and I think it was really good time for us to hang out with each other since we dont get to see each other much since most people go back to home during weekends. Later when David or other people put pictures up on facebook, I will try to import some of them to this post. I hope we get to hang out more like this in near future. =)

어째됬던, 재미있는 밤이었다. 거기다가 같이 이렇게 좋은 시간을 보내서 좋았다. 우리 그룹은 대게 멤버들이 주말에 집에가서 서로 별로 만날 시간이나 기회가 없다. 근데 오늘 이렇게 같이 좋은 시간보내고 하니 즐거웠다. 나중에 David이나 다른 사람이 사진올리면 이 포스트에도 올려야겠다. 가까운 미래에 같이 또 이렇게 좋은 시간을 보냈으면 하는 바램이다. =)

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Wine Blogging Wednesday - Driving While What??


Happy Girls are Found in Vineyards

DRIVING WHILE WHAT?
but first…


White Rock Vineyards Napa Valley Claret
This is an astonishing Bordeaux-style wine from the Napa Valley. Supple and lush with loads of ripe fruit and undertones of leather and tobacco, it’s half-French, half- California in style. White Rock Vineyards was established as early as 1870 and brought back in the late ’70s by the Vandendriessche family. Made from a classic blend of 60% Cabernet Sauvignon with Merlot, Cabernet Franc and a touch of Petit Verdot.  Perfect for that great steak or rich braised stew.

DRIVING WHILE WHAT?

It seems to me that I become obsessed with information when I’m faced with buying big ticket items.  I needed a new roof  and *POOF* I threw myself into research on Certainteed shingles vs. cedar shakes.  I wanted a new patio  and *SHAZAM*  I launced into a study of exposed aggregate, brick pavers, bluestone and an array of stamped concretes.  I think it’s fun to shop for just about anything until I have to lay down a signature or commit so much cash…

So when I started looking at cars, I had my notebook, #2 pencil and camera at the ready.  Aestetics are just as important as reliability – so first I jotted down the cars that looked great on the road.  What started off as a study on the outside of the car, quickly became astonishment at what was going on inside the car.  I mean really – people in this country have turned their vehicles into offices, mini restaurants, salons and god forbid even daycare centers.  They do just about everything while driving….Let’s take a look:

I CALL THESE - OVER THE ROAD *PRIMPING*


Roaving Stubble Removal


Ya ever seen one of these wands jammed in an eyeball?


What next, his back?


Ladies ~ just when you were blaming the guys for hair removal

 


Smile…


Curl up and Die

NEXT WE MOVE ON TO *AUTO MUNCHING*


Drive Thru Diva


Soup on the Go


A Little Help from your Friends


A Supersized Moron

MULTI-TASKING WOMEN


Getting caught up on the Soaps


Quiet Time with the Baby


Peek a Boo!


Catching the Headlines with Lipstick


Mommy Dearest


The Daydream or the Contorsionist – You Decide

EXTRA CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
The Cleaner


The Jock


The Singer


The Bargain Hunter


The Student

 


The Musician


The Dieter


Curbside Biffy – otherwise known as The Squatter
The Smoker


The Napper


The Dreamer


Animal Rights Activist


Auto Cramming


The Avid Reader


The Frat Boy


The Sorority Princess


The Last Ride

 

It’s official.  We do way too many things in car.  We sing, eat, primp, talk and even deliver babies in cars.  Well… some of those babies started out there didn’t they?

With the world of technology ever spinning out of control, can we all just slow down a bit and concentrate on the task at hand – DRIVING!

 

 

 

 

RIGHT!

Okay, okay, I admit, I suck at keeping things updated.

This is why I don’t own fish, I forget things unless they’re constantly bugging me (i.e. cats meowing and following me begging for food)

Whoops, it’s been almost  a month >.>

Just start smacking me every time you want me to update, that’ll work faster.

 

Sooo, yeah.

There was the school festival a while back, which was pretty fun. I’d always read about school festivals in manga, so it was pretty cool to visit one for the first time. It was mostly food stalls and very, very pushy sales people. I think all Japanese are practically born salesmen, they can shout loudly for long periods of time without getting bored out of their skulls.

I decided to explore the library about two weeks ago, and I was very happy to find a whole slew of mythology/folklore books that were out of print in America. Not only was almost the entirety of the color Fairy Books by Andrew Lang, but I found a very small book of Ainu myths (the Ainu are the native people of Hokkaido that have since almost all merged into regular Japanese), regrettably in Japanese, but that just gives me a mini project to work on.

There was also Tokyo Disneyland a week before Halloween. Wow was it crowded. There was a three hour wait for Haunted Mansion and the Winnie the Pooh ride along with a slew of other rides. Pirates, by contrast, was 40 minutes and Star Tours was about half an hour. Huh. I’m used to more fast/tall roller coasters, so even Space Mountain was a little tame. Star Tours was quite fun though, since the last time I went on that ride, I hadn’t seen the movies yet. Also, C-3PO spoke in Japanese. O_o yeah… quite amusing. It didn’t sound much like Anthony Daniels though.

Basically all I’ve been doing is class and homework and some extra projects on the side, so not much time/money for really fun stuff. Also, exams are coming up >.> so that’s more time cooped up.

If there’s something you want to hear about in particular (class, living, rent, cheese, whatever), just drop me a line and I can mention it. (BTW, Tammy, thanks for the bay leaves, though I haven’t had a cockroach problem since, I think the one just wanted to get out of the typhoon, though why it picked my room in particular, I don’t know)

Yeah, just digitally poke me if you think it’s been too long since I’ve updated. XD I become a lazy bum if I think no one’s paying attention.

what's cookin'?

I really enjoy cooking. Not baking – cooking. There is nothing more satisfying than trying a new recipe and proclaiming it a success! Now don’t get me confused with a foodie – because I definitely do not qualify. I doubt my pallet is very refined and I certainly don’t make complex or complicated meals. I shy away from pretentious ingredients and have been accused of under-salting my food. Nonetheless, I do enjoy it and I think I’m getting better at it! I thought I’d share a few of my favorite cookbooks, food blogs and magazine subscriptions. Do you have any favorites you want to share?

 

Cookbooks

Everyday Cooking: Great Food Fast (Martha Stewart) – I love this cookbook because I’ve never been disappointed. The photos are great (a photo for every recipe), the directions are simple and the food is delicious. It’s also nice because the recipes require little time – perfect for weeknight dinners. My favorite thing about the book is that it’s organized by season – which is brilliant for those of us who like to use in-season produce.

 

Barefoot Contessa  (Ina Garten) – I have three of her cookbooks (The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook, Back to Basics and At Home)and I love perusing them and selecting my next triumph. The photos are gorgeous. The only issue with these cookbooks is that the Contessa’s recipes are really fatty and rich. Cooking too much out of these cookbooks will make you gain weight – fast.

 

The Food You Crave (Ellie Krieger) – This cookbook is the opposite of the Barefoot Contessa books. This book has very few photos and focuses on healthy eating. Living up to the name, Ellie showcases recipes that you love – but she focuses on maximum flavor with limited calories/fat. I’ve been impressed with these recipes, although I wish there were more pics!

 

Magazines

Fine Cooking – http://www.finecooking.com/

Cuisine at Home – http://www.cuisineathome.com/ (Thanks Kristina!)

 

Food Blogs

Smitten Kitchen – http://smittenkitchen.com/

101 Cookbooks  - http://www.101cookbooks.com/

 

Here are pics from dinner the other night – lamb shanks – nummers!

Monday, November 2, 2009

Life of a Photographer

I got back from class today before heading over to the office to find that a bunch of pictures had fallen off my shelf and spilled all over my desk. I thought it was kind of cool so I made things wrose by throwing more pictures on it, then digging out everything so the pictures were on the bottom, like a desktop.

Life of a Photographer

There’s no real point to it, I just thought it was kind of fun and a bright spot to an otherwise crappy day. I used the aperture setting on my camera with an ISO setting of 100 and an automatically set shutter speed of 2 seconds. I had my 350D set on top of a tripod.

Indien kryllar av kreativitet

En stor nation. Sett till folkmängd, yta, filmindustri och musikindustri. Det vill säga, det som betyder något. Och idag fokuserar vi på det senare. Med ett så stort urval, är det lättare för oss västerlänningar utan kolla att stoppa huvudet i sanden och ignorera än att försöka orientera oss. Därför ska jag nu hjälpa er på traven med ett gäng musiktips från Indien.

Rahul Dev Burman är en av giganterna av alla kompositörer i Bollywood. Han har komponerat ändlöst många klassiker, och har bidragat starkt till musikalfilmen i Indien. Min favoritlåt heter Duniya mein logon ko, och kommer från filmen Apna Desh (1972).

C. Ramchandra är en annan favorit. Jag kan låta den otroligt svängiga och medryckande musiken tala för sig själv:

Ett sista omnämnande får låten Typewriter, tip, tip, tip som såg ljuset i Bombay Talkie (1970). Men framförallt har den nått framgång genom Wes Andersons film The Darjeeling Limited (2007).

Just det! Alla länkade låtar finns att tillgå på Spotify, för er som använder den tjänsten. Tilläggas bör att det är andra än kompositörerna som framträder med låtarna, vilket förklarar att andra står skrivna som artister på klippen/spotify.

Three Days of Snow

HIMYM is the last thing I would expect to make me tear up, but truthfully, as I finished watching the episode Three Days of Snow, I did. I teared up a watching One Litre of Tears, not a lot in The Pursuit of Happiness, and not even at my prom, or the graduation ceremony, but I teared up watching a comedy show. BECAUSE IT’S THAT AWESOME.

Because it took me so long to write that up … I forgot what else I was going to say! Great …

FILLERS TIME.

My mom has just discovered the pile of movies that she hasn’t watched and now spends 6 hours every day watching old movies, some of which only went to theaters in Japan or something, and others which should never have been in theaters ANYWHERE but they were because they spent to much money making it.

I love my friends.

ALWAYS listen to your mother. She’s ALWAYS right. THAT’S RIGHT FUTURE SON. MUAHAH.

My heart goes out to DelusionElle and my fobby friend. *Virtual blog hug which they can only receive if they read this ….*

‘Kay I still don’t remember what I was going to say. If I remember I’ll come back and edit …

Peace
WG