Recent Happenings
Nov. 30th, 2008 11:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blodeueddI still haven't written about Samurai 7, have I?
It was a seriously fun play, and I really liked the fight choreography. Laura's ticket-buying prowess (I am awed by it! :D) had us in the fourth row, near the centre, so we had a great view of everything, including Masa running around kicking ass. Until he died. He totally fooled me, though. At first, I couldn't believe that he had kicked the bucket without a five-minute speech -- those scenes always remind me of the Get Smart episode where Maxwell Smart is in a play and his character is supposed to get shot, but KAOS. replaces the prop with a real gun, except Maxwell takes such a long time stumbling around and dying ("But I haven't done the triple flip off the mantlepiece yet!") that their plan is foiled -- but then I figured that his character was the strong, silent type, so it kind of made sense. Until he leapt up and continued to kick ass while presumably bleeding from multiple wounds, then made the obligatory dying speech. Short and sweet, though.
And I again proved to myself how much I fail at lusting after the opposite sex, because I was all, "Masa looks so cool and badass... I want to jump around with two swords like that! And I want his coat. <3" orz
Yesterday,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
genkischuldich and I met up to see the Vermeer exhibition at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in Ueno. After feasting on パンダ焼 (we totally ate grilled panda! XD Oh, fine, they were really panda-shaped azuki paste-filled waffle-like things), we queued up and waited for nearly an hour to get in. Who knew that Vermeer was so big in Japan*? Once inside, the crowd was three or four people deep, so we shuffled our way through the exhibition. There weren't actually that many paintings, and most of them were by Vermeer's contemporaries, but it was still interesting. Of Vermeer's works, there were 7, two of which proved that sometimes Vermeer FAILED at human proportions: Jesus and Diana just look wrong.
However, what I like most about Vermeer is the sense quiet and peace and stillness that I feel in his later paintings, and the quality of the light he managed to capture, such as in The Lacemaker.
As of now, I've seen 13 of Vermeer's paintings in person. Not bad, considering that only 35 are usually attributed to him.
* Actually, I learned tonight that a few weeks ago, something about him was broadcast on tv, which could explain the sudden influx of museum-goers.
This morning, I beat Jorudan's predictions. It was giving me two time options to get where I was going; the arrival times were 25 minutes apart, so I thought, "There has to be a faster connection than that!" And there was, and I made it, with 20 seconds to spare. I was the green and grey blur racing through Shibuya at 8:30. ^_^
I spent much of today in the studio, because I am a movie star!
Rather, coming soon to an elementary school near you!
Last week, my friend E, who works for some sort of media production company, emailed me asking if I would be interested in participating in an educational/training video. I sent her some pictures and a video, and the next day she replied to say that the client was interested in me, but could I please send a picture in which I was smiling with my lips parted, so they could check my teeth?
My teeth are not exactly my best feature, but this is Japan, you know? If someone like Yoshitani can have a screen career (and I smile fondly whenever I see him and his crazy-crooked teeth), then so can I!
Anway, the client thought my teeth were fine, so I was asked to show up at the studio at 9 this morning. The filming didn't start until 10, so I sat around and read over the script (130 phrases of classroom English), put on some make-up and admired my hair. Because did you know? Styling products actually work! Amazing. And it only took me ten extra minutes after my morning shower to get my hair looking pretty hot, if I do say so myself.
As it turned out, the phrases they were taping me saying are to be part of an instructional video for Japanese English teachers in elementary schools. Many of the phrases are meant to be things they can say to the ALTs, such as, "Did you understand my message?" and "You're going to be helping out with two classes today." I had to say each phrase three times: first time a bit slower than natural speed, second time exaggeratedly slowly, and third time at natural speed. The director told me, "Remember to look as friendly as possible, because some people are going to be studying this video over and over!" Throughout the filming, I had this image in my head of some gariben JLTs obsessively re-watching the video, taking notes and trying to imitate my slightest inflection and head-tilt. XD
So if those of you doing the elementary-school circuit happen across such a teacher, please accept my heartfelt sumimasen! m(_ _)m
Also, my screen name is Adele Robinson, because I had to go back to my grandmother's maiden name to find one that wasn't German/Austrian or French, i.e. that would be easier for the Japanese teachers to understand. And that sounded, you know, English.
Date #2 with Karaoke Guy tonight. V. gentleman-like.
I did get a quick good-bye kiss, though. Under different circumstances, I might have been all, "You can start groping me anytime, now! :D", but we were in the middle of Shinjuku station, so...
I was curious about what he would think of my outfit, because I was wearing jeans and a high neckline, so he couldn't compliment mynon-cleavage cute dress, or my legs cute tights; this time it was my cute jacket and my cute (snowflake) earrings. XD
We'd been texting back and forth since our first date, and he asked me what kind of food I'd like to eat. I said Chinese, and he took care of finding a place and making reservations (up high in Shinjuku, nice view!), even ordering a set course meal beforehand. The food was good -- I tasted some stuff I'd never had before -- and we had a pleasant conversation, my half of it mostly in Japanese and his half mostly in English.
He asked the inevitable, "Why did you come to Japan?" question, so I explained about the anime, and we talked about that for a bit. He asked me if I knew what cosplay was, so of course I said, "Shimashita yo!" He thought that was funny, and wants to see pictures. I didn't tell him what characters I'd done, so I wonder what he's imagining. Probably not that my cosplay history consists of male and/or gay and/or insane characters... ^____^
After we parted ways, he sent me a text to thank me for my company and to wish me good night, and also (because I'd told him about the video), "you have been tired by shooting!" *giggle*
That... turned out much longer than I thought it would.
It was a seriously fun play, and I really liked the fight choreography. Laura's ticket-buying prowess (I am awed by it! :D) had us in the fourth row, near the centre, so we had a great view of everything, including Masa running around kicking ass. Until he died. He totally fooled me, though. At first, I couldn't believe that he had kicked the bucket without a five-minute speech -- those scenes always remind me of the Get Smart episode where Maxwell Smart is in a play and his character is supposed to get shot, but KAOS. replaces the prop with a real gun, except Maxwell takes such a long time stumbling around and dying ("But I haven't done the triple flip off the mantlepiece yet!") that their plan is foiled -- but then I figured that his character was the strong, silent type, so it kind of made sense. Until he leapt up and continued to kick ass while presumably bleeding from multiple wounds, then made the obligatory dying speech. Short and sweet, though.
And I again proved to myself how much I fail at lusting after the opposite sex, because I was all, "Masa looks so cool and badass... I want to jump around with two swords like that! And I want his coat. <3" orz
* * *
Yesterday,
genkischuldich and I met up to see the Vermeer exhibition at the Tokyo Metropolitan Art Museum in Ueno. After feasting on パンダ焼 (we totally ate grilled panda! XD Oh, fine, they were really panda-shaped azuki paste-filled waffle-like things), we queued up and waited for nearly an hour to get in. Who knew that Vermeer was so big in Japan*? Once inside, the crowd was three or four people deep, so we shuffled our way through the exhibition. There weren't actually that many paintings, and most of them were by Vermeer's contemporaries, but it was still interesting. Of Vermeer's works, there were 7, two of which proved that sometimes Vermeer FAILED at human proportions: Jesus and Diana just look wrong.However, what I like most about Vermeer is the sense quiet and peace and stillness that I feel in his later paintings, and the quality of the light he managed to capture, such as in The Lacemaker.
As of now, I've seen 13 of Vermeer's paintings in person. Not bad, considering that only 35 are usually attributed to him.
* Actually, I learned tonight that a few weeks ago, something about him was broadcast on tv, which could explain the sudden influx of museum-goers.
* * *
This morning, I beat Jorudan's predictions. It was giving me two time options to get where I was going; the arrival times were 25 minutes apart, so I thought, "There has to be a faster connection than that!" And there was, and I made it, with 20 seconds to spare. I was the green and grey blur racing through Shibuya at 8:30. ^_^
I spent much of today in the studio, because I am a movie star!
Rather, coming soon to an elementary school near you!
Last week, my friend E, who works for some sort of media production company, emailed me asking if I would be interested in participating in an educational/training video. I sent her some pictures and a video, and the next day she replied to say that the client was interested in me, but could I please send a picture in which I was smiling with my lips parted, so they could check my teeth?
My teeth are not exactly my best feature, but this is Japan, you know? If someone like Yoshitani can have a screen career (and I smile fondly whenever I see him and his crazy-crooked teeth), then so can I!
Anway, the client thought my teeth were fine, so I was asked to show up at the studio at 9 this morning. The filming didn't start until 10, so I sat around and read over the script (130 phrases of classroom English), put on some make-up and admired my hair. Because did you know? Styling products actually work! Amazing. And it only took me ten extra minutes after my morning shower to get my hair looking pretty hot, if I do say so myself.
As it turned out, the phrases they were taping me saying are to be part of an instructional video for Japanese English teachers in elementary schools. Many of the phrases are meant to be things they can say to the ALTs, such as, "Did you understand my message?" and "You're going to be helping out with two classes today." I had to say each phrase three times: first time a bit slower than natural speed, second time exaggeratedly slowly, and third time at natural speed. The director told me, "Remember to look as friendly as possible, because some people are going to be studying this video over and over!" Throughout the filming, I had this image in my head of some gariben JLTs obsessively re-watching the video, taking notes and trying to imitate my slightest inflection and head-tilt. XD
So if those of you doing the elementary-school circuit happen across such a teacher, please accept my heartfelt sumimasen! m(_ _)m
Also, my screen name is Adele Robinson, because I had to go back to my grandmother's maiden name to find one that wasn't German/Austrian or French, i.e. that would be easier for the Japanese teachers to understand. And that sounded, you know, English.
* * *
Date #2 with Karaoke Guy tonight. V. gentleman-like.
I did get a quick good-bye kiss, though. Under different circumstances, I might have been all, "You can start groping me anytime, now! :D", but we were in the middle of Shinjuku station, so...
I was curious about what he would think of my outfit, because I was wearing jeans and a high neckline, so he couldn't compliment my
We'd been texting back and forth since our first date, and he asked me what kind of food I'd like to eat. I said Chinese, and he took care of finding a place and making reservations (up high in Shinjuku, nice view!), even ordering a set course meal beforehand. The food was good -- I tasted some stuff I'd never had before -- and we had a pleasant conversation, my half of it mostly in Japanese and his half mostly in English.
He asked the inevitable, "Why did you come to Japan?" question, so I explained about the anime, and we talked about that for a bit. He asked me if I knew what cosplay was, so of course I said, "Shimashita yo!" He thought that was funny, and wants to see pictures. I didn't tell him what characters I'd done, so I wonder what he's imagining. Probably not that my cosplay history consists of male and/or gay and/or insane characters... ^____^
After we parted ways, he sent me a text to thank me for my company and to wish me good night, and also (because I'd told him about the video), "you have been tired by shooting!" *giggle*
* * *
That... turned out much longer than I thought it would.
