Music review: Arashi - A*RA*SHI

Artist: Arashi Members: Ninomiya Kazunari (Nino), Ohno Satoshi (Leader), Matsumoto Jun (MatsuJun), Aiba Masaki, Sakurai Sho Album: Arashi No.1 Ichigou Release date: 11/24/01 Video link: Performed on the One Tour (Surprise additional video! A music video directed by Hideaki Takizawa of Tackey and Tsubasa)

English translation: Pop it yeah! Honesty good! The heaviness from that boo! That's all right! Yet we will shape the world yes we are super boy! We are cool Even if something unpleasant happened, we show it off We'll do what we can, can't we? It's all right to have a dream, right?

You are my soul! Soul! You always are here with me I can't give it away. No one can get in our way. Congregate the wind and wind it all over my body storm storm for dream

Today again, they are saying in TV They are saying how miserable the world has become. I am always looking for looking for a gigantic love and ambition Everyday! Everybody! The world hasn't end yet Why don't we start from here? Let's get on! Let's get on yea!

Step by step instead of bursting, go for it naked Day by day I want stimulation rather than boredom Let's open our huge wings up

You are my soul! Soul! You always are here with me I can't give it away. No one can get in our way. Congregate the wind and wind it all over my body storm storm for dream

Catching the harsh storm with your both hands Be brave, let's fly Aim the heaven and unbeatable cloud Fly away

Step by step instead of bursting, go for it naked Day by day I want stimulation rather than boredom Let's open our huge wings up

You are my soul! Soul! You make me strong Tears are tommorrow's energy Aim the future, let's go for it. Storm storm oh yea!

You are my soul! Soul! You always are here with me I can't give it away. No one can get in our way. Congregate the wind and wind it all over my body storm storm for dream

Today again, they are saying in TV They are saying how miserable the world has become. I am always looking for looking for a gigantic love and ambition Everyday! Everybody! The world hasn't end yet Why don't we start from here? Let's get on! Let's get on yea!

You are my soul! Soul! You always are here with me I can't give it away. No one can get in our way. Congregate the wind and wind it all over my body storm storm for dream About the song: As should be fairly obvious, this was the first single released by Arashi. The word 'arashi' means storm, which is why it sounds a bit weird in the translation. I think the lyrics intended to reference the band and not a weather pattern.

This was the perfect song to use for the debut. It not only highlights Ohno's amazing voice but it also has some really good raps for Sho and the boys can show off a bit of their dancing skills too. It's easy to see why it's still one of their most popular songs.

I suck with tape.

Back when I was in college, I used to work for the K-Mart warehouse. It was my job to fill the orders that specific stores sent us. This meant that I got pretty handy with a box cutter. However, I have a difficult time with the hand tape dispensers. To this day, I still tape up the box then use a box cutter to slash the tape from the roll. We use those types of tape dispensers in the shipping department at my current job. Luckily, I don't have to use them very often. It's probably not particularly safe to cut tape with box cutters.

Game review: Coffee Rush

Coffee Rush is a weird sort of mash up between a time management game and a match-three game. Your customers come up to the counter and request a specific drink. In order to make the drink, you need to collect a certain amount of each ingredient. The ingredients are collected by matching three like items in a row. Once all of the ingredients for a drink are collected, you click on the drink to serve it to the customer. I found this game to be extremely annoying. Mostly because there are certain ingredients that are impossible to collect, which results in ticked off customers. If there were more opportunities to match three of an item, it wouldn't be so difficult. For example, the sugar ingredient pops up all the time so you can have tons of sugar. However, the whipped cream item doesn't pop up very often so if your customer wants something with whipped cream, they will have to wait a long time for three of that item to come together.

This is definitely an interesting concept for a game. I wouldn't mind seeing more of these sorts of mash ups between different types of genre. However, the developers need to make the games fair. If you're going to force us into creating recipes with specific amounts of specific ingredients, give us the tools to make it happen. Don't let the player flap in the wind, hoping that what they need pops up now before the customer storms off.

I have talked before about needing more indoor lighting in my house. After looking around a bit, I'm trying to figure out if some sort of ceiling light would be better for my living room instead of a floor lamp in the corner. It would light the entire room, after all. On the other hand, we don't want too much light or it'll put glare on the television. This would be a whole lot easier if the room would just kinda light up on its own but just enough so we can see but not too much. Argh!

Game review: Jane's Hotel: Family Hero

Last week, I told you about the announcement of the sequel to Jane's Hotel. Well, the game has finally gone live and I tried out the updated version. In the game, you play Jane, a hotel owner. Your grandmother has lost four of the family's hotels. It is your job to run the hotels successfully enough to pay back the loans on the properties. You only have a couple of weeks to complete your mission. Can you do it?

Admittedly, I didn't like the original game at all. However, the sequel fixes everything that was wrong with the first! You can upgrade you and your workers now so they will move faster or get better appliances for them to work with. Not only that, there are more options for upgrading your hotel. You aren't just stuck with "buy a plant" or "offer dinners to your guests." There are a multitude of options for you and you are only limited by the amount of money you bring in.

There is also a new employee to help offer new things to your customers. The bellboy will fix things when they break (yes, things break now), take pictures of your guests if they request them and carry their luggage. My only problem with this character is that he is not used quite as much as the maid. It would be nice if he could also help water the plants or something instead of leaving all that to the poor maid, who must hate her job.

Overall, this was a much better game. I actually had fun trying to decide what I wanted to upgrade next. Realore Studios has learned their lesson. More options for the player is a good thing.

Jane’s Hotel: Family Hero press release

Favorite Friday

Here is the opening to one of my favorite Japanese dramas, Densha Otoko.

Spring is a-comin'!

We're still having a whole bunch of weird weather up here in Pennsylvania but there are signs that spring is definitely on the way. There's even been a couple of robins out and about. And this means that grilling season is coming soon! We probably should have bought a grill cover last year to keep the rain and snow and everything off our grill. Ah well, at worst that means we get a new grill. That's fine with me! A better grill would be a nice thing to have anyway.

Movie review: Hitman

My husband and I finally sat down to watch Hitman last night. While it is based on a video game, neither of us have played it. So we're familiar with the basic premise but not the actual storyline of the game. Basically, 47 is a hitman who, as a child, was trained to obey and assasinate. He doesn't know how to do anything else. In the movie, he is hired to kill the Russian president. After he successfully completes his mission, he is told that his shot missed and the president is still alive. As he tries to figure out what is going on, he is chased by the Russian police and two INTERPOL agents. He also finds out that someone has put a hit out on him so there are other Agents chasing him as well.

Overall, the movie wasn't all that bad. The storyline was fairly believable. I had two problems with the movie: his bald, tattooed head and the boring fight scenes. See, 47 is very bald and has a bar scan tattoo on the back of his head, as does every Agent. However, this makes him extremely noticeable in large crowds. Why doesn't he buy a wig or a hat or some cover-up makeup to hide it? You would think that whoever trained the Agents would train them in hiding themselves.

As for the fight scenes, they would have been good for a Bond movie or something along those lines. However, we're talking about hired killers who have been trained since childhood for this sort of thing. There should be a little more 'oomph' to their fights. The scene where the four Agents fight each other was OK but nothing spectacular.

Overall, I enjoyed the movie. I expected it to be terrible but I actually found it somewhat compelling. I truly wanted to know what happened next. Of course, the ending left an opening for a sequel. Though I'm not sure this one was a big enough hit to warrant a second one. It would be nice to have a prequel though. Give us some more information on who trained the Agents and who it is that sends them out on their missions. Background information is a good thing. Seriously.

Top Five Favorite - Television Shows

I watch a lot of weird television shows. Here are my top five favorite, along with what stations they play on in the US: 1. Top Gear (BBC America) 2. Chuck (NBC) 3. Torchwood (BBC America) 4. Doctor Who (Sci-Fi) 5. Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares (BBC America)

As you can see, I watch a lot of British TV. I do watch a lot of US shows as well but most of them just aren't as entertaining as I find these.

Music review: BoA - Kimi no Tonari de

Artist: BoAAlbum: Outgrow Release date: 2/15/06 Video link: Via YouTube

English translation: Beside you, for you I want to do something for you I don’t care when Just tell me

Why does the mere thought of you Make my heart jump like this? Why does the mere touch of your hand Heal all my pain?

Did you move the wind When you suddenly sneezed? As the sunlight streams through the trees Our two feelings become one

Beside you, for you I want to do something for you I don’t care when When you feel like crying Just tell me

I hope that this time When we can talk about things Like what we were doing this time last year And where to go on the weekend Continues forever, without changing

At the crossing, you put your arm around me To protect me from the stream of people That ordinary kindness …Made me so happy

There’s so much more That I want to tell you We’ll be able to see each other again tomorrow But would it be luxuriant of me To wish I could stay by your side longer?

Beside you, for you I want to do something for you I don’t care when When you feel like crying Just tell me

I want us to share Our happiness and pain Can I say something just a little bit selfish? My heart’s trembling a little So hold me tighter than anyone else About the song: Another sweet ballad comes from the BoA camp. However, since this song is so slow, it seems like it is way too long. It is pretty and the lyrics have some nice feelings but there is nothing spectacular here. I would easily pass up this song for one of her pop songs.