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Comments, please ^_^v
~Say No To Scanslations!~
Name:
Jamie
Age:
22
Interests:
Japan, Japan, Japan. And reading :P My world revolves around things Japanese
I am also a complete and utter addict of the tv show The West Wing, and a Josh/Donna shipper 100% ^_^v
Ever been to Japan?:
Yup, three times. First time, 6 weeks, summer of 1998, Nagareyama-shi, Chiba-ken. Second time, Fall 2001, 4 months, Nagoya, Aichi-ken ^.^v And finally, summer 2003 for a 10 day trip(Nagoya, Kyouto, Nara, Gifu, Mie)
Manga:
Okay, here goes, in no particular order:
Mars, Kanata-kara, Hikaru no Go, Inuyasha, Sekai de ichibandaikirai, Hanazakari no kimitachi e, New York New York, Massugu ni ikou, Itazura na Kiss, Gertrude no Recipe, Bleach, Koucha Ouji, Nanji nayamu koto nakare, Hot Gimmick, Mekakushi no kuni, Psychometrer Eiji,
and a TON more!
Fav. j-pop groups, in no particular order:
V6!, Yuzu, Porno Graffiti, Spitz, Kiroro, Misia, Something ELse, Fukuyama Masaharu, Chemistry, Gospellers, Kuwata Keisuke, Skoop on Somebody, Arashi, Kinki Kids, SMAP, Matsu Takako, Exile, Mitsunaga Ryouta, Moriyama Naotarou, Tokio
and again, a ton more
Fav. Japanese dramas:
Long Vacation, Virgin Road, Meguri Ai, Love Story, Namida o fuite, Aishiteiru to itte kure, Nemureru Mori, Koi wa aserazu, Bokura no Yuuki, Beautiful Life, Summer Snow, Long Love Letter, Asunaro Hakusho, Perfect Love, Team, PS Genki desu Shunpei, Hitotsu Yane no Shita 1 & 2, Oishii Kankei, Itazura na Kiss, Mukodono, Kimi wa Pet! etc.
Contact:
e-mail: jun_inohara@hotmail.com
AIM: JunInohara
ICQ: 146249241
MSN: sueyoshi03@hotmail.com
Layout: v. 10.0! Done oh so graciously and fantastically by Kiripin, so run to her page and e-mail her about how amazing it looks. It features Nibimaru and Irori from the Konami Shouko series Nibiirogenshikou, which I love, and really need vol. 3 of :P
My Japanese Dorama List
My manga list
My j-poplist!
This gif of Jamie ddr-ing was made by Amy and it was edited from the ddring bunny. YAY AMY!
Friends:
+Kiripin
+Katherine
+Megan
+Talia
+Lauren
+Hilo
+Jenna
+Amy
+Chloe
+Melissa
+Giro
+Kris
+Annie
+Joy
+Kira
+Elizabeth
+Rachael
+Masanari
+Serge
+Cali
+Kevin
+Levi
+Jenni
+Sumudu
+Jenny
Links:
+Nagoya
+Nanzan
+Yoridori
+Masanari's Page: Serendipity
+Pitas' Main Page
+J-Ent
+Sengoku o togi zoushi
+Anime-Forums
+AnimeNation
+WGN Radio
+Nakajo Hisaya
+Uta-Net
+Engrish
+Peoria Greyhound Adoption
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Wednesday, October 29th, 2003 :: Comments []
Frustration Continuing
Listening to: Love Siesta/V6
So we all remember my problem about these two little senior level hours that I seem to be missing, right? Well, I had another meeting with my advisor today....
I swear to god. I wish I could go back to my freshman year knowing what I do now in order to tell 18 year-old me that she needed be ready to NEVER EVER TRUST HER ADVISOR TO DO ANYTHING.
We left two weeks ago with the understanding the whomever it was that was supposed to be figuring out where my hours were going to be coming from would be figuring that out. Well, I walk into my advisors office and the meeting starts...and only then does he start calling people about the whole thing. ONLY THEN. I cannot stress this enough. ONLY FUCKING THEN. (-.- Pardon my language).
So, what do I have to do tomorrow? Well, I have to take the "transcripts" from Nanzan (that's in quotations because they're copies) back to Becky Goeckner, who is the head of the International Studies program at my uni. I have to see her in order to make sure the copies Meg and I have aren't the only copies that exist this side of the Pacific T_________T And also if they're what ISU gets from Nanzan for every student (that is, the copy of the original). If they are, then I go to Evaluations so that apparently this whole problem really can get straightened out. If they're not, then fuck if I know what I do next.
I swear to god. I don't care how many people my advisor is seeing, it's still his responsibility to see that I have as little trouble as possible...and all he does is wait till I get there to remind him what the problem is so he can make a few phone calls that will only progress the storyline by a page, when what I really need is to be progressing by pages and chapters to the end of the book (Yeah, I know, an extremely poorly put analogy).
Excuse me for a moment.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Thank-you. Ijou desu.
Tuesday, October 28th, 2003 :: Comments []
Saigo no Nibiirogenshikou
Listening to: Famous People/Brad Paisley
Woo ^___________________^ My volume of Nibiirogenshikou finally arrived today. Sadly, it's the last volume (total of 3), but what a great ending ^O^/ I'm so absolutely thrilled with the way it turned out. *does a likes happy endings jig*
This is a manga I highly recommend. It's short but sweet. Great characters, great background, great drawing style ^^;; It encourages me to read other manga by this author. In the past, as I've mentioned before, I've read two other manga by this author where one I was just "Eh *shrug*" on, and the other I thought was just completely awful (rather like reading Sakurazawa Erika's Between the Sheets), but this one is fantastic. ^_______________^
Watched the final episode of Joe Schmo >D Damn, that poor bastard. I mean, he gets money sure...so good thing for him, but watching the whole post-reveal thing I just feel bad for him. He seems like such a nice guy, and it kinda looks like he has barely restrained anger about the whole thing >D It's as close to The Truman Show as you can get now, and I think he's pissed though showing a good front *lol* I felt bad watching every episode while at the same time I also found it pretty fascinating. Probably feel bad for him because I'm the kind of person that takes practicaly jokes personally ^^;;;;
Monday, October 27th, 2003 :: Comments []
Good Day, Bad Day
Listening to: Hmm Meg's watching Law & Order
Okay, so it wasn't a particuarly bad day by any means. Except for the fact the damned vending machine ate my money. Kept telling me to Try Another Button keep on dreaming, and then wouldn't give me my change back. Damned thing. ISU must be more desperate than I thought :P
The good part about today was that during choir, the director of the Women's Choir (who's directing us, University Choir, on one song for this concert) asked if he could speak to me after class. So I found him afterwards and she asked me if I'd ever considered being in the Women's Choir ^_____________^;;
Okay, granted...I'm graduating (in theory :P) this semester...but I was already considering applying as a Graduate Student At Large or whatever it's called, and taking a couple ESL classes...but even if I don't do THAT, I could still do it so I could be in choir....after all, it's not as if ISU cares if I'm just in choir as long as I'm paying them, right? Plus I've got all this time waiting to hear from JET or Aeon or what not. etc. etc.
But when it comes right down to it, I'm just really happy to get that kind of acknowledgement of my singing ability ^^;; I mean, I've been in Madrigals and sung in choirs since I was 6 or 7, so it's not as if I'm ignorant that I can hold a tune ^^;; But it's been 4 1/2 years almost since high school, and this is only the third semester of U-choir I've done....which means I haven't done a great deal of singing the last few years ^^;; So yay, it made me extremely happy ^O^/
Tonight in our Japanese Society and Culture class, we watched the 42nd installment (of 48 movies in total, IIRC)of the Tora-san movie series....rather, it's formal name is Otoko wa tsurai yo!. When I was in Nagoya, any time one of these movies was on, it was like there were no other channels on tv, because my host mom had to watch them. So while I wouldn't say I like them by any means (although the main theme is kinda nostalgiac to me now >D)....watching one reminds me of study abroad, and it's one of the culture things that everyone in Japan knows :P Hey Masanari, how many Otoko wa tsurai yo! movies have YOU seen?! >D!
Saturday, October 25th, 2003 :: Comments []
Missed Oppurtunities
Listening to: Good Morning/Yuzu
So...yeah....was looking at the sheet that had the information about today's JET meeting this morning, and only then did I realize their was a note at the top stating there was an RSVP. O___________O Of course, no RSVP date was included, and I realized I'd made a huge blunder. So I quickly e-mailed to the address, and left a message at the phone number. Basically I made it sound as if I thought my sister and I couldn't come until today, and would there be a way for the two of us to still attend the meeting?
So we headed for Chicago anyway. I called the same number repeatedly, to no avail. We thought we might just on to the Art Institute with our mom and her friend Donna, but mom suggested we check the building where the meeting was located anyway (The Japan Information Center). So we jumped out of the car, got a little confused before we found it :P and made our way to the 10th floor.
To find it completely deserted O.O Not a person there. Nothing. One would think, on a day they were going to hold a meeting later on, someone would be there (at 12 by this time) preparing. But no! So it's a missed oppurtunity for us to ask some questions, but at least it wasn't required ^^;; (although dammit, Meg and I were both VERY nicely dressed T________T)
Actually, it wasn't the JET meeting in particular that had me irritated and angry today. It was my mom's friend Donna. For the second time as we went to Chicago, she she seemed to think the day was about her. The first time being when we took Masanari up that way to see the city.
I swear she thinks we know nothing about the city at all. She "pointed out" the Tribune building and the Chicago river, both of which I'm very familiar with. She was constantly saying the "City" is so-and-so. In fact, when we went to check the building the JIC was in and returned with the information that it was closed she replied "Well of course it is, it's Saturday". I was about to strangle her then, and replied "The why did Megan and I just go all the way up there?!". It's like, if you know about the "City", FUCKING TELL ME ABOUT IT T_______________T
Then we're driving back and I took the "long" way home from Mitsuwa (which we'd driven to after going to the Art Institute) and she tells me that when we get to Pontiac I needed to slow down (State Police headquarters is there) and I let it go....then we get there and all of the sudden she says "Slow down! It's Pontiac!".......
......................
I snapped back "I know!". As if I never drive this stretch of road EVER U____________U 4 children in my family and in our years of driving, only 2 speeding tickets have been given to us....and NEITHER one of them to my sister and I.
Yeah I know, the whole thing sounds petty. I'm not explaining it well. But the whole idea of the trip up there was specifically for Megan and I, and this woman just makes the whole thing about her, and gives advice where it's unwarranted and unwanted, and won't shut up about the "City". Christ, Megan and I aren't like this about Japan are we? We've been behaving appallingly if so.
But, on a GOOD note, Mitsuwa had volume 8 of Kimi wa Pet! ^O^!!!!!! Considering that I don't remember ever having seen Kimi wa Pet there at all, the fact they had #8 was thrilling ^_____________^/ That, and I bought the new Yuzu single :D
Oh yes, we went to Marshall Field's briefly before going to Mitsuwa...and started playing "Guess how much that _______ costs"....but stopped after one or two items when the coat we guessed was around 0 turned out to be ,495. Damn, what a way to make you feel extremely middle class fast :P
Friday, October 24th, 2003 :: Comments []
Gakkari da!
Listening to: ~nothing~
So in my Japanese tutor lesson this week, I'd had to write a sentence using "dekoboko" as part of my homework. Having looked up the kanji in my computer's dictionary, I used them in the sentence. My tutor was checking my sentences (which were, shockingly, all correct this week) and I asked her to show me what the stroke order for "dekoboko" and she looked at me like I was something less than lucid >D Turns out, she had no idea they were kanji at all (incidentally, they kind of look like two little boxes...a perfect representation for the word), had never seen them. I told her I'd found them by looking the word up, so she double-checked on her denshi jisho, and sure enough there they were. She kept laughing and saying she'd never seen them and they were never used.
So I guess while I'm disappointed that the kanji aren't used (considering they're perfect), I felt I accomplished something in utterly suprising my tutor AND being right *lol* Not that I was trying. It was a complete accident. And I realize there are plenty of kanji most Japanese people never learn...but still!
Paid ISU their 0 today U____U Woo, that hurt...but I'm glad I got it paid off. Now they'll let me have my transcripts when I ask for them ^^;; That, and while I have significantly less in the bank than I did this morning, I still have just over 0 (albeit a 1 credit card bill T___T), I'll be getting a massive paycheck next week, which will make me feel much better once it gets deposited ^^;;
Wednesday, October 22, 2003 :: Comments []
Waterboys no Owari
Listening to: WGN Radio Online
Last night I finally finished watching the drama version of Waterboys. >D I only had 3 eps left to watch, but I've been so busy this past fews weeks that I never really got time to sit down and watch it.
I'm actually pretty sad I'm done with it. It was silly, it was hokey, but it was extremely entertaining, and I loved the characters, even if they were the most original in drama history. I loved the use of Fukuyama Masaharu's Niji as the main theme >D It just worked perfectly for the "buddy" feeling of the whole series.
And I think I've found an official replacement for Kubozuka Yousuke *lol* In the person of Yamada Takayuki >D who I have thus far seen in Long Love Letter, Koi ga shitai x 3 (the only good thing amid that awful series), Lunch no joou, and this past summer season's Waterboys....although I liked him best in LLL and this series ^^;; The characters he played (Takamatsu in LLL and Shindou Kankurou in Waterboys) were quite similar, and he's probably got too good a "nice guy" kind of face :P cause he's played one in all the series I've seen him in >D I don't think I could stand it to see him as a jerk....I'd end up laughing the whole time instead.
The big sychronized swimming scene (I swear, after 10 episodes of them just refering to it as shinkuro, I have a hard time writing those two long words out) was fantastic, and it had the appropriate "We-know-Kankurou-and-his-osananajimi-friend-Asako-like-each-other-and-will-end-up-together" ending >D I'm gonna miss Moriyama Mirai as Tatematsu Norio though. I love the "goofy most of the time but actually has a difficult life" kind of characters, like him :P It'll be interesting to see what (if any, the drama world is unstable of course :P) series he'll be in next and what kind of character he plays ^^;;
Still, in the end, I have this sneaking suspicion that the reason anyone wanted to do this series was to be able to see young guys in speedoes once a week for an hour :P Why anyone thinks speedoes are attractive though, is beyond me!
Tuesday, October 21, 2003 :: Comments []
Access at Last
Listening to:All You Need Is Love/Brad Paisley
Seemed like years since I could post O.o And of course, there's that irksome business about entries since October 7th missing. Thank goodness I hadn't really written anything noteworthy (although now the TireMonster pic no er graces the screen :P)since then....Not that I've ever written anything noteworthy.
Had an interesting visitor to the WinMX chat Meg and I chat in (aptly titled, ----Channel JAPAN----) the other day. This guy (I remember both screen names he used, but honestly I'm 1.) a nice enough person I wouldn't post it and 2.) It's hardly relevant) had the idea that the US wasn't "ready" for J-pop. To which my reaction was something like: ............. Apparently it's only good enough for the "enlightened" of us who already like Japanese culture....as if the average Joe can't discern a good melody or connect to the music without lyrics anyway.
But (unfortunatly) his words of wisdom didn't stop there. He then went on to insist that Japan was more "open-minded" because of all the Western influences they had (because apparently the fact Westernization was all but forced upon Japan didn't seem to sink in with this guy) and kept asking "Where are the Japanese influences in the US?".....I don't think Megan and I ever even answered that question, because that's clearly not the point. I was simply appalled that this guy seems to think that because we have less Japanese influence than Japan has Western influence, that it somehow makes them more open-minded.
Now don't get me wrong (and I'm not even BEGINNING to name the complete bullshit this guy was coming up with), I'm not bashing Japan. Anyone that knows me knows I have a passion for the place. But I'm also realistic. From what I've learned and know, and from having visited there a number of times, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that like anywhere else, it has it's faults along with it's greatnesses. That this guy was choosing to focus on the good of Japan (albeit having piss-poor reasoning and with a clear lack of actual knowledge) and the bad of the US and decided that was a fair comparison galled me.
The kicker to me was that he was all hung up about lyrics to songs (apparently he's a Dir en Grey fan, and they apparently have deep lyrics. Being neither a fan of that music genre nor of them, I couldn't tell you), yet when I was talking about him to other people in the chat (in Japanese, when he came in for a second time the following day), he accused me of having stopped talking about him once he came in....when the whole time I was, just in Japanese. Can we say HYPOCRITE? If this guy can't even figure out I'm talking about him in the crappy version I call my Japanese Speaking Ability, I don't see how he could get "deep" lyrics. Of course, he commented DeG albums come with English translations....which only proves he has as much of a crutch as anyone in the rest of the country. Without his precious booklet I'd like to see him "get" the lyrics he feels are oh-so important.
:D Nevermind the fact, even in English, except for country music, lyrics are often the last thing I pay attention to.
Honestly, I didn't explain this guy well, but he was a complete moron. It's fine if you believe something, but I think it also calls for sound-reasoning based upon real knowledge, not just what you assume is true based "observation from afar".
Tuesday, October 7, 2003 :: Comments []
I Love Hate My University
Listening to: Ambitious Japan/TOKIO (that's right, same song for two days, it's GOOD!)
....Honestly, they can't do anything correctly here! I imagine this isn't exactly a new piece of information to anyone attending a university or college or two-year whatever!
Anyway, the new story is that Meg and I went to see our advisor, just to make sure everything was all right and in line for our (theoretical) graduation in December. Everything should have been fine, because last semester he told us what we had to do to finish up school and we did it. I'm taking 4 hours, Meg's taking 6. End of story.
Or so we'd hoped.
No, no, that would be too much to ask from the esteemed institution of learning that is ISU (ironically originally founded as a university for people to learn to become teachers), where they have previously listed our minors as being Latin American studies, when neither of us has ever taken so much as one Latin American studies related class.
No, as it turns out, even with the two classes I'm taking this semester, I am somehow, somewhere, missing two damned fucking senior level ("senior level" meaning 200 or 300 level courses) hours. These two hours were not mentioned to me last semester when I was regiestering for fall classes. Furthermore, it turns out that my time at Nanzan was lumped together and labeled as IDS 230 (IDS=Interdisciplinary Studies)....and never articulated into individual classes with individual class "levels" appropriated to them (meaning, ISU hasn't said my Japanese classes were a certain level, nor my history, nor lit classes I took at Nanzan). So, in theory, these 2 tiny MINISCULE little hours are imbedded somewhere in the as of yet un-articulated IDS 230....It should be no problem, of course, because if it's labeled 230 something in there has got to be at least a 200 level class, and no class that I took at Nanzan was less than a 3 hours/semester course.
So, no problems Jamie, just go over to International Studies and tell them they need to get their lazy butts asses in gear.
But no. Again. Much too reasonable for ISU to handle. Turns out, Megan, Jason and I are all missing from their fall 2001 Nanzan file, while our classmate Mark remains in there. Where someonelse might think "Oh! The plot thickens", all I can think is "Who the hell is RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MASSIVE HEADACHE I'M DEVELOPING?!". Even better, the head of the department was in England until today.
On the bright side, the head of the department actually called back today, only to inform us that all our information had been inexplicably sent over to the Foreign Language department. This I don't get either. We have a contract-major in Japanese Studies, and while the majority of the work we've done was in taking the language courses, we have no department specific ties, and if we do to any, it would be the Interdisciplinary Studies department. So why, on earth, we have ended up there, I have no idea.
So at this point I'm waiting to hear back from the head of the Foreign Language department, because not only can I not graduate in December with out those 2 hours, I also can't apply to JET without an official or unofficial transcript from Nanzan, as JET requires transcripts from any and all universities attended. Obviously they exist, as Jason's application and eventual acceptance by JET attests, but CHRIST can't these people do anything right?? Why the hell didn't my advisor know about all this? T____________T
Anyway, just had to get that out =D < /endtoday'srant >
Saturday, October 4, 2003 :: Comments []
Just Don't Get It
Listening to: Ambitious Japan/TOKIO
So I occasionally read the articles posted at JapanToday, and there if you're a member you can post replies to said topics. One hot topic there is the almost across the board vehement disgust for the English Teacher In Japan that's felt by other foreigners (as that is who primarily post replies there).
This doesn't discourage me, of course. Whatever petty, ridiculous grudges so many people seem to hold are not interesting to me. I just simply don't get it. They spout English teachers being "This way" or "That way", and seem to think that the same kinds of things do not apply to any other job, or people within that job. But then, of course, many of the people that post there seem to have a vary narrowed view of a great deal of subjects. *shrug* I suppose when it comes right down to it, I thank god I don't have a stick up the ass the way some of the people who post there seem to >:P
So, I finally put up the "Say No To Scanslations" link up there near the top a few days ago. I got it from a page that Katherine's friend made. I still have the fighting spirit in me though....which if you translate that just means I have more time on my hands to argue with people who'll never agree with me anyway, and I'll never agree with them, and it's up being a stalemate where we both think the other is misled while feeling we're in the complete right. :P But I like having this link because it puts concisely the points I usually bring up anyway and is good for reference (I keep it in my sigs where I post now). So if you're reading this and of like-mind with me, by all means use the link. I'm sure it's okay, as that's what it was put up for to begin with. (Actually, that's one thing that amazes me. People get all bent out of shape for people using images from their pages, or linking their page without permission, and yet I'm sure there are people that get upset about that but still support/distribute scanslations....)
Saturday, October 4, 2003 :: Comments []
^_______________________^ New layout! Thanks a million, Kiripin, it looks fantastic!
Thursday, October 2, 2003 :: Comments []
Since Kiripin has so graciously offered to make a new layout for me, I'm going to take her up on it. I'm lost for ideas, though. The current idea is to use some black and white pics I really like from Nibiirogenshikou, but I'm open to other ideas. So if anyone has one, let me know really soon here ^^;;
Masanari goes home tomorrow T_________T.
Wednesday, October 1, 2003 :: Comments []
Archivage!
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