-Album Details- Title: Distant Worlds: music from FINAL FANTASY JIRITSU Publisher: Square Enix Music Catalog Number: SQEX-10659~60 Release Date: September 20th, 2018 Ripped by: dancey -Info- Nothing new or revelatory here other than it was only available at TGS2018, enjoy nonetheless.

-Album Details- Title: NJBP Concert Archives I ~ANCIENT FESTIVAL~ Publisher: SuperSweep Catalog Number: SRVD-5001 Release Date: July 6th, 2019 Ripped by: Razakin -Info- Recording of the New Japan BGM Philharmonic Orchestra’s Ancient Festival concert, which was full of Yuzo Koshiro goodness from the Scheme to Streets of Rage and Etrian Odyssey, and as a main […]

Компания Xiaomi, неожиданно для всех, объявила дату анонса очередного смартфона из линейки Redmi K30.

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OED Word of the Day: time-ridden, adj. Afflicted by the effects of time; time-worn

OED Word of the Day: mural, adj.1 Designating a crown or (later also) a garland, wreath, etc., conferred as a mark of honour (originally by the ancient Romans) on the first soldier to scale the walls of a besieged town

OED Word of the Day: sinistrorse, adj. Designating spiral mollusc shells that coil to the left (anticlockwise), and molluscs having such shells

“The most difficult part was persuading our children that they had the freedom to make anything they wanted,” writes mom Anam Ahmed at Let Grow. (Click here!) …Like most kids, my children live prescheduled lives (at least they did in “the time before”). At school, someone tells them when to play outside and when to […]

Elon Musk thinks a universal basic income is inevitable. Musk doesn't see plausible alternatives. I hope not. So here's the optimistic scenario: On the one hand, manual and low skilled work will mostly get automated out of existence. So one could imagine why demand for people at lower skill levels and lower levels of cognitive ability could just evaporate. On the other hand, automation will cut costs and boost the wealth of those still employed. Even if the pay of manual laborers is low the goods a manual laborer will need to survive should become very cheap. So any upper class people who can find a use for them might pay them enough to survive. But I see a stronger...

For large electric power storage projects the cost of batteries has plummeted. 2008, when battery prices were 10 times higher than they are today. This advance is timely as photovoltaic electric power prices have dropped so far that in SoCal PV is causing a growing drop in mid-day demand and therefore a much bigger spike in evening demand. Therefore there's a growing need for a cheaper way to store power generated in mid day and deliver it in the evening. You can see how much solar power output surges each day in California by clicking on some of the Daily Renewables Watch links at the Cal ISO site (the organization that manages California's electric grid). The growing supply of wind...

Check out this qz article: The robot that takes your job should pay taxes, says Bill Gates. About 35-40 years ago secretary was the biggest job in most states. Those days are long past. As you can see by advancing the time bar for the USA states map on that page, by 2000 truck driver was the biggest job. So I have a question for Bill Gates: Do you want to tax word processors too? Also, autonomous vehicle technology will surely wipe out most truck driving jobs in the next 20 years. Do you want to tax autonomous truck technology to slow the rate of that transition? Keep in mind that thousands of lives will be saved each year once...

Keep calm, and stay geeky people!

Limit your exposure!

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It's hard to keep up with the Zoomers!

Make some noise!

The message is Zoom and gloom!

We all have a rope to pull!

Stupidity repeats itself!

Is the new normal a new normal for you?

Is your Significant Other significantly agitated?

Let your finger do the unlocking.

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On accorde "The World of Art Award" (WAA) aux artistes, aux galeries et aux musées qui poursuivent les "meilleures pratiques" dans l'art et la culture. Cette concurrence cherche à attirer dies artistes, galeries, les musées qui redéfinissent des normes de l'excellence d'art. Ceux qui défie des trends et des tendances existantes dans l'art et la culture.

It’s not everyday we regurgitate a few old (and new!) chemistry jokes. How often do we tell them? Periodically. We told one the other day, but there was no reaction. Hahaha! Wait? How come nobody else is laughing? Ehem… well, anyways, here are a few more: When I first heard oxygen and magnesium got together […]

The post Top 20 Chemistry Jokes of Some Time appeared first on Funny & Jokes.

The post Team Spotlight: Getting to Know Ocean Blue’s James Stamatis appeared first on Ocean Blue Fishing Adventures.

В 1943 году цензуру нацистской диктатуры прорвала радиостанция «Свободная Германия». Пока в Берлине уверяли, что русские на месте убивают каждого немца, немецкие антифашисты передавали из подмосковного Красногорска весточки от солдат, попавших в плен под Сталинградом и в других частях Восточного фронта.

Ничто так не подчёркивает важность достоверных новостей, как кризис. Однако пандемия сovid-19 переворачивает вверх дном журналистику и меняет условия труда. Нельзя недооценивать возникающий в результате стресс для психического здоровья работников СМИ.

Arterial cardiovascular events are the leading cause of death in patients with JAK2V617F myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). However, their mechanisms are poorly understood. The high prevalence of myocardial infarction without significant coronary stenosis or atherosclerosis in patients with MPNs suggests that vascular function is altered. The consequences of JAK2V617F mutation on vascular reactivity are unknown. We observe here increased responses to vasoconstrictors in arteries from Jak2V617F mice resulting from a disturbed endothelial NO pathway and increased endothelial oxidative stress. This response was reproduced in WT mice by circulating microvesicles isolated from patients carrying JAK2V617F and by erythrocyte-derived microvesicles from transgenic mice. Microvesicles of other cellular origins had no effect. This effect was observed ex vivo on isolated aortas, but also in vivo on femoral arteries. Proteomic analysis of microvesicles derived from JAK2V617F erythrocytes identified increased expression of myeloperoxidase as the likely mechanism accounting for their effect. Myeloperoxidase inhibition in microvesicles derived from JAK2V617F erythrocytes suppressed their effect on oxidative stress. Antioxidants such as simvastatin and N-acetyl cysteine improved arterial dysfunction in Jak2V617F mice. In conclusion, JAK2V617F MPNs are characterized by exacerbated vasoconstrictor responses resulting from increased endothelial oxidative stress caused by circulating erythrocyte-derived microvesicles. Simvastatin appears to be a promising therapeutic strategy in this setting.

Although CEACAM1 (CC1) glycoprotein resides at the interface of immune liver injury and metabolic homeostasis, its role in orthotopic liver transplantation (OLT) remains elusive. We aimed to determine whether/how CEACAM1 signaling may affect hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) and OLT outcomes. In the mouse, donor liver CC1 null mutation augmented IRI-OLT (CC1-KO→WT) by enhancing ROS expression and HMGB1 translocation during cold storage, data supported by in vitro studies where hepatic flush from CC1-deficient livers enhanced macrophage activation in bone marrow–derived macrophage cultures. Although hepatic CC1 deficiency augmented cold stress–triggered ASK1/p-p38 upregulation, adjunctive ASK1 inhibition alleviated IRI and improved OLT survival by suppressing p-p38 upregulation, ROS induction, and HMGB1 translocation (CC1-KO→WT), whereas ASK1 silencing (siRNA) promoted cytoprotection in cold-stressed and damage-prone CC1-deficient hepatocyte cultures. Consistent with mouse data, CEACAM1 expression in 60 human donor liver biopsies correlated negatively with activation of the ASK1/p-p38 axis, whereas low CC1 levels associated with increased ROS and HMGB1 translocation, enhanced innate and adaptive immune responses, and inferior early OLT function. Notably, reduced donor liver CEACAM1 expression was identified as one of the independent predictors for early allograft dysfunction (EAD) in human OLT patients. Thus, as a checkpoint regulator of IR stress and sterile inflammation, CEACAM1 may be considered as a denominator of donor hepatic tissue quality, and a target for therapeutic modulation in OLT recipients.

The editors of JCI and JCI Insight are revisiting our editorial processes in light of the strain that the COVID-19 pandemic places on the worldwide scientific community. Here, we discuss adjustments to our decision framework in light of restrictions placed on laboratory working conditions for many of our authors.

It’s no secret that I love Japan. I mean, I really, really love Japan. I felt more at home in Tokyo than I ever have anywhere else, and I think about going back all. the. time. I’m even thinking about it right now. You’re probably reading this right now because, at the very least, some tiny part of you is curious about whether you should do it. It might be the tiiiiiiiniest little part, but I’m sure it’s there. Maybe you don’t want to admit it because it seems pretty impossible, and yeah, I will admit that if you have a job that you don’t want to leave, strong family ties, kids, pets, or no money (among other things), it must seem like a distant what-if that will never happen. Here’s the thing. If you’re really, honestly interested, then make it happen. Because guess what? You freaking can make it happen, and don’t let anybody tell you no. If you’re coming up with a “But…” right now, I’ll stop you right there! “But I have kids/pets…” Figure out how to take them with you, because you can! “But I don’t want to leave my job…” Take a sabbatical for a year, look into transfers to a branch abroad, look for a better job in the same field in Japan, or look into whether this job is really worth giving up on this dream (maybe it isn’t). “But I can’t speak the language…” So? I moved to Japan and didn’t speak a word. Some people learn before they go, some people learn while they’re there (me), and some people never learn (I don’t recommend this). I could go on forever, but the whole world is at your fingers if you really want it! I seriously believe that. It’s not always easy, but if you want something badly enough, don’t you owe it to yourself to at least try? Anyways, let me give you the top reasons why I think that you should give living in Japan a try! 1. Living in a different culture opens your eyes. This especially is true if you immerse yourself in as much of the culture as you can. Make Japanese friends, learn about what people do on a daily basis and what they believe in. Try doing things in ways that are new to you. Try new foods! Mochi is the schiz, by the way! Once you’ve experienced doing new things, it will change how you do things even if you return back home. I will always have a no-shoes policy in my house (it’s so much cleaner!), I absolutely CRAVE a train system (if only!), and I have a newfound respect for walking and cycling. I never did this when I was little, but now, if I can, I walk! 2. You’ll have a fresh start. In your new home in Japan, you won’t have any of the drama that surrounded you in your old one. Thanks to the internet, we can still keep in touch with friends and family, but being a few thousand miles away from them will keep a lot of the drama to a minimum. Take a chance to stretch your wings and see what kind of person you are when you have the freedom to be you without their judgement. Trust me, it takes a weight off being in a new place where nobody knows who you used to be (or who they thought you used to be). Oh, and you know what? I bet that you will love yourself more than you ever did before. 3. Japan is a magical place! Seriously. Cherry blossoms, gorgeous temples and “castles” (I wouldn’t call them castles, but they’re called that nonetheless, and they’re really cool anyway), a rich history filled with Samurai and ninjas (who doesn’t love ninjas?), seasonal treats, and an entire culture that grew up reading manga. How does this not sound like an amazing place to live?!  And no offense to any other country, but Japanese trains come quickly, go almost everywhere, are extremely punctual, and pretty clean, which makes them (Tokyo especially) easily #1 in the world in public transportation. Now that sounds magical to me. 4. Universal Health Care. If you’re American like me, this will make a HUGE difference in your life. Trust me. If you come from pretty much any other 1st world nation, it probably won’t matter as much, though. But at least it’s good! 5. Japan is safer than where you came from. There’s no gun violence. There’s very low crime in general. You can walk in the dead of night in the seediest parts of town, as a woman, alone, and still feel perfectly safe from other people. From earthquakes is another matter, but you’ll get used to them really fast, and Japan is built to withstand all but the biggest. 6. Wa. There is a concept called wa in Japanese society, which essentially promotes practicing peace and harmony in your daily life. Wa is obvious in everything from traditional architecture and decor to the way that people act around each other– courteousness, quiet, and respect are what you expect most from your neighbors. You’re never going to wake up to your neighbors blaring music at 3am having a raucous party. Even drunken people wandering the street are more polite than not (although most of them just sort of stumble home or sit down where they are for the night– but remember, Japan is safe so they only thing they have to worry about is getting chilly). We could all use a little bit of harmony in our lives, and that’s something that Japan taught me to value. I’m surprised that yoga isn’t more popular, since they’re pretty in tune with each other. 7. All the new gadgets, and all of the old culture. Sure, Silicon Valley is where a lot of new apps are coming out, but if you want lots of little weird but useful gadgets to make your life easier (or more interesting), take a stroll through Akihabara. Plus, there are tons of cheap versions of what you’re used to, like large-capacity flash drives and SD cards. And I would be remiss in not mentioning the used electronics! Smartphones! Right next to small neighborhood temples, btw. It’s the only place to find Ayanami Rei in a kimono, wandering the street. The best of both worlds! 8. MANGA AND ANIME EVERYWHERE. This should be your main reason. This should be enough of a reason. Not only is it available everywhere, but events abound. If you wanted, you could go to an anime-related event every weekend of the year. Also, let’s not forget that it’s the only place to see all of the anime movies released in the theater, go to the official events (like Jump Festa, Comicket, World Cosplay Summit, and Anime Japan, among others), and see the musicals, seiyuu radio shows, and stage plays. If this isn’t reason enough, you’re probably in the wrong place. 9. It’s cheaper than you think. I lived in Tokyo, and then I moved back to the US, thinking that because I was living in a place often called “The Most Expensive City In The World,” it would be cheaper here. Nope.. Apartment rents, even in small cities, are at least the price that I was paying in Tokyo (~$600/mo). And try finding that in LA. So far I haven’t had any luck, and especially not in the areas that are actually sort-of-kind-of safe. Food is also about on-par with the US, especially domestic food. Considering that it’s an island, it’s actually really, really cheap. Food in Hawaii cost sometimes 3-4 times what I was able to get it for in Japan. Then, when you factor in healthcare, which is pretty cheap (what you pay for the insurance is based on your income, and then it covers 80% of all your bills — this is a simplification, but generally holds true), and transportation costs (you don’t need a car, therefore no gas, no insurance, no car maintenance fees), it’s downright cheap. Even living in Tokyo. 10. You will never run out of things to do. In nearly a decade, I never ran out of cool things to do. Can you say the same about the city that you live in now? Thought so. Ah man, I kinda feel ready to jump back on a plane and move across the ocean… three cats and all! Somebody hold me back… resistance is fading……………….  

☆ To see all of the parts in this series, click here ☆ I bet you thought I’d forgotten about this series, didn’t you! I never forget– sometimes I just lose steam, but I’m feeling good now, so lots of writing is coming! So, it was basically my 25th birthday. What did I write in my journal? It’s my 25th birthday in 3 days! :O So old!! I can’t believe that I ever wrote that… and also that it’s been more than ten years and I don’t feel any older. If anything, I feel younger! I have grown in a lot of ways, especially in the way that I relate to people around me and in how I take care of my health, and I guess I’ve matured in my general level of fangirlness…. No, wait. I’m still just as big a fangirl as ever, what am I saying? I’m still stalking the KuroKura tag on twitter every day, watching Lucifer mostly to see when he and Chloe are going to kiss or when he’s going to sleep with a guy again… but I digress! Let’s relive my fun first year in Japan instead! On my birthday, there happened to be a fanclub trip for Nagayama Takashi, the one and only actor whose fanclub I’ve ever been in. I went mostly because my friends A and M were going and to report on it for the internet at large, but it was really, really silly, and really, really fun! Well, silly is basically my #1 criteria for having fun, so that makes sense! We could all use more fun in our lives! The day started super early, and I was too excited to sleep, so I was dead tired. The event was scheduled to begin at 8:30 just outside of Tokyo station, where 288 girls (no boys, funny enough… actually, it’s not really funny) lined up in groups to get on one of the 7 waiting buses. Before that, we had to randomly draw for which tables we’d sit at, and were given this kind of horribly photoshopped and pixellated picture-card of Nagayan in front of Mt. Fuji that we were supposed to wear around our necks to identify ourselves as part of the tour (I wish that I still had it! How hilarious would that be!). On the back of the card were 4 empty squares and a little explanation that you were supposed to stamp them up along the way. Cool, sure! A, M, and I boarded bus 7 and ensconced ourselves in the back of the bus. It felt like everyone was staring at us, but well… we were the only non-japanese girls there. As the bus departed, a tour guide welcomed us over the PA explained how things were going to go. She said a little bit about the stamps, and then passed out fliers that we could use to order copies of the group pictures that we’d take later in the day with Nagayan (Wait, what did I do with that? I remember having a copy at some point). She also explained that our destination was going to be a mystery! Which, looking back, would have been a great setup for a horror movie! And theeeeeeen, we got the video. Oh, this video. Just watch for yourself (sorry for the bad quality, this was before smartphones, guys). There was a a short introduction from Nagayan, and then the song. And the dance. All of which he had created himself and wanted us to learn! The funny thing was that Nagayan is and was a serious actor. Outside of Tenimyu and Burimyu, his roles by and large were of and for adults. But that’s one of the things that makes Japan so great IMnot-so-humbleO– silliness is perfectly acceptable for adults! That given, I was still in the mindset of an American girl and in the beginning, my friends and I just sat there mouthing, “What the f—?” to each other. Sorry, Nagayan! It definitely grew on us, though! At about 10:15, we stopped at a rest stop for a potty break and a scavenger hunt! The tour guide told us to “get out and look for something special,” and that was it. It didn’t take long to find it, though, as by the time we’d wandered to the right location (the side of the building), there were quite a few girls lined up already! At the end of the line was Nagayan, sitting on the ground and wearing a green buddha mask. He didn’t say a word, so we followed the lead of the other girls, lined up, and said our prayers to Nagayan Buddha. For our piousness, we were allowed to choose a Chupa-Chups sucker to keep. It was so cute! Tell me if there is a single actor in the US who would do this? I doubt it! It’s certainly the kind of experience that you can only have in Japan XD Some girls looped around to get seconds, but ‘Buddha’ just pretended to be tired, slumping against the wall noiselessly. Btw, my sucker was a delicious strawberries and cream one!!! ♥ I ate it and tossed the wrapper…. which I wish that I’d kept for reasons that I’ll explain later! A and M on the bus next to me. We got back on the bus and left around 11:00. From there until the time that we arrived, there was no video, but this is where the IQ part of IQ TaiQ Barbequecame in! The tour guide administered us a timed IQ test on paper…… in Japanese! Er, yeah…. Well, I got one right at least!! Yay! Not bad for only being able to read a miniscule part of it. ^^;; I wrote “yomenai” (“I can’t read it” lit.-“It’s not readable”) in hiragana at the bottom, which later on I regretted doing! ^^;; The quiet scenery rolling by. After that, we had a bit of quiet time where I just watched the countryside and lakes go by and fell into a light sleep. At roughly 12:00, we pulled into our final mysterious mountain location! It looked a lot like any mountain location in eastern Washington or Arizona — a bit arid, but lots of trees and hills and of course a nice lake. We were lined up in lettered groups (There was from A to T, I believe. We were in group M) and we got to take the group pictures with Nagayan! It was fun– they had us sit/stand in 2 rows with Takashi in the very middle. Once we were already sitting down, he just kind of appeared and melded in with the group, and it took a while for some people to realize it, ourselves included haha! He asked us all to come closer (no problem!!) and the girls on his right completely freaked out, squealing ???? Japanese fangirls NEVER die. I love it! Right before we took the picture, Nagayan turned and asked if everyone was ready in Japanese, and then he turned to us and said loudly, “are you okay?” in English! Embvaaaarrrrasssing!! So, after that it was on to the BBQ! Outside of the BBQ, there were tables where we could turn in our order forms, as well as a special pocket mirror that you could buy with the Strawberry Meet logo on it. We entered the BBQ area, which was basically in back of a small resort, a BIG picnic-type area with numbered tables. There were 32 tables in all…. 32. Wow! On to the BBQ. To me, BBQ still meant hamburgers and hot dogs, chips and soda. To the Japanese, it meant that we cook our own yakiniku at the table! What a surprise for me at the time! My first time cooking yakiniku. Although I don’t eat meat anymore, I’d like to think that I’m a real pro at grilling eggplant now. ???? The three of us were at table 2 with 7 other girls. At first, it was a little awkward, and they didn’t really talk to us much, but they opened up when it turned out that we could understand a lot of what they were saying (A was especially awesome at Japanese), AND that one of them had done a homestay in America, so her English was pretty good. ^^ It turned out that not only was it my birthday, but it was also the birthday of another girl at our table!! Birthday twins!! So, the idea at this point was that Nagayan would randomly draw numbers and come around to visit and cook/eat with each of the tables. Ours came up surprisingly fast (I think we were the 7th table or so that he visited), and before we knew it, there he was, finding a space across the table from me (;_;) and helping us cook. Apparently we hadn’t been cooking fast enough for his liking, since we still had a LOT of meat and vegetables left, and so he started throwing all kinds of things on the grill. We told him that it was mine and the other girl’s birthday and he was like, ‘really?! Congratulations!!’ (He said it to me in English, but the other girl in Japanese) Then he told us that birthday people get priority, and put meat on both of our plates. Umm, yay. XD Soon after that, he reached over and gave me more and said “Present for me”….. Okay, that was the CUTEST thing I had probably ever seen in my life at the time! We tried to correct his English but I don’t think that he got it since he gave up really fast. He was REALLY cute, and even managed to ask us, “are you okay?” again for seemingly no reason. And then, sooner than we’d have liked, he was gone. ;__; We spent the rest of the BBQ listening to other tables talk to Nagayan and to the background music, which was of course our theme song. Some girls even stood up and started practicing the moves that had been on the video on the bus. Also randomly thrown in between the renditions were “Kokoro ga…” (his first single), and the other original song that he’d sang at his last fanclub event. After a few hours, we were told that it was time to get ready to leave, and to get back on the buses for the last part of our trip. Some girls practicing the dance… they were really good! This last part of our trip ended up being the craziest. They took us to a set of tennis courts (I’m sure this was a conscious choice) where they had us correct each other’s IQ tests. Oh man, this was HARD! But it was fun… if you’d gotten 9 or 10 right, you could get a stamp, although there were only a few girls that did. It seemed that, like me, that most people only had 1 or 2 right………. and they were native Japanese speakers that could read the test. I don’t feel so bad now. They also gave out stamps to people that had chosen strawberry suckers! This is where I wish that I had kept mine, though it didn’t really matter since I had chosen the wrong flavor. I was better suited to taking video at the time. Now, though, I think I would have just gone for it! After this, it was dance time! To my utter horror (I can’t dance ^^;;; except at Anime Expo but that’s another story), we had to get up in groups and perform the dance that we’d ‘learned.’ Nagayan led us each time, which was REALLY cute because he was REALLY into it, but it was still pretty nervewracking. It also took a LONG time to get through everyone. (almost 300 people doing it in about groups of 20). There was a lot of idle time. AND THEN, Nagayan had the best people get stamps and perform again for the little kids that had come up along the side...

☆ To see all of the parts in this series, click here ☆ Although it seemed as if my little fangirl heart couldn’t have taken any more, the day after the Nagayan Fanclub event, I went to see the Hyoutei myu for the first time. Just in case you’re reading this and going Huh? What’s a Hyoutei myu??, I can summarize by saying that it’s one in a series of musicals based on The Prince of Tennis. Yes, the manga that I ended up working on a few years later. ???? I was such a fangirl! Before I copy/paste my report on that musical, I want to say that the reason that I’m making this public again (they’re long gone now, and a lot of it was written privately) is because I want to show how much of a “silly,” squealing fangirl I was. I went from fan to insider purely because, later on, I took crazy-sounding chances and worked hard. And I sincerely believe that you, whomever you are, can do the same! By the way, all of this is eventually becoming fodder for an online comic that I’ve been formulating for a long time! No release date, though. I’m still working on Denkiki, this blog, my Youtube channel, and a few other things. And trying to put a new life together for myself. ???? In the meantime, let’s get to it! My friends and I ready for our dreams to come true, and our dreams were to see the Prince of Tennis musical! August 11, 2005 Tenimyu ~ Imperial Match Hyoutei!! This is the most detailed report on a musical that I’ve ever written. I’m going to do my best from now on to do the same each time!! (I did, for years) As Seigaku said, ♪♪DO YOUR BEST DO YOUR BEST!! DO YOUR BEST DO YOUR BEST!!♪♪ So far I’ve went to the opening performance of Hyoutei musical last night and to the second performance, which was tonight. ^^ I waited to write my report until seeing it a second time because I took very detailed notes the second time and added things and clarified things that the other people had seen afterwards! We had a tenimyu conference. =D (a tradition afterwards!!) It was a solid conclusion that cast improved a lot between the first and second performances. I can’t wait to see the last Tokyo performance, this Sunday. My bet is that they’re going to be VERY solid before then!! Oh wow. Deliciousness on a stick!! My overall feelings can be summed up in the chant that Hyoutei led, *clap clap* “Katsu no wa – Hyoutei! Makeru no Sei-gaku!!” 勝つのは氷帝！負けるの青学！！ (‘The winner will be Hyoutei! The loser will be Seigaku!’) Well, let’s start at what happened today before the musical!! Being hungry and having little other choice in the area for food, we went to the convenience store down the block from the musical… first off, I stopped and stared at this guy who was about to cross the road– who looked a lot like Ishibashi! But I couldn’t tell for sure because he’s changed his hair recently according to his picture set. He stared back at me, but it might have been because I was a tall red-headed foreigner wearing a Hyoutei jersey and a short black skirt.. ? LOL I don’t know if it was him, but I think that it was! He turned and looked back, and I think that he recognized me? I think.. maybe.. hmm..! He definitely recognized me yesterday, but that story is at the end of this report~ In the convenience store, while we are browsing the food sections, who do I notice has walked up alongside our aisle, but quite a few of the cast members! From what I remember, it was Yuu (Tezuka), Aiba (Fuji), Adachi (Kikumaru), Konishi (Kawamura), and Araki (Inui). Araki was wearing a cute hat so it took a minute to recognize him, and while most of the boys wandered along next to me without trouble in the aisle that I was in, Adachi stayed well away by the magazines. He was wearing a mask– which likely means that he has a cold!! Poor boy!! I only talked to Yuu– because I feel most comfortable talking to Yuu out of that group… ^^;; err, sorta. I (stupidly) shouted too loudly, “Yuu!!” when he came into my aisle, and of course he couldn’t ignore something like that. ^^;;; I feel a little bad, because I think that he gave me one of those, ‘why are you talking to me?’ looks. It’s not normal for a fan to actually talk to an actor here if they see them. I said, “hisashiburi!!’ (“It’s been a while!”) thinking that it’s been a while since I talked to him at all, to which he replied, “kino mita….” (“I saw you yesterday”)… Oh yeah…….. he’d obviously seen me at demachi yesterday (more later), and I felt kind of stupid and like I’d been really fannish, so I smiled and left him to do his things with the other boys. It wasn’t until later that I realized that I should have wished him good luck. Ah well, next time!! Itte yosh~! I probably acted way too familar, since we aren’t friends or anything, but it’s the way that I’ve always been with anyone that I’m fond of, friends or acquaintences. So it naturally carries off to them, without me even thinking of it. ^^; Ah well… in any case, I wish them all good luck for the future and rest of the performances!! On to the myu itself! (again! lol) Tenimyu ~ Imperial Match Hyoutei!! KENN special guest star. For both of these performances and for tomororw’s two shows also, KENN (Yuuta) is the special St. Rudolph guest star!! After that is Shiozawa for the next 3 days and Shinoda for the last day. I have tickets to shows with both of them (Thu and Sat for Shio, Sun of course for Shino), so I’m going to note the differences in separate posts. ^^ I can’t wait to see the differences!! ^____________________________^ This is my favorite~ I think that this is the best of all of the musicals. Hands down. Hyoutei was…. droolworthy. Hyoutei rocked the world, and they didn’t even show up for a little while. I’ll start at the beginning~ Tenimyu tenimyu tenimyu tenimyu tenimyu yaaay! <—— (me) First, as in all of the musicals, the curtain wa down andthere were suddenly the sounds of sneakers hitting the pavement. Cue the excitement level to rise and everyone to quiet down suddenly. The lights went down, and the curtain raised silently. A spotlight appeared off to the side, and onto the stage walks Sengoku (Wada) from the right, who does a short introduction. “Welcome,” etc. From the other side, lit with another spotlight, Yuuta (Kenn) made his entrance. They noticed each other and started to walk towards the center, but Yuuta suddenly stops as his cell phone goes off — with his ringer being Ore wa ore no namae de!! XDXDXD Wada starts to interrupt him, but his own phone goes off — with his ringer being Oretachi Jimi-su from bukimyu!! ROFLOL!! So hilarious!! They both managed to get off the phones shortly and walk over to each other, and began to argue — Sengoku asks Yuuta ‘So, who is the coolest player?’ Kenn begins right in saying that his buchou is the coolest, just look at him! And up above them on the screen appears a rather dorky shot of Akazawa and Kaneda from an earlier musical! Yuuta was embarrassed, saying, ‘ack!! I didn’t mean to put both of them up there!!’ Sengoku corrected him, saying, ‘My team is really cool’ — ‘Hey, who put that there?!’ Up on the screen had appeared a shot from Bukimyu of the Jimis mid-dance! Definitely NOT cool! XDXDXD In the end, they couldn’t decide who was the coolest, because music started up behind them…. Cue them to run off of stage and the second curtain to raise~ Starting with Fuji, all of Seigaku minus Ryoma took their places among the strong opening beats of the new Seigaku fight song, ♪Do Your Best! They did a long typical number for the kind of song- with lots of group singing and solos, the whole team going all out on their dancing just as they’d done for Bukimyu. Then they gathered in the center and Ryoma (Yanagi) was raised above! The crowd went noticeably more silent, this was the first time that Yanagi would be performing Ryoma on his own again!! How recovered WAS he? Yanagi didn’t move too much during this song, but he did do a bit of posing, and tried his very very best at singing. He still can’t sing well, but he’s obviously working on it. Hard. (So basically, he sounded terrible, but much better than he had at graduation myu!) Throughout the musical, Yanagi did very little dancing, and mostly posing. When he walked, he mostly walked without a limp, but there were a few times when it was noticeable, especially in the second performance. He could mostly manage it though, but he could not manage any kind of turns, as he stumbled slightly pretty much every time he tried. ;__;  Ganbarou Yanagi!! He’s improved a LOT!! Though there’s still a long road ahead, I think, he really seems to be trying hard. Everyone talked about it afterward and felt the same, very very respectful of what he must have to face and what he’s going through. What a strong boy~~ After Do Your Best, the lyrics consisting mostly of the team outlining their strengths and how they would try their hardest, Seigaku exited the stage and it all went dark. When the curtain raised again, the ichinen trio were sitting at desks on the left side of the stage, puzzling over the answers to their english test. Horio kept copying Kachiro, who shouted at him for it, and when they noticed us, they started in on another hilarious song, led by Horio, and beginning with english!! Horio belted out, “Hello, good day, how are you?” while Kachiro and Katsuo start chiming in. Kachiro seems to think that Horio is copying too much, so he stands up on the desk for his next refrain, and very very slashily (to me), Horio offers him a hand down. Then…….. they start a tap dance across stage that somehow incorporates the lyrics “A B C D”!! XDXD They have their usual display of awesome and hilarious dancing and suddenly rush off stage in the middle of the test when they realize that they’re about to miss the tennis team’s ranking tournament!! Most of Seigaku’s ranking matches are glossed over quickly, with the actors coming in and out quickly, pretending to hit a few balls or so. They give special attention to Ryoma vs. Oishi, after which Ryoma is congratulated for becoming a regular again. Next is the most important match, however. Inui vs. Momo and Inui vs. Tezuka. They do both matches at once, by having Inui stand on the right in the background, and Momo on the left in the background, with Tezuka in the front center (like a triangle). There is scary data-like music playing in the background (hard to describe.. it sounds like data). Inui is hitting balls and every other time that he hits a ball either Tezuka or Momo hits it. He finishes the Momo match first, and lo and behold ~ he beats Momo, who is no longer a regular because of it. Momo can’t believe it and stalks off stage. Then the Inu-Tez match is stopped, and the stage is resituated for a proper viewing of the rest of the match. The entire team is talking about how scary data tennis is, and I agree after seeing that. Inui is powerful in the musical! On to the real InuTez match. Inui tells Tezuka that he can break him with data tennis, because data doesn’t lie. In fact, after he counters Tezuka’s zero-shiki drop shot with data, he...