A Happy 23rd Birthday to Gaki-san!



Whether you love her, tolerate or just can't stand her she is the last of the Gokkies, last of Morning Musumes "Golden" years and now Leader for at least a year. Known as the "Happy Girl" in her youth, her now embrassing eyebrow beam & pigtails she has come a long way finding herself Senpai to both Momusu along with Hello!Project now that Takahashi Ai has left us.

Being a fan of the Gokkies of course I'm happy for her to have a chance to shape Morning Musume in her own image. Ai-chan is & will always be a great leader, but now Risa plate is quite full now starting the 10th Generations trainning while finishing / oversee'ing the 9ths. Of course she has help as all previous leaders have. My point is, since Iida Kaori, a lot pressure & weight will be on her shoulders. I have complete faith she will pull it off being so dependable, reliable, a rock that never breaks, but known to weep. Most can't stand her voice *not mentioning names*, though while admitting she doesn't have the greatest voice she does make use of what she has. I for one love her voice, her love of performing & her explosive energy on stage rallying up the fans.

As much as some fans take her for granted a little voice inside me screams "You will miss her when shes gone!". Nothing against Sayumi, but it's going to take time adjusting to her becoming leader. Well enough defending Risa haha *grabs a dagger with a frenzy look in his eyes looking the readers over just waiting* Just kidding! But are you sure about that? Haha! 8)>

This is the part where I throw in a lot of Risa solo's so you can X out now...

Once again A Happy 23rd Birthday to Niigaki Risa 8)



Morning Musume's 10 Generation final audition

Thanks to HiO for finding this HelloProTime being uploaded to YouTube. Frankly I just don't have the time/will to search the web anymore for lastest/current content, but enough about my lazyiness 8)>

So lets just start right off with said footage before giving my opinion(s).

Part 1/2

Part 2/2

The members that stood out for me or at least the ones I'd like to see become the 10th Generation are Ishida Ayumi, Kudo Haruka, Tanaka Fuuka & lastly Murakami Sara.

Ishida Ayumi stood out as the best dancer though Miyagi Ayumi wasn't to far behind. Unfortunately for Miyagi the editor / producer of this documentary largely ignored her so I can't judge her signing for it wasn't featured. Murakami Sara I liked for her signing. No one can replace Ai-chan of course, but this time around I think Tsunku-san is going to place more emphasis on such.

And who do I find best of show/class well the adorable Kudo Haruka. With out a doubt a "shoe in". Was impressed being so young ( though nothing like Sayashi Riho ) her ability at dancing & I'm starting to fall in love with her voice. Of course we'll ALL have to wait & see whom is chossen. However lets not forget that during the S/Mileage auditions a lot of us was cheering for Miyamoto Karin & were DISAPOINTED to say the least that she passed up. Some of us are hoping she'll be a surprise last minute addition to Momusu. The thought of both her & Kudo Haruka together look to be an irresistible pair.

I'm hoping we won't have to face another Sub-member crap routine for MM as was done with S/M. To me if you pass you pass. This Sub-member crud is nothing more then a Public Relations stunt to keep the peoples interest for as long as possible before the fan base drops back down to it's core die hard followers, but that obviously is just my point of view.

Lastly it's going to be bitter sweet this coming 29th see'ing Ai-chan leaving as we discover whom shall be the 10th Generation. 

After watching the English translated version of the audition I was surprised Tsunku-san is thinking about adding all of them at first til he mentioned he'd most likely reduce thier numbers. So I came up with two catagories.

Those I feel are in beyond all reasonable doubt are:
Ishida Ayumi & Murkami Sara

The rest I feel have a 50 / 50% chance.
Kudo Haruka, Ohgami Hinako, Miyagi Ayumi & Tanaka Fuuka

Any others not mentioned I feel have no chance unless Tsunku-san changes his mine & just adds everybody. 

Japan still needs help

Hello all. I've been quite busy of late. Got a new job & have just recently completed the pre-employment trainning for it. Now the new challenge of putting that trainning to use, learning the job hands on & proving my worth. And to think it all starts tonight *UGH! Pulls out hair*

Anyway enough of my mundane life for that's not what few people who read this blog are interested in. As the title implies Japans people are still in great need of aid for the long term. I don't know how well some have been following the events since the disaster ( in which marked its 6 month anniversary today ) and things are not going well for the people as they have essentially been betrayed by the Government. The following article will help to get you caught up: Fukushima  .

Most of us have all ready donated and/or support the people of Japan in our own way. I am merely asking you to consider this option. Some who know Nakamura Hiroko or better know her as/from HIROKOCHANNEL she recently posted a means to give aid to the children. Please read her article & consider her request: Children of Fukushima .

Thank you for your time.

Offline

Not like anyone is going to miss me, but gona be real busy over the next 2-3 weeks. Back when I'm back. In the mean time for those who are concerned about Aika-chan & Riho can read about the status of there health here.

With Aika needing another 8 weeks to recover I'm even more worried they might medically retire her & we may yet have a double graduation.

Take care all.

UFZS / Up-Up Girls

Who exactly are the UFZS / Up-Up Girls? The short short definintion would be Tsunku-san's Rejects. Young women who were inducted into Hello! Projects Eggs division. They, for what ever reason, were not good enough to be added to Morning Musume or S/Mileage ( during its formation ) and thus dumped. I think a reason is they simply got to old ; if you can call mid teens old? For proof you need look no further then Morning Musume's 9th Generation with the average age being 13. I personally had hoped Saho Akari would of been added being only 15, but it wasn't the case. Makes you wonder just how young will the 10 Generation will be?

Anyway I thought it was relevant to mention they recently had thier first mini concert of sorts. The quality isn't to bad however just one camera view.

The following is a list of each member and thier associated color ( T-shirt and/or pen light ).

Sengoku Minami is Red

Furukawa Konatsu is Pink

Sekine Azusa is Orange

Arai Minami is Blue

Satou Ayano is Purple

Saho Akari is Yellow

Mori Saki is Green

The following is the set list of songs sung. Sorry there were a couple of them I didn't recognize. The best that I can tell they didn't sing any songs of thier own.

1.) All for one & one for all - Hello!Project theme
2.) Love & Peace - Morning Musume
3 & 4.) Unkown to me
5.) Sukichan - S/Mileage
6.) Romantic Ukare - Fujimoto Miki solo
7.) Ai Araba It's All Right - Morning Musume

Here's if you're interested in this new group showing some potenial. Although UFA are horrible at promoting even thier own well established groups so we'll see if they get a real chance or be dumped yet again. Proof? They're not even listed on UFA / UFW websites that I can tell.

Reference Website <> Blog <> Profile <> Concert If you get an error message after selecting the member for thier profile just try again.

 Saho Akari 2010 (pink & white shirt ).

It was her performance here that I have

had high hopes for her.

Credit to Hello!SayuNii for the colors / names in English for honestly I only knew Akari-chan.

How to play DVD's outside your region.

A friend of mine asked for instructions ( intended for Windows 7 users ) for his DVD/ROM is locked in Region 1 and had recently bought a DVD of an artist from Japan and couldn't view it. The following is an option other then buying a new DVD/ROM. I don't claim to be an expert using this freeware only what works for me.

The first two steps are optional

First perform a disk clean up, delete internet cookies, history, etc, scan for virus, spy+malware & perform a hard drive defrag.

Second Create a system restore point. It's just good practice to keep your system at optimum performance & prior to installing new program(s).

Third download VLC Player here & install.

Now is a good time to make VLC your default player for DVD media other wise you will lose a Regional change option of 5 total allowed. To do so: Start > type "Media setup" in the search box & select "Start & stop using autoplay for all media & devices".

OR

Lose a regional count & install the Region 2 DVD into your applicable drive. If your drive is locked out your default player ( set by you via Windows ) will attempt to run the media & display an error message. Reguardless cancel your way back to the desktop.

If you forgot where the new player installed itself here is where mine is: Start > Computer > Applicable Harddrive > Program Files (x86) > VideoLAN > VLC > vlc ( application )

Once running click the following sequence: Media > Open Disk > Play. VLC will hunt down & play the default DVD root menu if available. Use your mouse to select from the menu. If VLC didn't find the root menu it will auto start from the beginning, however if you want to manually select it here is that path: Playback > Navagation > DVD Menu > Root.

Ok by now the DVD should be playing & you may have noticed visual defects in the playback. Here is how to clean it up & adjust it for standard DVD quality.

Video > Aspect raito > Default . You may of noticed a " blur " at times when there is a lot of rapid movement. Lets clean that up by Video > Deinterlace > Automatic. Now reselect Video > Deinterlace Mode > Blend.

Ok now the image should be good, but here are two other options to further increase the quailty as follows. Video > Post Processing > Select to your liking. I use the max of X6. The change is suttle, but provides a sharper image.

So far we have been just focused on the top command bar & now for the lower. Pause your mouse over each button below for a description of each icon. You want the one called "Show Extended Settings" Video Effects > Click the "Sharpen" box & adjust to your liking. Also here you can adjust your other standard video settings like gama, hue, etc.

Now if you have a decent sound system or a pair of SkullCandy SkullCrushers ( mini-subwoofer kicks ass! ) Click the Audio Effects > Graffic Equalizer > Enable > adjust Pre-amp
& the other settings to your liking.

Ok the last step click the full screen & ENJOY!

Notes: While in full screen just move the mouse to get back the mini menu or right click on the screen to display the menus to change a setting, etc. Also pressing the space bar will pause play.
Lastly these previously mentioned settings should gain you max video/audio performance for any DVD format media, however feel free to explore, play with & try other settings.
 
To check what your DVD region is set to & how many changes you have let before it locks out follow the following command path: Start > Control Panel > Hardware & Sound > Device Manager > DVD/CD ROM Drives > click to drop a mini-menu & select the drive in question >
left click to select then right click to select "properties" > DVD Region tab.

If you have any further questions just leave a comment.

All Credit to JediMasterTrunks for it was he that solved this problem for me a long time ago.

Hangry & Angry's August Single/DVD Release

According to a Tokyohive article the new single will be available onto CD along with a DVD this August 10th.

I'm dissapointed in UFA ( Up Front Agency ) for I agree with Kylon they are horrible in supporting / promoting thier own groups. Only one new single for H&A a year after thier previous CD album release? *sigh* However the groups original creation was to help sale a clothing line.

Anyway other then a couple of re-mixes I'm not interested in the CD, however if you are fan the DVD most likely will be worth it. We all know, reguardless of group, they sound a lot better live then studio recordings. I plan on just getting thier latest single via iTunes when available here on the American side.

If you are new to J-pop / Rock this group of both Yoshizawa Hitomi aka "Yossie" & Ishikawa Rika aka "Rika-chan" are two former singers of the group Morning Musume. Two of many throughout its history .

Yossie doesn't have a blog however Rika-chan does. If you would like to follow her you can find a link here . Note: Google Toolbar / Microsofts Bing can translate text / website for you with roughly 50-70% accuracy. Logic & common sense will do the rest.

The following is thier lastest PV.

Reconquista