What I really wanted to share for this special occasion today were Anzenchitai/Koji Tamaki's 2005 Live Concert DVD and Yuzu's One ~1~ Live Films DVD. Unfortunately, they both cannot be played on my laptop hence cannot be ripped. It's a shame. In place, I'll be sharing Ayaka Hirahara's Live Tour 2006 DVD. Originally a present to my sis earlier this year. Sorry little sis, but at least you've got the hardcopy right? :D



Release Date: 2006/11/15
Description: First ever live DVD from Ayaka Hirahara features her 2006 tour finale at the Nippon Budokan. Includes her song "Jupiter," "Ashita," "Chikai," "Voyagers," "Kokoro," and more for a veritable greatest hits live DVD from the artist. [From CD-Japan]

( Tracklist + Download Links + Preview )

This new layout is seriously killing my eyes. Eventhough I like it, but it is way too light.

I'm in love with this song at the moment - 糸 Ito (Thread) by 中島みゆき Nakajima Miyuki. As well as Yuzu's new album FURUSATO which I managed to find the download link for. Maybe I'll find time to talk about the new songs later. But first...



The song paints the picture of two pieces of thread, one vertical, one horizontal, being woven into a piece of fabric or cloth, one that is woven for a purpose, one that can heal hurts, one that can keep others warm and safe, heading in the direction of love and healing.

糸 Ito (Thread) by 中島みゆき Nakajima Miyuki

なぜ めぐり逢うのかを
为什么会相遇
We can never know for certain why or when our paths will cross...

私たちは何も知らない
我们什么都不知道

いつ めぐり逢うのかを
在何时相遇

私たちはいつも知らない
我们永远都不会知道

どこにいたの
去了哪里？
Where did you go?

生きてきたの
生活过来么?
Did you even exist?

远い空の下
在遥远的天空下
Two tales under a distant sky...

ふたつの物语
两个人的故事


縦の糸はあなた
直的线是你
You are one thread,

横の糸はわたし
横的线是我
I am the other,

织り成す糸はいつか谁かを暖めうるかもしれない
织成的布或许会在某天温暖某个人的心
Woven together, possibly to someday warm another's heart.


なぜ生きていくのかを
为什么要活下去
Why did you disappear?

悩んだ日の迹のささくれ
迷失的日子里留下的痕迹的倒刺
The day I hesitated left a splinter.

梦追いかけ走って
追逐着梦想
Running after our dreams -

ころんだ日の迹のささくれ
逝去的日子留下痕迹的倒刺
The day we followed them, it left a splinter.

こんな糸がなんになるの
这样的线会变成什么
What will become of this thread?

心もとなくて震えてた
放不下的心颤抖着
Hearts left trembling in the wind...

雨の中
在雨中


縦の糸はあなた
直的线是你
One thread is you,

横の糸はわたし
横的线是我
the other is me...

织り成す糸はいつか谁かの伤をかばうかもしれない
织成的布或许会在某天保护某个人的伤口
Our being woven together may protect someone from hurt.


縦の糸はあなた
直的线是你
One thread is you,

横の糸はわたし
横的线是我
the other is me...

逢うべき糸に出逢えることを
遇到本应相逢的线
When two threads that are destined to meet are joined,

人は幸せと呼びます
人们称它为幸福
We call that happiness.

Credits:
Chinese translation - baidu zhidao
English translation - traceyc@blogspot

Nakajima Miyuki is well-known for her lyrics. If I'm not wrong, she composed the song too. But the lyrics are beautiful~ So beautiful.. And she has a lovely voice to top off everything.

Note: Both Chinese and English translations are not exactly the same. Its not my place to say which is more accurate, so I've left them as they are. Although the Chinese version is more detailed. For example: 'You are one thread, I am the other' is suppose to be 'You are the vertical thread, I am the horizontal one'. The English sentence that starts the song is equivalant to the first 4 Japanese lines. Despite leaving out bits and pieces here and there, the English translation flows very well as it is now. Hence a big part of why I'm reluctant to add anything in. Personally, I feel Chinese translations always fit better with Japanese lyrics because both languages are derived from the same roots. No matter what, this is a masterpiece of a song!

eeeeeek. ok ok, there goes my evening!! I was planning to make some progress with my lit review tonight, but I found these videos of Yuzu's guest appearance on Music Fair a few days ago in ultra-HQ. So clear, I just love it.

Learning my lesson, I immediately ripped the videos from youtube. I advise you do too :) I'm pretty sure they'll be taken down soon enough. This site produces pretty good mp4 rips. The fact that its HQ on youtube means the rips are pretty good quality too. Obviously getting the real recordered avi would be great but I'm satisfied, unless someone is so kind to upload it somewhere^^ *yay* Haven't felt this excited in awhile XD

Some problems have cropped up in my project. Research is so dodgy and you have to play sneaky. How fun :) But I was thinking if these obstacles didn't arise, I would have taken every thing for granted. So I'm glad for this experience, eventhough it means my workload has risen sharply, and lots of worrying pitfalls that you have no control over.

But first, Music Fair talk part. To tell you the truth, I haven't watch the segments properly. I need to get home and watch the rips so I can grin like an idiot in peace.



Iwasawa is actually talking this time! He is normally so shy. Its refreshing to watch them conversing rather than singing just this once. Don't ask me what they are saying because I have no idea. But their respective expressions are enough to get me all animated. I think they talk about one another (feedback & spill secrets^^), and how they met in primary school.

Its surprising that they are the only guest on this episode of Music Fair. But it means we get to watch them perform 3 songs. Yay!!



逢いたい Aitai (I want to see you)!! I still love this song to bits. The background is so pretty and shiny.


栄光の架橋 Eikō no Kakehashi (The Bridge of Glory) is a song by Yuzu I've never posted on my journal before, but probably one of their most well-know song (besides Natsuiro^^). It was the unofficial theme song for the 2000(?-trying to remember the year) olympics being broadcast in Japan. Very inspirational as always! And then of course, immediately after that they performed Niji (Rainbow) which is so much ♥ Translation of the lyrics by ra1nee here!! *grateful*

( For once, I'm spending money on something other than on food! )

Speaking of which, they have a new concert tour at the end of the year. And a new album titled FURUSATO (HOMETOWN). Some info:

Popular singer-songwriter duo Yuzu finish off a super-productive year with their ninth album Furusato. Their new album comes with the singles they've released in the past year including CM songs Niji and Yesterday and Tomorrow, megahit Aitai, Salaryman Kintaro theme song Shish Kebab, and the limited summer single Ichigo. Other recent tie-in songs like Yokohama port opening anniversary song Mirai and the Zoom!! SUPER theme song Superman are also included. Continuing the duo's tradition of writing music that feel as warm and comfortable as your hometown, Kitagawa Yujin created the new song Haruka to express his feelings about visiting Africa, and Iwasawa Koji wrote the exquisite ballad Futatsu Kotoba.

First Press releases come in special packaging with 36-page booklet; only while supplies last.
Source: YesAsia

Congratulations to the guys! Now, I have to go home if I want to wake up on time tomorrow. Oh, another good thing that has happened to me recently is I'm forced to get up early to be at my desk around 9am. So I've been breathing the fresh (? or the freshest it can be) air every morning and feeling very good about myself =P We need a quote, we need a quote to finish off!! XD *does a quick browse*

"I like to think that somewhere out there, on a planet exactly like ours, two people exactly like you and me made totally different choices and that, somewhere, we're still together.

That's enough for me."

Managed to get the entire 3 hour show from torrent at jpopsuki. It was looooong but worth the watch. Since it's the 50th anniversary of this music show, there are various "going-back in time" parts along the way. It was very exciting to see how many songs I've heard before. Also, I've wanted to learn how to make HQ screencaps for awhile now, so did a bit of self-learning today. Below are my thoughts on some of the performances and little bits and pieces of the show. Very image heavy, so be careful!!


( Lots of caps under cut )