Well… since I’m not eexpecting to blog much until friday here’s something that will hopefully keep people interested in the blog, some news, other stuff peole(anime fans) may be interested in …

BLOG NEWS

As for the reviews of anime I plan to watch… Such as Shin Koihime†Musō, Natsu no Arashi 2(Which I’m ost certainly watching), Kobato, and Fairy Tail plus some others are going to be reviewed all in mega post with quickie reviews for the episodes, with very short summaries etc. , though Natsu no Arashi 2 may get it’s own seperate post … but that’s what’s more than likely going to happen to those series, there are more like I said, the list basically is just made up of anime I had some/little interest in watching.

Also I hope to start reviewing chapters of the three manga I’m currently reading Mahou Sensei Negima! AneDoki, and Sora no Otashimono(just started), and maybe even a slight Bit of One Piece, and some other obsure series …

Still waiting on my Negima OAD to arrive along with my Emiya Shioru Figma(first figma!), Negima!?NEO volume 2 (which is the final) just came out in a special edition format so I’ll be getting my hands on it soon, also planning on getting Bakemonogatari DVD 1 limited edition… Still haven’t obtained Negima Volume 23 though, hopefully I’ll get it along with volume 24, which is what I plan to do . And maybe I’ll go through some of the stuff. There’s also alot of anime CDs I would like to buy as well. Such as the Kampfer ending, Kanokon OVA opening, Sora no Otashimono opening, Natsu no Arashi opening , the list continues on …

ANIME/MANGA RELATED NEWS

(special movie art)

(and an AD for the movie)

I’m not to sure if everyone knows about this already, but apparently there’s supposed to some sort of special ONE PIECE volume being given out on the premier day of the 10th movie, which is supposed to come out December 12 this year, the movie was first announced at the begining of this year/end of last , sometime during the 9th movies premier in Japan. The special book is supposed to be volume 0 of the series. It’s supposed to be given out to the first 1.5 million people who will be seeing the movie. The book is supposed to be some sort of collection of ONE PIECE chapters from about 10-20 years ago, and will even include some of the special pages Eiichiro OAD (creator) used to help preoduce the upcoming movie, which he was announced be looking over himself. If you want more here’s the article from Anime News Network. Well it certainly sounds very special on my side here, I hope that sometime in the future it will be avaiable around the internet, I’m certainly going to keep my eyes peeled for it. Maybe I’ll buy the DVD once it comes out, see what comes with it, especially since it’s the 10th ONE PIECE movie and the fact it’s going to be directed by Oda himself. And for all you fans out there don’t forget VIZ’s ONE PIECE manga campaign which is going to release volumes 23-53(I think) starting January!!!!!

There was recently just today a new trailer for the SOUL EATER anime series set which is supposed to come out sometime ealy next year, which wil include the first bit of the series. I agree with many others the trailer is really … terrible, the narration is anyway, FUNimation should have just never created this one and have only the one they released previously. Here it is below.

and there goes the VERY small OFFICAL dub preview for those who wantn it. A few full episodes also were screened at a CON a few weeks or so ago. I’ve hear that the dub is really good.

The trailer is terrible but I’m excited to see this anime dubbed by FUNI, on the other hand the first volume of the SOUL EATER manga comes out in a few days , which is being published by YENpress.

And just a few hours ago there was some news about the VIZ Media manga company headquaters shutting down for 2 days due to a flash flood in the area, unfortunate isn’t it? but VIZ says they save everything, LOL. Hopefully the water hasn’t really gotten into the building thoguh.

Hmmm, that’s all the news that’s caught my eye really, and that’s all I have to say for the week (only TUESADY-THRUSADY). So you all know what’s going on for now. BYE!

Hello! Right now I am at a video game test at EA headquarters! I know that you want to know which game I tested, but I can’t tell! I just finished taking a survey on the computer about the game and I finished early. So he said that people who are early can go on the internet! So I went to my blog! (hint hint. That’s where you are now!) After the man comes back, we are going to have a group discussion about (hint hint) the game and we will talk about it! I am sorry that I haven’t written for a while. Oh. Yeah. Hello-Bye!

- Made-to-measure in Japan, with my name engraved: those scissors cost ten thousand Hong Kong dollars (more and less one thousand euros). They are beautiful, aren’t they? I’m a left hand, my free hand to cut. 

Says Georges with a child’s enthusiasm for his gorgeous scissors, like a photographer presenting his lucky camera. I decide to nickname him George Scissors Hand.  

Midtown, crowed business area, the appointment is in front of Mark and Spencer, with George Scissors Hand aka George Wong Peng Loy, a famous Hong Kong hair stylist and one of the owners of the select hair dressing salon, Headquaters. He works for fashion and movies, especially with Wong Kar Wai. He’s also the personal hair dresser of the filmmaker and the actor Tony Leung and many other “beautiful” people from Hong Kong and China.

- I prefer working with men, it’s easier. Nice, clean and fast. I have to hear what you want first and then suggest you something, I explain to my customers. I find inspiration in lots of magazines, on Internet and before I went to shows in Paris and London.

Now sat in a private room of his hair dressing salon for the exclusive clients:

- The beginning was very difficult, hard: you have to be the best. First you have to do good job. I did hair styling for magazines, people saw it and I started working a lot with the art director William Chang or Cheung (which is the art director of Wong Kar Wai’s movies). I liked his work. And then I’ve worked with Wong Kar Wai on lots of commercials and “In the mood for love”, “2046”.

Teenager, George’s already wanted to work in Fashion. But his father, owner of a travel agency and very fluent French speaker (born in Mauritius), said no. So in 1980, George went in Paris, learning French “à l’Alliance Française” during one year:

- I liked many beautiful pictures and I wanted to be a photographer, but the school was too expensive, I made a training period in a hair dressing salon school at Hotel Nikko for one year. I didn’t want to stay in France for my future, so for paying my flight back to Hog Kong, I worked in a Japanese restaurant for four months. Every afternoon, I cut hairs of the personnel, like a training.

- Back in Hong Kong I had to learn English hairdresser words! In 1985, I started as a junior at Headquaters and in 1997, I became one of the owners of the salon. I’d prefer working in Paris. Hong Kong I don’t like too much: too many people, but here it’s better than France to earn money!

Great success story in a city and culture where you have to be successful.

- I have no idea for future plans. I’m happy and simple. I just want to work and get back home: I’m a family man. I love my wife Nicolette and my five years old daughter Anya. And I love my job.

Thanks Georges!

- Du sur mesure fabriqué au Japon, avec mon nom gravé dessus : ces ciseaux coûtent dix mille dollars de Hong Kong (plus ou moins mille euros). Ils sont superbes, non ! Je suis gaucher, ma main libre pour couper.

Explique Georges avec l’enthousiasme d’un enfant pour ses magnifiques ciseaux, comme un photographe avec son appareil fétiche. Je décide de le surnommer George aux mains d’argent !

Midtown, le grouillant quartier des affaires : rendez-vous devant Mark and Spencer, avec George aux mains d’argent, alias George Wong Peng Loy, célèbre coiffeur et propriétaire associés de  Headquaters, salon select de coiffure. Il travaille dans la mode et pour le cinéma, plus spécialement avec Wong Kar Wai. C’est aussi le coiffeur personnel du réalisateur, de l’acteur Tony Leung et de beaucoup d’autres beautiful people de Hong Kong et de Chine continentale.

- Je préfère coiffer les hommes, c’est plus facile. Sympa, propre et rapide. Je dois d’abord écouter ce que vous voulez et ensuite vous suggérer quelque chose, voici ce que j’explique à mes clients. Je puise mon inspiration dans divers magazines et sur Internet . Avant j’allais aux shows à Paris et Londres.

Assis maintenant dans une pièce privée réservée aux clients choisis de son salon:

- Les débuts ont été très durs, difficiles : vous devez être le meilleur. D’abord vous devez faire du bon travail. J’étais coiffeur pour des photos de magazines, des gens l’ont vu et j’ai commencé à beaucoup travailler avec William Chang ou Cheung (qui est aussi le directeur artistique des films de Wong Kar Wai). J’aimais son travail. Ensuite j’ai travaillé pour Wong Kar Wai sur de nombreuses publicités et « In the mood for love », « 2046 ».

Adolescent, George veut travailler dans la mode, mais son père, propriétaire d’une agence de voyages qui parlait couramment français (né à Maurice) s’y oppose. Alors en 1980, George vient à Paris apprendre la langue « à l’Alliance Française » pendant un an :

- J’aimais plein de superbes photos et je voulais devenir photographe, mais l’école coûtait trop chère. Alors j’ai fait un stage dans une école d’apprentissage de coiffure à l’Hôtel Nikko, durant un an. Je ne voulais pas rester en France pour mon avenir: pour payer mon billet retour, j’ai travaillé pendant quatre mois dans un restaurant japonais. Où chaque après-midi, je coupais les cheveux au personnel, comme entraînement.

- De retour à Hong Kong, j’ai dû apprendre le jargon professionnel des coiffeurs en anglais! En 1985, j’ai commencé comme coiffeur junior à Headquaters et en 1997, j’en suis devenu un des propriétaires. J’aurai préféré travailler à Paris. Je n’aime pas beaucoup Hong Kong: il y a trop de monde, mais pour gagner de l’argent c’est mieux qu’en France!

Beau succès dans une ville et culture où il faut absolument réussir.

- Je n’ai aucune idée de ce que sera demain. Je suis simple et heureux. Je veux juste travailler et rentrer le soir chez moi : je suis un family man. J’aime ma femme Nicolette et ma fille de cinq ans Anya. Et j’aime mon travail.

March 21 – April 19 Aries
Long Branch, New Jersey is where it’s at. IT being the Inkwell Coffee House, to be precise. This place harkens back to days of yore when folks gathered around good food and caffeine to read and write poetry, talk into the wee hours, start rock and roll bands, start romances. It’s an old house at 665 2nd Avenue on the corner of New Court and 2nd with a number of cozy rooms to sit in. It’s primarily a college kid hangout but the walls are full of history (it’s said that Bruce Springsteen – who used to live around the corner – and his early drummer Vini Lopez birthed the band Steel Mill in this place, and it was definitely a vintage E Street Band hangout). It opens around 7pm and closes around 3am. Whatever you do, order the chicken salad (unbelievable) and the world’s most decadent Dutch coffee: a mix of coffee, butter, cream and sugar, topped with whipped cream. I know it sounds gross, but it is beyond the pale.

April 20 – May 20 Taurus
You’re in that deep dark goth mood again. Go with it, get right down into it, and get yourself to la belle France, Paris to be precise. Walk in the exquisite storied paths of Père-Lachaise Cemetery and visit the final resting places of peeps like Colette, Moliere, Bizet, Oscar Wilde, Edith Piaf, Isadora Duncan, Gertrude Stein, Jim Morrison. Do not neglect to visit the crypt of star-crossed lovers Abelard and Heloise, there since 1817. Traditionally couples and heartbroken singles leave notes of tribute to them hoping for eternal true love.

May 21 – June 20 Gemini
This week’s download is by the Monkees, but it’s not a song that was probably ever played on the radio. It’s a hidden gem from their (best) album, Headquarters, the one where they finally started playing their own instruments, in 1968. Low key, spooky almost, with the best Davy vocal ever, it’s truly lovely and aching. “A distant night bird mocks the sun…I wake as I have always done…To freshly scented sycamore…and cold bare feet on hardwood floor.”

June 21 – July 22 Cancer
Pay a visit to the Delacorte Clock in Central Park in New York City, located at 65th St. between the Wildlife Center and the Children’s Zoo. You’ve got to see and hear it to believe it. It was gifted to the park in 1965 by publisher/philanthropist George T. Delacorte and was designed to be an homage to European musical clocks. The animal figures that adorn the clock and rotate around it when it chimes were created by Italian sculptor Andrea Spadini. Nursery rhymes are played on the hour and half-hour every day between 8am and 6pm.

July 23 – August 22 Leo
Hey Leos and everyone else, don’t forget to honor your mom this weekend – it’s Mothers Day this Sunday. Visit the good people over at My Damn Channel and pick out a sick, twisted Mother’s Day video greeting. And congratulations to the Damned for winning 7 – count ‘em, 7 – Webby Awards this week. If you haven’t seen Wainy Days, You Suck at Photoshop, Harry Shearer’s Found Objects, and Harry Shearer’s music video for Waterboardin’, USA – well, you’re missing out. Go and view now.

August 23 – September 22 Virgo
Virgos, you are brethren to writer/musician Leonard Cohen, who’s been making haunting music since 1967 and prior to that was a published poet well known in his native country, Canada. His songs (Suzanne, Bird on the Wire, Sisters of Mercy, So Long, Marianne to name a few) are beautiful. But he also authored the remarkably strange and sensual novel Beautiful Losers, which was reissued after being out of print for many years. It’s the story of an obsession with 17th century Iroquois Saint Catherine Tekakwitha. Believe me, you’ve never read anything like it. Not for children.

September 23 – October 22 Libra
There’s nothing like a theremin . . . nothing in this world. If you grew up in the late 60’s you’ll remember the extremely strange gothic soap opera Dark Shadows which aired on daytime television from 1966 to 1971. It was the story of the many denizens of the estate of Collinwood, one of whom was a vampire, the suave and dapper Barnabas Collins (played impeccably by actor Jonathan Frid). You can now buy the episodes on DVD, and I can’t think of a better use for a DVD player. Get a taste for it by viewing a few clips on YouTube (like here, here and here). There are so many plot twists and turns that even now keep viewers entranced, not the least of which was that every time the storyline got a little old and tired, the writers would have the characters jump into a different century (existing in “parallel time”). My favorite character: Dr. Julia Hoffman (Grayson Hall); a medical doctor who falls in love with Barnabas and tries to cure him, but actually is hoping to become one of his victims.

October 23 – November 21 Scorpio
Get off the TMZ and take a mindful walk this weekend. No iPods, no distractions – just you and your feet hitting the ground, listening to the sounds around you. It’s a form of meditation and you need it bad – we all do.

November 22 – December 21 Sagittarius
Think back to the worst temp job you ever had and write a short story about it. There, now. Don’t you feel better?

December 22 – January 19 Capricorn
If you’re ready for a glorious time suck of epic proportions may I suggest the web site of Vanity Fair Magazine. It’s like the chinese boxes of magazine-land, one thing leads to another, and before you know it, five hours have gone by.

January 20 – February 18 Aquarius
While away the hours with the soundtrack of soundtracks from Beyond the Beat Generation, 24/7. All the music on this internet station was created between 1964 and 1968, and what can I say – no finer music was ever made, truly. Instead of DJ chatter, they use awesome audio of vintage advertisements. Any station that has as one of its backbones the 13th Floor Elevators is just hunky dory with this hippie chiquita.

February 19 – March 20 Pisces
You’re stressed and you need a vacation. Consider a trip to Kripalu Yoga Center in Lenox, Mass. – it’s like a massive new age summer camp for adults. And the food is great. Don’t miss the buddha sauce OMG. You don’t need to sign up for a workshop if that’s not your thing – they also have great R&R packages. Go there and breathe.