Thursday, March 31, 2011

Vocaloid! - And yet not Vocaloid!

Well the title of this blog is suggesting something I found based on vocaloid (or the producers at least or I think). The song is sung by some vocaloid characters such as Piko Utatane but its the video thats really the best part.

The song is called 'Bad apple' and the video feature animated silohouettes of girls from 'Touhou', which is apparently a type of doujin game.

Piko Utatane version of 'Bad Apple' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uvyp8ZmsMVc

Touhou 'Bad Apple' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzEUeWnV73U

Its really cool! I just really wanted to share it!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Vocaloid! - Piko + Love is War & Magnet

I wasn't expecting to jump back into Vocaloid any time soon but the Piko part of Piko + Love is War will explain!

I'll start with Piko!

I've been listening to a song called "Wasurenagausa" by Piko. The song sounded really good so I decided to do a search on the artist. I first checked out the PV to the song, which was kinda boring. But when I looked over the comments on the song, they mentioned "he" which then got me all kinda confused when the voice and the figure singing in the clip was feminine. But as I took a closer look, especially around the chest (I AM NOT A PERV, I SWEAR), my jaw dropped.

NO WAY!

The week before, my best friend had sent me a video on a popular Visual Kei artist who dressed himself in gothic lolita dresses.

Name of artist is Kaya.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kznQfo5q_Mk&p=2D9A461FC480B7E0

Having found out that 'her' voice was 'his', was rather unforseen. But anyone one could easily make that mistake if it was a first time at listening to the artist.
Piko songs such as 'Sakurane' and 'Story' also have a feminine voice but I'll let the gender thing pass as Piko's songs are really really good!

Anyways....

What's with Vocaloid then? 

Good point!

Notice the image on the blog I posted on Vocaloid?

I recall seeing a tag on that image titled 'Love is War', which I thought was just the theme of the pic. But its deeper than that! It also relates to the song 'Love is War', which is sung by various characters of Vocaloid and I think Hatsune Miku was the first to sing it, seeing how popular she is.

This theme of 'Love is War' is depicted as having black monochrome shades + one or very few bright colours along with a planes, air craft and metal structures in the background along with a microphone (in some such as those in the Video clip to the characters singing 'Love is War').


(Durarara)


(Vocaloid - Len Kagamine)


(Bleach)

 It's very very similar to "Magnet", which is also a song and a design theme but it features a pair (regardless of gender) of characters wearing headphones with butterfly wings.


(Vocaloid - Kaito x Kaito)

(Katekyo Hitman Reborn - Hibari Kyoya x Ten years later Hibari Kyoya)

(Hakuoki - Saito Hajime x Saito Hajime)

 Example video of 'Magnet', which is also sung by various Vocaloid characters. This version is Kaito.

Here are some of those videos with different characters singing 'Love is War'.

Hatsune Miku - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWpi5a4vAdI
Kaito - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPT-T9mV-Ik
Meiko - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72DNXf85niA
Luka Megurine - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WH4gMnqu76E
Len Kagamine - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ythRQVnKan0
Len + Rin Kagamine - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Us2nzSt13k
Gakupo Kamui - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7kJDuksqtc
Gumi Megpoid - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIcf4rtEBmw
Gumi + Gakupo - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=thss6wcDf8I
SF-A2 Miki - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0ApXJt74_4
Sonika - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fjg-yIJoSxg
Akita Neru - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSfIuzGJWtg
Yowane Haku - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzTlfFeYA44
All - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPZxe7DnUuM

...and there plenty more on youtube....*Panting*

What about Piko + Love is war?

Oh yeah....

I just happend to find out that, besides the suprise with Piko's gender, that Piko and his voice is part of the Vocaloid 2 series and is the version that is apperently the fairly recent one released in December last year (2010). The character's name is Piko Utatane. The image on the pakaging definately reflects up the character's voice! :) Exciting!



After finding out that Piko was part of Vocaloid, I sorta did a search on that and I checked out this video first, which featured 'Love is War' sung by Piko.

You'll find that Piko uses his 'masculine' voice in this song.

Then there is this one which is done by Piko Utatane, which sounds sorta less masculine.


Upon listening to 'Love is War', I really liked the song, which then led me to discover the theme of 'Love is War' along with 'Magnet'. I also felt like sharing this new piece of info I found on Vocaloid, despite the fact I'm sorta just getting into Vocaloid, making me a newbe.

The part about Piko being part of the Vocaloid series is thanks to a fact from my best friend.
I think thats one reason as to why I did up this blog....hmmm...?

Lots of info but I hope it was of help or use.

Thanks for reading.

Friday, March 25, 2011

The Hunt For Macarons is ON!!!! - Canberra

^_^ YAY! A Macaron Entry! ^_^

I don't live in a big city! So pretty much finding macarons is a challenge but I've finally tracked down some place thanks to these follwing websites:

Snowdrop Meringues and berries:
http://snowdropm-berries.blogspot.com/2010/04/flute-bakery-revisited.html (so cute)

Bake and Bloom:
http://bakeandbloom.com/2010/09/could-these-be-australias-worst-macarons/

The Loactions of the Macarons sold are @:

The Flute: 8 Barrier St, Fyshwick - (02) 6280 8001.

Bean in the City 28/36 Ainslie Ave, Civic - (02) 6162 0866. (Where the fountain is.)

Croissant D'Or : 33 East Row, Canberra City (Civic) - (02) 6247 0853. (Bus interchange)

Tomorrow I'll be taking a look at the EPIC Markets, which do also sell macarons and are apparently the ones that supply the Macarons to "Bean in the city". Can't wait!

Now to jump onto my opinion* of the Macarons of these places!

* you can agree or disagree but try for your self. :)

First, I"ll start with the Macarons at "The Flute"!

This little patisserie is only open on weekdays from 8am to 3pm (which is hard to fit on my everyday schedule). The patisserie is sorta small as well but seems to be popular, especially during lunch times. The others sweets sold there I have yet to try but the Macarons.... these Macarons were really really good!
Crispy and melty and the cream filling is soft and mouth watering.
At $2 a piece, they were at a good value but the sizes varied a it, with the pistachio one to be smallest. I'd really suggest them!






The ones here are Pistachio, Cassis (Black currant) and Orange! Oh so mouth watering!
(Don't mind my photography skills! The lighting was bad too since that day was kinda gloomy).

Next are the Macarons from "Bean in the City".

Very small place but Cheap coffee and at a regular size too! :) Friendly staff too!
The Macarons are very nice there but I wonder if they always stock them? Anyways, the Macarons there are soft and are very mouth watering in a melty-licious way when you take the first bite. mmmmm. I really recommend the passion fruit flavour. They sell for $3 a piece though but its really its worth the try! You could say that an extra dollar goes to the good and friendly staff and coffee.






These ones are Passion Fruit and Cassis (Black currant). Sweet and Yummy! : P
(Again, please ignor the bad photography. That day was even gloomier too! plus there was a slight accident with bringing the Macarons home.)

Finally, the "Croissant D'or" Macarons.

The place is a very cute and sorta old fashioned patisserie with so many cute and good looking sweets.
Though, the Macarons couldn't really compete with the two above. I also kinda agree with the post on Bake and Bloom as the customer service was unfriendly. As for the Macarons, I found some of them crispsy but not soft nor melty. They looked and tasted good but a bit hard. Especially the Rasberry one, which its filling was hard. Plus you may notice in the pics below that the pistachio one is sorta lop-sided. I tried to reshape it but it wouldn't budge since the filling was a bit hard. The macarons sold for approx. $2.20 each. I think I'll be dodging the Macarons at that place for a while. (but it wouldn't hurt to try the other sweets)







The flavours here are Pistachio, Rasberry, Hazelnut (which was very nice), Vanilla and Chocolate (?) (the yellow one).
(these pics were taken the same day as those from "Bean in the City")

I'd suggest "The Flute" or "Bean in the City". Your opinion may vary from mine, especially with the "Croissant D'or".

I hate giving out negative comments and am of a honest nature but will BITE you if you should question my opinion on "Croissant D'or" and that is why I stated all the way above that you should try first.

I hope this entry was interesting and helpful. 

Thanks for reading.

These prices stated are from early 2011.

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Latte Art

I love coffee but not to the extremes of a SB (Short Black) or a Machiato! Damn those pack a powerful punch of caffeine!

My coffee HAS to have milk in it!

I'm also very fussy about how my coffee is prepared! The milk has to be boiled in such a way that it creates SMOOTH milk. Thats the type of boiled milk that creates latte art.

I've worked with coffee for nearly 3 years now and I can do latte art but I'm still practicing!

These pics are some examples. The pale one was my very first and the other one was done in February this year. They're taken with the camera on my phone.



The best places for this....hmmm...Ona Coffee house is one.

I just wanted to bring up this cause I was board! : P

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Vocaloid! - Live?

Who would've thought that Vocaloid was soooooooo popular that they would have live concerts with the characters singing?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17V1FPCy77c

I found this out on the discussion forum over Moodle at UC. Thanks heaps to the person who brought up the Vocaloid topic. It sure brightens my uni life a bit.

There are some other live videos on the side when you visit that youtube link above. This link links to Luka Megurine's 'Just be friends'.

Enjoy!  

Monday, March 21, 2011

Vocaloid!

I've heard of it and I've seen the characters around but I haven't really taken an interest in until today when I happened to spot this pic on a friends' photo album (online)!


He looks Hot! (his name is Kaito)
you can find it here too: http://www.zerochan.net/213144

So what is Vocaloid?

I knew it was a popular music making program from Japan and I even spotted it in Akihabara when I went to Japan. I thought that the characters were to promote the program but it seems that Vocaloid is more than that!

It rings true that Vocaloid is a music making program but it features the 'voices' of the characters and the main idea of the program is to insert, import...etc (imput methods) lyrics and a melody into the Vocaloid program and then a/the song is played along with the character singing. Pretty cool!

Though the program is kinda pricy. When I spotted the program on the shelf, there were a few volumes on the shelf and I assumed that the other volumes were extentions on the program. But actually, they're the same program but with a different character 'voice'.


(http://www.flickr.com/photos/sabekujikaneda/3534858281/ product link under image)

 The characters?

I believe real music artists in the real world contribute their voices for the characters' voices hence the 3rd example above with the link underneath it that features Megumi Nakajima's voice.

I have also noticed that there seem to be large number of characters to this Vocaloid. But infact, most of those characters are fanmade Vocaloids.

You can find most of them here on vocaloid wiki:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sabekujikaneda/3534858281/

The original ones are:
  • Meiko
  • Kaito (pic above)
  • Miku Hatsune (she is one of the most popular recognisable characters hence her green hair tied on both sides)
  • The twins names Rin Kagamine and Len Kagamine
  • Luka Megurine

The program is rather popular world wide, being released in Chinese and English.
The English version features characters named:
  • Sonika
  • Big Al
  • Miriam


 English version of Vocaloid with Big AL



Plus I've sorta notice that the versions are either being upgraded or that there are new ones being released.

And here is an example of the program layout:



Well that was some Vocaloid adventure and I now understand what Vocaloid is. I even might look further into it but.....yeah.... you get the gist of it in this blog..... otherwise just google! 

To people who are also new to Vocaloid are want to get to know it a bit better, I hope this was beneficial info as it was to me. :)

Thanks for reading!

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Into Korean pop? - wrong link

This is the right link to the music download: http://www.aimini.net/search/?q=big+bang&sca=

Apologies for that.......

...I'm kinda sleepy right now.             z
                                            _   _  z  
                                               -       

Into Korean pop?

I Love J-pop, I do. But I sometimes I listen to other music such as Vietnamese and English and Chinese (Sometimes). Though I'd never thought I'd be getting into Korean pop until today and for the first time at that too!

And guess what inpired me to?

Answer: an AMV for KHR characters Chrome and Hibari with the song , which I'm really addicted to called Haru Haru by Big Bang.

Hibari X Chrome ~ Haru Haru ♥ 1896 ♥
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnWYef2thNw

...and so I went and downloaded it....

http://www.aimini.net/search/?q=big bang&crpl=1jr4-lfs8am-k&tot=x2&nxt=20 (just copy the entire link in pink and paste it into the browser)

I really do suggest listening to it and for those who have heard it already.................so what if I'm a late listener*!

* the song was released in 2008 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bang_discography)

I did state I found it on an AMV.

Its really addictive! Enjoy! :)  
(I wonder what type of pop I'll be into next? hmmm.......mmmm?)

Saturday, March 19, 2011

はじまりましょう (hajimari mashou) - lets start Plus

I forgot to add:

Lots of credit goes to the artist/creator! :)

XXXHolic News for me and you!

WARNING:
THIS IS A SPOILER! AVERT YOUR EYES IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THAT FAR INTO XXXHOLIC!
(but then again, the spoilers are found on wiki!) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_xxxHolic_characters)

I'm a fan of XXXHolic (Clamp). I've read every chapter and watched every episode including the OVA's so having found out that the series ends on chapt 213 ...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I denied that so I went in search for rumours, checking wiki first! It was confirmed that the series had ended but to my surprise, I found that the Doumeki in that scene (and possibly in chapt 212) is actually Doumeki's grandson! OMG!

100 years had passed at the shop as well but it wasn't very obvious until rereading the chapter over again. The proof of that fact was on pages 23-24 of that chapter.


By the way, what is Doumeki's grandsons' name?

On the bright side, Watanuki can leave the shop now since his powers have gotten pretty strong ever since he gave up his existance to keep the shop intact and for a day when he can meet Yuuko again.

Also, having watched XXXholic Rou Adayume, the invitation given to Watanuki towards the end was a wedding invitation to Doumeki's and Kohane's wedding! That was a bit of a shocker.
*Watanuki looks awsome when he's in action!

The episode ran for half an hour whereas XXXHolic Rou ran for like 45 minutes. I was epecting the espisode to be longer!  (I WANT MORE!) I wanted to see Yuuko too! 

I hope this is satisfying! This news was more impactin on me but I hope it will have quite an imapct on you readers and fans out there!



はじまりましょう (hajimari mashou) - lets start

My first informal post and I get to share something! YAY!

I've been into Katekyou Hitman Reborn lately and when I mean lately, I've only just started to take an interest despite the whole series has ended! There is a rumour though going around that there will be another season or series called generation X, so I'm lookin forward to that!

Anyway, I've been looking up pics to do with KHR (Katekyou Hitman Reborn) and I happen to come across these hillarious fanarts!

I laughed so hard! And I'm sure you will too!

*I applaude the creater!*

Taking the Windows XP theme and making something out of it!

 
                                                      http://www.zerochan.net/278154



Your coudld even use them as a desktop wallpaper if you wanted too!

Here ya go! I don't own them but the link provided will be proof enough! Credit goes to user or uploader. 

Thursday, March 17, 2011

About me!

I've gotten past the introduction part! phew!

To get to know me a bit better, my interests are Anime, Manga and Macarons plus some Japanese and Japanese music (pop) on the side! I'm also a crafty person so I like creating things.

I'm a pretty girly person on the side so I do like to get into fashion, accessories and cosmetics.

Just to note, the topic of macarons really inspired part of my reason for setting up this blog!
(This site especially! I love it! http://macaron-fetish.blogspot.com/2010/02/macaron-fetish.html)

My hobbys are surfing the net, cooking and my favourite, drawing (I draw anime and manga style)! I'm into technology (mostly computer software related to creativity). If you combine most of those catagories into one, it creates another interest of mine and that is graphic design, which I'm currently studying at uni! I also study Japanese on the side, which I enjoy.

Was that bombarding?

Well, hopefully in my next post, I'll post up something and I'll try to ease this formal language of mine!

Thanks for reading by the way! :)

Hello

Hello!

I go by kaze7 and am one annonymous and unsocial person when I surf the net!

I've only recently decide to start up my own blog after visiting random blogs with content to my interest. Seeing people post up wonderful things and expressing their thoughts has got me thinking I should do so too! 

So here is my blog! I hope it does interest readers and bloggers like they have interested me! :)

OH HOW EXCITING!     /\ _ /\
                                    ( ^_ ^ )