| Home at last |
[Jul. 10th, 2009|09:20 pm] |
Arrived home without falling over, which I think counts as a win. Saying goodbye was hard (to Osaka, ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) ladyoz, and finally to fyrie in Helsinki, wah!), but oh, it's been a good trip.
(Also, my purchases from just two shops - guess which ones - fill a whole box. Oops?) |
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| Last night in Osaka |
[Jul. 9th, 2009|11:00 pm] |
Just a note to announce that we've survived the last day and the last show, and Chie-Nene-Teru are my new Golden Trio. Also, Yuu was in the audience. Thankfully she was on the first floor and we were on the balcony, or I would be really tempted to glare at her for being so amazing yesterday ;) Instead of demachi we got a talkshow onstage. Teru, apparently, is not stellar at dancing at the best of times, at least according to underclassmen ;)
Flight home is tomorrow morning, getting in to Warsaw about fourteen hours later. I wonder how long I'll be bowing to everyone and trying to queue up for the subway.
This trip was the best idea I've had in a long time. |
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| Day three of All Shows, All the time |
[Jul. 8th, 2009|11:57 pm] |
Cirque for the second time was fantastic, even if the most intense of acrobats switched acts, leaving the Duelling Seesaws of Death a little less tense.
Also, I sincerely want to kick Yuu. I do not need another troupe to follow, nor another DVD to buy, but I think I may break for Me and My Girl. Mainly because I can't get the songs out of my head. Or her drunken squeals, for that matter. She spent half the show in soprano ~_~ |
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| Dead on account of dancing vampires |
[Jul. 7th, 2009|08:34 pm] |
So, not only am I in Japan for Tanabata (and I have the Google!Japan logo to prove it), but I just saw my favourite musical in the world, with the one performer that a, I adore in every role on account of his voice making me melt, and b, that I was never expecting to see because, well, Japan.
Yuichirou Yamaguchi, live, is enough to make your brain melt with the first note. For most of the show, he's a Japanese demon, a bunraku puppet, inhuman and only moving when he chooses to. Then came Unstillbare, and the way he came out and leaned on a gravestone, suddenly human, broke my heart even before he sang. And he did sing, and it left me gasping for breath. The stage presence alone, and that voice!
(Yes, I did have my faithful Olympus gadget. And I wasn't the only one melting. We were on the balcony, among an all-female crowd, and we all gasped in unison. As fyrie put it, that voice bypasses the brain altogether to lodge much lower.)
( The rest of the Tokyo version of Tanz der Vampire was also much improved )
We're going back to Osaka tomorrow, via Nagoya and Cirque du Soleil (again, this time for free in 12,000 yen seats). I think I may have trouble sleeping long enough today. Falling asleep at Me and My Girl would be embarrassing. |
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| So, Kabuki and Takarazuka have a lot in common |
[Jul. 6th, 2009|09:31 pm] |
I think I would have come away with a different impression of kabuki theatre if I hadn't seen a show with costumes designed by Yoshitaka Amano, starring Bando Tamasaburo and Ichikawa Ebizo (both of whom Google identifies as the definite dream cast). There were sparkles and capes and dragons and Shiny Things (TM). And heels.
So many little things made it from Kabuki into Takarazuka as well. The hand gestures, the steps, even the fawning manner of the female-players. Someone should write a thesis on this.
(For the record, the show was Kaijin Besso, The Sea God's Villa.)
And before, there was Taka-An, and a CD by my girl that was never officially released, recorded in 1991 during her nibante days. I now have a recording of Maki Ichiro singing Memory ♥ |
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| The whirlwind of shows |
[Jul. 2nd, 2009|11:50 pm] |
Cirque du Soleil Corteo = wonderful. And may have a follow-up.
We only showed up for toujitsuken at 10, but we got B seats at a steal of a price :) BaraAme - not as confusing as people make it out to be. Tani impressed me with her fire, and Micchan's hair was messily adorable, but Tomu stole the show for me. She needs to do more comedy ♥
And then there was the revue, in which Ume-chan rocked the house. You have to respect a musumeyaku who can dance with a stage-ful of otokoyaku and pwn every single one of them. (Also, was Tomu speaking in sign language while singing? It looked that way.)
Also, Takarazuka-An is very dangerous for fans of OGs. I am now the proud owner of an autographed photo of my girl ♥
Next is Tuesday. Tanz der Vampire. With a guy I've been starry-eyed about for over four years.
This is a good trip :D |
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| For once, the rainy season is living up to its name |
[Jun. 30th, 2009|05:40 pm] |
In Hiroshima right now, and after ten days of sun (and a major tan) in Kansai, we're finally getting to see the rainy season. Not that it's a bad thing: Miyajima in the rain, with mist covering the mountain tops, was very spectacular.
Tomorrow, we drive through Nagoya to catch Cirque du Soleil, then on to Tokyo. Thursday will be another Takarazuka first - standing in line at silly o' clock for same-day tickets ^^; Keeping my fingers crossed that we do get them.
It's halfway over already, eleven nights down and ten to go. I have a feeling I will be coming back, often. |
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| Kyoto update |
[Jun. 26th, 2009|10:11 am] |
Flea markets are dangerous, just so you know. I'm now the owner of a rather overpriced yukata that I fell in love with ~_~ At least it's really good quality.
I also did an unashamedly fannish thing and got up at crazy o' clock to go Shinsengumi hunting. The actual headquarters/museum are only available for viewing by appointment (in Japanese), but I found the Mibu temple and the building itself. There was a pair of Japanese tourists there and we exchanged furtive looks as we bought the maps of old Kyoto.
Now, to see Rainbow Bridge :> |
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| Elisabeth: Moon Troupe demachi report |
[Jun. 20th, 2009|11:14 pm] |
The actual show report will take a few days, or until I get back home (because it only gets better from here), but we did end up staying for our first demachi.
(For the non-Takarazuka: demachi is official stagedooring. When the stars come out, they take letters from their fanclub members, but they generally don't talk to other people, and you're not allowed to bother them. Not so much with the Kevin Tarte style of "who wants to glomp Krolock? :D)
( Demachi report )
( And this would be what never happens at demachi ) |
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| Obligatory notice |
[Jun. 18th, 2009|05:52 am] |
Off to, literally, other side of the world. Back in 3 weeks (July 10). Will, hopefully, check in intermittently throughout, but can't promise anything.
Fwee. |
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| T minus 2 and packing |
[Jun. 16th, 2009|11:32 am] |
I'm almost entirely packed for Japan. Thank goodness for Google Street View, because I get to shadow-walk my way everywhere as a dry run before actual travel. It's going to be... fun? :)
Internet availability is pretty sure, but due to the sheer amount of stuff to see, I'll be limiting online time to skipping through the f-list. Anything that requires my attention should be emailed. (No texting, please, my roaming plan's extortionate.)
And once I get back from Japan, I may very well be buying a flat and getting a driver's license in the same month. Fun?
In the meantime, have a coloratura falsetto Abronsius: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8GKlvByZDI |
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| T minus 8 |
[Jun. 10th, 2009|02:10 pm] |
In 8 days, I'll be on a plane to Japan. It's only just starting to hit home.
The postcard offer is still open (though actual postcard sending may be from Poland, since the last few days of our trip will be particularly hectic). Thus far I know we're meeting mayoini in Osaka, a friend from secondary school in Nagoya, and utena1409 in Tokyo. Some other people may come out of the woodwork, and since ladyoz is taking her laptop, we should be mail- and LJ-capable for meeting arrangement purposes :)
Now, to sit on someone before we end up seeing not only her, her and him, but also her, her and her... ;) |
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| Update from the bunker, and Angel Voice |
[Jun. 2nd, 2009|10:52 pm] |
My exam is on Saturday. That would be the exam that tests, in six-hour, 240-question detail, the encyclopedic knowledge contained in 6 books that together run well over 3,000 pages. Thank gods for Schweser Study Notes is all I'm saying. And study leave.
Last-minute studying is made all the more fun by infection-related vertigo. For some reason it's worse when I'm in front of a computer, so that's added motivation to look at a page, not a screen ;)
And just in time, my study aid came in the mail. I had a *cough* copy of Maki Ichiro's graduation CD Angel Voice album before, but it was a much-copied cassette tape version with distortions. It's much better in original CD format. And it showcases Ichiro's voice in such good songs - everything from an otokoyaku-transposed Ich gehör nur mir to female-register Beauty and the Beast theme, with everything else - Luck be a lady, It's a wonderful world, Unchained melody and other standards - chosen to show off the warmth and quality of her voice. It stays up to repeated playing very well.
(Not to mention the Phantom of the Opera with Ichiro!Erik and Hanafusa!Christine. Why do I like Mari Hanafusa best in her first combo?)
Sunday is freedom, and possibly madness. |
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| Cupcake rescue needed! |
[May. 21st, 2009|09:37 pm] |
Does anyone have an idea how to make icing or frosting that isn't very sweet?
I just made dark chocolate cupcakes that are sinfully delicious, but also rather sweet. I had an idea for orange icing, but anything with the usual amount of sugar in it is out.
So what can I spread over the chocolate that will fit and be tart rather than sweet? Can be refrigirated, and since I'm serving them tomorrow, I can buy ingredients as well. |
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| FIC: Fairytale/Cinderella: "Complications in advice-giving" (PG) |
[May. 17th, 2009|07:44 pm] |
So, so much fyrie's fault. This has so much sugar, I am not responsible for the well-being of any diabetics.
Title: Complications in advice-giving
Author: Beth Winter, bwinter
Fandom: Cinderella
Pairing/characters: Fairy Godmother, Cinderella
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: This particular interpretation based on the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical.
Prompt: 128: Any science fiction or supernatural fandom, any characters, Humans' rigid ideas about gender and sexuality make falling in love with one difficult.
Summary: Before her wedding night, Cinderella asks her Fairy Godmother for advice. It turns out that fairies have different ideas about things.
Warnings: None.
Author's Notes: Entirely fyrie's fault as usual. Also dedicated to the kind soul who subtitled the Japanese version of the Cinderella musical, in which the Fairy Godmother and Stepmother are both played by actresses who some years earlier were very famous for playing male roles. The sheer sugar content of the Fairy's scenes with Cinderella, especially fulfilling the wish, put this story in my head.
( Even in fairytales, not everything's simple ) |
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| Eaten by work again |
[May. 12th, 2009|07:07 pm] |
Three weeks until my exam, and I'm nose-deep in studying. (And planning for Japan.)
In the meantime, have Pretty von Krolock:
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| Star Trek |
[May. 8th, 2009|11:39 pm] |
700 Trekkers gasping in delight in unison is a unique experience.
New movie gets it. It's not the old series (and it has an excuse to be), but oh, it's good fanfic :D
(Also, I want a Spock. And a Kirk. And a Bones. And a Star Trek icon.) |
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| FIC: The end of Summer (Original/Tanz, PG) |
[May. 7th, 2009|05:00 pm] |
Written for ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif) lgbtfest:
Title: The End of Summer
Author: Beth Winter, bwinter
Fandom: Loosely based on Tanz der Vampire (musical based on the movie Fearless Vampire Killers)
Pairing/characters: Graf von Krolock, Original Character
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Roman Polanski and Michael Kunze have my congratulations. This particular version is based on the original Vienna production.
Prompt: 35. Any fandom, any character(s), In a world that contains vampires one of them is utterly depressed. No matter who he/she loves, be it man or woman, the second her/his bloodlust takes over he/she destroys what he/she loved about them in the first place. How would meeting someone who is immortal (and therefore immune to the vampire's bite) in a completely different way change his/her perspective on (un)life?
Summary: The nature of curses may not be what we believe.
Warnings: Death, angst, religious themes (Catholicism).
Author's Notes: All you need to know about this canon is that it's 1617 in Transylvania, and Graf Stephan von Krolock, scientist and magician, has recently been turned into a vampire.
( The vampire and the stranger )
( And bonus epilogue ) |
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| X-Men Origins: Wolverine |
[May. 2nd, 2009|07:31 am] |
I saw Wolverine yesterday and I was very entertained. No, it's no Dark Knight - but it doesn't have to be. Instead, it's got a plot, a rhythm (I wasn't bored once, and there was just enough action not to confuse), and surprisingly superior acting.
I also have a new person to keep an eye on. Taylor Kitsch was so lovely as Gambit that I may need an icon or three (and a browse through Wolverine/Gambit fanfic in a month or so). Daredevil, smart, trying to be badass but ending up doing the right thing - that's my Remy ♥
I was also impressed at how, for superhero action fare, the movie handled diversity without it being an in-your-face politically correct littany. I was especially wary of how it would treat the single prominent female character, but they got the perfect combination of not making her an unnecessarily badass action heroine and giving her her own agency. For better or worse, Silverfox was in control there.
(And there are baby X-Men. Who I need to watch on slow-motion and identify, because the only one I got 100% was Pietro Maximoff.)
So yes, the kind of superhero movie you can go watch and be entertained by, very like X-Men and X2. bwinter seal of approval ;) |
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| A note on Dreamwidth |
[May. 1st, 2009|08:39 am] |
Dreamwidth is officially open for business open beta, and you can buy accounts if you don't have an invite code :)
I'm not moving - there's possibly a "yet" there. I will be reading my f-list on DW, and I may take advantage of an account there to post Takarazuka material (I really need to start doing systematic reviews of things I watch). The dealbreaking features for me will be importing my LJ f-list to DW (to integrate both reading lists) reliably and seeing DW come out of open beta while continuing the no-ads mantra. Six months, let's say?
And I have four DW invite codes free to a good home :) First come, first served! |
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| Adventures in wiki editing |
[Apr. 27th, 2009|10:20 pm] |
*falls over* I have a newfound respect for anyone who edits wikis. Still, after over a year from my first attempt at it, and with only a little hack, the Seal of the Bourbons page at the TakaWiki is all mine :D
(I'll add the play summaries later. Falling over now.) |
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| Trudging on |
[Apr. 23rd, 2009|01:52 pm] |
Just noticed it's been almost two weeks since my last entry. I haven't fallen off the face of the earth, I'm just busy. There's work, there's the looming exam (ack!), I'm still doing Nordic Walking at least four times per week, and writing.
In what time I have free, I'm making my way through the published version of jo_graham's Hand of Isis. A full review upcoming once I finish (up to the Ides right now), but I can already say that whatever irked me before is gone now. And I may or may not have offered to do a plushie of another incarnation of Isis/Charmian *eyedart* |
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| Easter baking, and complaints about silicone |
[Apr. 9th, 2009|10:36 am] |
Easter's around the corner, so yesterday I did my first baking run, making babas.
The thing is, I bought a set of silicone baking pans a while ago, and I'd only tried out the muffin ones before. The bundt/baba pan looked perfect - it's just the kind of fiddly, easily adherent cake you want to be able to peel out of a form.
Only it stuck like hell, with half of it breaking apart. And the half of it that didn't, was nowhere near as crisp as it should have been.
Thankfully I was making two anyway, and I had my trusty metal pan. But a question for the baking subset of the f-list - is this just how silicone pans are, or just cheap ones? Or is silicone only suitable for muffins?
( Lemon baba recipe ) |
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| A really, really good amateur Krolock |
[Apr. 6th, 2009|08:44 pm] |
Unstillbare Gier is the favourite song for amateur musical singers to record on Youtube - probably because it has less hard notes than Music of the Night ;) Imagine my amazement when I found a 20-year-old at a Gymnasium concert who's actually good. And I mean better than some Krolocks I've seen in actual professional productions. I think I've got a newbie to keep an eye on:
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| Takarazuka: El Halcon (Star, 2007-2008) |
[Mar. 22nd, 2009|09:46 pm] |
Takarazuka is my mainstay for when I'm feeling down, but not every show is a gem. Since I've just giggled myself silly through El Halcon, I think it is one.
Fans of From Eroica with Love will recognise Tyrian Persimmon, Klaus's ancestor, and let's just say the show starts with the baby Tyrian stabbing the man who raised him as a son to facilitate the escape of the pirate he suspects is his real father. It gets downhill from there, because there's seemingly no depth Tyrian won't stoop to (though I admit Aran Kei looks very at home when throwing women on a bed and pinning them there). The revue has lovingly adapted Yasuko Aoike's penchant for creating memorable backup teams for her heroes, and therefore Tyrian gets not one but two male sailors who keep being posed in typical musumeyaku worship poses, and Asuka's Gilda has her posse of girl pirates.
But I have to admit I'm on the side of Luminous "Red" Benedict. Let's see - he's noble, rash and needs a knock on the head. He has a crazy pirate mentor, and he manages to "kidnap" Tyrian's ward only to get tackled by her as she giggles about (I think) how cool he is. (I believe this would be where Eroica gets his enthusiasm from.) And oh, Hoshigumi have so many lovely actresses there - Yuzuki Reon and Kazu Ryouka work beautifully together, it's such a pity that Kazu's retiring just before Chie becomes top. Other people I'll definitely keep an eye on are Suzumi Shio (she does anger very well) and Tenju Mitsuki - just a baby, but she's got the otokoyaku fire in spades.
The show is... more on crack than From Eroica with Love, which is an achievement. It chiefly earns this distinction via the appearance of the disco-dancing Queen Bess.
( Clip from the prologue, which does a good job of introducing all characters ) |
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| It's alive |
[Mar. 10th, 2009|02:57 pm] |
Just a quick note to let people know I survived Oberhausen, albeit with a damnable cold. In point form:
- Cologne and Düsseldorf are both pretty. And wet.
- The Roman-German museum in Cologne remains as amazing as ever.
- According to the guy in the theatre box office, Jan Ammann broke his leg.
- However, Kevin Tarte was not in good form on the Hamburg proshot. Now, he is. The difference is dramatic.
- I got to make him snicker onstage and got a picture with him at stagedoor.
- The Oberhausen run of Tanz der Vampire just got extended to January. And it's worth it.
Now, not to fall over at work. It's going to be a challenge. |
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| Notice of absence |
[Mar. 4th, 2009|10:14 pm] |
And with everything and vampires, I forgot to mention that I won't be around this weekend :) Tomorrow afternoon I'm heading to Oberhausen via Düsseldorf, seeing the requisite dancing vampires, and coming back on Monday around noon-ish. No mail access due to mobile roaming fees. |
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dizzy