Bulking Up

Since I asked about the colon thing earlier this morning, I'll continue my 'health conscious' questions and ask if anyone has ever tried any muscle builder supplements? One of my family members has been talking about bulking up and, despite my suggestion of lifting weights and eating the right kids of foods, he keeps talking about supplements. I think it's specifically some sort of protein shake over a pill. Have any experience with that sort of thing?

Music review: Ai Kago Meets Jazz ~The first door~

You probably know Ai Kago, nicknamed Aibon, as the former member of Morning Musume, Minimoni, Tanpopo, and W. Just before the third album from W was released in 2006, Aibon was caught in a smoking scandal. At a mere 18 years of age, she was two years too young to legally smoke in Japan. The tabloid Friday was responsible for publishing the pictures of the teen smoking. As a result, Aibon was indefinitely suspended from Hello! Project. A little over a year after her house arrest began, she was back in Tokyo working behind the scenes for Up-Front Works, the agency that runs the Hello! Project family. Less than a month later, Aibon was reportedly in a relationship with a much older man and smoking again. This time she was released from the contract completely.

Now it is 2010. Four years after her big smoking scandal. Aibon has slowly returned to the entertainment industry. On March 31, 2010, she released her first solo album, Ai Kago Meets Jazz ~The first door~. The 11-track album is almost entirely in English, which was very surprising.

After listening to the album multiple times, it is my opinion that Aibon does much better with the faster songs than she does with the slower ones. "Sunny," an up-tempo ditty, is one of the best tracks on the album. On the other hand, "Blue Moon" makes me want to fast forward to the next song. And, of course, there is "Fly Me To The Moon," probably the most overused English song in Japan. Here's a note to any future Japanese jazz singers - Pretend "Fly Me To The Moon" never existed. We would all appreciate it. However, my biggest complaint is the background music. It sounds like she's singing in front of a midi track instead of a live band. I'm not sure if they mixed her voice with older instrumental recordings or if they did, in fact, record the background music just for her. I firmly believe that the bad songs on the album would have been a lot better if the instruments themselves sounded better.

It is impressive that Aibon took on this project. She has said that she's not particularly comfortable with the English language and singing in English can be rather difficult when it's not your first language. As a whole, the album is good. Even the bad tracks aren't completely awful. I hope that Aibon does another project like this. Not necessarily jazz, but something other than pop. Maybe she should try a big band album next!

Cleaning out the crap

Has anyone ever tried colon cleansing? I know there is a bunch of holistic types out there. Supposedly it will get rid of fatigue and low energy. I don't know that I believe the weight loss claim though. By the time the waste has reached your colon, all of the nutrients and calories have already been taken out. So there isn't really any way to lose weight there. So, speak up. What is the best colon cleanse routine you have done? How did it make you feel? Would you use it again?

Ceiling Down!!

A friend of mine recently had the ceiling in one of the rooms in her house collapse. There didn't appear to be any water damage nor were there animals running around in the ceiling. It just fell for no apparent reason. I wonder if she going to contact her insurance company to see what the home insurance quotes would be for the repairs. We contacted our insurance company we started having problems with our ceiling, but that was due to water damage not shoddy workmanship. (Well, there was some shoddy workmanship thanks to the previous owner thinking he could fix things properly.) I wish her luck getting it fixed quickly and cheaply!

Movie review: Hachiko: A Dog's Story

Based on a true story, Hachiko tells the tale of an akita named Hachiko. On the way home from work one day, college professor Parker (Richard Gere) found a puppy wandering around a train platform. The train station attendant (Jason Alexander) can't keep the dog at the station so Parker brings him home. When the owner can't be found, his wife, Cat (Joan Allen), reluctantly allows him to keep little Hachi. Soon Hachi and Parker form a strong bond. Hachi walks Parker to the train station every morning and greets him at the same station every evening. When Parker suddenly dies at school, Hachi is devastated. He continues to wait for Parker to return from work, despite the family's efforts to deter the behavior. Ten years later, Hachi dies at the train station - still waiting for his master.

I've wanted to see this movie for awhile. My family owns a shiba inu, which is similar in appearance to an akita. Despite knowing how the movie ends (it's a true story so it's kinda like knowing how Titanic ends), I still found myself crying as Hachi desperately waited for Parker to return. Granted, you need to overlook a few things in order to truly enjoy the movie. Cate, Parker's wife, is pretty terrible in the beginning. Since she's not a main character, you don't get to see her change. She's set up as an antagonist for Hachi and Parker and, while that softens a bit, there isn't a turn around for her. Sure, we feel bad for her by the end...but we kinda feel bad for everyone, not just her.

So, if you love dogs and are willing to shed a few tears by the end of the night, snuggle up with your furry friend and pop in the DVD. However, if you aren't in it for the heartwarming story, there isn't any other reason to watch it. Since it's basically the story of a man and his dog, you'd probably find yourself bored before it reaches the halfway mark.

A music review will be coming!

I finally got a chance to listen to Ai Kago's new album. There will be a review coming, but I want to listen to it a few more times first. So...Thursday. I will review the album on Thursday. Promise. For now, I will read a bit about Richard Willich. He seems to be this prominent businessman who is super into religion and helping his community via charities. On one hand, I applaud him taking his time and money to help those less fortunate than him. On the other hand, he seems to try to cram religion down their throat while he's doing it. I can't approve of that part. But maybe I'm misreading some things. I'll have to find out a bit more about him. Maybe he really is a nice guy that isn't forcing his religion onto others. Then again, if that was the case, why mention his religion at all?

I am not that old...

I made the mistake of looking in the mirror the other day. Somehow I have managed to get these "furrowed eyebrow" wrinkles between my eyebrows. They make it look like I'm always mad or something. It's really from me squinting to keep the sun out of my eyes. Note: Buy sunglasses. A lot of the wrinkle cream reviews talk about cheeks or foreheads. I'm not sure if my eyebrow wrinkles fall into the forehead category. I'll just tape my eyebrows up and it'll be all better! ^_^

Happy Easter!

Try not to eat too much candy! Even the best appetite suppressants can't defeat the power of the Cadbury Egg or the deliciousness of the Peep. Between Valentine's Day chocolates and Easter baskets, there must be a ton of chocolate floating around peoples' insides. Now if only they could make it so you don't gain weight from chocolate but it still tastes awesome. Get workin' on that scientists!