I'VE MOVED!!!

Just to say, I've moved to a platform that isn't blocked by China: livejournal.

so EVERYONE!!!! GO TO THIS WEBSITE NOW!!!

aiharatenshi.livejournal.com

hopes its better and more accessable. I've moved all my older posts (Except the college ones) to the new site as well so you don't have to come back here to read them.

Enjoy!

Bullet Hole Stickers

Okay, so heres to another wasted day, I've been surfing on youtube (with what limited speed these proxies give) on a Disneyland binge... again... probably because i'm heading for HONG KONG NEXT WEEK!!!

So, the Jungle Cruise is one of my favorite attractions and D*land. Especially with the talented skippers, 10 minutes of extremely sarcastic, dry humor is a great thing to put in one of the "HAPPIEST PLACES ON EARTH". And apparently, the skippers hold a "skipper stand up night" where these jungle venturing comedians get to crack their corny jokes off duty as well. And then I uncovered this little gem:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aP7kzzOf6qs&feature=related

Thank you proxies for not letting me format this post whatsoever. Anyway, the little spastic man in this video is named Jason Michael Hammond. All i can say is, this is hilarious. So many quotable lines, (my title is an example). Seriously, when you say that you counterattack gangsta car music with Phantom of the Opera, you have to be loved.

After finding a related video of this Mr. Hammond singing "Music of the Night" (and doing it EXTREMELY well), his youtube page filled with POTO songs and a link to his "professional" website, i did what any Theater fanatic would do: RESUME-STALK HIM!!!

Some pretty fun stuff, especially in musical theater like Music Man (Shipoopi anyone?), Guys and Dolls (Nathan), Cabaret, and of course, Into the Woods (Jack, and with his voice i have no trouble imagining it :D). Noises Off also caught my eye :)

Oh right, for those who are actually reading and have no idea why it "caught my eye", i was in Noises Off too (as Poppy). And when I say, "and of course", I was also referencing being in Into the Woods (as the Baker's Wife), if you haven't be following this blog (see post back in October). SHAMELESS SELF-ADVERTISING *aaheemm* anyway...

He went to Seoul, Korea for a while to work for an edutainment company that specialize in English teaching shows. Expatriat performers ftw! Following the resume drill, I went over to the headshots section and I can say I definitely approve of them, especially the ones with glasses >:) *rape face*. What can I say? I like a man with nicely framed lenses.

My verdict: This man is worth following, CHECK HIM OUT! He has a very pure and clear voice, you don't really get that as much anymore with men these days, especially SINGING men. And he's a great comedian to boot. So Jason Michael Hammond, I salute you. If you keep singing like that, you will definitely one day play the Phantom (in the Webber version AND the equally-awesome-if-not-more-superior Maury Yeston version). I would request a CD if i could (he offers them if you make a donation to his "Make Jason Famous fund" lol) but sadly when you live on the other side of the world you can't do that kinda thing.

So Jason, I send my post full of spaz, virtual love and support to you.

If anyone finds a suitable proxy for blogspot that actually lets me format a post NORMALLY (like actual bolds, italics and images), PLEASE TELL ME!!!

3 more days till 2011. PEACE OUT.

EDIT (11:52PM aka 3 hours and 40 minutes later): Okay, just saw him sing Bring Him Home and Empty Chairs and Empty Tables (from Les Mis). Jason, please play Marius in the near future, PLEASE!!!!

"Yes, My Lord"

Well before, i start obsessing... COLLEGE FRIGGIN' APPS ARE DONE!!! NO MORE SUPPLEMENTS TO FILL OUT EVER AGAIN HELLZ YEAHH!!!!

Now its just time for auditions T_T

Now, where were we... Oh yes! That ever so familiar catchphrase I've lovingly quoted from our favorite demonic butler: Sebastian Michaelis. If you have no idea what I'm talking about and you're into anime, get your self our from under the rocks and LOOK UP THIS AWESOME SHOW. I've been obsessing over Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler for a while and like any delusional fangirl have been compulsively spoiling it for myself and search up the voice actors. However, for the very first time, I'm obsessing over the ENGLISH voice actor.

*LE GASP*

I'm sure all the Japanese Seiyuu purists out there are bound to find me and troll on about "How the english version sucks and doesn't do it justice and blah blah blah". Don't get me wrong, original Japanese voice acting pwns ANY english dub whatsover, but the work some of these people put in and their AMAZING talent can't be ignored. After searching up the cast of the English version of Black Butler (apparently 1 season DVD is just coming out this Jan. 11, 2011), I youtubed up a NY Comic-Con panel with the director of the show, Ian Sinclair (who also happens to voice Bard, and does it VERY well) and the English voice of Sebastian. American otakus, thank you for introducing me to the wonderful J. Michael Tatum.

Okay, so this guy has done some serious work in the US business of anime. He has had some pretty substantial roles and writes for Funimation and ADV. The fact that he voiced Kyouya from Ouran Host Club also gives him major brownie points in my department :D. i can't get enough of that panel session. Several times he busted out "Sebastian" mode, answering requests from fans to say that token "Yes my lord" (even in french), and he was just... My GOD, it was like a brassy, british eargasm. The best "question" of that night? A cosplayer, in character as Ciel, said she had a "problem" and asked Tatum, "Can you put on my shoes?". When Tatum was too busy cracking up, Ciel barked "Thats an order", and lo and behold, our J. Michael put her shoes on, as "Sebastian".

Oh yes, J. Michael Tatum if you are reading this, you can put on my shoes ANYDAY :)

After i recovered from my fangirl seizure in front of my laptop, I began revisiting some old favorites I hadn't visited since my first otaku spaz phase: Monica Riel (Renge, and more recently, Meirin :D), Yuri Lowenthal (Sasuke and yes, Ben 10), Vic Mignogna (Edward Elric, JUNPEI IORI <3), Liam O'Brian (Gaara, AKIHIKO SANADA <3<3<3), Tara Strong (She plays so many parts i have to name whole shows, Teen Titans, Powerpuff Girls, Drawn Together, seriously this woman is everyone and everywhere). Note how all the men have worked on Persona 3 at some point... *smiles innocently*.

But seriously, English dubbers really do need some love people.

Hopefully that makes up for disappearing in a holiday coma, although its probably more to myself due to how no one is reading this... if anyone is reading this?

A Merry Late Christmas!!! 2011 is dawning upon us people WOOOOT!

I'M OBSESSED!

Quoting the fabulous Seth Rudetsky. I love you for your deconstructions and have been on a run of watching them instead of doing them. There is one I HAVE TO SHARE. Sorry for blatantly posting the URL. On a proxy.

Okay, so In the Heights one of my favorite musicals. So one of the swings, Josh Henry (who i believe who was Benny on the national tour) decided to demonstrate what he does backstage during the song "When You're Home". He singing other random MT songs that actually fit perfectly musically. Pure genius, but the best thing is he screws up at the second time and Seth chimes in with Meadowlark. Just see for yourself and let Seth do all the explaining http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bLR35ftc6s&feature=fvsr

Kudos to Andrea Burns for looking and sounding phenomenal (especially the note she holds at 6:06 - 6:11). And Julia Murney for just being there XD


I'm running our DVD for Into the Woods. Since we were on stage, we obviously couldn't see the set. Now that i get see from the audience point view, i can't stop gawking at the set :DDDDDD. Thank god it was the saturday show they taped, because i TOTALLY screwed "Maybe They're Really Magic" on Friday and its my favorite song to do. Why? because i get to belt, overact, go off-pitch, and get away with it :)

I seemed to have channeled Anthony Rapp's spastic hand movements during the play... Ha ha.

Asian Into the Woods lol XDDDD Shout out to the cast (and our "Tao Bao" Milky White).

Into the Woods

The title says it all. Yes, we are doing Into the Woods. To end it as a senior year musical is kinda awesome. What more? I'm the Baker's Wife! For once i'm not the whine little kid or crossdresser! Either way this is kinda late. We're in the tech week stretch... dress rehearsals till 6. Extremely tired. Never the less we are plowing through.

Note to anyone. Don't ever pile and stress yourself out for a week then sudden relax over the weekend. You'll strangely enough get sick. i'm a walking example of that. I'm just praying these are just allergies.

Nothing new. Just an update. College apps for ED/EA due soon. I'm doomed. Cross my fingers in hope :)

Peace out,

Tenshi

The First Baron

Okay, so first i'd like to share my latest discovery. :D Well, he's not really a discovery to the actually world, he's been around for a while, but I have to honor him some how because of his astonishing voice and I wish he was appreciated a bit more.

So I was watching that awesome video of Brent Barrett and Michael Jeter (RIP, but he's not the center of todays piece, although i might do one on him later) dancing like a madman in the Tony performance of Grand Hotel, I wiki'd up the musical and realized that the sexy Brent was in fact NOT the original Baron (although he did a damn good job playing it).

The original Baron was this man named David Carroll, whose last production was in fact, Grand Hotel. He left the show pretty early due to sickness. 2 years later when the song-writers finally settled their bitching over song rights, They finally decided to make the cast recording of "Hotel". By then, Carroll was already very ill with the late stages of HIV. This poor man literally DIED the day recording for the OBC of Grand Hotel started... in the bathroom of the recording studio... Very sad.

So i tried to search him up, finding this video of him sing "Anthem" from Chess (again, as the original cast member). Most of you know Chess from the 2008 concert version with Adam Pascal and Idina Menzel, and "Anthem" being sung by THE Josh Groban. I thought it couldn't get better than Josh. I was SO wrong. Originals kick ass, and this was GORGEOUS. Whoever caught it live was one lucky cow. One of the very few of the dying species that is "the musical theater baritone".

And who better to obsess with me about David Carroll than our very own Seth Rudetsky! For those who don't know Seth... well you should... or you have been deprived of all MT awesomeness. Anyway I'll let you see for yourself. Seth explains Carroll's death then goes on to do a deconstruction of his song "Love Can't Happen" from - guess what - Grand Hotel. Listen to the last note. and look at Seth's face when David hits that note xD.

This song was so good i actually bought it off iTunes. RIP David Carroll. Your beautiful voice will ring forever in my heart.

That aside, below was a small side discovery of a video i found from the user who posted the Chess song. An awkwardly cute song that makes me smile. And yes, that's Anthony Rapp (the 3rd RENT-y i mentioned today).

Senior Retreat tmr... yay... i have to wake up EARLIER than i do on school days... My head is exploding from self-produced stress. I'm a sad person. Ah well, Sheehan will pull me out of my my misery tmr. He was seriously on a ROLL today with the jokes during the workshop. Love him to bits.

Peace out,

Tenshi

Jets and Sharks and Scrubs

Once again, i have returned from a blogging hiatus, mostly because i've been so engrossed in my summer I've barely had time to really sit down and thing about anything to write. But to recap, after Vassar, I visited Brown and Yale, then headed straight to CMU for pre-college drama. In short, it was epic. You can find our pretty awesome counselors dancing to "Single Ladies" here.

Since my mother was out today I took advantage of the empty house to finally let go and belt in prep for this years musical Into the Woods. So while I was screaming "I Know Things Now" at the top of my lungs, my mind wandered and I decided to go on a YOUTUBE ADVENTURE WOOT!!!

I landed on some old clips of West Side Story. One of them was a rehearsal video for a segment at the 2007 Gypsy awards for the 50th anniversary of WWS with about 22 of the ORIGNAL cast members. Watching 70 year old Jets singing and snapping their fingers made me cry tears of joy. Oh and Chita Rivera was... Chita Rivera... only she was 74 years old and doing the Gym Dance. I honestly couldn't stop watching the video. MAMBO! :)

Continuing on that adventure led to a clip from an episode of Scrubs that pays homage to WWS by paralleling Jets and Sharks to "medical" and "surgical" (dances included) and a very familiar fire escape scene between Turk and J.D. This pretty much revived my love of Scrubs after my recent revival of my love for Chuck. What can i say? I have a thing for leading men whose first names are Zach.

Then COMPLETELY unrelated, after a stop on Broadway.com I spotted a rather interesting new play running on off-broadway now called Trust starring - what do you know - Zach Braff. Also starring Sutton Foster... as an S&M dominatrix... WHAT???!!! See for it yourself ---> Click. What makes me laugh even more is that Braff references West Side Story in the preview video for the show. If you're in New York, run to your local TKTS and please see this play for me, cuz it sure looks interesting.

Thats just about it for today. Tmr, I will official be a Senior and start my last year of high school.

Peace out,

Tenshi

The Hollowed Halls of...

...Vassar! Sorry Harvard.

Okay, so its 11:20 at night so i'm making this quick. i was going to do a spaz entry but then i realized i was visiting a college today so i'm writing about that instead. Then i was planning about writing about it tmr, but i'm seeing TWO colleges, so it would be way too much.

Anyway, enough time wasted! Lets get going.

The place is GORGEOUS. This was one of those REALLY old schools that was founded around the same times as Yale (which it almost merged with) and those other old schools. The architecture was very intact with what it probably was like more than 100 years ago and even the dorms and interior designing is very old fashions. I think i was gaping at the beautiful buildings more than listening to the actual tour guide who is a drama major.

The drama program is pretty active, especially for a BA so that was impressive. And since is was a liberal arts college this is pretty flexible. I would almost REALLY want to go here. The down side? Its a little TOO small and secluded for my taste. And the surrounding down isn't much to look at. I'd rather move back to Edison.

Right now... a little lower on my college food chain because its academic standards are pretty up there and i'd rather concentrate those on a certain different liberal arts school. But I really like it here, more than the West coast or Midwest (maybe just my NY pride).

Not really considering it. But we'll see. And now the highlight of the tour: the 2 Ivys. Here about them tmr!

Peace out,

Tenshi

Going Blue and Trojans

Once again, I'm referring to colleges, not anything else that might pop into your mind.

I intended to do UMich right after i went but it was a long day and i didn't feel like it. So today's a bit of a treat as I evaluate both UMich and USC. This again is only meant to record my initial impressions of the college. I do not mean to offend any institution or anyone who goes there.

SOOO. For UMich, all i can say is... its BIG. like... REALLY BIG. There wasn't really much specially about then environment as UMich was a public university after all. I did get to stop by the Northern Campus to pick up an info packet on the MT program there (mostly brag sheet but i was impressed anyway). I couldn't get an appointment with the MT department anyway. For some reason the parents absolutely DESPISE the midwest (for... well i would put it as "pre-judicial" reasons) and suggest i don't apply at all. For me, i don't really mind the super big-campus and the Ann Arbor area, mostly because the quality of the MT program far outweighs the other parts of school. Parents seem more concerned about my social-cultural life there (which still is a valid reason). I'm still probably going to apply.

Overall UMich impression: Average public university in a town dominated by well... michigan people (limited diversity). Huge campus concerns over low level of intimacy. However high quality MT/drama program and academic strength/flexibility as a whole makes it worth apply for. Basically, "meh" physical qualities, thumbs up for program/academic qualities.

And again, school spirit is evident (Northwestern was the purple school, UMich is the blue one)

So after arriving in Cali the following day i went to USC, home of the Trojans (and another school who used to be the Methodists lol).

Sadly i could only book a campus tour instead of encountering the theater department and info session like i wanted, but the tour guide was one of the best I've seen so far as it was actually interesting and did a good job delivering info FAST but clearly. And... well i admit he was kinda hot :D. Although now i feel kinda shallow cuz I don't remember his name (except his last name which i was either Edward or Edwards). Cute tour guides aside, USC was a VERY nice campus. It wasn't too big or too small and they theater programs are one of the top in the nation (probably from being in LA). Plus, like... 10 seniors this year are going there and many claimed it was their first choice. I admit not wanting to consider California just because it was so far from home on the East Coast but after seeing USC i might be taking that thought back.

Overall USC impression: Extremely diverse, so high cultural qualities and very well rounded. Just right-campus size with nice environment. Strong theater program however only minor in MT. Very, west coast feel (its hard to explain, if you're from the east coast you'll know what i mean). I'm very happy about it and it may be one of my top target schools

Wow that was a lot. Have fun reading. Now i shall play addicting games with Brian.

Peace Out,

Tenshi

The Purple University

And no, i'm not talking about NYU (for those who are familiar, purple is the color of NYU's symbol). I'm talking about Northwestern University in Evanston IL. Pretty much most of today was dedicated to that. Jetlag was starting to kick in so when we were going through info session I had to kick my parents as well as myself to keep from nodding off. Pretty much like any other college tour so i'm just going to talk about some highlights:

• The rock that apparently gets painted everyday. Started off the size of the fist and now its like... something you can climb on
• Tour guide named Jory Gomeranz (i'm not sure the last name was right). Attempted to full of lame puns and jokes (like how their old mascot used to be the Fighting Methodists... ._. ...) He was so awkward he was funny. For the first 20 minutes.
• Being constantly reminded that Zach Braff graduated from here :D
• Big campus that stretches across Evanston.
• They're school spirit is pretty evident. There is purple EVERYWHERE.

And i booked a Theater tour, which was especially catered toward interested Theater majors. We had a rather spunky tour guide there who was pretty enthusiastic about the program. Highlights include:

• A bunch of prestigious names popped up associated with the theater program like... Anna Shapiro (tony-winning directer of August County Osage) who teaches there, David Schwimmer (lol), Brian Darcy James , Heather Heady, etc. And a bunch of other really talented and strong people that teach at the school.
• An impressive and active theater that seats around 400 people. Its times like these that I realize how friggin' big the PAC is at our school.
• Musical theater certificate program.
• One con: no acting freshman year.
• One pro: many double major/minor due to BA nature.

Overall thoughts: Solid BA theater program in a college close to Chicago with opportunity to apply to musical theater certificate. Plenty of opportunities in a comparatively non-competitive environment. Def. one of my top BA choices.

Just got to Ann Arbor. Drove for 4 hours. New time change. New jetlag. UMich college tour @ 10 in the morning. Must sleep now.

Peace out,

Tenshi

"Chicago, Chicago..."

Okay, not really, more like Evanston. But regardless of where i am in Illinois one thing's for sure: I'M BACK IN THE US!!!

I'm actually not that jetlag mostly judging from my sleepyness right now (and its about 10 pm here in Chic- i mean Evanston). But it's going to catch up on me tmr.

After a wonderfully "comfortable" plane ride with a guy's reading light shining in my face, i collapsed in the Hilton and the first thing i thought when I walked into the room was "DAMN this is big!" Especially the fact that we're only staying in it 2 days. So we decided to walkout on our own to have dinner. Since it's Sunday most of them were closed early, so after strolling for 2 blocks and mentally remembering where the closest Barnes and Noble is (right across the street :D) and ate in a trendy Japanese restaurant next to the hotel called Futari. It was EXTREMELY good and i can't explain how happy I am to find decent Japanese food. I should have brought my camera cuz the rolls they made were also pretty and presented very well.

After stocking up on roadtrip food in CVS (we're driving straight to Ann Arbor after visiting Northwestern), I found a place that sold something i had not had in a VERY long time: frozen custard. A place called "Andy's" sold this really nice frozen custard and I downed a cup in like... 5 minutes. Anyone who is lactose intolerant I salute you for having the willpower to not each dairy products.

To sum it up, if you come up to Evanston, go eat at Andy's and Futari. Really, GO.

I'll be back in Evanston on Tuesday so i should be able to get some pictures of the place to make this block of text more interesting. Otherwise, its off to Northwestern tmr (2 blocks away from the hotel :D) then driving off to Ann Arbor to see UMich the following day!

Peace Out,

Tenshi

PS Changed time and date of blog entries to US time, EST because i'll be there for the majority of the summer.

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Pack up your apples girls...

M... and head back to the tree

Kudos if you got the Gypsy reference.

So, while I should be stuffing various junk into my backpack i'm here wasting my time. I would have loved to show what the room looks like right now (I'm sitting on a knee-high pile of old papers as i type) but sadly my mother has already decided to pack the camera.

Aside from the lovely mess I was sorting through my old music from last year's Broadway Conservatory and I found Side Show's "Who Will Love Me As I Am". I decided to further procrastinate packing by rewatching the fierce duo Emily Skinner and Alice Ripley sing the same song. Ah Alice, we will miss you and your belt after you leave Next to Normal. Emily Skinner needs to be in more shows.

Fairy-belt mothers aside (ha ha, Battery's Down reference), my otaku side has currently reemerged after watching a video of the insanely talented Mamoru Miyano (宮野真守). For those sleeping under a rock in the world of anime, this Seiyuu has done a huge number of voices, including 2 of my favorite characters Suoh Tamaki (from Ouran Host Club) and Light Yagami (from Death Note). Yes... they are the same person. It takes talent to play a love-sick blond and a psychopath killer at the same time. See it for yourself:

Plus, he's HOT to boot :D. Since I watched Ouran first I could NOT take Light seriously cuz all that was popping into my head was a sappy french blond. Then i tried to watch Ouran again after Death Note, which resulted in some serious mental scarring.

Oh, and he's the voice of Death the Kid from SoulEater (another anime i should get to finishing). Go wiki him. Aya Hirano (平野 綾) is also another seiyuu (girl) that i've been obsessing over, but that will be saved for a later post (maybe when I rewatch Suzumiya Haruhi sometime soon).

Mother just called from afar after noticing the silence from this room. I should actually get to putting away the stack of papers i'm sitting on.

Flying out tomorrow to Chicago. Praying that the hotel wi-fi will suffice (and give me uncensored internet for the first time in 9 months!!!)

Peace out,

Tenshi

OMIGOD U GAIS!

The title's mostly an homage to Legally Blonde the Musical which I am listening to and hopelessly addicted to right now. Its like one of those musicals that you want to hate cuz its campy, but SO CAMPY that its actually catchy.

OBC starring Christian Borle (Emmett Forrest) and Laura Bell Bundy (Elle). And for those who don't know, Borle is currently in Mary Poppins as Bert, which makes me want to see it again just because he's in it. But right now I'm obsessing over different Emmett Forrest: Noah Weisberg. He was in the OBC as Aaron (the "How man yachts can one man own" dude in the song Harvard Variations) but i managed to snag the show he went on as Emmett and I've thoroughly fallen in love with him and his hair. Yes, his hair. He's so adorkable I just want to hug him. Oh and he's TALENTED. I had a couple of laughs listening to him sing "The Understudy Blues".

Noah, if for some strange reason you come across this, I hope you are not offended by anything i have said here because you are awesome :D.

The wonderful Annaleigh Ashford, who originated Margot (and who I had great fortune of seeing as Glinda in Chicago's Wicked) understudied Elle. At one show Noah and Anna went on as the leads together. These are 2 performers I absolutely love and if anyone has THAT show with the 2 of them as Emmett and Elle, PLEASE leave me a comment.

Legally Blonde closed on Broadway almost a year and a half ago, so this is technically old news for some people. But the National Tour is going on so check out the website here and go see it if they head your way. It’s a great musical to get stuck in your head... really... especially funny seeing the look on your friends' faces when you break out into "Bend and Snap"

I can't post any links right now cuz proxy had issues and i had to delete it. So bad proxy right now.

edit: 10:05 pm- Proxy up and working again but still has some issues. Added in links :)

And that’s my obsession rant for today. I think i lost a little bit of my dignity there ha ha. For non-MT people out there, don't worry, I will be speaking in normal english in posts to come :D On another note, I shall be leaving for Chicago the day after tomorrow. The start of an intense week of college roadtrips. Oh joy… Wish me luck!

Peace out,
Tenshi

Hard-drive backups are slow...

Have to wait till mom's hard drive is done backing up... then i'm allowed to sleep just because she doesn't know how to work the computer no matter how many times i teach her ha ha.

I pity the technologically impaired :)

First Post

Hi! So yeah... i'm kinda new to the scene and i want to start a blog to keep up with the journey to my senior year start with the summer of 2010!

Hopefully not only will I be document what I've been doing over the summer, but also get to do a bit of fun stuff to get more people to read, such as talking about random obsessions like TV shows (GLEE!!!!), musical theater/theater, anime, and maybe some vlogging (once i get the hang of normal blogging.

Otherwise, sitback, and hopefully this will be the start of a wonderful time waster over the summer! But not just a time waster, but a time waster worth reading!

Peace out,

Tenshi