Nanami Kamimura's Blog (Fancy Gray Edition)

A very late entry...
(Posted on Saturday, April 22, 2006 at 11:02 p.m.) Sorry I didn't blog anything last week. I was more bent in thinking about my laptop's pitfalls this week. That is especially when I have to reinstall the OS after the original contents were "deleted" in a sort. Also, I didn't watch Holy Thursday's episode of The Amazing Race since I was in vacation and none of the channels that I watch carry it. So it is only now that I am blogging what happened in those episodes. Here are my entries for this week.
After the last leg in Greece where Eric and Jeremy went into the lead through a Fast Forward, the teams headed for Oman. There, they went to Sur where they stumbled on a Detour to deliver a Camel or search a Watchtower for some artifacts. They drove further into the desert (while passing two rivers) where they had a Roadblock to dig for what would be their dinner. BJ & Tyler got the bad luck of finding their dinner. They were not eliminated, but were stripped of their money and their possessions. Here is the leaderboard as of last Thursday:

Fran & Barry (After being stuck in fourth place for four straight legs, they manage to beat...)
Joseph & Monica (... because they got lost along the way. I think Fran & Barry are starting to become the Ian & Teri of this season, bar none.)
Ray & Yolanda (I don't know if it's just the heat or they just cannot stand each other?)
Eric & Jeremy (After being virtually at the front of the pack, these two hunks' sense of direction failed them and now they are feeling in the hole.)
BJ & Tyler (Just like I said, they have the back luck in finding that underground oven, coupled by the heat and the camel noise. At least, they not out yet, though penniless, and try their best.)

Next week: The teams head for Australia to search in tunnels under a prison. And Monica is having her tantrums again!
Finally, going down under. We'll wait until next Thursday.

Today's primetime episode of Survivor is definitely frustrating for me because my bet Bruce is out. And it's not because of Tribal Council. His stomach hurt for four days and his condition became so worse that he had to be evacuated to the hospital, following Michael of the Outback to become the second player to leave because of medical reasons. And with his departure, the Casaya faction is becoming more fractured as Shawn was pissed after Cirie did not pick him to share her reward. And Cirie, Aras, Danielle, and especially exiled Terry were the last ones to know about Bruce's condition. Even I don't know whatever happens to Bruce as of this moment, but I'm hoping that he is all right. I'm also hoping that Cirie might win this, although she is a very delicate position right now.

Right now, school is out. And since I work in a school, in the afternoons (when the those taking summer classes go home), it becomes almost completely empty. Here's a picture of one of the corridors.

An empty corridor. Click to see larger picture.

Lonely, isn't it?

This entry is brought to you by Nanami.

Reality Bites
version two
(Posted on Saturday, April 8, 2006 at 11:21 p.m.) The primetime episodes of The Amazing Race was moved to Thursdays, which is why I am writing this late. Oh well...
Last Thursday's episode saw the teams go across Sicily to the town of Catania, where they went to the ampetheater, counted some heads, asked the porter and went to a Detour where they carry Big Fish (swordfish) or sell Little Fish. Then, they went to Siracusa (that's Syracuse to the uninitiated) and went to a detour where they played some kayak polo. David and Lori simply got themselves lost and in the end were eliminated. Here is the leaderboard as of last Wednesday:

Eric & Jeremy
BJ & Tyler (They and Eric and Jeremy sort of keep switching places in the past legs. Why are they acting Italian?)
Joseph & Monica (I think everybody will hate this team because of Monica. They were supposed to go to a fishmonger, but haggling with the butcher!)
Fran & Barry (Barry might have got off some steam, but they were holding up there!)
Lake & Michelle
Ray & Yolanda (They simply got lucky because...)
Dave & Lori: ELIMINATED (... got lost on their way to Syracuse.)

Next week: The teams play some ancient Greek games. And Fran is freaking out in
They say, it's Greece! We'll wait until next Thursday. But I'll be writing my next entry until Monday because I'll be on vacation by then.

Here's what I gathered in today's primetime episode of Survivor:

The team of Aras, Bruce, Sally won a reward challenge which involves coconuts and a flag. They won breakfast in bed, although the bed ended up being soaked because of the rain.
Austin and Danielle were exiled. But nothing happened because of the rain.
Since the original La Mina is dwindling in number, Terry tried to convince Bruce to go their side.
In the four-stage immunity challenge, Terry won immunity from all-La Mina last three.
Austin was also a goner. So he found out from Terry that he has the immunity idol. But he got screwed by Terry and he became the first member of the jury after being ganged up by the Casaya faction.

Next week, I'll be on vacation. But this doesn't stop from watching the primetime broadcast.

I'll be on vacation next week to observe the Lenten season. But because of trouble that I'm currently having with my laptop, I decided to leave it behind (unless my brother decides to bring it). Repairing it was already depleting my wages!

This entry is brought to you by Nanami.

Reality Bites
(Posted on Sunday, April 2, 2006 at 01:20 a.m.) Last Wednesday's episode of The Amazing Race saw the teams fly south from Germany down to Sicily in Italy. There they went to Detour where they delivered bells to a Foundry or find red-and-gold tags in a Laundry line. They then went to an ancient theater where they hit a Roadblock requiring them to build a Greek statue. The "Dani" girls have been Yielded by Lake and Michelle and even though Ray and Yolanda were behind them, Ray and Yolanda went past them and two girls were eliminated. Here is the leaderboard as of last Wednesday:

BJ & Tyler (At least, for a hippie duo, a digital printing package kept them in touch with the 21st century — and away from a plate of pizza.)
Eric & Jeremy (Still ripping their assets, especially when they emulated that Greek statue.)
Joseph & Monica
Fran & Barry (This old couple is still in the race.)
Lake & Michelle (They got lost and dropped their place as their result. Furthermore, they used the Yield so they can forge ahead.
Dave & Lori (Lori seems to be upset; she doesn't have to use all of the pieces, but this week, she is whining!)
Ray & Yolanda
Danielle & Dani: ELIMINATED

Next week: Fran and Barry act as vendors in a Sicilian market, while Monica's tantrums earn Joseph's ire.
Staying in Sicily? We'll wait until next Wednesday.

Once again, I didn't see Friday's via satellite telecast of Survivor, I made do with the primetime telecast yesterday. And that was the first new episode I've seen in two weeks! Here's what I remembered:

At day 16 in this edition will go down as the earliest merge, with a merge usually occuring on Days 19-21. The Casaya Six and the La Mina Four combined to become the black-wearing Gitanos tribe
The La Mina Four being in the low side, they desparately wanted to have one member of the Casaya Six to join them.
Bruce was hacked (once again) with a machete, hitting him on the face. I hope it wasn't grave.
In the immunity challenge which involves hanging like roast pig, Shawn wanted some nourishment, but since host Jeff Probst doesn't have any, he just went down. Terry won immunity.
Nick was viewed as "another Terry" and his weakness would oust him. Since he has no immunity, he was a goner, and the vote in tribal council confirmed it as the Casaya Six and La Mina Four stayed along tribal lines. He didn't make the jury as he wanted.

Next week, Terry has the immunity idol and and he wants to give it to somebody. I hope he would use his respect to Bruce so Bruce will stay longer.

This entry is brought to you by Nanami.

My Assorted Anime Playing Cards�Two!
(Posted on Monday, March 27, 2006 at 04:04 p.m.) It's really ironic that while I was ruing about turning the laptop on again because of its power, I finally filled the list and selected characters on my second ever Assorted Anime Playing Cards. I would have easily made the list and make it on this laptop that I am using right now. But because of the AC adaptor "problem" that I experienced for three days, I have to gather the new images in an internet cafe and make the cards in my school office's computer. Thank God for my USB flash drive.
Although the planning stage started last October or November last year, I finished the list and made the deck just this week, about three years after I made the first one, which was after my graduation from college. The criteria in selecting characters for the 52 playing cards is much the same as those in my first anime deck:

Something I've seen personally, and
Something I personally like.

I don't select those anime that I always wanted to see, but just knew in the internet.
I have a hard time to find all the anime I need. But thanks to the Hero channel and other new anime I've seen between when I started and now, the list of anime has expanded. But I had hard decisions to make on which characters go to the cards. Also, I still hold on to a one-anime-per-card policy, and it served me very well. Furthermore, some characters I've initially selected are either moved or removed completely. I've initially included the following characters, but were removed to accomodate the other anime characters I like more:

Yamato from Battle B-Daman
Van Fleiheit from Zoids: Chaotic Century
Ran Tsukikage

I decided to use another font from the one I used on my first deck, as well as my Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch playing cards. I used the Boulder font (a fun font, if you asked me) on the index letters, which I used the Arial Unicode MS font for the suit symbols. I've also wanted to use four colors to distinguish the suit without sacrificing the original colors of the suits. So I applied the different colors on the corners near the indices so each suit has a different "color": blue for spades, green for clubs, red for hearts, and "gold" for diamonds (actually, I used orange because I remembered its hex-code better than gold's and I know yellow is way too light to be used as text in a monitor, much less in print).
As a deviation, I decided in making two jokers, I decided to make four, one for each of the colors of blue, red, green, and "gold" instead of red and black. Knowing that jokers aren't used very often, I decided to select those I really, really hate. After all, I won't be playing them.
After having the cards printed (using a new color cartridge), I used luminous orange sticker paper for the backs. Then I reverted to using a pair of scissors. I've learned from making my MMPPP playing card deck that cutters may cut straight, but exactly on the line. Cutting using a pair of scissors may be crude, but it ensures that I stay on the border. I think I am having a side effect in doing this: my thumb seems to be numb in a sense because I felt that my right thumb just got thicker skin. And I'm still suffering from it.
Usually, I make the box the morning after I have printed the cards. But because of my job, I had to wrap the cards in paper and make the box in the afternoon, when I went home. Using the same printer to make the outline of the box instead of using pencil and ruler. I even used the same orange sticker paper for the outside of the box.
Below are pictures of the cards before they were cut and after they were cut. Click on the thumbnails to get a bigger picture.

Here is another picture of the new decks four aces, together with their counterparts from the first deck.

I know I wanted to show you the entire list, but since it would make this already long entry a longer one, I have decided to make a separate page, complete with links to the pictures to see them for your self.

This entry is brought to you by Nanami.

Amazing Race update.
(Posted on Saturday, March 25, 2006 at 11:18 p.m.) Last Wednesday's episode of The Amazing Race saw the teams being told by Phil Keoghan that the leg is not over. They flew out of Russia and into Germany. Once in Germany, they rode the Wall of Death (vertically), then went to RoadBlock that involves finding Travelocity gnomes. After that, they went to a Detour where they would Break It (bottles) or Slap It (their legs). Wanda and Desiree bickered along the way and tagged behind the "Dani" girls; in the end, they were eliminated. Here is the leaderboard as of last Wednesday

Eric & Jeremy (Still wanting to flirt with some girls.)
BJ & Tyler
Lake & Michelle
Fran & Barry (I can't believe this old couple is still in the race.)
Dave & Lori
Joseph & Monica
Ray & Yolanda
Danielle & Dani
Wanda & Desiree (They blame each other for their faults and now they were eliminated.)

Next week: Teams find clues in laundry lines. And Lori is confused in assembling something.
Going south? We'll wait until next Wednesday.

I'm supposed to tell everyone about my new Assorted Anime Playing Cards. But since MyFileHut.com is down right now, while I'm writing this, I'll telling you about it in some other time, when MyFileHut is up again.

This entry is brought to you by Nanami.

An Amazing Race update and then some.
(Posted on Saturday, March 18, 2006 at 04:29 p.m.) Last Wednesday's episode of The Amazing Race saw the teams leave Brotas, Brazil and head for Moscow in a very long flight. Once there, they went to sports center where they encountered a Roadblock, which is a 10-meter dive. After that, they went to a chapel where they encountered the Detour to whether Scrub moving trolleys or Scour Matryoshka dolls. After that, Eric and Jeremy went to Red Square to meet with Phil where they found out the leg ain't over! Here's the situation on the teams.

BJ & Tyler (Although they left the last Pit Stop in the lead, they got lost in finding the trolleys, forcing them to go to the Matryoshka dolls.)
Eric & Jeremy (They're first... for now.)
Joseph & Monica
Dave & Lori
Ray & Yolanda
Wanda & Desiree (Wanda is afraid of deep water and it her their place real bad.)
Lake & Michelle (Currently second.)
Danielle & Dani (Their place was cost by forgetting their passports in the Roadblock)
Fran & Barry (They may be second, but so far bad luck left them last in Scouring the dolls)

Next week: Fran and Barry do a Bavarian, and fumble. Eric and Jeremy do some bottle bashing. Wanda and Desiree fight while teams rode on cars in a luge course. Vertical driving, anyone?
It seems that they will leave Russia and go west to Germany. But where is what we'll wait until next Wednesday.

Last Friday's episode of Survivor was a recap episode. So I'll be skipping this part.

I was supposed to post this last week. But because MyFileHut was out at the time, I didn't. So here it is: My Playing Card Collection.

My Playing Card Collection. Please link to see the larger pic.

Right now I'm still surviving my laptop's malfunctions which take me too long before I fully use it. Anyway, aside from those malfunctions, so far, so good. I hope that I'll do whatever I do to completely stop those stuck-ups! Because, I know that there is no fool-proof way since these stuck-ups are totally unpredictable.

This entry is brought to you by Nanami.

Laptop blues...again
+Survivor and the Amazing Race.
(Posted on Saturday, March 11, 2006 at 11:12 p.m.) Once again, I have another problem with my laptop. Last week, the OS has to be overwritten because it wasn't working properly. And the stuck-ups somehow continue, though rare. I even got a scare this morning, but I hope that when I turn on the laptop next time, it won't happen.

The ninth edition of the The Amazing Race started in Denver and went down south to São Paolo, Brazil where the gay team of John and Scott were eliminated. After that, it was off to Brotas where they would Press It (the sugar cane) to make ethanol or Climb It (a waterfall). The old girls of Lisa and Joni bickered at lot about their car and in the end were eliminated. Here is the leaderboard as of the end of last Wednesday's episode.

BJ & Tyler (2nd in São Paolo. These hippies are good competitors, especially when they were riding Beetles.)
Eric & Jeremy (1st in São Paolo. Cool hunks.)
Joseph & Monica (6th in São Paolo.)
Dave & Lori (a.k.a. the Nerds. 4th in São Paolo. And they showed that nerds can compete in the Race.)
Ray & Yolanda (7th in São Paolo)
Wanda & Desiree (3rd in São Paolo. They sure used their Spanish very well, especially that Portuguese is close to Spanish.)
Lake & Michelle (5th in São Paolo)
Danielle & Dani (a.k.a. the Pink Girls. 9th in São Paolo.)
Fran & Barry (the resident old couple. 8th in São Paolo.)
Lisa & Joni: ELIMINATED (10th in São Paolo. Bickering is the reasong why most all-woman teams lose, and even they fell for it.)

Next week: The teams head for Moscow and Wanda tries to face her fear of drowning.
Where in Moscow will they head is what we'll found it next week.

Tonight's episode of Survivor sees this:

Danny finally talks about him being an astronaut. And he didn't brag about it.
In the immunity challenge, La Mina gathered the puzzle pieces, but Casaya wins. Not only did Casaya get to hang out on a barbecue, they also exiled Sally.
Although Sally never knew that Terry already found the immunity idol, in a sense she got immunity.
Dan was voted out 3-1 because he was the weakest in the tribe

Judging from the preview, it was still Day 16, but already they are merging. I don't for sure until it is shown two weeks from now.

This entry is brought to you by Nanami.

Laptop repairing blues.
(Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2006 at 11:24 p.m.) I'm sorry that I didn't have post anything over the past two weeks. Because of some problem that plagued my laptop, I have to have its hard disk reformatted (although every document saved in the My Documents folder). I have to redownload and reinstall everything that was erased. That includes some games I saved in the computer. Also, the MS Word installed has been downgraded from 2000 to 97. I don't actually cared, but my brother surely does (because his files are pretty big).
Let's just say that the laptop has turned a new leaf, though the "stuck up" which reoccured before the problem of the hard disk happened again. I just hope that this is the last time this happens.

Oh, by the way, I forgot about the last Survivor when Bruce got exiled. But Bruce's exile only made his tribe stronger. La Mina later got their revenge in the reward challenge after Misty was voted out and exiled Terry. Terry found the immunity idol (which is a shrunken head), but since he is not in trouble anyway, they may never find out. Casaya voted out Ruth-Marie because she was a liability.

This entry is brought to you by Nanami.

A trip to Enchanted Kingdom
plus the usual Survivor
(Posted on Tuesday, February 14, 2006 at 05:24 p.m.) Again, I watched Survivor: Panama - Exile Island on Saturday. But I didn't mind much because I was excited about the next day, but here is what I remembered:

The four tribes of Viveros, Bayoneta, La Mina, and Casaya are reduced to two: Casaya (wearing Sook Jai purple) and La Mina (wearing Chuai Gahn orange). Bruce wasn't chosen, but he gets exiled in Exile Island and some immunity because he could take place of whoever goes home.
The new La Mina tribe won the reward challenge.
I was thinking that Shawn was going home because he was freaking his new tribemates out. But after his new tribe of Casaya lost the immunity challenge, it was Melinda who got booted out.
Bruce takes over Melinda's place after his trip from Exile Island. We don't know if he found the mini-immunity idol, but at least he showed us some kung fu (or is it karate).

I didn't pay much attention to Survivor because the next day, the school where I worked had its first out-of-town Family Day at Enchanted Kingdom. I didn't mind about the activities (such as the games and dances), but after the show is over, that is when us employees rode the various attractions at the theme park. I got to ride the Flying Fiesta, Dodgem, Roller Skater, the Rialto, and the Jungle Log Jam. That was my first visit there, so I had to ride some. I also knew about its roller coaster called the Space Shuttle, but I thought that ride is for those with the guts and stomach to ride it, and I didn't.
I didn't initially wanted to back out of riding the Jungle Log Jam, but the brochure guide says that I can't cut a line, so I had to stick around and risk getting myself wet, especially that I didn't bring a raincoat along and there doesn't seem to be a locker for keeping things. The shirt that I was wearing did get soaked in the process of the ride, but I managed to keep my backpack (and my cellphone) dry, luckily have spare T-shirts. I still got a little scared going through those high drops, but I survived!
But I still liked riding the Flying Fiesta because I got the rush in holding on the swing and scream as the whole ride spins. I wanted to do it again, but time constraints and the long queue prevented me to do so, but I did went inside the Rialto twice because of the Hanna-Barbera characters that I loved to watch during the LaserDisc era (1992-1996).
Here are the souvenir photos I got in the trip (click to get the larger picture):

I know today is Valentine's Day, but I don't have a date tonight. But I'm more looking forward to my birthday on Saturday. I'll writing about it when the time comes.

This entry is brought to you by Nanami.

A day of sadness; Survivor first impressions.
(Posted on Sunday, February 5, 2006 at 06:03 p.m.) First, I have not written anything for the past weeks because I have nothing to talk about interestingly during that time. But once again, I'vew decided to type anything new because Survivor is on again. The Philippine version is supposed to be shown last night. But because of a stampede that happened yesterday morning, I'm disappointed but at the same time a little saddened.
At least 70 people died and hundreds were injured that morning. And that is just for getting inside the venue and getting the free tickets. The people were very excited for that day for it was expected that big prizes were about to be given away. But the crowd went out of control and people died trying to get in. I felt pitied to those injured and the families of those who died.
I know that Maria-sama ga Miteru was not on yesterday because of that incident (and I shouldn't), and for me life should go on (I even forgot to watch Kiddy Grade yesterday), but I can't help but share the sentiment and condolence everybody has.

Survivor: Panama - Exile Island finally started last Friday. I didn't watch the live broadcast because I'm at work. So I watched yesterday's primetime broadcast (I don't even get why on Saturdays instead of Fridays). Here are my first impressions:

The number of castaways is back to sixteen. But this time, the division is by gender and age. So there are four tribes: Casaya (purple-wearing old women), Bayoneta (blue-wearing young women), Viveros (green-wearing young men), and La Mina (orange-wearing old men). They're all named after islands in�what else�the Pearl Islands, where Survivor has been before.
The losing tribe in a reward challenge will be exiled. For this episode is Misty, all alone in "Skull Island." But there is an mini-immunity idol in the island, which would guarantee whoever finds it one-night immunity. It's hard to tell, though, if Misty found it, but time will tell.
The old women (Casaya) lost in the immunity challenge, and they were sent to Tribal Council. The tribe thought to vote out Tina, because she secretly hides a bitter memory: the death of her son. So despite contributing much to the tribe, Tina's wallflower acts booted her out.

Next week, it seems that the four tribes will be reshuffle down to two. But how this would figure will be my best guess. My money's on Cyrile and the Asian-looking guy (or is Native American).

Before I go, here's one last picture, taken during Lunar New Year celebrations at the school where I work.

I've seen a funny dragon dance! Done obviously by children. (Click to see a larger version of the image).

This entry is brought to you by Nanami.

Hero and Complete Solitaire
(Posted on Saturday, January 21, 2006 at 06:21 p.m.) First, I have not written anything for the past weeks because I have nothing to talk about interestingly during that time. The only thing that is interesting is when I burned a new CD with the newest songs that I heard from a number of anime. But once again, I'm downloading anime again because recently...

Hero, the anime channel I have been longing to see since last November is finally in our cable's channel line up. When I came home from work last Thursday, I was surprised to see the channel on the TV screens. Now my anime urge has been replenished once again, since before it came, the anime I've watched lately are:

Kiddy Grade
Pretear
Great Teacher Onizuka
Naruto
Full Metal Alchemist

Because of my work, I have no time to watch Hamtaro in the morning (because I'm on my way to work) and Prince of Tennis in the afternoon (because I'm on my way home and have many errands along the way).
The problem I have now is to reschedule my anime binge since Hero arrived. Well, I have seen most of the anime there already.

I've got some relatives who sent me some money last Thursday, giving me some extra income for this weekend. Yesterday, I was supposed to buy Galaxy Angels DVDs, but they're out of stock. So I decided to buy The Contemporary Crossword Dictionary. But when I got it, I suddenly stumbled to this book and I have to give up buying the crossword dictionary just to buy this: The Complete Book of Solitaire and Patience

The Complete Book of Solitaire and Patience

Actually, I tried to find this book when I knew about it in the internet. The book I was looking for months after I bought my first two solitaire books was actually a repackaged version, as it was published in the '70s. The one above is not exactly the one, but I found out that it is the revised version. Still, I was thrilled because it still the book written by Albert Morehead and Geoffrey Mott-Smith which is the most complete book of Solitaire ever. Some of these games are already up in Wikipedia (most of which I wrote myself). But it is still overwhelming to have this book because this is the bible of Solitaire (so to speak).
Right now, I'm so overwhelmed that I don't know where to start and when to start write solitaire articles again for Wikipedia. But that will wait.

Lastly, here is a parody video given to me by the Masked Avenger, who made this during his free time. It is a video of the song Dragostea din Tei, a Romanian song popular in many parts of the world. In this video, Filipino words are used as "equivalents" to the original Romanian lyrics. If you like it, you can pass it on.

This entry is brought to you by Nanami.

An entry made out of boredom
(Posted on Saturday, January 7, 2006 at 10:28 p.m.) Welcome to the year 2006. And while I didn't make a New Year's Resolution early, I did propose myself that I will focus on my work for this year. After all, I was caught (or sometimes reported to be) sleeping on the job. So on my first week on the new year, even though I haven't have an afternoon nap, I haven't made one while at work on the past week. My budget for this week depends on what I earn. You what I mean.

But focus on my work is the only item on my resolutions list. Because of my preoccupation with my work and my other fetishes, I can't think of anything else. Besides, I admit not updating my sites for over a year now. May be someday, when I have the time, I will focus my attention on them.

So far, my selection of characters of my second playing card deck is now on the home stretch as I have two more spaces to fill. Recently added to my list is Eikichi Onizuka of GTO, and though I haven't have much time watching the anime, I like the new anime so much that I decided to add him to the mix, which now includes Nadja, Hamtaro, the twelve of Sister Princess, and Yamato of Battle B-Daman. I hope that I can add new ones by the time I buy new color ink cartridge for my printer.

Current desktop:

Still low on disk space though. Thank goodness for my thumb drive.

This entry is brought to you by Nanami.

Old theme, new face; Kouhaku list
(Posted on Friday, December 23, 2005 at 11:12 p.m.) Normally, while Survivor and The Amazing Race are on a lull period, I don't have the energy to write anything. But when I noticed that the number of entries in my blog are increasing again. So now, this is just a new version of a same theme. This is still the Fancy Gray Edition. But instead of cards, a crossword puzzle, the Big Brother house, and William Petersen (who plays Gil Grisson in C. S. I., there are Karen (of Sister Princess), Hamtaro, Midori (of Midori's Days), and Miharu (of Girls Bravo!). I also added the blog's URL, which I think I forgot to put when I posted the first fancy blog banner.

The year 2005 is coming to an end, and as always, NHK is about to launch this year's edition of the Red-White Show, in which J-Pop fans are talking about. But I noticed the seemingly cold reception from my fellow J-Pop fans as some favorite bands won't be performing this year. I don't know why there is little Western material about the news these days.
Anyway, here is the list for this year's performers:

RED TEAM

WHITE TEAM

AI
aiko
Sayuri Ishikawa
Yuna Ito
Ai Ootsuka
Miyuki Kawanaka
Mai Kuraki
Kaori Kozai
Kumi Koda
Sachiko Kobayashi
Gorie (this is a guy)
Fuyumi Sakamoto
Hitomi Shimatani
Ami Suzuki
Yoshimi Tendo
DREAMS COME TRUE
Mika Nakashima
Yoko Nagayama
Rimi Natsukawa
Ayumi Hamasaki
Yoh Hitoto
Ayaka Hirahara
Ayako Fuji
BoA
Aya Matsu'ura & DEF.DIVA
Yumi Matsutohya with Friends Of Love The Earth
Kaori Mizumori
Morning Musume
Ryoko Moriyama
Misato Watanabe

Alice
Hiroshi Itsuki
w-inds
m-flo with Akiko Wada
Kishidan
Saburo Kitajima
Takeshi Kitayama
Group Tamashii
CHEMISTRY
Gospellers
Kobukuro
Masashi Sada
Sukima Switch
SMAP
TM Revolution
D-51
Def Tech
TOKIO
Ichiro Toba
Kiyoshi Hikawa
Akira Fus�
Takashi Hosokawa
PornoGraffitti
Kiyoshi Maekawa
Kenichi Mikawa
Shinichi Mori
Naotaro Moriyama
Yutaka Yamakawa
Masayoshi Yamazaki
WaT

I know this most of them are unfamiliar, but I'm sure I'll be catching some more.

Anime I'm currently viewing as of my holiday vacation:

Hamtaro
Ashita no Nadja
Prince of Tennis

... and other anime I have already seen aside from those of my DVDs. At least for me, these three give me a breath of anime fresh air after losing WOWOW from our cable.

This is the very last entry for this year. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

This entry is brought to you by Nanami.

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