insaneneko

I listened to a segment on Fresh Air called From Upspeak To Vocal Fry: Are We 'Policing' Young Women's Voices? that featured a journalist, a linguist, and a speech pathologist. It was interesting and also very frustrating. I don't know of any statistics specifically on the phenomenon, but every time I hear about issues on vocal fry and/or upspeak, it's always in relation to women. I remember This American Life's segment on it, and I just learned of 99% Invisible's auto-response to complains about women's voices in the Fresh Air segment (screenshot of text here). Apparently it's never about how men speak, it's always about how women speak. The comments to the Fresh Air interview just pissed me off. They talk about how these verbal tics irritate them in both men AND women. Soo....how come these radio programs/podcasts never seem to get any complaints about the men? I mean, if the men doing these things are just as irritating, shouldn't there be complaints about them as well? In particular, Ira Glass points out that he does it and has never gotten a complaint about it. The speech pathologist didn't give any ground either (of course, she was all set to defend her stance, being the "enemy" and all). The linguist cited some data to back her up, but the speech pathologist had anecdotes and...her personal opinion that it was "irritating." Really? Is that all you got? 

I find certain voices annoying, but I know it's me and I choose not to listen to them or I get over it. I don't send insulting emails complaining about them. 

Belatedly discovered Vance Joy's hit from last year, "Riptide." Being me, I looked for covers and found some good ones.

Oh my, it’s been quite a while since I’ve posted. I got a new job last year, and it just ruined the second half of it. It’s amazing how stressful things have been. I guess I was complacent in my old job, but now I’m doing new things and it’s kinda crazy. In any case, I will try to post more if only to document my fandom obsessions.

It’s depressing when your RL friends don’t share the same fandoms. :P

In any case, right this minute I’m obsessed with reading Free! fanfics. I finally caught up with the second season and had to go look for fics to see how people dealt with all that fan service. It looks like Makoto/Haru and Rei/Nagisa are super popular, which is to be expected. The one pairing I’m surprised to see (but really shouldn’t be) is Rin/Ai. Since I found Ai’s character rather blah, I haven’t read any fics with that pairing. They’ve been fine as secondary pairings, though. I don’t think I could read primarily Rei/Nagisa. They are both characters I think of as spices. A little is good, too much is…too much. Especially since they both seem so…flaming. Even in that anime, they seem spectacularly so.

So, the pairing I’ve mostly read is Makoto/Haru. It’s the one that I like the best and found the most natural. My favorite fics so far:

How to Train Your Human by nezumiprefersdanielleovershakespeare, a merman/fireman AU (there are a lot of mermen AUs in this fandom, but then….fanservice ending themes will do that) that is just plain awesome. Haru is a merman who has been caught and experimented upon until he is rescued by Makoto the fireman. It’s a long, meaty, hilarious, sweet story. The science is utterly ridiculous, the twists and turns are also ridiculous, the angst buttons are pushed pretty darn hard at times, but the core of it is just pure awesome. Haru as alien trying to understand humans is pure comedy gold, and the rest of the cast as Makoto’s friends who help him out are great.

How to Read Your Best Friend by themorninglark is a MakoHaru is so sweet it teeters on saccharine, but it amazingly stays on the right side. It’s a how they get together fic. Haru is so dorky and Makoto is the perfect best friends from forever. Short and sweet. Nagisa plays the catalyst in just the way I like him used.

sometimes i think the stupidest things by sparklecringe is another how they get together fic, but this one is longer and way more explicit. Also features dorky Haru and Makoto as the perfect best friend. Nagisa really shines in this one, even though…just…so…flaming. But the way he helps the two out as they flail into the relationship they were meant to have is great.

In a change of pace, I really liked this short Sousuke/Haru fic: 1.34% Au by lonelyantics. It’s a post-series fic that is short and fun. I don’t really like Sousuke in the anime, but I kinda like this version and how he interacts with Haru.

There are more fics I like, I’ll try to post on them soon (before I forget about them).

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For Fall 2014 anime, I ended up watching Mushishi Zoku and Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso. I thought this second half of the second season of Mushishi a bit weak. There were a bunch I was very meh about, while there seemed to be more depressing ones. I prefer poignant, rather than depressing.

I struggled with Shigatsu wa Kimi no Uso. I truly disliked how the anime was portraying how Kaori, Tsubaki and Ryouta bullied Kousei and minimized his trauma. But I kept watching because 1) classical music and b) pretty. Luckily, Kousei’s had a breakthrough so I think I’ll be able to enjoy this anime more. It really is so pretty, and I love the rivals who have shown up. I want more of them and less of the other three, frankly. (Especially Kaori. Ugh. She has shades of manic pixy dream girl with the whole pall of death hanging over her and I can't really stand her.)

I think for Spring 2015 I’m really only going to watch Kuroko no Basket season 3. The rest of the lineup has looked quite unappealing so far.

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I came across two lovely piano covers by fireteamtorch piano on youtube:

A/Z, the ending from Aldnoah Zero
Rage On, the opening from the Free!

I like both of the original songs, but the piano versions are so pretty.

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Some random AMVs:

Natsume Yuujinchou

Something Beautiful. Video quality sucks, but the song is pretty and appropriate.

Nyanko Sensei is a MEAN KITTY!. Hilarious.

Echo. Every clip of sad child Natsume set to an appropriately sad song.

Summer Wars

The OZ Network. The Social Network trailer audio done with Summer Wars video.

For the most part, I'm not one to get into the holiday spirit. But I do adore Christmas music, and every year I look for new songs to make a Christmas song playlist. Some of my favorites this year:

Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) by Lady Antebellum from On This Winter's Night
The entire album is apparently very popular, but after listening to the samples of the entire album on amazon I just bought this track. Love it.

Little Drummer Boy by Lincoln Brewster from Joy to the World
I hate this song when sung in the traditional manner, but this rock version made me a believer.

Ding Dong Merrily on High by Celtic Woman from Christmas Celebration
Gorgeous singing with gorgeous fiddle playing. What more can you ask for? I bought the entire album.

Come On, Christmas by Matthew West from The Heart of Christmas
I actually bought the entire album last year for another song (The Heart of Christmas), but I just discovered this song this year. I'm too impatient to spend the time to listen to entire albums sometimes, and I missed out on this song for a whole year. It's so happy you can't help but tap your foot to it.

Leaving Heaven by Matthew West (ft. Vince Gill) from The Heart of Christmas
Another discovery from the same album, this time much more mellow.

This Christmas (Father of the Fatherless) by tobyMac (ft. Nirva Ready) from Christmas in Diverse City
Another disgustingly happy song. So, so addictive.

The Night Before Christmas by Brandon Heath, MP3 only
Very pretty smooth rock/country song. Lovely arrangement (with strings!) and I personally love the singer's voice.

The single album that brought me the most listening enjoyment was the Christmas album by the a cappella group Straight No Chaser, Holiday Spirits. The entire album is really good. My (current) favorites:
Indiana Christmas
The 12 Days of Christmas
Auld Lang Syne

Moby Dick Big Read: I'm actually tempted to listen to this…I would've never picked up the book, but this project is rather cool.

Call Me Maybe for Choir and Orchestra: I like this song, I like covers, I love the precise enunciation of the singers, I just like the existence of this video. XD;

I want to see Ookami Kodomo Yuki to Ame, a new movie by the same director who did "Summer Wars" and "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time." Wolf children!!

A bunch of people play some 6-person starship game called ARTEMIS wearing random Star Trek uniforms, being snarky and kinda incompetent. It's super awesome.

I love this thing. I need the version with the mouth open. ♥♥



The other day at Barnes & Noble I bought this sudoku book solely for the cover. Yeah, I'm a sucker. ^^; Oh, how well they know their target audience.

I love collecting covers, found some great ones by a folky group called Nicki Bluhm and the Gramblers who like to record covers while traveling in their van:

Everyday by Buddy Holly
Material Girl by Madonna
How Will I Know by Whitney Houston (sound quality is not that great)
You're No Good by Linda Ronstadt (they looked massively cramped with all the guitars in this one)
Don't Worry Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin (a cappella!)

DO NOT BUY THIS TEA. I ran out of Earl Grey at work and decided to pick up something during my weekly grocery shopping. OMG this thing sucks. Not only is the bergamot weak, there is this nasty bitter smokey burnt flavor that makes me want to chuck the entire can. >_<

( earl grey comparisons )

I put in some random CDs and rediscovered good music, like Ningyou by Amano Tsukiko. ♥♥

Accidentally discovered cracktastic Engrish at a site selling bottled Hawaii Water (TM?) in Japan. It's so awful it's kinda awesome. My favorite is how they spell Oahu, as in the island, as "Owafu." Did they just machine translate everything? The testimonials are pretty fun to read, too.

It's still Christmas here, though I know it's already the next day in most of the world...I was unconscious for most of the day, thanks to a night of bad sleep. XD;

Random Christmas stuff:

Lena Park singing Christmas carols

Don't forget Amazon's free Christmas MP3's (I can't get a clean link, so go to MP3 downloads, there should be a link from the top page). I particularly liked "You Holiday Song" by Indigo Girls, "Joseph's Lullaby" by MercyMe, "Winter's Games" by Superchunk, and "In the Bleak Midwinter" by Dan Fogelberg. I haven't listened to the last three, so no opinion there.

Not Martha shows how to make a Christmas tree mobile (love this, wish I was handy and could do it)

Non-Christmas but funny (even though--or it is because?--I haven't read the book): My Breaking Dawn Reading Experience by bookshelves of doom

Non-Christmas but tasty-looking: Swedish Butterhorns

Last but not least, Non-Christmas but cute: Bunnies and kitties at Lovely Clusters

I caught a performance of the Japanese band Anzen Chitai on the TV tonight and was blown away yet again by the singing of Tamaki Koji. God, that man has an amazing voice. Check out a live version of him singing Kanashimi sayonara here (Lyrics here). As I adore covers I looked for some for this song but couldn't find much, actually. I did find a pleasant one by Shimatani Hitomi here. An interesting duet with Tamaki Koji and enka singer Ishikawa Sayuri here (Check out Ishikawa Sayuri singing one of her most famous songs Amagigoe here. She sings in the full-on enka style, unlike in the duet. The lyrics are awesome, too. Very sexual and violent.)

( I then went on a trip down memory lane... )

Been reading some Sherlock fics. Some of the ones I liked:

Homemaking by rageprufrock, gen. Funny and light, frothy and absolutely fabulous.

Summary: The original plan for returning to England involved fucking around being shellshocked and suffering mandatory post-combat counseling and physical therapy to dissect the shattered mosaic of his feelings. That's not quite how it goes.

And You're the Prize by giddygeek. Mycroft decides to help things along between John and Sherlock by kidnapping John. Of course it works. XD;

Intellectual Intercourse by waketosleep

Description: The drawn-out and ridiculous story of how Sherlock Holmes and John Watson carried out a surprisingly successful asexual relationship.

they tell me their secrets (will you tell me yours too) by etothepii, cool AU in which John has such a nifty ability. ♥

It Feels like Home when I'm With You by etothepii, John is a ghost and he basically becomes Sherlocks ghost. It is so so sweet.

The Trick Is To Make It Look Easy by paperclipbitch, John has a hard time updating his blog but in the end:

My life is kind of a mess, John writes, but I think it’s going to be ok anyway.

Pedestrian by vegarin, Moriarty and John have a chat in a missing scene for The Great Game.

Theory and Practice by anonymous for a meme, crossover with His Dark Materials.

Poison Prince by theanonsisters, a fanvid. It's...mmm...cool. The song is great, and lots of good close-ups of Sherlock's face.

I spent some time on Youtube after coming randomly coming across a fabulous live performance of Berlin's "Take My Breath Away." I then ended up at Sarah Brightman's live performance of her song "You Take My Breath Away." And finally at Japanese singer KOKIA's "Time to Say Goodbye."

I skipped the side story about Kei and Takane first meeting and jumped right into "Kin no violin, Ki no violin" as I wanted to continue to read the main story right now.
( some comments )

I haven't checked LJ in quite a while. Been busy, but lately I've also had internet connection issues which I've been too busy to get fixed. Isn't that how it always goes? ^^; In any case, I'm posting to mention 12-ji no kane ga naru mae ni (Before the clock strikes twelve--not the "official" English translation, but the official Engrish is rubbish) by Hichiwa Yuka and illustrated by Enjin Yamimaru. It is deeply cliched and conventional, but it is deeply satisfying. It's about a stubborn yet awkward high school student who cooks and cleans for a 30-something doctor with a broken leg and a major attitude problem, and how he thaws the doctor's frozen heart (frozen thanks to past trauma, naturally). And how it was all destiny, anyway. The fun spin is that the doctor thinks the high school student is in college and is actually working as (or will be working) a prostitute, so he's even more of an asshole because the high school student "appears" so pure and innocent. But the high school student, being incredibly stubborn and massively clueless, just thinks the doctor likes to be nasty (and doesn't pick up on any of the blatant sexual innuendo) and decides he won't give in. One particularly amusing incident occurs when the doctor receives some live lobsters which are supposed to be eaten alive. The high school student is horrified and ends up secretly feeding the lobsters instead of making a meal of them. When the doctor eats them when the student isn't around, the student gets mad and buries the remains of the lobsters in the garden instead of just tossing them. Just hilarious, and so totally them. It has both sweepingly romantic and extremely down-to-earth details.

Sadly, I don't have the time to do the full blown summary I've love to do...so...( I'll just mention some choice bits. )

It doesn't hurt that the art is nice, too.

And for something completely unrelated, I'm currently addicted to a rather old song, My Sweet Darlin' by Yaida Hitomi.