Coldplay

Went to the Coldplay concert this past Tue. My second time at Budohkan in like 5 days which my friend that went to the concert with obviously found to be funny. "Who does that?" was what she had to say.

Anyways, my expectation for the concert wasn't exactly high. It was my first time going to their concert and the only time I had watched them performing live on TV was when they were performing a slow song at some award show. I was somehow under this wrongly impression that they were a kind of band that would do better in the studio since Coldplay songs all have this very distinct feel and sound to them but was a bit skeptical how well that could be re-produced live.

So I went to the concert thinking I would probably get dissapointed. I was plesantly surprised to learn how fantastic they can be live. Their setlist for the night wasn't exactly creative; they basically performed a major song after another but the performance was nothing but excellent. My concern about them not being able to re-produce the unique feel and sound on the CD was gone after a couple of songs into the concert. The songs virtually sounded better live because there's more energy yet still sounded very much Coldplay if you know what I mean. I had this image of them performing slow songs w/ the lead singer Chris Martin on the piano but at the concert, he was jumping around all over the stage and hardly in front the piano. I think a lot of us were surprised to see how athletic he was...

Songs that I found to be memorable:
- Yellow: They had huge yellow balloons roaming around Budohkan, which was interesting...
- Scientist: This was one song that Chris Martin actually stayed in front of the piano the entire song. Beautifully performed.
- Clocks: Sounded much more energetic live. Chris was literally jamming on the piano.
- In My Place: Everyone was singing the chorus together.
- Fix you: Was rather predictable that they were gonna play this song last but still a good song.

I guess my only complaint was that it was a bit too short... they started at like 8:20PM and finished 10 min before 9PM... they could've played a few more songs, I would say.

Yokohama Fireworks

DSC00227
Originally uploaded by stonetako920.

Went to check out the annual Yokohama fireworks festival with Kirk, Hiroko and Mario. As usual, the area was packed. In order to save ourselves decent seats, we had to go down there way before the fireworks started (Fireworks started at 7:30PM, we met up around 2:30PM). We first went check out the Yamashita Park but it was way too crowded there already so ended up watching the fireworks from this park up on the hill called Minato-no-Mieru-Oka-Koen (Harbor View Park). The seats we got ourselves were nice in the way that we were able to lie down on the grass but there were trees that sort of got in the way for those fireworks that didn't go very high up... was still fun though and the weather remained relatively cool for this time of the year in Japan contrary to our concerns.

Afterwards, we decided to go to this bar in Ishikawacho called Stagecoach. Back when my friends Jun and Maura used to live in the area, I used to go there every once in a while mainly because they were going there practically every night. But it had been quite a while since I last went there. Was nice to see the familiar faces of the bartenders Yondo and Yuki. If only the place was a bit closer, I would go there more often.

Black Eyed Peas

Went to see Black Eyed Peas live at Budoh-kan last Thu. I guess a lot of people consider them to be shameless sellouts that decided to give up their style and spirit in exchange for the stardom they have achieved. Well, I guess I can kinda see that esp in the songs like Don't Lie and My Humps. These songs are hardly Hip-Hop. But if you look at the members of group and their diverse backgrounds, you can kinda see why how their sound may differ from ordinary Hip-Hop groups that typically solely consist of African American rappers. Each member of BEP comes from a very different ethnic background (most of them are of mixed ethnic origins). Consequently, their musical backgrounds significantly differ. The unique chemistry and style that the group now has achieved, I believe, owes a lot to this diversity. Their music is not bound to a single genre just as their ethnic backgrounds.

The concert lasted approximately 2 hours, maybe a little less. I had seen them live once at this Rock festival called Rock Odyssey a couple of years ago and I had been wanting to check them out again. The songs they played were mostly from their most recent full album Monkey Business with some popular tracks from their previous album Elephunk mixed in. The show was nothing short of entertaining and they really got the crowd going with their solid musical performance as well as breakdancing. I missed the first 5-10 min of it but was able to catch most of their popular songs such as: "Don't Phunk with My Heart", "Don't Lie", "Where is the Love?" , "Shut up", "Pump It", "My Humps", "Let's Get Retarded", etc.

During the show, they had a segment where each of them performed a song that demonstrated their background: Fergie doing a Guns N'Roses cover, apl.de.ap singing in Tagalog, Will.i.am playing guitar and drums, etc... It was really interesting to watch.

Yeah, BEP may have changed, they are no longer doing underground Hip-Hop which to some may seem like they've gone "soft". But I personally actually really like how their music is not bound to a single genre of music. And like or not, not many can deny the fact what they are producing is unique. I definitely would be interested in what they'll come up with next and checking them out live again when they decide to come here next time.

Rak Thai

I used to go to Thai restaurants a lot back when I was in the States but haven't really been able to find a good Thai restaurant here in Japan. Most of the places I've been to, they were ok but it just wasn't the same. Like they made phad thai taste too much like yakisoba, etc... But finally I was able to find a decent Thai restaurant and I'm quite happy about it. The place is called Rak Thai, located in Gotanda nearby the hotel Yu-port. I went there with a friend that's been to Thailand before and another friend of mine who is from South East Asia (well, Indonesia but I would think he'd be more familiar with Thai food than most Japanese people) and they both thought the food was good. So I'm convinced the food there is pretty authentic :)

Was just watching the Germany vs Portugal game. Germany actually played Oliver Kahn this time, wow. I was kinda hoping that Portugal would win, I personally think they are more exciting to watch than any other teams that made it in the top 4 this world cup. Germany had the home court advantage and the momentum throughout the 2nd half though. Ah well. Now, that only leaves the final. France and Italy, not many had expected these 2 would be facing each other... Will be interesting to see what happens.

Microsoft's iPod killer to provide free versions of all your iTunes tracks

To attract current iPod users Microsoft is going to let you download for free any songs you've already bought from the iTunes Music Store. They'll scan iTunes for purchased tracks and then automatically add those to your account. Microsoft will still have to pay the rights-holders for the songs, but they believe it'll be worth it to converts.

Hum. MS breaking into the market, will see how well they will do... I like what I've read about it so far though.

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Yahoo! Music LAUNCHcast on Yahoo! Messenger

I know I'm really slow on catching on this but the recent version of Yahoo! Messenger now comes with Yahoo! Music LAUNCHcast player built-in. I never thought much of it until today but I think I'm gonna start using it more... for someone like me that has Yahoo! Messenger running almost at all times when working on computer, it saves running anoher application for playing music. It also allows you to rate the song being played (and the artist and the album) on the spot, the result of which gets reflected on the music you can listen to via your "My Station". In case you are you are too lazy to keep your preferences up-to-date, they provide numerous stations with a broad range of genres of music that you can listen to. But the best part of this, again, is that you can pretty much do everything you need to do on the messenger interface without having to open up a browser or some other application interface. Everything you need is right there on your Yahoo! Messenger.

If you are like me and didn't even bother giving it a shot when you first saw it, I highly recommend you at least try it out.

Real DJs Code Live - Amazing

Some DJs spin vinyl or twiddle fader knobs. Others write subroutines in C++.
Wasn't sure whether to put this in the Programming Topic or Music Topic!!

Yea, let's code the night away...

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New Musashikoyama Station

New Musashikoyama Station 2
Originally uploaded by stonetako920.

They just replaced the old onground station with the newly finished underground station.