Voices

I have a lot of stuff, the same things in many colors. When I go shopping I usually buy 2 colors of the same shoes, blouse, etc. because I can’t choose only a single color.

Basically, I’m not wishy-washy. I am a kind of determined person when I make a decision. As many of my friends say to me, “It is a waste that you are a woman, because you make a decision and take action very quickly even if you are in a tough situation. You are sometimes manlier than real men.” Yet, only when I go shopping I lose my determination. Especially when I come across something to my liking, I can’t choose only one. A part of my manfulness comes out and tries making a decision quickly, but as a result, I buy the same things in different colors.

When I was young my mother always said to me — “You’re kind of a shopaholic. You can’t stop buying something, even though you already have a lot of things that look almost the same.” I always said to her, “What? Are you kidding me? They are completely different! How could you say that without REALLY looking at them?” Now, a little older and a little wiser, I can understand why she always said those things to me. From my mom and my friends’ point of view it seemed like I always picked up similar products.

Sometimes, it is really difficult to understand other’s likes and tastes and find subtle differences in them. Well… honestly, it’s still said to me, “Oh, you bought a similar one again? You really like that kind of style,” but not as often as before.

Do you know the movie, “Confessions of a Shopaholic”? Did you watch it?

Even if I can understand the girl’s feelings a little bit, who is the main character of the movie, it doesn’t mean that I’m similar to her. I don’t buy anything that I can’t afford, and I never borrow money to buy anything. I don’t insist on buying brand names, but I stick to certain materials and construction. I only buy something that I like. I’ve never had a kind of experience that mannequins speak to me like a scene from the movie, but I can hear the voices from the products. They make an appeal — “Hey, come and look at me. I’ve waited for nobody but you. Pick me up! Listen, this is a fateful encounter, so please take me your place with you!” They talk like a pickup artist, or a girl who is good at flattery. After I hear their voices, I feel like I am an adopter; if I don’t take them in, will they spend a long time on that shelf?

Just to be clear, I’m sane. More so than other people, I think I have a kind of sensitivity to understanding others’ feelings or situations, whether they are human or not. This time, I happen to be talking about something that I fell in love with at first sight. So, when I come across something in different colors, it is hard to pick only one of them, because I feel guilty that I make them get separated by buying only a single color. Of course, I can’t take care of all of them, so I tearfully choose only products which I can get on well with.

Eventually, a lot of twins, triplets or quintuplets end up in my house. If I couldn’t hear their voices, if I were a cold-blooded shopper… I would live with lots of only children.

To end with, let’s me introduce you to some of my new residents.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Movies

17 months have passed since I quit making movie trailers. Now, I can enjoy watching movies again.

I liked watching movies since I was a child. So, I was really happy to get a job making movie trailers for a TV station. When the trailers I made first were aired I was so excited. I never forgot their titles; Speechless and Marty.

          

From foreign films to Japanese films, timeless masterpieces, recent mega-hit movies, documentaries, animations and chick flicks, low brow comedies or unscreened films in Japan: I watched so many movies and made their trailers for 12 years. I repeated the same work over and over all day — watching a movie, picking several scenes and lines from the movie, offline editing, making an edit decision list and telop data (information about director and actors’ name and awards winning in the film), and writing scripts of narration. After I finished preparation for online editing, I went to post-production and wrapped up the trailers, which were completed for the air.

** Please see the URLs below for details of contents of making them.

about telop

about offline editing

about online editing

about audio mixing

Usually, I made trailers from original aired tapes, but sometime I couldn’t use the original tapes. Basically, the TV station can’t broadcast the movies without Japanese subtitles or voice-over acting. It takes time to insert Japanese subtitles or make a dubbed version. At that time, I had to make them using the EPK — Electronic Press Kit for the movies. The EPKs include several kinds of trailers, behind the scenes, interviews and some sound bites from the movies. I could watch other countries’ movie trailers when I used the EPKs.

Interestingly, the trailers were a bit varied from country to country even though they were the same movies. For example, the film ”Pearl Harbor,” which is directed by Michael Bay; it is a war movie about the attack on Pearl Harbor, as can be expected from the title.

 

                      

 

 

 

In Japan, it was sold as a romance movie rather than a war movie, such as a war-torn tragic love triangle of 3 young people. So, if you have a chance to watch the Japanese version trailer, please compare your country’s and the Japanese. You might have a little bit different impression, especially if you are an American. It’s not only about the “Pearl Harbor,” these changes are often made in many movie trailers. I really enjoyed making the trailers because I could spend a lot of time with movies I loved. I was also happy to learn about the difference in cultures by watching movies trailers. It was my ideal job.

During the busiest time I made about 60 trailers in one month. It means I had to watch at least 3 or 4 movies per one day. When I started watching the 3rd or 4th movie, I completely forgot the stories of the films that I had watched before. I watched so many movies, so I didn’t remember what I had watched and what I hadn’t. It often happened that I didn’t realize that I had already watched a movie until the middle or end of the story. I also couldn’t watch movies at my leisure when I went to the theaters. I watched them from a job view point; I would choose this scene and that dialog. This scene would come next to that bomb scene — I always thought like that in my mind when I watched movies.

About 8 years later, I didn’t enjoy making them anymore. In fact, I thought it was my ideal job before, but watching movies became a chore for me. I felt a little bit sad that I couldn’t even enjoy watching movies.

Furthermore, I felt I was too old to make recent movies’ trailers, because I was losing a kind of sensitivity to understand or find good selling points from the movies with age. I didn’t like the movies, which seemed to be in competition for the latest and greatest CGI, instead of paying attention to the story line. For me, those CGI films were good for only enjoying the latest footage, not as a movie. If I could watch only the movies that I was interested in, watching movies would not become like a task. After I made the trailers for 12 years I quit the job. Unbelievably, when I finished the job I had no regret about it since I felt I had done all I could. The only thing that I looked forward to was watching movies without a job view point. I thought for sure that I could enjoy watching them like before.


Unfortunately, habits died hard more than I expected. I still chose several scenes and dialogs when I was watching the movies, even though I didn’t have to do that. I couldn’t watch movies without a job point of view. All told, I was about ready to give up enjoying watching movies as entertainment. Recently, it suddenly dawned on me that I could enjoy watching the movies without a job view point; I could enjoy it as entertainment like before. I didn’t notice that I was enjoying them purely for pleasure while I was watching them. I was able to recognize that 1 or 2 weeks later.

             

Yes, finally I can watch films without a job point of view after 17 months had passed since I quit my job regardless of genre: comedy, science fiction or chick flicks.

I still don’t know that if we should seek out a job based on our interests, or if we should think of it as “just a job.” But now, I feel that I was the lucky one, who had an ideal job, even though making countless movie trailers felt like a bit of a chore.

i-Pod nano

Basically, I don’t like carrying bags, regardless of the size. If I can, I go out without my bag. I usually choose the smallest bag as possible or I don’t carry it. I just put my keys, wallet and cell phone in my pockets, even though it is unpopular among my friends. They say the same things when they see me, “Where is your bag? No bag? You are not man… You can’t reapply your makeup! Unbelievable!!” “Hey, what a small bag you have! What is in your purse? You can only put snot in such a small bag, eh?” I’ve been told this for a long time, but I can’t change. I don’t want to carry anything that I don’t need. But, one thing appeared which I want to carry all the time, even though I am the kind of person who hates carrying a bag. I carry it all the time — it’s an i-Pod nano.

 

 

I used to listen to music all day, such as AEROSMITH, BON JOVI, GUNS N’ ROSES, DEF LEPPARD, MOTLEY CRUE and more. Yeah, I loved hard rock music which was very popular in the 80’s. Especially AEROSMITH and loved Steven Tyler’s bluesy singing voice. At that time, I was working a part-time job at Tower Records in Shibuya. I used to buy some CDs all the time after work. I spent a lot of money buying many CDs — more than I earned. My family always asked me, “Why are you working part-time? You seem to work not for money… but, for what?” “Because I think that working part-time helps me learn something about the world. And I can buy CDs a bit cheaper than the selling price, too!” In the 80’s, I was a happy-go-lucky music lover.

 

 

 

Yet, in 90’s, hard rock popularity declined and I didn’t listen as much. I only listened to my favorite bands, AEROSMITH and NICKELBACK when driving my car. So, after I sold my car, I seldom listened to music.

 

 

 

 

Time has passed. Portable music players are becoming mainstream and people buy music on the internet. I am not good at using a computer, so I hesitated to buy it. But I jumped on the bandwagon — I finally bought an i-Pod nano.

 

 

 

 

 

At first I only downloaded CDs that I had. After a little while, I got bored listening to only music that I have been listening to for a long time. Then I mustered up enough courage to buy music on the internet. “Wow! What a convenient system it is!” Since I started buying music on the internet I can find other favorite bands easily — THEORY OF A DEADMAN, SHINEDOWN, ALTER BRIDGE, SKILLET and more. Actually, it is hard to find favorite singers, who have a singing voice like Steven Tyler and Chad Kroeger. But now, I enjoy listening to music like when I was happy-go-lucky music lover.

 

 

My i-Pod nano became a necessary item for me when I go out, especially when I take the train or wait for someone. When I am listening to music I can wait for my friends without being irritated, even if they are late. It also helps me not to think about many things. That’s why I carry it all the time, even if I don’t carry my bag.

 

 

Recently, I have a new problem. Using mug-me earphones — the distinctive earbuds associated with the Apple — makes my ears ache. It is too big for my earholes. I bought 2 earbuds for a little while, but now, I’m still thinking about buying another earphone. How many earphones do I have to buy till I can find a perfect set for me? If this goes on, I’m going to be a very good customer of LABI Yamada, one of the most famous Japanese electronics retail stores.

 

 

Please let me know if you know a nice in-ear earphone, which is for small ears and good for bass before I spend a lot of money at LABI Yamada.