Cross Ange: Tenshi to Ryuu no Rondo (Cross Ange: Angel and Dragon of Rondo)

The is the second and last 24 episode series I have watched from last season.

Cross Ange follows a princess named Ange, who finds out that she is not like other humans and is what she was taught to despise. Once it is discovered, she is sent away with other 'Normas' (humans who cannot use the power of Mana) and her new life begins. As a stuck up princess, how will she cope with having to be treated with less that human standards and fighting DRAGONS? Does she cope or does the anime follow another character? You'll have to watch to find out.

Ange's life becomes totally different and her character development starts early on. It's easy to love her right from the start as you see her traits and ignorance to the world, and her reaction when learns the truth. This is truly beautiful, and the pasts of other characters are explained enough for you to understand their circumstances, but not too much so as to get distracted.

The title of the anime does get explained, and if you watch the little bits after each episode, even the 'Cross Ange' part is quickly explained. Even the 'rondo' part makes sense if you know the meaning of the word (I was just about to criticise it when I looked up the meaning and realised that it is also relevant).

I don't know what to say without turning into a total fangirl and spoiling much of the plot for you. But seriously, one character has two different names, one for her past and one for the present. Only Ange asks her outright about it (not about the name change, but her past self), but the other girls never acknowledge the difference and then freely switch between the names right at the end with no explanation. Did they know all along?

I really recommend it. There's drama and action, along with some comedy so that it doesn't feel too dark. The large number of characters seems alright, and except from the beginning, they aren't fleeting and crop up later in the anime.  It has an amazing storyline and if you think you know the entire plot from the beginning, be warned as there are some twists.

Anyway, unconditional love to all of you,
Cazzie x

Money Is The Mind's Motivation

The Mind's Motivation ~ J.Reyez ft Chris Jackson.

Yay, another video of a Korean artist I'm a fan of. WAIT! Don't click off just yet. As you know from a previous post, J.Reyez raps in English. He's technically Canadian anyway.

Yes we need money to live, but do we really need to make it a priority in life? We work to earn money for food. Then we want to own our own home. And we want the latest phone, gadget, technology. Once we get a place to live, we want to make it our own. Make it look nicer. Get a better car, get a better car than your neighbours.
It looks like an endless cycle. You get once thing, then want to improve on it. The next model.

Surely happiness is better for us. If every job, every rank and role, were to be paid exactly the same, would you do something you enjoy? I mean, if everyone worked, and were required to work a certain number of hours a week, with some flexibility of course. What would you do as a job? What would your priorities become?  Would you still try to earn some extra cash? Or spent time with your family? *My ideology that would probably never work*

Bedroom quote ^.^

Basically, I don't want money to rule your life. To hinder you, or to change you. There's a way around everything, and I want you all to be happy.

Unconditional love,
Cazzie

Perspective

So I was sitting there in the bar and this guy comes up to me and he said "My life stinks" and I saw his gold credit card and I saw the way he was looking at people across the room and I looked at his face and you know, what a good looking face, and I just said, "Dude, your perspective on life sucks". ~ Mika, Blame it on the Girls.

Every situation can be perceived in different ways by different people. And Mika makes a very good point in the beginning of this song. No matter how much you have, you can see the down-side, yet you can always see the best in bad situations. Try and be grateful for what you do have, instead of wishing you have what you don't. 'My life sucks' and 'FML' (back in my day) are thrown around way too much. 

I went back to my old town today, and well, everyone looked so miserable. My mum was driving, and we burst into laughter creating lives for the sad people and laughing at them. We probably looked crazy together, but laughing is so good for you. Especially as I actually saw the sun for the first time in ages. 'I swear she was glaring at the man crossing the road. Nahh, actually she was glaring at me. She hates me laughing.' Just silly things like that. People seem to get more jealous(?) and sad when they see others enjoying life. But I don't care what they think, I was singing in the shops, laughing at everything, jumped up and down in excitement over some doughnuts (my town doesn't seem to stock them ANYWHERE at the moment) and just enjoying life. We laughed at my mum screaming 'Flood!' everytime she saw a large puddle in the road, as if the cars behind could hear her warning.

Basically, enjoy the little things, and happiness will follow. I know this sounds too easy to be true, but it works for me (most of the time ;3).

Unconditional love, 

Cazzie x

J.Reyez

What can I really say?

He's Korean.

He's Canadian.

He's kinda cute.

I love his lyrics.

Rap/ Hip-hop is my all-time favourite genre.

I may have re-wrote the lyrics a little wrong as I did them from memory as soon as I got into class, and heard the song on my journey. Haha.

So I discovered J.Reyez years and years ago, when he did a parody of 'Like a G6' on Youtube (I believe it was something to do with a seagull?). Remember when that song came out? That's when I started listening to this guy. I don't know how, but he was already in my subscriptions so I started watching other videos.

This was long before my kpop obsession, as 3/4 years is fairly recent. I found him during my Canadian obsession. I've had a few obsessions over the years xD.

Anyway, I knew that he collaborated with Lydia Paek a lot in his albums, and she features in quite a lot of his videos too. Now, I didn't know she was with YG Entertainment until very late last year (as in, the last few days of December). And, best of all, she's even worked with G-Dragon a few times. <3

So jealous haha.

So J.Reyez raps about his life, and in a way he is a bit like Eminem. He does kpop covers in English, produces his own albums and songs, goes on tour and is quite successful now even if he isn't that famous to everyone. But he still has loads of fans.

I personally think he is quite inspirational as an artist and would love to meet him one day. Anyway, I've gone off topic, back on topic and probably make no sense right now, so this is goodbye.

Unconditional love,

Cazzie x

EXO - European Music Awards (EMAs)

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE vote for this awesome Kpop band called EXO. Check out their Youtube videos, then vote here for me http://uk.mtvema.com/vote#cat=worldwide-act

There's less than two days left, and normally I don't beg.

You can vote up to 100 times per browser, and I used 5 each time I reached the limit. 500 VOTES FROM ME :D
I'm sad, get over it ^.^

So yeah, listen to me for once and vote, pretty please? I have literally spammed twitter about this and well, you're next.

Bye bye sweetie pies x

Be Positive

Everyone has their ups and downs, this is completely normal, but it bugs me when people are always down.

I know what its like to be depressed, and to know what it feels like being close to someone who is depressed. It's not nice knowing that someone is suffering and there's nothing you can do about it. I think I am or was bi-polar at some point in my life. For 3 years I knew when I had my up months, and my down ones which always followed shortly after. I KNOW WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT.

But it will be easier on everyone if we thought about the upside to the majority of life events. Obviously, there are times when being sad is completely acceptable and expected. Heres some examples:

• To get over a breakup, I think about all the things I found annoying or hated about the other person. It helped me get through a lot, but there were some relationships where I couldn't think of something until weeks later. Being single has its positives, as with everything in life. (I'll write some posts on single and coupled life.)

• When I feel down (as I've mentioned before), I now listen to happy music. I have a playlist for times like this too, like childhood music, upbeat songs and musicians that make me smile. I found that depressing and angry music make me feel better, but happy music did this so much quicker.

• If my family say or do something to make me upset, I shut myself in my room. But then I think about what life would be like without them. Who would have taught me to ride a bike? Could I manage living alone (yes) or without that person in my life? (no) How would I feel if they actually died? 

• If someone gets angry with you, just laugh. My foster sister attacked me once, and I proud that I didn't retaliate, but I laughed in her face. The way she clawed up her hands to scratch my face reminded me of an animal. The look in her eyes, the pure hatred and anger, I wasn't scared, so I laughed. Probably not the best idea I've ever had...

• When I got kicked out my house: at least I don't have to put up with him anymore. I didn't like the food anyway. I focused on the small things.

• No romantic relationships? I only need my friends because they're always there for me. :)

I never said this will be easy to do, and it takes practice, but you'll be a happier person. Watch the drama unfold around you, and think 'Was I really like that?' 'Gosh that's embarrassing!'

I'm Trapped!

So my sister, Iris, showed me the Korean version of this which came out two months ago, and I really liked it. Shh, don't tell her ;) She over played it and I got sick of it in a few days...

Anyway, Henry has just released the ENGLISH version of his song and now I actually love it. It's a great example of why I prefer Korean music, despite the fact that this is in english. They don't sing about drugs, sex, and the rock 'n' roll lifestyle. They sing about things we can all relate to. Take a listen :) It's so catchy, but because I know the other version so well, it took me a while to figure out what he was singing and we had to find a lyric video.

Also, check out my sister's blog with her friend Lilley* at www.sokyutelike.blogspot.co.uk for more East Asian stuff.

Happy Song Lyrics ^.^

Here are some lyrics from songs I listen to, so that's my favourite songs and not just 'mainstream music' although a lot of it is.



What doesn't kill you makes you stronger,
stand a little taller,
doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone. ~ Kelly Clarkson - Stronger


You just gotta ignite the light and let it shine,
Just own the night like the 4th of July,
‘Cause baby, you're a firework,
Come on, show ‘em what you're worth,
Make ‘em go, oh, oh, oh,
As you shoot across the sky ~ Katy Perry - Firework


You are beautiful no matter what they say,
Words can't bring you down....oh no,
You are beautiful in every single way,
Yes, words can't bring you down, oh, no,
So don't you bring me down today... ~ Christina Aguilera - Beautiful


The verses in Nicki Minaj's song, Moment for Life. The first verse for example:

I fly with the stars in the sky,
I am no longer trying to survive,
I believe that life is a prize,
But to live doesn't mean you're alive
Don't worry about me and who I fire,
I get what I desire, it's my empire,
And yes I call the shots, I am the umpire,
I sprinkle holy water, upon the vampire

MIKA!

So last December I went to see Mika live for the first time, at the Roundhouse in London. Ever since I have been obsessed with his music, and OH MY GOSH, he is so cuuute.

Mika is unbelievably energetic and it was hard to get a good photo of him as he moved around so much. I took over 400 images in total and yet less than 200 were decent..

My favourite all time song by Mika is 'Love You When I'm Drunk'. I don't know why but the beginning sounds sort of Christmassy and I just really like it.

 Please don't take these images as an example of my photographic work, that can be found in another blog post (I will post the link here). All in all, it was a wonderful time and made me so obsessed over time that I am listening to him on shuffle and repeat right now.

Mika's music is really good if you're feeling down and want to listen to something other than the depressing or 'normal' songs. His style whilst singing and dressing is always impeccable, yet he looks so comfortable.

I just wish he wasn't gay :(

THE MIDNIGHT BEAST!!!

"It's the year of the beast!"

I am a huge fan of TMB. The Midnight Beast started off creating parodies of a few popular songs a few years back, most famously 'Tik Tok - Ke$ha' in which they gained radio coverage and many more fans. I found out about them, through a friend, when they still only had about 3 songs released under their name. I have their "autobiography" titled, Book At Us Now, if you can call it that. Numerous tours and a second season of their self-titled show soon to be released on E4, TMB have come a long way.

Everyone has a favourite member of any band, and mine is Dru. He raps about a depressing childhood where his dad ran away, and sometimes I feel that I can relate. He may not be hot like Ash, or quirky like Stef, but I don't care. Although if I could date one of them, it would probably be Stef, don't ask :)

Check them out on Youtube and give them a chance. I'm not sure exactly where they perform but they do often go to both London and Brighton, and I am fortunate enough to live between both cities. :) Ticket prices are not expensive and don't take them seriously. They're music is sold under comedy, after all.

Mr. Simple

Stolen from my other blog :o !

First of all, as most people know, I’m really into Korean music, and no that does not just mean Gangnam Style! One of my favourite bands is Super Junior, which consists of 10-15 members at any time. This is due to compulsory military service, so some are away and it is rare to see them all together.

I really like this song and video, not just because it was the first song and video I saw of them, but because of the lyrics. The lyrics themselves are inspirational, letting the listener know that there is nothing wrong with them. The first verse even mentions moods and emotions going up and down all that time, and that it is perfectly normal. It reminds us that life isn’t necessarily easy, but it’s not bad either. We just need to make the most of it and remember that we are all perfect in our own ways.

The video is typical of ‘mainstream music’ where the background changes often, there is a perfectly choreographed dance and various outfit changes. The lighting appears very clinical in the way that the main area is brightly lit, but the individual backdrops are grey and quite bland. The lighting from the floor is unusual although it does minimize shadows. In fact, there are hardly any shadows, which gives the impression that most of it used a green screen.

Super Junior isn’t the only group to have positive messages hidden in them, a few other songs are:
Nu’est – Face
2NE1 – Ugly
EXO-K – Traffic Safety Song

Lyrics used:

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CDwQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kpoplyrics.net%2Fsuper-junior-mr-simple-lyrics-romanized-english.html&ei=QMZeUY26C8XHPLbkgdgH&usg=AFQjCNGKry2omo0yHu0sK5j_-ECaKGUASw&sig2=gOU9-qXonbE7YtrUUA33-w&bvm=bv.44770516,d.ZWU

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&ved=0CEcQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fimmortalsoul123.wordpress.com%2F2011%2F08%2F02%2Fmr-simple-album-songs-lyrics-english-translations%2F&ei=QMZeUY26C8XHPLbkgdgH&usg=AFQjCNHAC7WOETkOOp0ttxekDo2gA_dp3g&sig2=U1BWBLe2w0eWz-iJ4dkuvA&bvm=bv.44770516,d.ZWU


Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6TwzSGYycM

Let's Just Say...

So today wasn't a very good day...

But to try and make me feel better, I went out to town (didn't work), then listened to loads of music. Music has played a major part in my life, not because I'm talented (because I really am not) but I feel that it has saved my life.

I have spent so much of my life listening to angry and depressing music when I have felt the same way, and recently I realised that it doesn't work the same way as happy music does. I even have a playlist for when I feel down because it happens so often. Simple Plan and Eminem, as examples, made me realise that my life isn't as bad as some people's, but then Mika and Destiny's Child are empowering, showing that there's always a bright side to the dark times.

Through the dark, depressing, and self-harming days to my happiest times, on sunny beaches with friends, music has always been there.

Mainstream Shizz

I want to start off by saying that I am in no way a hipster, no matter what my friends think.

I've just gotten so used to not being a part of the majority that following the crowd has become a turn off.. I always felt like an outsider as a child, first because I'm half African and half white British, and second, I never felt like I belonged. In my first school, no one was mixed race. They were either white, black or Asian. I wasn't 'one of them'.

My friends always seemed to have happy, perfect lives. Both parents working, siblings they got along with and all the toys they wanted. Me on the other hand, my parents divorced by the time I was four. My mum couldn't work because she wanted to be there for me and my sister, and with no family that really liked my mum, she had to struggle on her own. I would always argue with my sister, which led to arguments with my mum, most of them resulting with the line "Why don't you go and live with your father!". Because my mum wasn't working, she couldn't afford the toys my friends got, cable/satellite TV or nice stuff in general. So I wasn't like everyone else to start with.

Secondary school definitely pulled me apart. People would wonder why I didn't act more 'black', why I was quiet, why I was me. I was scared to come out of my shell and show what I really liked. I got into anime and manga but was criticized for it. There was this one girl who thought I was copying her and tried to make me hate myself. I might have mentioned her before, I actually hated going into school. The last year was actually my worst year. I loved Kpop music for the first time, but I was called strange and uncool.

I turned to my sister earlier and said that "Kpop is becoming too mainstream... I don't like it." 

University is like a whole other life for me. When I'm there, I am truly myself. I'm not scared of the judgement, the looks and stares. I re-invented myself, as the confident me. That worked for about a week. Now I'm halfway between that and how I was before. Sure some people aren't open to the fact that I like different things, but I don't care anymore. I am myself and I could never be happier.

I don't just listen to 'mainstream music', I listen to anything I like the tune or beat to. I like The Midnight Beast, The Lonely Island, and The Band Perry. This is where I don't follow suit; Simple Plan, Mika, Evanescence, Fun, Taylor Swift, Eminem, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Lindsey Stirling, Big Bang, Nu'est, 2NE1, to name a few of my favourites. Yeah most of these are mainstream artists, but I don't check the Top 40 or anything, I just download the albums and any singles I like.

On the other hand, I also don't follow fashion. Like every girl, I update my wardrobe whenever I can, and buy what's in stores but my collection is quite small because I am so fussy. I get fed up quickly and my style is sometimes called; punky, quirky, cute, different, tomboy-ish, bright. It all depends on my mood.

IT'S ALL ABOUT BEING YOURSELF, AS LONG AS YOU ARE HAPPY IN YOUR OWN SKIN, WHO CARES WHAT THE WORLD THINKS! As long as you don't do anything illegal, or dangerous to others, it's all cool.