In my lesson next week I am going to have my students watch this video about the American-born enka singer Jero.  Have you heard of him?  He speaks Japanese really well and has a great voice!  I hope he does well. I have his song stuck in my head--in a good way!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbEZiEONhkQ

My friend also showed me this funny video on Sushi.  It is hilarious--probably because it combines fact and outrageous fiction and presents both as fact.  Anyway, if you have time, check it out. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIb6ZSqal64

Sorry--I was going to try to embed the videos but I don't know how.  Can someone tell me how to do this?

I had a test yesterday and was so happy when it was finally over.  I was looking forward to relaxing on my bus ride home with my i-Pod because I had downloaded some songs recently and hadn't had the chance to listen to them. 

I was especially anxious to listen to "How Do U Want It" because it is one of those songs that immediately gets my head bobbing and my feet dancing.  (I know M.C. will agree)  Perfect song for after a test.  Anyway, I didn't cheat and bought it on i-Tunes, specifically downloading the "explicit version."  But I felt so cheated when I heard the first lines: "How do you want it?  How does it feel? Comin' up as a (sigh) in the cash game . . .  " What 's up with that???

I understand that the "n-word" is offensive to some people, but if 2Pac wrote that way, he obviously wasn't offended by it.  I think it's kind of disrespectful to just mess with his song and lyrics.  It just isn't the same without that offensive word in there!  I know why people want to censor things--maybe there are words little kids shouldn't hear or learn and it is good to have a clean version for the radio--but I also think that we should also be able to buy a song in its original form.  If people find it offensive they just shouldn't listen to it.  What upsets me the most is that the version I bought was labeled "explicit."  If people are going to censor a song, they should definitely not falsely advertise it as "explicit"!!  Or they can at least use the "explicit" or "clean" part of the song as the 30-second sample so I don't waste my $1.03 on a song which isn't explicit enough for me!  I want my $1.03 back!

To solve the problem, I tried to buy the actual CD today so I could hear the offensive "n-word" the way it was intended to be heard.   But even after spending the money--and it was $25.43 (2-CD album)--I still got stuck with a censored version!  I was willing to spend the money just to hear this song in its original form and I still couldn't hear it.  Although I like this song, when I hear the censored version I just want to skip over it.  It hurts my ears. 

If anyone knows where I can get an uncensored version of this song, please let me know!  I really need my explicit language fix!  The clean version just isn't doing it for me.   

And after talking about the unnecessary changes in "How Do U Want It" I found something that definitely should be changed, or more specifically, edited. 

Kinda shame. 

A few days ago the sunset was so nice I had to take a picture. 

Isn't it beautiful?